Chapter 2: Farewell Drink
That night.
Inside a private room at a restaurant outside Nanke University.
“Come on, first drink tonight, to our four years at university, everyone graduated smoothly!”
Without inviting other classmates, the four brothers booked a private room alone. Over the four years at university, they four spent most of their time living together, and tonight’s drinks were just their four’s farewell drink.
Fan Ren gazed at the clear liquid emitting a rich aroma in the cup before him, his head aching.
He had spent the entire afternoon and finally accepted everything that had happened to him very calmly.
There was nothing too shocking about it, after all, he came into this world stark naked, lived more than twenty years without family affection, and was very open-minded about it.
Before this, during university, his vision for the future was to let Xu Min live a good life with him someday, and he would definitely cherish that girl who was not a stunning beauty.
He would also use all his effort to make Xu Min proud of her current choice in the future.
But life is unpredictable.
It couldn’t be called a heartbreak, after all, three years of romance compared to his 20 years of loneliness could only deal him limited damage.
After all, it was just returning to being alone again, which he was already used to.
Besides, he at least still had four decent dormmate brothers.
After that day, Fan Ren’s plan for his future life was to find a stable job and first get his own life sorted out.
If conditions and opportunities allowed, find a girl, have a child, and live out a life that might not be too bad.
Fan Ren had full confidence in his own abilities.
Now it was just an unexpected addition in his mind, upholding the long-held philosophy of ‘if it’s a blessing it’s not a disaster, if it’s a disaster it can’t be avoided,’ Fan Ren was quite open about it.
Those things, if he could make good use of them, would naturally be great.
If not, it wouldn’t be too bad either.
“Hey! Boss raises his cup, Second Brother you still not drinking, are you trying to rebel!”
Liu Jun shouted loudly, pulling Fan Ren back to reality. He looked at the wine glass in his hand and smiled bitterly: “Remember to carry me back later, you guys.”
He tossed it back in one gulp.
Li Jian smiled and nodded: “That’s more like a man. Come, fill it up!”
Fan Ren, setting down his wine glass, quickly picked up his chopsticks, not looking at what dish was in front of him, and shoved it into his mouth.
“Second drink, to…”
“Wait, boss, slow down, I really can’t handle it.”
Fan Ren quickly begged for mercy. Normally with beer, he could handle one bottle, two would floor him steadily. Drinking baijiu today was really pushing him.
“Alright, eat up!”
Liu Jun smiled and called out, picking up his own chopsticks. Over there, Lin Chang had been waiting impatiently and hurriedly joined in.
They devoured the food like a whirlwind, and then the conversation started up again.
Li Jian raised his cup toward: “Fourth Brother, any reply from the recruitment side?”
Lin Chang set down his chopsticks, took a sip from his wine glass, and said: “Not yet, don’t mention it. Worst case, like Brother Fan, do some part-time online and still support myself. Right, Brother Fan?”
Over there, Fan Ren shook his head upon hearing this.
“You’re different from me. I can eat alone with no family to feed, but you’re the only one at home, and they’re waiting for you to buy a house and get married. You still need to focus on graduation recruitment; getting a stable job is the real deal.”
After these words, the atmosphere at the table immediately became somewhat silent.
Due to Fan Ren’s orphan identity, everyone usually avoided these topics around him.
Although he brought it up himself now, they were all young after all and not great at comforting people.
Fan Ren smiled, filled his own wine glass. He was letting loose today too.
This might be the brothers’ last meal together for a long time; no need to make it so gloomy.
“Do you guys just meet me today? When have I ever cared about this stuff? Fourth Brother, come, cheers, thanks for the help these years, no more words, too sappy.”
Fan Ren finished drinking, filled his glass again, and raised it toward Liu Jun who hadn’t spoken much over there.
“Third Brother, come, cheers. No need to say thanks to you, just drink a couple more.”
Liu Jun looked up, his eyes unknowingly a bit red.
He was different from the others; among the four brothers, his family situation was the best, no need to rush planning for the future.
In Fan Ren’s previous joking words, ‘With your family’s conditions, as long as you don’t go investing or starting a business, it’s enough for several lifetimes.’
“Damn, if only it could always be like this, just eat, play around, nothing to worry about.”
“Get lost, our families aren’t rich second-gen, damn it.”
Li Jian laughed and cursed, watching the two finish drinking. Before Fan Ren could refill, he said: “No rush, eat some food, heh, I wanna see what you have to say to me.”
Fan Ren unhurriedly ate some food, then picked up his wine glass again.
He stood up, raised the glass with both hands, solemnly.
“If sir does not disdain, Fan is willing to acknowledge you as godfather!”
“Me too!”
“Me too!”
The other two quickly stood up, and the atmosphere at the wine table immediately livened up again.
Really, over these four years, this boss had truly treated these three like his own younger brothers in how he handled things.
He got up early for runs and paid attention to regular eating due to fitness, unlike those three who either gamed all night or did part-time design work all night, bringing meals became routine.
Four years, not a single complaint.
After another round of drinks, Fan Ren called out and went to the bathroom with Liu Jun.
After downing four or five glasses of baijiu, his condition today was surprisingly good; by his estimate, he should be flat on the ground by now, but unexpectedly just a bit dizzy.
After relieving himself, as he washed his hands in the outer area, a startled voice sounded behind him.
“Fan Ren? Liu Jun? How come you’re here?”
Liu Jun cursed hatefully: “Bad luck, can’t even eat in peace without running into them.”
Fan Ren turned to look; sure enough, the only ones who could make Liu Jun act like this were the group from Xu Min’s dormitory.
The one who spoke was Xu Min’s best friend Liu Xinyue, like the green leaves that set off the red flower, with a 150-pound figure, greasiness covering her features.
He took a piece of paper from nearby to dry his hands, and nodded slightly toward Xu Min in the distant corridor.
Beside her were dormmates Cao Bingqian and Zeng Yingying.
Liu Xinyue, unwilling to be ignored, sneered sarcastically: “What are you looking at? Still not over our little Min, huh?”
Liu Jun didn’t hold back: “What’s it got to do with you? Ugly people make trouble!”
Liu Xinyue’s face immediately flushed red, but she didn’t dare act up with Liu Jun; Fan Ren found it amusing just watching.
Ignoring her, he walked up to Xu Min who hadn’t spoken.
The girl before him had delicate features, fair skin, not a knockout, but with a head of jet-black lustrous long hair that Fan Ren particularly liked.
“You proposed the breakup, I didn’t object a few days ago but tacitly agreed. Since we ran into each other today, I think we should make a clear end to it.”
Xu Min felt a chill all over hearing this; shouldn’t something like this be avoided to prevent awkwardness for everyone?
Fan Ren had always been rather soft in her eyes, but today she noticed the tone in his voice had changed somewhat.
He smiled friendly at Xu Min’s two silent roommates beside her and said: “Just right, everyone’s here. Let’s lay it out clear, so no misunderstandings later, yeah?”
Xu Min’s pretty face fell; was Fan Ren trying to embarrass her in front of everyone?
“What do you want to say? We have no relationship anymore.”
Her tone was ice-cold, as if Fan Ren were a stranger.
Fan Ren looked steadily at Xu Min; honestly, though they had broken up, hearing the girl speak so decisively still made his heart ache a bit uncontrollably.
“Yeah, just like that. No relationship anymore.”
After saying that, he turned toward the private room, thought for a moment, and turned back.
“Everyone witnessed it, yeah? No joking about past stuff later, or it’ll be awkward.”
He tried to make his tone humorous, but the current atmosphere clearly didn’t allow for laughter.
“Come on, what are you standing there for?”
Seeing no one speak, Fan Ren glared at Liu Jun whose mouth was agape in an O-shape.
“Ah? Oh, yeah, let’s go, keep drinking. Damn, which private room are we in again?”
Liu Jun snapped back, patted his head; he was stunned.
The usually mild-mannered Second Brother’s performance today shocked him greatly.
Good grief, so cool!
