Twelve

 "Tonight we had sushi at Sakashima. There were quite a few sashimi dishes; Su Hao tried one and dared not eat more. Instead, she had shrimp and seaweed, which tasted great. Shen He looked at the sashimi and thought it was fortunate they had only ordered one. He paired it with barley tea and ate. Seeing this, Su Hao reached out and poured tea for him.

'Hao Hao, you're so kind,' Shen He lifted the cup and took a sip before pushing mochi towards Su Hao.

Su Hao took it, picked one, and ate it. Inside was matcha, a bit bitter but with a soft and sticky outer layer, very delicious. Shen He glanced at the neighboring tables where couples were sitting together, some feeding each other with arms around shoulders. He paused, swallowed the salmon, and looked at Su Hao across from him in the dim light. Su Hao's features were soft but unusually calm, lacking the obvious shyness.

Perhaps, from the time they met until now, she had rarely shown shyness.

Thinking this, Shen He wondered if he was lacking something.

Just as he picked up his phone to edit, he received two WeChat messages from Zhou Yang.

He stared at them for a moment.

His gaze fell on the words 'Liang wine'.

Liang wine was a signature dreamy wine from Huangliang Winery, something he had always wanted to try but never had the chance until now.

Alcohol.

Seeing what Zhou Yang wrote next, he hesitantly raised his head and looked at Su Hao.

Alcohol.

This thing was quite chaotic.

Shen He coughed and edited his message.

Shen He: Okay, send me the address. We'll come over after dinner.

A second later, he edited again.

Shen He: Brother Zhou Yang, let me ask you something. How can you make a woman feel shy?

Zhou Yang: Share the address.

Zhou Yang: This question? Heh, guess?

Shen He: ... You won't say? Stingy.

Zhou Yang: Come over for drinks. I'll tell you later.

Shen He: Okay.

After putting down his phone, Shen He glanced at Su Hao, who was also looking at her phone. Liao Yun had sent her some old photos, over a decade old, very nostalgic. Especially one where she had her hair loose, a hairpin clipped to her ear, laughing with squinted eyes, looking silly and innocent.

This smile, placed in the present, she might not be able to smile like that anymore.

After looking at them for a while, she suddenly remembered. This was the first photo she saw of Zhou Yang, taken by Liao Yun at that time.

A silver sedan drove down the muddy road and stopped behind the rice paddies. Zhou Yang was dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, smiling broadly as he approached, leaning against the car roof with a cigarette between his fingers.

Back then, Zhou Yang was in his second year of high school.

'Hao Hao.'

Su Hao was startled, raised her eyes, and looked at Shen He opposite her. 'Oh.'

'Haha, why do you look a bit dazed?' Shen He laughed and said, 'Shall we go to the winery later?'

'The winery?'

'Yes, Li Yi's winery from last time.'

Li Yi.

The man with the crew cut.

Su Hao hesitated for a moment, glanced at the time, 'Is it too late?'

'No, it's still early at this hour. I just want to see a wine and taste a bit more. Then I'll have the driver take you home.' Shen He urged, seeing Su Hao's eyes brighten, he didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, so he nodded, 'Okay.'

Shen He smiled, fed her a sushi, and picked up the menu.

First, he paid the bill. Su Hao finished the remaining sushi in front of her. Shen He also settled the bill. Su Hao wiped her lips with soy sauce, picked up her bag, stood up, and followed Shen He.

It was still early when they arrived, but now night had fallen outside. The lights were all lit up, bustling to the extreme. Su Hao remembered the photos Liao Yun sent and decided to take some iconic buildings and sent them to Liao Yun.

Among them was Feijie.

Feijie had done very well in short videos in the past two years.

Liao Yun often played on that app.

And a few Internet giants, as well as two real estate companies.

Liao Yun: Wow, they're really rooted in Licheng, making me want to go to Licheng too.

Liao Yun: Changsheng Company's building is so tall, is it really seventy-two floors?

Su Hao looked at the towering buildings that seemed to almost disappear into the clouds, unable to distinguish if they were really that tall. Once in the car, Shen He started the car, seeing her looking at the building, he smiled and said, 'It's not seventy-two floors, only fifty-three floors, exaggerated.'

'Oh, okay.' Su Hao nodded and replied to Liao Yun.

The car drove onto the main road and headed towards Li Yi's winery. Li Yi's winery was quite remote, in the suburbs, occupying a large area. The winery wasn't open to the public for sales, only used for entertaining friends from the business and inner circles. Thus, it housed a collection of fine wines. At night, the winery nestled against the mountain emitted a faint fragrance of wine, very elegant.

At the entrance was a fenced courtyard.

With a yellow sign hanging.

On it was written 'Wine'.

After parking the car, Su Hao stepped down on the wooden floor. The air carried a sweet scent. Shen He locked the car, walked around the front, and led Su Hao towards the courtyard. 

"Not far away, there were quite a few cars parked. Even before entering, I could hear some laughter, which seemed particularly conspicuous in this quiet place." Shen He whispered to Su Hao, "Watch your step."

Su Hao smiled and nodded, stepping onto the cobblestones. Finally, they ascended the steps, and light spilled out from inside the house. It wasn't very bright, more of a warm orange hue.

In the middle, a large private booth seated four men and two women. One man in a black shirt with glasses, exuding a somewhat refined air, sat beside a very beautiful woman, both engrossed in conversation. Another man in a black top and jeans, fingers holding a cigarette against his knee, also had a woman beside him. Then there were Zhou Yang and Li Yi. Zhou Yang held a pair of cards between his fingers, cigarette in his mouth, leisurely playing the cards, with a flirtatious demeanor, teasing the man in the black top opposite him, "You lit a cigarette, why not smoke it? Afraid?"

The man raised his eyebrows, snorted coldly, "Afraid of what?"

"Then smoke it."

"Zhou Yang." Jiang Yu glanced at Yun Lu beside him, who blinked but didn't say anything. Yet Jiang Yu himself dared not move.

Zhou Yang laughed, "Admit it, stop acting tough."

Xu Dian kicked the table lightly, glanced at Zhou Yang, and sneered, "You..."

Suddenly, Xu Dian tilted his head slightly, "Su Hao?"

The name was called very clearly.

Through his glasses, those peach blossom eyes scanned Su Hao's face. Su Hao was stunned. Who was this person? She instinctively nodded, "Hello."

A gentle and pleasant voice, heading straight towards Zhou Yang.

The cards in Zhou Yang's hand slammed shut. He calmly lowered the cigarette, blew a smoke ring, then turned back, glancing at Shen He and Su Hao, "Here? Come over."

Shen He picked up a cigarette from the side, behaving like a junior, one by one, distributing them. A group of handsome men couldn't help but laugh.

Li Yi asked, "Isn't this the wedding cigar?"

Shen He coughed, glanced at Su Hao beside him, and said, "Not yet, just my treat for you guys, alright?"

"Alright, then smoke your own cigarette," Xu Dian teased him.

Shen He: "..."

A minute later, Shen He introduced Su Hao to them. Su Hao figured out that the one with glasses was called Xu Dian, and the woman beside him was Meng Ying, his wife. Su Hao then realized she was the queen of films; she had seen twins and thought of the stories Liao Yun had talked about regarding these two. She lightly swept her eyes over the overly handsome Xu Dian. This netted her a smile from Meng Ying, so Su Hao quickly returned the favor.

The man in the black top was Jiang Yu, and the woman beside him was his wife. She didn't look like she was already married, appearing quite beautiful and cute. She waved at Su Hao.

Her name was also quite ancient, called Yun Lu.

The sofa was made up of six double sofas, one for each couple, one each for Zhou Yang and Li Yi. Both men were quite arrogant. Shen He arranged for Su Hao to sit next to him, and Su Hao didn't refuse. Zhou Yang threw his cards down, glanced at Su Hao, and casually asked, "How's work these past couple of days?"

Su Hao softly replied, "It's been alright."

"Don't you have anything else to say?" Zhou Yang played another king and lazily looked at her, his gaze sweeping over her neck and the off-shoulder dress she wore tonight. Her collarbones were delicate, able to hold water. It was also black, and her skin was even whiter than the cards in her hand.

Su Hao was stunned, looking at his slender eyes. She could vaguely sense that he probably knew about her current difficulties at work.

She shook her head gently and smiled, "Nothing."

"Oh, alright, Su Hao, you're quite impressive." Zhou Yang saw that she wanted to handle it herself and smiled, kicking Li Yi, saying, "It's your turn, why are you having trouble playing your cards?"

Li Yi suddenly gave him a meaningful glance, then played his cards.

Shen He watched and asked, "Is it just the three of you playing?"

There was also Yun Lu, who seemed to be the landlord, being dominated by the two. Shen He wanted to join in. Zhou Yang threw down the last king, overwhelming Yun Lu. Then he took out a dice cup, slammed it on the table, looking quite imposing, "Since that's the case, let's play dice. Ah Liang, bring over the Liang wine."

A server wiping the liquor cabinet nearby nodded, turned, and headed towards the cellar.

Shen He tapped the table, "We're playing dice now?"

Zhou Yang looked at him and smiled, "Interested?"

"Sure, Zhou Yang, you underestimate my drinking capacity."

"Is that so? Let's try."

Then he pointed at Su Hao, "You're not playing."

Xu Dian pointed at Meng Ying, "You're not playing."

Jiang Yu pointed at Yun Lu, "You're not playing."

Li Yi leaned back on the sofa and smoked, "Are you guys playing Solitaire?"

He glanced at Zhou Yang again. Zhou Yang rattled the dice cup, didn't look at Li Yi, and Su Hao wasn't good at drinking, so she definitely wasn't playing. She whispered softly to Shen He, "Take it easy, you have to work tomorrow, right?"

The tone of that instruction was like asking for a glass of water, soft and gentle. Zhou Yang paused for a moment with the dice in his hand, pulled his collar, lit a cigarette, smoked it, then turned back to shake the dice. Next, several people started shouting numbers from Zhou Yang's end.

His next opponent was Li Yi, who shouted quite high numbers.

But Li Yi didn't follow his lead and called out something else. So it went all the way down, until it reached Shen He. Zhou Yang's next opponent was Shen He, who hadn't shouted any numbers, and no one else could play. So he called out the number for Zhou Yang to come up.

Zhou Yang didn't look at anything else, lifted the cup: "Open it."

No numbers at all.

Shen He had to drink, and he hesitated for a moment, helplessly saying, "Brother Zhou Yang, you're so cunning!"

Zhou Yang leaned on his knee, cigarette between his fingers, looking at him with a smile, "I'm offering you a drink, don't you want to drink it?"

"I did, but after losing to you, I'm not so eager anymore." Shen He snorted and finally picked up the drink. It was strong, and he glanced at Su Hao, asking, "What if I get drunk?"

Su Hao had watched a round just now and understood how this was played, so she lost interest. She held her phone and said seriously, "I'll take you home."

Zhou Yang was rolling dice on the side.

Casually, he smiled and said, "He has a driver, and you can't drive. How will you take him?"

After saying this, he casually glanced at Su Hao, who shrugged. Zhou Yang looked away, lit his cigarette, took a drag without inhaling.

Shen He, however, chuckled contentedly, "That's okay, I'm not afraid of getting drunk—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhou Yang called out the dice roll.

"Eight fives."

Li Yi quickly took the count and glanced at Zhou Yang again. In a while, he was editing his phone.

Li Yi: You seem quite eager tonight.

Ding ding twice, Zhou Yang didn't pick up his phone to look, focused on the dice in front of him. Later, whether Shen He had a hunch or not, many people opened up to him.

The Liang wine made him unable to taste anything.

Later on, he started feeling a bit drunk.

Seeing this, Su Hao quickly got up and walked over, poured a glass of water for him. Her black dress brushed against Zhou Yang's arm, and Zhou Yang glanced at it a few times.

The water glass was placed in front of Shen He. Su Hao whispered, "Drink some water, too much alcohol isn't good."

Shen He rubbed his forehead, nodded, picked up the glass, and took a sip.

It felt somewhat comforting.

Suddenly, Zhou Yang pushed the dice cup away, leaned back, legs crossed, and looked sideways at Shen He and the standing Su Hao. His narrow eyes narrowed as he smiled and asked, "Drunk already?"

Shen He half-opened his eyes, leaning against the sofa armrest. After a while, he said, "I can still drink."

He was a bit unwilling to admit defeat.

Because he hadn't won against Zhou Yang tonight.

Zhou Yang smiled, "I won't drink with you anymore. I'll call a driver to take you home."

Saying this, he picked up his phone and dialed the driver's number to come and take Shen He back to his residence in Li City. Soon, the driver arrived, came in, and helped Shen He up. He was Shen He's driver, and after helping him up, Su Hao picked up her small bag and followed behind. Suddenly, Zhou Yang's voice rang out from behind, "Su Hao."

Su Hao stopped and turned around.

The man bent down, extinguished his cigarette, casually picked up the car keys, and said, "I'll drive you."

Su Hao paused for a moment, smiled back, "You should also call for a driver. You can't drive, and besides, I promised Shen He to take him home, and I must do it."

After saying that, she turned and walked away.

Zhou Yang stood still for a moment, stunned.

A few seconds later, there was a sigh behind him, he came back to his senses, smiled and sat down, clicked his tongue, saying, "I forgot I had been drinking too."

"Oh, really?" Li Yi replied lightly over there.

Late at night, Shen He was getting a little sleepy from the alcohol. The driver could only support him tightly, and Su Hao followed behind, a bit protective. They walked without paying attention to the road. A woman clattered over in high heels, suddenly bumping into Su Hao's shoulder. The woman staggered backward, her shoe caught in the gap of the stone path.

The woman impatiently exclaimed, "How can you walk like that?"

Her voice was tender and familiar.

Su Hao was stunned and turned her head. She met Li Rui's bold eyes. Seeing Su Hao, Li Rui snorted, then saw Shen He beside Su Hao, squinted her eyes, and finally turned her angry face a few times before pointing at Su Hao, saying, "You have to compensate me for my shoes."

Su Hao looked down.

Her red high heels were stuck, and the heel seemed about to break.

Shen He was eager to go home, and Su Hao could only nod, "Okay, I'll compensate you."

"Open WeChat, add me." Li Rui forcefully pulled off her shoe, opened the WeChat QR code in her hand, and handed it to Su Hao. Su Hao glanced at her shoe again and added her.

The driver asked, "Is it done?"

Su Hao: "Yes, it's done."

Su Hao closed WeChat and caught up. The driver had already driven the car over and stopped at the door. Shen He seemed thin, but he had muscular build. The driver was sweating as he supported his forehead and put him in the back seat. Shen He was already drowsy, leaning against the window with his eyes closed. At this moment, he looked like a child.

Delicately handsome.

When he put away his young master's aura, he seemed much simpler.

Su Hao sat in, took out a tissue, and wiped the sweat from his temples.

The driver wiped off the sweat, sat in the driver's seat, and started the car. He glanced at Su Hao again. In the eyes of this group of people from the Shen family, young master Shen had always been just a child.

He had a strong and capable elder sister and a genius older brother. Young Master Shen had always had smooth sailing days, and no one thought he would fall in love.

So seeing him with Su Hao, they just thought it was a little play.

Moreover, although Su Hao was a year younger than Young Master Shen, she was meticulous and obviously had experienced some things. In terms of mindset, the two were somewhat different.

The car drove all the way to Shen's apartment, located in a quiet area amidst the bustle. It was in the opposite direction from where Su Hao lived. Shen He was somewhat drunk, occasionally humming. Su Hao glanced at him whenever he hummed. Once or twice, he slid down and leaned against Su Hao's shoulder.

Su Hao gently pushed him back up.

He hummed again.

Outside the apartment.

The driver got out of the car, opened the door, and supported Shen He. Su Hao helped, and together they pushed Shen He out. The driver staggered backward slightly due to the impact, and Su Hao quickly got out of the car and helped close the door. The driver nodded to her and said, "Miss Su, wait here. I'll take him upstairs and then take you back."

"No need, I'll take her." A black Porsche suddenly pulled up beside her, and a deep voice came from inside.

In the night, it seemed casual.

Both turned their heads and saw Zhou Yang sitting in the back seat, arm hanging out, cigarette between his fingers, with a lazy demeanor.

"When did this person arrive?"

Zhou Yang leaned towards the window, his hand curled into a fist against his chin, smiling at Su Hao. "The driver must be working hard. You made him run another trip? Besides, this road isn't smooth. Let me take you. I also want to take a stroll by the bay."

"Could it be that you want to go upstairs and make a hangover soup?" Zhou Yang teased lightly before Su Hao could respond.

Before Su Hao could reply, the driver interjected, "No need to trouble Miss Su. The housekeeper at home will take care of it. Miss Su should go back early."

Though it was just a few simple words, Su Hao vaguely sensed that Zhou Yang spoke with some emotion. What exactly that emotion was, she wasn't sure.

She had originally planned to leave on her own. She wasn't oblivious to the driver's sweat. With that in mind, Su Hao turned to bid farewell to the driver.

Shen He was already asleep.

Su Hao glanced at him, smiled faintly, circled around the car, pushed open the door from the inside. The Porsche also smelled of alcohol. After Su Hao got in and closed the door, Zhou Yang flicked his cigarette ash, rolled up the window, and instructed the driver to start the car. Su Hao checked the time on her phone—it was nearly midnight.

"Late night?" A deep voice sounded beside her.

Su Hao put down her phone and glanced at him. "Yes."

He leaned back in his seat, didn't smoke, and after a few seconds, he opened the car ashtray and extinguished the cigarette.

Su Hao noticed a slight tension in his neck.

Seeming somewhat affected by alcohol, Zhou Yang turned his head, caught her gaze, and lightly let it rest on her snowy white shoulder. Suddenly, he smiled and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Su Hao saw mischief in his eyes.

A familiar feeling surfaced.

She furrowed her brows and after a few seconds asked, "Are you feeling upset?"

Zhou Yang shifted his gaze back, rubbed his forehead.

"Guess?"

Su Hao replied, "It's none of my business, so I won't guess."

Zhou Yang: "..."

He forcefully adjusted his shirt collar, faintly showing signs of irritation.

..................................................................................................................

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