Chapter 4: The Long-Legged Uncle Part 3

  The crowd who lost money shifted their resentment to Su Luo, but they couldn't do anything to her, so they could only get her drunk glass by glass. Although Wei Lan was helping to block them on the side, she still drank a lot.

  "No way, really no way! Handsome guys and beautiful girls, please spare me first, I'm already fed up to my throat, let me take a break!"

  Finally, after sending away another group of people who came to toast, Su Luo hastily pleaded for mercy and, amidst a chorus of boos, took her wine cup and swayed to the balcony, with Wei Lan naturally following closely behind.

  This club "Suoluo" had been here before, knowing that this place is quiet and suitable for sobering up, and there is a small desk and several comfortable rattan chairs, so he pulled Wei Lan down together.

  Wei Lan looked at Su Luo, who was slumped in the chair like a boneless person, with a red glow on his cheeks after drinking, and his eyes were half-closed, occasionally yawning loudly, exactly like his family's lazy cat taking a nap after eating, couldn't help but laugh.

  Today's Su Luo is completely different from the one he has known all along. She is no longer knowledgeable and reasonable, elegant and refined, but instead seems a bit arrogant and enchanting. Moreover, she is extremely familiar with those girls who are obviously being kept by someone, chatting and laughing together. In fact, he had heard rumors about her before, and it wasn't that he hadn't thought of seeking verification, but somehow he felt that a girl with such temperament and talent wouldn't do something so outrageous. However, what he saw and heard today seems to make him have no choice but to believe the rumors are true.

  Sulolo ah Sulolo, which one of you is real after all, I don't know and it makes me very conflicted.

  No matter what the truth is, Wei Lan feels that he still can't bring himself to abandon Su Luo, at least not now when she's had so much to drink and can't take care of herself.

  A gust of wind blew by, Su Luo shivered, and Wei Lan carefully noticed it, taking off her coat to wrap around her.

  The sudden warmth made Su Luo feel comfortable and she thought of meowing, opening her eyes to see Wei Lan's doting smile.

  "You've given me clothes to wear, aren't you cold?"

  "You don't know that at this time boys are unlikely to say they're cold."

  "Haha, cold or not, I won't return it to you." Su Luo tightened his clothes with a rogue smile. Wei Lan knew her goodness, but she was destined to be just a passerby in his life, however being friends was still okay.

  Su Luo knew that with Zhi Yu Xuan's suspicious personality, some things would be more believable if he heard them from behind his back rather than being told directly to his face. She planned to use the "drunken truth" tactic today to let him know her true feelings, and she brought Wei Lan along just in case she really did get drunk and needed someone to send her back home - after all, Wei Lan was now her only reliable friend.

  Su Luo was most fortunate that she had inherited the original owner's capacity for liquor when she transmigrated into this body, otherwise with her own strength she would have been drunk after just a few cups. The amount she had just drunk was already considered a lot to her, but compared to the original owner's past level it was still far off. In order to make everyone believe that she was really drunk, she decided to take a break at halftime and then go back to continue fighting.

  Ah, I'm so sleepy, I really want to go back to sleep! Su Luo stretched out a big lazy waist, rubbed her face hard, and shook her head violently, trying to refresh herself.

  Huh? How is there a person's shadow behind the curtains?

  From her angle, she could see someone standing there smoking. Although the curtains were blocking the view, from the shadow cast by the lamp light, it was unmistakably Qi Yu Xuan. Today, among the men present, only he maintained a perfect figure, while the others had gained some weight. Moreover, this particular way of smoking was unique to him, and no one else could replicate it.

  Since he's here, can't we... Hehe!

  She suddenly came up with another plan in her heart. After all, it's really embarrassing to confess in front of everyone, but if she could do it here... only Wei Lan and Qi Yu Xuan would hear it, and these two people would never go around talking about it, what a perfect opportunity!

  "You were scared by me today, weren't you?" She organized her thoughts in her mind and then spoke with a playful smile.

  "Drink less in the future, it's bad for your body." Wei Lan, you're so good!

  "This little wine is nothing, let me tell you, with my capacity I can still drink at least two more bottles." He raised two fingers in front of Wei Lan and shook them, "And, I'm not just good at drinking, I also know how to smoke, play mahjong, roll dice, play fist fighting, play table tennis... In short, whatever those people are playing inside, I can do it too!"

  "How about that, are you satisfied now? Do I need to praise you?" Seeing Su Luo counting off his accomplishments one by one with her fingers, even the normally calm Wei Lan couldn't help but get angry.

  After this sentence, the two fell into a brief silence.

  "Wei Lan, thank you for always believing in me. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but those rumors are true... Just a few months ago, I was just like some of the other girls, being kept by someone and using my youth and beauty to exchange for money and a luxurious life. That person... is also here tonight." Su Luo Luo wanted to use these words to make Wei Lan give up on her, no matter whether she would end up with Qi Yu Xuan or return home, she hoped he could have a better life.

  "You love him." This was not a question, but a very affirmative tone. (Because of Liu Qianqian's spell, Su Luo's eyes and expression were filled with affection whenever she mentioned Qi Yu Xuan.)

  "It is." At this time, not admitting it would be waiting for what, someone was still eavesdropping. "So, Weilan, I'm a bad girl, or a bad girl with someone else in my heart, I don't deserve you, you deserve someone a thousand times, ten thousand times better than me."

  When Su Luo said she loved him, Qi Yu Xuan's heart skipped a beat:

  Does Su Luo love me? She actually said she loves me? How could she say she loves me? Although I'm handsome and rich, with many girls loving me, but Su Luo... apart from the usual sweet nothings, she's never said she loves me before. Could it be that she's using this as an excuse to reject that guy? Since they've already mentioned me, it doesn't count as eavesdropping, so I'll just listen in and see what else they have to say.

  Qī Yǔ Xuān found a moral excuse for himself and continued to eavesdrop "openly and justifiably".

  "What do you love him for, money? That's not even worth it compared to me. Although I haven't taken over the family business yet, supporting you won't be a problem, how about one million per year?" Wei Lan said disdainfully.

  "Wei Shao, stop joking around. With your conditions, you can have any woman you want, why bother with me, a withered flower? Don't say this again, or I'll really get angry." Hearing Su Luo's refusal, Wei Lan felt relieved, not because he couldn't afford the money, but because he couldn't accept becoming that kind of relationship with Su Luo. Listening to her belittle herself like that, he couldn't help but feel heartache and jealousy towards the man who got her but didn't cherish her properly.

  "I mean, if you had met me before him, would you have fallen in love with me?"

  Wei Shao, you're such a refined and elegant person, how can you ask such a romantic and cheesy question! Su Luo cursed in her heart.

  Looking at Su Luo's silence, Wei Lan revealed a bitter smile: "It's not your fault, it's just that I'm late. If only we had met a year earlier."

  ……

  "It's not one year, it's seven years." Wei Lan. Are you so good at chatting that your family made you? Originally didn't plan to say it today, but the setup you laid out was too good, can't help but say it!

  What the original owner left to Su Luo as her greatest wealth was not her beautiful appearance, nor her good figure, but that she had met Qi Yu Xuan at the age of thirteen and had also left a good impression on him. With this reliance, all her subsequent nonsense had a reasonable basis.

  "What does it mean?"

  Su Luo didn't immediately respond to him, but instead gazed at the distant night sky and fell into reminiscence. Wei Lan also didn't ask again, only quietly accompanying her by her side. It's unknown how much time passed, perhaps just a few dozen seconds, or maybe several minutes, tens of minutes, before she spoke up:

  "That summer vacation when I was thirteen, I followed my parents on a trip and accidentally sprained my ankle. I was left alone in the hotel room, and coincidentally, there was a fire that day. The elevator couldn't be used, and I couldn't climb down the stairs either. I was so anxious that I just cried straight away. He happened to live next door to me at the time, and it seemed like he had just woken up. When he heard the alarm, he rushed out, saw me, and didn't just focus on escaping like everyone else. Instead, he stopped and listened to me say that my foot was injured, and my parents weren't around. Without saying a word, he picked me up and started running down the stairs one floor at a time, comforting me along the way, 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid.' I still remember that day; he wore a white shirt, which looked especially good, but unfortunately got stained with my tears and snot, haha!"

  You might not believe it, but until I met you again, I often doubted whether this person really existed or if everything was just my wild imagination, a beautiful dream I fabricated during my adolescence...

  "I didn't have much hope to begin with, after all someone of his age must have a family. When I found out that his wife had passed away, although it wasn't right, I was really happy, unfortunately... But fortunately, he still likes young girls, this is also my last chance..."

  Listening to her recount the past, and seeing her sweet expression lost in thought, Wei Lan and Qi Yu Xuan were both stunned. They really hadn't expected things to be like this!

  This thing still left a somewhat vague impression on Qi Yuxuan, after all, one wouldn't encounter many fires in their lifetime. But he really hadn't expected that the little girl from back then would actually be Su Luo. Seven years had passed, and for an adult like him, his appearance wouldn't have changed much, but it was enough time for a half-grown child to grow into the elegant and refined person she was today. So it wasn't strange that he hadn't recognized her. As for the original owner, she too only remembered after parting ways with Qi Yuxuan, when she happened to hear her family mention that trip, and even used this as an excuse to try to entangle herself with Qi Yuxuan once again.

  A moment of silence.

  "Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! You actually believed it? Gotcha! Who falls in love at first sight that many times? Besides, how old was I back then?" Su Luo laughed so hard tears came out.

  Although she denied it again, Wei Lan and Qi Yuxuan both felt that she was not joking, but pretending to be strong.

  That's exactly the kind of ambiguous effect I want, haha!

  "Sulolo, can't you speak properly for once!" Wei Lan attempted to shift his disappointment with a show of indignation.

  "Hey kiddo, your sister is teaching you a sense of humor, get it? How's that, isn't her acting skill great?" Su Luo patted his shoulder with a smile.

  There was still wine in the cup, so I picked it up and gulped it down, but unfortunately drank too quickly and choked on it.

  "Cough...cough-cough-cough..."

  "It's okay, you're so grown up but still like a kid, drinking and getting choked." Su Luo looked like she was going to cough out her internal organs, scaring Wei Lan who quickly stood up and patted her back to help her catch her breath.

  Leaning into Weilan's arms, she coughed and sobbed: "Weilan, what should I do? I'm so miserable. Do you think my life is especially unsuccessful... My parents are ashamed of me, enduring others' gossip and ridicule, no friends to speak of, just fair-weather friends who only care about drinking and eating with me... And the person I like... forget it, don't even mention him, probably can't wait to never see me again... Waaahhh, what should I do? I feel like a joke! But, but I still envy Xiaomei, envy her for being able to stay by his side... Do you think I'm especially despicable? Waaahhh, waaahhh, waaaahhhh..."

  Su Luo became more and more heartbroken, and suddenly burst into loud wailing. The confusion about the future, the inexplicable fear of liking someone, the nostalgia for family and friends, and the guilt of being forced to use Wei Lan and lie to him, all poured out with this opportunity.

  "It's okay, it's okay, everything will be fine." Wei Lan comforted her like a mother comforting a child who had done something wrong, gently patting her back. "Luoluo, come with me to go abroad, to a place where no one knows you and start anew. You'll become the pride of your parents, have many excellent friends, and meet someone who truly loves you and whom you love in return. At that time, you'll think that today's troubles are nothing. You're still young, it's not worth it for a man."

  "Wei Lan, I..."

  "Don't rush to refuse me, think about it carefully, just for your parents' sake, okay?" Wei Lan said persuasively, with a hint of pleading.

  Su Luo was indeed prepared to refuse, she wanted to study abroad, but not here, rather to complete her task and return early, however before she could even open her mouth, she was interrupted.

  "Thank you, I will consider it carefully."

  During their conversation, that figure remained behind the curtain.