Drunk On The Night Breeze - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The subordinate who had been heart-to-heart with Ruan Lingfeng stood between the two of them, looking utterly lost. Ruan Lingfeng gave him a smile: “You head back first.”

Once the person had left, Ruan Lingfeng looked at Tao Zhi with a mix of exasperation and amusement: “What is it? Here specifically to supervise the work? …It’s only going to be for a few more days anyway.”

“What do you mean ‘a few more days’?” Tao Zhi asked.

“You really see yourself as my boss, don’t you?” Ruan Lingfeng said. “The venue for the opening show is already being set up. Once it’s ready, we’ll set a time for rehearsals. If there are no issues, after the premiere is over, the rest of the team and I will head back to our own company.”

It wasn’t that Tao Zhi didn’t know this, but he had grown accustomed to seeing Ruan Lingfeng and his team gathered in the small meeting room discussing and working every time he came to the studio. For a moment, he had forgotten that Ruan Lingfeng was just a partner—once the project was finished, he was bound to leave.

Driven by an inexplicable impulse, Tao Zhi asked further: “But I don’t just have the opening show. Aren’t you following up on the other dates?”

“We will definitely follow up.”

The subject Ruan Lingfeng used was “we” rather than “I,” and Tao Zhi clearly picked up on that.

Tao Zhi pressed: “And what about you?”

Ruan Lingfeng looked helpless: “I have other work to do, Gege (big brother).”

Tao Zhi: “…”

They were originally talking about following up on subsequent performances, but hearing Ruan Lingfeng’s words, Tao Zhi was momentarily stunned. After a long pause, he spoke up hesitantly: “Can you not be so flippant all the time? What ‘Gege’? Don’t take advantage of me; I’m much younger than you.”

You’re actually kind of sick in the head, aren’t you? Ruan Lingfeng thought.

“Then… Didi little brother?” Ruan Lingfeng took a deep breath, maintaining his smile. “How is that flippant? My tone is just like saying ‘Big Brother,’ ‘Big Sister,’ or ‘Auntie.’ Can you get it now?”

He was mainly expressing a sense of helplessness and a hint of dissatisfaction. Ruan Lingfeng was usually good at giving people a way out, but with Tao Zhi, he often found it hard to control the urge to just kick the ladder away.

“…Oh.” Even with that explanation, Tao Zhi didn’t look particularly happy. He didn’t plan to continue this mindless conversation; he had come today to say thank you. “About last time… thanks.”

“Hmm? For what?”

Tao Zhi stared awkwardly at the neon green “Emergency Exit” sign: “For when I had a fever a few days ago… thank you.”

The topic changed so fast that Ruan Lingfeng truly didn’t recall it immediately, nor did he expect Tao Zhi to make a special trip just to say this. Based on what Ruan Lingfeng knew of him, this kid had pride that was through the roof. It would have been a miracle if Tao Zhi didn’t try to “silence” Ruan Lingfeng after waking up and remembering all his vulnerable behavior while semi-conscious.

And yet, he actually came to thank him in person.

Ruan Lingfeng wasn’t one to be pretentious about such things: “It was nothing. I couldn’t exactly leave you alone in that situation.”

Tao Zhi added haltingly: “I really didn’t know my Rut was coming.”

In contrast, Ruan Lingfeng appeared much calmer: “It’s fine. It didn’t affect me.”

Ruan Lingfeng was stating an objective fact from his perspective, but it didn’t sound that way to Tao Zhi. He felt that even with a blurred consciousness, he had tried his best to suppress his nature to prevent any irreversible consequences, yet Ruan Lingfeng dismissed it by saying it “didn’t affect him.” To an Alpha, this sounded like saying his pheromones were completely unappealing. No Alpha likes hearing that.

However, knowing he was in the wrong from start to finish, Tao Zhi just kept a grumpy face and didn’t argue further. He simply repeated: “Anyway, thank you… seriously.”

Seeing Tao Zhi lower his stance, Ruan Lingfeng couldn’t help but nag a bit: “You really are something. You should have told me earlier that you stayed up all night for that recording; I would have definitely sent you home to rest.”

Lack of sleep, working back-to-back, the exhaustion of travel, plus standing for two or three hours at a show like that—any normal person would have collapsed.

Tao Zhi muttered: “Damn it, who was I doing all that for?”

Ruan Lingfeng: “…For Xie Jiashu, right?”

Tao Zhi finally couldn’t hold it in: “To hell with Xie Jiashu! If you hadn’t posted that pathetic ‘selling misery’ update on your Moments saying no one would go with you, I wouldn’t have come back…”

Halfway through, he felt he was losing face, so he quickly tried to cover for himself: “Of course, I also did want to see how Xie Jiashu is live. I occasionally listen to his songs.”

Ruan Lingfeng was stunned: “So you actually look at my Moments?” After all, Tao Zhi had never liked or commented on his posts; he had suspected Tao Zhi had blocked him.

“So annoying, stop talking!” Tao Zhi got flustered, but his words became much more fluent and loud. “Don’t keep interrupting me! I came to find you today to say that as a thank you, I want to treat you to dinner this weekend. Are you free!!”

Ruan Lingfeng laughed. It was no longer a forced professional smile. Although he was often angered by Tao Zhi, at this moment, he started to feel that this awkward “little brother” was actually somewhat cute.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Ruan Lingfeng said—honestly, as long as Tao Zhi wasn’t an ungrateful wolf who forgot a favor immediately and still remembered to say thanks, he was satisfied. “But unfortunately, I have something else to do this weekend.”

Tao Zhi suspected Ruan Lingfeng was making an excuse to reject him and pressed: “What is it?”

“Going home.”

“What are you going home for?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Tao Zhi felt he was asking too much. “Forget it. If you don’t want to go, it’s fine. I’ll save some money on a meal…”

“It’s not that I don’t want to go, I really have something on,” Ruan Lingfeng felt Tao Zhi’s disappointment and knew that using such an ambiguous “I have things to do” sounded like a brush-off, so he added, “I’m going back for a birthday.”

A birthday… it was indeed his birthday, but that wasn’t actually the main reason for going home.

His relationship with his mother wasn’t exactly good; he had even made up an excuse not to go back for the Mid-Autumn Festival. This time was the same; when Ruan Xinyu first asked if he wanted to come home for his birthday, he had said he was busy. Two days later, Ruan Xinyu called again, her tone almost pleading: “Mom’s state isn’t very good, Ge. Come back once. I’m afraid her illness might relapse.”

Ruan Lingfeng’s heart softened after all.

He didn’t want to tell Tao Zhi too much about these messy family matters, so he chose a reason that sounded respectable and legitimate.

“OK,” Tao Zhi accepted it. “Your birthday? Which day?”

“Sunday.”

“Then you’ll definitely be back for work on Monday. Save Monday evening for me…” Tao Zhi added, “Don’t leave me owing you a favor.”