Chapter Forty-eight: Winning Over

  Li San stepped into the bathroom, counting down from ten in his heart. When he reached one, the bathroom door was pushed open again. Li San's mouth curled up at the corners as he let out a sigh of relief. After coming out, Li San washed his face and didn't rush to leave. He took out two yuan and lit a comfortable cigarette, taking a puff. Since someone wanted to do something thoughtful, he had to cooperate. It was like performing a comedy routine - one person sets up the joke and the other delivers the punchline, making the performance more enjoyable.

  Li Sansheng leaned against the wall in the bathroom corridor smoking, hearing the sound of water inside, and smiled lightly.

  "Brother, lend me a cigarette to smoke." Li Sansheng heard the expected voice, which was exactly the same as the scene he had assumed. He turned his head and changed into an innocent expression, and when he saw that it was Ma Ziqiang, he showed a very clever look.

  "Hmm, what a coincidence," Li San Sheng said with profound meaning.

  "Haha, what a coincidence! I came over and forgot to bring cigarettes, now I'm craving for one." Ma Ziqiang said with a smile, his tone was well-balanced, not too deliberate or forced, it felt quite natural.

  "If you don't mind this cigarette being too strong, then have one to satisfy your craving." Li San Sheng pulled out a Monkey on the Tree and tossed it to Ma Zi Qiang, saying with a smile.

  Ma Zi Qiang looked at the cigarette that Li San Sheng had thrown over and smiled, saying "In the past, I used to smoke Monkey Climbing Tree for a period of time, thinking it was the best flavor. Later, I felt it was too strong and stopped smoking it."

  Li Sansheng didn't care if you had climbed a tree before, from very small details, it can be seen that when people are surprised or shocked, even if they hide well, their pupils will slightly expand.

  Li San Sheng pulled out a lighter with a picture of a busty woman on it and handed it to Ma Zi Qiang to light up, Ma Zi Qiang saw the voluptuous woman with a lewd smile on the lighter and took a deep drag "tasty"

  Two men with ulterior motives stood at the entrance of the restroom, beginning to indulge in lewd conversations. Their lustful eyes constantly sized up the beautiful women coming and going from the ladies' room, frightening them into thinking they had encountered perverts, causing them to flee in disarray.

  "My mom and Zhao Ayi have a good relationship, both are regulars at the Macau Ladies' Private Club," Ma Zi Qiang said casually while smoking, this sentence was meant to get closer to Li San Sheng, indicating that he and Zhao Ayi were acquaintances, implying that the two of them were also like family.

  Li Sansheng sighed and said, "Aunt Zhao has had a tough few years."

  "Ah, it's not easy," Ma Zi Qiang echoed.

  Li Sansheng did not explain the relationship between him and Zhao Yi, the more ambiguous and mysterious it was, the more curious people became, and the returns he got were also greater.

  "Tonight, do you have time? I think we two are quite compatible, let's go out for a drink, and there are several friends." Ma Zi Qiang casually extended his olive branch to win over Li San Sheng, but it depends on whether Li San Sheng accepts.

  "I'll ask Aunt Zhao later, Aunt Zhao has pretty high expectations of me" Li Sansheng neither declined nor agreed.

  "Oh, also" Ma Zi Qiang's eyes flashed with a bright light.

  The development of things seems to be satisfactory for both parties, the cigarette is also finished, and staying here is even more meaningless. Otherwise, it would be a joke if the security guards from Guoli Renhe came over later. After all, those two lewd people's eyes have never stopped scanning the beautiful women in the bathroom.

  Li Sansheng returned to see Guan Yuanshan holding a chicken leg in his hand, gnawing on it. Mingyue was drinking the eight-treasure porridge mouthful by mouthful. The little girl looked more and more lovable, usually quiet in front of outsiders, but only in front of Li Sansheng would she be as naughty as Xiaoshuang, making a ruckus like a mischievous young girl.

  "Aunt Zhao, let Mingyue go to Qinling College when she goes to high school," Li Sansheng said suddenly after coming back.

  Yu'er and Zhao Yi were both stunned, not knowing what Li San Sheng meant by his words. However, Ming Yue had already heard the news with joy on her face, her heart was filled with delight. Guan Yuanshan also looked envious, having always heard Li San Sheng and others talk about how great Qinling Academy was, but he had never been there before. In fact, Guan Yuanshan didn't even know that there was a Qinling Academy in Xi'an City.

  "I think that after she goes to high school, she'll become even more beautiful and stunning. In Xi'an city, it's not very reassuring, Zhao Ayi is busy and doesn't have time to take care of Mingyue, I reckon by then who knows where she'll be off to, haha." Li Sansheng explained that actually there was no particular meaning, just a feeling that this girl seemed more like an otherworldly fairy, with an outstanding classical temperament, and when she grows up, who knows what kind of trouble she'll stir up.

  Aunt Zhao looked at Mingyue with a bit of guilt after hearing this, thinking that if it weren't for Li Sansheng taking care of the two children over the years and sincerely teaching them about Yuan Shan's education, she would be even more worried about Mingyue's future. People are like that, comparing hearts to hearts, and she was very grateful to Li Sansheng.

  It's clear that Li Sansheng has changed a lot over the past year, and what's most important is that Aunt Zhao knows that Li Sansheng isn't doing this for his own background or status, unlike many others who have ulterior motives.

  "Does Aunt Zhao not have any acquaintances in Qinling College?" This was Aunt Zhao's only question, after all, even if it is a city with a lot of energy in Xi'an, but looking at the whole China, among dozens of provincial-level cities, which city does not have a big figure with a background that reaches the sky, let alone those people under the imperial root of Beijing.

  "Aunt Zhao, you don't have to worry about this. The relationship between Third Brother and the old principal is unbreakable. If Third Brother just opens his mouth, the old principal will probably laugh in his sleep." Yuer explained with a smile, the relationship between the old principal and Third Brother was something that they often talked about with relish. The old principal was an academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, and had been glorious in the National Administrative College and the Central School of the Communist Youth League. In the past, the old principal had not hesitated to help them out of trouble, there was a time when they got into trouble, the police car from the Municipal Public Security Bureau chased all the way to Qinling Academy, and at the school gate, they insisted on handing over the person, the people inside the school looked on with excitement, a municipal public security bureau in their eyes was nothing to be afraid of.

  The people from the Municipal Public Security Bureau were unclear about what kind of nature Qinling College was, thinking it was just an ordinary private college. However, after waiting for the old principal to come out, he scolded the leader of the municipal bureau at that time over the phone until they were speechless. Those police officers eventually fled in disarray.

  "Oh, then this matter is left to San Sheng." Zhao Yi heard and nodded in relief. One family doesn't speak two families' words. What Li San Sheng did to the old Guan's family, Zhao Yi never said a word, but it was all remembered in her heart.

  After finishing eating, Li Sansheng told Zhao Ayi about Ma Ziqiang's invitation just now. After thinking for a moment, Zhao Ayi said casually, "Go ahead, general socializing is necessary, with me taking care of you, I'm not afraid they'll set traps for you, but don't get involved with women."

  Aunt Zhao reminded him that after all, they were all men, and their relationships were forged at the wine table, not spoken with words. However, Yu'er's melancholic eyes on one side made Li San sheng feel uneasy afterwards.

  I had promised this fairy that I would accompany her well tonight, and tomorrow morning this fairy will return to Nanjing. It's unknown when we'll see each other again next time.

  After finishing dinner, Li Sansheng saw Ma Ziqiang and his three friends leave Guoli Renhe ahead of him. When Li Sansheng and Zhao Ayi came out, Ma Ziqiang and his group were chatting and smoking in front of their car. After seeing Zhao Ayi come out, Ma Ziqiang threw away his cigarette butt and walked over, with Lao Bai, Lao Huang, and Lin Zi watching from a distance.

  "Zi Qiang, Aunt Zhao will hand San Sheng over to you tonight, don't spoil him, or Aunt Zhao won't forgive you."

  "Aunt Zhao can rest assured," Ma Ziqiang guaranteed.

  Aunt Zhao wanted to send Yu'er back to the hotel first, Li Sansheng promised that Yu'er would be back no later than 12 o'clock at night, and only then did Yu'er feel at ease letting Li Sansheng go out to have fun.

  Li Sansheng and Ma Ziqiang watched as Zhao's Range Rover drove away before approaching Lao Bai and his group. The several people who were not unfamiliar with each other introduced themselves and exchanged greetings, knowing that Li Sansheng and Zhao had a good relationship, they didn't dare to give Li Sansheng any "welcome gift" or the like.

  Ma Ziqiang and three others set off in two cars, a Porsche Cayenne and a Porsche 911. Li Sansheng naturally sat in Ma Ziqiang's Porsche 911. The group headed to Suzhou in high spirits. It was already 9:30 at night, the perfect time for nightclubs and bars to get lively. Unlike when they were young, Ma Ziqiang and his friends no longer stayed out all night partying and chasing girls. After all, they were now almost thirty years old, with a seven or eight year age gap between them and Li Sansheng. If it weren't for Zhao's wife's relationship with them, they wouldn't have had any dealings with Li Sansheng.

  Soho is also a gathering place for bars, compared to the slow shake bars and jazz bars in Dezhou Alley, this is more like a paradise for young people.

  The old white man who had been silent all along seemed to be the leader after entering Suhe, and Li Sansheng was curious about what identity Old White was. The person in charge of Suhe Xi'an was called Wang Ge, but Li Sansheng wasn't sure what his full name was. He seemed to have a good relationship with Old White. Wang Ge looked like he was over 30 years old, a middle-aged man whose hair had already gone bald on half of his head, so he just shaved it all off and wore black-framed glasses, giving off the image of an intellectual. It seems that the Chinese idiom "clothed beast" is used to describe people like them.

  A few people booked a private room, Lao Bai ordered food and drinks, smiling slyly as he asked Wang Ge to bring over some high-end warm-up beauties. Ma Zi Qiang and the others seemed to have a good relationship with Wang Ge, probably regulars at Su He's place. Wang Ge likely understood the background of these people, all being authentic local bullies in Xi'an. If Su He wanted to establish itself in Xi'an, it had to maintain good relations with these people; otherwise, they would have to slink away in defeat.

  Ma Zi Qiang asked Li San Sheng if he could drink, and Li San Sheng nodded and said that as long as he didn't drink to death, it was fine. Ma Zi Qiang laughed and said that's how men should be. Lao Bai and the others already knew Li San Sheng was a student, but they didn't pry into which university or what year he was in - after all, they weren't the police checking his household registration. If they really wanted to ask, it would have been beneath them. It seemed that having a student around would be quite easy-going. From Ma Zi Qiang's perspective, this path to getting closer to that woman also looked more promising.

  Ma Zi Qiang, however, did not dare to think so. From the bathroom to now, Li San Sheng's performance was more like an old hand who had been immersed in this circle for a long time. When he should be humble, he was humble; when he shouldn't be pretentious, he wasn't pretentious, except for that smile which shone brighter than his own.

  Wang Ge really put his heart into it and found several absolutely beautiful women who are at least department flower level in Xi'an universities, and one of them is even a white-collar beauty.

  The beauties came in, and the atmosphere became even more lively and harmonious. The wine was xo. For Ma Zi Qiang and his gang, what they lacked least was money, and they didn't call for any old vintage wines. Li San Sheng had never been drunk after drinking, and he dared to pour a whole bottle of Chen Nian Du Kang into his belly. This foreign wine was even more unnecessary, and it was enough to deal with Ma Zi Qiang and the others.

  Five beauties, accompanied by a girl named Bingbing who was with Li Sansheng, had faces and legs that were about the same as the other girls, but that pair of white, flowery thighs made Li Sansheng's eyes ache too. Wearing high heels and cowboy shorts, Bingbing knew how to show off her advantages, sitting on the sofa next to Li Sansheng and flashing him a few glances, Li Sansheng also couldn't help but take a few looks.

  Ma Zi Qiang had already hinted to Li San Sheng that these girls were fair game, and if he wanted to take things to a certain level, then so be it. The rest was up to him. At the time, Li San Sheng just smiled lewdly and nodded in understanding, the implication clear to everyone.

  Several girls took turns singing, Li Sansheng did not expect that Bingbing was not only beautiful but also sang professionally, a song of Avril's "I Will Be" made Li Sansheng quite surprised, and he applauded generously.

  After Bing finished singing, she sat down beside Li Sansheng and asked with a smile, "My legs, don't they look good?"

  Li Sansheng smiled foolishly and nodded "Looks good, white and smooth thighs, really white"

  When it's time to be foolish, be more foolish than anyone; when it's time to be clever, be cleverer than anyone. That's what the old master said.