Chapter 55
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
The newcomer looked to be in his forties, and his appearance made Lou Yan feel slightly familiar. Lou Yan felt like he should have seen this person before, but he really couldn’t remember who he was.
However, the owner sat down familiarly in the empty seat next to Lou Yan, with a smile on his face, and very warmly said, “Mr. Lou, consider this meal on the house. It’s not easy for you to come here once, so how can I take your money? Next time you come to eat, just let me know, no need for reservations. I’ll arrange the best room for you directly! With our relationship, you must not be polite to me, Mr. Lou, haha.”
Lou Yan’s mouth twitched: “…”
He really wanted to ask, Who are you?
But in the adult world, there was always some mutual courtesy. Especially since the owner was so enthusiastic, Lou Yan didn’t have the arrogance to slap a smile off his face.
Lou Yan politely wiped his lips with a tissue from the side, revealing a courteous smile. “How should I address you?”
The owner’s eyes lit up, and he quickly opened a bottle of white wine and poured two glasses, handing one to Lou Yan. “I’m Song Wenqiang, I’ve long admired Mr. Lou’s name. We’ve met once before. I owe you a favor, Mr. Lou, so just call me Old Song.”
Lou Yan smiled faintly. “Mr. Song, you’re too kind.”
Although he declined, Song Wenqiang didn’t mind and continued to praise Lou Yan, flattering him with compliments that made people blush and feel embarrassed. Lou Yan remained calm and composed, occasionally responding with a few words, chatting amiably with Song Wenqiang.
He didn’t even drink the glass of wine, but Song Wenqiang didn’t feel neglected at all. The more they talked, the more excited he became, and he ended up drinking several glasses of white wine himself.
Lu Haoxiu stared at them chatting, stuffed the last spoonful of rice dyed red with oil into his stomach, burped contentedly, leaned over to Li Sanxin’s ear, and muttered, “Brother Lou is amazing. I’m getting goosebumps from this Song guy’s rainbow farts. It makes me so uncomfortable, but Brother Lou can handle it so calmly. If it were me, I wouldn’t know what to say to him. I’d just beg him to stop talking and spare me the embarrassment.”
Li Sanxin chuckled. “Indeed.”
Lu Haoxiu’s puppy eyes twinkled with envy and admiration, speaking in a dreamy tone, “Brother Lou is really patient and good to us. He’s so mature, intelligent, awesome, and considerate, just like the perfect mature adult I dream of becoming. When will I be able to become like that?”
Li Sanxin laughed, took out a pack of cigarettes, and distributed one to each of the others before lighting one himself. As smoke curled up, Li Sanxin’s expression took on a reminiscing tone, jokingly saying to Lu Haoxiu in a low voice, “You’ve only seen Brother Lou’s good temper side.”
Lu Haoxiu was puzzled, “Does Brother Lou have a bad temper too?”
Duan Zege also leaned in, lowering his voice excitedly to join the conversation, “Oh yes, the first time I met Lou Yan, I thought he was going to kill me.”
Li Sanxin nodded with lingering fear, “The first time I met your Brother Lou, I got beaten up by him. Do you know how much of a troublemaker he used to be? None of the kids around here dared to mess with him. If anyone dared to challenge him, he would immediately rush up and start throwing punches, hitting them until they submitted. This dominance has been ingrained in him since childhood. They say you can tell a person’s character at the age of three, and your Brother Lou… “
Li Sanxin hesitated, recalling the past made him shake his head involuntarily. “Stable? Patient? Considerate? If you knew what your Brother Lou did in school, you wouldn’t be able to say that.”
Duan Zege curiously asked, “What did Lou Yan do in school?”
“Cough cough.” Lou Yan coughed twice and glanced coldly at the three of them, indicating that he could hear them.
They were brave enough to talk bad about him in front of him.
The three of them immediately stopped talking and looked anywhere but at Lou Yan, continuing to eat with laughter and smiles.
“Is Mr. Lou’s throat uncomfortable?” The restaurant owner, Mr. Song, showed a worried expression, more discerning than the eunuch beside an ancient emperor. “Did the spiciness irritate Mr. Lou’s throat? How about this, I’ll go get Mr. Lou a soothing herbal soup!”
Lou Yan declined, “No need, my throat is just a little itchy. Mr. Song, what’s the matter for you to find me?”
Mr. Song smiled apologetically and glanced at Li Sanxin and the others beside him. “Mr. Lou, can we talk privately for a moment?”
Seeing that the restaurant’s food was to his liking, Lou Yan adjusted his clothes and nodded. He stood up and followed Mr. Song to the adjacent private room.
The room was empty, and Mr. Song closed the door gently, leaving a small gap. Li Sanxin and the others could see Lou Yan sitting at the table through this gap.
Seeing him leave, Lu Haoxiu chuckled and continued gossiping, “Brother Li, what did Brother Lou do?”
“Skipping classes, fighting, staying out late,” Li Sanxin took a puff of his cigarette, his voice still low, as if afraid Lou Yan would hear him, “and that’s just the small stuff… He terrorized the whole school. Anyone who provoked him would be met with fists. You know how crazy a rabid dog can get? That was him. Parties, clubs, cruises, luxury cars, cigarettes, and alcohol. It was all about living a life of debauchery day and night. He wouldn’t tolerate anyone questioning him, and the craziest time was during high school. Thirteen high schools, I remember it clearly. I followed him through thirteen high schools, and even then, I couldn’t keep up. High schools wouldn’t even dare to accept money from him.”
Lu Haoxiu’s mouth hung open, listening to this was like listening to a ghost story. He couldn’t imagine the Lou Yan described by Li Sanxin being the same person as the current Lou Yan.
D*mn, this was too exaggerated!
Duan Zege shook his head calmly, seemingly not believing it either.
Li Sanxin felt like he had drunk too much, his body felt hot from the alcohol, and he was filled with laziness. He couldn’t help but recall the past and suddenly had the urge to speak. Li Sanxin gestured towards Lou Yan in the opposite room with his cigarette, a nostalgic expression in his eyes, “Can you believe it? Look at him now, dressed in a suit, looking all neat and tidy. He’s completely different from before.”
Lu Haoxiu and Duan Zege followed his gesture and looked through the gap in the door.
Lou Yan had changed into a black suit when he left. The well-made suit perfectly fit his body, with the sapphire cufflinks shining charmingly. He didn’t wear a tie, and the white shirt had two buttons slightly undone, revealing his collarbones and neck. Lou Yan had a faint smile on his face, his legs casually placed, his back against the chair, exuding an elegant and graceful demeanor.
He rested one hand on the table, with an unlit cigarette between his fingers, tapping on the table leisurely. There was neither impatience nor discomfort, just a low-key and restrained, yet mature and confident appearance.
It felt contradictory, but one thing was for sure, Lou Yan gave off the impression of being a reliable and capable person.
Dominant yet relaxed. Lu Haoxiu couldn’t imagine Brother Lou getting into fights, skipping classes, or being rejected by high schools.
Was what Brother Li said not just drunken talk?
Lu Haoxiu’s expression completely betrayed his thoughts, and Li Sanxin chuckled, slapping his forehead directly, “You little brat, do you doubt what I said?”
“No, no, of course not,” Lu Haoxiu said awkwardly with a silly smile, “I just can’t imagine it.”
Duan Zege rubbed his chin and suddenly asked, “Older Brother Li, why was Lou Yan so wild in high school?”
“F*ck,” Li Sanxin’s hand shook, and the cigarette ash fell on himself. He didn’t care to brush it off, his expression looking as if he had seen a ghost as he looked at Duan Zege, “What did you just call me?”
Duan Zege remained calm, “Older Brother Li.”
“…”
Although Li Sanxin felt that he wasn’t much older than Duan Zege, every man liked to be called “older” or “dad”, and being called that made him feel comfortable all over. “That’s good, keep calling me that next time.”
After a pause, Li Sanxin sighed lightly, his voice so low that the two people beside him could hardly hear him, “Actually, Yanzi isn’t a bad person at heart. He’s a good kid. He cares about people in his own way and protects those who are bullied. Although he’s domineering, no one dislikes him. But when he was in junior high school, his parents divorced, and after his mom left, he became more and more crazy and paranoid. He caused a lot of trouble, getting into a lot of fights. Every time he saw his dad, they would argue. His dad didn’t like the way he was, he wanted him to study well and inherit the family business… Every time they argued, things would either be smashed with a ping pong sound, or one of them would end up in the hospital… He was using this method to retaliate against his dad because he felt like his dad drove his mom away.”
The melancholy in Li Sanxin’s words was hard to conceal, and it made Lu Haoxiu’s heart ache as well.
Lu Haoxiu had never imagined that Brother Lou’s relationship with his father could be so bad. The only impression he had of Lou Yan’s father was from that night when the anomaly faked Lou Yan’s father’s voice on the Seize Life phone call at his house.
Back then, Lou Yan’s tone when he answered the phone sounded perfectly fine, showing genuine concern for his father, both in words and tone. It was nothing like a relationship that had reached a freezing point.
Lu Haoxiu was puzzled, but he resisted the urge to ask about it and instead steered the conversation back to lighter topics with a smile, “So, Brother Li, how did Brother Lou become the way he is now? Is it because he went to college and matured with age?”
He chuckled, sounding naive, “So, does that mean I’ll be like Brother Lou in a few years?”
Li Sanxin took a deep drag of his cigarette, biting down on the butt, and remained silent for a moment.
Duan Zege looked at him in this state, then turned to look at Lou Yan on the opposite side. After a few seconds, his hoarse voice followed with a question, “Yeah, I’m curious too. How did he become the successful person he is now?”
Still, Li Sanxin said nothing, and the cigarette was about to burn his fingertips.
Lu Haoxiu spoke up, “Brother Li?”
Li Sanxin woke up as if startled, feeling the pain on his fingertips as he extinguished the cigarette, and smiled bitterly twice.
“He’s the kind of person his dad always wanted him to become. Why did he change so much? Because his dad died, disappointed in Lou Yan.”
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
