Liu Jian smiled wryly and said, "Miao Miao, I call you every day, not a single day missed. You know my phone bill for this month has already exceeded two hundred. The factory is currently overhauling the machines, working day and night. I have to go out and buy parts at any time. I'm the only one with a car in the factory, if I don't go, who will? Besides, I don't trust others to do these things, it's better to do it myself now. I'm also forced to attend classes during the day, I'm basically doing the work of two people as one. Today, because of continuous overtime, the workers couldn't take it anymore, so we're taking a day off, but I still don't have time to come out."
Hearing Liu Jian say this, Yu Miao's anger lessened considerably, but she still muttered softly, "Who knows if what you're saying is true or not?"
Liu Jian didn't continue to explain. Some things only needed to be said, there was no need to humbly beg for forgiveness. The current Liu Jian had growing confidence and an increasingly twisted sense of pride, so he would never really bow his head, especially in an uncertain male-female relationship.
Now, for Liu Jian, the most important thing was the Sanbao Winery. Everything else was secondary. If the winery didn't develop, he might be even worse off than in his previous life, and Liu Jian would never let that happen.
Besides, having seen too many things like this in his previous life, Liu Jian hadn't been in many relationships, but he knew that as long as his family continued to develop like this, he would have women, even female celebrities were just playthings. So he wasn't worried about this at all.
The farewell dinner for Chen Xue was arranged by Liu Jian at Emperor KTV. At this time, Panshi didn't have any large entertainment venues, and even pure bars, discos, and KTVs were not high-end. Relatively speaking, Emperor KTV was barely acceptable.
Emperor KTV wasn't very big, but the entertainment atmosphere was good. Liu Jian and the others got a private room and didn't call for any hostesses. Liu Jian had the desire but not the courage. With two beautiful women by his side, if you were to find another hostess, that would be pure suicide. They ordered fruit platters, popcorn, a platter of braised meats, peanuts, and a bunch of other snacks, along with a dozen beers, a few bottles of red wine, and finally two Royal Salute whiskeys. None of the three people cared about the money.
Without the presence of hostesses, the atmosphere was a bit dull at first, but thankfully Chen Xue was a cheerful girl who livened things up with just a few words. After a while, it became a karaoke performance by the two girls, and Liu Jian got to enjoy listening, drinking beer, eating snacks, and enjoying the singing of two beautiful girls.
After a few bottles of beer, Chen Xue opened the floodgates, talking about Liu Jian's embarrassing childhood moments one minute, and then about Yu Miao the next. Both of them were breaking out in a cold sweat listening to her. They hadn't expected Chen Xue's drinking habits to be so bad; she hadn't had much to drink before going on a drunken spree.
Chen Xue kept telling Liu Jian to take good care of Yu Miao, or she wouldn't let him off the hook when she came back. Liu Jian thought to himself that she was just a matchmaker, did she really have to take it so seriously? But he had been bullied by Chen Xue for so many years, and this matter didn't need explaining, nor could it be explained, so he just let her talk. Yu Miao, on the other hand, was blushing and constantly playfully fighting with Chen Xue.
As Chen Xue became more and more serious, both of them felt the atmosphere of parting. Yu Miao, who was easily moved to tears, was just short of hugging Chen Xue and crying.
Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Liu Jian raised his glass and said, "I'll toast you, Sister Xue, and congratulate you in advance on your successful postgraduate entrance exam. Or maybe you should get a PhD, Sister Xue. When I go to college, maybe I can still see you on campus."
Chen Xue and Yu Miao were amused by Liu Jian's words and laughed. Chen Xue was even more blunt, saying, "Not to be mean, Xiao Jian, but with your grades, if you want to get into our school, I estimate I won't see you even after I graduate with a PhD."
Liu Jian, his face flushed with anger, said, "Sister Xue, don't speak so definitively. A day apart feels like three autumns, and my grades have improved significantly now. Even if I can't pass the exam, I can always pay my way in." He spoke with passionate enthusiasm earlier, but that last sentence revealed his lack of confidence.
Chen Xue said with a smile, "Okay, take your time with the exam, I'll wait for you. There are still a few years left, enough time for you to earn enough money to find someone to help you." After saying that, she pulled Yu Miao and laughed heartily.
As the three were drinking with some sadness, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a man, staggering drunk, tried to come in. It was clear he had had too much to drink and had walked into the wrong room. Liu Jian stood up and stopped him, saying, "Buddy, you've had too much to drink, this is 208, you've got the wrong room."
The drunk man looked at the people in the room, realized he had come to the wrong place, and stumbled backward out the door. As he was closing the door, he saw Chen Xue and Yu Miao, his eyes lit up, and he seemed about to say something, but Liu Jian slammed the door shut with a "bang." The three of them treated the incident as a brief interlude; it was normal to get drunk in this place, and they didn't take it to heart.
Who knew that not long after, while the three were singing, the door of the private room opened again, kicked open this time. Four or five people walked in, all drunk and dazed. The man who had been drunk earlier was following behind a middle-aged man who was over 1.8 meters tall and around 40 years old.
Seeing this situation, Liu Jian realized something was wrong. He turned off the music and asked, "What's going on, guys?"
Nobody paid him any attention; everyone's eyes were fixed on Chen Xue and Yu Miao. The drunk man who had stumbled into the wrong room earlier said, "B-b-big brother, h-h-how about it? Did I say there were pretty ones here? Damn, th-th-the manager here is looking for death, the s-s-several ladies he found for us were all what the hell, o-o-originally the good stuff was all here."
Upon hearing this, Liu Jian instantly became furious. One was his older sister he had grown up with, and the other was possibly his girlfriend. How could Liu Jian stand someone stammering like this right in front of him?
However, seeing that there were so many of them, Liu Jian didn't feel confident he could handle them, so he planned to deal with the situation first and then not let these people off later. He said with a smile, "Brothers, you've got the wrong idea. These two are my friends, and we're also guests here."
Pulling back Chen Xue, who was about to blow up, he thought, even if Chen Xue could fight, and Liu Jian fought desperately, for two women and one man, there was no way they could leave unscathed. The only option was to first stabilize the situation, get away, and then get revenge - that was a matter of minutes. The most important thing was the safety of Chen Xue and Yu Miao. These thugs, drunk as they were, might do something terrible. If they got hurt, Liu Jian would never forgive himself. What good would it be to kill these people afterward?
Who knew that the drunken man would curse, "Get the hell out of here, you little brat. We, we, we say they're prostitutes, they, they are prostitutes. You, you, you better get lost, we, we, our boss has taken a fancy to these two ladies, it's, it's a privilege for them."
Hearing this, Liu Jian knew that the matter could not be resolved peacefully. The other party was not only picking a fight, but completely slapping him in the face. He glared at the middle-aged man and asked, "What's your name, brother? I'm not very familiar with the underworld, but I do have a few friends. Let's just say it was a misunderstanding and let it go. We're all here at the Emperor for fun, shouldn't you give the Emperor's owner some face? Furthermore, don't blame me for being impolite."
While Liu Jian was speaking, the phone in his pocket had already connected to Li Wu. He didn't know what the situation would be in a moment, and had already made the worst-case scenario in his mind.
The boss of the Emperor was also involved in the underworld, although his reputation wasn't very big, ordinary small-time thugs wouldn't dare to provoke him.
Who knew the middle-aged man would laugh and say, "Bah, kid, who do you think you are, thinking you deserve my respect? The Emperor's boss is nothing, my brother said, if these two girls are prostitutes, then they are prostitutes. They'll stay and have fun with us, and only after the fun is over can they leave. As for you, I'm in a good mood today, you can scram. If you want to settle accounts with me, fine, remember my name, Liu Guizhu."
As soon as Liu Jian heard the name Liu Guishu, he knew things were going to be messed up today. This Liu Guishu was now a well-known gangster boss in Panshi, rumored to have blood on his hands. He had connections in the Public Security Bureau and had never been arrested. As for rape and robbery, he had done plenty, earning him a fierce reputation that no one dared to provoke.
Liu Jian knew that in reality, Liu Guishu didn't have any strong connections, but the Public Security Bureau had no evidence, and those who suffered losses didn't report him, so the matter was left hanging. Over time, rumors of his connections spread, and he was even less likely to be arrested.
In his previous life, Liu Guishu wasn't arrested until 2005 for assault and rape. If it hadn't been for his wife, who took a kitchen knife to the Public Security Bureau and threatened the criminal investigation team leader that if Liu Guishu wasn't released, the team leader's whole family would die, infuriating the entire public security system, he might have gotten out of prison alive, instead of being executed by firing squad.
Liu Guishu is a man without long-term plans or education. He couldn't think of any ways to make money, so he's always been mixed up in the underworld, acting tough and like a rogue, but he hasn't made much money. He leads a small group of followers, eating, drinking, and playing wherever they go. By the time later stars like Li Si have assets in the millions, he's still like this. But precisely because he's famously dirt poor, no one likes to mess with him. Everyone else has become porcelain, but he's still a tile; who would bother touching him?
Li Wu on the other end of the phone didn't care when he heard the name Liu Guishu. To Li Wu, gangsters and big brothers were nothing. The most important thing was his master, and Liu Jian was his master's only son. There was no way Li Wu would let anything happen to Liu Jian. From the sounds on the other end, it was clear a dispute had arisen. Li Wu knew Liu Jian was calling him for help.
Li Wu hung up and called Li Si, telling him to gather the factory's security guards. Li Wu also called the workers at the construction site, telling them to rush to Emperor KTV as quickly as possible. He called a few of his followers who were drinking with him, and they took a taxi to Emperor KTV.
Chen Xue was so angry that she was trembling all over. She had never been so insulted in her life. She couldn't believe someone dared to talk to her like that. Yu Miao, on the other hand, was a bit scared and didn't know what would happen next. She looked at Liu Jian nervously, placing all her hopes on him.