“You’re still talking to me, you little brat?” Liu Ziqi glared at him.
“Back then, it was just simple liking. I just thought you were good-looking, gentle, and smart. I just wanted to be with you, I didn’t have any of those complicated thoughts. If it wasn’t for my parents, you wouldn’t have transferred schools. I’m sorry.” Guo Xuyang felt a weight lifted off his shoulders after saying it.
“Don’t be so cheesy, okay? Lin Jie and I are right here,” Xiao Li poured cold water on them.
“What I said is all true. My feelings back then were pure. I liked you because I liked you, there was no other reason. Why do you call her Little Lin?”
“My father’s surname is Lin and my mother’s is Liu. My older sister took after our father and is named Lin Zixuan. I took after my mother and am named Liu Ziqi. Later, because of early romance, I transferred schools. To avoid bad influence, I changed my surname to Lin Ziqi to follow my father’s surname.” Liu Ziqi explained.
“So what do you do now? Just sing at the bar?”
“I work in a factory during the day and sing at the bar at night. I didn’t do well on my college entrance exams and went to a junior college. I can only work as an office clerk in a factory. It’s not tiring, but the pay is low, not enough to live on. So I go sing at the bar to earn some extra cash.”
“And where is Ms. Lin working now?”
“I’m working as a planner in a foreign-invested enterprise. Overtime is normal. I was revising a proposal when you called me this afternoon. I haven’t even been home for an hour yet,” Lin Zixuan pointed at the clock.
It was almost nine o’clock.
“You said earlier that you were preparing to resign and develop in the provincial capital. What are you planning to do there?” Lin Zixuan was very curious.
“I’ve taken over a 4S dealership in the provincial capital and plan to sell cars.” Guo Xuyang didn’t elaborate. After all, they had only met a few times, and he didn’t know Lin Zixuan at all. “Bring your documents to the company tomorrow morning, and I’ll process them for you as quickly as possible. I’ll hand over the keys to you. If there are no special circumstances, I plan to return to the provincial capital in the afternoon.”
“Will you come back after this?” Liu Ziqi asked.
“Probably not. After all, I don’t have any relatives here. I’m just a passerby in this city,” Guo Xuyang said. “If you’re not happy working at the factory, you can come to the provincial capital to find me. We are hiring a lot of people like you who have good looks and decent height.”
“Are you judging by appearance? Are you recruiting models?” Liu Ziqi questioned his words.
“No. Why don’t you take some time off with Ms. Lin and Xiao Li and visit the provincial capital? If it’s suitable, you can stay.”
“Yeah, when we both have time off, we can go with big sister to see his place,” Xiao Li added from the side.
“It’s getting late, I should take my leave. How about you give me your phone number?” Guo Xuyang looked at Liu Ziqi.
“Give me your number, and I’ll call you.” Liu Ziqi directly dialed.
“Okay. I’ve got it. Also, don’t go to the bar for the next few days. To avoid trouble,” Guo Xuyang reminded them again. “Then I’ll be going. Goodbye! Thank you for the delicious dinner.”
He wanted to say “steamed buns” but felt it wasn’t quite right, so he settled for “dinner.” Although it was just home-style cooking, it was much better than his instant noodles.
Guo Xuyang left Liu Ziqi’s place and returned to the bar they had visited earlier.
As soon as the bartender saw him, he quickly pulled him aside. “Brother Jun’s friends came with people from the police station earlier and interrogated us for a long time. You should be careful. Little Lin is a good girl, and Brother Jun has had his eyes on her for a long time. I’m afraid he won’t let this go. You should leave quickly.”
It seemed the bartender genuinely cared about Little Lin, or he wouldn’t have pulled him aside to tell him this.
“Thank you, brother. Please continue to look after Little Lin for me in the future,” Guo Xuyang said.
“It’s what I should do. We all work together. We’re all struggling. What girl would want to show her face in a place like this, which is mixed with all sorts of people, if she had any other options?”
“You’re absolutely right. Thank you. Goodbye.” Guo Xuyang said and walked towards the exit.
Before he could even reach the bar door, someone next to him pointed at him and said, “It’s him. He’s the one who injured Brother Jun.”
He hadn’t expected anyone to be waiting for him at this hour. He hurried towards the exit.
It wasn’t that he was afraid, but he felt it was unnecessary to cause trouble.
A group of people rushed out after him. They didn’t look like police officers but more like gangsters. He slowed his pace and ran into an alley. As long as they weren’t police, he wasn’t afraid even if they killed him.
He hadn’t had a chance to test his martial arts ability yet. This was a good opportunity to practice. He waited for them to catch up. A henchman-like person said, “Run, you motherfucker. Why aren’t you running anymore?”
Guo Xuyang didn’t say anything. He stepped forward and landed an elbow strike, knocking the henchman unconscious to the ground.
Too fierce! This guy isn’t playing by the rules! The people chasing him ran as fast as they had come. No one even bothered about the henchman anymore.
He slapped the henchman twice, waking him up.
“Boss, boss, spare me.” The henchman saw Guo Xuyang squatting in front of him and no one else around. He immediately scrambled up, knelt on the ground, and repeatedly kowtowed.
He moved aside slightly and asked, “Who told you to wait at the bar?”
“Boss, our boss. He said that Young Master Jun was beaten up on our turf, and we had to give an explanation to the boss in the police station. He told us to wait here and call him if we saw anyone.”
“Hmm. I didn’t see anyone making a call?”
“Someone did. Young Master Jun’s friends are waiting inside the bar.”
Guo Xuyang sensed it with his mind. This guy wasn’t lying.
“Go back and tell your boss that it’s best not to get involved in this mess. Be careful not to get caught in the crossfire later,” he said, patting the henchman’s face. “Tell your boss to prepare three million. I’ll come to pick it up in a few days. If he doesn’t pay, then your boss will have to be replaced. Alright, you can go now.”
He shooed the henchman away, scanned his surroundings intently, saw no one watching him, and swaggered back.
He couldn’t go back to his dorm. It was too late. He found a hotel near his company, checked into a room, and fell asleep.
The henchman stumbled back to the bar and met their boss, relaying Guo Xuyang’s words exactly. The boss was so angry he slapped him. “Three million? What is he thinking? You idiot, you have so little ability, you were taken down by an elbow strike.”
The henchman covered his face, wincing in pain, but didn’t dare to say another word. This boss was an absolute authority, and he was ruthless. Many of his brothers had been sent to smuggle drugs because they displeased him. That was a matter of losing one’s head.
The boss went aside and made a phone call. When he returned, he told the henchman to start squatting at the bar every day from tomorrow until they found those two scoundrels.
This was a prelude to death.