Hong paid her bill without even flinching. The owner saw that she paid for that expensive wine without even touching it, he smiled thinking that he will enjoy it later for free, and Wei was not scolded for taking a few minutes off.

She came back every day, just to talk to him; he started to loosen up to her and calling her by name was no more difficult now.

She didn't always buy 'the most expensive' wine, but she made sure to order a bottle every time, inevitably leaving it untouched.

Yunlan went back to work, reassuring everyone that although he had been unwell everything was alright now.

'Alright' was far from what he felt, but at least his health had improved, and he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since that awful day.

His work was as flawless as usual, he used it to keep his mind off his personal problems, but the nights were still difficult.
Sometimes he stared at the door as if waiting for Wei to arrive, but it never happened.

Five weeks had passed now, and he still missed him like hell.

He didn't even know how he was doing.
He had tried calling him a couple of days before, but Wei hadn't answered.

Today had been another lonely day at work, and it would have been another almost sleepless night, if he hadn't met Zhu Hong.

He was about to call a taxi when he heard a voice. "Can I give you a ride?"

He turned and saw her waiting for his answer. "Thank you, but I don't..."

"I'd like to talk to you about Shen Wei," she interrupted him, and he widened his eyes and nodded.

They sat in the back seats of her car, she told the driver to switch on the radio and drive slowly, then leaned back and said, "I know where he works, he's a waiter now."

She went on, "Before I tell you where it is, I need to speak to you. I think you miss him, and I think he misses you too."

"Does he talk about me? Please, tell me where he is."

"I will. This is the first time we're this close without me getting injured, so I think I can trust you to be a better person now?"

He blushed and nodded, feeling rather ashamed of himself.

"I think he deserves more than that place he works at, or at least I'd like him to have much more, and you could give it to him."

"I tried, but he wouldn't let me..."

"He won't accept your money, I was thinking more on the line of a new job, at your company maybe?"

"You think he would work for me?" he asked doubtful.

She sighed. "No, of course not, not for you, but that looked like a big company, can't you find him a job away from you? Where he could be on his own, earn money the way he wants to?"

Yunlan thought about it, but she quickly added, "Nothing too big, mind you, or he'll think that it's charity and refuse."

Yunlan frowned, abandoning the idea that had popped into his mind, then he remembered that old Li was about to retire.
"I think I might have something," he said, and she smiled.

"Think about it," she told him, "then tomorrow go eat at this place." She scribbled the name and the address.
The car stopped and he got out.

She called him back. "Remember to sit near the entrance and ask for a bottle of their most expensive wine before asking him to sit with you. And don't drink it!"
He looked puzzled, but she just winked at him and left.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yunlan was staring at the place, gathering the courage to go in. Finally he opened the door and sat at the nearest table available.

Wei arrived to take his order and remained speechless when he saw who it was.

Yunlan stood up. "Please, let me talk to you, let me apologise."

Wei looked hesitant, and Yunlan stuttered, "and I... ehm... I'd like to order a bottle of your most expensive wine."

Wei frowned at him and he hurried to explain. "It's not for me! I mean, it is but I won't drink it, I don't drink anymore, but I'm supposed to order it before... asking you... to sit with me?"
This wasn't making any sense to Yunlan, but this time he didn't want to make mistakes. Sure, Zhu Hong might have been playing with him, but why would she do that after she had been the one seeking him out?

But Wei understood, it made sense to him indeed, and he made a mental note to scold Hong-mei next time he saw her.

He went to place the order, adding a couple of teas, then he went back to Yunlan and sat with him, facing him, placing the bottle at the far end of the table and the tea in front of him.

"Have you eaten yet?" Wei asked him. He shook his head and Wei disappeared again. He came back with a full plate and put it beside the tea.

"I'm listening," he said.

Yunlan cleared his throat, he actually hadn't expected things to go this smoothly so far.

"I'm sorry for what happened, I never drank that much before, I have no excuses, I can only say that I've stopped, and it will never happen again."
Yunlan kept his eyes firmly away from the wine to avoid temptations, luckily he had something better to look at.

Wei was looking at him too, unable to take his eyes off him. He had missed him so much! He wanted to reach out and kiss him, but he only asked, "Why did you do it?"

"I... I got jealous, you were spending more time with her than with me and..."

"I was working, and she's a girl!" Wei pointed out.

"I know! But I couldn't think straight, I was so afraid to lose you that I lost my mind! And you..."

"I'm sorry too," Wei suddenly said, and Yunlan held his breath while he continued.

"Since my brother died it became too difficult to open up to other people, maybe this is my fault as much as it is yours."

Yunlan looked at him surprised that he was doing it now. "You had a brother?"

"Yeah, he was my world, my twin, but he got himself mingled with some bad people, he lost everything we had and one day he killed himself."

Yunlan gasped, he had no idea there was such a tragedy in his past.
Wei went on, he hadn't talked about it in... actually he had never talked about it with anyone. Mr Zhu knew something only because he had known their father when he was alive.

"We only had each other, and I was left alone with nothing. I only had my parents' house, so I used it to get a mortgage to pay for his funeral and also some of his debts. But then I wasn't able to repay it, so they took the house."

Yunlan wanted to hug him, so he clenched his fists and closed his eyes to resist the temptation.

"Now I share a small house with a friend, but I have no savings of my own." Wei's eyes were lowered, it still was as painful as ever, as unbearable as it had always been. Only mentioning his twin broke his heart again, and he stopped talking.

Yunlan waited a few seconds then he looked up and thought that this was the chance he was waiting for. "You can't make much at this place, what if I had a better job for you?"

Wei frowned. "I won't work for you, I can take care of myself and..."

"No, not for me," Yunlan interrupted him. "Just at my company, but you will be on another floor and working under someone else. I just happen to know that they will need someone new soon because the man working there now is about to retire, so I thought that you could apply for the job yourself."

Wei looked doubtful, he clearly thought that there was something behind it. "What is it? I have no qualifications you know, why would they hire me? Because you told them to? I told you I don't need..."

Yunlan sighed and interrupted him again. "I didn't do anything, I promise, and it's just a small job, nothing fancy, but it's easy and comfortable, and you might like it, and maybe if you want and it suits you you might even get to a better position one day."

"What is it?" Wei asked again.
Yunlan blushed and lowered his head, it definitely didn't seem enough to him, he had wanted much more for the man he loved, but since Wei wouldn't let him, old Li's job was the best thing he could come up with.