Chapter 46: Lin Ruoxuan's First Love?

Half an hour later, Xu Yunzhou rushed to the brilliantly illuminated lobby of "Night Color" and found Lu Qian already waiting there.

She was twenty-nine this year, exactly the age when a woman is fully ripe.

Her face carried the blush of slight tipsiness, and the flow of her glances, which should have been amorous and graceful, was at this moment mixed with obvious unease.

As soon as she saw Xu Yunzhou, she hurriedly stepped forward to meet him. Almost pressing against his ear, she lowered her voice, carrying apology:

"Little Xu, you're finally here... that, the more I think about it, the more I feel something isn't right. Just now inside, when Chairman Song mentioned your name, that look and tone... were a bit weird. I'm worried she might... might be not very friendly to you tonight."

"Sigh, I've wronged you tonight, you must... must accommodate her a bit, don't offend her! Just treat it as doing Sister a favor! Afterwards, Sister will definitely... definitely compensate you properly!"

As she spoke, her eyes carried pleading, and she even subconsciously wanted to pull Xu Yunzhou's arm.

Looking at her appearance of wanting to close the deal yet afraid of causing trouble, Xu Yunzhou suddenly felt it was somewhat funny. He twitched the corners of his mouth:

"Of course she finds me an eyesore."

He paused,

"Because during the day at her company, I just rejected her proposal to keep me as a sugar baby face-to-face."

"Ah? Wh... what?"

Lu Qian's eyes widened roundly, the worry on her face instantly replaced by shock!

Looking at the handsome and tall Xu Yunzhou before her, her brain froze for a moment.

My... my dear mother heaven!

It turns out the "client" level of this tenant of mine has already reached this high?

A woman like Song Jinxuan, whose eyes are higher than the top of her head, would actually proactively offer to keep him?

This is simply... the King of Ducks(Gigolo) in the gigolo world! And I previously wanted to control him with a little over a thousand yuan in rent, truly embarrassing!

Xu Yunzhou ignored her shock and accompanied the restless Lu Qian into that private room with ambiguous lighting.

Sitting in the private room were four fashionably dressed young women, and sitting in the center main seat, elegantly swirling a wine glass, was Song Jinxuan.

She raised her eyes, locking onto Xu Yunzhou with a look that was a smile yet not a smile, a faint mockery playing at the corners of her mouth.

Xu Yunzhou calmly met her gaze and smiled:

"Chairman Song, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

Song Jinxuan's red lips hooked up slightly, letting out a light laugh carrying coldness:

"It seems Mr. Xu isn't as principled as he advertised himself to be during the day. Any random woman can call you out of your house in the middle of the night with a single phone call?"

Xu Yunzhou knew she was mocking his refusal during the day, but didn't get angry. Instead, following her words, carrying a bit of probing:

"Yes, so I regret it now. Chairman Song, I wonder if that job could still be given another chance?"

The mockery on Song Jinxuan's face grew thicker, like looking at out-of-season discounted goods:

"Too late. The other party has already explicitly replied that they have no interest in you. You, are out."

Xu Yunzhou was stunned.

What does that mean?

If that person is Lin Ruoxuan, the Lin Ruoxuan who was searching everywhere for "Daddy System," how could she suddenly have "no interest" in him?

He frowned and pressed:

"Taking the liberty to ask, Chairman Song, who exactly is this other party you speak of?"

Song Jinxuan just smiled, her eyes carrying playfulness, as if appreciating his anxiety, and didn't answer.

Xu Yunzhou's thoughts spun like lightning, directly pointing it out:

"Is it your older cousin, surnamed Lin?"

Only then did Song Jinxuan look at him squarely, a trace of undetectable surprise flashing through her eyes:

"You're not stupid."

Xu Yunzhou felt his brain was a tangled mess of hemp.

The attitude of this Lin Ruoxuan in reality, and that Lin Ruoxuan crazy for him in the game, were simply like two different people! If they really are two people, then how could the other party know him? What exactly did she treat him as?

He didn't want to play guessing games anymore; he had to understand clearly today:

"Can you tell me, why was she... interested in me before?"

Song Jinxuan pointed her chin at the newly opened Ace of Spades on the table, her tone carrying a command:

"Chug a bottle, and I'll tell you."

Xu Yunzhou looked at that bottle of champagne, priced at 8888, with a volume of a pound and a half, and an alcohol content of about 12 degrees.

It wasn't an impossible task, but it would definitely be uncomfortable.

He gritted his teeth, didn't speak any more nonsense, directly picked up the cold and heavy wine bottle, tilted his head back, and chugged!

"Gulp... gulp..."

The spicy yet sweet bubbles violently impacted his throat and esophagus. Under the surprised or playful gazes of all the women in the private room, he forcibly poured down a whole bottle of wine.

"Bang!"

The empty wine bottle was slammed heavily on the coffee table.

He wiped the spilled wine stains from the corners of his mouth and looked sharply at Song Jinxuan:

"Chairman Song, can you speak now?"

Song Jinxuan stared into his eyes and said word by word:

"Because her first love from her youth, that man who left an unforgettable mark on her heart but ultimately disappeared, looks almost exactly the same as you."

"That tiny bit of insignificant interest she had in you before was nothing but treating you as a cheap substitute for that man. And now, she has come to her senses, and she's grown weary of it too."

After hearing this, Xu Yunzhou almost laughed out loud in his heart.

Lin Ruoxuan's first love? Looks exactly like me?

Isn't that just myself?

Good guy, I became my own substitute? What kind of Russian nesting doll substitute literature plot is this?

He suppressed the sense of absurdity and followed up asking:

"Have you seen that person?"

Song Jinxuan smiled, that smile carrying a condescending sense of superiority:

"Naturally I've seen him, his photo is still hanging in my cousin's room."

Xu Yunzhou's brows furrowed tightly.

A photo? Still hanging on the wall?

If Lin Ruoxuan merely treated the "System" as emotional projection, I can understand. But even Song Jinxuan has seen "him(me?)" with her own eyes, and there's a physical photo...

This makes no sense.

Could there be some connection method between the game and reality that I completely haven't understood yet? Or... is Song Jinxuan lying?

The alcohol began to go to his head, his thoughts like a tangled ball of thread, the more he pulled the messier it got.

Looking at his silent side profile, Lu Qian beside him felt a sour pity well up in her heart.

She understood that conversation just now—this handsome tenant of hers was treated as a substitute by a rich, beautiful, and fair lady, and thrown away when she got tired of playing with him.

Those rich women are really not good things!

Come, come to Sister here, Sister will dote on you...

Seeing the atmosphere drop to the freezing point, a neatly dressed woman with a rather androgynous style stepped in to smooth things over.

She handed the microphone to Xu Yunzhou, whose eyes were hazy with confusion:

"Handsome, don't just sit there awkwardly! How about a song? Sing something to unwind."

Taking advantage of the surging tipsiness, Xu Yunzhou took the microphone and casually selected a song.

As the prelude began to play, he didn't even realize that the song he opened his mouth to sing was the exact same tune Lin Ruoxuan had once hummed within the game:

"You are in the prime of your youth, and I am down and out in poverty, with a body full of destitution how dare I embrace you..."

In his hazy drunkenness, he realized even less that the singing skills and musical sense he had gradually cultivated in Song Jiaru's stage—through the tuning of top-tier vocal mentors and countless practices—were actually being fully unleashed at this moment under the catalytic effect of the alcohol.

The hoarse and deeply affectionate voice, carrying the desolation and unwillingness of being toyed by destiny, instantly pierced through all the clamor in the private room.

Those few women next to him who originally held the mentality of watching a show were all stunned. Some were even touched by the sincerity and brokenness in this singing voice, quietly shedding tears.

Lu Qian muttered to herself, as if having found the answer:

"So... he also has this skill... no wonder he's the King of Gigolos..."

This professional ability, this singing skill, this capacity for empathy, which rich woman could resist this!

Leaning back in the sofa, Song Jinxuan listened for half a song, her eyes complex and hard to read.

She took out her phone, silently brought up the video recording function, recorded a short profile clip of Xu Yunzhou singing immersively, and then rapidly sent it to Lin Ruoxuan, whose WeChat alias was "Cousin."

The accompanying message was brief:

"Sister, look. That Xu Yunzhou isn't entirely a useless sack of straw."

However, it was already past 1:00 AM now.

Lin Ruoxuan, who had long formed an extremely healthy routine and hadn't stayed up late for a long time, had probably long fallen into deep sleep, and her phone was also set to Do Not Disturb mode.

And that androgynously dressed woman who spoke before also quietly raised her phone, recorded a short clip of the climax of Xu Yunzhou's singing, and carrying the excitement of discovering a treasure, sent it to a friend in her contacts with the alias "Jiaru":

"Jiajia! Asleep yet? Accompanying Chairman Song of Qingsheng at KTV tonight, I actually bumped into a divine little brother! His singing skills feel like they were taught by the same teacher as yours! You're the professional, evaluate it!"