ACMS 24 part 1

Chapter 24 – Agreement Reached

Pei Wenjing didn’t know that Shen Hechuan was away on a business trip.

Unlike Shen Hechuan, Pei Wenjing had an older brother who handled all the affairs of the family company, big and small. All he needed to do was live freely as a carefree young master.

After seeing Qiao Le, he fired off over a dozen messages to Shen Hechuan, curious to see how he would react.

But to his surprise, there was no response after a long while.

Was he busy?

Or maybe the video wasn’t clear enough?

Pei Wenjing opened the video he had just recorded—turns out it was quite clear. The bar had spotlights, and Qiao Le’s face could be seen easily.

He considered calling Shen Hechuan out, maybe to help his good buddy get a little closer to the guy.

Sitting next to him, Zhao Lei noticed that he was staring at his phone silently for a long time. Curious, he leaned over for a peek. “Brother Jing, what are you watching so intently? Whoa—”

Zhao Lei paused, glanced toward the bar, then back at the video of Qiao Le, and suddenly put two and two together: “Holy crap! You’re secretly filming him!”

Pei Wenjing shoved him away with one hand and shut off the video. “Cut it out. I filmed it fair and square.”

He wasn’t the only one in the bar filming Qiao Le. He didn’t think it was a big deal.

But the others were the type who loved a good scene and had a knack for stirring things up. As soon as Zhao Lei spoke up, the group instantly erupted in chatter.

“What are you filming? Let me see!”

“Brother Jing’s filming the bartender!”

“Seriously? Didn’t think you were into younger guys.”

“For real, he was so focused just now!”

“Let me take a look—okay, not gonna lie, that kid really is good-looking. Want me to go get his WeChat for you?”

Hearing their commotion, and seeing that they were actually getting up to approach Qiao Le, Pei Wenjing hurriedly tried to stop them. “Hey, hey—don’t mess around, I filmed it for He—”

He had originally wanted to say the video was for Shen Hechuan, but he wasn’t sure what Shen Hechuan really felt about the kid. What if that night had just been a fleeting whim?

This group was always looking for something to gossip about. If they got wind of something and started a rumor, it might become a mess.

Shen Hechuan was already under pressure from his family about marriage—if word got back to the Shen family that something like this was going on, it would only make things worse.

As a good friend, he couldn’t be the one causing trouble.

So he changed course mid-sentence: “I just thought the bartender’s technique was pretty good. I was bored and filmed it for fun. Don’t make a scene.”

“Really?” Zhao Lei looked at him with obvious suspicion. “C’mon, bro, don’t be shy. It’s just asking for a WeChat. We’ll go do it for you.”

“No need,” Pei Wenjing said. “If you guys like him, I’ll film some for you too.”

As he spoke, he raised his phone and began filming them. They started shoving and teasing each other, laughing, and the whole thing passed like a joke.

But Zhao Lei’s words had made Pei Wenjing more alert. Just as he was about to text Shen Hechuan again to ask if he wanted Qiao Le’s WeChat, the previously unresponsive man suddenly replied.

[Shen Hechuan: Where are you?]

Where?

Pei Wenjing honestly didn’t know what this bar was called. He looked around and found the name on the table plaque.

“A Drink To Unwind.” Quite the charming name.

He snapped a picture and sent it over.

[Pei Wenjing: A bar called A Drink To Unwind. The atmosphere’s nice, but it’s a bit small.]

[Pei Wenjing: I asked his name for you—it’s Qiao Le.]

Shen Hechuan tapped the image. He’d never heard of the place and didn’t know where it was.

Qiao Le had mentioned before that Might Bar was just a side gig. He didn’t know if A Drink To Unwind was another one of those, since Qiao Le seemed to juggle a dozen part-time jobs.

He was always spinning like a top, working nonstop in places Shen Hechuan didn’t even know about.

[Pei Wenjing: Want me to get his WeChat for you?]

[Shen: No need.]

He already had Qiao Le’s WeChat. There was no need for Pei Wenjing to go out of his way.

But Pei Wenjing didn’t know that, and he was finding it harder and harder to read Shen Hechuan these days. The moment he saw the video, he’d asked where he was—clearly, he had some feelings about Qiao Le.

Could it be he was too shy to admit it? That didn’t make sense. The man was well into his thirties.

[Pei Wenjing: Then how about sending me a business card photo? I’ll deliver it for you.]

[Shen: …]

An ellipsis?

Pei Wenjing had no idea what that meant. He sent another message, but it vanished into the void—no reply.

One of the guys beside him, annoyed he was glued to his phone, poured him a drink. “Brother Jing, don’t be like that. Sure, the place isn’t all that lively, but the drinks are decent. C’mon, have one.”

Since Shen Hechuan wasn’t replying anymore, Pei Wenjing could only set his phone down.

At that moment, Shen Hechuan was rewatching the video of Qiao Le.

In the clip, Qiao Le moved smoothly as he mixed drinks for customers, every motion practiced and effortless. His flair bartending tricks were genuinely impressive.

So Qiao Le could mix drinks too—Shen Hechuan hadn’t known that.

Then again, thinking about it, it made sense. He had worked at a bar, so naturally he would’ve learned.

Still, Shen Hechuan wasn’t sure about the environment at this new bar, or the type of clientele it attracted.

He hoped nothing like what happened before would happen again.

When the video ended, he replayed it once more. Then he tapped on another one—a clip showing a young man in a suit handing Qiao Le a business card.

The video only had the sound of the bar’s music—no dialogue—but it was clear enough. Qiao Le took the card, set it aside with a smile, and chatted with the man for a few moments.

Shen Hechuan closed it before it finished.

The rest of the photos were all of people trying to chat up Qiao Le.

Among them were sharp-dressed professionals and sunny college students, each one of them staring at Qiao Le like they couldn’t look away. Whether handing over a business card or offering a drink, their intentions were clear as day.

Shen Hechuan knew exactly what Pei Wenjing was doing.

He’d taken these shots on purpose—just to show him.

He and Pei Wenjing had known each other for many years—Pei Wenjing had probably already noticed last time that Shen Hechuan treated Qiao Le differently.

Exiting his chat with Pei Wenjing, Shen Hechuan tapped on Qiao Le’s profile picture.

Their conversation was still stuck on the message from that afternoon. Qiao Le had said, “Hope work goes well,” and after getting off the plane, Shen Hechuan had replied with a simple “Thanks.”

There had been no follow-up. Qiao Le had likely been busy, and so had he.

Shen Hechuan leaned back on the sofa, long legs crossed, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.

He had originally planned to talk to Qiao Le about the next commission once he returned from this business trip.

But after seeing the video and photos Pei Wenjing sent, he realized some things couldn’t wait. He had to act.

Aware of the urgency, Shen Hechuan didn’t waste another second.

He called Judy and asked her to rearrange their itinerary.

Originally, they were scheduled to return the morning of the day after tomorrow, and the tickets had already been booked.

Judy didn’t know why her boss suddenly wanted to change plans, but a competent assistant was there to solve problems, not ask questions.

“Yes, Mr. Shen,” she replied immediately. “I’ll adjust it right away.”

After hanging up, Judy made herself a cup of coffee, opened her laptop, and snapped a photo to post in her besties’ group chat to tell them she’d be heading back early.

[Escapee from Disney: The day after tomorrow at noon? Want to grab drinks that night?]

[Escapee from Disney: I found this nice little lounge on Shili Street—great vibes, and the bartender’s hot.]

[It’s Judy not Piggy: You had me at ‘hot guy.’]

[It’s Judy not Piggy: Blushing emoji.jpg]

[Spitty SpongeBob: I can vouch! I passed by that place the other day. He’s tall and handsome—totally your type!]

[It’s Judy not Piggy: Perfect! It’s a date. I’ll go sell my soul to my boss first!]

After sending the messages, Judy tossed her phone on the bed and dove into her sea of work.

With the schedule change, a lot of things had to be rearranged.

But that was fine. Judy was more than happy to do it.

Because it all counted as overtime—more money!

On the other side, after finishing his messages, Shen Hechuan also switched into work mode.

If the plan couldn’t keep up with change, then he’d just change the plan.

__

Qiao Le, meanwhile, had no idea Pei Wenjing had been at the bar or had taken so many videos and photos for Shen Hechuan. He’d been busy all day and didn’t get a breather until after work.

But the busier they were, the better the sales—and the higher their commissions. So it was worth it.

After work, he packed up and took Qiao Man home.

Qiao Man had already napped once at the bar, so by the time they got home, he was wide awake again and bouncing with energy—insisting he wanted to build the LEGO set Shen Hechuan had given him.

It was a massive amusement park set.

Since Qiao Man had kindergarten during the day and Qiao Le didn’t want to leave him home alone at night, he usually brought him to A Drink To Unwind. Because of that, Qiao Man hadn’t even had time to open the box since receiving it.

When Qiao Le came out of the shower, he found Qiao Man sitting on the floor, seriously studying the instruction manual and assembling it piece by piece.

Qiao Le walked over. “Student Qiao Man, it’s already three o’clock. Aren’t you sleepy?”

“Nope,” Qiao Man replied without looking up.

“Didn’t we agree to play with it on the weekend?” Qiao Le sat across from him. “You’ve got school tomorrow.”

Kindergarten started at 7:40 a.m., and Qiao Man was always hard to wake up.

Realizing he had to go to school, Qiao Man wavered, then reluctantly asked, “Can I play for ten more minutes?”

“Sure.” Qiao Le didn’t push him to sleep and instead joined in.

Seeing the LEGO set reminded him of Shen Hechuan, now far away on a business trip in Suzhou.

He picked up his phone and took a picture of Qiao Man hard at work.

He’d intended to send it to Shen Hechuan to show how much Qiao Man liked the gift, but when he opened WeChat, he remembered that Shen Hechuan was probably already asleep at this hour.

Forget it—he’d send it tomorrow.