Listening to Brian Lee’s loud laughter on the other end of the phone, Michael Bolton thought for a moment and asked, “Where are you guys?”

Brian Lee chuckled, “Where else could we be? We’re having skewers at Old Harris’s! What, you craving it? Too bad, you’re out of luck tonight!”

Old Harris was a barbecue place that a few old classmates used to frequent. The owner’s crispy cartilage and lamb tendons were famous in the city. Ever since he left his hometown for college, Michael Bolton hadn’t tasted such good food again, so it was no wonder Brian Lee would use it to tempt him.

“Stay put, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

After saying this, Michael Bolton hung up in a hurry before Brian Lee could reply, threw on his clothes, and walked out of his room. “Dad, Mom, I’m going out to meet some friends.”

Michael Bolton’s mom was busy in the kitchen and poked her head out, calling, “Got it, but don’t drink too much. I made some mung bean soup and chilled it for you—remember to have some when you get back.”

“Okay.” Michael Bolton closed the door and hurried downstairs, running toward Old Harris’s.

Old Harris wasn’t far from Michael Bolton’s home. It hadn’t even been fifteen minutes before Michael Bolton arrived at the entrance. It was a little after nine in the evening, the busiest time for the barbecue shop. The owner had set up tables outside the door, and Michael Bolton immediately spotted a table surrounded by seven or eight people, raising their glasses in a toast, with Brian Lee’s booming voice standing out as always.

Michael Bolton walked over, patted Brian Lee on the shoulder, and greeted the classmates at the table with a smile.

“Whoa? Whoa! Whoa, what the hell?! Michael Bolton!! What are you doing here?!” Brian Lee was stunned for a moment, then shouted exaggeratedly, “When did you get back?!”

Michael Bolton smiled, “Heard you guys were having skewers, got hungry, so I flew back.” As he spoke, he nudged Brian Lee with his shoulder, signaling him to move over.

Brian Lee immediately called out loudly for the owner to bring another stool and more utensils, and ordered two more big servings of lamb tendons and crispy cartilage. Then he bit off a beer cap, handed the bottle to Michael Bolton, and said, “Old rules, if you’re late, you chug one first.”

“Does this even count as being late?” Michael Bolton said with a wry smile, but since Brian Lee was always like this, he had no choice but to down the whole bottle in one go, then slammed the empty bottle on the table.

Chapter 3: The Disappeared Person (Part 2)

“Come on, come on! This is the Michael Bolton you two were just saying you missed—aren’t you going to toast him?” Seeing Michael Bolton finish his drink, before he could even take a bite, Brian Lee called out to the two girls at the table, winking at them repeatedly.

The two girls had also been close with Michael Bolton and the others since high school, so they were at ease, giggling as they raised their glasses to Michael Bolton. After downing two more drinks, Michael Bolton was already feeling tipsy from drinking too fast, and his mood had improved a lot.

But before he sat down, he had already looked carefully. At this table… there was no sign of Steven Harris. That was really odd. The seven or eight people at the table were all old friends from high school, and it was rare for everyone to get together—how could they not have invited Steven Harris?

Could it be that he had a falling out with someone?

Michael Bolton hesitated for a moment, then asked Brian Lee, “Old Lee, where’s 未平? Why isn’t he here? Is he busy tonight?”

Brian Lee was biting into a big skewer of kidney, and looked up in confusion at Michael Bolton when he heard the question. “卫平? Who’s 卫平? You mean 卫平·Bryant? He’s probably commentating on the NBA, right?”

Looking at Brian Lee’s face, which was genuinely surprised, with no sign of pretense, Michael Bolton suddenly felt a sense of absurdity. “Steven Harris! Come on, Old Lee, what are you playing at! I called him today, but his phone number was out of service.”

Brian Lee blinked a couple of times and shook his head. “Ling…未平? Who are you talking about? I don’t know anyone by that name.”

Michael Bolton immediately frowned, not understanding why Brian Lee was acting this way, and started to feel a bit annoyed. “Old Lee, even if you had some falling out with 未平, you could at least tell me about it. Pretending not to know him is a bit much, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean, pretending not to know him?!” Brian Lee slammed down his skewer, glaring at Michael Bolton. “Yuzi, we’ve been friends for almost ten years—what kind of person do you take me for? Even if I fell out with someone, I wouldn’t play dumb like this! This Steven Harris you’re talking about, I really don’t know him!”

Seeing the anger on Brian Lee’s face, if Michael Bolton hadn’t been absolutely sure that he, Brian Lee, and Steven Harris had been classmates for three years in high school, he would have believed him. But… Brian Lee saying he didn’t know Steven Harris was simply impossible!

Michael Bolton took a deep breath and looked at Brian Lee. “Old Lee, Steven Harris was our classmate for all three years of high school—we used to hang out together all the time. Last year when I came back, we all got together at Little Chef, remember?”

“Classmate from high school?” Brian Lee was stunned, then burst out laughing. “Yuzi, is your drinking getting worse? I just made you chug a bottle by the old rules, and now you’re talking nonsense? Look around—everyone at this table was in our high school class. Who’s ever heard of Steven Harris?”