The issue with Wen Xia was indeed not Yu Yan’s doing. He had no intention of making things difficult for the young woman over this matter. He guessed that even his family wouldn’t go out of their way to deliberately blacklist someone in such a tough spot. Still, when he got home, he casually brought it up.

Yu Lin and Jiang Mo didn’t get involved and told him to ask Yu Chen.

Yu Chen admitted frankly, “I just had someone keep an eye on her.”

Yu Yan understood. The issue likely stemmed from Wen Xia’s own problems. After all, she had offended someone, which led to a significant loss of resources. Being blacklisted wasn’t surprising.

That night, dinner was prepared by the family’s housekeeper, but the soup was personally made by Jiang Mo. Yu Yan drank two bowls in one go.

The TV stayed on, and after the commercials, it switched to the financial news that Yu Lin and Yu Chen liked watching.

The host’s bright and clear voice came from the screen:

“Minghua Group has violated environmental protection laws by illegally dumping construction waste on farmland. The person in charge, Shen Yuchen, is being held accountable, and the relevant personnel will face administrative penalties.”

“Dumping construction waste indiscriminately pollutes the environment and causes soil erosion…”

No wonder Shen Yuchen had left in such a hurry after taking that call yesterday—turns out something had happened at the company.

A day later, not only had the news not been suppressed, but the situation had escalated further.

Even the chicken soup didn’t taste good anymore. Yu Yan put down his bowl and asked softly, “Is it fake?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized how unnecessary they were. This was financial news, not some gossip account or marketing post online. How could they publish anything without verifying it?

Jiang Mo peeled two shrimp and placed one in each of her sons’ bowls. “Shen wouldn’t do something so harmful and pointless. Could he have been set up?”

Although handling construction waste costs money, it’s nothing compared to the company’s reputation. Minghua certainly isn’t short on funds.

Yu Chen ate the shrimp. “Minghua has dozens of subsidiaries and plenty of construction sites. How could he possibly oversee them all? Either someone below him disobeyed orders to pocket money, or there’s a problem within the company.”

“How’s he doing now?” Jiang Mo asked.

“He’s still under investigation.”

Yu Lin adjusted his glasses. “Haven’t they changed the company’s legal representative yet?”

“No.” Yu Chen shook his head.

Yu Yan swallowed twice and asked in disbelief, “The legal representative for Minghua is Shen himself?”

Even though he didn’t know much about running a company, he understood that being the legal representative was a thankless job—if something went wrong, they’d be the first to face consequences.

And this was a prime example. Shen Yuchen had to personally undergo investigation.

“Yeah. The company belonged to his maternal grandparents, but something happened in the middle. After they passed away, his father and stepmother managed the company and sidelined him. If he hadn’t voluntarily applied to be the legal representative, he wouldn’t have been able to set foot in the company.” Yu Chen’s tone was calm, as if this wasn’t a big deal. Shen Yuming could handle this just fine.

Yu Yan frowned slightly. He had long known that Shen Yuchen’s father was no good, but he hadn’t expected this mess. It wouldn’t be surprising if this incident were orchestrated by his father, who had always wanted to get his younger son into the company.

“What are you thinking?” Jiang Mo peeled another shrimp and placed it in his bowl.

Yu Yan hesitated. “I was wondering who the legal representative of Chaoxing is.”

Yu Chen chuckled. “What? Worried I’ll go to jail? If I do, the role will fall to you. You’d better follow the rules and not repeat my mistakes.”

“I’m not!”

Yu Lin said, “Don’t tease your brother.”

The legal representative of Chaoxing wasn’t Yu Chen but a relative who had started the business with Yu Lin and hadn’t invested much money at the time.

Yu Yan still wasn’t in a good mood. After dinner, he searched online for more information about Minghua’s illegal dumping of construction waste.

The reported construction site was in a neighboring city, a 90-minute high-speed rail trip away. The development there was for resettlement housing in the suburbs. Naturally, Shen Yuchen wouldn’t have the time or interest to personally oversee such a project.

Several messages he sent out asking for updates received no response. Feeling uneasy, he looked into potential penalties. The cases he found mostly involved fines of a few tens of thousands of yuan—nothing too severe.

Despite this, he couldn’t help but worry.

At half past midnight, the sky was dotted with a few stars, and the moonlight softly filtered through the sheer curtains into the room.

The sudden ringtone of his phone startled Yu Yan, making him jolt upright in bed. He quickly fished the phone out from under his pillow.

—It was a call from Shen Yuchen.

When he answered, no voice came through—only the sound of rushing wind and the roar of an engine.

In an instant, Yu Yan guessed the source of the sound. He straightened up abruptly, his heartbeat quickening.

“Chen-ge—”

“Mm.”

“Are you… street racing?” Yu Yan asked softly.

The sound of the wind subsided somewhat, and Shen Yuchen’s voice became clearer.

“No.”

“Are you in a bad mood? How about I join you for a drink?”

In Yu Yan’s life, he hadn’t experienced much comfort from others, so he couldn’t figure out how to comfort someone else.

This suggestion was the result of two hours of racking his brain, and it felt better than saying a few empty words.

Besides, Shen Yuchen seemed to dislike sharing his personal affairs with others, so even if Yu Yan wanted to offer advice, he didn’t know where to begin.

A light chuckle came from the other end of the line, and Shen Yuchen suddenly asked, “With your terrible alcohol tolerance, what would you drink?”

Yu Yan immediately thought of the last time Fang Chi had tricked him into drinking a mix of red wine and Sprite. It tasted sweet at first, but as the alcohol hit, his head became dizzy and heavy. Since then, he’d avoided red wine, only occasionally sipping on sweeter white wine.

“You drink, and I’ll take care of you,” Yu Yan blurted out.

Shen Yuchen recalled how Yu Yan had tended to He Zhiyu after a street racing incident, using ice packs with a towel underneath to avoid over-chilling him.

The smile on Shen Yuchen’s face disappeared. He responded with a soft “Mm” and then added, “You’re pretty good at taking care of people.”

Yu Yan was stunned for a moment. Was it just his imagination?

Why did Shen Yuchen’s tone seem to carry a hint of sarcasm?

Maybe it was because Shen Yuchen was in a bad mood, or perhaps Yu Yan had misheard.

“Do you want to drink?”

“I’ll come pick you up,” Shen Yuchen finally said after a long pause.

Yu Yan agreed, and there was no further sound from the other end of the call.

After changing his clothes, Yu Yan realized Shen Yuchen hadn’t hung up the phone. The two of them continued chatting intermittently until Shen Yuchen announced he had arrived.

By this time, everyone at home was already asleep. Yu Yan tiptoed out of his room like a thief, carefully closing the door behind him.

Unlike before, Shen Yuchen didn’t park his car at the nearby intersection but drove straight to the villa’s entrance. Yu Yan stepped out and got into the car directly.

At this hour, nightlife was just beginning, and the bar was bustling with activity.

It was Yu Yan’s third time at Fang Chi’s bar, and he noticed a new addition: beside the fortune cat and the God of Wealth statues, there was now a painting of the Five-Way Wealth God. In front of it was an offering table laden with various fruits and incense.

There were even four or five patrons lined up to burn incense, and the incense burner was nearly overflowing.

The two of them didn’t disturb Fang Chi, the owner, and instead booked a private room for themselves.

Shen Yuchen didn’t seem inclined to talk about his troubles; it appeared he had come purely to drink, ordering several bottles of imported liquor.

Since the person involved didn’t bring it up, Yu Yan didn’t press for details. He simply went to ask someone to prepare hangover soup.

“Sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to leave you behind,” Shen Yuchen said sincerely.

Yu Yan shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Before leaving, Shen Yuchen specifically asked if he should take Yu Yan home before heading to the company, but Yu Yan declined.

Yu Yan thought the company matters were more urgent, and besides, it was easy to get a cab outside the club.

Shen Yuchen said nothing and poured half a glass of white wine into the textured glass that already held half a glass of red wine.

After downing the first glass, he was about to mix the second when Yu Yan stopped him.

“Brother, mixing drinks gets you drunk faster.”

This was something Shen Yuchen had told him before—that mixing alcohol with soda or two different types of alcohol together would make you drunk more easily.

Shen Yuchen knew it but deliberately ignored the rule.

“Okay,” Shen Yuchen replied simply and didn’t mix the two drinks again.

Yu Yan hesitated for a moment, moving his lips slightly, but finally couldn’t hold back and said, “Brother, if you’re feeling upset, you can talk to me.”

Shen Yuchen was indeed in a bad mood. It wasn’t an unusual state for him; in the past, he would sometimes find friends to drink and chat with.

But he also knew that others couldn’t handle too much of this negativity, so he gradually got used to processing it alone.

That was his plan today, too. However, when he opened WeChat, he saw 99+ unread messages—all sent by Yu Yan. His heart felt a slight tug, and before he realized it, he had made that phone call.

“Is it because of something at work?”

The textured glass landed on the glass coffee table, producing a crisp sound.

Shen Yuchen raised his brows slightly and asked in return, “Did your brother tell you that?”

“No, I saw it on the news,” Yu Yan explained softly.

“It’s not a big deal; I can handle it.” Shen Yuchen didn’t take the matter seriously. It was just a matter of paying some fines.

Rarely, Yu Yan pressed further. “Then what is it?”

Shen Yuchen’s mood seemed worse than it should have been for something so minor. Perhaps what bothered him wasn’t the incident itself but the reason it happened.

“The project manager involved is a relative from my dad’s side.”

Having a few relatives in a big company was nothing unusual, especially for a minor project manager. Favoritism like that didn’t shake the company’s foundation.

But remembering what Shen Yuchen’s father had done in the past, Yu Yan almost instantly pieced together what might have happened. Most likely, it had to do with him refusing to let his younger half-brother join the company.

Minghua was something left to Shen Yuchen by his maternal grandparents. Why should he agree to let a half-brother join the company?

Being betrayed by your own family was undoubtedly harder to accept.

“Has the manager been fired?”

“Yes.”

Yu Yan carefully crafted his response, weighing his words to ensure they were appropriate to comfort Shen Yuchen.

“So, he’s using this kind of tactic to pressure you into letting his son join the company?”

“Respect is mutual. If he treats you like this, you don’t need to treat him so kindly either.”

Shen Yuchen chuckled lightly. “Yu Yan, that’s not what’s bothering me.”

At his age, he certainly understood such simple reasoning.

But in the end, he didn’t explain the real reason. Instead, he poured another glass of liquor and handed it over. “Have a drink with me?”

Yu Yan said nothing, lowering his eyes to stare at the glass of foreign liquor.