AM Chapter 19

“Watching Chen Mo cry, there was a moment when I felt my life was so pathetic, I was so awful.” After the bottom of the thick glass touched the bar, Liang Jingren’s arm and ear also gradually pressed against the reflective material of the bar, “How can I let others cry for me, I clearly chose this path myself…”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone getting drunk on Coke. I run a bar, give me some face, okay?” The person with the leg in a cast hobbled over again with his crutches. He said this, but still kindly opened a brand new can of ice-cold, fully carbonated Coke to refill Liang Jingren’s empty glass.

“…I won’t drink what you pour,” Liang Jingren said, lying on the table staring at the bubbling soda in front of him.

“Then I’ll drink it myself.” That person sat down on the bar stool next to him and drank the rest of the Coke from the can.

The cast leg bumped Liang Jingren’s knee. Liang Jingren turned his head, still lying on the table, and asked, “When can you take off this cast?”

“Probably mid-next week. What, you want to accompany me to the hospital?” That person shook the edge of the tall Coke can, “Don’t you need to go to the company? Little Zhuang can go with me.”

Liang Jingren pursed his lips, “I have to pay your medical bills, they’re all charged to my account…”

A slender hand with well-defined joints, previously holding the ice-cold Coke can and carrying a slight chill, reached to the top of his head and gently stroked it, “Haha, good boy~”

Liang Jingren didn’t like this, but his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and once they closed, he didn’t want to lift them again.

“Huh? Did Little Li add alcohol to the Coke I poured for you?”

The Coke Liang Jingren had drunk earlier didn’t have anything added to it, but he hadn’t been sleeping well these past few days because of Chen Mo, and his spirit was a bit weak. Right now, the bar wasn’t at its busiest time yet, and the background music was relaxing and soothing, unknowingly making him a little sleepy.

“Sleep if you’re sleepy, I’m here.”

It’s not good that you’re here… Annoying…

He didn’t know how long he slept, but as the background music began to incorporate metal elements, the surrounding air gradually became restless. However, the air conditioning was strong enough, and even though there were more people in the bar, it wasn’t hot at all. On the contrary, it was this overly cold temperature that woke Liang Jingren up.

He squinted his eyes and hunched his shoulders on the bar. His arm was numb from being used as a pillow for too long, and for a moment, it couldn’t support his entire weight.

“Oh? This brother is already drunk so early? The nightlife has just begun~”

A woman’s voice sounded behind him, and a familiar male voice immediately followed beside him: “Shh, don’t disturb him.”

“Aiyo, boss, so considerate. Is this your little lover?”

That hand with obvious joints stroked Liang Jingren’s hair once again, “Yes. I love him very much.”

Liang Jingren half-squinted his eyes and thought: Maybe I should just keep pretending to sleep.

In his drowsy state, the lights at the bar dimmed, the sound of high heels gathered towards the dance floor, and the music from the speakers above had been turned down at some point. The surrounding voices were now more clearly transmitted into Liang Jingren’s ears:

“Bro Liang! I just had someone unload the goods!”

“Little Zhuang, you came at the right time. Go get me a blanket.”

“Okay!”

Before long, Little Zhuang came back, but he seemed to have done something wrong and was being ridiculed: “Pfft haha, why are you covering me? Cover Brother Ren!”

“Oh oh!”

The next morning, Liang Jingren woke up from an unfamiliar bed when his phone alarm rang.

He patted his head, trying to recall where he had been last night, but no matter how hard he thought, he only remembered that he had ended up going to Night Shade’s branch store.

When the disabled man with crutches pushed the door open, Liang Jingren was just lifting the quilt to check his condition.

“Pffft hahaha! What kind of reaction is that? Afraid of being roofied and having bad things done to you?” The disabled man laughed so hard he leaned against the door frame.

Liang Jingren put down the quilt, raised his head, and looked at the person at the door with a faint gaze.

Liang Jingren remembered, this was the other person’s apartment, he hadn’t been here in a long time.

“Could it be that you’re still a little~ virgin~?” The disabled man’s mouth was also quite disabled.

Liang Jingren ignored him and got out of bed.

“Speaking of which, I’ve never seen you go out with anyone for fun, of course Shen Qing doesn’t count.”

“Mind your own business.” As he spoke, Liang Jingren had already walked past the chatterbox who was leaning against the door and blocking the way.

That person leaned back against the door frame and called to him, “Going to work? Eat breakfast before you go? Little Zhuang just made it.”

“Not eating. I’m leaving.”

Liang Jingren found his previous black sedan in the underground garage, but the key in his pocket was still the key to the silver sedan. He glanced at the garage elevator that had already closed, sighed silently, and decided to continue driving the new car he had exchanged for.

He drove to the company building and quickly drove past the road in front of the main entrance, then turned at an intersection.

After parking the car, Liang Jingren walked into the coffee shop he used to frequent.

The coffee shop owner was a middle-aged man whose hobby was collecting meaningful newspapers and tasting coffee from all over the world. Therefore, the shop was decorated with several cozy sofa corners and newspaper racks. The air was filled not only with the strong aroma of coffee, but also with a hint of the heavy scent of ink and paper.

After entering the shop, Liang Jingren found an empty seat facing the window and sat down, turning to the owner who had just opened and was adjusting the coffee machine and said, “Boss, the sandwich set.”

The owner turned his head and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh, you’re here. Bacon or fried chicken for the sandwich?”

“Bacon, I guess.”

“And you still want anAobai, right?”

“Yeah.”

After the hot coffee was served, the doorbell of the coffee shop jingled twice.

The coffee shop owner and Liang Jingren looked towards the door at the same time –

“Good morning, Old Zhao, the usual for today. Hey, Jingren’s here, long time no see, coming for breakfast today?” The person who came was also a familiar face.

Liang Jingren picked up the handle of the coffee cup and smiled at the person at the door, saying, “Want to eat together? It’s on me.”

“Sure, then I won’t be polite~”

Five minutes later, two identical sandwiches were divided into two plates and placed on the long table in front of the large glass window.

Liang Jingren drank his coffee while looking across the glass at the flower shop diagonally opposite.

“You didn’t move the flower buckets out today?” Liang Jingren asked.

“I saw the weather forecast said it would rain heavily today, so I’ll leave them inside for now.”

“Oh… It’s going to rain…” Liang Jingren murmured thoughtfully.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like rainy days? Especially heavy rain.”

Hearing this, Liang Jingren smiled and nodded, saying, “Yeah, then I won’t go back to the company today, I’ll just stay here and enjoy the rain all day.”

“You can do that?” The person next to him picked up one of the sandwiches and widened his eyes, “Wow, you really are a CEO, easily doing things that us working stiffs wouldn’t dare to think about.”

Liang Jingren laughed smugly twice, and then was immediately retorted by the person he was treating: “You’re just ordering a breakfast and sitting here all day? Don’t affect Old Zhao’s business!”

Boss Zhao, who was wiping cups behind the bar, said with a smile, “Affecting my business? That won’t do, then I’ll kick President Liang over to Boss Xu’s shop.”

Boss Xu, who was holding the sandwich, opened his mouth wide: “Why would you do that~~”

The rain started to fall at ten in the morning. And in the afternoon, it really did start to rain heavily as the weather forecast had predicted. Chen Mo once again took the umbrella given by the lobby manager and took the bus to the company building of Daxing Group.

This time, he successfully got to his destination, but the less than two hundred meters he walked after getting off the bus washed his pants and shoes even wetter than yesterday due to the heavy rain.

Chen Mo, who walked into the automatic door, was like a half-drenched chicken. He shook the soaked umbrella and walked straight to the service desk.

The three ladies behind the service desk were still the same as yesterday, but the expressions on their faces when they saw him were no longer as rich, full, enthusiastic and radiant as yesterday.

“Sir, are you here to pick up your umbrella?” Even if they were unhappy, the workers still had to follow the rules.

Chen Mo didn’t answer, just smiled and said as politely as possible, “Can you please help me check Mr. Liang’s schedule for today? Thank you.”

“Mr. Liang didn’t come today.” One of the young ladies answered quickly.

He knows I’m coming today, so he’s deliberately avoiding me? Chen Mo thought.

Why are you treating me like this? I’m braving the rain to come find you… Liang Jingren… You’re so ruthless.

“The number you have dialed is currently busy… beep… beep… beep…”

It’s definitely deliberate. Chen Mo put down the phone that had been “beeping” for almost ten minutes, thinking.

Another half hour passed, and Chen Mo finally gave up.

He silently walked out with two identical long-handled umbrellas. There was still shelter above his head after walking out of the automatic door, but he was disheartened and didn’t pay attention to the area covered by the eaves at all. As a result, before he could even open an umbrella, he was directly drenched by the heavy flow of water from under the eaves.

Although holding an umbrella couldn’t change the reality that his whole body was wet, Chen Mo still didn’t want to attract attention. He had to find another place to take shelter from the rain.

The first thing he thought of was the coffee shop he had visited a few days ago. The owner of that shop was a middle-aged uncle who looked kind and amiable and easy to talk to. He should be able to provide some help.

Just as Chen Mo walked past the street corner and was about to enter the coffee shop, the door of the coffee shop suddenly opened—he almost bumped into the person who was walking out to open an umbrella.

That person was almost bumped into but wasn’t annoyed at all, and even asked him with concern, “Young man, you seem to be all wet, are you alright?”

This clear voice made Chen Mo raise his head, “It’s you, Boss, what a coincidence.”

“Ah! It’s you!” The flower shop owner said in surprise, “Why are you so wet, you didn’t hold an umbrella… Wait, no, this big umbrella doesn’t look like it has any holes??”

At six fifty in the afternoon, it was still raining heavily outside. One of the rows of streetlights that had been turned on long ago because it was dark began to flicker.

As the door of the coffee shop was heavily slammed by the bell with a “clang”, the sound of rain accompanied by a high-pitched male voice barged into the shop –

“Old Zhao! My guest is wet! Can I borrow a dry towel to use?”

Chen Mo didn’t expect that at his age, he would actually be held down and have his hair dried. There weren’t any other customers in the coffee shop, and he felt quite shy and embarrassed, so he lowered his head deeply.

After the towel that had gone from dry to wet was taken off his head, Chen Mo, who was sitting on a round stool, reached out and grabbed the corner of the clothes of the person who was turning around to return the towel, and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Ah? My name is Xu Yilin.” Although Boss Xu felt very sudden, he still turned around and gave his name.

Chen Mo smiled shallowly with his head lowered, and said, “That’s a really nice name, as gentle as you are… It’s been so long since someone dried my hair, I feel like I’m going to fall in love with you…”

Xu Yilin was stunned for a moment, his mind turned, and he immediately followed up, “Really? Then buy me some flowers~”

“How about a buy-one-get-one-free deal for you today? I was just about to go back and close the shop, after all, with such heavy rain, there shouldn’t be anyone else coming…”

Chen Mo listened silently, shrugging his shoulders and laughing with his head lowered.

But as he watched, Xu Yilin sensed that something was wrong. He heard a faint… intermittent… sob in that laughter.

“What’s wrong?” He pinched the towel and carefully bent down to ask. Then, he heard the other person’s whisper:

“I hate you…”

Xu Yilin scratched his face awkwardly and said with a dry laugh, “Didn’t you just say you liked me? Forget it, I won’t ask you to buy flowers~”

Chen Mo raised his head slightly, his line of sight passing over the flower shop apron and pointing straight at the person who was reading a book on the sofa in the corner –

He knew Liang Jingren must have seen him.

But Liang Jingren ignored him.