Chapter 4 - Alcohol Intoxication (1/2)

Chapter 4: Alcohol Intoxication

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Translation

The next day, Li Sui didn’t make go to the company. Lu Shang left before the sky lit up and he didn’t wake Li Sui up either. When Li Sui got up, he asked sister Lu and that was when he knew Lu Shang had an important opening ceremony in the countryside.

“Have some breakfast first, this is fresh milk that arrived this morning. Lu Lao Ban said your legs cramped last night, so he wanted you to drink more milk.”

“My legs cramped?” Li Sui had no idea.

Sister Lu laughed obscurely, “Boys who are getting taller always get cramps at night. If you don’t take the chance and eat more, you’d regret it later.”

Li Sui remembered in the midst of his slumber, there was a point when he felt a bit of pain in his legs. He wasn’t very sensitive to pain, so that little bit of it didn’t affect his sleep. He didn’t wake up, but his legs probably moved around a lot, waking Lu Shang up from his shallow sleep.

“Thank you, sister Lu.” Li Sui felt guilty. Lu Shang’s state of health was bad already, yet he interrupted his sleep. If it was someone less kind, Li Sui would have been kicked off the bed long ago, let’s not even talk about warm milk in the morning to treat him.

“You should call me Aunt Lu, I’m this old already. I could barely accept Lu Lao Ban calling me sister. You are so young that you can literally be my son, don’t call me sister.”

“Have you known Lu Lao Ban for a long time already?”

“Hum, about ten years or so.”

Li Sui thought for a bit and asked, “So you’ve taken care of the ones Lu Lao Ban had prior to me too?”

“Prior to you?” Aunt Lu paused but immediately caught on to what Li Sui was insinuating. She laughed, “What prior to you? What kind of person do you think Lu Lao Ban is?”

It was Li Sui’s turn to freeze up. He tried pushing for more answers. “There’s no way that he only has me, right? Like maybe not here but living elsewhere?” As he was asking, Li Yan came across his mind. Li Yan was a traditional rich playboy, having more ladies around him than the clouds. He had so many mistresses that they could fill up an ancient Chinese palace. Everyday he had to roll dice to decide where he would sleep. When Lu Shang first mentioned being his benefactor, he just thought he was one of many. Someone to be thrown away after Mr. Lao Ban got his laugh and had enough. Yet seeing Aunt Lu’s reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case. This made Li Sui feel uneasy.

Aunt Lu was humored up by Li Sui. “What is in that little head of yours? Lu Lao Ban is a serious person, unlike those rich and wasteful men out there. I’ve served the Lu family for so long and Lu Lao Ban has never gotten close to anyone. Not even bringing someone back home.” Even after saying that, Li Sui was still in doubt, so she added, “Don’t tell anyone, okay? I’ve never been through anything dramatic, but there is this one thing that I can’t get out of my heart. I had a husband once, he happened to be one of those unfaithful men. So, we divorced and I brought my son to live with me here. If Lu Lao Ban is someone like that too, I certainly wouldn’t serve him for so long.”

Li Sui was confused. He knew Lu Shang was different from others he had met before. Lu Shang didn’t like lively places with huge crowds and he didn’t hold any interest in going to the red-light districts either. Most of his time was spent on work. However, Li Sui never knew Lu Shang’s private life was so scarce.

“Just live here happily, okay?” Aunt Lu gave Li Sui two pieces of turnip cake, then she comforted Li Sui. “The only problem is his health and he really does need someone close to take care of him. I suggested maybe he should find a lady, but Lu Shang said ladies have never fit him from the day he was born. And then I saw him bring you home… Ha, I remember old man Yuen talking about it when he was drunk last year. Who knew that it was true. But then again, a lady really might not be able to take care of Lu Shang. You seem nice though.”

Aunt Lu didn’t specify what “it” was, she said it in a really vague way, but Li Sui could grasp what she meant. Lu Shang didn’t just suddenly want a guy with him one day, he was always a homosexual. In Li Sui’s long and complicated years of growth, his own sexuality was always a mystery. He never thought of a male loving another male as weird, as he had seen many in his years working in the bar. In his mind, whether the partner was female or male didn’t make much differences. Li Sui never fell in love with anyone before, nor was he loved by anyone. Lu Shang was the closest person to a lover he had. He felt fortunate but also insecure.

“Stop daydreaming, start eating already. Lu Lao Ban will come pick you up later.” Aunt Lu hurried Li Sui.

Lu Shang didn’t come himself, he asked someone to pick Li Sui up and drove him to the company. The first thing that greeted Li Sui after he stepped in was a huge blue logo, beneath it was the words “Tong Yan Corporation”. The offices for the higher-ups were on the top floors and Uncle Yuen only escorted him to the elevator. Li Sui walked out of the lift alone and went to the center of the floor just as the meeting ended. Scores of people left the conference room and Li Sui walked past them to find Lu Shang surrounded by people.

This was the first time Li Sui saw Lu Shang in the workplace. He was wearing a dark suit, looking calm and influential among the crowd. Sometimes tilting his head to listen and sometimes raising his hand to stop them. An indisputable aura slipped out from his little gestures and words.

Those sharp eyes caught onto Li Sui from afar. At that moment, they softened a few notches. He waved his hand for a female assistant, “Xiao Yeung, bring him to my office and give him some fruit to eat.”

The assistant replied “yes” immediately. With the interruption, everyone started looking at Li Sui, scanning him.

“There are some urgent things I need to deal with, wait for me in the office, okay?” Lu Shang tapped on Li Sui’s shoulder lightly after he turned around.

Li Sui felt his heart clench, he immediately lowered his head and replied a light, “Hmm.”

The female assistant brought out a plate of strawberries and she even poured Li Sui a cup of coffee. Li Sui couldn’t smell the nice aroma of coffee beans, instead he only found it bitter.

“Oh, you are not used to it.” She said and left to get milk tea. When she returned, a few plushies appeared in Li Sui’s hands. The plushies were little turtles with green shells, there were five to six of them. They all looked the same but were in different sizes, as if they were a family.

Those were one of the higher-up’s seven-year-old daughter’s toys, he forgot about them when he left. Li Sui stared at the little turtles scattered on the table, for some reason he just couldn’t stand them all messed up. So, after the assistant left, he sorted them, then stacked them up according to their sizes. As an assistant, instead of tidying them up herself, she left her guest to do it, of course this was a miss on her part. She was going to clean them away, feeling dejected, but Lu Shang stopped her.

“Let him have them.”

The assistant was startled, she had no idea when Lu Shang arrived at the door. The later didn’t look at her though. Lu Shang’s gaze went through her, reaching Li Sui, his expression was deep and focused. Gossip and stories surfaced in her mind, the situation was beyond her coping power so she left the room with a pale face.

“What’s wrong with her?” Li Sui raised his head and asked.

Lu Shang closed the office door indifferently, “She is a new intern. She’s a little careless in her work. You don’t have to mind her. Come to think of it, I haven’t asked yet. Do you mind if I tell everyone about our relationship?” He sat down across Li Sui.

Li Sui heard Lu Shang call his name the first time, so his tongue twisted, “Lu Lao Ban… doesn’t mind?”

“I don’t mind.” Lu Shang said directly.

“Then I don’t mind either.”

“Why? Aren’t you afraid others would look down on you?”

“You saved me, not anyone else.”

Lu Shang was shocked, he didn’t know Li Sui would classify people like that. Lu Shang picked him up without thinking much, but Li Sui had already classified him as the most important person. This pure and simple sentence made what Lu Shang was about to say harder.

“Are you still afraid I will return you to Li Yan?” Lu Shang tried asking.

The hands that were holding the soft toys tightened subconsciously.

Observing the slight change, Lu Shang sighed. He picked up a strawberry with a toothpick, delivering it to Li Sui’s mouth. Gently he said, “Your life is in your own hands, to leave or stay, you have the right to decide. So, you don’t have to worry. If, one day, you make up your mind to leave, I’ll send you to a safe place.” After Lu Shang finished, he smiled lightly, “This will take effect forever.”

Li Sui’s mouth was stuffed full of strawberries. Hearing what Lu Shang said, he felt hints of bitterness linger in his throat. Lu Shang was more sensitive than Li Sui had originally thought. The things Li Sui did to butter up to him or to try his intentions were all seen clearly. Lu Shang knew what Li Sui was doing, but he didn’t voice them out. Instead, Lu Shang used this bland, vague way to tell Li Sui that “it’s fine now, he is accepted here”. Li Sui felt like the little turtle in his hands, as if his shell was forced open and the insecurities hiding beneath were pulled out for the naked eye to see.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door, cutting into their conversation.

“Executive Lu, Yan Ke returned the call, he agreed to use 6% of his stocks to…” The other person said half of the sentence and stopped abruptly.

Lu Shang waved his hand, “He is one of our people, please continue.”

The person who walked in hurriedly was a short man. He wore a pair of glasses and his face was lively, giving of a intelligent aura. He had never seen Li Sui before, so he hesitated. He lowered his voice and whispered into Lu Shang’s ears just to be safe.

Li Sui couldn’t hear what they were saying, neither was he interested. He only noticed the expression that appeared on Lu Shang’s face, after he finished hearing what the man had to say, could only be described as somewhat happy. “Agree to his demands.”

The man in glasses replied with a worried face, “Then your stock holdings would reach 40%, isn’t that too eye-catching?”

Lu Shang contemplated, “Let’s make a deal with him in secret for now, leave the real transfer till next year.”

The glasses man nodded, “I will go make the contract now.”

Before the man left the room, Lu Shang said, “WeiLan, tell Yan Ke that I’m borrowing his daughter’s toys.”

Xe WeiLan was baffled, “What?”

Lu Shang picked up a turtle and waved it around, Xe WeiLan laughed at his own stupidity and left.

As the heavy snow showed no signs of subsiding, the two of them left the company in the afternoon. Li Sui saw a couple of trucks taking out boxes of champagne, then it struck him, today was the last day of the year. There would be an employee’s dinner tonight. He finally realized that it was going to be the new year soon.

Lu Shang brought Li Sui to a dojo at the foot of a mountain. Surrounding the building was a field of bamboo trees making it a serene place. Li Sui walked in and found a lot of people sitting inside, mostly men. Their attire was casual and some didn’t even wear tops. Inside the dojo was the strong smell of cigarettes and beer. Unlike the white-collar workers in the company, it was evident that these people weren’t office workers.

“Thank you for the wait.” The second Lu Shang walked in, everyone stood up to greet him. The one leading them was a huge, muscular man that went by the name, Zuo Chao.

“Zuo, let them set up the table.” Lu Shang said, “Let’s talk while we eat.”

A large round table that could accommodate thirty people was set up. Lu Shang sat in the center seat while Li Sui sat on his right (iii). That was originally Zuo Chao’s seat, but when he saw Lu Shang brought someone with him, he let Li Sui have the seat instead. It was meant to be a symbolical act only, Zuo Chao didn’t expect Lu Shang to really give the seat to Li Sui, but he did. This act stated a few things, everyone including Zuo Chao had some unspoken thoughts.