At the end of July, the weather in D City was unbearably hot and muggy, without a hint of coolness.
In an old residential area in the southern part of the town, a woman's incessant scolding echoed from one of the buildings.
"For her to attend this university, last year I begged everyone I could think of and spent tens of thousands to pull strings for her. But what does she do? She's either skipping class to fool around outside or getting into fights and causing trouble at school!"
"Yu Rou is a year younger than her, top of the class in every subject, and even won the highest scholarship for the entire grade! And then you look at her—if it's not a zero, it's a four or five…"
"You want me to pay for her second year of college fees now? To study what? I think she might as well drop out! It's best if she just marries someone quickly! Why should I raise that woman's daughter for nothing…"
"Can you lower your voice?" Ran Dongkui's voice suddenly erupted.
"Are you also ashamed that she's embarrassing you as a father? Let me tell you, Ran Dongkui, with the way she's going, she'll get into big trouble sooner or later! It's one thing that she doesn't go to school every day, but she's also smoking, drinking, dressing in bizarre outfits, and messing around with those wild men outside! Why are you pushing me? Get off me! Let go..."
Qiao Li's voice gradually grew softer.
After the "slam" of a door closing, her voice could no longer be heard.
In the bedroom next door, separated by a wall, Ran Yu lay on the small bed with her eyes closed, one hand behind her head, motionless as if she hadn't heard a thing.
Her petite, fair, and youthful face resembled that of a delicate cat, with slightly half-closed eyes and naturally upturned outer corners. Her double eyelids were distinct, her nose was small and straight, and her lips had the shape of a diamond and were moist and beautiful.
If not for her boyish purple spiky short hair and the thin white hand dangling off the side of the bed with spirals of smoke rising from between her fingers...
Ran Yu in front of us would have been the spitting image of a docile and exquisite porcelain doll.
The jarring ringtone of a cellphone suddenly went off.
Ran Yu frowned unpreparedly, grabbed her cellphone from the table, and answered the call, "Hello?"
"Xiaoyu, are you coming to Hongding Bar?" her friend Shen Letian asked on the other end of the phone.
"Not going."
"Really not coming? But I heard that Qin Yi is going to sing there tonight."
Qin Yi?
Ran Yu abruptly opened her eyes and jumped out of bed, "I'll be right there!"
**
Qin Yi, male, elegant and handsome, talented in many areas, was only twenty-two, yet had already graduated from D University's School of Business and Management with high distinction. He was also the man Ran Yu fell in love with at first sight in the bar and had been secretly enamored with for years.
After doing her makeup and changing into a skirt, Ran Yu gave the heavily made-up punk-looking reflection in the mirror a tongue-stick before heading out to the bar.
As soon as she stepped out of the taxi, Shen Letian, who was dressed as a bar bouncer, immediately let out a loud whistle.
In her sleeveless, knee-length red dress that blazed like flames, she perfectly showcased her slim yet curvy figure, especially those slender, straight, and fair legs which under the night lights gleamed with a pearly luster, provocatively pale.