Chapter 394: Chapter 238: A Beauty’s Invitation_2
The second round of battle lasted from a little after eight until nine thirty. A bunch of guys were going all out, draining more than seven cases of beer alone,
Zhang Yang, who had already drunk quite a bit in the first half, felt a bit dizzy and staggered towards the restroom.
Meng Fan, who was responsible for driving, had stayed sober. Seeing Zhang Yang swaying, he hesitantly followed him.
Struggling to suppress the churning in his stomach, Zhang Yang entered the restroom and started vomiting profusely.
Meng Fan patted his back and handed him tissues, staying busy for quite a while before Zhang Yang could straighten up.
"If you can’t handle it, don’t drink! Why push yourself? There’s no outsiders here!" Meng Fan was rarely seeing Zhang Yang so drunk, feeling a bit sympathetic.
Zhang Yang washed his hands in an outside sink, splashed his face with water, and felt a bit more clear-headed: "Mainly because I’m happy! I don’t often praise you guys in front of Liu Zi, but judging by today’s competition results, you performed even better than I expected!"
"Really? Just for that?" Meng Fan was a bit surprised to hear this.
"What do you mean ’just for that’? Easy for you to say—competing with eighty people and getting a place is that easy? Some people drive hundreds of kilometers to compete and still flip!"
Zhang Yang knew well the harshness of competitive sports and how hard it was to win even once.
Meng Fan nodded, took out a cigarette, handed one to Zhang Yang, lit it for him, and then lit one for himself: "That’s true! Being locals does give us a slight home field advantage!"
"Let’s rest for a day, review the competition, and strike while the iron is hot! This year, focus on training those two, and starting next year, with the new scoring period, aim to bring back a championship!"
"Alright! We’ll do whatever you say!"
...
With the joy of victory, Zhang Yang went for a smoke in the hallway with Meng Fan before returning to the private room.
Today was a no-holds-barred kind of night. Without needing to be prompted, Zhang Yang refilled his glass, quickly downing a few more bottles of beer.
The team-building celebration feast lasted until after nine-thirty, and even Old Zhao, seasoned as he was against alcohol, was a bit tipsy, wobbling as they headed down the stairs.
A meal of two tables and many dishes came out to nearly four thousand bucks. Zhang Yang paid happily, leading everyone downstairs afterward.
Arriving at the parking lot, deciding on how to allocate the cars became an issue.
Zhang Yang, having drunk too much himself, definitely couldn’t drive. Zhou Chu, Meng Fan, and Xiao Yi hadn’t drunk, but with four cars and only three drivers, a dilemma arose.
Just as Meng Fan was arranging for a designated driver, Lin Nianwei stopped him halfway through his call.
"I’ll drive Zhang Yang back. You guys take the other cars!"
Lin Nianwei also had a driver’s license. Hearing that she would take Zhang Yang, the remaining drivers were ample.
Everyone got into their cars and soon left the hotel.
In the car, it was just Zhang Yang and Lin Nianwei. The young girl wrinkled her pretty brow slightly at Zhang Yang’s alcohol-soaked self.
"You should know when to stop. Why drink so much? Are you alright? Want me to get you home?"
Zhang Yang grinned, his eyes bleary as he looked at Lin Nianwei without speaking.
"Look at you, silly!" Lin Nianwei pouted, slightly annoyed.
Feeling the struggle, Zhang Yang lowered the car window, allowing the night breeze to blow into the passenger seat. The cold night air made him regain a bit of clarity.
"Don’t rush back yet, let’s find a place to eat more, my stomach’s grumbling!" Zhang Yang said.
"Geez, we spent over four thousand on a meal and you say you’re not full! You’re something!" Lin Nianwei playfully griped, biting her lower lip.
"What do you want to eat? I’ll take you!" Despite her teasing, she asked Zhang Yang where he wanted to go next. Having vomited most of what he’d eaten, it wasn’t surprising he was hungry.
"Maybe an old favorite, some Jianbing Guozi. They should still be open now!"
"Okay, buckle up! Let’s go!"
Lin Nianwei skillfully shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and the van started, heading toward a nearby food street not far from the company HQ.
"Is everything at work going alright lately? I’ve been busy training Liu Zi and Xiao Fan, I might have been neglecting you!"
As they drove, Zhang Yang suddenly brought it up.
"Hmph, you do know you’ve been neglecting me, huh? I thought you’d forgotten you had a girlfriend!"
With just them in the car, Lin Nianwei dropped her intellectual demeanor and displayed a more tender side.
"It’s just been intensive training for the competition! Now that the home field contest has finished, it’s a temporary victory! I’m just happy today!" Zhang Yang cheerfully explained.
"The data growth on our public account and livestream account has started to slow! What’s your take on that?" Lin Nianwei shifted the topic.
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yang said: "It’s normal! The current online traffic is limited, and we’ve reached a bottleneck after running for this long!"
"What should we do? Just let it be? Staying still with the numbers feels torturous!"
Career-driven, Lin Nianwei was dissatisfied with the current work situation.
"Did you sort out the earlier video content as I asked?" Zhang Yang continued.
"It’s all stored on the hard drive. Whenever I have time, I sort it bit by bit. There isn’t much else to sort right now. What do you plan to do?"
"When post-production isn’t busy, assign new tasks to edit the essence of previous content!
Keep it under a minute! Don’t worry about storyline continuity; focus on visual impact and imagery!
Make sure viewers know right away that our content is about professional fishing!"
"Huh... that’s not usually how you edit! Like some behind-the-scenes kind of thing?"
Hearing Zhang Yang’s request, Lin Nianwei was a bit baffled, unsure of his intentions.
"Of course there’s a use! Prepare it during downtime, so it’s ready when needed! In a few months, or by early next year at the latest, we’re preparing to switch platforms!"
"What? We’re ditching an account with hundreds of thousands of followers?" She was completely taken aback by this.
As the operations supervisor, Lin Nianwei knew how hard it was to reach the current success of the accounts. It was the result of numerous livestreams and fishing sessions—the entire team’s hard work.
"Of course, we’re not giving it up! It’s not an all-or-nothing deal; we can set up multiple sets of livestream equipment and run them simultaneously!
There will definitely be focuses and trade-offs later. What I’m asking you to edit is preparation for the new platform and accounts!"
"Oh! Now I get it!"
...
Under the cover of night, the car sped along like a swiftly swimming fish, arriving near the shopping street.
The two found a parking spot and, arm-in-arm, strolled towards the food street.
Maybe it was due to the wind that night, but Zhang Yang faintly felt Lin Nianwei’s arm slightly trembling.
At this moment, Lin Nianwei appeared calm, but inside she was deeply conflicted and struggling.
Her colleague Xiaomi’s words earlier that evening reminded her of her decision to leave a promising career right after graduating to come to W City for Zhang Yang. Now that their relationship status was confirmed, it felt as though their intimacy had hit a bottleneck, much like their social media growth.
Lin Nianwei was pondering whether to take the initiative tonight while Zhang Yang was drunk to push their relationship further.
Objectively speaking, Lin Nianwei knew what she wanted and was willing to work hard and even take risks for it. Her decisive move to W City for work was proof of that.
However, her upbringing made her approach romantic relationships more conservatively than some others.
The trembling wasn’t due to the cold but the internal battle between reason and instinct.
Clueless about his girlfriend’s mental turmoil, Zhang Yang assumed she was shivering because of the cold.
"There’s a light jacket in the car; want me to grab it for you? Your hand’s been shaking since we got out!"
"No, I’m fine!" Lin Nianwei was startled and shook her head repeatedly.
"Well, try to bear with it a bit. Once we get the food, we’ll head back to the car. Do you want some too? Should I get you a portion?"
"No need!"
With a simple exchange, Zhang Yang ambled towards a food stall and soon came back with a Jianbing Guozi.
Even out on the street, he began eating it voraciously.
When they got back to the car, half of the Jianbing Guozi was already gone.
Observing Zhang Yang, Lin Nianwei, steeling herself, said, "You’ve drunk so much, there’s no way you’re driving. How about staying at my place tonight?"