121: This meal is on me.

This time, it was Lan Qingyu who jumped up.

Her large eyes widened as she cut him off.

"What manager?!"

"You got promoted?!"

Her mind raced, instantly connecting the dots.

A twelve-million-dollar deal! His KPIs must have gone through the roof!

"Well, look at you, Lin Chao!"

Lan Qingyu stood with her hands on her hips, her expression saying, "You've been making a fortune on the quiet."

"How could you not say a word about such a big thing like becoming a manager?"

"It must be thanks to me, right!"

"You have to treat us! This meal doesn't count; you have to treat us to another big one!"

Lin Chao shook his head, feeling both helpless and amused by her self-righteous attitude.

"Fine, fine, fine."

He raised his hands in surrender.

"You said this meal was on you, so I won't take the credit."

"How about this: I'll pay for the karaoke tonight, and you can order whatever snacks and drinks you want. Is that fair?"

Lan Qingyu's eyes lit up again instantly. "Now that's more like it!"

She sat back down, satisfied, and winked triumphantly at Wu Xiuxiu.

After the three of them had their fill, Lin Chao readily paid the bill for the singing and they headed straight for the KTV Lan Qingyu had booked.

Since there were only three of them, Lan Qingyu had booked a small private room.

As soon as they entered, before the deafening music even started, the two girls were drawn to the colorful snack area.

Lan Qingyu and Wu Xiuxiu huddled together, whispering about raiding the small supermarket inside the KTV.

"Xiuxiu, I want those cheese chips and some ice cream!"

"Sure, sure! Let's get some spicy strips and jelly too!"

Once they finished their discussion, Lan Qingyu turned back to look at Lin Chao, who was already sitting on the sofa.

"Uncle Lin, do you want anything to eat?"

Lin Chao was holding the song list and looked up, his expression speechless.

"Didn't you two just eat?"

"I remember when we left, you were both leaning on each other, saying you were stuffed and couldn't take another step."

Lan Qingyu tilted her head up with a "you just don't get it" expression.

She walked over confidently, hands on her hips, looking down at Lin Chao.

"Don't you know that girls have two stomachs?"

Lin Chao: "?"

Lan Qingyu held up one finger and wagged it solemnly.

"One is for the main course."

She held up another finger.

"The other is for snacks!"

Lin Chao: "..."

Lin Chao didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her absurd logic.

"You're practically challenging my professional expertise."

"According to Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, you have a disharmony between the spleen and stomach caused by irregular eating. You'll run into trouble sooner or later."

Lan Qingyu stuck out her tongue and made a face, completely unconcerned.

"Blehh! This young lady is naturally beautiful and immune to all toxins!"

With that, she grabbed Wu Xiuxiu's hand and dashed out.

"Uncle Lin, you start singing first! We'll be right back!"

The girls' giggles quickly faded at the end of the hallway.

In the large private room, Lin Chao was suddenly left alone.

He shook his head helplessly, picked up the remote, and selected a few old songs he was familiar with.

As the deafening accompaniment began, he picked up the microphone, leaned back on the sofa, and started humming lazily.

One song ended.

He sang another.

But the door to the room never opened.

Lin Chao put down the microphone and glanced at the clock on the wall.

It had been almost twenty minutes.

Does it really take girls this long to buy snacks?

Feeling a bit suspicious, he was about to select a third song when a faint commotion drifted in from the noisy hallway.

The sound was high-pitched and sharp, mixed with Lan Qingyu's clear and angry shouting.

Lin Chao frowned.

He immediately put down the microphone, stood up, and strode out.

The KTV hallway was dimly lit, with bizarre spotlights sweeping around randomly, and deafening music leaking from the rooms, blending into a cacophony.

Following the sound, he turned two corners and finally saw several figures in a relatively secluded corridor.

Lan Qingyu and Wu Xiuxiu were like two mother hens protecting their chicks, arms spread, blocking two drunken men.

Behind them cowered a young girl in a KTV uniform.

The girl looked young and was currently pale with fright, her hands tightly clutching the hem of Lan Qingyu's shirt, trembling.

Lin Chao's heart sank.

Had this girl gone and played the "good Samaritan" again?

The two men opposite them didn't look very old either, maybe twenty-five or twenty-six.

But both reeked of alcohol, their faces flushed, and they could barely stand—clearly, they had drunk too much.

As Lin Chao hurried over, he heard Lan Qingyu's voice raised in a sharp rebuke.

"Aren't you two grown men ashamed of yourselves?"

"Did you forget your own names after drinking a bit of horse piss?"

She pointed at the two drunks' noses, her face red with anger.

"So what if she's a waitress? Does being a waitress mean she deserves to be groped by you?!"

One of the men, with a buzz cut, grew impatient at the scolding and waved his hand unsteadily.

"Damn it, so noisy."

"What's it to you?"

The other man, who had semi-long hair, moved his lecherous eyes from the trembling waitress to Lan Qingyu's indignant face.

He gave a sleazy, mocking chuckle.

"What?"

"Little sister, we took a liking to her and not you, are you jealous?"

Lan Qingyu trembled with rage at the vulgar remark.

She pointed at the Long-haired man, her voice shaking.

"You're absolutely shameless!"

Instead of getting angry, the Long-haired man's smile became even more lecherous.

His drunken eyes swept shamelessly over Lan Qingyu and Wu Xiuxiu.

"Heh, I've seen plenty of women like you."

"What's with the act?"

He took a step closer, a heavy stench of alcohol wafting over. "If you know what's good for you tonight, don't meddle in other people's business."

He paused, his gaze circling the three girls' faces, his smile growing increasingly foul.

"Of course, if you really want to meddle..."

"Then it wouldn't be so bad if you three little chicks accompanied the two of us."

He stuck out his tongue and licked his dry lips. "Don't worry, I'll let you taste what a real man is like."

As soon as he finished, the Buzz-cut man let out a series of raspy, sinister laughs.

The two men looked at each other, their laughter filled with undisguised lust and malice.

Wu Xiuxiu and Lan Qingyu's faces instantly flushed with anger, then slowly turned pale.

One was the heiress of Lantu Group, and the other was the jewel of the Wu Group.

Since they were children, who around them hadn't pampered and respected them?

When had they ever suffered such blatant humiliation and threats!

The waitress they were protecting saw the two girls trembling with rage, her face filled with worry and guilt.