096: Wild Play

Sun Mingfan let out a whistle and said with a teasing laugh, “They ought to release these tapes to the media and the public. So-called leaders are nothing special after all.”

The manager of Midnight Poppy, a middle-aged man with a Buddha-like smile, came over. “Young Master Xu.”

“Have Xiao Ke serve Li, the third young master of the Li family, in the old private room. Remember, make sure he is well looked after. Let him learn what it is to have a man, and then never be able to let him go. Do you understand?” His cold eyes were fixed on the man in the video, while those crimson, alluring lips spoke in an indifferent tone.

The middle-aged man felt a chill in his heart. Xiao Ke was their most sought-after male escort, born with a bewitching charm and trained by experts until his skills in pleasing men were beyond compare. Any man who had him was almost impossible to part with.

There had been plenty who spent lavishly on him and ended up ruined.

Young Master Xu wanted Li Shaoren utterly cut off, childless and heirless.

Seeing that the man still said nothing, Xu Yichen cast him a glance. The man straightened at once and answered, “Yes.”

“Arrange it naturally. Don’t let anyone notice anything.”

“Yes.”

“That will do. You may go.”

“Yes.”

Looking at Li Shaoren’s face in the video, dulled and tainted by wine and indulgence, Xu Yichen slowly curved his lips. That handsome face became even more devilishly seductive.

First you fall for men, then you get hooked on drugs. With habits like that, how could your family not cast you aside?

And once a privileged wastrel has been abandoned by his family, what can he possibly rely on to survive?

The nightlife of City B was extraordinarily rich. Compared with the daytime’s rushing traffic, the clusters of people on the streets at night, gathering and parting in twos and threes, revealed a city’s vitality more clearly.

Lin Xia had just finished dinner with Miaomiao and the others, and the group was strolling along the street, looking at the rows of shops and the stylish passersby on either side.

Every face was relaxed, every expression bright.

Nightlife had become so popular in modern cities precisely because of the rapid pace of urban life.

People needed an outlet to relieve their pressure.

And night, by hiding everything in darkness, allowed them to release their true selves and their desires.

Tonight was Baihei’s birthday. A private room had already been booked, and after dinner they would go sing karaoke.

It was also Lin Xia’s first time attending such a gathering. In the past, she had been a complete homebody and rarely went out at night. Back when she worked at that small company, she seldom attended evening get-togethers. Even when she did, she would obediently sit to one side and listen, rarely joining in.

So tonight’s party was a novel experience for her, and she looked forward to it.

The club they went to tonight was called Nightscape. Perhaps because it was in the imperial capital, the few places they had been to, whether hotels or restaurants, all looked rather luxurious in their decor.

A long corridor, dim lighting, and a winding, secluded feel.

Oil paintings hung on the walls, though Lin Xia could not understand them.

Still, the soft light falling over them lent the place an elegant, seductive charm, making one feel inexplicably a little more noble, and putting one in a far better mood.

Since the private room had already been reserved, Chen Qing led them there.

The moment they entered, Wanwan and Qin Mo rushed straight to the song selector. Along the way, the two had been bickering nonstop, determined to see who could hit the higher notes tonight.

“Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.”

“Listening to the Sea.”

“If You Also Heard.”

“Rescue.”

“Fine, compete if you want. Who cares?”

While talking, they had already queued up more than ten songs, each one higher than the last, and then they began to howl them out. The whole room was filled with nothing but their shrill, piercing voices, loud enough to make one’s ears ache.

Lin Xia found the spot farthest from the speakers, curled up on the sofa, and quietly ate popcorn while watching them laugh and fool around, smiling to herself.

After finishing her business, Chen Qing plopped down beside her and said with a grin, “Why aren’t you picking a song?”

“I’m waiting for Miaojie to come back so the two of us can compete,” Lin Xia replied with a smile.

“What did you say?” Chen Qing shouted. Their singing was so loud it made her ears buzz, so she really had to yell.

Lin Xia smiled and shouted back into Chen Qing’s ear, “I’m waiting for you to sing with me. We’re having a contest!”

“Great! What do you want to sing?” Chen Qing shouted.

“Anything,” Lin Xia yelled back.

“What if your opponent can sing something you can’t?”

“Normally, I can sing anything!”

“Then let’s go together.” Taking her small hand, Chen Qing led her to the song selector, where they browsed the singers and songs on the computer.

“How about Zhang Shaohan’s songs?” Chen Qing asked, pausing on a page.

Lin Xia nodded. She was very popular right then and had just released the album Over the Rainbow.

They picked out songs like My Favorite, The Horizon, The Cry, and All Because of You.

After those songs were queued in front, and once Qin Mo and Baihei had finished shouting themselves hoarse, Chen Qing took the microphone and said with a laugh, “You guys take a break. Now it’s me and Xiaxia’s turn.”

The first song was Zhang Shaohan’s My Favorite. It was gentle and soothing, well suited to ears that had just been battered by all that noise.

Lin Xia sang first: “Like a dream I cannot wake from, another you is watching me.” Her voice was clear and bright, giving people a very different impression.

“Just thinking of your tenderness makes everything blur.” Chen Qing’s voice was very different from Lin Xia’s. It carried a faint trace of age and sorrow, and anyone listening would be startled.

No one had expected such a clear and delicate face to produce such a voice.

The moment she began, Qin Mo let out a whistle. “Oh, that’s good, that’s good!”

It really was special.

Then the mood gradually rose. “I stand alone on the boundless wasteland, gazing toward the distant horizon, where the sky meets the earth, out of sight.”

All that echoed through the air now was my desolate cry.

Ho-hi-yian-ha-hi-yian.

The sky is clear, the sky is blue, but my heart is so dark.

“At last I understood that my only reason for coming into this world was you, and this fated encounter alone.”

“To love you with every breath I take, and then watch you leave.”

That night, everyone sang to their heart’s content. That was the advantage of having no men around: with only girls present, there was no need to worry about appearances, and by the end they were singing and shouting wildly without a care for image.

The table in the private room was littered with trash, a sight that made one marvel at how such small stomachs could contain so much food.

When they came out of the club, everyone was still in high spirits, and they kept pestering Chen Qing to take them to some good, cheap little shops to hunt for trinkets and odds and ends.

Tomorrow was the weekend, so they could sleep in. And since she had had so much fun as well, Chen Qing agreed, taking the group on a frenzy of shopping until everyone went home loaded down with their spoils.

By the time they got back to the hotel, everyone was exhausted. Lin Xia, in particular, did not even want to move a little finger.

Forcing herself, she took a shower. The moment she fell onto the bed, she was already fast asleep.