Yama Reborn-Chapter 397 - 394 [Not Too Bad]

Chapter 394: Not So Wrong

In the hotel lobby, at this late hour, there were hardly any people around anymore. Even the manager’s desk was empty. But the two individuals who entered were loud and boisterous, immediately drawing the attention of the front desk staff.

Chen Nuo sat on a sofa in the lobby bar, casting a somewhat peculiar look at the noisy pair who had just walked in.

At this late hour, it wasn’t surprising that the two newcomers were a man and a woman.

Chen Nuo did not recognize the woman, who seemed to be wearing rather heavy makeup; nonetheless, it was apparent that she was young. She was dressed in clubbing attire, wearing a glittery little jacket that was left open, revealing a tight-fitting camisole underneath that exposed her midriff and a slim waist that hinted at a serpent-like figure.

A spicy short skirt accompanied her attire, and her slender, long legs were accentuated by strappy high heels, yet she walked steadily—the man beside her, who was clearly far too drunk to be aware of his surroundings, kept clinging to the girl, having to be propped up by her as they walked into the lobby. Despite the heavy burden and her high heels, the girl moved with confidence and stability.

As for the man beside her, Chen Nuo was unfamiliar with him too. It was clear from his attire that he was well-dressed, holding a small clutch bag tightly under his arm even in his inebriated state, all the while staggering about.

Normally, in a hotel like this, late at night, the appearance of such a duo would lead anyone to surmise what was going on.

This matter had nothing to do with Chen Nuo.

But the problem was, there was another acquaintance involved...

Just as the man and woman entered the hotel lobby, barely stepping inside, suddenly another man rushed through the revolving doors behind them.

He appeared to be young as well, wearing a suit that clearly didn’t fit well and was not of high quality. After dashing inside, he took a few quick steps and grabbed the girl’s arm from behind.

The girl was startled and turned around, her face immediately freezing. "You, why are you here?" She seemed flustered for a moment, but her reaction was swift and evidently practiced. Anger flared in her eyes. "Are you stalking me?!"

"I’m not stalking you; you sent me the wrong message, telling me you were here," the man defended, but rapidly became agitated. "What are you doing here? Who is this guy? Why are you coming to a hotel with him in the middle of the night..."

Before he could finish, the girl retorted sharply, "What nonsense are you spouting! This is my client. I’m just escorting him back because he’s drunk!"

"Is this how you ’escort’ someone who has had too much to drink?!"

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"I..."

Alright, the conversation was going nowhere. Chen Nuo couldn’t be bothered to eavesdrop carefully anymore, just squinting as he watched the two of them pulling and tugging at each other. The girl seemed to grow more and more angry and embarrassed, repeatedly throwing off the man’s hand, only for him to grab hold of her again defiantly.

It was apparent that this man lacked experience, getting emotional and fixating on one thing—demanding that the girl give him an "explanation."

Chen Nuo sighed.

In the lobby, this drama had alarmed the hotel staff. An employee dressed in a suit and wearing a nametag quickly approached to intervene in an attempt to quell the disturbance. He said a few words of persuasion but to no avail.

The man had become fixated and was refusing to back down, shaking his head vigorously in stubbornness.

The woman became furious, exclaiming, "What relationship do we even have? Am I your wife? Am I your girlfriend? It’s none of your business what I do! Why do you care about my business!!"

The man’s face suddenly flushed red with anger, veins bulging on his forehead, but he was so choked up with rage that he couldn’t utter a word.

At that moment, the drunken man leaning on the woman opened his eyes. He was only seven parts drunk, with three parts sobriety remaining. After swaying a couple of times, he straightened up, laughed, and with a blurry gaze, looked at the other man. "Buddy... I think you better drop it. What kind of place is this? Making a scene is just embarrassing. Don’t you understand what’s going on here?"

With that, he slung an arm around the woman like an old hand and began pulling her toward the elevator.

The man roared with anger, low and fierce, ready to lunge forward when the hotel employees hurried to stop him. They couldn’t prevent him from pushing past forcefully; the man seemed about to confront the others...

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him aside.

"Hey?!" the man exclaimed in shock.

But he was quickly subdued by a hand on his shoulder, rendered unable to struggle free.

Chen Nuo subdued the fellow with one hand and then turned to the hotel staff with a smile. "Sorry about this; my friend’s had a bit too much to drink."

With that, he yanked the man. "Let’s go!"

"Chen Nuo? You?"

"No more talk, let’s go! Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?" Chen Nuo said with a look of indifference, swiftly pulling the man out of the hotel.

The man stumbled as he was dragged along, casting hateful glances backward, only to see the other man and woman entering the elevator. Before the doors closed, the man inside seemed to taunt him with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Damn it!!!" Hot-blooded and struggling to break free, the man attempted to rush back in, only to be pulled by Chen Nuo down the steps outside the hotel, nearly falling to the ground.

Chen Nuo, kind-hearted as he was, did not really let him fall, supporting him for a few steps before running off.

The man’s body was almost carried away by Chen Nuo, and they ran a hundred or so meters in one breath. The night wind outside cooled his overheated head just a little.

Only then did Chen Nuo stop, still blocking the man’s path. "There, you okay? Calmed down?"

The man panted heavily and furiously said to Chen Nuo, "What the fuck are you pulling me for! What business is it of yours! I..."

"If I didn’t intervene, you’d just keep making a fool of yourself. Besides, they’re guests at the hotel. If this escalates, the hotel has an obligation to ensure its guests’ safety. If you kept it up, they’d have security escort you out."

"I’ll be damned..."

"You’re damning yourself to embarrassment. If hotel security kicks you out and you keep resisting, the hotel will just call the police. Don’t bother going home tonight; head to the police station to make a statement instead. What are you going to say then? That you came to catch a cheater? You’re not embarrassed enough already?"

"..."

"Even if you don’t mind losing face, in the state you’re in, if you keep struggling, you’ll inevitably use your hands. In the commotion, even if you just lay a finger on someone, push them over, or slap them, everything changes once the police arrive. You know about the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, right? If they’re dead set on teaching you a lesson, they’ll make it stick, and then you’ll be charged with creating a disturbance. If they press hard, you could be administratively detained for a few days. Your employer will be notified. Then, can you, an assistant director at the school’s administrative office, still keep your job? I’m saying, Worker Liu, I put in effort to secure that job for you. To just throw away a hard-earned job like that wouldn’t be worth it, right?"

Worker Liu froze, standing stock-still. After a moment, he let out a low growl. Then, still seething with frustration, he punched the wall beside him, wincing immediately from the pain.

Chen Nuo chuckled softly, took him by the arm, and walked a few steps forward, finding a spot sheltered from the wind.

It was a coffee shop, already closed for the night, with a few wicker tables and chairs outside in the open air, empty and unoccupied. Chen Nuo simply pulled Worker Liu to sit down there.

Chen Nuo felt around in his pocket—no cigarettes; he hardly smoked anymore. So without any hesitation, he directly reached into Worker Liu’s pocket.

"Hey?? Hey?? What are you doing?" Worker Liu struggled a bit, but eventually let Chen Nuo fish out the cigarettes from his pocket.

"Oh, Yuxi, not bad. Director Liu, since your promotion, even your choice of cigarettes has improved. I remember you used to smoke those ten-yuan-a-pack Red Jinling."

Chen Nuo grinned, took out a cigarette to share with Worker Liu, and kindly lit it for him.

Worker Liu glared at Chen Nuo with a huff and took a drag from his cigarette.

"Alright, let’s talk," Chen Nuo said with a smile, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs.

"...There’s nothing to talk about!" Worker Liu replied resentfully.

But Chen Nuo was in no hurry; he knew Worker Liu’s temperament well. With emotions running high, Worker Liu couldn’t hold back his words.

As expected, after smoking half a cigarette, Worker Liu, with a dejected look, spilled the beans.

It was nothing more than... the usual troubles between men and women.

The girl, in fact, wasn’t even Worker Liu’s girlfriend. Worker Liu was, to use a term that would become popular over a decade later, a "simp."

In recent days, Worker Liu finally saw the fruits of his labor, becoming the director of the administrative office at No. 8 Middle School, which meant a promotion and a raise.

Though far from reaching the pinnacle of life, it was, after all, a piece of good fortune. He earned a higher salary, and within the school, he gained a modest level of leadership status, although not much power.

But there were still substantial benefits.

No. 8 Middle School was a privatized institution after restructuring, so the administrative office oversaw more than a typical public school would.

Without going into details, things like the school canteen, the snack shop’s external contracting, the international section’s swimming pool, and the shop leasing were all managed by the administrative office.

He wouldn’t dare to get involved in any major profiteering, but there were still plenty of minor perks.

Worker Liu was only about thirty years old, and now he was getting roughly 1,500 yuan in hand each month—in 2002 Jinling, that was considered a high salary.

Moreover, the job at the school was stable!!

With two long breaks during the year for summer and winter, life was quite comfortable.

In recent months, Worker Liu had taken up a new hobby—one that had just become popular not long ago: hanging out at bars.

Honestly, Worker Liu was just a small-time laborer before his promotion, doing grunt work, his income not very high. His only pastime was secretly playing games on the school’s computer in his spare time.

No other hobbies... because there wasn’t much spare change in his pocket.

Now it was different. With a higher salary and a slightly thicker wallet, he picked up the fashionable habits of the young.

Going to bars started as a place to meet up with old classmates.

At first, he found the bars expensive, but although the drinks cost a lot, he couldn’t resist the allure of the dolled-up girls in the bars, each one more seductive than the last.

How could a thirty-year-old single guy like Worker Liu resist that?

So, he tirelessly fell in love with bar-hopping.

The girl, he met her at a bar.

According to Worker Liu, the first time they met, it was she who started the conversation with him.

Then, as they chatted enthusiastically, Worker Liu’s intentions were quite transparent, while the girl acted coy, playing hard to get.

Just one thing though: ever since he met this girl, Worker Liu’s spending at the bar began to inflate.

In the past, he went merely to soak up the atmosphere, eyeing drinks enviously and getting a visual fix, nursing a single beer for an entire evening.

After meeting this girl, he started drinking in earnest.

Chen Nuo couldn’t help but burst out laughing at this point.

This wasn’t a romantic encounter. This was clearly falling for bar marketing...

"No way? She recommended drinks to me, I bought them, and the bar owner said he’d give me a discount for her sake. I’ve been observant, and for sure the drinks I bought were cheaper."

Chen Nuo smiled. He knew the tricks of bars and nightclubs, but it would be hard to make Worker Liu understand.

In that era, bar marketing tactics weren’t as sophisticated as they would become in later years. Many nightclubs and bars employed young girls as part-timers.

Many were regulars of the nightclub themselves, not professionals, but they had arranged a revenue split with the owners. Then they’d bring friends or acquaintances, or simply target gullible men in the bar and find ways to encourage them to spend.

Afterward, they’d settle up with the owner.

Chen Nuo was certain that Worker Liu had encountered one of these little demons.

Sure enough, after probing further, Worker Liu reluctantly admitted that in recent months he hadn’t managed to save any money, having spent nearly 5,000 to 6,000 yuan at that bar.

Five to six thousand yuan! In 2002, that was an ordinary person’s annual salary.

"Has that girl agreed to date you yet?" Chen Nuo asked with a smile.

"...Not... not yet." Worker Liu seemed a bit sheepish, but then quickly added, "But it’s nearly there... I feel. We get along really well in our chats, and we also occasionally meet up for meals and stuff. I think she’s quite affectionate towards me. I feel like the timing is about right; if not now, it’s very close."

"How is she affectionate? Have you kissed her or held her?"

"Err... that, no... not yet..."

"So, you’re just a mark and a simp," Chen Nuo stated bluntly.

"But, when I ask her out for meals, she comes... I’ve given her gifts, and she accepts them... Last week I even gave her a cellphone."

"..." Chen Nuo fell silent, giving Worker Liu a look of pity.

"...What... what do you mean by that?"

"Have you made your intentions clear to her?"

"I have, but she, she..."

"She rejected you?"

Worker Liu nodded, then shook his head, pondered for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Not exactly a rejection... She just said that we haven’t known each other for long and she doesn’t know me well enough... so..."

"Okay, I get it," Chen Nuo waved his hand dismissively.

There was no need to say more.

"What do you get!!" Worker Liu was indignant. "Little Chen Nuo, how old are you? You don’t know shit! She must have been drunk tonight, that’s why..."

Chen Nuo looked at him askance. "Drunk? You saw what happened just now. Do you think she was the one who was drunk, or was it that man by her side?"

"Maybe... my sudden appearance made her lose face, that’s why she argued with me... Maybe, maybe it really was just her sending a client home... I was too impulsive, so she got irritated by what I said..." The more Worker Liu spoke, the lower his voice became.

"Where’s your phone? Take it out."

"Huh?"

Chen Nuo didn’t care, went straight over to rummage through Worker Liu’s pocket, pulled out the phone, and placed it on the table.

"Look, this is your phone, and she has your number, right? If it really was as you said, just a misunderstanding, and if she genuinely has you in her heart, then after seeing the client out, she would give you a call. No matter if it’s to argue or to explain, she would seek you out, right?"

"... She would, wouldn’t she?"

"Then just wait."

Chen Nuo pointed to the entrance of the hotel not far off. "Sit here, and you can see the hotel door. Just watch and see if she comes out in a while. Going up and down would only take a few minutes, right? We’ve been out here talking for a while now; by rights, if she was just sending someone off, she should be down by now."

Worker Liu’s face grew uglier by the second, yet he still murmured reassurances to himself, "Maybe... maybe after sending them off, they sat down for a drink of water, exchanged a few words... It’s... possible..."

Chen Nuo burst out laughing, looked at Worker Liu, and said, "Old Liu, I never realized you were such a top-tier simp. Even now, at this point, you still haven’t given up?"

While speaking, Chen Nuo took out a cigarette pack, tapped one out, put it in his mouth, lit it, and took a puff. "Well, I’m pretty irritated tonight myself, got nothing to do, so I’ll just stay here with you, help you give up completely."

Worker Liu took a fierce drag on his cigarette, looking anxious and uneasy. In just a short time, he glanced over at the hotel entrance more than a dozen times.

He was restless.

The more Chen Nuo watched, the more amused he became, and suddenly laughed. "If she doesn’t come out, what will you do?"

"I... It won’t happen," Worker Liu said softly.

"I mean, if it does."

"... Then, damn it, I won’t stand for it!!" Worker Liu gritted his teeth. "Why the hell not! This is just playing me!!"

"Really won’t stand for it?"

"I won’t stand for it!"

"Then why don’t you go up to the hotel and find her, bang on the door?"

Worker Liu suddenly got a little scared. "That, didn’t you just say, what if they call the police..."

Chen Nuo looked Worker Liu up and down, and suddenly started to laugh.

"Fine, tonight I’ll make sure you lose all hope, completely rid yourself of this unwillingness."

Having said that, he picked up Worker Liu’s phone to scroll through the call log.

"Eh? What are you... what are you looking at..."

"It’s this ’Wu Beibei’, right? Wow... I say, Old Liu, I had no idea you were sending such mushy texts to her privately."

Chen Nuo laughed and dodged Worker Liu’s attempt to snatch the phone away, quickly memorizing the number.

Then, he took out his own phone, dialed the number, and waited.

After a few rings, the call was answered.

"Hello?" That woman’s voice.

Chen Nuo heard the sound of a television in the background on the other end of the phone.

"Is this Miss Wu Beibei?"

"Yes, it’s me. Who’s this?"

Chen Nuo hesitated for a moment. "I’m a friend of Liu Ang."

On the other end of the phone, Wu Beibei became anxious, but she lowered her voice with a fierce tone. "What do you guys want! I’m telling you, don’t fucking harass me!! Don’t call again! I have nothing to do with Liu Ang anymore!"

"Wait, don’t hang up," Chen Nuo quickly said. "If you don’t want to cause trouble for yourself, listen to me until I finish."

"...What do you want?" Wu Beibei sounded a bit nervous.

"Nothing much. I’m his friend; hmm, we just met downstairs. You see, there’s no need to be nervous. Liu Ang is very impulsive right now, but I’m persuading him. However, I hope you listen to what I have to say, because if he gets too worked up and I can’t hold him back, if he rushes up without thinking, it won’t be good for you, right?"

From the other end of the phone: "...Say it, what do you want to do."

"Nothing much. You come down now and have a face-to-face talk with him, clear up a few things."

"Impossible! I’m going to hang up!"

"Don’t hang up," Chen Nuo said with a laugh. "I’m not Liu Ang; I know what’s going on tonight. Look, the guy who went up with you, he must be a big client of yours, right? You should be good at brushing off clients. This little thing shouldn’t be difficult for you. Find some excuse, like a roommate fell sick, something happened at home, a friend got dumped... Just make up any reason, and you can come down. If the man is unhappy, just placate him with some sweet talk, set up another meeting for tomorrow night or some other day."

Wu Beibei’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this—this man on the phone spoke so damn clearly.

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Five thousand yuan," Chen Nuo cut to the chase without beating around the bush. "To be honest, whatever games you are playing, Liu Ang might not understand, but I do. I’m just helping a friend, to let him give up. You come, meet him once, clear things up, you leave, and I give you 5,000 yuan. How about it?"

Wu Beibei was tempted. Five thousand yuan was a normal person’s annual salary. Even for Wu Beibei, it was a substantial amount of money in 2002.

But she still didn’t trust him and was also a bit scared. What if they were tricking her into going out to give her a lesson?

"...Do you think I would believe you!"

"Relax, we’re not meeting anywhere else, just that XX bar, the place where you and Liu Ang met, right? Let’s meet there. It’s your turf, so you don’t have to be afraid, right? Come over; I’ll give you twenty minutes. Liu Ang and I will be waiting for you there. After twenty minutes, see you at the bar. I keep my word, 5,000 yuan."

"What can you do if I don’t go!"

"Nothing much. You make your money at that bar, right? If he gets obsessed and starts bothering you at the bar every few days, without making a scene, just persistently asking for an explanation, that would be troublesome for you, wouldn’t it?"

"...Are you threatening me?!"

"Come or don’t, it’s up to you. Twenty minutes, see you at the bar, 5,000 yuan."

After finishing, Chen Nuo hung up the phone and looked at Worker Liu. "Let’s go, to the bar."

"Huh?"

"Stop blabbering, let’s go!"

With that, he pulled Worker Liu up, and they hailed a taxi.

Chen Nuo had never been to this bar before, but according to Worker Liu, it had been quite popular in Jinling recently and business was good.

It was already late into the night, but the place was still doing well, with seats about seventy or eighty percent full.

When Chen Nuo arrived, he didn’t go straight in. Instead, he stopped at an ATM at a nearby bank, withdrew some money, casually stuffed it into his pocket, and then entered the bar.

He and Liu Ang sat at a table not far from the bar, near a window where they could directly see the entrance of the bar.

Both sat down. Chen Nuo ordered a dozen beers and sat there with Liu Ang, each taking sips in turn.

After more than ten minutes, the girl came in from outside.

Rushing in with a stern look, still in the same outfit as before.

After entering, she stood by the bar next to the entrance, her gaze sweeping around the bar.

Chen Nuo immediately stood up and waved at her, his face wearing a gentle smile.

Worker Liu suddenly tensed up, as if wanting to stand but, because of the fuss earlier in the evening, he couldn’t swallow his pride. He sat there with a stern face, but his eyes couldn’t help glancing at Wu Beibei.

Wu Beibei marched over furiously, and without even sitting down, she blurted out angrily, "Liu Ang! What on earth do you want! What’s all this about!! I never thought you’d be this sort of person! You..."

Chen Nuo directly cut off the woman’s performance, chuckling, "Sit down and talk, why the rush?"

"You..." The girl glanced at Chen Nuo.

"Let me introduce myself, I’m Old Liu’s friend. Now that you’re here, don’t get mad first, sit down and talk."

Seeing Chen Nuo composed, Wu Beibei looked around. The bar was full of people, including many familiar faces—friends, staff, the owner—and she felt safer. So she huffed and sat down across from the two men.

"You asked me to come here, so speak up! Liu Ang, I’m telling you, you’ve really disappointed me tonight! I always thought you were quite alright; I didn’t expect you to think so lowly of me! The scene you caused tonight, do you know how much it embarrassed me? What kind of woman do you take me for, to see me like that?!"

Chen Nuo watched the woman’s performance with a smile, then noticed Worker Liu looking somewhat guilty...

He sighed inwardly.

"Enough of that, there’s no need for such talk. I didn’t ask you here to perform in front of me. As for what exactly happened, Old Liu isn’t into this scene; he doesn’t get it, but I do. Look, sister, drop the act. We’re all wise here, no need to waste your acting skills," Chen Nuo said with a smile.

Just as Wu Beibei was about to glare and curse, before the words could leave her mouth, Chen Nuo pulled out a thick stack of cash from his pocket and slapped it onto the table!

SLAP!!!

Instantly, Wu Beibei closed her mouth!

A stack of dazzlingly red money sat on the table!

Solid, thick!

Just by glancing, one could tell it was definitely more than 5,000!

"Straight to the point. I won’t beat around the bush. Miss, I understand exactly what you rely on for a living—I just mentioned, Old Liu doesn’t play around outside, he doesn’t understand, but I do. So let’s skip all that boring chatter and get straight to the point."

Wu Beibei finally tore her gaze away from the money, though she couldn’t help but steal another glance.

"In these past two or three months, Old Liu has spent 5,000 to 6,000 yuan here. Your cut, I estimate, is over 1,000 yuan, right?"

"...You, don’t talk nonsense, what cut."

"Alright, alright, we don’t need to argue about this; we all know what’s going on," Chen Nuo waved his hand dismissively.

Wu Beibei didn’t dare say much more, but still mumbled stubbornly, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Chen Nuo couldn’t be bothered to argue. He laughed and said, "Old Liu here, he’s a bit naïve, hasn’t really been with women. The tricks you used on him, the effort you put in, really got him hooked on you. Men, you know, when they see a beautiful woman and get ideas, if a woman ensnares their soul and they can’t have her, they become restless and toss and turn... I’m not one for much, but I just can’t stand to see my friend suffer. The stuff you’ve pulled, Old Liu might not get, but I do, and I’m not going to hold it against you. We’re all hustling in this world; it’s how we make our lives. I get it, so I don’t want to cause you trouble. Normal, all normal. In this line of work, it’s how you earn your living, and I really understand you."

Saying this, Chen Nuo’s tone shifted. "However, here’s the thing: I just can’t bear to see my friend suffer. He might be a bit dumb, got his head wrapped around by a woman, and isn’t thinking straight, which to me seems a bit foolish. But after all, he is my friend, and I can’t bear to see him so unwilling. So, I can only do a good deed. I need to make my friend comfortable to get over this mental hurdle."

Wu Beibei was taken aback. "What, what do you mean?"

"There’s 40,000 yuan here," Chen Nuo said indifferently. "You have two choices. First, you take 5,000 yuan now and make it clear to Liu Ang that you have absolutely no feelings for him, that there is no chance at all, and make him give up hope—if you do, count out 5,000 from the money on the table, and it’s yours! After that, we stay out of each other’s way."

Wu Beibei swallowed hard. "And... the second choice?"

"The second one?" Chen Nuo smiled, flicked his cigarette ash quickly, and slowly said, "The second choice is even more straightforward. All 40,000 on the table can be yours, all yours! The condition is, you leave with Old Liu now, and tonight, you’re all his! From now until tomorrow morning, you belong to him! Use all your skills; make my friend comfortable. Oh right, the hotel could be the same place we met just now, and I can also get a room ready for you. Luxury suite, massage bathtub, the atmosphere will be absolutely good."

Worker Liu’s eyes bulged out. He opened his mouth to speak but Chen Nuo grabbed his wrist tightly, causing him to grimace in pain.

Wu Beibei, on the other hand, was dumbfounded, her face flushed with a mix of shame and anger, but even more so, she was staring straight at the money on the table.

Forty thousand! Forty thousand yuan in 2002!!

In those days, a top escort—a Red Card Fairy—at a KTV might make 5,000 to 6,000 yuan a night, and that was considered ample.

Forty thousand yuan, that’s several years of income for an ordinary person!

"I... I’m not that kind of person..."

Chen Nuo smiled. "I didn’t ask if you are or not; I’m asking if you accept or not. Anything else... I’m too lazy to ask."

Wu Beibei struggled internally, torn.

Actually, there was nothing much to agonize about... it wasn’t about not passing the moral line.

For a girl like her, who hustled in nightclubs, reeling in wealthy men and earning commissions from marketing.

Accompanying a big client to bed once in a while wasn’t anything unusual.

Sleeping with someone once, to her, wasn’t something she couldn’t psychologically overcome.

But... it was really about losing face. She had just put on quite a show, raising her own value, and now... it was hard to let go of that.

"Oh right, let me add one thing: whether you choose the first or the second option, it’s a one-time deal. Just today. Afterwards, you won’t see Old Liu ever again. I advise you not to entertain any other notions, like rejecting my offer and then later continuing to lure Old Liu, keep using your schemes and acting, slowly extracting this money from him... I’m telling you, it’s not going to happen. Just tonight. Five thousand, or 40,000, you choose."

Wu Beibei finally made up her mind, her eyes hardened. "I... how do I know you’re not lying to me... What if you regret it afterwards..."

"Simple. You can take the money first. The bank’s ATM is right outside; you can take the money and immediately find a deposit machine to put it into your own account. We can’t exactly rob you of the money afterwards, can we?"

"Aren’t you afraid that after I deposit the money into my card, I’ll change my mind and run away?" Wu Beibei’s eyes flickered.

"Don’t joke, beauty," Chen Nuo laughed, his tone light, but his words were anything but. "Think about it. You probably figured out Old Liu’s background already, and of course, you’re not afraid of him. But me? Just think, someone who can throw away 40,000 yuan in one night... are they someone you can afford to mess with?"

Wu Beibei’s face was red, and her eyes were shifting around before she stared at the stunned Worker Liu for a few moments.

Suddenly, the woman took a deep breath. "Fine, I choose the second option! I want the money upfront!"

As she spoke, she stood up and reached out to grab the money on the table.

Suddenly, Worker Liu roared, "Leave that there!!!"

His face turned red, and his lips trembled!!

He violently broke free from Chen Nuo’s grip, leapt up from his chair, and yelled at Wu Beibei, "Stop!! Leave that alone! Don’t touch it!!" He then pushed Wu Beibei aside, scooped up the money from the table, and thrust it into Chen Nuo’s arms.

Worker Liu’s face was fierce, his eyes full of fire as he glared at Wu Beibei. "You, you... you... you really are that kind of person... you..."

At this point, Worker Liu let out a howl, a loud shout, and jumped up to run out the door.

Wu Beibei was stunned for a moment, watching Worker Liu run away. She stood frozen, then looked at Chen Nuo. "He, you, I... this..."

Chen Nuo calmly took the money back, stuffing it into his pocket, even picking up the one or two notes that had fallen to the ground at a leisurely pace.

"What ’this’? There’s nothing I can do. My friend suddenly isn’t into you anymore. I can’t really force him to sleep with you, can I? So you see, beauty, the deal has to be canceled."

As he spoke, Chen Nuo grinned, waved at Wu Beibei, and slowly walked toward the door.

Wu Beibei stood, not quite reacting, then let out a shriek after a while!

"AHHHH!!! Don’t go!! My money!!"

The 40,000 yuan was gone! And... he didn’t even give me the promised 5,000 yuan!

She shrieked again, turning to chase after them, but they were nowhere in sight.

In a nook on a street corner, Worker Liu was squatting and wiping his tears.

Chen Nuo casually strolled up to him and squatted down as well.

"Chen Nuo, you little devil... How do you know so much at such a young age!!" As Worker Liu wiped away his tears, he felt wronged, pitied himself, and was distressed, heartbroken, and furious all at once.

"Old Liu, now you’re being ungrateful. This was all for your own good, to open your eyes and let you see people for who they really are."

Chen Nuo passed him a cigarette with a smile—not Yuxi this time, but a soft-pack Zhonghua he had bought at the bar.

Worker Liu wiped his tears, took the cigarette, and lit it with the flame Chen Nuo offered, taking a couple of drags. "Damn, real Zhonghuas... Shit! You... Chen Nuo, what the hell is your background!!"

"My background? Best you don’t ask too much. I’m just wondering, was the scene just now exciting?"

"Exciting my ass!" Worker Liu cursed, feeling aggrieved.

"It helped you see some people and things more clearly." Chen Nuo replied with a good-natured smile, sitting down on the ground next to Worker Liu, joining him for a smoke.

"Old Liu, since we’ve crossed paths like this, let me give you a piece of advice, a life motto. Things between men and women, well, they can be complex, and they can also be simple. It all depends on who you’re dealing with, what you’re doing, and the attitude you adopt. If you meet a good girl, just treat her with genuine care. If you run into a bitch, don’t talk about feelings; just talk about money. Remember that, and you won’t go too far wrong."