He paused for a moment, then looked at Chen Xiao: "You're the owner of the coffee shop. Now... we have a chef, and that fat guy is doing a good job. But it seems we're short a server, right?"
Chen Xiao smiled secretly.
Chapter Ninety-Six of the Main Text [Little Red Robe]
"Ugh! What a hassle!"
Young Master Xu leaned against the sofa by the window, yawning and sighing.
Chen Xiao propped her head up and sat opposite him: "What's the trouble?"
"Anyway... it's just too much trouble." Young Master Xu shook his head, then his eyes darted around, looking at the counter with a lecherous grin: "Miss Champagne, could I have another cup of coffee?"
Champagne, smiling sweetly from behind the counter, walked gracefully over, dressed in a coffee shop waitress uniform and carrying a coffee pot. Her once slightly dowdy braids had been replaced with two casually tied buns on either side of her head, near her ears, making her look both playful and cute. She also wore a touch of crystal lip gloss.
"It seems you really can't change your nature." Chen Xiao snorted.
"Not at all, everyone has a love for beauty," Xu Ershao said seriously. "I'm just looking at Miss Champagne with a very simple mindset of appreciating beautiful things. I absolutely have no ill intentions! My heart, Xu Yifan's heart, is loyal to Bai Cai!"
Chen Xiao couldn't help but smile: "It's a pity that Bai Cai's heart doesn't seem to be loyal to you yet."
Young Master Xu sighed, but this dejected expression never lasted more than five seconds on his face. He quickly perked up: "As for you, Xiao Xiao, it seems you've been having a lot of romantic troubles lately. You have a little girl at home, and my master Xiao Qing at school seems to have a thing for you too. Now that he's back from his trip abroad, he's brought back this charming little beauty from somewhere..."
As he spoke, he tapped his head: "Even cabbage seems to have a somewhat... Hey, I'm saying you're not going to turn against me over a woman, are you?"
Chen Xiao rolled her eyes.
"Seriously, which girl do you actually like? Or should I ask, do you even have a girl you like?"
Chen Xiao lowered his head and thought for a while. Facing his best friend, he finally told the truth:
"Actually... I guess there is one."
"Oh? You really have a girl you like?" Young Master Xu immediately perked up, then stared at Chen Xiao warily: "Don't tell me it's Bai Cai! I'll get angry!"
"Of course not."
"Who's that? Hmm, Ya Ya is innocent and adorable, Xiao Qing is elegant and refined, and quite unique... Neither? Wait, could it be this Champagne girl you brought back?" Young Master Xu asked repeatedly, unable to resist secretly glancing at Champagne behind the counter. He found Champagne pretending to be calmly flipping through a magazine, while seemingly eavesdropping...
Chen Xiao didn't speak, but just looked at the sunlight outside the window, the smiling face of the girl who called herself "Sajia" still popping into his mind...
This feeling... I guess you could call it liking.
After a while, Xu Ershao checked the time: "Alright, I should go. Bai Cai is about to get off work. She finally agreed to go to the movies with me tonight."
As he spoke, he stood up, a hint of hesitation on his face, before finally making up his mind: "Chen Xiao, actually, I came here today because I need your help with something."
"I knew it." Chen Xiao smiled. "It's summer vacation now, and you'd never come here for no reason. You must be out having fun somewhere. So, why are you being so polite with me?"
"Sigh. It's my old man and my older brother..." Young Master Xu scratched his head in distress. "You know my older brother's temper. Because of him, my father and he almost severed their father-son relationship. Now, they argue every time they meet, and I'm caught in the middle, which is very painful... Next week is my old man's fiftieth birthday. But my older brother... judging from the current situation, he absolutely refuses to bow down to my father. I've tried to persuade him, but he won't listen. So..."
Chen Xiao smiled and said, "So you want me to put in a good word for you?"
“Yes,” sighed Xu Ershao, “My elder brother has always been very good to you, thinking you’re a good friend. But when it comes to my old man’s affairs, he always thinks I’m helping him, and he won’t listen to anything I say. So…”
"Understood, I will go."
Chen Xiao naturally felt obligated to help his good friend, especially since he also had a good relationship with Xu Ershao's older brother, Xu Dashao.
"Thanks then." Young Master Xu took out an address from his pocket: "This is a place my older brother recently took over. He'll usually be here recently, so you can go find him."
Chen Xiao glanced at the address: "Okay, I'll go tonight."
Xu Ershao's eldest brother, the eldest son of the Xu family, left the well-off Xu family at the age of eighteen for some unknown reason. He left home alone to make his own way in the world and entered the underworld. From the age of eighteen to the age of twenty-five, he has been involved in the underworld for seven years and has made a great name for himself in K City.
In K City and the surrounding areas, when people in the underworld mention the name "Little Red Robe," whether they are his friends or enemies, they have to give him a thumbs up and say "a true hero!"
In truth, Chen Xiao had never understood why a young master like Xu, born into a wealthy family, would give up the good life of a rich kid to follow in others' footsteps and join the underworld. He abandoned a life of luxury and indulged in a life of danger and violence.
Young Master Xu is generous and righteous, with a fiery temper and a straightforward personality. He is willing to go to great lengths for his friends. Such a character is not something a rich kid born with a silver spoon in his mouth would possess.
Back then, he was carrying a machete and chased after more than a dozen people, hacking them down for several streets. His clothes were completely stained with blood, and he earned the nickname "Little Red Robe"—where did this pampered rich kid get such ruthlessness?
The address given by Young Master Xu was a nightclub in the south of K City.
Chen Xiao arrived at the location in the evening. As soon as he got out of the taxi, he saw the brightly lit nightclub across the street. At the entrance, groups of young, eccentrically dressed thugs and delinquents were loitering in small groups. Some were laughing and joking by the roadside, some were squatting on the ground smoking, and some were looking around.
At the entrance of the nightclub, several burly men with menacing faces and imposing builds stood like gatekeepers, arms crossed, their strong arm muscles showing beneath their short-sleeved T-shirts—clearly not good people.
Chen Xiao has never liked these kinds of occasions, but today he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in.
As you enter the hall, you're immediately greeted by deafening heavy metal music. It makes your heart pound and your ears bulge.
The air was thick with the smell of alcohol and tobacco.
In the dim light, countless men and women clung to each other, swaying and jumping on the dance floor. Around them, several heavily made-up young women, their faces obscured by makeup, smoked cigarettes and searched around.
Occasionally, a few thin men could be seen, looking suspicious, carrying small leather bags, wandering between seats. Sometimes they would sit down, exchange a few words with someone, take the money the other person handed over, and then take out a small plastic packet from their bag and hand it to the other person... Chen Xiao knew that these were guys selling ecstasy.
This venue belongs to Little Red Robe... to be precise, it's one of the many venues under Little Red Robe's control.
Little Red Robe has a habit: whenever he acquires a new venue, he personally oversees it for several days at a time. Many people know about this habit.
Long ago, Zeng Jin had an enemy who took advantage of his fondness for this. They figured out where he was, brought people to cause trouble, seek revenge, and ambush him.
However, after several incidents, Little Red Robe was unharmed, only his clothes were stained with more blood, making the name "Little Red Robe" even more famous.
Chen Xiao squeezed his way through the middle of the dance floor, seeing many young girls around him, deliberately dressed in extremely revealing clothes, eager to expose their still-developing bodies to the dirty air.