DLRAS Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Why didn’t you order? I want to eat.

After the Huo Group’s semi-annual meeting concluded, a banquet was hosted in the evening at the Rita Hotel. The baseline of the banquet was relatively relaxed. By the time Chen Wengang arrived, the atmosphere inside was reaching its climax, and faint laughter could be heard even through the doors.

Outside the hall stood a Huo Group backdrop, covered entirely with wild, flamboyant signatures. Almost relying on pure instinct, his eyes locked onto the three characters “Huo Niansheng” at a single glance. The handwriting was joined together in a highly abstract manner, with the strokes flying outward and pressing over another name that was crumpled into a ball. One could almost visualize the owner of the signature uncapping his pen and making a magnificent, sweeping wave of his hand with utter panache.

Chen Wengang burst out laughing.

A waiter helped him push open the heavy doors. Several platforms had been set up in the center of the venue, where games were apparently underway. The crowd formed a dense, dark circle surrounding them; many group executives were mixed among the ordinary employees, drawing lots and personally taking the field to display their approachability.

Huo Niansheng felt something nudge the back of his shoulder.

The moment he turned around, a sudden roar of voices erupted: “Director Huo’s family is here!”

Huo Niansheng smiled, drawing both the roses and the person into his embrace.

With a slight smile, Chen Wengang boldly planted a kiss on his cheek in full view of everyone.

Huo Zhenfei squeezed through the crowd, adjusting his bow tie. He looked impeccably dressed, though his hair was slightly mussed and his voice was a bit hoarse. He greeted Chen Wengang. The crowd grew bolder under the unconstrained atmosphere, urging the several Director Huos present to join the game.

With his hand clasped in Huo Niansheng’s, they were pushed into the center of the venue by the crowd.

As it turned out, those platforms served as game obstacles, with three or four sections of low balance beams set up in the middle. Each employee had received a number plate in advance, and the host randomly drew two numbers. The two individuals drawn would consult between themselves to choose whatever method they preferred, with the objective of crossing the beam simultaneously—beautifully termed as cultivating a team spirit of working with one heart and mind.

Two directors were teasing Huo Zhenfei, saying they had been so oppressed during the daytime work debriefing that they hadn’t dared to breathe a word, and now that the hour for revenge had finally arrived, they would find a partner to accompany him onto the stage. Huo Zhenfei pressed his palms together, cooperatively adopting a pleading posture, which elicited a round of laughter.

Holding the microphone, the host chimed in to warm up the crowd. Suddenly turning his body, he directed his gaze toward Huo Niansheng.

“Since Director Zhenfei isn’t ready yet, and Director Niansheng is still idling over here—”

Huo Niansheng agreed readily. Raising his eyebrows, he stuffed the roses into Huo Zhenfei’s arms, telling him to hold them securely.

Led by him, Chen Wengang stepped up the stairs together. The balance beam beneath their feet was only thirty centimeters wide. It wasn’t particularly high, and the area below was filled with a plastic ball pit, but it wobbled back and forth, appearing a bit more intimidating than it would on flat ground.

The host reiterated the game rules, requiring physical contact to be maintained throughout the entire process. Quite a few employees had already crossed the beam just now; a small number of people had attempted piggyback rides or carrying each other, but the difficulty was too high, and they basically all ended in failure. He suggested the method with the highest success rate: the two holding hands, one in front and one behind, shuffling across sideways.

Chen Wengang pursed his lips in a smile. Huo Niansheng, however, didn’t even wait to hear the rest before scooping him up horizontally in a bridal carry.

Chen Wengang tightly looped his arms around Huo Niansheng’s neck, holding his breath and remaining absolutely motionless, doing his best to align his center of gravity with the other man’s. Although his line of sight was restricted, he could still feel the burning gazes fixed upon them from the sea of faces below, looking up to enjoy the spectacle.

Chen Wengang heard someone shout a couple of cheers of encouragement. He still didn’t move as Huo Niansheng looked down at him and took a step forward.

He didn’t fall off. Huo Niansheng was well-exercised on regular days, so carrying a person was no trouble at all. He walked slowly but steadily, showing that his balancing ability was quite decent; far from swaying left and right, it was almost as if he were walking on level ground.

Peering past his shoulder, Chen Wengang’s gaze caught the half-extended chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He felt like a small boat, yet instead of being submerged in water, he was being lifted high to cross the sea.

The moment Huo Niansheng set him down, cheers and applause erupted simultaneously, amidst a flurry of lively chatter. Someone teased them for flaunting their affection, while another bantered that this was Director Niansheng’s personal show—though, naturally, the latter was mixed with the brown-nosery of shrewd individuals. Huo Niansheng offered a smile, remaining entirely unruffled by either praise or teasing, as he snatched his roses back from Huo Zhenfei.

The target of the crowd’s clamor shifted back to Huo Zhenfei.

The banquet hall was excessively noisy, forcing Chen Wengang to lean close to Huo Niansheng’s ear to speak to him. Huo Niansheng dragged over a chair and sat a short distance away with his legs crossed. Whenever anyone passed by, they would see him with the roses cradled in one arm and Chen Wengang held in the other, the two chatting intimately about something. With the roses lying horizontally between them and the light cascading down, the composition resembled an illustration, displaying a rare sense of tranquility amidst the crowd.

In truth, regarding the fact that Huo Niansheng had found a life partner and had even gone abroad to get married, there had been no shortage of whispered rumors and widespread gossip within the Huo Group—though that was a long time ago. At that time, ninety-nine percent of the people held a skeptical and wait-and-see attitude, believing either that he was fooling the other party or the other party was fooling him, that time would test everything, and that it would mostly end as a farce.

Who could have imagined that three or four years later, the affection between these two hadn’t diminished at all, but had instead turned them into a model of unbreakable devotion. It just went to show that worldly affairs remain unpredictable; anything is possible, and no one should speak too soon.

Before the banquet concluded, around ten o’clock or so, Uncle Huo, in his capacity as the group’s chairman, made an appearance for a round accompanied by several high-ranking executives. Huo Zhenfei sent a message to Huo Niansheng, asking if he was still in the venue and telling him to come out to go through the motions.

In reality, by this time, Huo Niansheng had already slipped out early and was already on the way home with Chen Wengang.

Chen Wengang was driving. Halfway through the journey, he noticed a vehicle tailing them—a dull, grey Volkswagen.

Today’s semi-annual meeting and internal banquet of the Huo Group, though not heavily publicized, still garnered some media attention. Proper financial journalists would come to cover the event, grab the official press release, and leave. Those who liked to focus on the private movements of wealthy family members, however, were generally paparazzi who used the chaos to slip inside. As time went on, some had even become familiar faces to the main subjects; Chen Wengang had even come to recognize the license plate of this specific car.

The other party followed them all the way to a spot just two intersections away from Jiangchao Street.

Although the address of the Chen family’s old residence wasn’t a secret and could be found with a little effort, tailing them so blatantly right to their doorstep was getting a bit uncalled for; it wasn’t as if he were some celebrity’s obsessive stalker fan. Chen Wengang called out to Huo Niansheng: “How should we handle this?”

Huo Niansheng looked out the window. They happened to be passing by an open-air food stall, so he said, “How about having some late-night supper?”

Chen Wengang pulled the car over to the roadside, and the two stepped out.

This open-air food stall had been open for many years, primarily serving seafood barbecue, and its business had always been booming. When Chen Wengang and Lu Chenglong were young, they used to follow the aroma here frequently. However, it was only when they were occasionally brought along by adults that they had the chance to enjoy a proper treat, which was something they used to look forward to with absolute yearning. Even now, the owner remained the same as before—a middle-aged man with a prominent beer belly—and the canopy, tables, and chairs hadn’t been changed either.

Chen Wengang had brought Huo Niansheng here a few times, and the owner still remembered him, calling out to tell them to find a table and sit down themselves.

At this hour, the food stall’s business was roaring. The owner stayed by the grill, both his hands constantly occupied as he ran around busily. Before stepping out of the car, the two had taken off their jackets, but they were still wearing expensive trousers and leather shoes, sitting somewhat incongruously on the small plastic stools.

Before them was a small, square table whose paint had already been completely worn away. The owner’s wife came over, swiftly wiping down the tabletop. Looking at the menu, Chen Wengang ordered grilled squid, grilled prawns, and grilled saury, along with a few skewers of green peppers, eggplant, and shiitake mushrooms.

The food provided at the banquet consisted entirely of cold catering—mostly sandwiches, egg tarts, and mousse cakes. They were exquisite but miniature, bite-sized portions that no one expected to actually fill their stomach with. Arriving here, the bursts of aroma from cumin and chili truly made them feel a wave of hunger. Chen Wengang added half a dozen grilled oysters to the order, and the owner’s wife noted down the menu with a ballpoint pen.

The moment he turned his head, Huo Niansheng was leisurely resting his chin on his hand, looking at him with a teasing gaze from top to bottom. Chen Wengang realized the implication, gave him a swift kick under the table, and changed the order to two bowls of beef noodles instead.

Huo Niansheng asked, “Why aren’t you ordering them anymore? I want to eat them.”

Chen Wengang said, “I don’t want to eat them anymore.”

Huo Niansheng laughed, “I didn’t say a single thing!”

Chen Wengang also rested his chin on his hand to look at him: “You didn’t say anything, but I just don’t want to eat them anymore. Is that not allowed?”

Huo Niansheng kept watching him with a smile: “Of course it’s allowed, but I want to eat them, so can we please add another portion?”

With both his elbows resting on his knees, Chen Wengang extended his hand into his grasp, and Huo Niansheng naturally intertwined their fingers. While the two bickered like elementary school children, their hands twisted and tangled together continuously. Just then, someone walked over—it was the owner’s wife bringing along a customer.

She consulted with them: “There’s truly no space left to sit inside or outside. Your table only has two people, and he’s by himself. Would you mind sharing the table?”

The one who arrived was precisely the paparazzi who had been tailing their car. He wore a duckbill cap, his eyebrows were so faint they seemed almost nonexistent, and his back was slightly hunched as he bowed his waist.

Huo Niansheng tilted his chin toward the opposite seat: “Have a seat.”

The paparazzi possessed a thick enough skin, sitting down with a beaming smile as he offered a cigarette: “Young Master Huo.”

Huo Niansheng freed one hand and waved it dismissively: “I don’t smoke, gave it up.”

The paparazzi withdrew his hand. Just as he was about to strike his lighter, he caught a glance from Huo Niansheng and promptly tucked both the cigarette and the lighter away. He also casually ordered a few items. The owner’s wife left, and ten minutes later, an assistant brought out a portion of Chen Wengang and his partner’s grilled skewers.

The paparazzi smiled as if exchanging pleasantries, “Why haven’t the two of you headed home so late into the night?”

Huo Niansheng handed a skewer of prawns to Chen Wengang: “Isn’t it to avoid you?”

The paparazzi laughed, “Even though I follow you, there hasn’t been much of anything worth writing about over these past two years! Today was merely routine business; originally, once you returned home, I intended to head back myself. It’s not as if I’m listening under your walls every single day.”

Huo Niansheng said, “With the two of us dressed like this and eating supper on the street, I already know exactly what headline you’re going to come up with tomorrow.”

The other party kept a placating smile on his face: “I know, you’re a magnanimous person who won’t hold it against a lesser individual. I’m just an ordinary citizen trying to earn a living!”

The assistant walked over again, placing two bottles of chilled beer onto the table. The paparazzi beat them to it, using a bottle opener to pop the caps and attentively pouring two glasses. He pushed one glass toward Chen Wengang and the other toward Huo Niansheng.

Chen Wengang also said to him, “I am the one who is an ordinary citizen. If you truly have so much spare time, why don’t you go tail someone else instead?”

The paparazzi repeatedly said, “No, no, no. By my estimate, Mr. Chen’s future is also boundlessly promising. Making it big is only a matter of time.” His mouth was as smooth as if it were coated in oil, speaking exactly what people wanted to hear. Chen Wengang brought the glass to his lips, his gaze sweeping past him.

A phrase surfaced in the paparazzi’s mind: infinite charm. Small wonder a playboy of Huo Niansheng’s caliber had ended up falling completely for him.

They each ate their own grilled skewers—though, in the end, they still didn’t ask for the grilled oysters. Chen Wengang lifted a strand of noodles, tasted the flavor, and picked out the beef from his bowl to give to Huo Niansheng. The delicate fragrance of the roses and the aroma of the barbecue intermingled with one another, making for an experience that was half elegant and half vulgar.

The paparazzi tried to cozy up to them from the side, talking about everything under the sun and bragging expansively. Of course, he was also sharp and smooth, speaking entirely of past events that carried absolutely no credibility but were simply exciting to listen to. Some were scandalous romances, while others were bizarre and horrifying—for instance, he recounted how twenty years ago when gangs and syndicates ran rampant, offending someone would easily result in being forced to swallow boiling oil, having limbs severed, or being splashed with acid and gasoline. Huo Niansheng raised his hand, signaling him to shut his mouth.

Chen Wengang lowered his head to eat his noodles, his hair falling forward. Huo Niansheng reached out to tuck it behind his ear.

Because they had drunk beer, they simply left the car parked by the roadside instead of driving it back. Chen Wengang brought out their two jackets, handed the roses to Huo Niansheng, and began walking in the direction of home while catching the night breeze.

The paparazzi still followed behind them. However, seeing that these two were in no hurry to return home to sleep and were instead detouring toward the riverbank, he called out from a short distance away: “What, do the two of you still have no intention of returning to turn in for the night?”

Chen Wengang raised his hand, sniffing the scent of cumin that clung to his body, and then pulled at Huo Niansheng’s sleeve to take a sniff. This was precisely the reason that people who didn’t raise dogs wouldn’t think of: if they didn’t air out the scent outside, they were afraid that even if Harley had fallen asleep, it would still drag itself up upon their return and keep obsessing over it until dawn.

Leaning against the railing, Huo Niansheng let out a lazy, smiling curse: “You’ve eaten what you wanted, and you’ve caught the breeze. Continuing to follow us is getting a bit shameless, don’t you think?”

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