KC | Chapter 39

A group of them took the shuttle at the bottom of Glacial Gorge and came to the campsite at the foot of the mountain. After walking for a whole morning, everyone was starving. The client had long since prepared the food, and Lin Yiran drank a glass of beer and skipped the “say a few words before the meal” part, saying only two words: “Eat up.” Everyone sat down and ate, and no one held back with anyone.

KA had never put on airs from top to bottom, and after Wang Shuang came here for a month, he had restrained his official-sounding manner and gradually blended into the group.

After Lin Yiran settled everyone down, he grabbed a handful of dried fruit to pad his stomach, then picked up his bag and headed straight for the client’s office. Getting money was the real purpose of his coming here.

Chen Xi caught sight of his receding figure and thought: You haven’t eaten anything and you’re already going to negotiate. Aren’t you hungry? You’re out traveling, and you still have to deal with the client. Aren’t you tired?

He had thought the scenic area’s meals would not be good, but he had not expected all kinds of fresh ingredients to be there. Barbecue in the woods on a summer afternoon had a unique flavor.

After another two quarters of an hour, most of the group had finished eating. Chen Xi picked a plate of beef and sat in the corner to keep grilling. When Zhang Yuanji saw that he was only grilling and not eating, he bit half a sausage and asked, “Xiao Chen, why aren’t you eating?”

“I…” Chen Xi picked up a dinner plate and put the grilled beef onto it. “I saw there was still some meat left, and I was afraid it would go to waste.”

After another quarter of an hour, Lin Yiran returned to the group.

“Mr. Lin, I saved some food for you.” Wang Shuang brought over a plate to curry favor.

Lin Yiran sat down beside Wang Shuang, and Zhang Yuanji’s eyes darted quickly as he handed the plate of grilled food Chen Xi had made to Lin Yiran. “Brother Lin, yours has gone cold, eat this plate first. Xiao Chen just grilled this, it’s still hot.” You two were angry yesterday and just made up today. That silly Xiao Chen can’t say things, so I have to help him suck up for him.

“He grilled it for you?” Lin Yiran did not take the plate, and looked at Chen Xi.

Chen Xi was just about to speak when Zhang Yuanji said, “Yeah! Xiao Chen saw that our leader was having a hard time closing deals, so he grilled for a long time. He wouldn’t even give it to me when I wanted to eat it!” Brother Lin doesn’t eat staple food at any gathering, and that plate of beef is obviously for him. Brother, there’s no way I’m letting Wang Shuang steal your job!

Lin Yiran took Zhang Yuanji’s plate. Chen Xi lowered his head and did not dare look at him, thinking: What is this pig teammate Zhang Yuanji doing, he’s really screwed me over.

When Zhang Yuanji saw the two of them exchanging glances, he thought: These two are hot and cold all day long, why does it look like they’re dating?

Lin Yiran picked up the plate and buried his head in eating. Afraid that if a whole group watched, Lin Yiran would not be used to it, Li Hua took the initiative to bring up a topic: “Should we play knock the ‘7’?”

“Sure!” So-called knock the ‘7’ meant a group of people counting numbers, and whenever they reached a number containing 7 or a multiple of 7, they had to tap the table and skip it. Zhang Yuanji had never lost at this game, and he raised both hands in agreement.

Lin Yiran had a mouthful of beef and could not speak well, so he raised his hand to signal that he would join too.

In the first round, Li Hua started. After a whole circle plus a bit, at 35, Liu Xueying made a mistake. KA never hesitated when it came to taking punishment for a wrong answer, and Liu Xueying, born in 1988, very boldly downed a full glass of draft beer. The game continued to the next round.

Chen Xi, Zhang Yuanji, and the rest of the post-90s youth group played this game with ease. After a few rounds, the liquor being poured was almost enough for Ma Longfei, Li Hua, and the other post-80s older group to drink dry. Although Lin Yiran had been eating the whole time, he had never made a mistake once, and among the older group, only he had not drunk anything.

Li Hua, the game black hole, was getting a little dizzy from drinking. Just after finishing one glass and seeing that a new round was about to start, he felt a little scared and brought up a topic: “Did Mr. Lin negotiate smoothly with the client?”

“Mm.” Lin Yiran had no leaderly airs at all, and he chewed beef with his cheeks puffed out. He was afraid that if this game kept going, the older group would drink a while longer and not be able to get home, so he ate a little faster than usual, wanting to end the game sooner. But beef was really hard to chew, and if it had been chicken or lamb, maybe he would have finished long ago.

“What’s the project worth?” Ma Longfei from the older group continued to fill in. He rarely socialized normally, and after downing three cups in a row, he had already reached his limit.

“50W.”

“Full payment back?” Liu Xueying from the older group asked next.

“The scenic area’s department head said the transfer would be arranged in a bit.” Lin Yiran understood what they meant, slowed his speaking pace, and naturally stretched the sentence out. “Hopefully we’ll have good news before we head back.”

“What product are they collaborating on?” Zhang Yuanji joined in for fun, and Chen Xi pinched his thigh. Zhang Yuanji looked confused.

Chen Xi thought: Which side are you on anyway, why are you joining the mess? Just play the game properly and let Lin Yiran drink a few more cups so he can say a couple fewer words to me this afternoon. Also, that beef really was grilled for Lin Yiran just now, but you still shouldn’t have said it that way. It makes it seem like I care about him so much.

Pig teammate!

Lin Yiran saw their little movements, and his eyes flickered slightly, but only for a moment. Then he put back on that refined and courteous shell, pulled out a wet tissue to wipe his mouth, and put on his signature smile. “I’m full. Let’s go play in North Gorge.”

South Gorge of Glacial Gorge was natural scenery, while North Gorge mostly had artificially repaired paid entertainment projects.

Lin Yiran had originally not wanted to trick Chen Xi, because he could not give Chen Xi anything. But seeing Chen Xi exchanging glances with Zhang Yuanji, his brain twitched again and he started acting stupid.

He thought: Since I’ve already hurt Chen Xi this badly, a little worse is fine too. I’ve tricked him plenty of times, so one more time doesn’t matter.

Wang Shuang’s original plan did not include North Gorge entertainment. He had wanted to do some team-building activities like tug-of-war in the afternoon, but since the leader brought it up proactively and the employees’ moods were high, there was nothing he could say.

So the group came to the northern area.

There were many entertainment projects in the north area, including horse racing, bumper cars, rapids ride, live-action CS, and other group projects. Lin Yiran led the team and brought everyone to the rapids ride project, because this project not only charged an admission fee but also charged for raincoats. When doing things, you had to focus on the key point, so start with the most expensive project first.

“Let’s play this one first, because our clothes will get wet, and after a while as we walk around, they’ll dry. If we play this last, we’ll get on the bus all soggy, and that would be terribly uncomfortable.” Lin Yiran gave a very reasonable explanation.

Wang Shuang flattered him, “The leader really thinks things through.”

Glacial Gorge was famous for the natural scenery in its southern area, and very few people played the entertainment projects in the northern area. The scenic area’s reception staff, suddenly seeing a group of easy marks, grinned so wide their mouths were almost behind their ears. Their service attitude was extremely good, and they patiently explained the precautions for the ride, almost to the point of helping them put on the raincoats themselves.

“This north area was built for two years, and it’s only open to the public this year. No need to queue, and the amusement equipment is still new. We’re really lucky.” A salesperson could make the dead sound alive with one mouth. The famous-talking Lin Yiran forcefully packaged the disadvantage of nobody coming to the north area into an advantage, and Chen Xi listened with his eyes wide open.

One raft after another floated over from the cable line, brightly colored, and at a glance, not many people had sat in them.

Lin Yiran put on a disposable raincoat, and the hem of his shirt barely covered his hips. Zhang Yuanji stood beside Lin Yiran, and the hem of his shirt was almost down to his knees. The two of them, one tall and thin, one short and fat, looked very much like the fat and thin guardians from The Deer and the Cauldron, and Chen Xi could not help but laugh out loud.

Lin Yiran looked at him laughing and laughed along too. When Chen Xi saw that, he immediately stopped laughing. He subconsciously felt that whenever Lin Yiran smiled, it definitely meant no good, and he felt uneasy inside.

Zhang Yuanji: ?

“Glacial Gorge has not been doing advertisements these past few years, precisely because they were building the north area. This year they finally have a plan to place ads.” Lin Yiran walked over and took the initiative to talk to Chen Xi. “Guess how much their budget is?”

“How, how much?” If a client had an ad placement plan, they would usually connect with a platform or find an ad agency to handle the coordination. If it was the latter, the client would at least contact three ad agencies for procurement, compare the three quotes, and then confirm the cooperation. The client would not look for a sole supplier, and if an ad agency could get 50% of the budget, that was already considered a lot.

“50W.” Lin Yiran leaned closer to Chen Xi, his brows lightly flirtatious. “I got it all.”

His long and slender figure looked inexplicably ridiculous in the raincoat, and if not for that face, Lin Yiran would have completely broken the aura of a domineering CEO.

“Mm-hmm, you’re amazing.” But what does this have to do with me? You might as well talk about Xu Dongxu…

Seeing that Lin Yiran still looked like he wanted to keep talking, Chen Xi decisively put on his raincoat and walked over to Zhang Yuanji’s side. One raft could only seat two people, and he keenly sensed Lin Yiran’s intention.

What is this old bastard always trying to stick close to me for? Who knows what you’ll do on the raft. Only a ghost would sit with you!

KA lined up to get on the rafts. When it was Chen Xi’s turn, he stepped into the raft and sat in the front. Right behind him, Lin Yiran jumped over Zhang Yuanji and sat in the back.

“Chen Xi is too light, and sitting with you makes the center of gravity unstable. Let’s switch.” Lin Yiran said to Zhang Yuanji.

Zhang Yuanji stood there like a wooden stake, thinking: Brother Lin, if you wanted to switch with me, couldn’t you have said so earlier?

Although the king of watching the fun lacked product knowledge and his talk about deals was also all over the place, after years of mixing in society, his ability to read people was top-notch. After thinking about it, he then thought: Brother Lin has always been very polite to people. Why is he acting so out of character now? Could it be that he doesn’t want to say this to me, but wants to say it for Chen Xi to hear?

In the narrow water slide, the raft floated along, surrounded by dense bushes and the rushing sound of water. Chen Xi’s attention was not drawn to the Glacial Gorge’s carefully crafted “primeval jungle”. His hands gripped the railings on the raft, and all his energy was on the person behind him.

Chen Xi sat in the front seat, feeling restless and uneasy. The faint hints of ambiguity, the seemingly casual touches, the suggestive words, all the signs pointed to one thing, Lin Yiran was dangerous.

Lin Yiran did not know why he ended up sharing a ride with Chen Xi. Now he felt that his earlier self had not been rational enough, and by the time he realized it, he was already on the raft.

But since he was already on the boat, he should make full use of it. What reason was there to get off?

The small boat sped ahead under the rushing current, and Chen Xi’s neck and shoulders extended both arms, lightly wrapping around himself.

The old lecher did not say things plainly, and he was cunning as hell. Chen Xi could not figure out what medicine he was selling in his gourd.

Lin Yiran was just like that uncertain future, filling Chen Xi with fear.

Chen Xi swung his arms, wanting to break free, when the deep voice behind him said, “Don’t move.”

When the lighter entered his body, Lin Yiran had also told Chen Xi not to move.

Those two words were like a spell, instantly freezing Chen Xi in place.

Long fingers pulled out the drawstring from the raincoat hood and tied a beautiful butterfly knot.

Lin Yiran said, “Done.”

The raft suddenly hit a steep slope, and as a wave splashed over, water sprayed all over Chen Xi’s face. He thought: Good thing Lin Yiran just helped me tighten the raincoat hood, otherwise I would have been a drowned rat. Although he did a good deed, when he saw that my hood wasn’t on properly, couldn’t he have reminded me before getting on the raft? Why did he have to wait until after getting on, and why did he have to use this kind of intimate wrapping posture to help me tie the string?

Following social etiquette, Chen Xi turned back and wanted to say “thank you,” but he unexpectedly bumped into Lin Yiran’s nose tip, and the two of them’ lips were almost touching.

“The nose worth 500W is about to be smashed flat by you.” When Lin Yiran spoke, his lips opened and closed, brushing against Chen Xi’s lips in a half-close, half-distant way.

Chen Xi thought: What soft thing was that? When he was speaking just now, did he touch my lips?

Chen Xi shoved Lin Yiran away, just as the raft was climbing uphill. With the added force of inertia, Lin Yiran was thrown to the stern, and the impact on his spine hurt.

Seeing Lin Yiran frown in pain, Chen Xi regretted using too much force just now.

“Sorr…”

Before he could finish, Lin Yiran roared, “Lie down!”

The raft had risen to its highest point on the cable line, and suddenly plunged downward at an extremely fast speed. Chen Xi’s body was thrown backward by inertia, and because he had turned his head to look at Lin Yiran, he had not held the handle properly.

Water splashed all around, the current surged violently, and a huge sense of weightlessness came over him. Chen Xi felt as if he was falling, his pupils kept widening, and at the center of his pupils was Lin Yiran, and, their hands tightly clasped together.

The rushing water battered their arms. Chen Xi’s entire body weight was almost all tied to Lin Yiran’s arm, that sturdy arm with bulging veins, his only reliance.

When the raft touched the bottom of the slope, spray wet Lin Yiran’s face. Their trust being handed over happened only in an instant. The raft passed the most dangerous peak and slowly headed toward the exit, and the joined hands were about to separate.

Lin Yiran unobtrusively withdrew his hand, helped Chen Xi untie the raincoat straps, and asked, “Did you have fun today?”

Chen Xi had not yet recovered from the shock, his face pale as paper, and he said incoherently, “It was, pretty, pretty good.”

When the raft came to a stop, Lin Yiran said meaningfully, “It’s good that you had fun.”

The group had almost experienced all of Glacial Gorge’s paid attractions. By the time they had played until nearly 5 o’clock, the bus driver urged them on, and only then did they leave the scenic area.

On the way back, Lin Yiran very naturally asked each person for another 200 yuan.