Xie Lin didn’t quite understand, but he had a good trait: when he didn’t understand, he asked.
"What is the Third Floor?"
"You’ll know when we get there." Zhou Gu precisely followed the route Su Rong used to lead him here that night, arriving at the exterior wall of Zuihua Building’s backyard. He deftly climbed the backyard wall, perched atop it, and beckoned to Xie Lin, "Come up."
Xie Lin: "..."
He asked inexplicably, "Why do we need to climb over the wall?"
"Just climb up when I tell you to climb up, what, do you think I’m going to sell you or something?" Zhou Gu impatiently urged.
Xie Lin had no choice but to climb the backyard wall.
Upon seeing him climb up, Zhou Gu hopped down, leading him along the same path that Su Rong had guided him along previously. They passed through courtyards deep within the compound, arriving at a window. Zhou Gu knocked three times on the window just as Su Rong had done that night.
After three knock sounds had been made, an "eh?" came from inside, and then the window opened from the inside.
Upon hearing the sudden knock, Yunoniang noticed it was different from when Su Rong usually returned—it was lighter. She opened the window and found two young men, about the same age, both quite good-looking. Upon closer inspection of the most handsome one, she realized, isn’t this Su Rong’s fiancé?
She quickly greeted, "It turns out to be Young Master Zhou!"
Yuoniang smiled from the window and asked: "Why has Young Master Zhou come?"
Putting on a natural act, Zhou Gu covered his mouth and coughed lightly, "I brought a friend to have some fun. Can he receive the same treatment as her?"
Yuoniang blinked her eyes.
Zhou Gu showed no sign of embarrassment, "My friend just came to Jiangning. I thought to show him around a bit. If it’s inconvenient, no worries."
Yuoniang immediately laughed, "It’s convenient. It would always be convenient whenever Young Master Zhou brings friends over. You’re the equivalent of her and can naturally enjoy the same treatment."
Zhou Gu thought to himself that indeed, there seemed to be an inseparable relationship between Su Rong and the Third Floor. The night she brought him here was a bit of a shock, and he didn’t think much about her relationship with this place. After processing it a few days later, he began to suspect that the relationship between Su Rong and the manager of the Third Floor wasn’t as simple as just being acquaintances.
Although he thought so, he remained composed and said, "Then I’ll trouble you with the arrangements!"
Yuoniang nodded with a smile, "No problem."
She stepped out of the room, "Young Master, you remember the way, right? You can take your friend to wait in the room from last time. I will go make arrangements right away."
Zhou Gu nodded, "I remember."
Zhou Gu remembered well and led Xie Lin to Nuansheng Pavilion without a hitch.
The opulence and luxury of Nuansheng Pavilion also made Xie Lin, despite also being from the Capital City, gawk. He looked around the immense room and was still puzzled, "Hey, what’s this place? A restaurant?"
Zhou Gu casually sat in the same spot by the window as last time and replied languidly, "Zuihua Building."
"Zuihua Building?" Xie Lin, being new to the area, hadn’t quite grasped the specialness of Zuihua Building.
Zhou Gu explained, "The Baihua Wine here can’t be found anywhere else."
Xie Lin finally got it, "So we’re here to drink? You should have said this earlier instead of being all mysterious." Xie Lin sat across from Zhou Gu.
Sure enough, wine and dishes were quickly brought in.
Xie Lin was a lover of good wines but his alcohol tolerance was average. As soon as the wine was poured out, a savory aroma filled the air. He took a deep breath and praised, "This is some good wine."
Just as he was about to say, "No wonder you brought me here to drink," a dozen or so beauties filed in one by one. They were gorgeous, donned in light and thin robes, curvaceous and elegant. He widened his eyes, "This..."
The rules at Rui’an King’s Residence were also strict. Xie Lin, like Zhou Gu, had never set foot in a place like this.
It was only then that Zhou Gu smiled at Xie Lin, "You asked me what this place was? I’ll tell you now, this is a Green Building."
Xie Lin: "..."
He never imagined that Zhou Gu would bring him to the Green Building in broad daylight.
His eyes widened in shock as he looked at Zhou Gu, stuttering as if he didn’t recognize him anymore, "You, what did you just say?"
Zhou Gu leaned in close to Xie Lin and whispered, "You heard me right, this is the Green Building."
After he said this, he added, "It’s the Green Building that you know about, the one that your family and my family don’t allow us to go to."
Xie Lin: "..."
I’m doomed!
He knew that his family did not allow him to go, but he brought him anyway?
He stood up suddenly, accusing Zhou Gu angrily, "Zhou Gu, you’ve gone astray!"
Zhou Gu raised his eyebrows, not expecting Xie Lin to be so upright. He pulled him down to sit, "Didn’t you use to envy others who were free to go to the Red Building Restaurant to drink and listen to music without their families’ interference? Now that I have brought you here, why are you reacting this way?"
Xie Lin glared at him, "What I envy is the freedom of not having family interference, not, not wanting to come here." He looked at Zhou Gu incredulously, "Aren’t you afraid that your grandfather will find out and break your legs?"
"If you don’t tell, I won’t tell; he won’t find out." Zhou Gu was very confident. He found that Jiangning County was a small place, but it was like a fortress. If one didn’t intentionally investigate, the news that one didn’t want to leak out would absolutely not leak out. Jiang Sheng, the Inspector of Jiangzhou, had been causing small trouble for Su Xu for years, and as for the rest, Su Xu was untouchable.
Xie Lin remained uncomfortable and said with a straight face, "Even if he doesn’t find out, it’s not okay, right? Once you do a bad thing for the first time, you will want to do it a second time. What if you can’t stop yourself? Our reputations will be ruined."
Zhou Gu was surprised, "I didn’t expect you to care so much about your reputation."
Xie Lin was annoyed, "How could I not care about my reputation?"
The Rui’an King Residence was a royal house of a different surname, and they had contributed to the founding of the empire. They were hereditary, but because of this, they dared not make mistakes, for once they made a mistake, not only would they lose their hereditary titles, but they might also be completely wiped out. After all, even the direct royal family was being careful, let alone a royal house of a different surname. Hence, three generations of the Rui’an King Residence were quite conservative. When it came to his generation, his grandfather admonished him regarding every detail. The last time he and Zhou Gu fought over Qin Luan, not only was he beaten by Zhou Gu, but he was also severely punished by his grandfather.
Zhou Gu laughed, seeming to understand what Xie Lin was thinking. He patted Xie Lin’s shoulder, "Relax, this place is very safe. We used a special entrance to get in, and except for the people here, no one will find out about us. As long as you instruct your guards well after leaving, ensuring that they keep their mouths shut."
When Xie Lin heard the words "special entrance," he was reminded of the back door Zhou Gu had taken him through when they came, and how they had climbed over someone else’s wall, something he had never done in his life.
He looked at Zhou Gu, "Even so, it’s still broad daylight... It’s not good to call so many girls, is it?"
Zhou Gu didn’t expect Xie Lin to be unlike how he appeared, not a lustful person. Otherwise, by now, his eyes would have been glued to the girls, especially so many girls. He would have been dazzled and wouldn’t be arguing with him here.
He gained a new understanding of Xie Lin and compared Xie Lin’s current discomfort with the way he acted when he was brought here by Su Rong the other night. It seemed Zhou Gu didn’t do too bad. He at least tried to imitate Su Rong’s relaxed demeanor as much as possible, so as not to embarrass himself.
He cleared his throat and said naturally, "We’re just here to listen to music and have some drinks. These girls are supposedly the twelve tokens of the Zuihua Building. They don’t usually come out, so you should seize the opportunity to enjoy the performance. Also, they have a drink here called Baihua Brew. Once you step out of this door, you won’t be able to find it anywhere else..."
Zhou Gu poured two glasses of wine, pushed one to Xie Lin, and kept one for himself. "Brother Xie, if it hadn’t been for our lively meeting, I wouldn’t have brought you here."
Xie Lin looked at him, "Is it really just for drinking and listening to music? The words you say are not the same as what you think, right? You’re not trying to set me up, are you?"
It’s not that he doesn’t trust him, it’s just that he feels Zhou Gu might set him up. Their friendship was not that deep. They used to dislike each other before they had their fight.
"No, what are you thinking? You’re wishful thinking. These girls sell their art, not their bodies." Zhou Gu whispered.
Xie Lin looked at the expression on his face and it didn’t seem to be a lie, "That’s good." And still somewhat unsure, "Really no one will know?"
"No."
"Your fiancée..."
Zhou Gu wanted to say that the reason he could come here was that his fiancée brought him here, but he thought better of it. His fiancée was rebellious and not like other girls. If word got out about such unconventional behavior, it would be bad for her reputation. It took him several days to accept that her character was so free that she could do such unconventional things, and others might not be able to accept it.
He coughed and said, "This is Jiangning. The third floor is very famous. When my fiancée introduced Jiangning to me on the day I arrived, she mentioned the third floor, saying that when there’s nothing going on during the day, I could come here to have a drink and listen to the music."
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