Chapter 277 - 226: New Year’s Eve

Chapter 277: Chapter 226: New Year’s Eve

"What would you all like to drink?"

Luo Zixuan asked the three girls.

"I want to drink!"

Hu Xiaoxuan declared excitedly.

"Anything’s fine with me."

Deng Sixin was a bit more demure.

"I’ll have juice."

Xu Mo said softly.

"Momo, it’s New Year’s Eve."

"Look how lively it is here. Why are you drinking juice?"

Hu Xiaoxuan suggested, "Have a drink with us. Besides, your boyfriend will be here soon."

"Even if I do drink, I’ll wait for my boyfriend to get here."

Xu Mo’s eyes were clear, and she looked utterly docile. "Xuanxuan, I’ll just have juice for now."

Seeing Xu Mo like this, Shi Yiyang fell for her even harder. At the same time, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred for the damn scumbag he’d never even met.

’Such a wonderful girl. If she were my girlfriend, I’d wake up laughing in my sleep. And that damn scumbag doesn’t even know how to cherish her.’

’Damn it!’

’He really deserves to die!’

"Alright, alright."

Hu Xiaoxuan knew Xu Mo had a gentle exterior but a will of steel. Seeing her determined expression, she didn’t insist. "Then let’s get you a glass of juice. What kind do you want?"

"Is there..."

"Is there pineapple juice?"

At the mention of "pineapple," Xu Mo couldn’t help but blush.

"Pineapple juice?"

"Yes, yes, they have it."

"I’ll order it for you."

Hu Xiaoxuan took a look and saw that they did, in fact, have it.

"Thank you."

After speaking, Xu Mo looked up at the neon-lit music stage ahead. The thought of ringing in the New Year with Gu Heng right here filled her with anticipation.

...

「Meanwhile, in the central area of Sound Wave.」

At the very front of the T-shaped stage were Sound Wave’s five most expensive sofa booths. They were arranged in a semicircle and could be called the best viewing spots in the entire venue.

Even on a regular weekday, the minimum spend for these five booths was over 2,500 yuan. But tonight, being New Year’s Eve, the price for these five booths had been driven sky-high.

At the moment, all but the most central booth, S1, were filled with people.

Liu Yurou, who had just finished singing on stage, gracefully made her way to booth S2 in a pale pink, long-sleeved gauze dress, flanked by the sales manager and several security guards.

In booth S2 sat nearly ten men and women. The table before them was covered with expensive imported spirits and champagne. Sitting in the center of the booth were none other than Xia Siyao and Lu Ziang.

"President Lu, thank you for the five flower wreaths you just sent. I’ve come to offer you a toast."

Liu Yurou arrived before booth S2 holding a glass of mineral water, her every word and gesture poised and graceful. "I hope you have a wonderful time at Sound Wave tonight, and I wish you great wealth and that all your dreams come true in the New Year."

With Liu Yurou, the former third-place winner of *National Good Voice*, personally coming over to offer a toast and her blessings, Lu Ziang felt incredibly honored. He immediately shot up from his seat, grabbed an empty glass, and poured it half-full with Rémy Martin.

"Miss Liu, there’s no sense in toasting with water!"

Lu Ziang, still dressed like a British gentleman and wearing a pair of refined, elegant silver-rimmed glasses, offered the glass to Liu Yurou. "Come, let’s drink this together!"

Faced with the drink Lu Ziang offered, Liu Yurou gave an apologetic smile. "I’m sorry, but I have to go back on stage to sing later, so I really can’t drink."

"Just a little bit shouldn’t hurt, right?"

Lu Ziang’s hand, holding the glass, was suspended in midair. Feeling the gazes of his friends, he felt he was starting to lose face.

"I’m sorry."

"My toast to you."

Liu Yurou seemed unfazed, as if she was used to this kind of situation. She clinked her glass of mineral water against the one in Lu Ziang’s hand. Then, holding the glass in her left hand while supporting its base with her right, she gestured to the others in the booth before finally tilting her head back and taking a small sip.

Even though it was just water, she only took a tiny sip.

Having completed the toast, Liu Yurou gave Lu Ziang a smile and a slight bow. After thanking him once more, she left his booth, escorted by her security guards, and moved on to the other tables.

Seeing this, Lu Ziang finally started to lose his composure.

"Fuck!"

"What the hell is that?"

"I just tipped her a full two thousand yuan, and she wouldn’t even have a single sip of alcohol!"

"Is she that big of a deal?"

"So full of herself?"

Since she had already left, Lu Ziang could only take his anger out on the sales manager.

"President Lu, please don’t be angry."

The sales manager quickly stepped forward to placate him. "Liu Yurou is our company’s star singer, and she’s always been very principled. Whether a guest sends her one flower wreath or ten, she always insists on using water instead of alcohol. So, she wasn’t targeting you or looking down on you."

"I just can’t believe it!"

"And after I was so welcoming, too!"

Lu Ziang sat back down, his expression still sour.

"Brother Ang, there’s no need to be angry."

Xia Siyao shook her head and began to placate him. "Honestly, what she did is understandable. Just think, if she drank alcohol with you, what would the other guests think when she goes to toast them with water?"

"Once you make an exception, you can’t take it back."

"She’d end up having a little here and a little there."

"It all adds up. How could she possibly go on stage to sing then?"

"Besides, you can’t find any fault with her attitude. Between her salary, tips, and song request fees, her annual income probably easily exceeds a million."

"For someone earning that much to still have that kind of attitude is actually quite sincere."

Hearing Xia Siyao’s words, Lu Ziang, though still furious on the inside, had no choice but to let his expression soften.

"Yaoyao, you’re right."

"I just wasn’t thinking clearly."

Lu Ziang replied softly, but a sinister glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.

’It had been almost half a year since he’d returned to the country, yet his relationship with Xia Siyao hadn’t progressed at all.’

’Out of every ten times he asked her out, she was busy for nine of them.’

’Busy, busy, busy!’

’Busy with what?’

’Busy rolling around in the sheets with another man?’

’To this day, Lu Ziang still couldn’t forget the night he’d returned to the country. Xia Siyao had told him she was working overtime, but she had actually gone to get a room with another man. They had even made him part of their ’play,’ planning to viciously humiliate him over the phone.’

’And a while ago, Xia Siyao claimed she was on a business trip to Zhonghai for nearly half a month. During that time, she would constantly disappear and go silent. Lu Ziang suspected she was off having a romantic getaway with that bastard.’

’She clearly has a man already, yet she’s still stringing me along and playing innocent.’

’Damn it!’

’What a huge slut!’

’If his family didn’t need something from Xia Siyao’s, he probably would have already resorted to his own methods, following the example of that senior from Yanjing with the same surname, and viciously pinned her against the floor-to-ceiling window.’

"Manager Gao, let’s drop the matter with Liu Yurou."

"I want to ask you about that S1 booth next to us. What’s the deal with it?"

"It’s already nine-thirty, and S1 is still empty."

Lu Ziang tapped the Rolex on his wrist. "Didn’t you say that if the party doesn’t show up by nine tonight, the deposit is forfeited and the hold on the table is automatically released?"

"Our spending tonight should be enough to cover S1, right?"

"Hurry up and move us over there!"

Facing Lu Ziang’s barrage of questions, Sales Manager Gao Rui put on an apologetic smile. "President Lu, the situation with the S1 booth is special. I really can’t move you over. I’m truly sorry."

"Why not?"

"Is it about the money?"

"Just name your price."

Lu Ziang figured Sound Wave was just using scarcity to drive up the price, leaving the S1 booth empty to wait for the highest bidder. He didn’t believe a word Gao Rui was saying.

"President Lu, it’s really not about the money."

Gao Rui gave a wry smile. "Please don’t make things difficult for me. This is truly non-negotiable."

"Fine, fine, fine."

"You people at Sound Wave are really something else."

Lu Ziang gave Gao Rui a sarcastic thumbs-up. "Then I’ll just wait and see," he said, fuming. "Just who is such a big shot that Sound Wave is willing to break its own rules to hold this S1 booth for them."

"President Lu, a toast to you."

If a sales manager wanted to make money, he had to be willing to grovel.

Seeing Lu Ziang’s anger, Gao Rui immediately raised his glass and started to placate him. In reality, Lu Ziang wasn’t truly angry; he just wanted to show off in front of Xia Siyao and his friends. Now, seeing Gao Rui acting so subservient, his vanity was satisfied, and a smile quickly returned to his face.

As time slowly ticked by, the New Year drew closer and closer. Sound Wave was already packed to the brim, and the atmosphere was more electric than ever, with everyone eagerly awaiting the stroke of midnight...