Zhang Bing smiled and shook my hand: "Thank you for coming too."
I pursed my lips and followed Li Shishi in to sit down. Before I could even get comfortable, I heard Zhang Bing's voice greeting us, "Welcome." Immediately afterward, the light from the doorway dimmed, and a small giant entered with his head bowed—it was Zhang Shuai.
I was puzzled. Since Zhang Bing was hosting such a formal dinner, why invite such an awkward person? Zhang Shuai seemed embarrassed when he saw us. He sat down quietly and drank tea. Xiang Yu kept a gloomy face and didn't say anything. Li Shishi and I exchanged glances, feeling that something was amiss today.
Fortunately, laughter soon filled the corridor, and Liu Bang arrived with Black Widow. He left Black Widow at the door to exchange pleasantries with Zhang Bing, then strolled in with a grin, sat down next to Xiang Yu, put his arm around his shoulder, and whispered, "You're hosting a dinner at this place with the character 'Hong' on it again today. Are you trying to get back at me?"
The arrival of Liu Bang and his group immediately enlivened the atmosphere. Just as we were chatting happily, we heard Zhang Bing's puzzled voice: "You... are here?" I leaned out and saw that it was Ni Siyu. Zhang Shuai quickly stood up: "I invited her."
Chapter 46 The Night Banquet (Part 2)
After Ni Siyu came in, she glanced at us, carefully sat down next to Zhang Shuai, looked apologetically at Xiang Yu, and whispered, "Big brother, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were all here." Then she scolded Zhang Shuai, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Xiang Yu smiled faintly, "It's okay, it's good that you're here."
Ni Siyu's arrival completely shattered the atmosphere we had painstakingly created. Liu Bang, Black Widow, and Li Shishi were all meticulous individuals; they quickly analyzed the situation. The complex relationships among Xiang Yu and his three companions were too intricate to explain in a few words. Approaching any one of these four inevitably meant offending another. Throughout history, only a handful of figures, perhaps Zhuge Liang and Premier Zhou Enlai, have been able to manage these relationships so skillfully.
Just when we were at a loss for words, Qin Shi Huang arrived with Jing Ke and Zhao Bailian. The two fools were only interested in their own fun, and the fat man had no idea about the subtleties involved. He was only interested in chatting with Xiang Yu, and even if he could understand Xiang Yu's predicament, he couldn't help him much. Apart from the strategy of alliances, even if he summoned his million-strong Qin army again, it would be useless.
Just then, a very familiar number rang on my phone. When I answered, Qin Hui said in a sly tone, "Xiao Qiang, are you busy?"
No wonder it looked familiar; it's the landline number in my new house.
I said irritably, "What do you want from me?"
Qin Hui listened intently for a while, then asked, "Are you eating out?"
What do you want to do?
Qin Hui chuckled dryly a few times and said, "I just saw on TV that instant noodles have no nutritional value, so I figured it was lunchtime and I'd give you a call to ask what you're eating—just asking."
I was both annoyed and amused: "Why don't you come out and get something to eat too?"
"Hehe, forget about the trouble."
I said, "Oh, then that's settled."
"No, no. If it's inconvenient for you, I'll come to you, okay?"
I said with a wicked grin, "We're at Hongqinglou. If you can find us, we can eat together. But I'm not kidding, this place is really easy to lose things, from wallets to kidneys, so you'd better be careful."
Qin Hui said nonchalantly, "What do I have to lose?"
I said, "Yeah, you don't even have anyone to lose, so of course you're not afraid."
Qin Hui ignored my sarcasm, said "See you in a bit" and hung up the phone.
The reason I brought Qin Hui over was that, given the current situation, how much more chaos could it cause with just one more person? Strange illnesses require strong medicine, and besides, if this kid really got lost halfway through, it would save me some trouble—that was one of the reasons I brought him out…
Baozi arrived shortly after. She was all smiles when she walked in, but seeing Zhang Shuai there told her something was off. After I told her what happened with Ni Siyu, Baozi was speechless. My Baozi is a bit carefree, but not heartless, especially since women are naturally sensitive in this regard. Baozi whispered to me, "Is something going to happen today?"
We've now gathered around a large table, and even Zhang Bing has taken her seat. She didn't sit next to Xiang Yu or opposite him, but rather diagonally opposite him, across from Qin Shi Huang, forming a pincer movement with Ni Siyu. This way, Zhang Shuai and Xiang Yu are also unconsciously positioned diagonally opposite her, also forming a pincer attack—I've heard Xiang Yu say that Yu Ji was quite knowledgeable about military formations, and from this perspective, Zhang Bing is no less capable than Yu Ji. This simple seating arrangement perfectly illustrates the current enemy-usual situation.
The worst part was that not only did our group of 3+1 have internal conflicts, but even Li Shishi, who was best at smoothing things over, and I got caught up in it because we were helping Xiang Yu woo Zhang Bing. When the two of us fell silent, the only people talking out of the dozen or so people were Er Sha and Zhao Bailian. These two idiots put a cup of tea in front of them, puffed out their cheeks, and blew on the tea leaves. Everyone at the table stared at them, and to be honest, I was quite envious of them for a moment.
Liu Bang glanced at this and then at that, chuckled a few times, and said with a double meaning, "It seems that today's meal is not as delicious as it used to be."
Just as we were falling silent, a man poked his head in. He spotted me immediately, turned to the people following behind, and said, "You can ask him for the fare." This man had disheveled hair and three flowing black beards; it was Qin Hui. I didn't expect this guy to not only come looking for me, but he was also quite quick.
Following behind him was a restaurant waiter, who suppressed a laugh and said to me, "Sir, your friend took a taxi but realized he didn't have any money. The driver is waiting downstairs. Would you like to pay for him?"
I twirled my teacup and said with a smile, "I don't know this person."
The waiter looked at Qin Hui helplessly. He didn't expect the guy to be so unconcerned. He told the waiter, "Then tell the driver I ran away. Didn't I leave the room key with him as collateral? Tell him to go back and take his things from the house."
I jumped up in shock, grabbed Qin Hui and pulled him out of the private room, asking him, "What room key?"
Qin Hui innocently replied, "It's on your door."
"...Where did you come from?"
"Isn't there a string of spares hanging behind the door? I gave them to the driver as collateral."
Without saying a word, I hurriedly pulled the waiter downstairs, paid the driver, and got the keys back.
As I turned to go back, I found Qin Hui grinning and waiting for me at the top of the stairs on the second floor. Apparently, after hanging up the phone, he went out and, completely out of his way in the dark, quickly found the building's security guard. The dutiful guard, hearing that the only resident needed to go out, hurriedly called a taxi for him. When they arrived, Qin Hui told the driver he didn't have any money and would borrow from a friend. The driver trusted him completely, yet he insisted on leaving his keys as collateral, clearly indicating he already knew his so-called friend might not be willing to pay the fare…
Since then, I have come to realize that the saying "to deal with a despicable person, you have to be even more despicable than him" is nonsense, and it takes talent to do so!
I glared at Qin Hui with murderous eyes. Qin Hui shrugged and said, "Don't be angry. I am, after all, a prime minister. Do you know how hard it is for me to work so hard just to make a living?"
Helpless, I led him upstairs, then suddenly turned to him and said, "Today's situation is unusual. Once you're up there, don't talk nonsense. You need to know how to speak to people in a human way and to ghosts in a ghost way, understand?"
Qin Hui chuckled smugly, "This is our old profession."
We entered the private room, and Qin Hui quickly glanced around, nodding and smiling: "The girls are all very pretty!"
Before I could even figure out what was going on, he appeared between Zhang Shuai and Ni Siyu, forcing them to move aside. This left Ni Siyu and Zhang Bing, and Xiang Yu and Zhang Shuai, face to face, and the situation began to escalate into something even more complicated.
Qin Hui plopped down, raised his arm and put it around Ni Siyu's shoulder, his face lewd and leering as he said, "Little Beauty..."
In that instant, I understood the meaning of his words when he first walked in: "The girls are all very beautiful"—he assumed all the girls present were prostitutes!
I coughed and glared at him sternly.
Qin Hui, as expected of the greatest traitor in history, was quick-witted. Seeing that all the girls were sitting upright and all the men were staring in astonishment at his arm that was already wrapped around Ni Siyu's back, he knew that the situation might not be as he thought. In a moment of quick thinking, he raised the hand that was about to grab Ni Siyu a little higher and patted Ni Siyu's head a few times affectionately. The "little beauty" was changed to: "Little sister, how old are you?" Instantly, he went from a strange uncle to a kind old man.
When Liu Bang and Li Shishi saw Qin Hui's appearance, they all looked at me. I nodded slightly to indicate that Qin Hui was one of my clients, just like them.