ACMS 23

Chapter 23: The World Is Full of Rivals in Love

With his thoughts opened up, Shen Hechuan’s mood also lifted.

“I’ll ask him about it,” he said to Wu Huilan, not directly rejecting her request to add Qiao Le on WeChat. “I’m driving now—let’s talk about it next time.”

Wu Huilan replied, “Oh, okay then. Drive safe. Remember to ask Lele for me.”

“Mm.”

The call ended just as he hit a red light.

Ahead of him, a group of stylishly dressed young people were laughing and chatting as they crossed the street. One of them wore a white T-shirt printed with the name of the Polytechnic University.

They were probably students from the nearby polytechnic—looked around twenty years old.

Youthful. Energetic. Unrestrained.

Even through the closed car window, their bright laughter seemed to echo in the air.

Qiao Le was about the same age as them—maybe even younger. By all rights, he should be like that too.

Not skipping meals just to earn a few extra tips on express food deliveries.

When the light turned green, Shen Hechuan brushed away those thoughts.

Back at Linjiang, he opened the “Let Me Do It” platform, marked his and Qiao Le’s transaction as completed, and gave him a five-star rating, just as Qiao Le had asked.

As soon as he confirmed it, the final payment was credited on Qiao Le’s end.

At the same moment Shen Hechuan stepped out of the elevator, a WeChat message popped up.

[Qiao Lelele]: Got the final payment!!

[Qiao Lelele]: Thank you, Mr. Shen, for the review! Looking forward to next time ∩_∩

[Qiao Le Le Le]: cat heart pose.jpg

Looking forward to next time?

Shen Hechuan smiled quietly.

It would be soon—after his business trip, probably.

Hopefully when that time came, Qiao Le would still say the same.

—

The next morning, Qiao Le got up early to drop Qiao Man off at school, then returned home to check his ledgers and transfer money to the relatives who had helped them out.

One hundred thousand yuan sounded like a lot, but when it came time to repay debts, it was like a drop in the bucket.

After transferring the money, he posted a WeChat moment. Not long after, his aunt Chen Li called.

Qiao Le had just transferred money to her earlier this month, and now another payment had come through. She couldn’t help asking where he got the money. She sounded worried, afraid he had been tricked into doing something shady.

“No, no,” Qiao Le assured her. “Don’t worry, I earned all of it. Legal, proper, and above board.”

Still uneasy, Chen Li said, “Even so, you didn’t need to transfer this much. You and Xiao Man both need money too. I’ve told you a million times—your uncle and I aren’t in a rush to get it back.”

She said the same thing every time—telling him to prioritize paying back others first—because she didn’t want someone to come after him over unpaid debt. It had happened before.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay everyone back,” Qiao Le said. He knew she cared. More than once, when he’d sent her money, she’d secretly find a way to earn it back and return it to him.

After chatting a bit more, they hung up.

Then Qiao Le opened a shopping app and ordered a skateboard for Fang Jiaxu, sending it straight to his house.

He was also planning to get Shen Hechuan a gift—but hadn’t decided what yet.

Just as he was thinking about it, a message from Shen Hechuan popped up.

[Shen Hechuan]: As long as he likes it.

[Shen Hechuan]: I’ll bring something else for him next time.

That morning, Qiao Man had sent Shen Hechuan a voice message to thank him, along with a photo of him hugging the LEGO set—grinning so hard his eyes were barely visible.

[Qiao Lelele]: Then he’ll be over the moon.

[Qiao Lelele]: Are you at work already?

Shen Hechuan replied with a photo of the airport.

[Shen Hechuan]: At the airport, heading to Suzhou on a business trip.

[Qiao Lelele]: For how many days? I’ve heard it’s beautiful and fun over there.

[Shen Hechuan]: Three days.

[Shen Hechuan]: You’ve never been?

[Qiao Le]: Nope.

Qiao Le hadn’t.

Last year, he had planned to go with Song Tongyu, but things at home had gone wrong, and they canceled the trip.

Now it was time for work.

He sent Shen Hechuan a message—“Hope everything goes smoothly”—then exited WeChat.

After resting for two days, he felt a bit lazy and needed to get moving again to recover his energy.

After a full day of delivering food, he felt reinvigorated.

That afternoon, he picked up Qiao Man before heading to the bar for his night shift. On the way, he bought some seasonal fruit for everyone.

He had taken five days off, only three of which were counted as his part-time hours at Might Bar.

The remaining two days, Fang Jiaxu had covered as sick leave.

As for what kind of sickness—it was too embarrassing to say.

When he arrived, everyone gathered around to check on him.

“Feeling better?”

“Were you working too hard?”

The staff at the bar weren’t that old, but Qiao Le was the youngest, so everyone treated him like a little brother, chiming in with concern.

“I’m all good now,” Qiao Le said, placing the fruit on the bar. “Just a bit of a cold. Completely fine now.”

Xiao Jiang poked through the bag and found longan and grapes. He popped a few longans in his mouth and said, “Why’re you spending money again? Struck it rich or something?”

“I wasn’t around these past few days—thanks for holding the fort,” Qiao Le replied with a grin. “I’ll go change—watch Xiao Man for me?”

Qiao Man was busy peeling longan when he heard his name. He looked up just as Xiao Jiang popped a grape into his mouth.

Qiao Le came out after changing clothes, scooped up the now-full Qiao Man, and carried him into the break room, reminding him to focus on his homework. When he came back out, he saw Fang Jiaxu sitting at the bar, eating longan.

When he spotted him, Fang Jiaxu blinked and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, “So, Mr. Shen didn’t ask you out tonight?”

“He’s on a business trip,” Qiao Le replied, only to realize something was off. He gave Fang Jiaxu a strange look. “Why would he ask me out?”

Fang Jiaxu said, “How would I know what you two do? I’m not sleeping next to your bed.”

Qiao Le: “…Try being a decent human being for once.”

Fang Jiaxu burst out laughing. Qiao Le rolled his eyes, put on his work badge, and got to it.

After 8 p.m., guests began to arrive one after another. By 10 p.m., even the second floor was nearly full.

Tonight, Qiao Le was assigned to the bar area, and for some reason, business was especially good. From the moment the first table came in, he hadn’t had a break—mixing drink after drink without pause.

“Welcome,” came the chime of the electronic doorbell at the entrance.

Xiao Jiang went to greet them. “Good evening, a party of five?”

“Yes, five.” The group that entered looked around, one of them commenting, “Who picked this place? It’s way too small.”

“Zhao Lei did,” another one said. “He wanted something quiet.”

The young man called Zhao Lei scratched his head. “I didn’t know it was this small. My girlfriend said the vibe was nice.”

A man in a floral shirt chimed in, “Quiet, sure, and the vibe’s alright too, but this place is too cramped. My long legs have nowhere to stretch!”

Xiao Jiang quickly offered, “There are private rooms upstairs. Want to check them out?”

The others ignored him and looked toward one of their group. “Brother Jing, want to go somewhere else?”

Pei Wenjing didn’t really care. He’d just come out to kill time. “Whatever.”

“Alright then, let’s go.”

The group began to turn and head back out.

As Pei Wenjing turned, his eyes unintentionally passed over the bar—and paused when he saw Qiao Le. Surprise flickered across his face.

Well, fancy that.

He had just seen Qiao Le a few days ago at Might Bar. Who would’ve thought they’d run into each other again here?

“Wait.”

He stopped the others. “Let’s stay here.”

“What?” The rest were already at the door. “We’re not going somewhere else?”

“A bar’s a bar. This one’s fine too.” Pei Wenjing smiled and pointed to a table that had just been vacated nearby. “Let’s sit there.”

It was a table for four.

Xiao Jiang glanced at their tall, broad-shouldered group—clearly, that table would be tight—and gently reminded them, “Gentlemen, that’s a four-person table. There are spacious private rooms upstairs.”

“No, this one’s fine.” Pei Wenjing didn’t care. “Just add another chair.”

That spot was directly facing the bar, with a perfect view.

Since he said so, the others didn’t insist and waited as Xiao Jiang cleared the table.

Pei Wenjing watched Qiao Le mix drinks with great interest for a while, then pulled out his phone, recorded a short clip, and sent it to Shen Hechuan.

__

After arriving in Suzhou, Shen Hechuan had first gone to the branch office for a meeting, then headed to dinner with a business partner.

When he received Pei Wenjing’s messages, he was still at the dinner table. He glanced at the notification on his screen but didn’t open it—just gave it a quick look before focusing back on the conversation.

When he finally checked his phone after everything wrapped up, he found over a dozen unread messages:

[Pei Wenjing: (video)]

[Pei Wenjing: (video)]

[Pei Wenjing: (photo)(photo)(photo)(photo)]

[Pei Wenjing: Is this that kid from Might Bar the other night? The one you even pulled cash from my pocket to tip?]

[Pei Wenjing: Didn’t he work at Might? Why’s he here now?]

[Pei Wenjing: Good-looking people are welcome everywhere, huh? See that row of people at the bar? All here for him.]

[Pei Wenjing: I’ve only been here half an hour and already saw three people buy him drinks and one person hand over a business card. Crazy, right?]

[Pei Wenjing: Gotta say, you’ve got a sharp eye!]

[Pei Wenjing: Why aren’t you saying anything?]

Shen Hechuan: “…”

You’ve said everything there is to say—what’s left for me?

Might as well declare that every single eligible bachelor in the city is my romantic rival.