Will I feel a little lonely?
"Let me correct you, it's fifty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight. You just opened your mouth and smeared three 'hair's' on me?! Hey, are you in the entertainment industry? You don't care about any metaphysics at all, no wonder the old employees don't like working with you."
Li Luxiao's mouth was like it had been whipped, his words were witty, sarcastic and vulgar, which was extremely inconsistent with his image as a sophisticated and roguish man.
Jiang Songhe often wondered what had gotten into him when he was slightly drunk after entertaining ACCRO with investors late at night. He wondered what had gotten into him that led him to agree to become a partner with this reckless old man after he had topped up his credit card a few times and been recognized by Li Luxiao.
Having become involved with this shared interest group, Jiang Songhe had to bring people over as often as possible, which inevitably led to him frequently encountering and bickering with Li Luxiao. Being a man of few words, Jiang Songhe was no match for him in arguments, and each time he ended up suffering in silence.
"And what else? What I taught you were the most exquisite hospitality techniques, VVVVVIP level! I imparted all my knowledge to you, and you, instead of learning, threw down your bowl and cursed the cook!" Li Luxiao, taking advantage of being a year older than Jiang Songhe, became increasingly arrogant and got more and more carried away as he spoke.
Jiang Songhe was still immersed in the depression of being fired from his position as a superior by his own employees. He had also been drinking and was acting slowly. His mind was stuck on Li Luxiao's sentence, "No wonder the old employees don't like working with you." He held the glass and chewed on it repeatedly, unable to get it out of his head.
Li Luxiao had been talking non-stop for a long time, but seeing that Jiang Songhe hadn't responded with a single word and that her expression was gradually becoming serious, he suppressed his playful smile, leaned over the bar, bent down and picked up the bottle of "One Five Four Hairs".
Li Luxiao removed the cork from the bottle and poured the reddish-brown liquid into the glass in Jiang Songhe's hand: "You've gone to such lengths, and that person didn't cry on the spot and tear up his resignation letter? Maybe he's just ungrateful."
Jiang Songhe's palm sank, and he snapped out of his daze, scoffing as he tilted his head back and downed the entire glass of wine. After finishing, he handed the empty glass to Li Luxiao, raising his chin slightly: "You're favored."
"Hey! You're just trying to take advantage of this?!" Li Luxiao feigned anger, then smiled slightly but not much, nodded, and poured Jiang Songhe another cup, "Okay, you're welcome."
Having just dealt with a small peak in customer traffic, bartender Ah Jie, looking embarrassed, shuffled over to the two bosses drinking at the next table. He glanced at their half-finished bottles of liquor, then deftly carried the baby gift box that was blocking their way behind the bar.
"Brother Jiang, I've been standing here all night, can I have a sip too?" Ah Jie was greedy and craving alcohol, but when he said he'd have a sip, he really meant it. He pulled out a disposable ounce cup from the cabinet under the bar area and held it out to Jiang Songhe with longing eyes.
"It's not busy right now. Go get a proper glass and sit inside to rest and drink." Jiang Songhe, who was six-tenths drunk, spoke with a strangely kind tone when he heard his side employee make a request. He uncorked the glass and waited for A-Jie to do as he was told.
"Hey!" Ajie happily switched to the same Nude cup as his boss, cupped the bottom of the cup with both hands, bent over and stretched out his arms, his movements as exaggerated as if he were receiving an imperial decree or reward.
"What do you think he's saying?" Li Luxiao exposed him, but made no move to stop him. He turned around and leaned against the bar, tapping A-Jie, who was squinting and not daring to give him a look. "ACCRO opens at six, and it's not even nine o'clock yet. Do the math yourself, do you have enough time to stay all night?"
Jiang Songhe was probably already tipsy and his hands were unsteady. The wine was flowing quickly and rapidly. Amidst the repeated cries of "Enough, enough," he silently poured more than half a glass for A-Jie.
Ah Jie, flattered and overwhelmed, straightened up, sipped his wine, and smacked his lips, exuding overwhelming emotion: "It has to be my Brother Jiang! How did I get such a generous boss like you~~~~"
"Who are you pointing at, kid?"
Li Luxiao pretended to snatch A-Jie's cup, but was dodged by a twist of his body. A-Jie, as if afraid of being taken advantage of, nervously downed half a cup. The Mingdi Xian Thirteen Black Pearl had a very high alcohol content, and after hurriedly gulping it down, A-Jie was already feeling lightheaded.
"If you ask me, that guy surnamed Xu is no good. Last time he came here, he even flirted with Brother Li's goddess sister. What's the point of keeping him around? It's good that he's gone! It saves Brother Jiang's company from getting in the way of his female colleagues every day... hiccup..."
"Hey, who said last time that he was probably gay? You're quite the opportunist..."
"Huh? Could he be bisexual? Huh! Then he's a fraudster who got married and had a child; he deserves to die a horrible death..."
...
Amidst the background noise of the two engaging in a comedic exchange, Jiang Songhe drifted off into his own thoughts. He stared blankly at the bare secondary SIM card signal bar in the upper left corner of his phone screen for a while, then his ears caught the word "Gay." His soul returned to his body, and he asked aimlessly, "What Gay?"
"Just last time, after he flirted with the goddess sister... Ouch! Brother Li, why did you flick my head?! I'm going to report this as a workplace injury!!" Suddenly hit on the head by Li Luxiao, A-Jie rubbed the sore spot and cried out in a daze.
"What kind of work injury is this? If you're going to be so concerned about others, then shut up. Don't keep bringing up 'flirting' or anything like that, it's useless." Li Luxiao threatened, making an OK sign.
"'Holding grudges,' alright?!" A-Jie dodged Li Luxiao's gesture, took a step closer to Jiang Songhe, and continued, "He tried to take advantage of the goddess sister but failed, and then, right after, he hooked up with a gay guy who keeps calling himself 'this old lady,' a bear-like gay guy..."
Jiang Songhe had only asked casually, but after A-Jie highlighted the key features of the person, his brows furrowed involuntarily. He squinted and pondered for a moment before asking, "What exactly did they talk about? Did you hear it?"
"Then where am I supposed to listen to their spiel? Those two are like two madmen, they can't say anything clean, I'm afraid they'll dirty my ears!" Ah Jie was clearly drunk and said indignantly.
A vague sense of foreboding crept into Jiang Songhe's heart, and he inexplicably opened WeChat and searched for "Li Qinghai" in the contact list.
———, they've either been blacklisted or blocked.
The premonition grew stronger, prompting Jiang Songhe to search the entire internet search engine again for the name of Jiang Songyun's former executive agent, whom he had personally fired a few months ago.
Li Qinghai, Director of Brokerage at Ciyi Culture.
Jiang Songhe followed the trail and clicked on the link to the relevant social media account, finding a professional photo of a person with a poreless, snake-like face that he could barely identify from the styling.
"Was this the person Xu Qin met last time he came over?" Jiang Songhe showed A-Jie his professional photo.
"Who's that?" A-Jie leaned closer to the screen, squinted to focus, then slammed his hand on the table. "It's him! Black-rimmed glasses, a thick beard, a pinky finger pointing wildly, I'd recognize him even if he were ashes!!"
Then, looking away with disdain, she said, "What kind of aesthetic is this? It's so photoshopped it doesn't even look human... Hey, Li-ge, come take a look too, it's too funny..."
A-Jie tried to hug Li Luxiao, but missed. He suddenly lost his strength and stumbled, spilling the wine he was holding onto his hand, which landed on the back of his hand. He didn't waste a drop, however, he aimed at Li Luxiao's lips and sucked it all up in one go.
Jiang Songhe's ominous premonition was not diminished by A-Jie's comical behavior. He got up from the bar stool in agitation, took out his cigarette case, and pulled out a cigarette between his fingers.
He shifted a few steps to the side, pressed the button on the bar that combined ventilation and cigarette lighting, then pulled it off. Before he could even put the cigarette in his mouth, he heard a charming female voice beside him: "Can I borrow a light?"
Jiang Songhe put down the cigarette in his hand, looked down at the sound, and saw a voluptuous figure holding a thin lady's cigarette in her hand with long, bright red nail polish. She must be waiting in line for a lighter.
The perfume was too strong; Jiang Songhe couldn't stand it.
So he silently stepped aside and handed the cigarette lighter to Red Nails, but Red Nails did not take it. Instead, she put the cigarette in her lips, brushed her hair aside, and leaned down toward the scarlet cross-section.
It's obvious that they're giving Jiang Songhe a chance to do it for them.
"Ah Jie, you've had so much to drink, you should go home early today. Oh, take a taxi home, and I'll reimburse you tomorrow."
Li Luxiao's sudden change in attitude, accompanied by a laugh, caught the attention of Jiang Songhe and Hongjiazhi, who both looked over. They saw Li Luxiao had stopped drinking, placed his glass in front of him, and was holding his phone with both hands, quickly tapping a few times and then holding it down.
"Hello, no, hi, this is Li Luxiao from ACCRO Bar... So your name is Hao Qing? Looking at your WeChat Moments, you're also an artist manager? Tsk, that's so fucking sleazy..."
"Hiss." Jiang Songhe chuckled softly, twisted her wrist to turn the cigarette butt between her fingers around, and stretched out her arm to shove the unlit cigarette into Li Luxiao's mouth as he muttered something.
"You overpaid for the drinks last time..." Li Luxiao mumbled through a cigarette, his attention completely absorbed by the phone screen. The scarlet cigarette was brought to his lips, and he instinctively reached for it, taking a puff. "Mmm!"
I choked on the smoke.
"Cough cough cough cough! Jiang Songhe, you... cough cough... are you fucking crazy?!"
Jiang Songhe's lips curled into a few triumphant pixelated smiles as she turned to the bewildered Red Nails and said, "I'd be crazy to borrow from him."
-
Manr, TANG Building Multipurpose Hall.
Jonathan once again made a surprise appearance as a celebrity mentor, giving vocal lessons to the contestants who had made it to the final round of the talent show through a closed training program.
The 50 contestants were divided into three groups, leaving only sixteen or seventeen people. Compared to the scale of the competition before the preliminary rounds, the multi-functional hall seemed rather empty.
After the morning classes ended, while all the other contestants were called to lunch, Jonathan took the initiative to approach Jiang Songyun, who was eager to say hello in the crowded area, but ultimately stopped herself.
"Go outside and wait for me." Jonathan said, trying to get rid of Vasin, who had been following him around like a shadow lately.
After Vasin left, Jiang Songyun stared at Jonathan's left arm, which was covered by the wide sleeve of his coat, and asked worriedly, "Brother Jonathan, is your injury any better? My brother went back to the country and no one told me what happened outside. I only heard about your serious accident yesterday."
Jonah looked at Jiang Songyun's face, momentarily lost in thought. When his gaze fell on the corners of his lips and he didn't notice a pair of shallow dimples, he came back to his senses, blinked and smiled, and replied, "Don't worry, your brother Jonah has his own personal doctor, he's almost better."
Then, in return, she launched a barrage of follow-up questions: "How about you? How have you been lately? Are you tired from practicing so intensely every day? Your performance in the preliminary rounds was so amazing. Have you started thinking about making it to the finals and which team you want to join? The semi-finals are on February 7th. Your brother is going back to China and might not be able to be with you... Are you feeling a little lonely?"
Jiang Songyun seemed a little taken aback by the number of questions her idol would ask her, showing such concern. She rolled her eyes, thought for a moment, and then answered in order: "I'm doing great lately, in top form, and not tired at all! If I can make it to the finals, of course I'd like to, hehe, join your team, Naxi-ge~"
When it came time to answer the question Jonah most wanted to know, Jiang Songyun suddenly fell silent, as if he were caught up in some bad memory. The joy and anticipation on his face gradually faded, replaced by a faint gloom.
Upon learning of the confirmed date for the Star Show rematch, Jonathan immediately expressed his willingness to substitute for the class to his company and the competition organizers.
She was preoccupied with investigating the contents of the email and was thinking about finding an opportunity to cheer up Jiang Songyun, hoping that, in any way, she could offer some comfort as an idol and reduce the negative impact of the anniversary of her parents' death coinciding with the competition.
As a result, due to his own selfishness and momentary distraction, he abruptly revealed the date February 7th to the person he wanted to comfort.
Jonah assumed the boy's somber expression stemmed from sadness over the upcoming day and a deep-seated self-blame. Unable to let this snowballing emotion fester, he tried to change the subject: "I forgot to ask, about the drum I gave you..."
But Jiang Songyun interrupted him with her own answer: "Actually, I'm a little glad that my brother couldn't be with me that day. He thought he had kept it a secret, that I would naively believe that my parents died on the day he was born, April 20th... But I already knew."
Jiang Songyun's eyes began to redden and well up with tears. As he finished speaking, a strange, unsettling light flickered in his voice. Jonathan's lips parted, but he ultimately didn't know what else to say. At that moment, Jiang Songyun suppressed his outward emotional turmoil and smiled as if nothing had happened.
"What I'm trying to say is that only by learning to face challenges independently can you have the opportunity to grow up! You agree, right, Nash?"
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