179: I raised
Shen Lian was chatting with Director Zhao on his phone. When he looked up again, the group was already completely drunk.
Feng Yueshan and Kuang Chenghai had their arms around each other, calling each other brothers, while the remaining few were playing dice.
Feng Yueshan’s face was flushed. He turned to Sun Binghe: “Hey, Assistant Sun, my brother Zhou Yuanlin—don’t you have any thoughts about him?”
Sun Binghe: “No.”
“My Little Zhou is so great.”
Hearing this, Sun Binghe’s eyes wavered as he looked over. “Three years ago, Hengtai and the Zhou Clan had two collaborations that I personally oversaw. I saw the data coordination and some reports Zhou Yuanlin produced.” Sun Binghe spoke with a pained expression: “It was worse than his grades! Seriously, you second-generation rich kids are blessed, but some of your aptitudes make me despair.”
“That’s not entirely true.” Chu Yilan couldn’t help but speak up for his brother: “Zhou Yuanlin has a certain business acumen; he just doesn't pay much attention to these superficial matters.”
Sun Binghe unsteadily extended a finger: “Boss, as the saying goes, liars must swallow ten thousand needles.”
Chu Yilan: “...”
Feng Yueshan smacked his lips. “Still drinking?”
Kuang Chenghai: “Come on.”
Sun Binghe also nodded.
Shen Lian really wanted to join, but his body wouldn't allow it.
Having nothing to do, he played with Xu Yang, who also couldn't drink.
Chu Yilan stopped short, ceded the floor, letting Ning Sixian and Xu Jingge continue their battle, and returned to Shen Lian’s side.
When Yang Bin arrived, Young Master Feng, the one who could drink the most, already had glazed eyes, and the table was covered with empty wine bottles.
“Was this intentional?” Chu Yilan asked. “Why didn’t you wait until the party was over to show up?”
Yang Bin smiled bitterly: “Traffic, CEO Chu.”
Yang Bin turned his head and saw Sun Binghe sitting alone in the corner, his head resting motionless on the back of the sofa.
“I told you to drink less, yet you drank this much?” Yang Bin said as he approached.
Sun Binghe heard his voice, opened his closed eyes, paused, and then replied: “I lost. I accept the loss; if you lose, you have to drink.”
Kuang Chenghai: “Assistant Sun, are you still playing?”
Yang Bin rolled up his sleeves: “He’s resting. I’ll play with you guys.”
Sun Binghe nodded. Not long after, he shakily stood up. Yang Bin put down his cards and helped him. “What are you doing?”
“Going to the restroom. It's just outside, quickly.” Sun Binghe waved his hand, indicating he was fine alone.
After relieving himself and splashing cold water on his face, Sun Binghe sobered up slightly. It had been a long time since he was this drunk.
Returning to the private room, Sun Binghe stumbled and bumped into a chair. A small school bag fell to the floor. Xu Yang was careless, and the zipper wasn't even pulled up. Sun Binghe frowned slightly at this; in his mind, books were the sanctuary of human wisdom and dreams and should not be covered in dust.
He bent down to pick it up, carefully putting the contents back one by one, thinking how sleepy he was and that he wanted to go back to sleep.
Shen Lian walked in from outside and casually remarked upon seeing this, “Assistant Sun checking someone’s homework?”
Coincidentally, Sun Binghe smoothed open a test paper.
It was a final English test paper, graded and scored by the teacher. Shen Lian was curious and leaned forward to look. “How is it?”
Xu Yang is smart, so his score must be... nine points.
Shen Lian thought he had gone blind.
It wasn't until the hand holding the test paper trembled slightly that Shen Lian immediately snapped back to reality. Alarms went off in his heart, and he instantly raised his hand to block Sun Binghe's view. “An illusion!”
Sun Binghe remained silent.
Shen Lian: “It really is an illusion. Come on, give me the bag.”
“Nine points…” Sun Binghe muttered. The next second, the bag and the test paper were thrown onto the floor. Sun Binghe looked up, his voice clearly tearful: “My eyes.”
“Oh dear, Assistant Sun, Assistant Sun!” Shen Lian quickly tried to console him. “It’s not that bad!”
Yang Bin threw down his cards and strode over. “What happened?”
Shen Lian pointed to the test paper on the floor, where a bright red “9” stood out.
Unexpectedly, Yang Bin was extremely calm. He took hold of Sun Binghe with one hand and pulled out his phone with the other. The entire process was clearly defined and resolute. Before Sun Binghe’s emotions could collapse, he displayed the phone screen.
Sun Binghe snatched it, looked at it very carefully, paused for a few seconds, and then let out a deep breath, whispering, “Thank goodness.”
After that, he stabilized his emotions and returned to the sofa to continue resting with his eyes closed.
Shen Lian: “?”
Yang Bin chuckled softly at Shen Lian: “He’s completely drunk. Some emotions are magnified and he can’t control them.”
“I understand that,” Shen Lian said. “I’m more curious about what you showed Assistant Sun?”
“His own all-A record from his student days,” Yang Bin explained.
Better to look up to yourself than expect things from others, right? Truly worthy of Assistant Sun, Shen Lian thought.
There was no need to say more to a drunk person; as long as Yang Bin had a solution, it was fine. Shen Lian had already taken two steps away when he suddenly turned back to Yang Bin: “Wait, Assistant Yang, you kept Assistant Sun’s transcript so well? I see you even made a spreadsheet.”
Under the light, Yang Bin’s smile deepened. “I raised him. With such excellent grades, how could I not be proud?”
Although it hadn't been many years, Yang Bin had been involved in Sun Binghe's complete transformation and growth from a minor to an adult.
Shen Lian couldn't find fault with that statement.
The party broke up before midnight. Kuang Chenghai and Feng Yueshan strode forward, singing “Friends Walk Together for Life.” Everyone made their own arrangements. Chu Yilan, worried that Shen Lian hadn't gotten enough sleep, took him to the hotel to rest first.
Chu Yilan had been drinking and his steps were unsteady. Shen Lian placed one hand on his lower back, and after checking in at the front desk, they quickly returned to the room.
Chu Yilan insisted on taking a shower. “Ning Sixian said it’s best to ensure the air circulation around you is unobstructed.”
Shen Lian: “...” Seriously, can a little alcohol smell suffocate me?
After waking up, they would set off to return to Qudu.
Before boarding the plane, Shen Lian took advantage of the good sunlight and his improved complexion to post a nine-grid photo collage taken with the native camera app directly onto the Social Media Platform.
Although Star Opening tried its best to suppress the news about him being kidnapped that night, and the studio repeatedly denied it, there are no airtight walls in the world, and many fans were still worried about Shen Lian's condition.
[My dear brother, could you give me some warning before you suddenly kill us with your beauty?]
[Lian Zai! Have you lost some weight?]
Shen Lian selectively replied: [Yeah, preparing for a new drama. Need my bone structure to look a bit more defined.]
Fans disagreed with this piece of nonsense: [Your bone structure is already perfectly defined, don't listen to others talking rubbish.]
Shen Lian happily interacted until he reluctantly turned off his phone before takeoff.
He reclined his seat slightly. One moment he was still talking to Chu Yilan, and a few minutes later he fell asleep. Chu Yilan asked the flight attendant for a blanket and carefully covered Shen Lian.
He had, after all, damaged his vitality. When they got home, he would have Aunt Fen make him some nourishing food.
Kuang Chenghai must have spoken to Hu Kailan. Anyway, after returning to Qudu, no matter what Shen Lian said, Brother Hu would just reply, “Okay, okay,” “No problem, no problem.” This saved Chu Yilan from having to forcibly keep him home, as Shen Lian knew how to rest himself.
“Where is my Good Son?” Shen Lian asked Aunt Fen.
Aunt Fen laughed: “Piglet went out to play. He’s on really good terms now with that Orange Cat that beat him up before.”