Part One: In the Jianghu, Forced to Choose One's Own Fate Chapter Two: In the Jianghu, Rules Must Be Followed
I felt my lower body being tightly enveloped by a warm, moist place. In my dazed state, I saw Mary's alluring eyes glancing at me with captivating charm...
To be honest, I wouldn't mind having a "friendly match" with this flirtatious woman, but just then, I received an urgent call on my walkie-talkie.
"Fifth Brother! Something came up outside, so I came to room number six for a moment!"
Depend on!
I immediately pushed Mary away, quickly stood up and pulled up my pants: "Something's happened, I'm going out to check it out."
Mary looked annoyed and took out a tissue to gently wipe the corner of her mouth. There was a hint of resentment in her eyes, but I couldn't care less about that now. I left her and rushed out.
Generally speaking, there are very few things in the establishment that require our intervention. The girls are all incredibly shrewd and know how to keep the customers happy. As for what constitutes a "problem," there are usually a few scenarios.
The first possibility is a police raid. However, this won't happen here. Because the boss has powerful connections, even if there's an inspection, we usually get advance notice.
As for the others, most of them were caused by guests who had drunk too much and made trouble.
Generally speaking, this situation accounts for the vast majority of cases.
For example, I encountered a situation last time where two customers from Northeast China got drunk and insisted on having the girls undress in the private room, and even wanted to have sex with them right away. Of course, this was absolutely unacceptable.
The more upscale the nightclub, the less likely such shady things are to happen; everything is governed by "rules"! The hostesses can be hugged and touched by customers, but they absolutely cannot take off their clothes. Otherwise, if there's an inspection, they won't be able to escape! As for getting laid in a private room, that's absolutely impossible! We run a nightclub; if you want to have sex, go upstairs to the sauna!
Not to mention us, even the young lady herself would absolutely not do it.
Those who go out and have fun should have this experience: the lower the level of the nightclub, the easier it is to get a girl, while in high-end places it is more difficult.
Don't underestimate the girls here. Generally speaking, there are many differences between the girls in nightclubs and those in saunas. The most important difference is that girls in nightclubs generally don't easily sleep with customers.
Why?
It's very simple!
Men are all perverse; what they can't have is always the best! Generally speaking, when a customer comes to a establishment and takes a liking to a girl, wanting to take her out, the girl will refuse the first few times! Why? Because once the customer gets his way, he'll probably lose interest in her very quickly. Then how will the girl continue to earn his money?
Normally, they'll only agree after they've whetted your appetite, gotten you to come several times, and made a considerable amount of money off you. Besides, our establishment is quite high-class; the girls' appearance fees are quite substantial.
Of course, if the customer is very wealthy and willing to pay a high price on the first date, the girls are happy to oblige. After all, they're in the business to make money, and nobody turns down money.
There are also customers who are very handsome, and the girls really like them. They might even agree to spend the night with you without you paying. I once met a customer like that. He was a very handsome man, charming and smooth-talking, and very good at charming girls. That night, he brought out a very pretty girl. Later, I heard that he took her out for a late-night snack, then they went to a hotel room and had sex. Afterwards, the girl didn't charge him a penny; she even paid for her own taxi fare home. Afterwards, she often thought about him and hoped to see him again.
Actually, after thinking about it later, I understood:
Prostitutes are human too; they're all young girls, and they all have the fantasies that girls their age should have. These fantasies might include romantic feelings or the desire for a romantic encounter.
Encountering such a customer can fulfill some women's fantasies about love. Even if they know it's fake, they are willing to treat it as a romantic encounter, just to satisfy their own dreams.
However, top-tier hostesses absolutely refuse to sleep with clients. Even if they do go out, they will never go with a client they've just met, and they charge exorbitant prices!
I hurried to room number six and heard cursing coming from inside. There were two male waiters at the door, and as soon as they saw me, they immediately came over: "Fifth Brother, the customers inside are drunk. They kept trying to hug Xiaodi and take off her clothes. Xiaodi ran away, so they started causing trouble, saying they wouldn't pay the bill and even kicked the girls out, saying they had to see the manager."
When I looked over, sure enough, there were several young women standing nearby. When they saw me, they all lowered their heads and looked embarrassed.
I frowned. The "Little Di" they were talking about wasn't a prostitute at all, but a "private room princess," which is basically a waitress. These kinds of waitresses aren't prostitutes! Guests aren't allowed to touch them, let alone undress them in a private room.
I vaguely remember that girl named Xiaodi. She seems to have just arrived. She's a pretty young lady.
"Who are the guests inside?" I frowned.
"I don't know! I don't recognize any of them. They must be here for the first time and don't know the rules."
I nodded, and I understood.
Of course, I had to find out first. After all, this is one of the most upscale places in the city, and many of the guests who come here have some status or background, and there are even a few that we absolutely cannot offend. We even have a guest list that clearly indicates which guests are very important, which guests need to be treated with extra care, and which guests are very troublesome and difficult to please.
"Alright, I'll handle it." I nodded, pushed open the door, and went inside.
This was a luxurious private room, exquisitely decorated. The floor was covered with a thick carpet, the table was marble, the sofa was genuine leather, and even the sound system was top-of-the-line from BOSS. Several bottles of Hennessy sat on the table, and three drunken men sat on the sofa. One of them, reeking of alcohol, was swearing and cursing.
As soon as I walked in, the guy in the middle, who seemed to be the leader of the three, yelled in a sarcastic tone, "You're the manager here? Damn it, I've been waiting for you for ages! You're the one who's going to do what about tonight!"
I sat down with a smile on my face, took out a cigarette and offered it to them, saying with a grin, "Brothers, is this your first time here? Please forgive me if there's anything I haven't done well in terms of hospitality."
As the saying goes, "You can't hit a smiling face." We're in business to make money, so of course we won't easily offend our customers.
The two men next to me accepted the cigarettes I offered, but the drunk in the middle shoved my hand away and yelled, "Shut the fuck up! I paid to have fun tonight, but now I'm not! What's this all about?"
I said in a friendly tone, "Brother, the point of going out is to have fun. How about this, I'll offer you a drink, and then I'll find you a beautiful woman, I guarantee you'll be satisfied, okay?"
After saying that, I turned around and shouted to the waiter at the door, "Bring two large fruit platters and a bottle of wine, and put it on my tab." Suddenly, a thought struck me, and I remembered something.
Damn it! This private room wasn't my responsibility tonight! It was that kid, Qiang!
Something happened, and that kid has disappeared somewhere, yet I'm the one who has to sort it out!
But while I may think about it, I still have to do things. Otherwise, it won't look good if things escalate.
The three guests' expressions softened slightly, but the drunkard in the middle remained unconvinced: "Kid, I'll let it go for your sake, but you have to get that girl from earlier to come keep me company! I'll pretend this never happened!"
The two men next to him chimed in, "Yeah! Call that girl over! She upset our boss, why is she hiding? Call her over!"
I understand. If I really asked that waitress to come and keep him company, he definitely wouldn't agree. She's there to work as a waitress, not to sell her body. After all, we live in a society governed by law; no one would force someone into prostitution. I frowned and deliberately gave a wry smile, saying, "Gentlemen, you're putting me in a difficult position. That girl is a waitress, not a hostess. How about I call two other pretty girls to keep this gentleman company? What do you think?"
The drunkard shook his head like a rattle-drum, yelling, "No way! I've got my eye on that chick! Tonight, I don't want anyone else, I want her! Stop your fucking nonsense!"
I suppressed my anger, forced a smile, filled a glass to the brim, and said in a friendly tone, "Brother, you're out having fun, you're spending money to have some fun, and we're in business, but we should at least have some rules, right? That young lady really isn't in this line of work. Please give me some face, okay? Thank you all in advance, bottoms up!"
After saying that, I picked up my glass, looked them straight in the eye, and then downed the drink in one gulp, continuing to smile at them.
The two men next to him softened a bit, but the guy in the middle was probably really drunk, and he yelled, "Damn it! Who the hell do you think you are! You drink a glass of wine and I have to give you face! What the hell is this 'princess' nonsense? Since you're in my private room, what are you if not a prostitute! I can't touch you or grope you, so why should I pay for it!"
A sudden thought struck me: could this bastard be faking it? Or maybe they've only ever been to low-end nightclubs and have never been to a high-class place like this before, so they don't know that you can't touch the hostesses in the private rooms? (Low-end nightclubs don't have hostesses in their private rooms.)
But I've been in this business since I was eighteen, and after working in places like this for several years, what haven't I encountered? I immediately stood up, my smile fading and my eyes growing colder: "Gentlemen, that young lady really can't come with you. She works as a waitress, and I have no right to order her around. How about I find you two more beauties? If you're okay with that, please do me the favor, let's become friends, and come back often! If you don't like it, then there's nothing I can do."
"Damn it! What kind of place is this?! What a load of rubbish! I'm done! Let's go somewhere else!! Let's go to the Golden Age!" The guy in the middle jumped up, grabbed his jacket, and headed outside.
I know the "Golden Age" they mentioned; it's another establishment in the city, but it's low-class, the girls there aren't very professional, and the prices are cheap.
I had a plan in mind. Seeing that the three were about to leave, I stepped in front of them and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, please pay your bill before you leave."
"Pay the bill! What the hell is the bill?!" the middle man cursed. "I've already ruined my mood here, I'm already being nice by not asking you for money! Get out of here!"
I didn't move aside and coldly asked the waiter, "How much would you gentlemen cost tonight?"
A quick-witted person nearby immediately reported: "Three bottles of Hennessy, plus two fruit platters and four snacks, totaling three thousand three hundred and sixty."
I nodded and smiled, "How about this, gentlemen, I'll give you a discount, let's call it three thousand. But there are three girls outside, please give them tips as well."
"I'm fucking not giving it to you!" The guy in the middle got even angrier and yelled, "I only drank one of the three bottles! Why should I give you three thousand!"
I said calmly, "That's fine. I'll refund the other two bottles for you. The snacks and fruit platter are free. The bottle of wine you drank cost 880, but the minimum charge for this private room is 1180. You can just give me 1000."
"A thousand? You look like a thousand!" After saying that, the one in the middle bumped into me.
I frowned slightly, dodged the attack by moving half my body aside, and pushed him towards someone next to me.
I went easy on him, but this guy seems really looking for trouble tonight. He grabbed a bottle from the table and yelled, "Damn it! Let's get him!"
After saying that, he threw a bottle at me, and the two people next to him followed suit, grabbing bottles and throwing them at me as well.
I dodged one person, pushed another aside, grabbed the third person's wrist with my other hand, and twisted it with a little force. He cried out in pain and his body went limp.
I was still suppressing my anger. After all, we're in business here, and we can't easily offend our customers by resorting to violence. We need to avoid escalating the situation as much as possible, especially since there are other customers in the adjacent private rooms. It would always create a bad impression.
I released the guy's hand, shoved him back onto the sofa, and then looked at them coldly: "Gentlemen, when you're out having fun, you have to follow the rules, right? It's unacceptable to try and leave without paying the bill. What do you think?"
"Buy! Buy! Buy! I'll pay your mother's bill!" the drunkard yelled, charging at me again with the bottle. This time, I didn't back down. I took a step back and kicked him squarely in the wrist. He cried out in pain, clutching his wrist and collapsing to the ground. The bottle flew out with a bang, smashing to the floor. Luckily, the floor was sturdy enough not to break. Someone else pounced on me from behind, grabbing my wrist with both arms. I used my strength to pull him up, executing an over-the-shoulder throw, sending him flying.
Although I had a few drinks that night, I restrained myself and didn't dare to hit him too hard. I just threw him on the sofa. If I had been rougher and slammed him against the corner of the table, he would have broken at least two bones!
But then I heard a bang and felt a sharp pain in my head!
Behind him stood a man with a ferocious expression, holding a broken half-bottle.
"Damn it!" I cursed, smearing my face with my hands. A mixture of alcohol and blood streamed down my head. I'd had too much to drink tonight; I hadn't been paying attention and this guy had ambushed me, leaving me with a head full of broken glass.
I grabbed his wrist and kicked him in the stomach. He screamed and went limp like a lump of mud, vomiting all over me. I was really angry now. I glared at the two waiters at the door and yelled, "Are you dead?! Get over here!"
The two boys then realized what was happening and quickly closed the door. They ran up and started punching and kicking the three guys for a full five minutes.
I swallowed a bottle of liquor on my head, and it was burning with pain. I leaned against the wall and sat on the sofa for a while to calm down. I was furious and cursed, "Have someone take them out the back door and throw them outside! Make them pay the bill before they leave! Damn it!"
I called over a few more waiters before I left the private room alone.
The soundproofing here is excellent. Once the door to the private room is closed, it's impossible to hear anything coming from outside, let alone the fact that everyone inside deliberately turns the music up really loud.
As I walked along, the waiters saw the blood on my head and rushed to help me. I tried to push them away, but I'd drunk quite a bit tonight, and that bastard's blow had really hit me hard. My head was spinning. I gritted my teeth and said, "Let the gigolo... um, let Ah Qiang keep an eye on things. I'm going to the hospital. Damn it..."
In my haste, I almost blurted out the words "gold digger." I glared at my two underlings who were desperately trying to suppress their laughter. I knew they wouldn't tell anyone; nobody here liked that guy, and I was very popular here, so they wouldn't say a word either.
I gasped for breath, endured the pain, and immediately went to the hospital.
Damn, those two drunks blessed my head! If my buddies knew, they'd laugh so hard their dentures would fall out!
Book 1: A Man in the Martial World, Helpless to Control His Own Fate; Chapter 3: Am I a Good Person?
I found a car, and two young men helped me into it and took me to the hospital. They treated my wound, checked me over, and found no broken glass on my head. I also got a tetanus shot. I was really annoyed.
He had a bandage wrapped around his head, which looked like the mourning cap his mother wore, and a surge of anger welled up inside me.
As I walked out of the emergency room, I saw a girl outside, in addition to my two staff members.
The girl was tall and slender, with medium-length hair and a pretty face. She wore a simple long-sleeved fitted sweater and jeans, yet she looked incredibly vibrant and her proportions were perfectly balanced. She was refreshingly beautiful from every angle. Especially striking were her long legs, tightly encased in jeans, their curves accentuated, radiating youthful energy.
I recognized her; this girl was the waitress who caused trouble tonight, the one named Xiao Di. Although I was annoyed that I had gotten into a fight for her tonight, upon reflection, I realized it wasn't her fault, so I didn't give her a hard time.
"Manager Chen..." The little girl looked flustered and shy as she walked timidly to me and whispered, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault tonight..."
I waved my hand: "What are you doing here?"
"I...I've come to thank you. If it weren't for you standing up for me tonight..." The girl lowered her head, her long hair falling down and covering half of her face. Her slender eyes fluttered under her eyelashes. She was indeed a beauty. No wonder that drunkard insisted on having her accompany him.
"Alright, that's none of your business! Since you work for the company, they'll definitely protect you! And don't call me 'manager' anymore, just call me 'Fifth Brother' like everyone else." I watched her cheeks gradually flush, and her shy demeanor as she lowered her head, and a wicked thought popped into my head: If this girl were to work in a brothel, she'd definitely be a top star!
However, I soon realized that such evil thoughts were a desecration of this pure girl, and forced myself to erase the evil thoughts from my mind.
Two henchmen came up to him: "Fifth Brother, how are you feeling?"
I shook my head: "It's okay, you guys go back. I'm not going to the company tonight, I'm going home to get a good night's sleep. Go back and find A-Qiang, and tell him to keep an eye on things by himself."