Daydreaming about future success

Since he was already riding with Long Xiaole and had not eaten dinner, Zhang Pa was not going to be fussy. It did not matter whom he shared a table with; filling his stomach came first.

Food Paradise Mansion was outrageously expensive. A plate of shredded potatoes with green peppers cost eighty-eight yuan. The moment Zhang Pa saw the menu, his first thought was, How many skewers of meat could that buy?

Long Xiaole laughed. “It’s just the two of us for now, so you can embarrass yourself a little. But once that lady gets here, you’d better put on a proper front.”

Zhang Pa laughed. “Like claiming to be a member of the Writers Association?”

Last time, Long Xiaole had helped him put on airs by giving him the title of a provincial Writers Association member.

“Damn it, I’ll take care of what I promised you. What’s so difficult about becoming a Writers Association member?”

“Don’t. Absolutely don’t. I couldn’t care less.” Zhang Pa leaned back. “I’m a millionaire now. I have money. I’m going to indulge myself.”

Long Xiaole gave a mocking snort. “Wow, so rich. You’re scaring me to death.”

Zhang Pa clicked his tongue and called the waiter over. “Two plates of shredded potatoes—one stir-fried with vinegar, one tossed with hot oil. Two plates of tofu—mapo tofu and Japanese tofu. Two beef dishes—one stewed, one stir-fried. And a plate of dry-fried squid heads. That’s all.”

The waiter looked rather bewildered. She had seen all kinds of customers ordering food, but this was the first time she had met anyone like him. Pointing at the iPad on the table, she asked, “Would you like me to place the order for you?”

Zhang Pa tilted his head toward it. “That’s the menu? I thought it was a complimentary gift. Have a meal and get an iPad.”

He set down the paper menu. “If you already have an electronic menu, why give me this one?”

Long Xiaole could not take it anymore. He turned to the waiter. “We’ll handle it ourselves. You can go out for now.”

The waiter agreed and left.

Zhang Pa picked up the iPad. “Does it have any games?”

“Brother, if you keep acting like this, I honestly won’t know how to deal with you.” Long Xiaole sighed.

“You know I’m being strange and you still keep hanging around me. Aren’t you the one with a problem?” Zhang Pa asked. “When is that woman getting here? I still have work to do.”

“What work? Going home to write?”

“Exactly.” Zhang Pa sighed. His home was gone now, so where was he supposed to work? He called Yun Zheng. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re at my place,” Yun Zheng replied.

“Is there enough room for everyone to stay?”

There obviously was not, but Yun Zheng said there was.

“Do you have any money on you?”

“A little. Do you need some?”

“If you have enough, go stay at a hotel. I’ll reimburse you tomorrow. And there’s that apartment belonging to Wang Baihe—we’ll take a look tomorrow. If we can clean it up, we’ll keep living there.”

“We should be able to clean it up.” Yun Zheng hesitated. “Brother, are you coming back today?”

“No. I’ll find a hotel and sleep there. Did you bring the laptop?”

“I did.”

“Good. Then find a hotel for the night. We’ll talk about anything else tomorrow.”

Yun Zheng agreed.

“Who was that?” Long Xiaole asked. “A man or a woman? You’re even arranging lodging for them?”

“That bastard Miao Zili burned down my place.”

“Damn, he really went all out.” Long Xiaole frowned. “What about you? Where are you staying?”

Zhang Pa patted his trouser pocket. “I’ve got money now. I’ll buy a place tomorrow.”

Long Xiaole laughed. “A million yuan can buy you a house, sure, but what about the renovations? And what will you do after that?” He continued, “That isn’t how you spend money. Your whole outlook is wrong.”

“What’s wrong with my outlook?” Zhang Pa asked.

“Have you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad?”

“No need. The two of us are living examples. My father is Poor Dad, and your father is Rich Dad.” Zhang Pa urged him, “Come on. Are we ordering or not?”

Long Xiaole smiled. “Wait a moment.” He took out his phone and made a call. After a while, he put it down. “They’ll be here soon.”

Then he returned to the subject. “You have to know how to spend money. A million yuan disappears the moment you buy a house. The same goes for a car. That doesn’t matter to truly wealthy people, but in your case, you need to think carefully before buying anything. Take property, for instance. I buy a place to live in it. When you buy one, you have to consider whether it will appreciate. Solve your housing problem while making money at the same time…”

“I’m a teacher,” Zhang Pa interrupted. “Keep talking nonsense and I’ll give you a lesson.”

Long Xiaole shook his head. “That’s no fun. You never listen to advice.”

As they spoke, the private-room door opened and four young women walked in. They were all dressed simply. Though the weather had grown colder and called for coats and trousers, all four were still wearing skirts. They were dressed almost exactly as they would have been in summer.

Judging by their faces, they looked like the wealthy beauties in magazine photographs. Their features and figures differed, but all had fair skin and knew how to dress. At first glance, each of them was striking.

Long Xiaole rose. “Sister Xun, you’re here.”

The woman in front smiled at him. “Xiaole.” She stopped and introduced the others. “Let me introduce my sisters. This is Meng Ting, this is Wang Changchang, and this is Yu Jiao. And this must be the great writer you mentioned. Hello.”

She walked up to Zhang Pa and extended her right hand.

Zhang Pa hurriedly stood and shook it lightly. “Hello. My name is Zhang Pa.”

“What an unusual name. A name only a writer could have.” Sister Xun smiled. “I’m Xun Ruyu. Sit down.”

Xun Ruyu had an imposing presence. There was nothing about her that suggested she was being kept by anyone. Zhang Pa thought, Money really does make a difference. When you have money, you have confidence.

Xun Ruyu wore a red pencil skirt and red high heels, with no stockings. Over a black camisole, she wore a small red jacket. She looked fiery and possessed the mature allure of a woman in her prime.

Zhang Pa sat down as instructed. Xun Ruyu asked Long Xiaole, “Have you ordered yet?”

Long Xiaole replied with a grin, “We ordered lots of different kinds of shredded potatoes.”

Xun Ruyu laughed. “Stop fooling around. You haven’t ordered anything, have you? Waiter!”

The waiter hurried in. The other three women took their seats.

Though all three wore short skirts and high heels, each had her own style. They clearly could not risk showing up in identical outfits. One wore black stockings, another wore rainbow-colored leggings, and the third wore torn stockings. Their tops were all different as well, but they looked good together.

Once seated, the first thing all three women did was look at their phones. No one knew what could possibly be so interesting.

Xun Ruyu ordered several dishes from the waiter, then asked Zhang Pa, “What do you like to eat?”

“Shredded potatoes.”

Thinking he was joking, Xun Ruyu gave a little laugh. “Then I’ll make the decision for you.” She ordered two more dishes and asked the other women, “What about you girls?”

“Bring alcohol.” The girl in the torn stockings kept her head bowed over her phone and spoke without looking up.

Xun Ruyu had introduced her earlier as Wang Changchang. She was sitting across from Zhang Pa. When he glanced at her, he thought, Damn, is that a tattoo?

At the open collar of her blouse, on one side of the two soft mounds of her chest, there seemed to be the shape of a flower. Most of it was hidden by her clothes, leaving only half the pattern visible.

Since it was their first meeting, Zhang Pa did not want to stare at her chest. He turned to Long Xiaole. “Call the bodyguards up.”

The driver assigned to Long Xiaole had been arranged by Long Jianjun and was actually one of his bodyguards. From now on, whenever Long Xiaole went out, a bodyguard would accompany him.

Long Xiaole laughed. “Are you stupid? Since when do bodyguards sit at the table?”

Xun Ruyu smiled. “Oh, you hired bodyguards? I never would have guessed.” Then she asked, “What are we drinking?”

“Some beer will do,” Long Xiaole said.

“Don’t you know how to take care of yourself? Four beautiful women are drinking beer with you? What are you thinking?” Xun Ruyu turned to the waiter. “Bring two bottles of Du Kang.”

“Which kind of Du Kang would you like?”

“The one in the porcelain bottle,” Xun Ruyu confirmed.

The waiter acknowledged the order, repeated all the dishes, and left.

Zhang Pa pointed at the ordering iPad on the table. “This thing is useless.”

“That’s because we’re too lazy,” Long Xiaole said.

Xun Ruyu laughed. “Who uses this thing? We’re here to eat.”

At a high-end restaurant, dishes arrived quickly. Not long after the waiter left, two cold appetizers were brought in. The waiter also removed the vase, iPad, and other ornaments from the table.

Xun Ruyu pursed her lips. “The service keeps getting worse. They didn’t even pour us tea.”

“Forget it. Are you going to drink it?” Long Xiaole asked.

“Whether I drink it or not, they should pour it first.”

“You’re talking about liquor.” Long Xiaole said, “Sister Xun, I can’t drink. Don’t try to force it down me later.”

The woman with her hair pinned up and black stockings was called Yu Jiao. She laughed and joined in. “That won’t do. There are only two men here. If we don’t force you two to drink, who else will we force?”

“Does that include me?” Zhang Pa asked.

“Of course.” Xun Ruyu smiled. “We won’t drink too much. We’ll start with two bottles to warm up and get into the mood. If that doesn’t work, we’ll switch to red wine.”

Zhang Pa gave a soft laugh and turned to Long Xiaole. “You never said we were drinking.”

“Exactly. I never said we were drinking.”

Zhang Pa smacked his lips and decided to remain silent.

Before long, the liquor arrived, and most of the dishes had been served. Xun Ruyu waved everyone over. “Eat. Stop staring at your phones.”

The women put down their phones and raised their glasses first. “Cheers.”

Fortunately, they were using the small liquor glasses meant for strong spirits. One toast was one toast. They swallowed the liquor in a single gulp, and it felt remarkably smooth—clearly alcoholic, yet gentle on the tongue and smooth as it passed down the throat into the stomach, leaving behind a mellow fragrance.

“Good liquor,” Zhang Pa said.

Long Xiaole looked at him. “You know anything about liquor?”

“No. But this is the first time I’ve tasted liquor that feels like this. It goes down very comfortably.”

Xun Ruyu smiled. “Low-proof liquor is all like that. Come on, have another.”

They had another. The next moment, Wang Changchang raised her glass, followed by Yu Jiao. Neither gave him time to rest. Before ten minutes had passed, Zhang Pa had swallowed five glasses—more than five ounces in all—and had to eat furiously whenever he got the chance.

Alcohol was the best tool for bringing people closer. After a few glasses, Xun Ruyu became blunt and asked the question she could not have asked earlier.

“What happened to you? Were you beaten up?”

Then she turned to Long Xiaole. “Xiaole, your friend was beaten and you just stood there watching?”

“It’s nothing,” Zhang Pa said. “What man hasn’t gotten into a fight?”

Xun Ruyu laughed. “That’s something boys do. What man gets into fights? Men settle things with money. Whoever has more money has more power, and whoever has more power wins. Fighting is just a child’s game. But you really were beaten, weren’t you? Did you report it?”

“It’s already been dealt with,” Zhang Pa said with a smile.

“What do you mean, dealt with? Look at your face.” As she spoke, Xun Ruyu examined him from head to toe. “Are you hurt anywhere else? Are your bones all right? If I were you, I’d demand money. Whoever did this to you shouldn’t pay less than twenty thousand yuan.”

(To be continued.)