"Ah! I, I'll go right now."
Gu Xiangmeng again hurriedly ran to the restroom.
"What's wrong, Ming?" Shen Siyi sat down and advised, "It's normal for a young girl to go out and have fun as long as she doesn't act recklessly. Is it worth getting angry over?"
Xiao Ming shook his head without bothering to explain and asked, "I only have one question for you: what outcome do you want?"
Shen Siyi was silent for a moment, then slowly revealed a resentful look, gritting his teeth, "I want them never to look down on me again!"
"Who are 'they'?"
"My brother and my dad."
Xiao Ming snorted, "If that's all the ambition you have, then forget it. Invest 150 million in my company, and I'll ensure you'll never be short on money for the rest of your life."
Shen Siyi's eyes reddened, and he suddenly gulped down a large glass of alcohol, roaring, "I... I want no one in this world to ever look down on me again!"
Xiao Ming finally showed a smile, patted his shoulder, "That's like my brother.
Remember, everything you can see right now, no matter what it is, is just a small stepping stone for your future.
Our stage is the whole world!"
Shen Siyi, excited, tensed up, and picked up a bottle of beer, "Bro, from now on I'll listen to you. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The two clinked their bottles and then both downed half a bottle in one go.
"Of course, no matter how big the stage is, you must first take this step in front of you well."
Putting down the beer bottle, Xiao Ming continued, "Your dad doesn't want to let you get involved with Qianshan Group, right? Then let's take it over and be our own boss, make your old man work for you!"
"How do we take it?"
"I told you a few days ago that we should take down the Cao Family's Dabang Group." Xiao Ming grinned slyly, "Just wait, this time I'll perform a double strike for you!"
As they were talking, Gu Xiangmeng came back.
The girl had washed off her makeup and, without the previous glamour, looked fresh and pleasing.
"Hey! Ming, your taste is undeniable," Shen Siyi said with a laugh, looking at her, "Your current look is much more pleasing to the eye than before."
Gu Xiangmeng sneakily glanced at Xiao Ming and lowered her head, "Thank you, Shen."
"Is that your friend over there?" Xiao Ming asked.
"They're all classmates from adult college and vocal music classes, we're not very close yet."
"You're not close, and yet you dare to come out and drink in the middle of the night with them?"
Gu Xiangmeng fell silent again.
"Hey, bro, what are you worried about? Mengmeng is the fierce girl who stabbed Zhang Dachuan with a knife, are you still worried she might be taken advantage of?" Shen Siyi kept his word and started making excuses for her.
Xiao Ming shook his head, "I don't mind you going out to have fun; pursuing fashion and dressing up is your freedom. But I hope your sense of aesthetics can be normal.
You are just an ordinary young girl now, you don't lack money nor need to stab anyone, so why dress yourself up like some kind of wild model?
Of course, if that is the style you like, then pretend I never said anything."
"That's not me."
Gu Xiangmeng replied hastily, "My... My makeup skills were learned during the training at the agency; apart from that style, I don't know anything else."
"You can learn if you don't know how!"
Xiao Ming chuckled, "Don't be nervous, I'm not angry, nor am I lecturing you, I just want to remind you that in unfamiliar environments, your first impression on others dictates how they'll treat you."
After all, in this place full of alcohol and excitement, there are very few good men who can still keep their sanity, so you need to look out for your own safety."
Now go on, get back to having fun, don't keep your friends waiting."
Gu Xiangmeng could not have anticipated that his purpose in calling her over was out of such thoughtfulness, and her heart, which had been flipping up and down, suddenly felt as if it had plunged into a hot spring, warm and sweet.
"I'll go tell them and then I'll come keep you company."
Turning to leave, the girl almost bumped into someone, and upon looking, saw that the group she had been drinking with earlier had come over.
"Gu Xiangmeng, what is this supposed to mean?"
One of the young men, his hair dyed blue, grabbed her arm, "We guys have been toasting you all night, and now you turn around to keep company with two old men here, are you playing us?"
These words were clearly not meant for a decent woman to hear, let alone a classmate.
Gu Xiangmeng was both shocked and angry.
Shocked because she was worried Xiao Ming would misunderstand her, and angry because she hadn't expected classmates, who were polite and courteous before, could be so despicable.
She shook off the man forcefully and shouted, "Zhao Guangde, watch your mouth. These two are my brothers!"
"Brothers?" The blue-haired Zhao Guangde exchanged glances with his buddies and sneered, "How much do you charge for a brother then? I'll pay double. Let's hear you call me 'brother'."
The rest of them laughed, and a girl even sneered, "I've told you guys, the ones like her who act pure and proud on the surface are all the same behind closed doors, all f***ing whores.
Look, take her to a bar, and she shows her true colors right away."
Hearing this, Gu Xiangmeng had an epiphany.
Because she was beautiful and not fond of socializing, she had been labeled the 'Ice Queen beauty' in class, the focus of many boys' attention.
These past few days, she had been distressed by Xiao Ming's lack of interest in her, and when some girls invited her out, she agreed without much thought, only to walk into a trap they had laid for her.
Thinking back, the girls had been urging the guys to keep pouring her drinks, and had it not been for the chance encounter with Xiao Ming, one could only imagine what would have happened tonight.
They were practically pushing her to her death!
Without any quarrel or even much familiarity, how could they harbor such malice?
Gu Xiangmeng trembled with fury, and catching a glimpse of Xiao Ming showing no reaction and even continuing to drink, she felt ever more hopeless and let go of her restraint.
With a cold smile, she looked down at Zhao Guangde with utter contempt, "Double? Alright! So far, my brother has spent one hundred and five thousand on me, and he hasn't even touched my hand.
If you want me to call you 'brother,' start by putting up two hundred and ten thousand."
Zhao Guangde was stunned.
Though his family was wealthy, their assets only amounted to several tens of millions, and one million was roughly his allowance for a year.
"You're full of shit, aren't you?" That girl scoffed, "One hundred and five thousand, do you think what you have is edged in gold or something?"
"Exactly. A whore pretending to be pure and expensive, are men really that easy to deceive nowadays?" Another girl's eyes almost rolled back in her head in disdain, but her face was marked with clear jealousy.
At that moment, Gu Xiangmeng actually wasn't angry anymore; looking down at them, she saw them as nothing more than two barking bitches.
"Things you've never experienced, you assume do not exist. Ever heard of the idiom 'frog in a well'? That refers to you all. No wonder you can only kneel and lick garbage, because good men simply won't spare ignorant sluts a glance."
With that, she turned her gaze to the boys, her expression even more scornful.
"As for you guys, it's normal for men to chase girls when going out, there's no pride in success, and no shame in failure, but pretending to be rich second generations when you clearly have no money, that's just too low.
Seducing brainless sluts into bed every day, don't you find that disgusting?
I feel sorry for your parents who work so hard to make money."