When you care too much, you lose your composure.
After Su Pu woke up, he forgot to check the time. By the time he hurried out of the room and ran into Uncle Wang, he learned that it was already almost nine o’clock.
Li Jichuan had long since gone to work.
Su Pu stood in the hallway, visibly dejected, trying hard to recall how he had gotten home the night before.
But his mind was completely blank.
From what moment onward had he completely lost his memory?
“Uh, Brother Su… why are you here too…?”
A familiar voice came from nearby. Su Pu subconsciously lifted his head—
And to his shock, he saw Ouyang in Li Jichuan’s apartment!!
Judging by his appearance, Ouyang had just woken up as well. His face was worn and haggard, unable to hide the traces of a serious hangover.
He shrugged and muttered, “My whole body hurts so bad right now. Did I get into a fight with someone last night?”
Uncle Wang snorted at him.
“You drank that much alcohol. You were carried back—of course your body would hurt…”
Ouyang rubbed the back of his neck. “That was my first time getting that drunk. Is this President Li’s place?”
Uncle Wang smiled indulgently and said yes.
“Wow, President Li always looks so serious. I didn’t expect him to be such a warm-hearted person.”
He sighed belatedly.
“I thought he’d find the two of us drunkards annoying and just dump us on the street.”
Uncle Wang puffed out his chest proudly. “Mr. Li would never be that cold-hearted!”
“Exactly. Still, since it’s President Li’s place, the bed was really soft and comfortable—way better than the wooden plank in my dorm… Oh, right, Brother Su, how did you sleep last night? You got drunk even earlier than I did. That little bit of alcohol had you completely wasted. You have no idea how hilarious you were last night…”
Hearing this, Su Pu’s entire body tensed up. He stared at Ouyang with a serious expression, signaling him to continue.
Ouyang chuckled and chatted on with Uncle Wang and Su Pu.
“So last night, I went to the bathroom and came back planning to keep drinking. Then I saw Brother Su hugging President Li’s neck and tugging at him nonstop.”
“Haha, that really happened?” Uncle Wang laughed, casting a teasing glance at Su Pu.
“Yeah! It scared the hell out of me—almost sobered me up. I ran over to pull him away, but don’t let Brother Su’s slim build fool you, he’s got a lot of strength. The more I pulled him back, the tighter he held on. In the end, he was sitting right on President Li’s lap.”
Su Pu: !!!
He frantically gestured at Ouyang to hush, signaling him not to keep talking.
But Ouyang was happy to tease him. After all, once they walked out of this door, they probably wouldn’t see any of the servants in Li Jichuan’s home ever again, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
On the contrary, seeing Brother Su flushed and at a loss like this was truly rare.
Unwilling to miss such an opportunity, Ouyang began exaggerating his movements, reenacting the scene from the night before.
“When I saw that, I thought—wow, that’s pretty inappropriate. No matter how close you are, you can’t just sit on someone’s lap like that… But honestly, President Li really lives up to being a big shot. Even in that kind of situation, he managed to keep his composure and stay incredibly gentlemanly.”
“Brother Su was holding onto his neck, sleeping with his whole body nestled against him, and President Li didn’t even put him down. He just held him like that. Look at that integrity, that magnanimity!”
Ouyang gave a sincere thumbs-up.
With things already said this far, Su Pu grew curious as well.
It wasn’t even the first time he had sat on Li Jichuan’s lap. Just before he completely blacked out last night, he vaguely remembered sitting there twice already.
But did Li Jichuan really just let him hold onto him and sleep like that?
Hadn’t Li Jichuan himself said that their marriage was only to appease his grandfather, and that privately they didn’t need to fulfill any obligations?
So why was he indulging him to this extent?
Su Pu looked at Ouyang and gestured for him to continue.
Ouyang shrugged. “After that, I don’t remember anymore…”
“You wouldn’t let go of President Li, so I figured I’d hurry up and finish the rest of the beer and get you home… Then I drank too much myself, and after that I don’t remember anything…”
Two seconds later, Ouyang suddenly went, “Oh!” as realization dawned.
“Oh! I just remembered another fragment—I think I really did get into a fight last night!”
Su Pu was stunned.
So there really was a fight? Did he get involved too?
What about Li Jichuan—did he fight alongside them, or did he get hurt because of them?
“It was probably outside the bar. I remember the wind was pretty strong last night. I was taking on two people by myself, and it felt like there was someone standing behind me—really skinny, and really pale…”
Skinny and pale… that did sound a lot like Su Pu…
Ouyang and Uncle Wang both looked at Su Pu. Su Pu pressed a hand to his head, unable to recall even a single moment.
What made him even more curious was this: when Ouyang was protecting him, where was Li Jichuan?
Could he really have gotten hurt?
Ouyang asked Uncle Wang, “So how did we actually get back last night? Was President Li injured?”
Uncle Wang squinted as he thought back.
“He wasn’t injured,” he said, glancing at Su Pu and clearing his throat. “Mr. Su came back sitting together with Mr. Li in a wheelchair… As for you, the driver carried you up.”
Su Pu finally relaxed. As long as Li Jichuan wasn’t hurt, that was good.
Ouyang, on the other hand, suddenly realized something and shouted dramatically.
“Oh my god, so that means Brother Su, you were hugging President Li’s neck and never let go all night long?”
“Then how did you sleep afterward? Did someone help pull you off President Li?”
Uncle Wang answered seriously, “Yes, two servants were called to help Mr. Su change into his sleepwear.”
“And then the servants carried my Brother Su into a guest room?” Ouyang followed up smoothly.
Uncle Wang looked at him in confusion. “A guest room?”
“Mr. Su slept in the master bedroom last night.”
“The master bedroom!”
Ouyang repeated Uncle Wang’s words twice, like a broken record.
Then he stared at Su Pu with a suspicious expression.
“Brother Su, something’s kind of off between you and President Li. This place has so many rooms—no matter how close two guys are, they wouldn’t sleep together in the master bedroom, right…”
Su Pu’s small face turned red. In the end, there was no way to hide it anymore.
He only hoped this wouldn’t bring any burden to Li Jichuan.
Bracing himself, Su Pu went back into the room, retrieved his phone, and confessed their relationship.
“What?!”
As expected, Ouyang’s reaction was just as over-the-top as Su Pu had imagined. Unable to stand the noise, Uncle Wang laughed and went off to prepare breakfast for them.
“You—you—you, I—I—I—” Ouyang flailed his arms in excitement. “You hid this way too well!”
Su Pu sighed and asked him to keep it a secret.
“That’s fine. Even if you told people, no one would believe it anyway…”
“The wife of the head of the Li Group, working downstairs at the company headquarters making coffee.”
“It just feels… surreal.”
Ouyang leaned against the wall, his eyes slightly unfocused.
【I actually never thought about changing jobs, and I don’t want to just stay at home. I like making coffee—it makes me feel happy!】
Su Pu shared this with him.
【And maybe before long, Mr. Li will meet someone he truly likes, and the marriage contract will be dissolved… When that happens, I hope I can leave with more grace—with confidence and dignity, and say goodbye to him properly.】
Ouyang looked at the message, his eyes stinging a little.
“Brother Su, I support you. Just because you married a big shot doesn’t mean you should give up your own career! And I think you’re amazing—clear-headed and strong. I want to be like you too, to work hard and fight for my own future!”
Su Pu patted him on the shoulder, encouraging him.
【So since I even drank with you, can you help me with that favor I mentioned before?】
“Of course! Brother Su, that drinking session was totally worth it. I’m full of motivation right now—I feel like I could go out and run ten kilometers!”
“What do you want me to help with?”
Su Pu curled his lips into a harmless smile.
【I want you to help me conduct a survey at your school. The data needs to be as accurate as possible, so we’ll have to find a way to get students to patiently fill out the questionnaires.】
Ouyang froze for a moment. “That sounds kind of abstract… Do you have a concrete plan?”
Su Pu nodded.
He really did.
…
After finishing his meeting, Li Jichuan remotely controlled his wheelchair toward his office.
As he passed the secretary’s office, Echo smiled brightly and reminded him, “President Li, your coffee has arrived.”
“Oh…”
Li Jichuan frowned slightly.
Didn’t he buy a cup of coffee from downstairs and bring it up every day? Why did she need to remind him?
He pushed the door open.
Inside his office, there was not only an extra cup of coffee—
There was also an extra person.
The one who made the coffee.
Li Jichuan instinctively felt happy, but then a few fragments from the night before flashed through his mind.
Two faint red patches quickly bloomed on his cheeks.
They say alcohol is harmful, but who would have thought—
Last night’s drinks didn’t just get Su Pu drunk.
They also got Li Jichuan drunk today.