After hanging up the phone again, Fan Xiao threw the phone on the poker table.
There was only one spotlight above his head, falling vertically on the table covered with black velvet. Layers of darkness pressed in from behind, and apart from the slender fingers holding the cards on the table, Fan Xiao only revealed a sharp jaw in the light and shadow.
His lips were pursed, and he looked a little annoyed.
"Or Lu Zhen?" Shi Lihua leaned crookedly on the other side of the card table. He placed the cards on the table and shook the wine glass between his fingers. "He broke up with You Shulang because of you. If you avoid him like this, aren't you afraid that he will get discouraged and go back to find your Director You?"
He pulled out a card with his long fingers and threw it lightly in the middle of the table. Fan Xiao sneered in his nasal voice: "You Shulang will never accept him again."
Shi Lihua picked up a card from the deck and pressed it down, continuing lazily, "How can you be sure about love? If your ex-boyfriend acts like a spoiled child, takes off his clothes and starts having sex, how many men can resist?"
The card that was just drawn was pushed back again, and Fan Xiao changed it: "Does this one matter?"
Shi Lihua chuckled: "I can't care. Fan Xiao, you are a vindictive person, even at the poker table."
He drank the wine in one gulp: "But what I said is all good advice. You have never been in love, so you naturally don't understand how easy it is to rekindle an old relationship."
Fan Xiao played a straight, cleared the cards in his hand, and said coldly: "You have lost three times in a row, I want your bottle of Romanee red."
"That's what I prepared for my goddess." Shi Lihua finally straightened his back and gritted his teeth, "Fan Xiao, I advise you to be a better person. Have you ever heard of the saying, 'Success in gambling leads to failure in love'?"
"I haven't heard of it." Fan Xiao simply threw back. He found a note in the secret compartment of the card table, wrote an address and handed it to Shi Lihua's assistant, "Help me deliver the wine here, plus a bouquet of flowers, remember not red roses."
Shi Lihua was helpless. He stretched his neck to take a look, and his expression turned to surprise: "I thought you were using my good wine to please You Shulang, why did you give it to Lu Zhen?"
Fan Xiao threw away his pen, picked up a piece of "Rouge" and bit it, nonchalantly laying out his dark thoughts under the spotlight: "I always have to use some expensive things to support some unrealistic delusions."
"Fuck, You Shulang is being targeted by you, and Lu Zhen is being targeted. I don't know who to sympathize with."
"Do you remember the third young master of the Bai family? The rich second generation you beat for ten minutes." Shi Lihua poured more wine, and the aroma of wine filled half the room. "He really went to see Ann."
Fan Xiao paused, and the cards were no longer turning smoothly between his fingers.
Shi Lihua shook his head helplessly: "Ann really gave you face. She even met such a person."
Fan Xiao lowered his eyes, shuffled the cards skillfully again, and asked lightly, "Are they asleep?"
"No, she drank a few glasses of wine with him, and in the end, Bai Yupeng shamelessly pressed her down and kissed her." Shi Lihua sneered, "Do you think Ann had the intention to kill him at that time? After all, you are all crazy."
His eyes flickered, and he began to gossip: "I heard that last month a young wealthy businessman committed suicide in front of Ann in order to force her to change her mind. His blood was all over the floor, but Ann was still leisurely listening to music and drinking red wine. In the end, it was the wealthy businessman who called the ambulance himself."
After that, Shi Lihua sighed and said, "No, you can give so much to each other, why don't you be together? Why do you have to run so far and spend so much time playing with men?"
The cards were neatly stacked, like someone's perfect life, but Fan Xiao just hooked them with his fingertips and they were scattered and messy. How could there be any perfection in it?
The man's tone was calm, like a monk preaching: "Buddha said nine kinds of people will fall into hell." He smiled gently, "Neither she nor I can escape."
Shi Lihua: "…"
You Shulang was still a little dazed when he put down his luggage.
The Shuxin Oral Liquid project has been launched. On the one hand, we are optimizing the process and conducting R&D and production; on the other hand, we are also working tirelessly to build a sales network and establish channels.
For OTC drugs that are about to be launched, industry endorsement is crucial. Bohai Pharmaceutical is a small company without strong background endorsement, so it turned its attention to expert endorsement.
In the coastal city of S, a grand forum of medical experts is about to be held, and both well-known and unknown pharmaceutical companies want to get a ticket. This is a free ride, and no one wants to miss this opportunity, including Bohai Pharmaceutical.
Admission tickets were difficult to obtain, so the project team selected two main R&D personnel. When they were about to make a decision, the pragmatic and capable General Manager Fan added You Shulang's name to the list, and gave a good reason: Director You understood the business and was good at socializing, so he might be able to win the favor of those older experts.
The air in the coastal city is slightly moist and sticky, and the coconut trees sway their branches, pulling in the charming sea breeze.
The first meal after landing was at a sea view restaurant, which was reserved by You Shulang.
The sea is far away and the sand is nearby. Tourists are laughing and talking in the distance. After the long journey, everyone looks a little lazy and relaxed, except Fan Xiao.
"What's wrong?" You Shulang put the fish meat with bones removed into the empty plate in front of Fan Xiao and asked him in a low voice, "Not to your liking?"
He had taken care of Fan Xiao past the initial stage of mental preparation. The man who injured his hand along the way was like a delicate flower, and he needed to take care of everything by himself. Sometimes You Shulang felt that Fan Xiao's injury was not to his hand, but to his brain, and he had degenerated into a mentally retarded person who could not take care of himself.
But Fan Xiao was injured because of him, and he was drunk and acted like a hooligan a few days ago. Feeling guilty, You Shulang was willing to indulge Fan Xiao, who was always arrogant because of his favor.
The other two people sitting at the table were no longer surprised that You Shulang took care of Fan Xiao. They were privately thankful that Director You was with them. Otherwise, who would take care of Director Fan, who seemed polite but was actually hypocritical? Thinking of this, the two of them were very grateful and turned the belly of the fish over to make it easier for You Shulang to find faults.
Along the way, Fan Xiao followed all of You Shulang's arrangements except for the fish.
He leaned back in his chair and smiled, his drooping eyelashes hiding the emotions in his eyes: "I'm a little tired and have no appetite. Director You, please stop busying yourself and eat by yourself."
He asked the waiter if smoking was prohibited, and after getting a negative answer, he put the cigarette in his mouth.
"I'll do it." You Shulang took the match from his hand, lit it, and brought the flame to Fan Xiao.
In the warm flames, he found that Fan Xiao's muscles tensed instantly, the veins on his uninjured left hand bulged, the cigarette trembled slightly between his teeth, and his pale face was illuminated by the flickering flames.
Before he could finish his concerned words, the man returned to normal, lit a cigarette with You Shulang's hand, raised the corner of his lips, and thanked him in a frivolous manner.
After dinner, the flowing clouds had already burned the sky and the cape red, and the waves pulled down a beam of golden powder and sent it over in waves. However, due to the long journey, the beam of light gradually turned from strong to dim, and when it got closer, only sparkling light was left.
The white sand is soft and the sea breeze is gentle. Someone suggested taking a walk on the beach.
"You guys go ahead." Fan Xiao had a faint smile on his face, "I'll go back and rest first."
When he passed You Shulang, he reached out and patted the man on the shoulder: "Have fun, it will ease the pain of heartbreak."
He deserved to be scolded. But You Shulang only felt that the hand was very cold.
After packing a bowl of udon noodles at a Japanese restaurant, You Shulang carried the bowl to his hotel.
He shared a room with Fan Xiao. When he was on a business trip, there was no reason for him to book a separate room for himself in order to save money. In fact, he had long been accustomed to living with male colleagues on business trips. When he saw someone naked and casual, he would automatically avoid looking at them. He would occasionally go to the sauna with them and never hesitate to tip women.
Therefore, no one doubted his sexual orientation. They just thought that Director You was a clean person who never got involved in messy affairs.
But Fan Xiao knew his sexual orientation. Their beds were next to each other and they shared a bathroom, which made You Shulang feel a little awkward.
"It's not like we haven't slept together before. We've even rolled around in the same bed. Why are you still fussing about this?" When Fan Xiao said this, You Shulang hit him with a stick.
After opening the door with the room card, You Shulang was stunned.
The room was pitch black, without a single ray of light. The endless darkness seemed to expand the small area, and the deep unknown realms and panic spread endlessly, turning this corner into a black hole, waiting to swallow up those who had gone astray.
Subconsciously, You Shulang thought that no one was in the room. He reached out to insert the room card into the distributor, but heard a voice from the dark corner: "Don't turn on the light!"
The voice was trembling and shook slightly as it reached You Shulang's ears.
Then it turned into pain: "Please, don't turn on the light."
You Shulang's eyes changed slightly. He took back the door card, walked into the house, put the noodles on the storage table at the door, turned around and closed the door, cutting off all the light.
"What's wrong Fan Xiao?"
He followed the sound to the sofa, and before he could stand still, he was hugged by the man sitting there. He felt warmth on his abdomen and his cheek pressed against his.
"Let me hold you for a while!" The man's voice was hoarse and heavy, as if he had been rolling in gravel for three days.
It was very tight and pressing. You Shulang felt a sharp pain in his waist.
He didn't move, allowing Fan Xiao to hold him. After feeling the warm and wet skin on his abdomen, his fingers gently ran through the soft hair.
"It's okay, I'm here," he said.