Chapter 39 - Are you there?
Edited by Divetus and Noks
When the match was over, Yu Yan minimized the game, only to find that 1 was no longer in the stream.
He looked at the time. “Let’s end the livestream here today. Tomorrow’s livestream schedule will be regular too.”
[Don’t stop livestreaming ah. Make up for the leave you asked for these past two days. Stream until fucking 3:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m.]
[Usually the livestream doesn’t end until midnight. QAQ]
“I was going over time before. In fact, my livestream hours have already exceeded this month’s livestream requirements. Even if I didn’t stream for the next ten days, I could still get my salary…” Yu Yan added, “But I’ll still continue to stream for the next few days. See you guys in the morning, good night.”
It was already midnight by the time he finished and got into bed.
At such a late hour, there definitely wouldn’t be any video call requests. Yu Yan opened WeChat to look at it. The other party’s chat box quietly stayed at the top, displaying the message he had sent a few hours ago.
1 had said that he was on a business trip. At that time, Yu Yan had just landed in a match and encountered a gunfight, so he had replied with a quick remark——
“Okay. Then, stay safe.”
It was a line that didn’t need a reply.
Yu Yan stared at the chat box and was internally so angry at himself that he wanted to punch a wall.
Stay safe from what ah! Why didn’t he ask “where’s your business trip to” or “when are you coming back”?! Wouldn’t these require a line or two for an answer?!
He sighed, but it also wasn’t good to disturb 1 again. Just as he was about to go to bed, his cellphone started to violently vibrate.
He immediately opened his eyes, grabbed his phone, and looked——
“Class Reunion is on Friday at 8:00 p.m. Everyone must arrive before 9:00 p.m at booth 17 in Ginza, otherwise, we can’t catch the nightclub’s events. At the end, we’ll split the event fee equally.”
Many people were still awake this late at night. As soon as the group message was sent, many people replied with “received”.
Honestly, Yu Yan didn’t really like going to nightclubs. He used to go to nightclubs to try and make friends. At that time, the nightclubs were many times more disorderly than they were now, and usually always had people who would make trouble. Nonetheless, now that he had already promised, he had no leeway to go back on his word.
Just sit there for a bit and then leave ba, he thought.
—
“Manyang’s weather is so awesome.”
There were barbecue grills set up on the beach, with numerous exotic delicacies atop them, most of which were seafood. The grills were surrounded by ten or so men, most of them wearing only swimming trunks, and some of their bodies were already covered in sand.
Only the two Yi family bros were dressed neatly. Yi Chen didn’t want to go into the water; Yi Ran had a slight wound on his foot and was worried about an infection, so he could only watch with eager eyes.
“Right ba? Jincheng was freezing. I’m not even afraid of standing naked in the sea breeze over here.” Mo Nancheng picked up the watch beside him and looked at it. “Everyone, quickly eat ah. We have to hurry to the nightclub before 9:00 p.m.”
Yi Ran took a big bite of oyster meat and asked, “Before 9:00 p.m? It’s already 8:00 p.m ah. In any case, you already booked the entire place, so why bother rushing? Take your time.”
Mo Nancheng retorted, “Who said I booked the entire place?”
“You didn’t fully book it? Cheng Ge, you’re going to have to make your way through a crowd on your birthday. How wronged you are ah.” Yi Ran said, “If you’re short on cash recently, you can come to me… or rather, my Ge.”
Mo Nancheng waved his hand. “Are you joking? When have I ever lacked money? You don’t understand, a nightclub is a place that’s only fun when there’s a crowd. Also, the nightclub that we’re going to tonight is very famous in Manyang, and especially for their female DJ…”
Yi Chen threw a lobster shell to the side. “I’m not going.”
“No way!” Mo Nancheng said, “I’m going to cut the cake there. You must be there.”
Yi Chen thought that he had heard him wrong. After a while, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “How big is the cake to fit that many candles?”
“… Fuck.” Mo Nancheng laughed and cursed, “I specifically asked the nightclub’s manager, when the moment comes, to… send that female DJ to cut my cake for me.”
The person next to Yi Chen immediately laughed, “Cheng Ge really knows how to party.”
“Haha, quickly eat.” Mo Nancheng said, “Don’t eat too much though. You guys still have to chug alcohol tonight.”
Finally, all of them went to the nightclub together.
Although he didn’t book the entire place, Mo Nancheng was still very generous. He had still reserved an undetermined amount of drinks and programs. The nightclub’s manager also personally greeted them at the door.
The nightclub’s manager became more prudent in his reception when he saw this group of rich sons all wearing watches worth over seven figures. It wasn’t actually night time yet, but the nightclub’s music was already loud, and its seats were filled with people. It could be seen that a lot of effort had been put into the nightclub’s lighting. Overall, it was dark, but occasionally, several lights would drift over, though you still wouldn’t be able to see clearly. The nightclub’s ambiguous ambience was set to the highest point possible.
Mo Nancheng had reserved the nightclub’s biggest booth, which was right in the center of the nightclub. When they got to their booth, they found the table next to them was already occupied.
It looked like a group of young people, all dressed differently. At this time, they were discussing how many boxes of alcohol to buy. The volume of their discussion was so loud it even reached Mo Nancheng’s group.
“We have two tables, of course we need to get more. If worst comes to worst, we can save the remaining alcohol on our tab and use it next time!”
“I’ll check who’s here ah… Forget it, it’s too noisy—you guys look, who hasn’t arrived yet?”
“Xiao Yan’s not here! Is he actually coming or not?”
“He’s coming, I asked. He’s on his way, there’s a traffic jam.”
…
In order to achieve the feeling of crowdedness, there were no gaps between the nightclub’s booths. It could almost be said that groups of guests were connected by being seated on the same sofa, but were divided by a ceramic tile wall placed in the middle. The ceramic tiles were piled up to the height of an average person’s neck, and one could pretty much see the guests in the other booth just by turning their head.
The nightclub’s manager said with embarrassment, “Mr. Mo, the two tables beside you are hosting a class reunion, they might be noisy. If you mind, I can arrange for them to change their seats.”
Mo Nancheng replied, “What, your club’s music can’t cover up their noise?”
The manager immediately stood up straight. “You can rest assured that the music absolutely can cover the noise.”
“Then, that’s enough.” Mo Nancheng sat on the sofa and waved his hand in an ordering motion. “Bring some wine.”
As soon as the manager left, the person next to him looked around and said with a smile, “You weren’t kidding, the quality here is quite high.”
The quality he was talking about wasn’t referring to the nightclub, but to the nightclub’s guests.
Mo Nancheng said, “Bros, don’t hesitate if you meet someone you like. Long-distance dating isn’t a problem ah.”
Yi Chen sat beside Mo Nancheng, lazily lounging on the sofa, not participating in their discussion at all.
Manyang had cool breezes blowing through the city at night. When Yu Yan paid and got out of the taxi, he couldn’t help but stare at the nightclub’s sign in front of his eyes.
From where he was standing, he could already feel the lively atmosphere inside.
The class group chat had a message with their booth number in it. After entering the nightclub, Yu Yan looked at the booths one by one, checking the number against his memory.
“When will that female DJ you mentioned come ah?”
“What’s the rush, it’s still early. The night event starts at 10:00 p.m, so I guess she would arrive then ba.”
The voice of the person next to him was quite loud, and the air was filled with the strong smell of cologne. Yu Yan subconsciously turned to look at the booth; he realized that this booth was larger than the others. The people in the booth were casually sitting on the sofa with all kinds of alcohol on their table. Just based on the packaging, you could tell it wasn’t cheap.
With a quick glance, he saw the man sitting in the left corner of the booth.
The man was wearing a black hoodie. He had his head down and seemed to be looking at his cellphone, so his very high nose bridge was visible. Yu Yan couldn’t make out anything other than that clearly.
Although the man didn’t participate in any of the discussions around him, the other people would unconsciously glance at him as they spoke. This showed the other party’s position in the eyes of this group of people.
“Xiao Yan—” one of the girls at the next booth was the first to notice him. She was pleasantly surprised as she said, “Xiao Yan has arrived!”
The girl’s voice was both shrill and sharp, and stood out despite the noisy music.
The name was too familiar. The man sitting in the corner of the sofa raised his eyebrows, looked up, and saw the young man standing in front of their booth.
Under the dim lighting, the young man’s facial features completely matched up with the face on his computer screen last night.
He was dressed in a simple white T-shirt, and was squeezing through a crowd of people bobbing and swaying their heads, looking like a little prince.
The two people were caught off guard as their gazes met. The other party was stunned, blinked, and then unnaturally moved his gaze away. He turned around and strode towards the neighboring table.
Yi Chen softly paused in his motions of playing with his cellphone and his eyes slightly narrowed.
Little anchor?
“Yi Chen, come on, try this wine.” Mo Nancheng suddenly leaned over and poured him a glass. “It was brewed by a specialist. It’s supposed to taste good… What are you looking at?”
Mo Nancheng was just about to follow Yi Chen’s gaze, but the person next to him suddenly lifted the glass from his hand, put it to his mouth, and lightly sipped it.
Mo Nancheng turned his head back to Yi Chen’s face. He asked, “How is it?”
Yi Chen held the empty wine glass in his hand, gently rubbing the bottom of the bowl while still looking forward.
After a long time, he unhurriedly responded with, “… It’s not bad.”
Yu Yan walked over to his classmates and reflexively let out a sigh of relief.
… He had actually stared at a stranger for a long time and was also caught red-handed by them.
“Sorry to be late.”
Over the past few years, his classmates’ appearances had more or less changed. The girls had already changed from wearing school uniforms to short skirts and the boys also had more golden decorations on their hands and waists.
Only he, as always, was still dressed casually, bringing nothing but his cellphone.
Li Hang was sitting in the middle of the booth, playing a finger-guessing game with the person next to him. When he saw that Yu Yan had arrived, his smile faded.
A moment of silence pervaded through the table, and the atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.
Even after all these years, everyone still remembered that these two people had a feud.
“There you are ah.” Chen Min immediately stood up. He glanced at the two men and said with a smile, “There were too many people, so we ended up reserving two booths. This side is full, so how about you sit on the other side?”
Yu Yan didn’t care and nodded. “Okay.”
“The booth isn’t full.” Li Hang suddenly opened his mouth and pointed to the furthest edge of the sofa. “Isn’t that spot still vacant?”
The girl sitting there heard Li Hang and directly disregarded Chen Min’s signaling eyes. She hurriedly scooted inwards, squeezing in to make room for a seat. “Come over Xiao Yan, sit here!”
Yu Yan thought about it. It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. The two of them were also so far apart, so they would hardly be able to communicate. He simply walked over to his female classmate and sat down.
When he saw that the young man had sat down smoothly and safely, Yi Chen looked away.
Mo Nancheng poured him another glass and said that he must get him drunk tonight.
He picked up his glass and chugged it, saying, “I’ve heard this sentence for over ten years already, yet you’re still not tired of saying it?”
With that, he suddenly stood up.
Mo Nancheng was stunned. “What are you doing? Did you get cold feet? Let me tell you, if you don’t get drunk tonight, you can’t go home. No one can leave unless they’re drunk!”
Yi Chen completely ignored him and raised his hand to pat Yi Ran on the shoulder.
“Get up.”
Yi Ran was playing the finger-guessing game with the person next to him. Hearing this, he was shocked, “What’s the matter la?”
“Change seats,” Yi Chen said.
“Why? Sitting just fine here…”
“Get up.”
“…”
Yi Ran pitifully picked up his glass and quietly changed seats.
After sitting down, he asked, “Cheng Ge, did you provoke my Ge?”
Mo Nancheng stared at him with wide eyes. “Bullshit, I didn’t provoke him. Besides, today’s my birthday, whether I provoke him or not, he can’t give me the cold shoulder!”
“You’re right.” Yi Ran quickly lowered his voice and spoke in a volume that only the two of them could hear, “Stop talking. No matter what, you guys still need to be friends.”
Mo Nancheng: “…”
Yi Chen had no interest in their whispers. He sat in his seat and leaned back a little bit. With his back now completely against the sofa behind him, his posture seemed very leisurely, as if he was lounging in a restaurant in the afternoon rather than a noisy nightclub.
Yu Yan had just sat down and already felt uncomfortable.
The seats were too crowded, and his and the girl’s arms kept accidentally brushing against each other from time to time. The key issue was that she was wearing a top with spaghetti straps. Every time they accidentally touched, he couldn’t help but feel awkward.
He didn’t want to take advantage of others. Just as he wanted to shift to sit more on the outside, the person next to him suddenly leaned up against him.
The girl had makeup on, and her eyes were embellished with pearlescent eyeshadow that sparkled in the dark environment. She cupped her hand at the side of her mouth, leaned against Yu Yan’s ear, and asked, “Xiao Yan, why did you come so late?”
Yu Yan replied, “This street had a little bit of a traffic jam.”
“Oh, that’s just the way it is here. You should’ve left earlier.” The girl continued, “We haven’t seen each other in years… Do you remember me? What’s my name?”
“Of course I remember.” Yu Yan laughed and said her name.
When the girl saw him like this, the only thought she had was that the little deer bumping around in her heart was about to die.
She picked up her glass and took a sip, trying to force herself to calm down. “After you graduated… How have you been?”
She regretted it as soon as she asked.
How had Yu Yan been doing? In fact, they all sort of knew deep down in their hearts—it couldn’t be very good. Otherwise, why would he have not even finished high school?
“Very good.”
“That’s good then.” She stammered, trying to change the subject. “Finger-guessing game?”
Yu Yan shook his head. “I don’t know how.”
“That’s okay, I’ll teach you.”
It wasn’t good just sitting there but not drinking, so Yu Yan nodded. “Okay.”
Since he was a novice, he lost two games in a row just after he started. After drinking two cups of alcohol, he immediately felt his stomach warm up.
The girl rolled the dice and smiled at him. When the dice stopped rolling, she propped up her chin with her hand and jokingly asked, “Your girlfriend won’t get angry if I pour you alcohol like this, ba?”
Behind him, Yi Chen lightly sneered at these words. Even a 16-year-old Yi Ran wouldn’t have tried this routine.
He raised his hand and lightly tapped the rim of the empty glass with his index finger. Yi Ran hurriedly filled it with wine. “Ge, taste this red one. Why do I feel like it’s not as good as the wines sold by the little liquor shop outside my home?”
Yi Chen didn’t say anything, but Yi Ran spoke again, “The female DJ that Cheng Ge likes is coming soon. Let’s go down there and dance?”
He really wanted to see his Ge’s appearance while dancing in a club. That scene would be no different than a God rapping or Buddha doing ballet.
Yi Chen didn’t listen to him at all. His voice was deep, and almost merged with the subwoofer blasting out background music, as he said, “You guys should be a little less noisy when playing your finger-guessing game.”
Yi Ran stared at him. “No way! You can lose at the game, but you can’t lose your aura.”
Yi Chen was clear. “Do you want to go back to the hotel?”
Yi Ran immediately replied, “I also think that Cheng Ge and I are too loud. We’ll promptly adjust our volume.”
Yu Yan felt shaken and instinctively looked back.
Seated right behind him was the man in the black hoodie. From this angle, he could only see the other party’s black hair and a small section of his neck.
… He didn’t know if it was just his misconception, but he kept feeling like he had heard 1’s voice.
Could it have been because he had listened to 1’s voice too many times last night, so he was now having auditory hallucinations?
The girl didn’t get an answer. She tilted her head and urged softly, “Hm?”
“Huh? No.” He snapped out of it and shook his head. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
The girl laughed, “So it’s like that ah… Then, I’m relieved. By the way, a game is going to start in the nightclub in a bit, and it needs two people per team. I really want to play but I can’t sign up alone. Can you accompany me?”
Yu Yan was stunned. He had just wanted to ask what kind of game it was when his cellphone vibrated.
He looked down and saw a WeChat notification on his cellphone screen.
1: Are you there?
—
Quick note: Next chapter is pretty long, so we’ll be splitting it in two!
Juurensha: Boss Yi, kind of a creeper, just sitting right behind Yanyan (and making sure that girl doesn’t try anything) On the other hand, I do think it’s funny that both Boss Yi and Yanyan seem to be in their own personal hells when forced into a nightclub. freewebnove(l)
Divi: It’s like a silent protector…. Creepily LMAO. Yanyan be out here being nervous and annoyed while Boss Yi forgot his annoyance and is now just lurking around Yanyan.
Noks: Their first ever in-person meeting? With only one person being aware of that… Boss Yi, you should thank Mo Nancheng for this inadvertent opportunity! xD
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