WSSAPF chapter 11

Li Zhuoyao thought he might be seeing things due to being drunk, so he rubbed his eyes hard.

The next moment, those words disappeared.

Zhou Chulan’s chat box remained silent, like adding calcium carbonate to a glass of water and watching the brief chemical reaction before it settled, leaving only white precipitate.

Li Zhuoyao felt like he was that precipitate, turned into a stone sinking to the bottom of the water. He turned his phone upside down and tossed it aside, drifting into a daze, and fell asleep.

He slept until 10 in the morning, awakened by the hotel’s landline.

“Boss, are you okay? I didn’t dare to wake you up too early.” On the other end of the receiver, Xie Jun’s voice remained gentle.

“Slept well after a good rest.”

“That’s good. You really scared me yesterday. I’ve never seen you so drunk before.” Xie Jun sighed. Thinking about Li Zhuoyao holding onto his phone, he felt a bit bitter.

“It’s just because the program is starting soon, and all the guests are top-tier artists. Shouldn’t I show some hospitality? Didn’t expect I couldn’t hold my liquor.” Li Zhuoyao chuckled.

“Don’t drink like this again in the future. It’s harmful to your health.”

“Hmm, thank you for your hard work yesterday.”

“It’s what I should do. I packed some food for you from the hotel restaurant, and I’ll bring it in for you in a while.”

After about fifteen minutes, Xie Jun knocked on Li Zhuoyao’s room door. He walked in carefully, holding a tray with various types of food.

“You brought so much?” Li Zhuoyao, holding a toothbrush, glanced from a distance at the full tray.

“Not too much. You were heavily drunk last night, vomited several times, and your stomach must be empty. You need to eat more high-carbohydrate and fructose foods to feel better.”

Xie Jun carefully placed the food from the tray onto the table – a glass of orange juice, a bowl of lamb noodles, a small bowl of millet pumpkin porridge, and a banana.

He handed chopsticks to Li Zhuoyao.

“Boss, the lamb noodles here are quite famous. I don’t know if you’ve tried them. The hotel chef did a decent job.”

“Hmm, it smells good.”

Li Zhuoyao lowered his head and quickly finished the noodles. The soup was light, and the lamb piled up thickly inside, almost occupying half the bowl. The taste was good, and the ingredients were substantial, but it wasn’t as delicious as the one at Zhou Chulan’s home.

He silently finished the bowl, even drinking the soup clean. In his mind, memories flashed of the day he had noodles at Zhou Chulan’s house. Zhou Chulan had almost taken all the lamb from the bowl and put them in his bowl.

These noodles didn’t have chili or wood ginger oil, but as Li Zhuoyao ate, his eyes still felt sour.

“What’s on my schedule this afternoon?” He peeled the banana.

“It was originally scheduled for you to go into the mountains with Mr. Gao at 1 o’clock to check the final set decoration inside the villa. But just now, Mr. Gao called and asked you to take a good rest today.”

“No need. Tell him to come here at 1 o’clock, and we’ll depart on time.”

Xie Jun nodded and began to collect the dishes on the table into the tray.

“Boss, do you remember what happened last night?”

“Last night? I have gaps in my memory. What did I do last night?” Li Zhuoyao thought carefully but couldn’t recall anything.

“Not much… Just, when I helped you into the room, you kept calling someone’s name…”

“… Who…”

“I didn’t quite hear it clearly. It seemed like you were calling someone Zhou… something Lan…” Xie Jun looked somewhat nervous, sweating in his palms.

“…”

“Well, Boss, you should rest first. I’ll go now.” With the tray, Xie Jun exited the room. At the moment he closed the door, he sighed deeply.

Li Zhuoyao was still in a daze. Did he really keep calling Zhou Chulan’s name last night? Who knows what else he might have said in his drunken state; he didn’t dare to think about it. He picked up his phone from the bedside and found dozens of new messages on WeChat – group messages from the program team discussing adjustments to the script, a message from Gao Jun asking why he got so drunk, and even friend requests from the artists’ agents he had dinner with yesterday.

The sixth chat contact was Zhou Chulan, showing the latest message was a 3-second voice message. Li Zhuoyao clicked in and saw that he had sent a series of drunken voice messages to Zhou Chulan last night. Each segment was filled with immense drunkenness and a hint of wine. His tone was far from calm, sounding more like a child wanting candy.

But the person on the other side didn’t give him any candy.

Those voice messages, juxtaposed with his appearance, seemed like a joke. Li Zhuoyao stood by the window, lighting one cigarette after another.

At 1 o’clock, Gao Jun came to the door of his room on time. As soon as he entered, he shook his head due to the smell of smoke.

“Why are you smoking so much again? I heard you got as drunk as a dead dog last night.”

While speaking, he took the already full ashtray from the table and emptied it.

“I’m fine. Let’s go, you drive my car.”

Two consecutive sunny days had dried the muddy mountain road. Gao Jun drove Li Zhuoyao’s car along the winding mountain road. As they didn’t drive much, the speed wasn’t too high.

“Your car’s steering wheel feels a bit stubborn. Find some time to go to a repair shop and have it checked.” Gao Jun spoke while driving.

“I haven’t really noticed.”

Li Zhuoyao kept looking out of the window, where green trees flashed before his eyes. The mountain road, once washed away by mudslides, had been repaired, and the car smoothly reached the entrance of the villa. Zheng Nanyun, along with a dozen staff, was still busy inside the villa.

“You arrived at the right time. The large pieces of furniture and bedding are almost arranged. The rest is up to you guys.”

She walked towards them, sweat on her face.

“The items are arranged nicely. I think I could have left, and you would have managed fine.” Gao Jun carefully examined the interior decorations and gave Zheng Nanyun a thumbs-up.

“You, don’t think about slacking off.” Zheng Nanyun glanced at Gao Jun, but couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

Watching the two of them, Li Zhuoyao felt the atmosphere was very pleasant. Between him and Zhou Chulan, there had been skin contact and a fiery ambiguous atmosphere, but moments like this of peaceful and beautiful days were rare. It seemed like there was always a rope between them; he had to hold it tightly to confirm that on the other end, Zhou Chulan was still there.

They worked in the mountain until evening, finally completing the entire house’s decoration design.

“After working for several days, we can finally call it a day.” Gao Jun wiped the sweat from his forehead and carefully inspected the inside of the villa again, showing a satisfied admiration on his face.

“You’ve picked some great decorative items. They really add the finishing touch.”

“I also think it looks pretty good.” Li Zhuoyao looked at the batik painting hanging in the center of the living room. The painting depicted a phoenix, and beneath its feet were two carp. The phoenix, known as the auspicious bird, was believed to bring good weather. The phoenix looked vivid, and after staring at it for a while, Li Zhuoyao couldn’t help but devoutly make a wish.

“Let’s go.” Li Zhuoyao locked the door of the villa from the outside and went down the mountain with Gao Jun.

As they were descending, the fuel alarm went off.

“Your car is almost out of gas. I remember there’s a gas station nearby. Search for it.”

“Alright…”

Li Zhuoyao took out his phone, staring blankly at the location of the gas station marked with a star on the map.

The navigation guided the car towards Zhou Chulan’s house.

Upon reaching the entrance, Li Zhuoyao hesitated to get out. Thinking about his ridiculous drunken state from last night, he felt a bit embarrassed. He chose to stay in the car, letting Gao Jun handle the refueling.

Zhou Chulan wasn’t in the yard. His father was sweeping fallen leaves in the yard. Spotting Li Zhuoyao through the window, he warmly greeted.

“Director Li? You’re here.”

Li Zhuoyao had no choice but to open the car door, talking to Zhou Chulan’s father while avoiding eye contact, sneakily glancing around the courtyard. Zhou Chulan was not there, and the rooms he stayed in were locked.

“Is Zhou Chulan not at home?” Li Zhuoyao finally asked.

“No, he went to town to buy something. Do you need to find him for something?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just asking casually.”

For some reason, hearing that Zhou Chulan was not at home made Li Zhuoyao feel a bit empty inside.

“The refueling is done.”

“Okay, thanks.” Gao Jun paid and called for Li Zhuoyao to leave.

After walking a few steps, Li Zhuoyao turned back to Zhou’s father.

“Uncle… When Zhou Chulan comes back, could you please tell him I came today?”

“Sure. I’ll tell him when he returns.”

Li Zhuoyao got into the car. As soon as he fastened his seatbelt, Gao Jun started laughing while looking at him.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Recently, you’ve been acting strange. One minute a smoking maniac, the next a drinking maniac. It seems like you’re hitting a wall here…”

“…”

“I’m just curious. What kind of person got you acting like this? These mountain guys have such charm? I’ve never seen anyone captivate you like this before. Let me meet him one day.”

“Let’s talk about that later… Watch the road ahead.”

Gao Jun was his childhood friend. In high school, Li Zhuoyao had been open about his attraction to men, and Gao Jun had always been sharp.

After about half an hour, they returned to the hotel. As soon as they got out of the car, Li Zhuoyao realized his wallet was left on the mountain. It contained his ID, bank cards, room card, and other important items.

“I left my things on the mountain. I have to go back.”

Gao Jun looked up at the thick clouds in the sky. The weather seemed to be turning gloomy.

“The earlier you go, the earlier you’ll be back. I feel like it’s going to rain again soon.”

Li Zhuoyao drove back into the mountains, searching around the villa, and found his wallet on the table in the living room.

He sighed in relief, took the wallet, and walked out through a side door he rarely used. It was a small wooden door leading to the entire courtyard. Pushing it open, he discovered a pomegranate tree behind it had blossomed. The bright red flowers, set against the green leaves, looked like dancing flames.

The paintings hung on the walls of Zhou Chulan’s house also depicted pomegranate trees, burning with unruly flames.

Looking at this pomegranate tree, memories of some familiar scenes flashed in Li Zhuoyao’s mind. In some place in his memory, it seemed there were many pomegranate trees, blooming together, appearing like clouds of mist and splashes of color.

Where was that place? He couldn’t remember.

At this moment, a distant thunder sounded. Li Zhuoyao quickly locked the door, got into the car, and drove down the mountain.

As they reached halfway down the mountain, the rain started pouring, making the road slippery. Li Zhuoyao slowed down, gripping the steering wheel cautiously. From a distance, he saw a stone with the words “Dapingpo” engraved on it.

Closer to the stone, the road became narrower. With the rain getting heavier, the ground became slippery. Li Zhuoyao held the steering wheel tightly, the wheels turning slowly in the rain. Due to the rain, the rear wheels started to slide, and the car tilted slightly to the right. Entering the narrowest part of the Dapingpo road, the car had to move to the left to pass. On the right side was a cliff tens of meters deep.

At this moment, the right rear wheel had already slid to the edge of the cliff. Li Zhuoyao quickly turned the steering wheel to the left, but the car continued to move forward. The tire had even sunk into the mud and sand at the edge of the cliff, teetering on the edge. He whispered in dismay, trying to turn the steering wheel sharply to the left, but the car still didn’t respond. In the next second, the steering wheel completely lost control due to intense rotation, and it was about to plunge off the cliff. Li Zhuoyao urgently hit the brakes, quickly pulled up the handbrake, and a third of the car was left hanging on the mountainside. The wheels, due to inertia, were still turning, and the entire car shivered precariously on the edge of the cliff.

The steering wheel malfunctioned. Gao Jun had reminded him during the day, but he didn’t pay attention because his mind was in chaos.

Li Zhuoyao was drenched in cold sweat, unable to move. He didn’t dare to look down. At the edge of the cliff below were various shapes and sizes of brownish-gray stones. Several tall pine trees grew from the crevices, and the closest one was even near the car, its needles swaying in the wind and rain.

Li Zhuoyao sat in the car, taking over ten seconds to calm himself down, his heart pounding loudly, his hands shaking so much that he could barely hold the phone.

Various thoughts crossed his mind – whether calling for help now would last until rescue arrived. After all, the rain hadn’t stopped, the wind was blowing, and he and the car were horizontally hanging on the cliff, ready to fall into oblivion. He was only 30 years old; he didn’t want to die. There were still many things he hadn’t done.

These scattered thoughts were like fireflies fluttering in the dark night, flickering. The brightest one was a lamp, casting the shadow of Zhou Chulan.

He called Zhou Chulan, but once again, no one answered. He didn’t know if Zhou Chulan was genuinely busy or if he was habitually ignoring him, as before.

Li Zhuoyao then sent a WeChat message to Zhou Chulan, thinking that if Zhou Chulan still didn’t reply, he would call the police for help.

“I’m in trouble. The steering wheel malfunctioned, and the car is hanging on the road at Dapingpo.”

He sent this message to Zhou Chulan and placed the phone in his pocket, quietly awaiting the favor of the goddess of fate.

Almost in an instant, Zhou Chulan’s phone immediately connected.