"Has everyone arrived?" Ran Yu blurted out, seemingly oblivious to his gaze, and rushed into the bar.
"They have, singing onstage right now, just the first song," Shen Letian said with a chuckle as he followed her inside.
Upon entering the bar, the clear and familiar sound of singing accompanied by the simple guitar chords quickly reached their ears.
"In the rush of that year, how many times did we say goodbye before delaying... If we cannot part with red eyes, can we still blush... If the past is still worth cherishing, don't be too quick to forgive and forget..."
Watching Jian Yi on stage under the spotlight, playing and singing by himself, Ran Yu couldn't help but curl her lips upward, her eyes gradually bending into a sweet, lovesick expression.
"Alright, wipe off the drool. Look, I got you a spot. Can you sit there and watch?" Shen Letian said, somewhat annoyed, as he pushed her head. Seeing that she still remained motionless, he simply grabbed her hand and led her inside.
Ran Yu was so engrossed in watching the performer that she was unaware of being taken advantage of; while walking, her eyes were still firmly fixed on the stage, reluctant to even blink.
It wasn't until she was seated in the booth that Shen Letian's voice came through again, "What would you like to drink?"
Ran Yu waved her hand dismissively, "Casual, casual, move aside, don't block my view."
"Tsk, look at you, so unambitious." Shen Letian rolled his eyes in exasperation and walked away.
.
The second floor of the bar.
The door to a VIP room suddenly opened, and two heavily made-up women were pushed out in an ungraceful manner.
The door closed, and the two women immediately began to complain indignantly:
"Putting on such a prude act!"
"Exactly, he didn't even let me sit."
"Sister Mudan, do you think he's impotent or something?"
"Must be!"
"Such a pity, wasting such a handsome face..."
.
Inside the room.
"Mr. Lu," President Lu rubbed his chubby hands together, offering a sycophantic smile towards the man sitting on the sofa, "What do you think... The terms we proposed are quite reasonable, right?"
The man's slender hands moved the cigarette away from his lips, his face devoid of any superfluous expression. Under his high bridge nose, thin lips slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
Mere moments before, his face had been as cold as the chill of December, as if those two women had been some malicious spirits; but now it bore an air of nobility.
President Lu couldn't help but let his thoughts wander.
Rumors had it that the third young master of the Lu Family was indifferent to women, with good-looking men frequently seen in his company... Could the rumors be true?
"Is President Lu joking?" The man known as "Mr. Lu" finally spoke.
His voice was deep, lazy yet magnetic, with a charm unique to mature men.
"..." President Lu was taken aback and before he could react, the man had already slammed a file onto the table with his left hand.
Lu Ziheng stood up; his impeccably tailored suit trousers reflected a cold sheen. His tall stature caused the dim lights of the room to cast a shadow over his sharp-featured face, momentarily obscuring his expression.
"Don't ask me to come to places like this in the future. It's a waste of time, and I find it repulsive," he said.
Gong Mu, his assistant, already knew he had made a grave error today and could only apologize unconditionally, "I'm sorry, Mr. Lu, I know I was wrong."
Lu Ziheng didn't say another word; he pinched out the cigarette butt and then strode toward the door.
"President Lu, haven't I told you? Mr. Lu hates having women around when doing business. And yet, you dared to choose this kind of place. You're going to be the death of me!" Gong Mu glared at President Lu and hastily followed after him, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Lu..."
.
The bar's bizarre lights glided over the man's tall figure, but he remained unaffected, walking straight through the thronging crowd and out of the bar.
"Third Master," Gong Mu, gasping for breath, chased after him. He thought it would be the same as before, with the proud Third Master driving off in his Range Rover, leaving him alone to take the subway home...
Unexpectedly, Lu Ziheng was actually standing beside the car!
He didn't leave!
Gong Mu was overjoyed, rushing over, only to find his CEO squinting slightly, looking in a certain direction.
Following his gaze, he saw what seemed to be a fight happening to the front right.
No, it was more accurate to say a young girl was relentlessly hitting a middle-aged man over the head with her bag, as he held his head and screamed pitifully.
As she struck, she cursed nonstop, "You filthy lecher! If your hands are itchy, go home and touch your own mom! Don't you dare touch this lady; do you have the gall of a bear and the courage of a leopard? If I don't break you today, my surname isn't Ran..."
"Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu, stop hitting him! If you keep this up, someone's going to get killed!" Two delicate-looking men tried to stop her by her sides.
The girl was thin but surprisingly strong. When both her hands were held back and she couldn't hit anymore, she simply started kicking...
In the quiet night, the cacophony of her cursing and the man's wailing entwined together, grating and piercing.
Gong Mu frowned, "Third Master, should I go find..."
Before he could finish, a painful scream tore through the silence of the night.
The man who had been crouching now lay on the ground, desperately clutching his groin, his rotund body quivering incessantly.
Without guessing, it was clear he had been kicked in the jewels by the girl's high heels.
Gong Mu's buttocks clenched sympathetically; as a man, he could truly empathize with that kind of pain.
"It's over, someone is really going to get killed!" someone shouted.
"Xiaoyu, you better run."
"Run for what?"
"Shouldn't we call 120?"
"Call what? If he's dead, he had it coming!"
Gong Mu was stunned, hey, this girl...
"Hmph," Lu Ziheng let out a brief chuckle.
Gong Mu was even more dumbfounded. He had been with the Third Master for nearly five years, and this was the first time he had seen him laugh in his presence.
Not only did he laugh, but Lu Ziheng even put his hands into his suit trouser pockets, slightly cocked his head, and squinted his profound black eyes with a casual yet interested look on his face.
The two men said a few more words, seeming to have persuaded her, and they began to escort the young girl away.
Just at that moment, Ran Yu suddenly turned around and looked in their direction across the street.
Unprepared, their gazes directly met.
Lu Ziheng didn't look away but kept his eyes locked on her, amusement gradually seeping into the depth of his black eyes.
The next second...
"Third Master, this..."
Ran Yu actually raised her hand and defiantly flipped them the bird.
She tilted her chin up, turned around, and walked away with those two men, her high heels clicking sharply.
As for Lu Ziheng, his thin lips parted, a hint of mirth in his deep voice, "Interesting."
Gong Mu frowned, interesting... what does that mean?
.