A person's patience has its limits, especially for Yan Shen who is currently in a period of particularly weak self-control.

...If this daring little hamster keeps rubbing his leg, he might not be able to control himself from doing something.

President Yan's hand on the table clenched slightly, with almost all of his attention focused on the nerve endings in his leg.

"Ahem——!"

His friend beside him, seeing his increasingly obvious condition, coughed loudly to remind him to behave.

Yan Shen: "..."

But before he could misbehave, the bold little hamster seemed to be startled by the cough. After a moment of daze, he quietly withdrew his hand.

Tentatively touching the leg of the person beside him, and finding that Yan Shen's leg muscles instantly became as hard as a rock, Su Duan furtively glanced up to see the tense arc of the other party's jaw, and hesitantly retracted his hand.

It seems the mood became even more tense.

Su Duan said, "System, it doesn't seem to be having much effect."

Before the system could answer, he added, "Is it because of the clothes in between?"

He wanted to touch Yan Shen's hand, but Yan Shen's arm was lightly resting on the table. If he touched it openly, it would definitely attract some strange looks.

The system said, "That's a factor, but this kind of contact is very shallow to begin with. Coupled with the slow auxiliary effect of the prop, even without clothes in between, it won't take effect that quickly."

Su Duan thought for a moment and said, "I understand, thank you."

Since rubbing doesn't seem to work well, he can only try something else.

But they are still at the dining table now, so it's not good to make a move here. Su Duan is not in that much of a hurry. After withdrawing his hand, he obediently waited to eat.

The original body didn't have very good living habits, so he didn't eat breakfast in the morning. Now he is so hungry that he feels a bit dizzy and really needs to eat something to alleviate it.

The dishes were served one after another. After the table was filled, it was time for the routine pre-meal toast.

Su Duan couldn't help but feel a little worried. He only tasted a little alcohol when he was kissed by a drunk Qin Zhi in the first world, and felt uncomfortable at the time. If he drinks directly now, he definitely won't be used to it.

Moreover, the original body's alcohol tolerance doesn't seem to be very good either. Who knows if he will get drunk.

Drunk people are unreasonable. The image of Qin Zhi drunkenly biting people at that time left him with this impression.

If he also gets drunk and becomes unreasonable, who knows if he will accidentally anger Yan Shen.

Although it's not very noticeable, he still believes what the system said. Yan Shen is having an episode now, excitable and irritable.

However, before the director could even fill the glass, Yan Shen spoke, "I have to drive later, so I won't drink."

Actually, he had already drunk some in the private room upstairs. He has a dedicated driver and doesn't need to drive himself. It's just an excuse not to drink.

This is also the first time he has spoken such a long sentence since entering the private room. Before, when communicating with the director, he basically just responded with "hmm" and nods.

The man's voice has a deep timbre, like the melancholy of a cello being played, and because of certain unspeakable factors, there is also a hint of hoarseness in the undertone. Others may not hear it clearly, but Su Duan is close. When the voice falls on his ears, it makes him feel itchy. He subconsciously moves his head to dispel the itch.

Although the drinking culture is an indispensable part of Chinese social interactions, the biggest boss at the table has already spoken. If he's not drinking, others who want to persuade him have to consider if they have the stature to go against the boss.

The only one with the stature to persuade a little, the director, paused upon hearing this, then compliantly put down the glass in his hand and said with a smile, "President Yan is right, drinking interferes with business. Let's just eat today."

If it were other familiar investors, he might still try to persuade them, but this President Yan who just returned to China doesn't seem to be someone easy to get along with. It's better to be cautious and just try not to make any mistakes.

The financial power of President Yan is unimaginably huge. For him to casually invest in a movie is just a whim. The money invested by one person accounts for more than half of the total investment. If he hadn't gotten intelligence in advance that the other party had a social engagement here, it would be almost impossible to invite this boss to this meal.

A big boss, of course, must be catered to.

If he can establish a good relationship, he won't have to worry about his future productions not being able to get investments.

Although as one of the famous directors in the industry, his films are not short of investors, the problem is that for some big productions, it's not easy to get enough investment to fully showcase his skills. After all, the higher the cost, the greater the risk. This is a truth that everyone understands.

Moreover, even if he manages to get them with great difficulty, he can't avoid investors stuffing in all kinds of newcomers and old faces.

It's simply maddening.

And this President Yan seems to be a businessman with no interest in celebrities. When investing in this film, he indeed didn't use his more than half of the investment to stuff anyone in, unlike the other few investors who, although investing a small share, are all eager to send people into the crew. It's a great relief in comparison.

This very much makes one want to cooperate again.

Thinking of the next two "money-burning" films in his plan, the smile on the director's face becomes a bit more sincere.

Glancing at the obviously relieved black-haired youth beside him from the corner of his eye, Yan Shen can't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He was just boldly rubbing his leg under the tablecloth, but as soon as he heard about drinking, he chickened out, his gaze on the wine bottle in the director's hand carrying an obvious meaning of shrinking back.

Until he heard that there was no need to drink, he blinked and carefully relaxed.

......

Under everyone's gaze, Yan Shen made the first move with his chopsticks, and this meal lacking the toasting ritual officially began.

But although it's called eating, probably no one at the entire table is putting their mind on the food, except for the black-haired youth beside him who is diligently eating with his head down.

Especially those stars who are putting on airs to maintain their figure and showing restraint, perfunctorily taking five minutes to eat a single mushroom slice.

It forms a stark contrast with the black-haired youth beside him who is working hard to chew the elastic shiitake mushrooms, even puffing out his cheeks.

After observing for a while, Yan Shen extended his chopsticks towards the plate of oyster sauce mushroom and vegetable medley being enjoyed by the youth.

He didn't have much of an appetite originally, but seeing the black-haired youth eating so earnestly and diligently, he couldn't help but develop some interest in the dishes he had eaten.

As the name suggests, in addition to shiitake mushrooms, this oyster sauce mushroom and vegetable dish also contained water bamboo, red peppers, edamame and other vegetables, stir-fried with oyster sauce to just the right degree of doneness, glistening with a slight sheen of oil and with a very enticing color combination.

When he picked up a diced piece of shiitake mushroom and put it in his mouth, the elastic fungus bounced a few times between his lips and teeth after being cooked, and the freshness of the vegetables mixed with the umami of the oyster sauce felt quite nice.

His belated appetite was whetted, and Yan Shen picked up another piece of diced mushroom.

After swallowing the food in his mouth, when Su Duan raised his head to pick up more food, he noticed Yan Shen putting a piece of shiitake mushroom in his mouth. He immediately stopped picking vegetables and just stared at the corner of Yan Shen's mouth.

Shiitake mushrooms, like poria, are fungal fruiting bodies, and in a sense, they are actually the same species as his own body.

Although he was very happy eating his own kind after they were cooked, seeing Yan Shen also eating them so happily, Su Duan suddenly felt an indescribable sense of loss welling up in his heart.

Does he not taste good? How can he eat other fungi...

Su Duan felt dejected for a while, and secretly asked in his heart, "System, is it wrong for me to think this way?"

The system answered him affirmatively, "Yes, the system did a search, and the mentality that best matches your current one in the system's database is 'double standard', which generally refers to allowing oneself to do something while not allowing the other party to do the same, which is an unhealthy mindset."

Su Duan sighed and said, "Okay, I will reflect on it."

Yan Shen, still chewing on the diced mushroom, made eye contact with him for a few seconds, not understanding how the black-haired youth's aura had suddenly deflated, looking at him with the kind of aggrieved gaze one would give to a cheating, heartless scoundrel.

Cheating...?

What does this have to do with anything... It's just eating vegetables, has his train of thought already diverged to this extent?

Patients with mania often experience accelerated thought association processes and rich, varied thought content during episodes, commonly known as overthinking - in any case, President Yan still remembered his symptoms quite clearly.

In fact, most patients do not realize they are in an abnormal state during an episode, but for Yan Shen, who is usually extremely calm and restrained, he is able to have some awareness before the illness develops to the point of losing control.

Dispelling the bizarre thoughts in his mind and pondering for a moment, Yan Shen reached out his chopsticks and picked up a small, exquisite garlic vermicelli steamed scallop for the black-haired youth.

With a ding, the scallop shell collided with the porcelain plate, making a crisp and faint sound.

The scallop meat, which looked very springy, fell on the carefully plated delicate vermicelli, the broth dyeing the scallop a tempting light yellow, mixed with the garlic paste piled in a small heap on top of the scallop along with red peppers and green onions, looking incredibly tender and fresh.

He picked up the food for the black-haired youth very naturally, as if he had done it countless times before and had already engraved it as a habit deep in his bones, doing it without the slightest hesitation or obstacle.

And the black-haired youth obviously accepted it without any hesitation as well, smiling at him, his eyes shining brightly as he picked up the tender scallop meat and obediently put it in his mouth.

After swallowing the melt-in-your-mouth scallop, he also picked up the remaining vermicelli in the shell and slurped it all up.

The feeling of feeding someone seemed to be addictive. Seeing the black-haired youth eating so obediently and earnestly, as if it was even more satisfying than eating it himself, he couldn't help but pick up food for him several more times.

The two people, one feeding and one being fed, didn't feel anything was amiss, but this scene looked incredibly shocking in the eyes of others.

How could this cold and noble-looking big boss be so attentive to a little body double?

Even if he's just keeping a little celebrity as a lover, there's no need to go to this extent, right? You know, many couples aren't this attentive even when they're dating.

Even the director couldn't help but think with mixed feelings: What happened to only doing investments and not playing with little celebrities...

......

But no matter how much everyone was criticizing in their hearts, they didn't dare show it on the surface, and the atmosphere in the private room was uncontrollably a bit strange.

The meal ended in the harmonious atmosphere of the two people and the indescribable mood of the others.

Yan Shen had already eaten a little before, and although he didn't eat much, the satisfaction of feeding the little hamster had already made him very pleased with this meal.

In the end, he exchanged a few pleasantries with the director in a good mood, and had just gotten up from his chair and taken a step when he saw the black-haired youth, who stood up on his own without waiting for him to say anything and followed behind him, making President Yan's mood simply soar to the point of feeling lightheaded.

He had to quickly take this little hamster back and hide him away.

However, President Yan, who was thinking this way, had just taken his little hamster out the door when he encountered someone trying to ruin his plan.

The plain-faced man waiting in front of the private room waited for him to walk by, then reached out to grab the arm of the black-haired youth behind him, saying in an unfriendly tone, "Su Duan, what's going on with you--" Why are you following that boss?

Is Su Duan someone who can provoke such a person? He brought this body double over to help Xie Zhu solve a problem, not to let him come stir up trouble!

After all, he came for their Xie Zhu, so if something happens, who will it fall on?

He didn't expect this little body double, who seemed timid and always acted very properly, to have such guts and ambition.

However, he had only said a few words when his arm was pulled away by a force that seemed like it could crush his arm.

The stern-faced man lowered his eyes, as if frozen with ice and snow in his gaze, and swept a nearly frigid glance at him, stingily spitting out the word "scram" from his mouth, then took the wrist of the black-haired youth who had just been grabbed and left without looking back.

The agent stood in place, supporting his aching arm with his other hand, watching the two gradually receding figures, not understanding why things had developed in such a bizarre direction, but already vaguely having some bad premonitions in his heart.