WSSAPF chapter 10

Li Zhuoyao didn’t know how he descended the mountain that day. He felt that everything he heard had a huge sense of unreality, as if he were dreaming. After waking up from the dream, he would meet a Zhou Chulan who spoke less but looked much more relaxed. If he refueled at their house, perhaps Zhou Chulan would warmly host him, and maybe even roll up his sleeves to personally cook a bowl of lamb noodle soup for him.

But everything was real.

The program recording was about to begin, and Li Zhuoyao became busier day by day, often attending meetings until late at night, discussing program details repeatedly with the planning, promotion, filming, and recording teams. He smoked even more, sometimes going through a pack a day, and Gao Jun frowned every time he saw him.

“Smoke less, the smell of cigarettes on you is like that of a ten-year-old smoker.”

In fact, Li Zhuoyao really wanted to ask Zhou Chulan what had happened back then. He simply couldn’t believe that he was the violent and extreme antisocial personality described by the village chief. However, he knew that the law wouldn’t lie. He even felt that there shouldn’t be any doubt about Zhou Chulan, and he should feel guilty for even a moment of hesitation.

But Zhou Chulan, holding his cigarette, told him everything was true, and if he was scared of him, he could stop all association with him. After saying this, he just left without looking back.

Li Zhuoyao felt that he had messed up his relationship with Zhou Chulan. He really wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t find the words.

So, every day, he sent Zhou Chulan some irrelevant messages, reporting on the current situation of the villa’s decoration. Sometimes one message a day, sometimes two.

“The embroidered cloth you helped me choose, I had someone mount it in the hall of the villa.”

“For the batik artwork, I thought about it and decided to place it in the bedroom of one of the female artists. She is also Miao.”

“I had the curtains taken down by a worker. Yesterday’s sunset framed in the window looks really beautiful, like a painting.”

“The wall behind the sycamore tree has also been painted white. With the tree’s shadow, it really creates an artistic atmosphere.”

Zhou Chulan never replied.

After two days, the artists gradually arrived. On the day when everyone was present, Li Zhuoyao accompanied the artists and the team to have dinner, drinking until past 11 pm.

Li Zhuoyao rarely drank before, and he didn’t like these social gatherings. Usually, he would avoid them if possible, and if he had to attend, he would find a quiet corner to sit and drink cold water. But that night, he wanted to get drunk. Holding a wine glass, he clinked glasses with everyone, downing each glass in one go. He drank a bottle of red wine, almost half a bottle of white wine, and several cans of beer. By the end of the gathering, he felt light-headed, his eyes red like blood, and he walked unsteadily.

Zheng Nanyun looked worriedly at him. When the gathering was about to end, she called Xie Jun.

“Wait outside the Jubilee Hall of the hotel on the 7th floor. Li Zhuoyao is drunk.”

Xie Jun hastily closed his laptop, didn’t even shut it down, put on slippers, and left. He and Zheng Nanyun helped Li Zhuoyao back to his room.

“Sister Yun, you go back and rest. I’ll take care of the boss.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Xie Jun struggled to put Li Zhuoyao on the bed. He was reeking of alcohol, thoroughly drunk. Xie Jun tried calling his name several times, but there was no response.

This was the first time in over a year that Xie Jun, as Li Zhuoyao’s assistant, had seen him drunk. It seemed unusual to him.

He brewed a pot of Pu’er tea to help Li Zhuoyao sober up, blew it cool, helped him up, slowly coaxed him to drink, then carefully untied his shoelaces and removed his shoes, putting his legs on the bed, and helped him undress. The sensation of his hands on Li Zhuoyao’s skin was warm. Xie Jun heard the sound of his own heartbeat, thumping.

Suddenly, Li Zhuoyao reached out and grabbed his hand. His eyes were still closed, and he seemed to be mumbling something in a dream. Xie Jun couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

“Boss, what are you saying?”

Xie Jun bent down, bringing his ear close to Li Zhuoyao’s lips, trying to hear what he was saying. Li Zhuoyao still firmly held his hand, continuously uttering a name.

Zhou Chulan. Dog s**t of the second degree.

This time, Xie Jun heard it clearly.

After a moment of confusion, he remembered that a few days ago, he had seen this name in Li Zhuoyao’s WeChat friend list. When Li Zhuoyao picked up his phone to send a message to that person, his eyes were gentle yet expectant, an expression Xie Jun had never seen on Li Zhuoyao’s face before.

Xie Jun slowly withdrew his hand from Li Zhuoyao’s grip, covered him with the air-conditioned blanket, got up, and quietly closed the door to his room.

The room was pitch black, and the smell of alcohol still lingered. Li Zhuoyao lay on the bed for a while, then woke up, starting to rummage through his pockets, searching for his phone. It took him a few minutes to unlock it successfully.

He was quite drunk, but his brain had a strange sense of clarity. Everything in his mind disappeared, leaving only the shadow of Zhou Chulan. It was like refining the raw material during brewing, leaving only the most intense part.

Li Zhuoyao carefully held his phone, as if it were connected to some precious treasure. He opened the chat box with Zhou Chulan and brought his mouth close to the microphone, sending voice messages in his drunken state.

“Why don’t you reply to my messages…”

“Zhou Chulan… Zhou Chulan…”

His voice was wobbly, with a kind of stubbornness resembling a baby, murmuring Zhou Chulan’s name repeatedly.

“I miss you.”

He finally sent out this sentence, with a hint of sobriety in the drunkenness.

At this point, the three words “Zhou Chulan” in the chat box disappeared and changed to “Typing.”