Chapter 115: Reconciliation?

Lu Fengzhou must have an extensive network in the entertainment industry. He almost single-handedly pushed Song Wan, who lacked both acting talent and background, to the status of an A-list celebrity; that is not something that can be achieved with money alone.

Qiao Jiu nodded. "I suppose so."

Liang Xiucheng suddenly thought of something. "Song Wan retired from the industry so abruptly, and judging by the current situation, she has no intention of making a comeback anytime soon. Lu Fengzhou poured so much money into her; he must have taken a huge loss, right?"

Qiao Jiu paused her work. "He has money anyway; he doesn't care."

When it isn't one's own money, spending it doesn't hurt. That's just how people are.

Liang Xiucheng continued, "I wonder what kind of conflict arose between those two to make things go this far."

Qiao Jiu wasn't entirely sure about that either. She had probed Lu Fengzhou about it before, but he had a sharp tongue, telling her not to be delusional and insisting that he hadn't done it for her.

If it wasn't for her, there must have been an internal issue between the two of them. Yet, Song Wan was clearly deeply infatuated with Lu Fengzhou; it was unlikely she would have had a falling out with him over trivial matters.

She scratched her head, unable to figure it out—she truly couldn't make sense of it. She had never been one for deep thinking in school; her brain had long since gone rigid, and asking her to analyze these things now was absolutely killing her.

Liang Xiucheng stood there and chatted about other trivial things. He seemed to have something on his mind, but didn't know how to bring it up, hovering and beating around the bush.

Once Qiao Jiu finished adding the annotations, she asked, "Any other questions?"

"No, that's it." Liang Xiucheng took the documents back. "Alright then, you go ahead and get back to work."

With that, he turned and left.

Qiao Jiu arched an eyebrow. She didn't know if she was being overly sensitive, but the last look Liang Xiucheng gave her was inexplicably tinged with shyness.

Though, what was there to be shy about? Perhaps he felt it was embarrassing that his blind date had come looking for him?

Qiao Jiu clicked her tongue, dismissing the thought.

By the time she was nearing the end of her workday, Guan Wei called.

Qiao Jiu answered, hearing Guan Wei's voice sounding slightly excited. "Qiao Jiu, Qiao Jiu, I need a favor."

Qiao Jiu quickly replied, "I am definitely not going back to that bar. If you aren't afraid, go yourself."

Guan Wei laughed. "Not the bar; I already scoped that place out last time. Going back now would just be throwing money at them, and I’m too stingy for that."

She paused for a second. "Come to my bar tonight and help me keep an eye out for talent."

She rattled off a long explanation, which could be summarized as: after scouting the competition, she learned their methods and immediately expanded her own business accordingly. She had scheduled interviews for the many men who had applied to be male escorts for that evening at the bar.

Qiao Jiu was stunned. "You really aren't afraid of ending up in jail."

Guan Wei didn't care. "If I get investigated, I’ll just drag that other bar down with me. If we’re going down, we’re going down together. I’m not scared." She then added, "Come on, come on. I trust your eye for this; come help me vet them."

Trust her eye?

Qiao Jiu laughed. "Look at the mess I’m in right now. It’s not like there’s no proof that my judgment is terrible; you forgot that so quickly?"

Guan Wei chuckled. "It’s fine. Choosing a man for yourself is different from appreciating men for work. Come on, I’m looking for quality over quantity. We’re going to build a premium team."

Qiao Jiu couldn't listen to any more of this. "Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll come over tonight."

She agreed, and Guan Wei instantly became generous. "If it really comes down to it, I’ll pick two guys to stay and keep you company tonight."

"Get lost," Qiao Jiu said, hanging up the phone.

She put her phone down and let out a breath. She actually quite admired Guan Wei. Even though her own messy situation with Liang Xiujin had yet to result in anything clear, she still lived her life with gusto; romance didn't seem to be the most important consideration in her life.

Being that clear-headed—that was the way to be.

***

Guan Wei had said quality over quantity, but when Qiao Jiu sat in the private room and looked at the several rows of men standing before her, her face darkened.

She turned to Guan Wei. "Tell me, you call this 'not quantity'?"

Guan Wei groaned. "There were way more applicants than this; I already filtered out two-thirds of them."

Qiao Jiu looked at the men again. It wasn't just young, pretty women who wanted to take shortcuts; men with a bit of capital were the same.

She sighed. "Having so many people makes my head spin."

Guan Wei waved her hand, and the servers led most of the group to the room next door to wait, leaving only two behind.

Guan Wei, in a manner similar to the day she had "hired a gigolo," beckoned the two men over to sit, poured drinks, leaned in close to stare at their faces, and even reached out to touch them occasionally.

Qiao Jiu turned her head away, unable to watch her lecherous behavior.

After a while, a male escort came over and sat next to Qiao Jiu. Qiao Jiu asked, deadpan, "How’s your alcohol tolerance?"

The man chuckled. "Not bad. Want to have a contest, beauty?"

Qiao Jiu recalled the gigolo from last time—his tolerance was exceptionally high. She considered her own to be decent, but it turned out she couldn't compare to these people at all. Men usually had higher tolerances than women, and those who chose this profession were likely quite uninhibited in their personal lives.

She said, "No contest."

But Guan Wei immediately poured drinks for both of them. "The drinks are free, feel free to drink up."

The man picked up a glass and handed one to Qiao Jiu.

Qiao Jiu took it but didn't drink, turning to Guan Wei. "Not posting on your social media feed?"

Guan Wei wasn't embarrassed, waving her phone at Qiao Jiu. "Already posted."

Qiao Jiu scoffed. "That’s all you’re good for."

Sure enough, a short while later, Liang Xiujin arrived.

Qiao Jiu stood up. "Let Mr. Liang help you vet them. My judgment is poor, and I have enough self-awareness to know when to bow out."

Guan Wei protested, "Qiao Jiu, you are just..."

Qiao Jiu ignored her and walked out of the room, heading downstairs.

She had intended to leave, but after a moment's thought, she walked toward the bar counter instead. Jiang Qinchen was there, though not behind the bar; he was wearing casual clothes and standing outside, chatting with another bartender.

He spotted Qiao Jiu, paused, and walked over to greet her. "You’re here."

Qiao Jiu smiled. "Not working today?"

Jiang Qinchen nodded. "Taking the day off. I forgot something here, so I stopped by to pick it up on my way." He glanced behind Qiao Jiu. "Did you come alone? Just arrived?"

"No, I was actually just leaving," Qiao Jiu said.

Jiang Qinchen took the opportunity to say, "Let’s go together."

The two of them walked out of the bar, strolling slowly along the roadside.

Jiang Qinchen had also seen the gossip online. "You and that Lu Fengzhou... the two of you..."

Qiao Jiu looked helpless. "I ran into a hooligan a while ago and was almost bullied. He happened to save me while passing by. Who knew the paparazzi would snap a photo? In reality, there is nothing between us."

Jiang Qinchen nodded. "Actually, I’ve met your ex-husband before. After reading the report, I thought you two might be getting back together."

Getting back together?

Qiao Jiu had never considered that. Even with the way they were currently entangled, reconciliation was not in her plans.

Before Qiao Jiu could respond, the phone in her pocket suddenly rang.

It was Lu Fengzhou calling.