For the next few days, no events occurred.

In the original novel, Shen Ci ran a high fever and was on an IV drip in the hospital for three days. The original owner, afraid of catching his sickness, didn't look for him for those three days. This was a rare chance for Shen Ci to catch his breath in the early stages of the novel.

In reality, Xie Yu slept comfortably for three days and tasted all the dishes made by the hotel's head chef. He even evaluated them with great interest: "The black truffle is a bit old, there's too much sugar in the mousse, and the chocolate shell is too thick. It doesn't feel very authentic."

The System could only watch and not eat. It could only glare at Xie Yu while he ate, growing mushrooms out of boredom.

Finally, Saturday arrived—another important plot point.

Xie Yu opened the novel chapter: [Saturday Gathering]

The story went that on Saturday, He Zhiyuan was thinking about Shen Ci. Itching with desire, he absolutely had to get his hands on this cold beauty, so he organized a gathering. He urged Xie Yu to make sure to bring Shen Ci along, and the original owner, having quite a bit of "brotherly loyalty," really brought Shen Ci there. The group drank themselves into a stupor, forcing the academic god to drink until his stomach bled. Everything that happened after that was a mosaic (censored). Xie Yu could guess nine out of ten; it was nothing more than things that violated criminal law and would land them in jail.

Considering the completion rate of the plot, he definitely had to bring Shen Ci, but he could freely improvise the mosaic parts.

Sure enough, early in the morning, He Zhiyuan was barking orders in the group chat, pulling people together to form the party.

He Zhiyuan: "Drinking tonight? Got two bottles of good wine to liven things up. The usual place, on the Jiangxin Pleasure Boat. I've booked the whole venue."

The Jiangxin Pleasure Boat was the most luxurious cruise ship in the city, which also functioned as a hotel. It set sail every evening, spent the night in the middle of the river, and cost a fortune for a single night.

He Zhiyuan yelled out: "Zhou Yang, is Zhou Yang coming?"

Zhou Yang: "Coming."

"What about Young Master Xie? Is Young Master Xie coming?"

Xie Yu was concise and to the point: "Coming."

He Zhiyuan's true intentions lay elsewhere. Seeing Xie Yu speak up, he immediately asked: "That big beauty you just bagged, the one doing research at A University. Slim waist, long legs, really exciting. He ran away last time, is he coming this time?"

"With our relationship, I'd tie him up and bring him to you if I have to."

These were the original lines.

Xie Yu typed such an intimate line, but his face held no expression. His glass-colored eyes were cold and distant, faintly revealing his impatience.

He Zhiyuan was overjoyed: "As expected of Brother Xie, taking care of your brothers."

Xie Yu cursed inwardly, 'Bullshit.' Taking care of brothers meant sending someone to a brother's bed, trampling their dignity into the mud, and stomping on it a couple more times? What kind of bullshit brotherly loyalty was this?

He became increasingly impatient. Hampered by his character setting, he couldn't say much more. Pinching his tone into that of a rich second generation, he brushed He Zhiyuan off with a few more sentences and turned off his phone.

By noon, Shen Ci was just about coming out of the laboratory. Xie Yu followed the original text and called him: "There's a party tonight at seven. Get ready, dress cleanly, and I'll come pick you up."

This time, the phone only rang three times before Shen Ci answered. Keeping his voice low, he quickly replied: "Okay."

Judging from his voice, there was less reluctance than last time.

Xie Yu still had several threatening lines left unsaid, but they were blocked by that single word. He paused for a long while before lowering his voice to continue: "Be good. Don't forget that I was the one who got the quota for your grandmother."

"Okay," Shen Ci replied. "I know."

It seemed there was someone beside him, as he kept his voice very soft. In the original book, Shen Ci's tone was cold and he never gave Xie Yu a good look, but now, it sounded a bit soft.

Xie Yu: "..."

He looked at the original text in his hand, skipped the next few sentences, and coughed twice. "Anyway, just stay put. I'll come pick you up tonight."

After saying that, he directly hung up the phone.

In the laboratory, Shen Ci also turned off his phone's screen and put his gloves back on. The milky-white rubber wrapped around his slender fingers, and a hint of flesh color peeked through a slightly stretched section. When he looked up, Han Yunyun was winking and making faces at Li Yue.

Shen Ci stopped the movements of his hands and raised his eyes: "Is something the matter?"

"No! Nothing!" Han Yunyun urgently stood at attention.

Shen Ci said nothing more and continued looking at the data. However, as soon as he looked up again, Han Yunyun was hiding behind the experimental bench, holding onto the equipment and peering over in his direction.

Shen Ci sighed softly: "What exactly do you want to do?"

Han Yunyun laughed awkwardly a couple of times. "Senior Brother, I just wanted to ask... do you have something important going on lately? You've never looked at your phone in the lab before."

She actually wanted to ask if he was dating someone.

Shen Ci's face didn't reflect that he was thinking too much about it; he merely gave an "En" in response.

Young Master Xie's messages were indeed important. If he replied even two minutes late, there was no telling how much he would suffer.

Han Yunyun let out an exclamation and covered her face with a lab report, who knows what she was imagining.

Li Yue glanced at him and handed another document to Shen Ci: "Then Senior Brother, seeing as you've been quite busy lately, will you still be taking the work-study jobs from the Student Affairs Department?"

Li Yue was one of the student officers of the Student Affairs Department and knew about Shen Ci's family situation. Previously, when Shen Ci did work-study jobs, Li Yue would save some of the well-paying tasks for him.

Shen Ci nodded: "I'll still take them."

He had surrendered himself to Xie Yu mainly for his grandmother's medication contract, but he hadn't received much support financially and was still strapped for cash. With Shen Ci's pride, he couldn't open his mouth to borrow money from Xie Yu.

Li Yue said, "Currently, there are mainly two short-term tasks. One is to be a temporary teaching assistant for Pharmacokinetics next week. Their teaching assistant was hospitalized, and with finals the week after next, someone needs to go over the homework with the students. There's a subsidy of fifty for one evening study session."

"There's another one: going to a hospital school in the suburbs to act as a volunteer and coordinate with the school's propaganda department. There's a 200 allowance for round-trip travel expenses."

Neither task was difficult, and they wouldn't delay anything. Shen Ci nodded: "I'll take them both."

It was approaching autumn and winter, so the sun set quickly. Before seven o'clock on Saturday evening, the sky had already turned completely dark.

The Jiangxin Pleasure Boat was docked at the shore, and the neon lights were already lit. People were dancing in the cabin, and the flashing disco ball pulsed along with the intense drumbeats, creating a dazzling, blinding display of colorful lights.

He Zhiyuan had ordered a champagne tower. Over two hundred goblets were stacked layer upon layer, and the golden liquid cascaded from the top. Half poured into the glasses, and half clung to the sides. The pungent smell of alcohol permeated the air. They were using expensive Selosse champagne, averaging tens of thousands a bottle. Just this single tower wasted hundreds of thousands.

Shen Ci stepped out of Xie Yu's car. As the river wind blew, he reached out to gather his clothes closer to himself.

It was very cold.

Xie Yu stepped onto the boat and handed his coat to a waiter. Soon, someone came forward to lead the way, guiding him inside.

Xie Yu took a couple of steps and, seeing Shen Ci falling behind, tilted his head slightly: "Why aren't you coming up?"

Shen Ci lowered his eyes and followed: "Coming."

He stood on the side of the ship, the hull swaying gently in the river water. Following two blasts of the horn, the cruise ship gradually departed from the shore.

Shen Ci took one last look at the riverbank before heading up to the second floor with Xie Yu.

From now on, this ship was like an isolated island, with nowhere to go. The wealthy young masters laughed wantonly inside, while the others were isolated, helpless, and had no way to call for help.

Xie Yu passed through the crowd and took a seat in the innermost private booth.

He Zhiyuan and Zhou Yang had already arrived. The two sat on the left and right, leaving the middle seat for Xie Yu. Lin Yin, carrying a small bag, sat cautiously beside He Zhiyuan. Upon seeing Xie Yu and Shen Ci, her eyes darted away, quickly shifting her gaze.

He Zhiyuan's gaze swept over Shen Ci, and then he put an arm around Xie Yu. He chuckled, "Good brother!"

Xie Yu calmly brushed his hand away, offering a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "Naturally."

He Zhiyuan didn't notice Xie Yu's rejection in the slightest. He handed over a glass of champagne: "We were just waiting for you."

Xie Yu took two sips and turned his head to speak to someone else.

He Zhiyuan's true intentions weren't focused there, so he let him go and moved in front of Shen Ci. He looked him up and down, then bent over, stopping twenty centimeters away from Shen Ci's nose. Placing a wine glass in front of him, he smiled: "Mr. Shen, give me some face?"

This was a glass of strong white liquor with an alcohol content of over 52 percent.

For someone like Shen Ci, who couldn't handle alcohol, just one glass would make him drink until he threw up.

He Zhiyuan didn't dare force strong liquor down Xie Yu's throat, only getting him a glass of champagne, but when facing Shen Ci, he had no such scruples.

Shen Ci said indifferently: "I can't drink."

Hearing this, not only He Zhiyuan but Zhou Yang also laughed out loud, wearing an expression of watching a good show.

When these playboys played to their heart's content, they would force drinks if they said so. Did they care whether the person could drink or not? Even if they drank until they threw up, so what?

He Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes and picked up the glass: "You really can't? Everyone on the boat can."

Even if he couldn't, once he boarded this boat, he would have to learn how.

Shen Ci looked at him evenly: "I can't."

He Zhiyuan obviously hadn't expected Shen Ci to give him so little face. His complexion suddenly darkened, and he immediately sneered: "Good, very good."

As he spoke, he suddenly picked up the wine glass, pressing it heavily under Shen Ci's lips, and reached his left hand toward Shen Ci's neck, wanting to forcefully pry his jaw open and pour the liquor in.

"If I force you to drink, are you going to drink or not?"

Shen Ci turned his head to avoid it, but the space in the chair was limited. With his back pressed against the cushion, he had no way to retreat.

He frowned, revealing his disgust. The liquor was right under his nose; a considerable amount splashed out from the glass and dampened his shirt collar. He only needed to lower his head to smell the pungent scent of alcohol.

He pursed his lips, with nowhere left to retreat.

"Hey, I say."

Someone suddenly spoke from behind. However, with the beauty right in front of him, He Zhiyuan's mind was filled entirely with Shen Ci's listless expression. That look, seeming like contempt and resembling disgust, was glaring to the eyes and ignited a fire in He Zhiyuan's heart. He couldn't wait to force the liquor down his throat, making this beautiful face tainted with fear, despair, and pain. He wanted to force this person to drink until he vomited and convulsed, preferably so he could never make that kind of expression again...

"Hey, I said!"

As He Zhiyuan was thinking this, he suddenly felt a strong force from behind. In the next moment, he was grabbed, pulled back two steps, and forcibly pressed down onto his seat.

He Zhiyuan turned his head in astonishment. Xie Yu was leisurely releasing his grip, gently patting his cuffs as if brushing away something dirty.

Young Master Xie lounged back lazily in his seat and raised an eyebrow at him: "Hey, I say, the cocktail party just started. What's the point of getting everyone drunk so soon? Let's take our time, no need to rush, right?"

He Zhiyuan: "But..."

Before he could "but" out anything, he saw Xie Yu, eyes half-lowered, lightly glancing over. Xie Yu looked fixedly at him with a faint, unreadable smile. Even though he was clearly sitting in the middle of a debaucherous scene, his dark eyes reflecting the lights, they were dead silent and indifferent, as deep and cold as an icy pool.

A chill ran down He Zhiyuan's spine, and for some inexplicable reason, he didn't dare to speak anymore.

He rubbed his nose, sat back down with his wine glass, and said awkwardly, "True, it just started. The night is still long, the night is still long."

Although everyone present was a rich second generation, there were still differences in their family backgrounds. Xie Yu was considered top-tier in Jiang City, so everyone present had to give him face.

During this time, a few more rounds of drinks were poured. The rich heirs joked and cursed, and Zhou Yang started playing with dice, opening two casual rounds. Someone in the private booth even lit a cigarette, puffing out clouds of smoke.

Shen Ci choked a couple of times, suppressing his coughs in his throat. After a moment, he stood up: "I'm going to the restroom."

Xie Yu nodded.

He then walked quickly up to the deck. The early autumn river breeze was chilly, and blowing against him like that, it dispersed the smell of tobacco. Shen Ci followed the side of the ship, stopping in a quiet, deserted spot, listening to the river water playing the continuous sound of tides, wave after wave.

These stolen ten minutes might be the rare moment of tranquility he would get tonight.

He stood there for a while and was about to go back when he suddenly heard someone call him softly: "Shen Ci?"

Shen Ci looked towards the sound. Lin Yin was hiding in the shadows, her expression hesitant as if she had something to say.

Shen Ci asked: "Miss Lin Yin, is something the matter?"

Lin Yin was nominally He Zhiyuan's girlfriend, but she was clear-headed and had no feelings for him. She was only after his money and came to the party to act as eye candy. She hadn't said a word during the first half of the banquet, so Shen Ci hadn't expected Lin Yin to initiate a conversation with him.

"Mr. Shen, it's like this," Lin Yin hesitated for a moment but still spoke up. "When I came, I saw Young Master He's phone. He was chatting with Young Master Xie... Do you know what he said?"

Lin Yin was half-in this circle. She wasn't a bad person. Although she was weak and powerless, unable to pull anyone out of the mud, when she saw certain things, she still wanted to give a heads-up.

Shen Ci was startled: "What?"

Lin Yin took a deep breath: "It's like this. Young Master He organized the party and asked Young Master Xie to come play. He specifically asked if Young Master Xie could bring you. Then Young Master Xie said, they're good brothers, and he would tie you up and bring you to him if he had to... Do you know what these words implicitly allow in our circle?"

The cold wind on the river blew past. Shen Ci stood frozen in place, feeling inexplicably a bit cold. He tucked his icy fingers into his sleeves and pulled his coat closer: "I don't know."

Lin Yin gritted her teeth: "It means allowing others, multiple people, many people to play together!"