Chapter 6#

Exiting the terminal station of Line 5 and walking two kilometers north, you will find the Tianshan Reservoir.

Even on weekdays, there were still many people fishing at Tianshan Reservoir, mostly retired old men.

No fish were released into the reservoir today, so the fee was only 60 yuan. After paying, Yan Heqing went straight to his spot.

A cove sandwiched between two hills.

Next to him was an old man with a gray beard. It was cold, so he wore a warm woolen hat today and held a saline bottle in his arms.

The saline bottle was a gift from Yan Heqing.

There was no place to charge devices at the reservoir, but hot water was provided. Using a saline bottle filled with hot water to keep warm was very effective. When it cooled down, one could just go and change it for hot water.

It was incredibly useful!

The old man especially liked Yan Heqing. A young lad, yet exceptionally patient when fishing, and eager to learn, asking him for experience every day.

Seeing Yan Heqing arrive, the old man greeted him with a smile, “Little Yan, you’re so early today.”

Yan Heqing put down his fishing bag and smiled, “Not as early as you.”

“I can’t help it,” the old man laughed. “I sleep little. Most of my life has passed, and now all I think about are the fish in this water. I rushed here before dawn, look.”

He gestured for Yan Heqing to look at his bucket. “Good luck today, caught one over 30 centimeters long.”

In the red bucket, a fish was swimming, wagging its tail.

Yan Heqing smiled, unfolded his folding chair, sat down, and baited his hook.

The old man watched him for a while, then suddenly asked, “Little Yan, you’ve been fishing for so long without catching a single fish. Why not change your spot?”

Sometimes you have to believe in metaphysics. In the same place, some people can catch fish, while others can’t catch anything no matter what. Change the spot, and they can catch fish again.

Yan Heqing looked at the calm water surface, his long eyelashes slightly lowered, hiding the gleam in his eyes. “No need.”

“It will be soon.”

…

When the old man caught his second fish, Zhao Huilin and Yan Shengbing arrived at Jing University.

It was their first time at a university, and the guard wouldn’t let them in. “Do you have a staff ID?”

Zhao Huilin smiled apologetically. “No, we are here to see our son. My son is a student at Jing University.”

Yan Shengbing nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes, my son is a university student at your school.”

The guard nodded. “That’s easy then. Ask him to bring his student ID to pick you up.”

Zhao Huilin and Yan Shengbing were both dumbfounded. Zhao Huilin forced a smile. “My phone is out of battery. Let us in, and I’ll go find him myself.”

The guard looked at them suspiciously several times and pushed over the landline phone. “Use this.”

Zhao Huilin had no other choice. She exchanged a glance with Yan Shengbing, and the two rushed inside simultaneously.

The guard had been wary of them. He chased after them quickly with agile steps. “Stop!” He caught up with them in a few strides and twisted their arms to drive them out of the school.

“I’ll call the police if you trespass again!” The guard warned them sternly.

The guard was tall and big. Yan Shengbing only dared to curse in a low voice. Afraid that Yan Shengbing would cause trouble, Zhao Huilin quickly pulled him aside and whispered, “We’ll wait here. Yan Heqing will definitely come out after school!”

Yan Shengbing was smart for once. “Doesn’t the school usually have several exits?”

“One person guards one,” Zhao Huilin gritted her teeth. “We must get the money!”

Mentioning money, Yan Shengbing immediately became energetic. “Okay! I’ll go find the other gates.”

As a result, by past eight in the evening, there was no one left at the gate of Jing University. They hadn’t blocked Yan Heqing.

Yan Shengbing bought a few buns to satisfy his hunger and planned to continue waiting. At this moment, Yan Feng called.

“Mom, Dad…” Yan Feng’s voice was trembling. “Come back quickly, someone is looking for Yan… my brother.”

Yan Shengbing and Zhao Huilin rushed home. In the narrow living room, smoke swirled. Lu Muchi sat on the sofa smoking, while Yan Feng stood against the wall, not daring to move, both pant legs wet.

Zhao Huilin’s heart ached terribly, but she dared not get angry. She humbly approached Lu Muchi a few steps. “Young Master Lu, is there something wrong?”

She was apprehensive, fearing that Lu Muchi was here to settle scores for Yan Heqing.

She had a guilty conscience; their abuse of Yan Heqing was real.

Yan Shengbing was so cowardly that he stayed at the door and didn’t even enter the room.

Lu Muchi’s patience reached its limit. He stubbed the cigarette butt onto the coffee table and crushed it hard. “Where is Yan Heqing?”

Zhao Huilin was stunned. “Didn’t he move to your place?” Immediately realizing that Yan Heqing hadn’t gone to find Lu Muchi, her mind became active again, and she quickly changed her tune. “Young Master Lu, Yan Heqing ran away.”

An unexpected result. Lu Muchi’s cold face froze for a few seconds. “Ran away?”

“Exactly. Yesterday I even persuaded him to go to you, but he actually pulled a long face and left. Now we can’t even contact him.” Zhao Huilin wiped her tears. “We just came back from his school. We waited all day but didn’t see him.”

Hiding from him? Lu Muchi laughed in extreme anger.

It seemed Yan Heqing still didn’t know what kind of person he was.

Lu Muchi stood up, took out a business card, and threw it on the coffee table. “Notify me if you have news of him, understand?”

Zhao Huilin nodded like pounding garlic. “Understood, understood. Young Master Lu, rest assured, we are of one mind with you!”

Lu Muchi left.

Yan Shengbing quickly scurried in, closed the door, locked it, and gasped for breath.

Zhao Huilin ran to check on Yan Feng. “Son, are you okay?”

Yan Feng was dazed for a long while before coming back to his senses and throwing himself into Zhao Huilin’s arms, crying his heart out. “Mom, I’m so scared…”

Zhao Huilin’s heart ached terribly. She hugged him to comfort him. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, Mom is here.”

She didn’t dare to hate Lu Muchi. She couldn’t afford to offend such rich people, so all her hatred was directed at Yan Heqing.

If Yan Heqing had obediently signed the contract that day, they would have already received the 5 million and been enjoying life. How could they suffer like this!

Zhao Huilin stopped abruptly.

An outrageous thought popped into her head. Could all this be Yan Heqing’s deliberate design to take revenge on them?!

—

Lu Muchi went downstairs, and the Mercedes parked in the dark immediately drove up to him and stopped.

In the back seat sat a young boy. He was a student at the Film Academy and had taken a job to play the role of a younger brother who had been adopted.

He was brought here to meet his “brother,” but he had waited in the car for three hours without any movement.

Finally, Lu Muchi returned. The boy sensed his bad mood and didn’t dare to breathe loudly.

Lu Muchi didn’t speak, and the driver didn’t dare to start the car, so they just blocked the road.

The cars behind kept honking.

A few minutes later, Lu Muchi finally spoke, “Get out.”

The driver immediately unbuckled his seatbelt. Lu Muchi added, “Not you.”

He turned his head and looked at the pale-faced boy with zero warmth. “Get out.”

The boy scrambled out of the car.

A storm was brewing in Lu Muchi’s eyes. He really wasn’t quite normal lately, actually finding someone to play Lin Fengzhi.

He was wrong.

Yan Heqing was not worthy of negotiating terms with him at all.

Next time he caught him, he would just take him directly!

Oxygen Bar. The atmosphere in the hall reached its peak because of the new bartender.

Chu Ziyu stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, drinking the Godfather mixed by Yan Heqing.

The taste was different from what he had drunk before. Besides the fragrance of whiskey and the richness of amaretto, there was a faint bitterness.

All the combinations were just right.

“The new bartender is really good,” Chu Ziyu exclaimed. “It’s great to be young; creativity has no limits.”

Xie Yunjie was also holding an Old Fashioned. They were Oxygen’s Black Gold VIPs and ordered the first two cocktails from the new bartender.

The cocktails tasted very good, but Xie Yunjie was focused on another issue. He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the uniformed young man busy behind the bar. “Do you think he looks like someone?”

Chu Ziyu praised him for a while before answering Xie Yunjie, “Who is he?”

Xie Yunjie shook his head. “Looking closely, he doesn’t look like him.”

In fact, the difference was quite big.

One was a greenhouse flower with no desire for exploration, and the other was like the wine he mixed, mysterious and heavy.

Chu Ziyu was confused. “What the fuck are you talking about! Can you say something I can understand?”

Xie Yunjie couldn’t be bothered with him. He turned back to the sofa and sat down, feeling unsatisfied, so he called the manager to order another Martini.

The manager looked troubled. “President Xie, this new bartender made a condition during the interview: only one drink per person per night.”

“Oh.” Chu Ziyu came over and sat opposite Xie Yunjie. “Such a big shot.”

The manager smiled apologetically. “Isn’t that right? But his mixing skills are good, and the boss cherishes talent. So we can only wrong President Xie and President Chu.”

Chu Ziyu nodded in agreement. “That’s right. If you have the ability, you should be arrogant.”

Xie Yunjie became even more interested. “What’s his name?”

“Surname Yan, first name Heqing.” The manager added, “You two are distinguished guests. If you really like his drinks, let me give you a heads-up: he only works on Fridays and Saturdays.”

In the first-floor hall, Yan Heqing could feel the scrutiny from all directions.

After the college entrance examination, in order to earn enough tuition for his freshman year as soon as possible, he worked part-time at a bar with relatively high wages.

He was smart and diligent. He finished his apprenticeship in a week at the bar, promoted from waiter to bartender, and his salary tripled.

But the crowd in the bar was too complex, and he encountered a lot of harassment, both overt and covert.

After earning enough tuition, Yan Heqing resigned.

This time he applied to Oxygen on his own initiative, only for Lu Lin.

For a person in power like Lu Lin, if he wanted to get close, he couldn’t use conventional methods.

His gaze swept calmly over the conspicuous private room on the second floor.

He knew Lu Lin wouldn’t appear today. Fridays and Saturdays were Lu Lin’s working hours, and he only occasionally came on Sundays.

Yan Heqing mixed drinks quietly, ignoring those ambiguous scrutinies, and got off work promptly at 2 AM.

…

For the cocktails mixed by Yan Heqing, Xie Yunjie and Chu Ziyu visited Oxygen for half a month in a row.

“Old Lu, you really should go and taste it.” After dinner, Chu Ziyu sent a voice message in their three-person WeChat group again. “The Godfather mixed by the new bartender is absolutely fucking superb!”

“The Martini is even more superb.” Xie Yunjie immediately sent a voice message. “I dare say it’s the best Martini in the whole capital.”

At 1 AM, Lu Lin replied with three words, “Can’t make it.”

Xie Yunjie wasn’t asleep and replied instantly, “Brother! My dear brother! What’s wrong with shifting a Friday or Saturday! The earth won’t explode if you work one day less!”

Chu Ziyu also popped up quickly. “This Saturday! The 5th anniversary of me being dumped! If my Daddy Lu doesn’t come, I’ll jump off a building.”

Xie Yunjie, “…Damn, Chu Ziyu, you’re even more extreme.”

Chu Ziyu, “Can’t catch President Lu without sacrificing Yuyu!”

Xie Yunjie, “Vomit…”

The next morning, at five o’clock, Lu Lin replied with two words, “What time.”