No. 88!
That was the name of the bar. It was quite a unique name, one that wasn’t easy to forget.
The blue stonewalls and dark brown wooden furniture created a grand ambiance, not unlike that of old European castles, and it was more than enough to attract a large crowd of patrons willing to spend their money here.
The moment Xiao Luo and Guan Tong stepped into the bar, a wave of soothing music filled their ears. It was not deafening rave music but a soft piano melody; the piece was a Western one, too, and it quickly soothed frazzled hearts.
“Life, in this day and age, comes with way too much stress. You’ll go crazy if you don’t find a way to unwind during your free time,” said Guan Tong.
Xiao Luo begged to differ. “There are a lot of ways to de-stress. You could try jogging, listening to music, and watching a movie, things like that. Must you choose a place like this?” he said.
Guan Tong shook his head. “The wise Ji Gong once said that wine and meat could pass through your body as long as you kept Buddha in your heart. What it means is that anything will work out as long as you stay true to yourself. We’re here at the bar to reduce our stress, not to pick up girls. Of course, it’s great if we do manage to pick up one or two of them,” he opined.
“Not every girl who comes here is a bad girl, but a decent lady would absolutely not come to a place like this. Are you sure you want to meet somebody here?”
Xiao Luo sat in front of the bar and asked for a cold drink from the bartender. He had to drive later, and besides, he was not particularly fond of alcohol and hated the taste of it, really. So, he settled for a cold drink instead.
“You b*stard, there you go saying things that I can’t dismiss just because you’ve read a little more,” Guan Tong said, “Bartender, a whiskey for me.” He sat beside Xiao Luo, ordering his usual.
Xiao Luo said nothing more. He sipped on his drink and looked around the room. The air around him was saturated with a blend of perfume and alcohol, and the chatter of dirty talk and forced laughter lingered in his ear. Such an environment was making him somewhat uncomfortable.
Were it not for Guan Tong, he would not want to say here a second longer.
At this moment, he received a message on his phone. It was from team leader Qiu Yuanjie, the officer-in-charge of the anti-MLM task force. There were but a few rows of text which read: “A Managing Director-level figure will be at No. 88 at 9 p.m. My team’s already gathered and ready to move out. Mr. Xiao, will you be working with us this time?”
At the level of Managing Director?
That meant that they were quite close to finding “Fog” already.
Xiao Luo was pleasantly surprised when he realized that No. 88 was this very bar, and he could not help but think that arriving at the right moment was better than coming ahead of time. He replied immediately: “I’m already at No. 88, send the information on the Managing Director to my phone.”
Guan Tong frowned, showing his displeasure. “You addicted or something? We’re here at the bar to de-stress, why are you still messing around on your phone, you b*stard?” he scowled.
Xiao Luo rolled his eyes at him. “You think our stress levels are gonna go down just because we listen to a little music and drink a little here?” he rebutted.
“Wrong. We have to pick up girls as well. Watch!”
Guan Tong shook his head defiantly, and then turned around and whistled at a lady with a killer body. “Hey, beautiful, you here alone?”
The lady huffed in derision at him, then turned away and walked off without looking back, swaying her hips as she strutted off.
Xiao Luo’s face looked incredulous. “This how you seduce girls?” he said.
“Yeah, picking up girls is not so much about the results as it is the thrill of the chase. I enjoy the process of flirting with them. Look at me, I’m all game for whistling at any random beautiful lady. Are you?” Guan Tong declared. Then he promptly downed a mouthful of whiskey.
Xiao Luo was stunned. A single word popped up in his head, and it was undoubtedly apt for his boisterous friend—sucker!
Guan Tong was just like Zhang Dashan with his crude personality, but he was still a far cry from the latter in this respect. At least the other man was bold enough to actually pick up girls at the bar. Guan Tong was only doing this for self-entertainment and amusement. He even found himself thinking that Guan Tong’s actions made him look like an idiot, much less what other strangers thought!
“Then, you continue seducing them.”
Xiao Luo heaved a sigh, then paid him no attention as he continued sipping on his drink.
And Guan Tong really did carry on with his so-called “seduction,” whistling at passing girls and throwing out the same line, “Hey beautiful, you here alone?”
He was met with a lot of eye-rolling. One of the girls he tried to pick up had even told her friends that she had “run into an idiot.”
Xiao Luo put his hand on his forehead. He desperately wanted to stick a label to himself that read, “I don’t know this guy!”
This was embarrassing!
Could the guy do something more practical?
Like bringing a drink over to a lady, then sitting down and having a friendly chat about life. Wasn’t this was much better than whistling?
Guan Tong was not the least bit perturbed, and all the rejection was not making bored of his attempts. Every time someone rolled her eyes at him, his heart was filled with immense satisfaction, and he became excited.
“Xiao Luo, you bastard, this fairy of a chick is walking towards me. She must’ve been blown away by my charm and my handsome face, probably taking the initiative to make friends with me. Wow, to think I’m actually going to be seduced for a change. Wait…what should I say? If I sleep with her tonight, then what are the specifics of it gonna be like? Bastard, you and Old Zhang are so chummy so you’d have learned a trick or two, right? Quick, teach me something.”
Guan Tong suddenly grew excited. His gaze was fixed on her, but his hands were clutching tightly onto Xiao Luo, looking squirmish and nervous—like a lady stepping onto a litter for the first time.
Xiao Luo really wanted to say, “You think a woman’s gonna make a move to seduce you when you look like this? Are you really this dense?”
Of course, Xiao Luo was afraid of hurting his friend’s feelings and did not speak his mind. He only asked, “So, where is she?”
“D*mn, are you blind or something? She’s right there.” Guan Tong pointed towards her.
Xiao Luo followed his finger and looked in the same direction, and he could not help but freeze…
She was a stunner—she had a neat short cut that fell to her ears, slightly obscuring her mesmerizing and delicate countenance. She looked flushed somewhat, likely the effects of alcohol, but it didn’t take away anything from her charm and attraction.
F*ck…
What was she doing here?
Even someone as cultured as Xiao Luo would be hardpressed not to curse in a situation like this.
Because the girl he saw was no ordinary person—she was none other than Chu Yue, daughter of Chu Yunxiong, who was currently studying at Huaye University in Jiangcheng!
Her white off-shoulder dress hugged her in all the right places, accentuating her slender her arms and ample chest; lacy patterns traced the curves of her graceful waist and extended down to flare into a puffy skirt. The skirt was covered with a layer of chiffon, which glittered a pale gold, making her look every bit like the daughter of a magnate. She had perfume in her hair and powder on her cheeks, and her chest and hips filled the dress well.
She looked elegant and pure, like a lotus drifting on clear water!
What kind of situation was this? Why was she here all the way in Xiahai city, much less in a bar?
Xiao Luo felt like he was really down on his luck today. He hurriedly turned away, in case Chu Yue recognized him.
But it was already too late. The reason Chu Yue had come over was that she had seen him, and she had become even more certain that this was the boy she had been pining over the moment he turned away. She quickened her steps.
“She’s coming over, she’s walking over really quickly. My God, what’s the hurry? Is she really that smitten with my dashing face and charming personality?”
Guan Tong’s heart was about to leap out of his chest. It was like a dream come true. He had come to the bar just to try his luck and did not expect that he would really be meeting such a girl here, much less one who was making a move on him. And to top it all, she was a girl of such unparalleled beauty.
“Hey there, beautiful, my name is…” He extended a hand out to Chu Yue to introduce himself.
Chu Yue did not even spare him a glance as she strode past him. All he could smell was a passing waft of her fragrance, which dissipated as quickly as it hit his nostrils.
