28

  The program performance is over, and the leaders start to toast at each table. Major domestic financial institutions are considered half-government institutions, and drinking culture is indispensable. The leaders are all good drinkers, coming up with two cups of Maotai, there's no place to hide.

  I can still drink a little red wine, but white wine is completely out of the question. By the time all the leaders have finished drinking, I'm already dizzy and hot all over.

  Next, it's our turn to toast the leaders. At the annual meeting, clinking glasses means drinking to the death, starting with many heads, first thanking everyone for their hard work in the past year and toasting a round, then thanking the leaders for their good management and returning a round, followed by colleagues taking turns toasting each other. The timing of the annual meeting is just right, the next day is New Year's Day, and the warriors who got drunk can rest at home.

  Zhang Qiu asked me: "Manager Xu, shall we go and pay our respects to General Sun together?"

  I feel a bit dizzy, I'll sit down on the sofa for a while. I said to him weakly: "I'm not going to make it, let's take a break... and go slower..."

  My head is so muddled now, I just want to lie down and sleep, can't think at all.

  In a daze, someone gently patted me and put something in my hand. It seemed like there was a voice whispering in my ear: "Eat it."

  I wanted to open my eyes but couldn't muster up the strength, so I could only murmur: "Let me sleep for a while... it hurts."

  Someone put something in my mouth, it tastes sweet and a bit slippery, like... chocolate.

  After a while, I finally calmed down, as if I had slept for a bit. When I opened my eyes, I saw Lu You sitting beside me.

  He should also have drunk wine, and was resting with his hand supporting his head.

  Around, people are still clinking glasses and making toasts, many of whom have drunk until their faces are flushed red. And those young people who just graduated from university and started working, basically have already fallen or are getting up for the second round.

  "Low blood sugar again?" Lu You opened his eyes.

  I took a sip of water: "Probably, that's what happens when you drink." He knew it too, at the barbecue shop by the west gate of our school, I had an episode like this a long time ago.

  He rubbed his temples with his hand: "Then drink a little less."

  "Did you finish drinking?"

  "I don't drink. I'm allergic to alcohol."

  What he said is quite funny, when he and my dad met for the first time, they drank a whole bottle of Maotai together. I don't want to remind him, maybe people have already forgotten about these things, wearing a mask in the workplace isn't a bad thing for him.

  I said: "Oh."

  Lu You added: "When I was in the Ministry of Finance, I drank so much that my liver was damaged. Later on, whenever I came into contact with alcohol again, I would feel nauseous and couldn't drink."

  I said: "Oh."

  He looked around and asked me: "I've seen enough, if I drink more, I won't remember who's who. Let's say goodbye to the boss, I'll send you back."

  My head started hurting, I waved my hand and shook my head: "No need, I'll take a taxi back slowly. I'm going to find Sun."

  "He slowly said: 'General Sun has left. Before he left, he told me to take you back, it's not easy to hail a taxi at this hour. And with what you're wearing, no one would feel safe letting you go out alone.'"

  "Alright then."

  Before Judy came out, Lu You was stopped by someone, it was Wu Sha. Her face looked very bad, seemingly she had been drinking a lot.

  "Director Lu, I heard you didn't drink, can you give me a ride? My home is not far from yours. You can drop me off at a place where it's easy to hail a taxi and then I'll take a cab back home."

  Lu You looked at me and I said: "Let's go together."

  The golden car is easy to find, I sat in the back row with Wu Sha, Lu You started the car and said: "Wu Sha, I'll send you first."

  Wu Sha replied: "Thank you, Mr. Lu." Her mouth was full of alcohol fumes as she spoke.

  "How much did you drink?"

  "Seven or eight cups."

  "Is this your first time drinking so much?"

  Wu Sha nodded, and with Lu You's sudden braking, she felt very uncomfortable, almost vomiting.

  I patted her back and advised her: "You're just an intern, why are you drinking so hard?"

  Wu Sha furrowed her brow and rolled down the car window for some fresh air, remaining silent.

  I said to Lu You: "Why don't we stop by the side of the road and let her rest for a bit. Drinking so much wine on the bus can easily make you carsick."

  "Good."

  Wu Sha squatted by the side of the road and spat out some sour water, seeming to feel a bit better. We accompanied her in blowing some cool air, which indeed made her feel much clearer-headed.

  It was almost 2 o'clock in the morning when I sent Wu Sha back home.

  There were few cars on the road. The two of us sat in the car with little to say, creating an awkward atmosphere that made one feel suffocated.

  I rolled down the car window a bit, looking at the city's night view with red lights and green lights. Those dim high-rise buildings, crisscrossing elevated interchanges, and red-and-green-lit intersections flashed by quickly, unfamiliar and cold.

  At a red light intersection, I looked at the countdown from 60 seconds and said: "Why take a detour to send me home?" Wu Sha is on his way, he should have sent me first before sending Wu Sha.

  He didn't answer me after I waited for a long time. Maybe the wind was too loud and he didn't hear it.

  I told him the route: "Turn right at the front of that small district, enter from the first gate and go straight to the end."

  The security guard of the residential area seemed to be sleeping soundly. Lu You honked the horn several times, but no one came to open the door.

  He had to get off the bus and knock on the door, shouting several times before waking up the old man. The old man put on a coat, hunched his back, came out to open the door, and muttered in his mouth: "Next time, come earlier. Can't let people sleep?"

  Finally arrived downstairs, Lu You opened the door for me and asked in a low voice: "Do you want me to send you up?"

  I looked at him for quite a while and said, "Alright."

  This is an old-fashioned residential area without elevators. I live on the 4th floor. A man in a shirt and trousers, and a woman in high heels and a small dress, climbed the stairs silently at half past two in the middle of the night, the atmosphere was quite eerie.

  The voice-controlled lights on some floors are not working properly, and I can only feel my way up the stairs in the dark. I almost fell down when I stepped on empty air, but fortunately, Lu You finally spoke up and said "be careful". He opened his phone and used the screen light to illuminate the way.

  The corridor was very quiet, with only our footsteps, one after another.

  I fumbled for the keys in my bag and opened the door. Lu You stood at the entrance, silent and not speaking, as if he didn't intend to leave immediately.

  I leaned against the door, not quite understanding what he meant, and we stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before I spoke up and asked him, "......do you want to come in and sit down?"

  He looked at me, his eyes seeming to hold a hint of inquiry, and replied: "Good."

  I bent down to change my shoes, and in the air there was a faint scent of wine and a hint of inexplicable emotion.

  Suddenly thought of something, straightened up and turned around to look at him, leaned in a bit closer, and asked in his ear: "Do you... want to stay tonight?"

  His body froze, staring at me in disbelief.

  I smiled at him and leaned my head on his shoulder, repeating: "Tonight, do you want to stay like this?"

  The air seemed to have congealed, the room was very dark, with only one lamp on the shoe cabinet lit, casting a dim and unclear shadow on people. The surroundings were quiet, and all that could be heard was the sound of my and his breathing.