Chapter Twenty-Five: Would you mind if I bought you a drink?

After taking a shower, Song Nian'an lay on the bed humming a little tune, playing on her phone, and checking the latest auspicious days.

Cheng Tianle called, his voice urgent.

"I'm drunk, Nian'an, pick me up."

"Where are you? What are you doing here?"

“Halens”

Deafening music and the clinking of glasses came from the other end of the phone.

Song Nian'an didn't hang up the phone, listening to the rustling conversation on the other end, which continued intermittently.

"Want some more?"

"How are you?"

"Do you want me to take you home?"

........

This momentarily put Song Nian'an on edge. He didn't have time to explain further to Wen Jing, and rushed out after changing his clothes.

I called a car on the app and kept urging the driver to hurry up.

The driver looked at the boy coming out of the villa and asked, "You live in such a luxurious house, why do you still need to call a car?"

Song Nian'an silently stared at the neon lights outside the window, only then realizing that she had run out without explaining things to Wen Jing. She immediately took out her phone and sent him a WeChat message.

Song Nian'an: Cheng Letian has something to do, I'll go pick him up.

My dearest husband: Why didn't you ask me to take you?

Song Nian'an: I didn't see you just now. The house is too big and it would take too much time to find you.

My dearest husband: Is the phone just for show?

Song Nian'an: It's not an emergency, I'm just worried something might happen to him. I'll tell you when I get back, you don't need to wait for me to sleep, you should rest first.

My dearest husband: Give me your location, I'll come pick you up.

If I don't give him my location right now, will he think I'm flirting with cute guys at a bar behind his back?

A chill ran down my spine as I thought about it, and I sent him Halens's location.

The driver noticed that the boy ignored him and thought that perhaps some young master had argued with his family in the middle of the night and ran away from home to rebel.

Out of kindness, he reminded Song Nian'an, "Little brat, I think you should still be in school. Don't blame me for being nosy, but my son is about your age." The driver drove very slowly, afraid that a child might go astray. He said earnestly, "This place is not a clean place. It's full of rich kids with ulterior motives or gamblers who want to climb the social ladder."

The driver looked up, adjusted the position of the rearview mirror with his right hand, and glanced at Song Nian'an in the mirror.

"You look pretty and have a clean look in your eyes. You don't seem like the type to do that kind of thing."

Listening to the driver's sincere words, Song Nian'an felt a little moved compared to his useless father.

He looked in the mirror, nodded, and explained to the driver, "My friend is drunk, I'm going to pick him up."

The driver chuckled. "I knew it. You look so innocent, you don't look like someone who hangs out in bars. But be careful there, it's a mixed bag of people."

When he got off the bus, the driver reminded him not to touch anything inside.

That's true, drivers encounter many passengers and have seen all sorts of things.

Such a warm-hearted uncle is a rare sight indeed, so Song Nian'an silently gave the driver a good review on the app.

When they arrived at the bar, Song Nian'an made more than a dozen calls to Cheng Letian, but no one answered.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in to find the person.

The deafening music in the bar was finally accompanied by dazzling neon lights and endless revelry.

The clinking of glasses mingled with screams and laughter, creating a scene of decadence.

Song Nian'an bypassed the crowd and went to the front desk. Her eyes lowered and her brows trembled slightly as she asked the bartender, "Have you seen a college student who is drunk, a little taller than me, with black hair?"

The ice cubes in the bartender's glass slid off the rim, his fingers lightly tracing the edge before he vigorously swirled the glass, saying, "Kid, college students are everywhere, drunk all the time, and black-haired guys are everywhere too. How do you want me to help you?"

Song Nian'an then realized that finding someone here was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and her worries increased even more.

If he were just drunk and there were friends around, Cheng Letian wouldn't call him.

Unless they encounter some difficult situation, or rather, it is difficult to extricate themselves.

Thinking about it, Song Nian'an became even more anxious.

An arm reached out from the table in front of Song Nian'an, tapped lightly with its fingers, smiled, and stepped in front of her, blocking her view: "Hi, would you mind if I bought you a drink?"

The man saw this clean-looking boy, who didn't seem to belong to this place, sitting at the bar, his cleanliness radiating.

"Sorry, I'm here to see someone."

The man shrugged with amusement and said with a hint of sincerity, "I can help you find someone. I know everyone here."

Song Nian'an couldn't help but retort, "Do you think I'm an idiot who would believe your nonsense?"

The man raised an eyebrow with great confidence, looking at his prey who was about to take the bait that night, scrutinizing his face with such a captivating gaze.

He snapped his fingers, and a waiter came over. After whispering something in his ear, the waiter bowed deeply and turned to leave.

The upbeat, energetic music in the bar turned into a song called "Plum Jam".

Many people in the stage pool listened to inappropriate music and mostly retreated to their booths to rest, as if the entire bar had been put on pause.

The man walked over, placed one hand on the back of Song Nian'an's chair with an air of expertise, and asked, "I helped you find your friend, can I buy you a drink?"

Song Nian'an tilted her head and saw Cheng Letian lying on the table in the booth. "Thank you, I saw my friend."

The man stepped forward and grabbed his hand, but Song Nian'an shook him off, his smile vanishing.

The voices have all changed.

"I'm warning you, I'm married."

To put it bluntly, stay away from me.

He turned and walked to the bartender, ordered a whiskey, and pointed at the man.

"A thank-you gift, for him."

The bartender laughed as he watched the man's discomfiture.

The people who come to this bar are no pushovers.

Song Nian'an strode towards the booth, chuckled, and thought, "He's not my type at all. I just saw him swaggering around, all lovey-dovey with the person next to him when I came in. He's such a flirt. And now he has the nerve to come and ask me to drink with him."

The 31-year-old man at home is still the most energetic. I wonder what Wen Jing is doing now.

When Song Nian'an approached, he saw that Cheng Letian was already drunk and unconscious, with two men next to him who seemed to be harassing him.

Two elderly guys dressed like respectable people, yet their hands and feet are so dirty.

Song Nian'an went up and punched one of them, sending him flying.

The sudden conflict caused those around to scatter immediately to avoid getting involved.

The old man, seeing the young man's fiery temper, didn't dare to cause trouble.

Song Nian'an simply picked up Cheng Letian and walked out.

At that moment, a figure blocked his way.

Cheng Letian was on top of Song Nian'an, which prevented him from looking up and seeing the person clearly at first. He originally thought it was just an ordinary troublemaker and walked around him without doing anything.

Another group of people gathered around.

"Damn it, is this ever going to end?"

The music in the bar returned to its deafeningly loud, fast-paced upbeat tunes. Song Nian'an frowned, put Cheng Letian down, calmly looked around, and saw the person in the middle—the very person who had struck up a conversation earlier.

The man lit a cigarette, blew out a gray smoke ring, looked up at Song Nian'an, and slowly said, "I haven't had a chance to introduce myself yet. My name is Zhou Liang."