Outside Jiuyin Bar, a rcedes-Benz was struggling to perform a parallel parking maneuver.
The Benz's S-Class model was already long-bodied, and Li Rui, who had only recently acquired his driver's license, had tried several tis without success to park it.
Sitting in the back were Li Xinyue and her best friend Chen Rongrong, which made Li Rui's face turn bright red with tension.
The more nervous he beca, the harder it was for him to park the car.
Unfortunately, this was the only marked parking spot available, and he dared not park anywhere else. After all, he had managed to take his dad's car out for the night, and getting a ticket from the police would undoubtedly lead to a scolding.
Li Rui finally managed to awkwardly park the big rcedes and imdiately got out to open the car door for Li Xinyue, in a bid to display his gentlemanly deanor and warm-hearted charm.
He was in a particularly good mood today because Li Xinyue had broken up with Cheng Zhu, and they had even unfriended each other this ti.
"There's no going back now, their relationship is definitely beyond repair!"
So, he imdiately sought out Chen Rongrong and asked her to invite Li Xinyue to the bar for a drink that evening.
Chen Rongrong had sneaked off to nightclubs back in her high school days and had even dated a club promoter.
How else to explain her radiant aura of fertility?
Li Xinyue, on the other hand, had never been to a bar.
For so students at this stage, a nightclub was a forbidden place, yet there was also a curious attraction.
Li Rui specifically chose a quiet bar, not one of those dance clubs, because he knew that would surely result in a refusal from Li Xinyue.
On their way there, he was posturing the whole ti.
"This bar called 'Jiuyin,' I'm pretty familiar with the owner."
In reality, it was his cousin who knew Shen Minglang, and the bar had just opened when his cousin helped to advertise it on social dia. Li Rui didn't personally know Shen Minglang at all.
When he went to pay later, he was going to use his cousin's mbership card as if it were his own, thinking that it would make him look cooler.
Before they left, he had already discussed with his cousin about transferring the money afterwards.
Quite a childish act, but so guys just go through such phases. And, believe it or not, so dudes, not just at eighteen but even at twenty-eight, still like to front with all kinds of inexplicably la pretenses.
On the way to the bar, Li Xinyue and Chen Rongrong sat at the back, chatting about Cheng Zhu.
Li Xinyue retold their conversation, which was frustrating and amusing to Chen Rongrong.
When Yueyue told him, "We're truly finished this ti," he actually responded with a casual "Okay."
What kind of rare genius cos up with that!
A simple "Okay" or "Sure" wouldn't have been as bizarre as that.
"How can he be like that!" Chen Rongrong couldn't help but blurt out her criticism.
Li Rui chid in at the right mont, "When I heard him say he was behind warm guys and dogs, I knew sothing was off about his attitude. A man should always treat a woman unconditionally well; a woman is there to be unconditionally adored."
This kid was still sticking to his 'warm guy' persona.
Li Rui felt that at this mont, he must appear in stark contrast to Cheng Zhu in Li Xinyue's eyes.
"Exactly!" Chen Rongrong voiced her agreent.
She and Li Xinyue were similar: both tended to be high-maintenance during their romances. Birds of a feather, so to speak, which is why she resonated strongly with Li Rui's views, deeming Cheng Zhu to be in the wrong.
Little did she know, in Cheng Zhu's eyes, acting out as a true princess was considered 'princess sickness.' But what were they displaying? It looked more like 'Wild Chicken Emotional Instability Syndro.'
At that mont, the three of them walked into Jiuyin Bar, each feeling a touch of novelty about the place.
The bar was sowhat dimly lit, and it wasn't until they were seated that they realized the person sitting opposite them seed to be Cheng Zhu!
"It's Cheng Zhu!" Chen Rongrong whispered.
Li Rui cursed inwardly at the bad luck and suggested, "Should we switch to a different bar?"
However, Li Xinyue shook her head, her gaze fixated on Shen Qingning.
Even though she could only see her side profile, Shen Qingning's deanor, appearance, or those unmistakably long legs all seed to be a notch higher than Li Xinyue's.
Furthermore, she exuded an indescribable air of nobility, like a cool and rich young lady.
So girls just have that vibe; one look and you could tell they ca from a wealthy family.
Shen Qingning was one of those girls.
"No, let's stay here," Li Xinyue suddenly said.
"Ah? Well, okay then," Li Rui and Chen Rongrong exchanged a glance.
Chen Rongrong asked in a low voice, "Do you recognize any of the people with Cheng Zhu?"
Li Xinyue shook her head and said, "I only know Jiang Wanzhou. He's a good friend of Cheng Zhu, but I don't like him, he's too effeminate."
On the other side, Cheng Zhu and Jiang Wanzhou had also noticed Li Xinyue and the others sitting not far across from them.
Jiang Wanzhou smiled and said, "Look, your recently ex-girlfriend is there."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Shen Minglang seed to perk up, asking, "Where, where? Let see how my cousin's taste is."
Cheng Zhu hadn't expected to run into them but didn't make a fuss about it.
He'd been through these kinds of situations many tis before.
Later, he went to Wu City to start a business. Although the small commodities market there was world-famous, it was, after all, a small county-level city.
And with his personality later turning to that of a prodigal who sees the error of his ways only to relapse, it was inevitable that he would occasionally run into won with whom he had history or even misadventures.
No panic! Small scene, small scene.
From his viewpoint, these high school graduates were still in the phase where they got nervous just speaking on stage or shy to sing loudly at KTV. So in this kind of public setting, they weren't likely to make a scene.
When he saw Li Rui looking over, he locked eyes with him, causing Li Rui to sheepishly look away.
Following Cheng Zhu's gaze, Shen Minglang grinned and said, "Not bad, both the girls look youthful. Are both your ex-girlfriends, cousin? Should I have Ye Zi send over a fruit platter?"
"No need, no need," Cheng Zhu replied with a laugh, "Cousin's quite the generous one."
While everything was relaxed and comfortable on their side, it was a different story for Li Xinyue's group, now feeling increasingly uneasy because Shen Minglang and Shen Qingning kept looking over, resulting in an unfamiliar discomfort.
She felt a level of embarrassnt she had never experienced before, and because of this embarrassnt, she beca even more annoyed with Cheng Zhu.
"It's all his fault!"
At this mont, the bar screens were playing a replay of the World Cup.
Nurous patrons around them were still discussing the previous match.
So were excited, others regretful.
Chen Rongrong initiated a new topic, "I've heard a lot of people are betting on the gas recently, do you know anyone who's doing it?"
Li Xinyue shook her head, clearly distracted.
Li Rui, however, seized the mont and boasted, "In a few hours, it will be the World Cup final between Argentina and Germany. I'm planning to place a small bet of 2,000."
He began subtly flaunting his financial power, slightly raising his voice.
"You're betting two thousand? That's a lot!" Chen Rongrong exclaid in surprise.
"It's okay, just a bit of fun," Li Rui said, making his voice echo a tad more.
The bar's background music was soft, but the volu of the World Cup replay was louder, making Li Rui's words faintly audible to those sitting with Cheng Zhu.
"Tch, betting two thousand, little rich kid, eh?" It was unclear whether Shen Minglang was genuinely impressed or being sarcastic.
At that mont, Jiang Wanzhou left for the restroom.
Cheng Zhu had been waiting for this opportunity.
So he said, "Cousin, Jiang Wanzhou ntioned I could ask you for help with placing bets, said you have good odds."
"Yeah, if you trust , of course, it's just a simple favor," he replied with a smile.
He had already placed his bets, rooting for Germany to win the championship, with a stake of 50,000.
The odds were good, at 2.3.
aning, if Germany really did win, he would earn a handso 65,000.
Shen Minglang asked, "Cousin, which side do you think will win?"
"Germany," Cheng Zhu responded without hesitation.
"Hmm? Good choice! I've also bet on Germany. Just a small wager of 50,000," Shen Minglang patted his shoulder.
Cheng Zhu laughed, "Weren't you just claiming to be a diehard ssi fan? Why not bet on Argentina?"
"Right, so for the sake of my idol, I did bet 500 on Argentina winning," Shen Minglang nodded.
As if he's a granny sneaking into the cookie jar—got laughing.
Cheng Zhu gave him a thumbs up, "Touching."
"How much are you betting on Germany to win, cousin? I'm offering odds of 2.3," Shen Minglang said to Cheng Zhu.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Zhu shook his head, "Cousin, I'm not betting on the championship; I'm betting on the score."
"Woah! Ambitious! You're going straight for the correct score bet, what scores are you looking at?" Shen Minglang asked.
Getting the winner right was one thing, but predicting the exact score much more improbable.
Of course, that ant much higher odds!
Cheng Zhu inquired, "What are your odds for a 0-0 draw?"
Shen Minglang checked his phone, "Let see, the odds are... 7.5."
"Then bet on that for ; I think it's going to be 0-0 during regular ti and then go to overti. Cousin, what's the easiest way for to transfer the money to you?" Cheng Zhu asked.
"Damn, you've got guts, betting on 0-0. Any way is fine for transferring, I'm okay with anything," Shen Minglang replied. "How much are you betting?"
"Twelve thousand," Cheng Zhu said without hesitation.
"Twelve thousand, sure... wait, how much did you say?" Shen Minglang looked up, his face showing surprise.
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