Jianming put his arm around his shoulder. "Stop pretending. Tell me you've never been there?"
Chi Cheng was speechless for a moment. In fact, it was because that fairly famous club was nearby that he knew about this decent Sichuan restaurant.
Jianming understood immediately, and his tone escalated, "Have you ever picked up a corpse?"
Chi Cheng glanced at Shi Ling again and answered him, "Do I need it?"
"Yes, yes."
Seeing that Chi Cheng was somewhat interested, Jianming said, "How about we invite Lin Shan to play together?"
Lin Shan was also Chi Cheng's high school classmate. The two sat next to each other for a long time in high school, and they kept in touch in college, dating from time to time. Even after they both started dating, they maintained a relationship that was more than friends but less than lovers. Everyone in their high school class knew that the two of them had a slightly ambiguous relationship, and Chi Cheng would always bring up Lin Shan to tease him.
Jianming had already called Lin Shan in front of Chi Cheng, and quickly handed the phone back to Chi Cheng.
Lin Shan had just asked him last week if he planned to go to Shenzhen for a couple of days, but Chi Cheng was in a closed-off class and couldn't go, so she didn't know who to ask to go with him.
Having the chance to catch Chi Cheng today, she said excitedly, "Come on, I haven't seen you in so long."
"Didn't you just watch a movie two weeks ago?"
"You're out, young master. You went back before 9 o'clock that day. I'm going over now, see you later."
Chi Cheng tossed the phone back to Jian Ming, "Alright, I'll take her back first, then I'll come find you guys later."
Jianming looked at Shi Ling and said, "Beautiful lady, since you're Lao Chi's friend, why don't you come along?"
Everyone had already stood up, but Shi Ling gave him face and only whispered, "Come back before the ward rounds."
Chi Cheng also found it troublesome to go back, and replied to her in a low voice, "Okay."
Lin Shan arrived soon after.
Lin Shan has the typical look of a Guangdong girl. She is not tall, but her features are exquisite and she is dressed in a very nightlife style.
She was extremely familiar with Chi Cheng, and as soon as they met, she leaned close to his ear and kept talking.
The two sat down, and Chi Cheng naturally draped his arm behind her seat, in a protective gesture.
Lin Shan had only been sitting down for a short while when she wanted to get off at the pool and pulled Chi Cheng along with her.
Chi Cheng told her to go by herself.
After the others left, Chi Cheng looked at Shi Ling helplessly, realizing that bringing Shi Ling out was a mistake.
He had assumed she was aloof and unapproachable, and that she would sit quietly here.
Unexpectedly, coming in gave her the opportunity to drown her sorrows in alcohol.
Shi Ling clearly has a good alcohol tolerance; she probably hasn't forgotten her cheating ex-boyfriend.
However, she looks completely different when she smokes and drinks. When she smokes, she looks like she's about to ascend to heaven, and when she drinks, she looks like a fairy who has descended to earth. Just sitting there, she exudes a cold and alluring temperament.
Her cool-toned skin appeared exceptionally alluring and seductive under the dazzling lighting effects.
Shi Ling may not be stunningly beautiful, but her temperament surpasses that of many others.
She is definitely the kind of woman who arouses a man's desire to conquer.
According to Chi Cheng's experience, finding a truly beautiful woman here is entirely a matter of luck; many have had hyaluronic acid injections, and their smiles look stiff. Foreign women are mostly naturally beautiful, but they are extremely difficult to work with.
Chi Cheng dared not leave her here alone.
Anyway, he had to go back before the ward rounds, so Chi Cheng just treated it as a relaxing day and sat next to her for a chat.
In such a noisy environment, it's impossible to have more than a few words, and before you know it, she's already drunk countless glasses.
Chi Cheng pressed her hand down, "Don't drink anymore."
Shi Ling glanced at him and said, "Take it away."
Chi Cheng didn't insist and decisively stopped, asking her, "You usually only drink warm water?"
Shi Ling smiled and said, "Why don't you find me some goji berries and throw them in?"
After letting go, Chi Cheng leaned back lazily in his chair, shook his head, and smiled.
I ignored her.
There probably aren't many people here yet at this time.
Judging from what Chong Jianming said earlier, they might have come for the corpse.
So they quickly finished one round of dancing and actually came back together.
When they came back, the seats were all messed up.
Lin Shan casually sat down next to Chi Cheng, while Shi Ling sat in the corner opposite them.
The group started chatting, though they had to shout to speak. Ah Hui waved his hand in front of Shi Ling's eyes, asking her if she wanted to go downstairs and play together.
Shi Ling couldn't hear him clearly, but she still had to save face. She tucked one side of her hair behind her ear and leaned slightly to that side to signal him to say it again.
Chi Cheng had just finished joking with Lin Shan when he looked down to get his drink.
Chi Cheng looked at the table and saw that Jian Ming had thrown something into Shi Ling's cup while A Hui and Shi Ling were talking.
Author's Note: I'm posting this early today because I wanted to do a poll to see if you'd like to see the flashback or the present-day storyline in the next two chapters.
I chuckle to myself every day when I read the comments. Yesterday, I was surprised to see a flood of questions about English accents and education systems across different regions. It made me feel so gratified to see my readers all being academic geniuses. Do you guys have any good recommendations for campus romance novels with unrequited love? No school bullies, no stutterers, just the old-fashioned kind, like "Once Upon a Time" or "A Photo from Years Ago".
I am extremely grateful.
I love you all every day, and I also want to thank the cuties who threw me thunderbolts.
Thanks to Xiaohe, the donuts from the bakery, Feiyu, Tianxia Wushuang, Ai Le Liang Wang, dania, Sanqianya, and the machine is so fast!
Actually, I discovered that day that I could actually send you guys red envelopes!
The first 30 comments today, come on over! (*^▽^*)
Chapter 11
Chi Cheng watched Jian Ming's movements; they were practiced and familiar, clearly not the first time he had done this.
He never expected that Jianming would target Shi Ling.
Chi Cheng usually disdains doing this kind of thing, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know the rules.
People who go out for fun and are drugged and taken advantage of are solely responsible for the consequences.
If Shi Ling were beside him, a whispered remark would suffice. But if they told her openly, they would all turn on each other.
Chi Cheng just sent a WeChat message to Shi Ling.
Jianming's WeChat message came in: "Old Chi, don't ruin my plans."
CC: Don't touch her, my friend doesn't usually go out.
Jianming: Don't worry, it's consensual, I will never force you.
Chi Cheng was so troubled by his headache that he suspected he had drunk fake alcohol.
If you really have to drink it, it's all consensual.
Shi Ling was clearly unaware. She chatted with Ahui for a few minutes, then rested her chin on her hand and watched the pole dancing performance over there.
She didn't even look at her phone, let alone exchange glances with Chi Cheng.
Lin Shan was still chatting with Chi Cheng, but noticed that he was distracted and kept looking at his phone.
The two were close, and she was somewhat annoyed. "Were you even listening to me?"
Chi Cheng ruffled her hair and said to the others, "It's almost time. My teacher is urging me to leave, so we need to go first."
He looked at Lin Shan and said, "Let's go together."
It was just past 9 o'clock, and the crowd was gradually getting lively, but Lin Shan was far from happy about it.
I was about to pull him down to sit and continue playing.
Chi Cheng winked at her. After years of getting to know each other, Lin Shan changed the words she was about to say.
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. You're even stricter than my dad now."
Ahui and Jianming also stood up, their expressions unchanged, still smiling.
Jianming raised his glass. "Have a drink before you go?"
He wasn't afraid they would actually leave; this was the fastest-acting drug on the market, and he could intercept the time it took to pass through a crowd without even leaving his house.
Clearly, Shi Ling's allure to him far outweighed the cost of turning against his old classmate.
When Chi Cheng saw Shi Ling stand up, she swayed slightly. She had already picked up her cup, so Chi Cheng pressed it down for her.
He still had that roguish grin, the corner of his mouth turned up to one side. Multicolored light shone around his face, and the obsidian earring accentuated his delicate and handsome features, making him stand out in the crowd.
Chi Cheng didn't want her to know about the conflicts between his high school classmates, so he raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp, saying to them in Cantonese, "I'll drink it, Jianming. We're classmates, there's no need to make things so ugly."
Lin Shan chimed in, "Brother Jianming is so handsome, he can easily pick up a bunch of girls."
When Jianming heard what Lin Shan said, his expression wasn't so bad.
He weighed Chi Cheng's attitude, which remained resolute.
He started doing business early and knew which of his connections wasn't crucial. Chi Cheng was good-looking and was well-connected in his high school circle.
Jianming finally relented, "Let's go out partying again next time we have the chance."
Chi Cheng patted him on the shoulder and pressed him back into his seat. "No more dropping you off. I'll go with you to find girls at pubs next time."
After Lin Shan retrieved her bag from the locker, the three of them left the nightclub.
Chi Cheng's expression was a bit unpleasant. He spread his hands at Shi Ling and said, "Give me your phone."
After enabling real-time location sharing, I returned the phone to Shi Ling.
Chi Cheng flagged down a car on the roadside, gave the driver 50 yuan, and gave him his address.
Shi Ling sat down while rubbing her temples with one hand; her knuckles were white.
Chi Cheng leaned over the car door and said to Shi Ling, "I'll take Lin Shan home. You can go back first."
After he closed the door, Shi Ling rolled down the window, "Chi Cheng."