Chapter 175: 175: Everyone's an Actor

Facing the short man’s arrogance, the lobby manager’s face slightly darkened, “So you know this is Third Brother’s place?”

She raised her hand to point at Zhang Wei, then to the short man, and spoke coldly, “Anyone who comes here is a friend of Third Brother. I’d like to ask you one thing… Are you sure you want to cause trouble at Third Brother’s place?”

Only then did the short man realize that the group he was having a conflict with actually knew Third Brother—although this entertainment bar was for self-entertainment, how could it not be open for business with so many people to support?

Considering this, his arrogance subsided slightly, but he didn’t think he was wrong, so he spoke with a stern face, “We definitely don’t want to cause trouble, but even if Third Brother is here, we still need to talk about fairness, right?”

“Of course,” Manager Chang nodded, a smile resurfaced on her face, “Let’s talk it out slowly, shall we?”

It must be said that a typical nightclub lobby manager possesses the qualities of a professional actor.

She glanced at the waiter beside her and spoke lightly, “Bring two dozen Coronas, on us.”

The short man waved his hand dismissively and said boldly, “Forget it, we aren’t short on cash. It’s better if you provide a proper explanation, Manager Chang.”

When rejected like this, the lobby manager didn’t get angry but simply nodded with a smile, “Alright then, tell me what happened.”

Doing business hinges on maintaining good relations for prosperity; as long as the other party is willing to talk, everything is negotiable.

The squatty man pointed a finger at Li Xiaobin, “This fucking bitch…”

“Put down your damn hand!” Feng Jun barked, “Stick to the matter at hand. Spout any more bullshit and I’ll beat you!”

The short man glanced at the lobby manager, “Manager Chang, you saw that, who’s not giving you face…”

Before Manager Chang could answer, Wang Haifeng got angry, glared and said, “Kid, you’re quite the jumper, huh? Let me ask you… who does this booth belong to?”

Manager Chang initially felt that the two people Zhang Wei brought were somewhat disrespectful, but now she realized they were sitting in their own booked booth and someone was looking for trouble.

She quickly adjusted her thoughts and nodded slightly, “Yes, this booth belongs to these three bosses. And you are?”

“I didn’t know whose booth it was,” the short man shook his head, said boldly and then raised his hand, pointing at Li Xiaobin, “This fucking bitch…”

Feng Jun raised his hand and, without hesitation, slapped it away, sending the man’s hand to the side, “Too handsy!”

The short man immediately got upset, charged forward, and tried to start a fight, but the security guards nearby swarmed him and held him down tightly.

Manager Chang said nothing, just quietly watched.

After some struggling, the short man finally calmed down, stopped flailing, and began to discuss Li Xiaobin’s faults.

Turns out he wasn’t the main guy; the main guy was his boss, who took a liking to Li Xiaobin when he visited last month.

But since this place was clean entertainment, and the boss was no ordinary person, his boss followed the rules, supporting “Xiao Bing” with a starting gift of five hundred flower baskets, later on, a thousand for a crown, and even sending a five thousand “Guardian Cloak”.

The boss had spent close to twenty thousand on Li Xiaobin and thought his approach was quite respectable. In Zhengyang, with this amount of money, he could have fun with freelance models as much as he liked, and it wouldn’t be impossible to coax a more receptive one to fly with him.

Last time, he wanted to invite Xiao Bing out, but Xiao Bing said she had a boyfriend and planned to get married.

The boss thought it was a matter of not spending enough, so he splashed out another five thousand and sent a Guardian Cloak.

But after receiving the cloak, Xiao Bing only accompanied him for a drink for a while, then said her boyfriend was coming to pick her up and left.

Today, the boss came back and directly asked Xiao Bing, how much more do I have to spend for you to agree to go out?

Li Xiaobin replied with an apologetic smile, “Brother, I’m really getting married. Please understand.”

She didn’t outright refuse to go out; it was this evasive answer she gave.

However, her boss got annoyed, thinking she still planned to trick him into more gifts, right?

Seeing that the situation was turning sour, Li Xiaobin quickly excused herself—with the claim of needing to greet someone else—and promptly left her seat. Since she didn’t charge for accompanying guests to their drinks, leaving that way wasn’t considered neglectful.

The boss didn’t react much to this, but his disciples couldn’t tolerate such an affront and followed her out.

Halfway through the story, Manager Chang understood what was going on. The whole “Xiao Bing is getting married” was purely a tall tale; she just didn’t want to go out but still wanted the other side to continue giving gifts.

Since time immemorial, one should not take the words of women in entertaining venues at face value.

However, from the standpoint of the entertainment bar, Li Xiaobin had done nothing wrong. If she had told the blunt truth, that’s when Manager Chang would have been displeased.

Yet the short man didn’t see it that way, “…We don’t have any other intentions. The boss has taken a liking to her for a while. If she truly doesn’t want to go out, she could have made it clear. Indecisiveness like this, isn’t it playing with someone?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Being stood up by a woman of the entertainment industry is something no one likes to accept, especially not those who consider themselves “successful individuals.”

Take Feng Jun, for instance; he also didn’t like being played, especially when trying to pick up girls at a bar, he preferred a clear answer immediately, whether it was a yes or a no.

But in his view, the fact that the boss stood someone up because he couldn’t detect a polite refusal was really his own fault.

So he snorted coldly, “They’ve said they are getting married, how can you… Destroying someone else’s marriage, does that give you a sense of achievement?”

The short one glared at him irritably, “Our issue isn’t settled… I still remember that slap of yours.”

“Enough,” Manager Chang finally spoke up, not bothering with cause and effect, she cut straight to the point, “Let me emphasize once again, our establishment is a pure venue, a pure venue… Performers do not go out with patrons.”

The short one looked at her weirdly, “Manager Chang, you know who our boss is, right?”

“These are the rules of the house,” Manager Chang answered more decisively this time, “If Mr. Wu has any objections, let him come find me.”

Her status wasn’t high enough to speak with Mr. Wu, or to hold a dialogue with him, that would require the CEO to step in, but she wasn’t afraid of him coming to find her either. Who would dare to challenge the rules set by Third Brother?

At her words, the short one stuttered, “Are you sure you want to go against the boss?”

“You’ve crossed the line!” Manager Chang’s face darkened, and she spoke sternly, “Third Brother has said, without rules there can be no square or circle!”

“Fine, a fine saying ‘without rules there is no square or circle’,” the short one sneered coldly, ominously saying, “Then we won’t cause trouble in your place, and we’ll be square with Third Brother, right?”

Manager Chang looked at him indifferently, “There’s something I’ve held back for a long time… ‘Third Brother’ is someone you can call?”

Her words were quite disrespectful, but at the same time, she didn’t directly answer his question.

The short one glared viciously at Feng Jun, then at Li Xiaobin, “If you dare, just stay here and never leave.”

After saying that, he turned and left without any hesitation or lingering.

A few steps out of the booth, he took out his mobile phone and began to make a call.

Zhang Wei waited until the guy was far away, and finally spoke up, “Manager Chang, who’s this guy who doesn’t even respect Third Brother?”

“Just a clueless kid,” Manager Chang’s words were guarded, as the point of running this establishment was for enjoyment, not to stir up trouble. Some things are better left unspoken, so that if people meet again in the future, they can pretend nothing happened.

“Someone from the underworld?” Wang Haifeng asked, looking at Feng Jun incidentally.

Feng Jun himself hadn’t realized that Coach Wang and Director Zhang had already categorized him as “an underworld figure,” and a very clear-cut one at that—just think, earning several billion in a few short months through private mining, isn’t that frightening?

Seeing Wang Haifeng’s glance, Manager Chang couldn’t help but look over at Feng Jun, only to discover that the young man was quite handsome and youthful.

Of course, Feng Jun had also played the role of someone with higher status these past few days. Although he was not intimidating, the carefree and indifferent demeanor between his brows was quite evident.

Manager Chang had been running this entertainment venue for some time and had invited “performers” who were good-looking and talented men—after all, some of the clients were women.

Having seen many handsome men, she wasn’t particularly moved by them.

Among the three men in front of her, the tallest one was also quite handsome and had a good figure, but he didn’t capture her attention enough to warrant a second glance.

However, for some reason, this young man stirred something in her.

Maybe it was because he seemed to provide a sense of security? The pursuit of security by women far surpasses that of men.

But these weren’t her immediate concern. She spoke in a low voice, “Alright, you guys should leave through the back door… Take Xiao Bing with you.”

“Why should we?” Coach Wang didn’t agree, “We’re not the ones in the wrong here, who’s got their back?”

Manager Chang was at her wit’s end, she turned to Zhang Wei, “Mr. Wu’s father is a legitimate businessman with good relations with Third Brother… Director Zhang, could you please persuade your friend?”

Understanding the situation as soon as he heard this, Zhang Wei turned to look at Wang Haifeng, “Third Brother is the one developing Cimson Dragon Mountain in Haizhou. How should we leave?”

Haizhou is a prefecture-level city in Funiu Province, and Cimson Dragon Mountain is a newly emerging tourist attraction in recent years, becoming a hot spot in Funiu.

However, Wang Haifeng was a bit lost, “Isn’t Cimson Dragon Mountain developed by the local administrative committee? Who is this Third Brother?”

“Cimson Dragon Mountain’s investment amounts to over forty billion, where would the administrative committee get that kind of money?” Zhang Wei looked at him helplessly, “The majority is invested by Third Brother… Do you understand now?”

At this, Wang Haifeng stroked his chin, thoughtfully looking at Feng Jun, “Sounds like he’s quite connected.”

Feng Jun understood as well, forming a general impression of Mr. Wu’s father—he must be a businessman if he could have a conversation with someone like Third Brother, not purely an underworld figure.

And considering how easily Mr. Wu was stood up, it was clear that he was not frequently involved in such messy situations.

But on the other hand, once wealth reaches such levels, it’s impossible not to know a few underworld figures. What’s more frightening is that these types of individuals often have influence in the legitimate world too.

Just hearing about Third Brother’s business, one could imagine the influence he had with the authorities—could developing a tourist area really be achieved with only money?