Chapter 27

Chapter 27

3.4 – Elder brother, thank you for saving me from that sea of misery

Bai Yue did not like to interact much with others, and so was quite resistant to being in environments such as bar parties. Lin Yi had to take advantage of the fact that he knew what Bai Yue wanted to achieve with his return back to the country in order to ensure his attendance.

His original idea was to be a good person this once, and introduce Bai Yue to the young talents of Hai City so that it would be more convenient for him to find resources and investment in the future. This would also make Bai Yue have more goodwill towards himself.

But now…

He watched as Bai Yue laughed, drinking alcohol like it was water, and spoke a few words with everyone he encountered, his interactions not losing one bit to Lin Yi himself, and felt somewhat confused.

Although it was strange, he found that he could not tear his eyes away from this version of Bai Yue.

“That’s the Second Young Master Bai you said we needed to look out for?” A young man with red hair crowded and a cocktail in hand squeezed over to Lin Yi’s side and asked curiously. “What kind of help would someone like him need? Who will take care of us then?”

Lin Yi’s eyes flashed as he shook his head. “He wasn’t like this before.”

“Come on, there’s no one in this circle who doesn’t know how to interact with others. He is Bai family’s second young master. No matter what, it shouldn’t be necessary for you to worry about him. Why does your expression look like you want to mother him?”

Lin Yi glanced at the man beside him and silently stepped on his foot.

Xue Ling made the rounds and covered the whole bar before returning to the place where Lin Yi and their group were gathered. He had drunk a lot of wine and his face was slightly flushed, his smile particularly attractive. “Thank you all for coming to cheer me on today. I’d like to propose a toast to you!” He didn’t know how much he had already drunk, but this kind of occasion required drinking. Not drinking would make it impossible to mix into the group.

Everyone all felt that Second Young Master Bai really knew how to conduct himself and all expressed their praise with the toast, finishing the drinks in their hands. It was only then that Xue Ling sat down to rest.

But apparently the plot was full of nonsense. A young man joined them as soon as he sat down, shouting Lin Yi’s name. He seemed a little uneasy, but his voice was not modest at all. Under the noisy environment and the wildly flashing lights, the slight curve to his lips looked a little cold.

Xue Ling raised his eyebrows and laughed.

Sun Jianan was not born into a good family, and his personality was very ordinary; there was nothing special about him. If it hadn’t been for Lin Yi’s fruitless pursuit of Bai Yue in the last life, therefore causing him to purposely train Sun Jianan to mimic Bai Yue, the Sun Jianan of today would not have his current temperament.

He looked cold and aloof, like a snow lotus growing on a snowy mountain.

Unfortunately, he was an actor that was being cultivated by someone else. If Bai Yue raised his chin and acted like that, the young ladies and gentlemen here might have been able to understand – after all, Second Young Master Bai was an artist, being cold and aloof when interacting with ordinary people like themselves was not a problem. But Sun Jianan was someone who slept his way into this group. His image was inexplicably discordant, made all the more obvious when contrasted with Bai Yue, who did not act like this despite his dazzling performance today.

According to the original plot, although Bai Yue came to the party and wanted to make friends, he was not eloquent and was only able to put on a distant expression and sit to the side. Sun Jianan’s appearance at that time made others feel that he was somewhat special, thus making Lin Yi feel that he was particularly easy on the eyes and became more partial towards Sun Jianan.

In the end, fate worked better than man’s best laid plans. Xue Ling’s laugh looked especially like a fox’s.

Sun Jianan was completely unaware of the group’s strange glances. He sat beside Lin Yi and greeted several people around him.

Lin Yi has been treating him better and better recently. These young masters and young ladies all more or less recognized Sun Jianan, and there was nothing inappropriate about his greetings, but those who were greeted by name felt inexplicably awkward under Xue Ling’s thoughtful gaze as it swept by, lingering long enough to make one feel somewhat anxious before moving away. It made everyone completely unable to understand what he was thinking.

Sun Jianan’s eyes finally fell on Xue Ling. He blinked curiously and greeted, “Hello, I’m Sun Jianan. I’m here with President Lin.”

Xue Ling glanced at him and ignored his words, only asking Lin Yi, “You brought your little lover?”

Lin Yi’s whole body was frozen stiff, his expression a little strange, while everyone around them’s gazes turned sympathetic. Those people here who knew that he liked Bai Yue and had found Sun Jianan as a substitute couldn’t help wondering what was going on in his head. It was fine that he had found a substitute, but to bring him over to meet the original… What was wrong with Lin Yi’s brain?

Lin Yi nodded stiffly and said, “I’ve had some drinks, so I asked him to come and drive.”

Xue Ling made a sound of acknowledgement and whispered under his breath, “Oh, he’s just a designated driver… what was he acting like he was the host of the party for.”

Sun Jianan was close to him, and when he heard what had been said, his facial expression turned sour.

Lin Yi’s expression wasn’t great either as he looked at Sun Jianan with a complicated gaze and did not speak to him. He just raised another glass of wine and said, “Come on, I’ll have another drink with you.”

Xue Ling held up his cup and did not respond to his words, turning to face all the people seated with them and said, “Can anyone still drink? Come and have a few drinks with me!”

The few people who were somewhat embarrassed earlier immediately poured some wine and joined in.

Sun Jianan was left ignored to one side, and his face was extremely ugly. He clenched his fist, wanting to retaliate and take his revenge against Bai Yue now, but he couldn’t. Lin Yi had not yet given up on Bai Yue, and Bai Yue’s current position was not something a small artist like him could shake. The only thing he could do now was endure!

Xue Ling had already spoken with those people and told them that he came back to China in order to graduate, and needed to make an award-winning film. He didn’t want to have to delay his graduation – that would be too embarrassing.

There were also some students amongst this group of young people, and they could not help but laugh when they heard Xue Ling’s complaint, feeling that the distance between them and Second Young Master Bai was not as great and that this person was worth getting to know.

The little fox stuck close to Xue Ling, anxiously turning around in circles. “Host, don’t drink too much!”

Xue Ling was already a little tipsy. In fact, he was surprised that this body could hold this much alcohol. He used the excuse of visiting the bathroom to ask the housekeeper to send a driver to pick himself up. He gave the address of the bar and told them to call him when they arrived.

Having covered his bases, Xue Ling was not as careful about his drinking when he went back. In this kind of occasion, others would not accept him if he didn’t drink enough. Although he did not feel that he needed to care about what these people thought of him, nor did he think that he would need their help in the future, it was still useful to have more friends and broader options. He had originally performed so well in order to contrast himself with Sun Jianan. He shouldn’t stop halfway through just because his aim was achieved.

Sun Jianan was a bit restless. Lin Yi had called him over, but had absolutely no intention of catering to him, and left him to sit alone. This was the first time that he has been treated so coldly by Linyi since they had gotten together.

His clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, wishing he could bite a chunk of meat off Bai Yue’s body.

If not for Bai Yue! Such a thing would never happen!

Xue Ling had already drunk enough to become dizzy, a flush appearing on his pale face, light brown eyes slightly moist, making quite a few people dazed when they saw him, all feeling that Second Young Master Bai was really good looking.

Lin Yi was somewhat worried about him and took away his glass, placing a hand around his shoulder. “Little Yue? Little Yue, are you still okay?”

On the other side, someone called out and teased: “Second Young Master Bai is drunk, but he was invited by you, President Lin. Shouldn’t you be responsible for bringing him back?!”

“What’s the fuss? Don’t you see President Lin’s person sitting to the side?”

“Isn’t that the designated driver? Go and send Second Young Master Bai back. We’ve still got more partying to do, Second Young Master is so good looking, we can’t make sure nothing will happen~”

The person who called out saw Lin Yi prop Bai Yue up just as his voice fell. “He’s drunk. I’ll bring him away first.”

And so, the group resumed their wild revelry.

Sun Jianan clenched his teeth so hard they were about to crack, his gaze pinned on Xue Ling as though wanting to kill him.

Xue Ling had drunk a lot of wine and his body carried the scent of alcohol, smelling particularly good. Lin Yi twitched his nose and reached for his waist, but found that his hand was pushed down by someone else.

He looked up and locked gazes with a pair of eyes that had the beginnings of a major storm brewing in their depths. Lin Yi subconsciously dropped the hand that was propping Xue Ling up, and could only watch as the man with an unfathomable yet discontented expression pulled Xue Ling over to his side.

The booth that had been filled with excited partying just now suddenly quieted down a lot as many people stopped talking. It wasn’t for any other reason than because that man’s imposing manner was too strong. His entire body and posture seemed to scream ‘don’t provoke me, I am in a very bad mood’, and they even found themselves unconsciously holding their breaths, not daring to speak at all.

Lin Yi somewhat regretfully rubbed his fingertips together, reluctant to let go. He narrowed his eyes, then said, “President Bai.”

Bai Hao did not answer him and only gave him a cold glance before opening his mouth: “I came to pick him up.”

Lin Yi nodded, “Now that President Bai came to bring Little Yue back, I’m relieved. I was worried that he would be too drunk to know how to return home.”

“President Lin doesn’t need to bother himself about this kind of thing. It’s enough for you to look after yourself and your own people.” It was not a secret within the circle Bai Hao disliked these kinds of events, so many people knew why he looked so displeased. They could only look at Xue Ling who was being held by his side with some regret, praying that Second Young Master Bai had a relatively good relationship with his eldest brother. Otherwise, he would definitely be cut off.

It was only after he had been supported all the way out of the bar that Xue Ling finally lifted his head, exchanging glances with the cold-gazed Bai Hao. He smiled apologetically, looking a little pitiful and cute.

He was really drunk, but not so bad as to be unable to walk. He pretended to be muddled before just for the sake of angering Sun Jianan and for the benefit of Lin Yi. Fortunately, Bai Hao arrived in time and prevented Lin Yi from taking advantage of him. Otherwise, by the time the final account was settled, both of Lin Yi’s hands would have been cut off.

But, he was rather surprised that Bai Hao was the person who came to pick him up, even entering the bar to look for him. He didn’t think his relationship with his elder brother was that good.

“Have you finished pretending?” After tossing the man into the back seat, Bai Hao also seated himself and signalled for the driver to drive.

Xue Ling changed his posture and laid there lazily, laughing gleefully as he thanked him. “Elder brother, thank you for saving me from that sea of misery.”

“In the future, participate less in these kinds of events. They are all foolish children who have nothing to do all day long. There is no benefit to making friends with them.”

Xue Ling knews that he would not value these contacts. After all, the ones who interacted with Bai Hao were the elders or senior brothers that held real power. In comparison, these young masters really did not count for much. Xue Ling also did not really look up to them, so he nodded and agreed, “Okay, I’ll listen to elder brother.”

Having said that, he found a comfortable spot and went to sleep – he truly was drunk and a bit dizzy.

Bai Hao waited a long time for his next sentence and finally turned his head to see that Bai Yue had already fallen asleep. His eyes were closed, eyelashes trembling slightly, and his little mouth parted and closed following his breathing. If the smell of alcohol hadn’t been lingering around his body, he would be truly lovely.

But, the smell of alcohol on him was not obnoxious.

Bai Hao stared at his sleeping brother, looking slightly enthralled.

editors: alamerysl & BlueBug