Today's heat in Lin'an City is unbearable.
Li Younan parked his car in a free parking lot, intending to take a break. Soon, the car felt like a steamer. Unable to stand the heat, he got out of the car and sheltered under a tree while taking out his phone.
Li Younan majored in computer algorithm development at university. Anyone familiar with this field knows that for job hunting, eastern coastal cities are the best bet. Several large internet companies have their headquarters there, and especially in major cities, industrial clusters have formed. Besides domestic companies, many multinational giants also set up their Greater China headquarters here.
After graduating, Li Younan directly got a job in Binhai City. Some classmates went to the capital, while quite a few others went to Lin'an City, which is only two or three hundred kilometers from Binhai City. In Lin'an City, Li Younan has many old acquaintances, besides classmates from the same major, there are also many alumni.
When he arrived in this city, he browsed through his phone contacts and found many familiar faces. For now, he hadn't decided who to visit first.
Just as he was thinking, a familiar yet unfamiliar phone call came in. Seeing the caller ID on the screen, Li Younan hesitated slightly—Huang Xiaoyang.
Li Younan answered the phone, and a cold, emotionless voice came from the other end: "Did you arrive in Lin'an City? Let's have lunch together."
At this point, Li Younan felt sweat sticking his underwear to his backside. He gently tugged at it and replied, "How did you know?"
There was a noticeable silence from the other end, followed by a chuckle that could be either a sneer or speechless: "At 6 AM you posted on your Moments, saying 'Next stop, Lin'an City.'
The words made Li Younan seem a bit foolish, after all, he had said he was going to Lin'an City, and yet he asked the caller how they knew.
But that wasn't why Li Younan asked.
He lightly lifted his T-shirt to fan himself, revealing his neat abs, and said, "What I meant was, why are you looking at other people's Moments?"
This question left Huang Xiaoyang silent again.
But Huang Xiaoyang didn't explain further, simply saying: "I occasionally look. Where are you now?"
Li Younan looked around and saw a road sign, giving Huang Xiaoyang a rough idea of his location.
Huang Xiaoyang thought for a moment and said, "There's nothing good to eat near you. I'll send you a location; come and find me. I'll take you to eat something good."
Li Younan had no objections to Huang Xiaoyang's arrangement. Because he knows, even if he does object, it probably won't change Huang Xiaoyang's plans. With what Huang Xiaoyang suggests, you either accept or reject, don't expect to change it and then accept.
After hanging up, Li Younan opened the car door, where a wave of heat greeted him. He endured the discomfort and sat on the scorching leather seat, instantly wanting to leap up.
He turned the air conditioning to full blast, but even the initial breeze was hot. Li Younan quickly jumped out of the car, waiting until the temperature lowered before opening the navigation and slowly driving to the location sent by Huang Xiaoyang.
Li Younan's driving skills are consistently poor, but his advantage is his patience. He's not in a rush and always drives in the slow lane to avoid becoming a moving obstacle.
An hour later, Li Younan finally reached the place designated by Huang Xiaoyang.
It's a high-class restaurant, comparable to Michelin three-stars. Li Younan has never dined in such a luxurious setting.
As soon as he drove to the restaurant entrance, a young security guard in a suit opened the car door for him and asked, "Sir, do you have a reservation?"
Li Younan said, "There should be a reservation under the name Huang Xiaoyang... um, sir."
The young guard guided Li Younan, "This way please," then took his car keys to park for him.
Li Younan mused how everything in such a upscale place exudes class in every detail.
Guided by a waiter, Li Younan arrived at a private room. Inside sat a tall figure, ordering from the menu which he then slowly closed and handed to the waiter.
Not showing any particular enthusiasm upon seeing Li Younan come in, he simply said, "The wine here is nice, from the Braun estate. The decor here is very harmonious, the flooring made of fine elm wood."
Huang Xiaoyang lightly tapped the floor, making it sound. Li Younan admired him for being able to say such pretentious things with a straight face. If it were him, he would've lost composure with the first sentence.
But when Huang Xiaoyang says it, it doesn't come off as pretentious; he's merely stating facts without any hint of showing off, because this guy is genuinely impressive.
Huang Xiaoyang was in the same grade as him and was the top scorer in their city, which is extremely rare for someone from a wealthy family.
Indeed, Huang Xiaoyang came from affluent means, already able to drive a BMW to school during his freshman year.
Others work to earn a living; he works... just for the work.
Huang Xiaoyang once said he wants to experience the atmosphere of the world's top 500 companies, nothing more.
Girls passed on tales of Huang Xiaoyang's virtues, "If I could be Huang Xiaoyang's girlfriend, even if it's just riding luxury cars and living in mansions in the future, I'd be willing."
However, being a rich second generation didn't let Huang Xiaoyang slack off; he often topped the grade. The reason for "often" and not "always" is that occasionally Li Younan replaced him.
Actually, initially, Huang Xiaoyang reached out to Li Younan. He started a society called the Dawn Society. Li Younan has reasons to suspect that when Huang Xiaoyang started this society, he bribed the school's teachers, because the society had no specific purpose, goals, or nature.
According to Huang Xiaoyang, he just wanted to gather a bunch of people he thought were good. For what purpose? It's not important. And Li Younan was the first person he invited to his society, followed by a bunch of guys, giving Li Younan some reason for a while to suspect this guy's sexual orientation.
Someone like Huang Xiaoyang is as impressive as a comic book secondary male character.
Huang Xiaoyang didn't say anything like "Why didn't you call me first when you arrived in Lin'an City?" He said, "This is an Italian restaurant; not sure if it suits your taste, but it should, since I remember you aren't picky."
Li Younan nodded and said, "I'm fine with anything."
One would think having such a cool friend would make someone cherish the relationship more, but Li Younan never really warmed up to Huang Xiaoyang. From the core, he felt they weren't people of the same world. So most of the time, it was Huang Xiaoyang initiating contact.
Huang Xiaoyang seems to naturally have a tendency for masochism; the less attention you give him, the more proactive he gets. Whereas those constantly orbiting him, he doesn't give a second glance.
Huang Xiaoyang asked, "You resigned?"
Li Younan nodded.
It's not surprising to Li Younan that Huang Xiaoyang knew about his resignation, as Lu Haibo is also a friend of Huang Xiaoyang.
Huang Xiaoyang asked again, "What are your plans next?"
Li Younan shrugged: "I plan to tour around, start with the major cities in the east. In Lin'an City, of course, I want to check out West Lake, then maybe visit some big companies for fun, and catch up with old friends."
Hearing this, Huang Xiaoyang's expression was unchanged, he said, "In that case, tomorrow there's a reunion for the academy's group in Lin'an City, you can join, I'll add you to the group."
Being the man of action, Huang Xiaoyang added Li Younan to a WeChat group right after he spoke. There were more than 40 people, including many of Li Younan's friends.
But Li Younan was curious. He looked at Huang Xiaoyang and asked, "Are you joining such groups now?"
Huang Xiaoyang replied just as calmly, "Now I do."
Li Younan asked again, "Will you attend then?"
Huang Xiaoyang shook his head but hesitated for a moment before saying, "By the way, your little buddy will be there too."
Li Younan blinked, "Little buddy?" Suddenly he understood who Huang Xiaoyang was referring to.
Huang Xiaoyang added calmly, "There's one more thing, your buddy got dumped. You might run into some melodrama when attending."
Li Younan chuckled dryly but fell into contemplation.
As the food began arriving, Huang Xiaoyang used a knife and fork to cut his meal, and Li Younan mimicked, eating contentedly.
Halfway through the meal, Huang Xiaoyang suddenly asked, "How are you spending the afternoon?"
Li Younan had just put a piece of foie gras in his mouth and said, indistinctly, "Plan to wander around West Lake."
Because his system task involves checking in at West Lake.
His thought was to check in at West Lake first as he didn't have specific plans for the afternoon.
After a brief pause, Huang Xiaoyang said, "Alright, I'll join you."
Looking at Huang Xiaoyang, Li Younan said nothing and continued cutting his food.
It wasn't a negotiation or request from Huang Xiaoyang, nor a command; he was merely stating his intentions.
As always, you can refuse him or accept him, but don't try to change his decisions.