Are You Asleep

Su Yang ignored Liu Bo's teasing and steadily completed twenty squats while holding Meng Qianyu before setting her down.

Meng Qianyu wore a smile on her face, showing no outward change, but inside, her heart fluttered uncontrollably.

'What’s... happening to me? Why do I feel this sudden attraction to him? Ugh, no no, this is so annoying~'

Su Yang turned and silently walked over to sit on the sofa, calling out to the system in his mind.

—System, any progress?

[Meng Qianyu’s current affection level: 50]

—Nice, another five-point increase. Just 30 more to reach eighty.

—By the way, you mentioned earlier that besides the Cullinan, what was the other reward car again?

[Ferrari F80]

—The new "King of Horses"? Damn, that car just launched, right? I heard there are only three slots in China.

[Doesn’t matter how many slots there are. Complete the mission within the timeframe, and it’s yours.]

—But won’t people get suspicious? Even top-tier tycoons don’t have this car yet. Won’t I draw unwanted attention if I drive it around?

[Host, rest assured. The system will mitigate such risks. To others, you’ll just seem impressive—no further questions asked.]

—Hell yeah! That’s all I needed to hear.

......

At that moment, Ji Bo’s phone rang. He picked it up and answered.

"Hello, is this the delivery?"

"Ah, got it. Just leave it at the hotel front desk. Someone will bring it over."

After hanging up, Meng Wenzhou glanced over. "It’s here?"

"Yeah, should be delivered soon."

Ten minutes later, a knock sounded at the villa door.

A hotel server wheeled in a cart loaded with an assortment of skewers and grilled dishes.

The group paused their game and began unpacking the bags and boxes, filling the living room with the rich aroma of barbecue.

"Smells amazing! But did we order too much?" Meng Qianyu remarked as she opened a bag.

Meng Wenzhou chuckled. "Nah, there are plenty of us. We’ll finish it, don’t worry."

"Thanks for the late-night feast, Ji Bo!" Liu Bo grinned, grabbing a skewer of grilled shrimp.

"Dig in, everyone."

Once everything was laid out, the eleven of them gathered around the table, devouring the food. The beer they’d ordered earlier ran out quickly, prompting Zhang Ziming to call the front desk for two more crates.

After eating and drinking for a while, they resumed their games, played a few rounds, then circled back to more food, drinks, and conversation—until the clock struck 1 a.m.

By then, Lu Yun, Tang Ziyun, and Shen Yixue looked visibly drowsy.

Shen Yixue glanced at the guys still drinking and playing finger-guessing games before interrupting, "Hey, handsome, maybe we should call it a night? They’re practically falling asleep."

The guys immediately set down their glasses. Meng Wenzhou checked the time and blinked. "Whoa, it’s already 1? Alright, let’s wrap up. The ladies need rest, and we should head out."

Su Yang and the others stood, downing the last of their beers.

"Let’s go. We’ll leave the cleanup for tomorrow."

"Cool. Get some rest, girls."

"You guys sure you’re okay?" Meng Qianyu asked, eyeing them.

"Pfft, this was nothing. Don’t worry about us."

After bidding the girls goodnight, the five guys stepped outside.

Instead of heading straight back, they lingered by the roadside, squatting as they lit cigarettes.

The night breeze was refreshing, and the street lay quiet except for the hum of summer insects.

"Need to clear my head. I’m a bit lightheaded," Meng Wenzhou admitted, shaking his head.

"Seriously? Since when do you get drunk this easy?" Zhang Ziming teased.

"I drank more than usual tonight, and this stuff has a kick. Ugh. A smoke, then bed."

"And here I thought you were totally fine earlier."

Meng Wenzhou smirked. "Gotta maintain the image in front of the ladies, right?"

After some idle chatter, the group retreated to the neighboring villa, washed up, and dispersed to their rooms.

Su Yang closed his bedroom door and flopped onto the bed, scrolling through his unread WeChat messages.

He’d ignored most of them over the past few days but now skimmed through them one by one.

First up was Lin Yiyi, who hadn’t contacted him in a while. She’d sent seven or eight messages over the last two days—mostly asking what he was up to, if he was free, or if he wanted to grab a meal.

Su Yang sighed. "No time for games, sorry. Maybe I’ll gift you some virtual roses next time."

He didn’t bother replying and moved on to others.

Zhao Mengrou, Gu Xiaoman, and Lin Xiaomo had all left multiple unread texts. Even Xu Zilin, whom he hadn’t added properly, had sent two messages.

He tapped on Xu Zilin’s chat. Her texts were from noon today.

"Su Yang, free tonight? I owe you that late-night meal after last time… [hehe]. Let me make it up to you."

Below it was a follow-up:

"No worries if you’re busy! Just hit me up whenever you’re free~"

Su Yang chuckled to himself. "So this is what it’s like to be surrounded by beauties, huh? Back then, my WeChat was just spam from official accounts. Now, I’ve got people messaging me nonstop. What a headache. Still, this one’s intriguing—better reply."

He typed out a response: "Just saw this. Been swamped lately, but I’ll reach out when I’m free~"

After sending it, he scrolled further down and paused at a contact named "Audi-Lili."

The word "Audi" jogged his memory.

He opened Lili’s chat.

"Mr. Su, your RS7 has arrived! Feel free to come pick it up anytime~"

"Damn, I totally forgot about this!" Su Yang checked the timestamp—the message was from two mornings ago.

"Whoops! Gotta head back to Haicheng tomorrow. This is my first self-bought car—can’t miss it!"

He quickly replied: "Sorry, been buried in work. Just saw this. I’ll come by tomorrow."

Send.

Within seconds, Lili responded:

"Great! I’ll be here~ Waiting for you~"

"Huh? Replying this fast at night?" Su Yang sent back an "OK" sticker and exited the chat.

As he kept scrolling, a long-unseen name popped up.

Su Yang froze. "Xinxiya?"

"Shit, completely blanked on this foreign girl. What’d she say?"

He tapped into the chat. Xinxiya had sent two messages three days prior.

"Hello Su Yang, I’m in Haicheng! Didn’t you promise to treat me to dinner?"

"Where are you?"

Rubbing his temples, Su Yang muttered, "Too many messages—missed this one entirely."

After some thought, he reused the same excuse he'd sent to Lili earlier and replied: "Sorry Yaya, I've been swamped with work these past few days and didn’t notice your message. Are you still in Haicheng?"

After sending it, there was no reply. Su Yang thought to himself, "Probably asleep. I’ll check tomorrow. If she’s still around, heh..."

He then skimmed through the rest of his messages—some from former colleagues, along with over a dozen new friend requests.

Some claimed to be old college classmates, others introduced themselves as general managers of real estate companies, and a few even said they were Su Yang’s elementary school friends.

"What the hell? Elementary school friends now?"

Su Yang chuckled and ignored them all. Most of these people, who hadn’t reached out in years, were probably adding him after seeing that photo he’d posted on social media.

He was about to switch to TikTok and scroll through some videos of pretty girls before calling it a night when a new message popped up.

Assuming it was Yaya, Su Yang swiped up to check the top of the chat list.

"Huh? Meng Qianyu?" He opened the message, slightly surprised.

"Su Yang, are you still awake?"

......