A President’s Out-of-Body Experience

When Yu Yunren started drinking, there was nothing he would not do, including steep himself in a pool of wine. When he was happy, the champagne bottles could be stacked into a pyramid. Once those hosts and hostesses knew that Yu Yunren was there, they were all joyful to the point where they could thank their gods. There was even a hostess who was in a hotel room with her boyfriend, after she saw Renzi’s message asking if she was around, she left her boyfriend there and flew over, replying “I am! Am now in the washroom, will be there soon.”

Luckily for her, the traffic was not too bad, and she managed to rush over within half an hour. Renzi even asked her, “Which washroom did you go to? You took so long!”

The hostess immediately punished herself with a drink, and with a few quiet pours, she emptied half the bottle, then ordered another dozen, clearly scamming to increase the alcohol bill. Renzi did not notice it, and neither Gu Xiaoshan nor Shu Jingyi would be bothered about it as well.

It just happened that one of the hosts had selected Andy Lau’s <Straying> 1. The audience laughed, saying that the host was an antique. Renzi noticed that Shu Jingyi had not sang any songs at all, and so pointed to Mr Shu and joked. “Mr Shu, this must have been selected for you.”

Shu Jingyi laughed helplessly. “Seems like I’m the antique around here.”

Gu Xiaoshan replied laughingly, “Mr Shu is still young, just with a little white hair.”

Shu Jingyi waved, and did not decline anymore. He picked up the mic, with clear articulation, he started singing as though he was reciting, “In my heart I rebel, I resist…. Straying outside, I refuse your supervision…”

It looked as though a high school language teacher was awkwardly singing karaoke.

It was a pity that Gu Xiaoshan had to answer a work call at that moment and went to the balcony to pick up his phone, missing out on such a unique way of singing.

Everyone laughed, saying that they should have selected “Eastward flows the Yangtze River, The Waves Fade” for Shu Jingyi as a more suitable song. A honey-tongued hostess said, “But I think Mr Shu looks just like Andy Lau.”

Shu Jingyi laughed, “Our smile lines do look pretty similar.”

Renzi squinted his eyes heavily. “I have smile lines too.”

Shu Jingyi smiled and looked at him. “You don’t have any lines, but there seems to be a mole there.”

Those hostesses and hosts then went leaned against Renzi, saying that they wanted to see it. “We’ve known Renzi for so long, and we’ve never noticed it before.”

Due to the dim lights of the KTV, the mole really could not be seen clearly. Renzi could only push them away, “There’s a mole at the corner of my eye, but it’s very small and the colour is very faint. You won’t see it unless you’re paying attention to it.”

He continued, “I heard that this is a mark left by the tears of a lover in my previous life, is it unlucky? I was thinking of lasering it away.”

Shu Jingyi reached out, his finger tip smoothing past Renzi’s mole. Unconsciously, Renzi shut his eyes, and the area was shadowed by his eyelashes. Shu Jingyi replied, “A mole in this location isn’t a mark left by tears, it’s a “peach blossom 2 mole”. It’s a good sign.”

Hearing that, Renzi smiled, and his slightly droopy eyes also lifted up. One of the hosts laughed, “Ah yes, President Ren’s love life has always been flourishing! Seems like it’s all due to this mole!”

Renzi leaned closer to Shu Jingyi. “You can even read fortunes by studying faces?”

“Most older businessmen like me would understand a little of such things.”

“My dad is very old, but he never bothered with all this.”

Shu Jingyi’s amusement deepened, “Not everyone can be like your father!”

“Actually my mole is pretty much invisible to most people. It seems like you’re the only one who noticed it after knowing me for such a short time. Many of my friends don’t even know about it despite knowing me for ten years… Ah, right, I have another mole here that is a lot darker. I’ve been thinking if I should laser it off. Tell me if I should?”

Gu Xiaoshan had finished his call, and took that moment to return. Seeing that Renzi was about to take off his shirt, he was alarmed. “What are you doing?”

Renzi was startled. “Fortune-telling!”

Gu Xiaoshan was taken aback. “What?”

All the hosts and hostesses burst out laughing. Renzi suddenly felt a little embarrassed, and asked, “What was that call about?”

Gu Xiaoshan then thought Renzi had drank too much and was going off on a crazy tangent again, so replied, “I’m going back to deal with some things. It’s already late now, you should head back home too. Don’t drive after drinking, remember to get a substitute driver.”

Shu Jingyi spoke out. “It’s fine. I didn’t drink, so I’ll send President Ren back later.”

When Gu Xiaoshan left, Yu Yunren’s spirits fell a little. However, after some heckling by the hosts and hostesses, he drank quite a lot, and in the end was inebriated. Shu Jingyi saw that Yu Yunren was about to pass out, and stopped the hosts’ and hostesses’ antics. He also settled the bill, and so the night ended.

Yu Yuntao did not know that he was worrying over nothing, and asked Old Mister Yu, “Do you think Renzi can make it?”

“Don’t tell me he can’t even do such a simple thing. When he was young, I sent him to test his intelligence, he’s not retarded.”

As they were chatting, the butler knocked on the door. “Second Young Master is back.”

Old Mister Yu was about to go take a look, but Yu Yuntao asked his father not to move, and he would go by himself.

When Yu Yuntao walked to the front door, he saw Renzi stumbling out of a car. The smell of alcohol was thick around him, he had clearly drank a lot, and the butler was already supporting Renzi. Seeing this, Yu Yuntao frowned. About to scold his brother, he then saw someone exiting the car. In the dark, the light was not too bright. That person seemed to come out from the shadows, and with a smile on his face, he reached out with a hand. Reflexively, Yu Yuntao shook it, and when his mind caught up, he then smiled politely. “Hello, Mr Shu.”

“President Yu’s brother is very lively!”

“Our family hasn’t taught him well, sorry to let you see this.”

Yu Yuntao glanced around. “President Gu’s not here?”

“He received a work call at around 11pm, and headed back to work. I’ve long heard that he’s very invested in his work, seems like that’s true.”

“Then my brother has disturbed the both of you.”

Shu Jingyi’s eyes narrowed with a laugh. “Why does it feel like the entire world knows about my meeting with Mr Gu?”

Yu Yuntao was not even a little afraid, and answered, “It’s probably not the entire world, just the entire villa zone. Even our father knows about it. Uncle Gu has been telling everyone that President Gu is finally going on a blind date, he’s extremely happy about it.”

After a short spate of smalltalk, they said their farewells, and Shu Jingyi headed off in his car.

Just as Shu Jingyi departed, he received a call from Gu Xiaoshan. Gu Xiaoshan apologised to him for leaving halfway. Naturally, Shu Jingyi replied, “No worries. If I was the one who received a work call, I would immediately leave too. Don’t worry about whether it was polite or not.”

“Then, did that buddy of mine give you any trouble?”

“No, his decorum after drinking is pretty ok.” Shu Jingyi smiled.

Gu Xiaoshan recalled Renzi “steeping in wine”, and could not bring himself to agree with Shu Jingyi. Shu Jingyi then continued, “I’ve already sent him home safely, and even spoke to his elder brother. Don’t fret about it.”

Gu Xiaoshan was definitely relieved.

Renzi had drank too much. When he returned back to his room, he fell asleep, and it was quite a deep sleep. Yu Yuntao and Old Mister Yu both stood by the bed, their faces confused. Yu Yuntao told him, “Let’s don’t worry too much. Although Renzi’s head isn’t much of anything, but his luck is really amazing.”

Old Mister Yu wanted to say, your luck is very good too, it must be your mother’s blessing. However, whenever he thought about the two brothers’ mother, Old Mister Yu would choke up and be unable to speak. Exhaling, he returned to his own room.

Old Mister Yu was famous for loving his wife, and Old Mister Gu was the same as well. However, Mrs Yu and Mrs Gu were two completely different type of people. At the start, Mrs Gu, also known as Tang Guoguo, seemed to be more perfect that Old Mister Yu’s wife. Mrs Yu was a Cinderella, while Tang Guoguo was the daughter of a rich family. She was smart and charming, a delightful person. When she was in love with Mr Gu, she was like a moth attracted to a flame, loving him to the point where she could immolate herself for love.

Gu Xiaoshan never dared to believe in such a sudden and spectacular love.