Chà Chà Novel

Before Lin Huaiqing arrived, Yu Wenle had already downed several bottles. Empty bottles littered the table, and they were all hard liquor.

“You’re here! Perfect timing! Drink with me!”

Yu Wenle was already slurring his words, but he still remembered to fill the empty glass in front of Lin Huaiqing to the brim.

“Young Master Yu, why are you drinking so fast? Slow down.”

Had the other person not spoken, Lin Huaiqing might not have noticed the young man sitting beside the sofa in a tight, slightly sheer black top.

He clung to Yu Wenle as though he had no bones, doing everything he could to entice him.

At the sight, Lin Huaiqing’s eyes widened. He sat stiffly to one side, unsure where to look.

The young man appeared to be barely in his twenties, an age when he should still have been in school. Yet here he was, a grown man making a living this way.

Frowning, Lin Huaiqing nudged the half-drunk Yu Wenle’s leg with his foot.

“Who’s he?”

“Handsome, I’m number twenty-four in Section A of Earthly Paradise. You can call me Xiao Mo.”

The young man’s thin, soft voice sounded a little shrill.

“I wasn’t asking you! Yu Wenle, does Dr. Gu know you’re doing this? You’re letting yourself go!”

But the moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

If this counted as Yu Wenle degrading himself, then what did becoming Qin Fan’s contract lover make him?

Was he debasing himself? Bringing about his own ruin?

Drunk as he was, Yu Wenle barely reacted to anything Lin Huaiqing said.

Only when Gu Chengyun’s name came up did a flicker of clarity pass through his dull, unfocused eyes.

“Don’t mention him again! If you’re my friend, drink with me. Never say that name in front of me again, or we won’t even be friends!”

Yu Wenle accidentally smashed his glass, making the escort beside him scream in fright.

If Lin Huaiqing still could not tell that something had happened between the two of them, he would have been exceptionally slow on the uptake.

But not long ago, they had been so close. How had things reached the point where they wanted nothing more to do with each other?

Gu Chengyun was so taciturn that three blows from a stick probably would not get a word out of him. What could he possibly have done to upset the usually easygoing Yu Wenle this badly?

“All right, we won’t mention him. Come on! I’ll drink with you!”

Lin Huaiqing raised his glass, clinked it against Yu Wenle’s, and drained it.

After several rounds, once Yu Wenle was thoroughly drunk and barely conscious, Lin Huaiqing sent the escort away.

“Wenle, tell me. What exactly happened between you and Dr. Gu?”

“Mm… He’s a liar! I’m better off without him! I can drink whenever I want, sleep with whoever I… Mmph! Mmph!”

Yu Wenle was so loud that people nearby were starting to look over. Lin Huaiqing hurriedly covered his mouth.

“For heaven’s sake, keep your voice down! Is that really something to be proud of?”

“I’ll say whatever I want! Hey! Where’s that Xiao Mo? I want him. Tell him to wash up and wait for me!”

“I sent him away. Come on, I’ll drive… I’ll get a designated driver to take you home. Don’t come to places like this again!”

“No! Get him back here!”

“Get who back? Gu Chengyun?”

“Pah! I mean Xiao Mo!”

“…”

While the two were still struggling with each other, someone suddenly appeared beside their booth. Lin Huaiqing assumed it was a passing waiter and was about to ask him to help carry Yu Wenle out.

But when he looked properly, he realized this was no waiter. It was none other than Gu Chengyun, the very man Yu Wenle had spent all that time cursing.

Winter had already settled over the capital. Dressed in a black, stand-collar coat and standing in the shadows, Gu Chengyun had almost escaped his notice.

His expression, however, was darker than the dim surroundings. Even his voice carried a chill.

“Who is Xiao Mo?”

Even Lin Huaiqing, standing to one side, could feel the tension in the air.

Normally, Gu Chengyun was so composed that nothing around him seemed capable of affecting his mood.

Now, however, Lin Huaiqing could clearly tell that he was furious and merely struggling to keep it under control.

“D-Dr. Gu! What a coincidence. Are you seeing patients here too?”

Nervousness made Lin Huaiqing stumble over his words. He could not help breaking into a cold sweat on his friend’s behalf.

“Yes, quite a coincidence, Young Master Lin. Young Master Qin has been looking for you for ages. Did you bring him to a place like this?”

“No, no, no! Don’t misunderstand. Yu Wenle just called me here to drink with him. Now that you’re here, I can leave him with you without worrying. I’ll be going!”

Lin Huaiqing did not know why he felt so guilty. He simply had the impression that Gu Chengyun had heard everything and had almost certainly come specifically to find Yu Wenle.

Besides, what were truly close friends for, if not to be sold out?

Leaving Yu Wenle with Gu Chengyun would hardly put him in danger.

Without another word, Lin Huaiqing booked a designated driver and made himself scarce.

After Lin Huaiqing left, Gu Chengyun sat down beside Yu Wenle. The strong smell of alcohol made him frown.

His stomach was already bad, yet he had drunk this much. He was practically asking for trouble.

When they had lived together, Gu Chengyun had always limited his drinking to a single glass at a time.

Now they had barely broken up, and he had already drunk so much. Later, he would be rolling around in bed with stomach pain, pleading pitifully and swearing never to drink again.

Perhaps Gu Chengyun did not even notice it himself.

Tenderness and affection flickered in his eyes. But the moment his hand touched Yu Wenle’s cheek, he pulled it back as though something had stung him.

Some things were beyond the reach of a man in his position.

Clinging stubbornly to that first flutter of affection would only hurt them both.

The Yu family might not rank among the capital’s most powerful families, but it was still wealthy and well known.

Moreover, Yu Wenle was his family’s only son, and wealthy, influential families valued carrying on the family line above all else.

Today, Yu Wenle might love him and want to be with him. But tomorrow, he might marry a young heiress of equal standing and have children with her.

Rather than wait for Yu Wenle to tire of him and cast him aside, Gu Chengyun had decided to be realistic and cut his losses while neither of them was in too deep.

That was why he had asked to break up.

Yet when he learned that Yu Wenle had come to a place like this, he still could not stop himself from coming to find him.

“Hey. Wake up. I’ll take you home.”

By then, Yu Wenle was sleeping like the dead, overcome by alcohol. Nothing could wake him.

With no other choice, Gu Chengyun scooped him up from the sofa.

Just as they were about to enter the elevator, a waiter in a suit came hurrying after them.

“Mr. Yu, do you still want the deluxe king room with the erotic amenities you booked? If not, I can cancel it for you.”

Gu Chengyun went still, his hold unconsciously tightening.

Looking at that delicate, sleeping face, he felt both love and resentment. He wanted to lock Yu Wenle to a bed so that he would never have eyes for anyone else.

It was the first time in his life that such an extreme thought had taken root in his mind.

A flame of desire seemed to burn in Gu Chengyun’s eyes as he answered the waiter in a low voice:

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”