That night, Chen Pingjiang did not break his promise.
He pulled a group of people to Youkelai at the school gate and generously treated his brothers to a meal.
Cui Jiali originally didn't want to come, but in the end couldn't resist Chen Pingjiang and was dragged along.
After eating and drinking to their fill, the few boys grew increasingly excited.
"Brother Chen, Old Dong said the second round is going to a nightclub?"
Zhao Shaoyang asked Chen Pingjiang excitedly, leaning over mysteriously.
Chen Pingjiang, finding him pathetic, glared at him.
"Let me correct you, that's called a commercial KTV."
"Hey, I get it, I get it, isn't it just touching and singing?"
Zhao Shaoyang had a lecherous look on his face.
Chen Pingjiang nodded speechlessly, wondering how these young kids knew so much now; he hadn't seen any of this back in his day.
Zhao Shaoyang asked, then after Zhao Shaoyang, Dong Tinghui asked, and after Dong Tinghui, Wu Zhaogang asked.
Chen Pingjiang felt a little regretful.
He had only been talking big in the afternoon, but now he felt somewhat cornered and unable to back out.
If he went today, tomorrow the whole class might know.
But if he didn't go, he'd be accused of backing out.
University students didn't really have the means to patronize commercial KTVs, nor were they yet so worldly.
Sometimes they would associate commercial KTVs with the nightclubs in Hong Kong films, thinking that only shady characters went there, which was completely wrong.
After thinking it over, Chen Pingjiang decided to pick a few people and send the rest back to sleep.
Someone like He Siyu, Chen Pingjiang wouldn't take even if it killed him.
A child shouldn't be corrupted by the negative influences of society.
Someone like Wang Lei, who was outwardly reserved but inwardly passionate, and whose personality could quickly turn dark, couldn't be brought either.
Otherwise, after going once, he'd dare to go by himself a second time.
Finding an excuse, Chen Pingjiang took Zhao Shaoyang, Dong Tinghui, and Wu Zhaogang from the next dorm room into a taxi.
Chen Pingjiang sat in the front passenger seat, smoking.
"Let me make this clear first, I'm just taking you to see the world. If anyone dares to talk about it, don't hang out with me anymore."
Zhao Shaoyang nodded frantically to show his loyalty.
"Brother Chen, don't worry, I'm not that stupid."
Wu Zhaogang: "We just went to an internet cafe to play games."
Dong Tinghui: "Who am I? Where am I?"
The car arrived at the entrance of Royal Yongle.
Looking at the magnificent golden gate before them and the beautiful greeters standing at the entrance, the few young 'chickens' felt their legs turn to jelly.
Nervous, excited, scared!
Is this place very disorderly?
Am I going bad by coming to this kind of place?
Hmm... that girl is quite pretty.
Chen Pingjiang found it amusing to see them hesitating.
"If you're really chicken, then let's go back?"
"Chicken? How could we be chicken!"
"I can't wait."
...
"Welcome."
As soon as Chen Pingjiang and the others stepped through the main entrance, two well-built greeters in qipaos immediately bowed with smiles on their faces.
This made Zhao Shaoyang and the others feel both awkward and extremely pleased.
"Hello, sir, do you have a reservation?"
The sales manager, dressed in a black business suit and black stockings, asked sweetly.
As she asked, she also sized them up, curious about the identities of these eighteen or nineteen-year-old youngsters.
Chen Pingjiang shook his head:
"No reservation, just open a room."
This simple gesture instantly made the three of them, Zhao Shaoyang, envious.
They thought Chen Pingjiang was incredibly cool.
He looked so calm and familiar, he must treat this place like his second home, right?
After entering the private room, they ordered drinks, fruit platters, and swiped the card.
The whole process was completed.
Seeing the table full of drinks, snacks, and fruit platters before them, the younger ones were like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.
The sales manager went down to arrange for hostesses to be presented.
Just then, the private room door was pushed open.
A long-haired young girl, dressed in a white commercial KTV uniform, walked in.
She first bowed.
When the young girl lifted her head, Chen Pingjiang sharply noticed the surprise and awkwardness in her eyes when she saw Zhao Shaoyang.
Zhao Shaoyang, beside him, also tensed his shoulders.
The two obviously knew each other.
Chen Pingjiang immediately blurted out,
"Holy shit."
Is the world really that small?
Meeting Zhang Xinyue and Yan Yan separately in the cafeteria wasn't a big deal, but to meet acquaintances twice in a row at KTV, even a novel wouldn't dare to write something like this, right?
"You know her?"
Chen Pingjiang turned his head and asked.
Zhao Shaoyang didn't hide it.
He nodded and whispered,
"High school classmate. I heard before that her family wasn't well off, and her studies were average, so she didn't continue school. I didn't expect to meet her here."
Hearing this, Chen Pingjiang glanced at the 'princess'.
She looked quite delicate.
He darkly imagined a scene from school uniform to work uniform.
A girl in a loose school uniform with a ponytail, hearing the class bell, pushed open the classroom door.
The scene shifts, the door opens, and she enters a commercial KTV private room.
The contrast was stark.
"Did you used to like her? Don't say no; if she was just a classmate, you definitely would have greeted her."
"I might have had a good impression, but I wouldn't say I 'liked' her."
Chen Pingjiang sighed with emotion:
"Then love arose with the wind, but to start again, it's already two hundred yuan."
Zhao Shaoyang was stunned to hear this.
He thought to himself, 'Brother Chen, you're too cynical.'
Watching the 'princess' walk straight to the karaoke machine to start playing background music to warm up the room, while Zhao Shaoyang still maintained a nonchalant expression, though the melancholy between his brows hadn't quite faded, Chen Pingjiang comforted him,
"It's okay, at least she's still your princess."
Zhao Shaoyang gave a bitter smile.
"Brother Chen, stop messing with me. She was just a classmate I had a good impression of, not someone I 'liked'."
A myriad of emotions swirled in his heart: melancholy, embarrassment, regret, and sorrow.
Chen Pingjiang laughed heartily and patted Zhao Shaoyang vigorously on the back:
"Don't be like this. You're already someone who comes to KTVs and orders fruit platters, what kind of pure-hearted warrior are you pretending to be? Don't think about being a hero saving a damsel in distress. Your 'white moonlight' still won't fancy you after work. You might think she's pathetic, but she might just find you poor."
"Brother Chen, you really know how to advise people."
Unexpectedly, after such a bout of comforting from Chen Pingjiang, the various emotions in Zhao Shaoyang's heart immediately eased.
Chen Pingjiang proudly raised an eyebrow.
"Of course."
A 'white moonlight' that has rotted is more damaging than one that has died.
A dead 'white moonlight' lives on in beautiful memories.
A 'rotted white moonlight' leaves people with regret.
No matter the reason this girl came to a nightclub to be a 'princess', she had embarked on a different path.
If Zhao Shaoyang foolishly wanted to change someone else's life trajectory, he would surely get badly hurt, because they were already people from two different worlds.
One was someone who had entered society, earning tens of thousands a month; a high income earner.
The other was a university student hiding in an ivory tower, supported by parents.
Chen Pingjiang didn't say these words to Zhao Shaoyang.
Some growth can only be achieved by oneself.
The private room door was opened again.
A group of charming, flirtatious women of various shapes and appearances, the 'misses', walked in.
Their long, pale legs were almost blinding.
This spectacle made Dong Tinghui, Zhao Shaoyang, and Wu Zhaogang, seeing it for the first time, inwardly exclaim,
"Holy shit."
How could the younger ones withstand such a display, especially with the graceful figures of the 'misses' and their flirtatious gestures and smiles?
Dong Tinghui didn't even have the courage to look up, his face flushed.
He also felt a faint sense of guilt towards Wang Liwen.
Wu Zhaogang, on the other hand, was dazzled, constantly swallowing.
Even Zhao Shaoyang forgot about his 'white moonlight,' submerged in the captivating gazes of the 'jiejie'.
Looking at these three excited yet timid 'animals', Chen Pingjiang shook his head.
He felt like he had pulled three inexperienced young men into deep waters.
He had opened the door to a new world for them.
But then he thought, these three might have gone astray even without his guidance.
Just then, Chen Pingjiang caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye, seeing that kid Wang Lei secretly pulling out his phone from his pocket to take pictures.
"Damn it, taking photos in a nightclub is highly unethical of you."
Saying this, he snatched Wang Lei's phone away.
(End of Chapter)
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