What Are Your Tastes? chapter 49
Switch To Soda
Chen Mingxuan was still the same, showing little signs of the years. Lu Yunchu easily recognized this professor who had guided him several years ago.
“Oh, I remember now,” Chen Mingxuan had many students pass through, and Lu Yunchu was from another department, so he couldn’t immediately recall him based on appearance alone, but after hearing his introduction, he had an impression, “I heard you went abroad. I always thought you would achieve something.”
“Thank you,” Lu Yunchu said, “You’ve inspired me a lot.”
“Let’s sit down and chat.”
Zhou Yanchuan was pulled away as soon as he arrived, chatting with some friends he hadn’t seen in a while, thinking of calling Lu Yunchu over to sit together, but saw that he was already sitting next to Chen Mingxuan, and their table was full.
It was originally meant to be a relaxed party without assigned seating. Zhou Yanchuan naturally couldn’t boss others around to make space for him. After glancing around, he finally started looking for another seat.
Mo Ziyang came over and grabbed him towards the table nearest to the stage, saying, “Where were you running off to? Why not sit at my table?”
That table was almost full, with only two adjacent empty seats left beside Mo Ziyang. Zhou Yanchuan hesitated for a moment, considering whether to invite Lu Yunchu over who was seated across another table.
“What are you looking at?” Mo Ziyang patted his shoulder. “Has your sweetheart arrived?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Zhou Yanchuan withdrew his gaze. “Are you here alone?”
“I’m with Tao Tao. My wife also has a dinner tonight.”
Just then, a boy about five or six years old, holding a balloon, approached them. He asked Zhou Yanchuan in a childish voice, “Uncle Zhou, can you give me a few more balloons?”
This was Mo Ziyang’s child, and Zhou Yanchuan was quite familiar with him.
“Tao Tao,” Zhou Yanchuan pointed to the staff member at the entrance greeting guests, “go find those two aunties with hairpins. They have plenty of balloons left.”
“What if they don’t give me any?”
“They will,” he reassured, “just tell them I said so.”
“Okay! Thank you, Uncle Zhou!”
After Tao Tao ran off, Mo Ziyang said with amusement, “Why is he so well-behaved in front of you?”
“Don’t all children act like this? They’re more concerned about their image in front of strangers,” Zhou Yanchuan joked. “Look at you, your mouth is practically reaching the sky. You spoil your son rotten.”
“Tsk,” Mo Ziyang glanced at him lightly. “And you, still not interested in having one?”
“Interested in what?”
“Family, children,” Mo Ziyang glanced at the children running around the venue. “You think they’re unnecessary?”
“Forget it… Having a child of your own means too much worry,” Zhou Yanchuan said seriously. “I just look at others’, occasionally play around to ease boredom. That’s good enough.”
“So, you’re treating my son like a toy?”
“I didn’t say that,” Zhou Yanchuan chuckled softly. “It’s your fault for having such a talkative kid.”
“Alright, I won’t meddle in your business.”
“Mr. Mo, Mr. Zhou, good evening,” He Mengxin walked over from Mo Ziyang’s direction, and upon seeing Zhou Yanchuan beside him at the only empty seat at their table, she asked, “Is anyone sitting there?”
“No,” Mo Ziyang replied, then nudged Zhou Yanchuan’s arm, “Are you sure there’s no sweetheart?”
Zhou Yanchuan gave him a stern look.
Lu Yunchu probably wouldn’t come over now. He Mengxin arrived late and it wouldn’t be easy to find another seat. So Zhou Yanchuan pulled out the chair next to him a bit and invited her to sit down.
Lu Yunchu and Chen Mingxuan were chatting happily and lost track of time. Lu Yunchu wasn’t sure where Zhou Yanchuan would sit. When he stood up to look for him, he happened to see Zhou Yanchuan, who was seated at the adjacent table, helping a lady pull out her chair.
“Why don’t you sit with us,” Yang Shujuan sensed his thoughts and said, “our gathering is casual, you can sit however you like, chat with people you don’t know and you’ll get familiar.”
“Okay,” Lu Yunchu abandoned the idea of changing seats and sat down again.
The other two girls on the other side of Yang Shujuan discussed as if nothing had happened: “Does Manager He and Mr. Zhou have a thing?”
The voice was not loud or small, and most of the people on the side of the table could hear, but many did not react as if they were used to such gossip.
“Let’s not meddle in Mr. Zhou’s affairs,” Yang Shujuan intentionally changed the subject, raising her glass to the table, “Let’s have a toast.”
Yang Shujuan seemed to be quite influential among her colleagues, perfectly managing the atmosphere at the table, stirring emotions without being vulgar. Conversely, Chen Mingxuan and Lu Yunchu’s characters were as calm and composed as remembered, preferring to observe quietly. In a sense, they complemented each other.
Not long after, Zhou Yanchuan took the stage to speak. It wasn’t a formal occasion, so he casually said a few words to liven up the atmosphere, but everyone’s eyes were unconsciously drawn to him.
Zhou Yanchuan was used to being the center of attention, and among the many converging gazes, he easily caught a certain person’s prolonged glance.
“Today, those of us who came are either working hard for Hongchuan or providing various services and conveniences through various channels, and also the family members who are our strong support… I missed the last annual meeting, so I must say thank you today,” he held the microphone, his tone light and teasing, “I wonder if everyone’s holiday was restful enough, if the New Year was enjoyable enough, and most importantly—did you make enough money?”
Amidst the laughter and cheers from the audience, some jokingly shouted, “Not enough!”
“If it’s not enough, it means I haven’t done well enough,” Zhou Yanchuan wasn’t embarrassed and continued joking, “We finally came out to relax a bit. If I encourage everyone to work hard, it would be too much of a downer. So, I wish everyone great wealth. Only with money and good days can we work with a good mood, right? Without further ado, let’s make money together, eat together,” he waved towards the rows of tables below the stage, “Enjoy yourselves tonight!”
Zhou Yanchuan’s less serious toast sparked laughter and applause from the audience. Lu Yunchu hadn’t withdrawn his gaze, vaguely aware that the other party was also glancing in his direction.
Was he looking at him? Just as Lu Yunchu was about to ponder, Zhou Yanchuan turned away and returned to his seat.
The party didn’t have many surprises. In the middle, they only played a “scramble for items” game: teams collected items announced by the host, with the table that lasted the most rounds winning.
The items to be collected were diverse, some easy to find, others baffling: car keys, hair ties, mobile phones, socks, one yuan coins…
Zhou Yanchuan’s table was eliminated in the second round because no one had a hair tie. Lu Yunchu took off the black hair tie he used to tie his hair, but their team couldn’t stay till the end because they couldn’t produce a coin.
In the latter part of the party, most people had enough sitting, toasting each other and joking around.
“Mr. Zhou,” He Mengxin raised his glass, “I toast to you.”
After the last incident, he and He Mengxin had no more private interactions. He Mengxin was tactful, avoiding putting each other in difficult positions. Meeting tonight was just a formality.
Zhou Yanchuan’s glass was almost empty, so he filled it with a little more red wine.
A manager at the neighboring table, unfamiliar with the situation, thought they were in an ambiguous relationship and approached, urging them on: “Don’t just clink glasses, how about a toast exchange?” As soon as the words were out, there were cheers at their table too: “Exactly, it’s a rare opportunity!”
Mo Ziyang understood Zhou Yanchuan’s state of mind. Feeling awkward for him amidst the commotion, he was about to speak up to defuse the situation when Zhou Yanchuan spoke up: “We came out to enjoy good food and drinks. Let’s not take jokes too far.”
He himself didn’t mind, nor was he afraid of being teased, but it wouldn’t be good if it affected He Mengxin, especially since she had feelings for him.
The manager who started the cheering wasn’t stupid; he quickly caught the hidden meaning and apologized: “Mr. Zhou, Manager He, my mistake. I’ll punish myself with a drink and forget everything I said.”
After the manager apologized, Zhou Yanchuan didn’t dwell on it and said to He Mengxin, “Don’t mind.”
“I don’t,” He Mengxin continued the interrupted toast, “I hope we’ll have more cooperation in the future.”
“That’s for sure.”
After a few rounds, Zhou Yanchuan became slightly tipsy. He turned his head back a few times to see Lu Yunchu and Chen Mingxuan deep in conversation.
It was his suggestion for Lu Yunchu to meet Chen Mingxuan, but when they really started talking, he wasn’t too pleased. He had thought Lu Yunchu would sit with him tonight.
Acting like a schoolboy, a good friend goes off to play with someone else and he has to put on a show of being upset. Maybe it was the alcohol, his head was a bit fuzzy, and he didn’t carefully consider his childish thoughts.
Later, Mo Ziyang and He Mengxin both went to other tables, while Zhou Yanchuan remained in his original seat to rest.
Feeling someone pull out a chair next to him, he thought it was someone coming to drink with him and instinctively picked up the wine glass on the table.
Lu Yunchu held his hand down, moved the wine glass in front of him away, and sat down.
“Mr. Zhou, I’m drinking soda, how about you switch to soda too?”