Chapter 125: Encounter

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Xu Qingran had come to Nightfall during winter break to earn enough for next semester’s tuition. Business had been going smoothly until the manager suddenly summoned her upstairs, which was frightening enough on its own. Now she was hearing these obviously untouchable people discussing whether she “looked like” someone.

She was completely bewildered and dared not say a word.

In her confusion, Xu Qingran wondered if they wanted her to be someone’s substitute.

A wealthy-family substitute romance?

But she was an ordinary, honest girl. She had neither bedridden parents in need of treatment nor a younger brother with leukemia lying in an emergency room.

At most, she was simply poor—so poor that she was nearly unable to pay her tuition.

Within a few seconds, Xu Qingran had already decided how she would refuse this melodramatic substitute scenario with righteous indignation.

Then another thought occurred to her.

Everyone knew that those who came to Nightfall were either rich or powerful. They were not people an ordinary college student like her could afford to provoke. If they resorted to force, there was nothing a weak young woman like her could do except submit.

Standing there, Xu Qingran felt as though needles were pricking the soles of her feet. She wished desperately that she could leave.

The private room fell silent for a while.

Carefully, Xu Qingran raised her eyes and studied the people on the sofa. At last, her gaze settled on the man whose body was half-submerged in darkness.

He was extraordinarily tall. Even seated, he possessed an imposing presence that made him intensely oppressive.

Besides, he had been staring at his phone the entire time, apparently too lazy to spare her even a glance.

From their conversation, Xu Qingran had already guessed that he was probably the one looking for a substitute.

He had a face that clearly warned people not to provoke him.

Fortunately, this powerful man did not seem interested in her at all. Xu Qingran secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked nervously, “C-can I leave now?”

Shen Guannan found the girl extremely amusing. The expressions on her face were wonderfully vivid. He had never seen anyone whose thoughts were written so plainly across their features.

There was nothing interesting about sitting here anyway. Perhaps teasing the little girl would be fun.

With a crooked smile, Shen Guannan asked, “How much commission do you get for selling a bottle of liquor here?”

Xu Qingran answered seriously, “For every ten thousand yuan, I get about two hundred.”

Shen Guannan nodded. “Then bring us a bottle of Diva Vodka and a bottle of Royal Salute whisky.”

“W-what?” Xu Qingran stood frozen in place, thinking she must have misheard.

Those two bottles cost several million yuan. If she sold them, she would never have to worry about tuition for the rest of her college years.

Shen Guannan smiled. “Maybe you didn’t hear me clearly. But you have to agree to do one thing for us.”

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Xu Qingran thought, Of course. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

She asked timidly, “W-what is it?”

Shen Guannan pointed toward the man sitting in the corner. “Him. He’s just been dumped, and you look quite a lot like his girlfriend. Why don’t you keep him company for a while?”

Xu Qingran immediately waved her hands in panic. “I-I sell my talents, not my body!”

Half of Fu Wenzhou’s face was illuminated by the light. His brow ridge was sharply defined, and the deep-sea-themed earring beneath his right ear glittered with shifting colors. A cigarette hung between his lips.

His face was the kind that could be chosen from among ten thousand, but his expression was icily cold. An aura of violence radiated from every inch of him.

He merely lifted his eyes slightly, yet Xu Qingran was so frightened that she nearly burst into tears.

The outer corners of Fu Wenzhou’s eyes were long and narrow, giving him an innate air of danger whenever he looked at someone.

“Get out,” he said coldly.

Shen Guannan, however, had not finished playing. “Why the rush? Let’s have some fun—”

“I don’t fucking have time to play with you.” Impatience stained Fu Wenzhou’s eyes and brows. Clearly, his patience had run out.

Xu Zezhan gave a mocking laugh. “All right, Guannan. You know what he’s like.”

Shen Guannan shook his head. Fu Wenzhou was truly no fun at all. Too lazy to bother with him any further, he crooked a finger at the young woman standing nearby.

“Come here. If you don’t want to keep him company, keep me company instead.”

Xu Qingran’s calves trembled. She did not dare approach, but neither did she dare refuse.

Gu Bai took a sip of his drink. “Go on. He won’t do anything to you. Have a couple of drinks with him, and your performance for the whole year will be taken care of. You might as well take advantage of the opportunity.”

Gu Bai had a sunnier appearance and demeanor, and Xu Qingran inexplicably felt she could trust him. Thus, she slowly walked over and sat down beside Shen Guannan.

She did not sit particularly close. There was almost enough room for another person between them.

Shen Guannan did not mind. He had only been teasing the girl and had never truly intended to make her drink. Instead, he asked the bartender for a bottle of fruit juice and let her drink it by herself.

Xu Qingran’s eyes were clear and lively. She realized that these men were not like the wastrels downstairs who treated women as toys, and she relaxed slightly. She took small sips of orange juice, occasionally stealing a glance at the man who had been staring at his phone the entire time.

Was he heartbroken?

He must be waiting for a message from his girlfriend if he kept looking at his phone like that.

After thinking it over, Xu Qingran decided she could not earn this money for nothing. After carefully considering her words, she spoke softly.

“Actually, girls are very easy to comfort.”

Shen Guannan and Fu Wenzhou sat on the same side. Although they occupied separate booths, the seats were arranged side by side. Xu Qingran sat between them, turning slightly toward Fu Wenzhou.

Fu Wenzhou narrowed his eyes, his voice low and cold. “For example?”

Xu Qingran set down her juice. “You can tell me what went wrong between the two of you.” To make herself sound more credible, she added, “I’m a relationship counselor at school, and psychology is my major. I can definitely solve the problem between you and your girlfriend.”

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Fu Wenzhou lifted his eyelids halfway, looking skeptical. “She ran into trouble and went to someone else instead of me. We had an argument and parted on bad terms. She called me just now, but I didn’t answer. Now I’m sending her messages, and she won’t reply.”

Xu Qingran thought for a few seconds before declaring, “That’s your fault.”

Fu Wenzhou: “?”

“She didn’t come to you because she didn’t want to cause you trouble,” Xu Qingran explained.

Fu Wenzhou’s face darkened. “I’m not afraid of trouble.”

“You may not be afraid of trouble, but she must be sparing you because she cares about you. If something is troublesome, and she can trouble someone else instead, why would she trouble the person she loves? Besides, you argued with her over something so minor. Who wouldn’t be hurt? Even while feeling that upset, she still called you first. Why would she call unless she cared about you, was worried about you, wanted to comfort you, and hoped to reconcile? But what did you do? You didn’t even answer her call.”

Seeing the confusion on his face and sensing that he was beginning to waver, she pressed on.

“You were effectively rejecting her attempt to make peace. No wonder she isn’t answering your messages. What you did is practically grounds for the death penalty.”

Fu Wenzhou stared at her in astonishment. “The death penalty? We only had an argument! It’s not as though I stopped loving her!”

“Exactly!” Xu Qingran said excitedly. “You love her, so before you got together, you should have understood her personality. Why could you tolerate it before but not now? When all is said and done, you’ve simply become more and more greedy. After gaining something, you want to demand even more.”

Fu Wenzhou fell silent. “...Is that really how it is?”

“Yes.” Xu Qingran took a sip of orange juice to soothe her throat. “Some people keep their emotions and work completely separate. Try looking at it from another angle. She keeps them separate not because she doesn’t care about you, but precisely because she cares so deeply. She wants your relationship to remain clean and pure, without the slightest trace of anything else—nothing but love, with no connection to personal gain.”

Xu Qingran lowered her voice. “Think about it. Doesn’t that make sense?”

Fu Wenzhou was silent for a moment. Then, as though he had suddenly understood everything, he nodded.

“You’re right. Yoyo must love me too much to let our relationship become entangled with money or favors. How did I never think of that before?”

Xu Qingran waved her hand. “It’s not too late. Call her back quickly.”

At the mention of the call, Fu Wenzhou took a deep drag on his cigarette, pain appearing on his face.

He really was unforgivable. He had actually failed to answer Yoyo’s call.

Fu Wenzhou hurriedly unlocked his phone. At last, he had found an outlet for the frustration and gloom that had plagued him all evening.

He dialed the number impatiently.

The next second, the private-room door was slowly pushed open from outside.

Song Qingyou walked in.

Her features were exquisitely pure, blurred beneath the hazy moonlight, making her impossible to see clearly.

Her fingertips paused almost imperceptibly. The gentle warmth in her eyes turned cold, inch by inch, the moment she saw Fu Wenzhou and the girl beside him. Only a bone-deep desolation remained, piercing through every layer of him before settling in Fu Wenzhou’s eyes.

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