"Hey, beautiful, wait a sec, let's take a photo first."
The two girls Liu Mingxuan brought were thrilled and ran off to take a keepsake photo with the champagne tower.
"This doesn't look good, you should take it like this," Liu Mingxuan went over to help them find the right angle.
Girls are vain, even just getting likes and comments in their social circle can bring great satisfaction. He was confident he wouldn't have to spend the night alone.
Once the photo session was over, Li Manli and a colleague distributed champagne to everyone.
She wasn't content and with a smile on her face, she toasted Lu Liang, "Liang, here's to you."
"Just go ahead if there's nothing else," Lu Liang said, taking a sip from his glass.
"Thank you, Liang, then we'll be off."
Li Manli bit her lip, feeling disgruntled, but she could only leave with a smile.
Passing by the window, she couldn't help but glance at Lu Liang again. He had already helped her twice, why was he ignoring her?
After she left, Zhang Qian, with a radiant smile, came over with her glass to Lu Liang's side, "Liang, you like Lili?"
She had been in the nightlife scene for seven or eight years and had seen all kinds of men. She knew their little games all too well.
This tactic was to feign retreat in order to entice, long-line fishing for the Mermaid, it might deceive the naive girls, but not the experienced women.
"Who's Lili? I only like Qianqian," Lu Liang held onto Zhang Qian's waist, feeling her voluptuous and curvy body.
Zhang Qian didn't know Li Manli lived across from him, the monk may run away but the temple will not. So, she was not in a rush for this moment.
A green Apple needs time to ripen, but the peach in front of him only required some bait to be devoured whole.
"Qianqian likes Liang the best too," Zhang Qian acted surprised, then smiled brightly, intimately embracing his neck and cheek.
If only two bottles of Black Spade A and a middle-sized package deal could win her over, then she would be far too cheap.
She was already 30 years old, no longer able to compete with the looks or figure of girls in their early twenties.
It was time to plan her exit strategy.
Zhang Qian wanted to know how Lu Liang, in just two months, went from being a real estate agent to a boss driving luxury cars worth millions.
The two with different thoughts in their heads, intoxicated not by the wine but their own delusions, held each other tight, sharing 'heartfelt' woes.
Liu Mingxuan, with a smile on his lips, now that the main character was accompanied, started his own pursuit. He pulled together a group with two girls he had just met and two who were there to drink.
"Toot toot, let's get going~"
The group of five headed for the dance floor downstairs.
...
As the night deepened, men and women exhilarated within the dance floor left Wanli Palace club in pairs or groups.
Liu Mingxuan, with a young and pretty girl, came to the window of the private room, gently tapping the glass.
Lu Liang looked over. He gestured that he was leaving, as he had another engagement and had to go first.
"Qianqian, I'm leaving too."
Lu Liang had already thrown out the bait, just waiting for Zhang Qian to bite.
Just now, buoyed by alcohol, he had opened up his Guotai brokerage account, flaunting an eight-figure balance.
With a mature and shrewd woman, straightforwardness was required; playing coy was just a waste of time for both.
There are many women working in Modu's nightlife, but those who save enough to buy property are one in a million.
Because money comes quickly, they don't value money, blindly enjoying the glittering lifestyle until they're past their prime and left with nothing.
Zhang Qian was a smart woman, always inquiring, subtly or not, about how he got rich.
Lu Liang also disclosed just enough information, trusting that she'd make the right choice.
"Liang, you're drunk, let me take you home."
Zhang Qian spoke softly, knowing that she wouldn't get any scoop if she wasn't willing to risk being deceived, even if it meant being taken for a ride.
"I'll call for a ride."
Lu Liang paid the bill; the night's expenses came to forty-two thousand.
Room fees were the main expense, while drinks were secondary. Liang then called Tan Tao to ask him to come over and drive.
Zhang Qian returned to the resting area, quickly gathered her things, and with Liang's support, the two waited at the entrance.
Combos like theirs weren't in short supply, some men supporting women, others women assisting men, all drifting toward nearby hotels.
After a while, Tan Tao arrived. He was utterly professional, clad in a black suit and white gloves—clearly a career driver.
Back at Peace Restaurant, Zhang Qian looked surprised, "Liang, you're staying here?"
Liang nodded and led Zhang Qian into a private elevator, rising to the second room on the seventh floor, the United Kingdom Suite.
Zhang Qian was even more astonished. She'd only heard of Peace Restaurant's Nine Countries Suite but had never stayed in one.
Her gaze grew more eager as she lightly traced her fingertips along his neck, sashayed around to his back in a half-circle, and tiptoed to kiss his cheek, whispering, "Liang, I'll go touch up my makeup first."
"Go ahead." Liang saw Zhang Qian enter the restroom and lay down on the couch. Suddenly, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he followed her in.
Zhang Qian was touching up her makeup when a figure flashed behind her. Liang gave a mischievous smile, wrapped his arms around her waist, and his hands began to inch upward.
Zhang Qian giggled, gazing at Lu Liang in the mirror, "Liang, haste won't get you hot tofu, you know."
"You do your thing, I'm going to take a shower." Liang pinched her chin, heedlessly stripping off his clothes.
"Good figure, huh? You been working out?"
Zhang Qian leaned against the washbasin, arms crossed over her chest, smirking like a hooligan as she looked over Liang.
"Just started recently." Liang wasn't shy, stripping nude right before her eyes.
Suddenly, he pulled her with him to stand beneath the showerhead, turning on the rainforest shower mode and relishing the warm water pelting his scalp.
"Ah~~ My clothes are all wet now, and I need to redo my makeup..."
Complaints echoed from the bathroom, but suddenly, as if her mouth had been stuffed with something, only muffled sounds remained.
Some rather long yet short time later, Liang emerged from the bathroom in a bathrobe, looking thoroughly satisfied.
He half-lay on the sofa, ordered some late-night snacks over the phone, and with eyes closed pretended to nap, a smile lingering on his lips.
Time ticked by, the chime of the early morning marking the start of a new day.
Liang abruptly opened his eyes, ecstatic, he heard that voice again.
"June 2nd, Chinese Online, 39.82 yuan."
He hurried to search for the stock information and found that yesterday's closing price was 17.85 yuan.
Which meant, in the next 12 days or eight trading days, this stock would rise by 21.97 yuan.
Although it didn't hold a candle to Baofeng Technology, which went from 7.14 yuan to 310 yuan, an increase of 43 times over.
But Chinese Online wasn't a new stock, no need for subscription. With money, you could buy in as much as you wanted.
Liang memorized this information and continued to read related news about the stock, not noticing Zhang Qian approaching from behind.
"Chinese Online? Is there something special about this stock?"
She wore the same styled bathrobe as his, with freshly applied elegant makeup, wine-red ear-length hair, still slightly damp at the tips.
Zhang Qian well understood a man's mind. Beneath the white bathrobe wasn't milky skin but fishnet stockings, and she stood in peep-toe high heels.
Dressed, yet more enticing than undressed.
"You might want to keep an eye on it lately," said Liang, putting away his phone without elaborating, and patting his thigh for Zhang Qian to sit on.
"Why did you put on makeup again?" The years hadn't left much trace on her face, rather adding a touch of charm.
Zhang Qian kissed Liang's forehead, teasing with a smile, "I was afraid if you saw my bare face, you'd run away overnight."
"With such delicate features, you'd look fine even without makeup," Liang responded, casually caressing her calves, occasionally poking through the holes of the fishnet.
After their encounter in the bathroom, their rapport rapidly warmed up—at least for the moment, they felt like true lovers.
"A man's mouth, always full of lies," Zhang Qian hummed, twisting her waist trying to reignite Liang's desire.
She hadn't forgotten that she'd put herself on the line tonight not for romance but to discover how Liang had made his fortune.
After a while, sensing an indescribable object spring back to life, Zhang Qian bit Liang's ear and cooed, "Dear brother, just tell me about that stock, will you?"
Liang smiled, fondling something very soft and very real, "The market looks good, buy if you want, believe it or not."
Zhang Qian might not be young, but she was alluring and tempting. He wanted to maintain this kind of relationship for a while and didn't mind revealing a bit of 'insider information.'