4: Chapter 4 Watching the Show

Wang Pengfei called the car, and it pulled up in front of the "Echo" bar.

Wang Pengfei paid the fare, and the four of them got out.

The neon lights at the bar entrance were bright, and the muffled sound of music drifted out from behind the doors.

Pushing open the doors, the noise suddenly swelled, and the air grew much warmer, thick with the scent of alcohol, perfume, and other smells.

The lighting was dim, flashing with various colors; the dance floor was packed with people dancing together, and the booth area was full, creating a noisy atmosphere.

Wang Pengfei, having sharp eyes, pointed to a booth in the corner and said they were over there.

The booth had a semi-circular sofa where several girls were sitting.

Chen Youhua recognized three of them from the photos.

There was Feifei in a red dress with curly hair, Sisi in a plaid shirt with glasses and a ponytail, and Xiao Yuan in a white dress with dimples when she smiled.

There were also two girls he didn't know: one wearing shorts and a tank top, and another with short hair and black-rimmed glasses, who was looking down at her phone.

Wang Pengfei sat directly next to Feifei and greeted her with a smile.

Zhao Lei naturally took the empty seat next to Sisi.

Li Fan hesitated for a moment before sitting next to Xiao Yuan and whispering a "Hi."

Only a small single-seater sofa next to the short-haired girl looking at her phone remained in the booth area.

Chen Youhua walked over and sat down.

Seeing him, Feifei smiled and said loudly,

"Yo, the top student is here too?" Her voice was a bit muffled by the music.

Chen Youhua nodded and replied with a simple "Yeah."

Wang Pengfei said to the short-haired girl,

"Xiao Wen, this is Chen Youhua from our dorm; he studies biology."

Then he said to Chen Youhua, "Xiao Wen, Sisi's roommate, she's a law student."

Xiao Wen looked up, pushed up her glasses, glanced at Chen Youhua, gave a short "Mm," and went back to her phone.

Chen Youhua didn't say anything else.

Drinks and snacks were quickly served.

Wang Pengfei picked up the dice cup and started shaking it, inviting everyone to join in.

Feifei and the girl in the tank top and shorts responded quickly, shaking dice and calling out numbers loudly.

Later, they started playing Truth or Dare; Wang Pengfei lost and was penalized with push-ups, sparking a round of laughter and teasing.

Zhao Lei and Sisi sat quite close, talking softly amidst the music and occasionally sharing a laugh.

Li Fan and Xiao Yuan were also playing dice; Li Fan looked a bit nervous with sweat on his forehead, while Xiao Yuan's face was flushed, and the two played at a slower pace.

Chen Youhua sat in the single-seater sofa in the corner.

A glass of beer sat before him, but he hardly drank any.

There were watermelons and cantaloupes in the fruit platter, and he occasionally picked up a piece with a toothpick.

Most of the time, he just sat there, watching the others in the booth play, looking at the swaying figures on the dance floor, or simply staring blankly at the flickering beams of light.

He felt no particular emotional stirrings.

Wang Pengfei was lively, Zhao Lei was steady, Li Fan was nervous, Feifei was great at setting the mood, Sisi didn't say much but was clear-headed, Xiao Yuan was shy, Lili was very outgoing, and Xiao Wen remained quiet throughout.

He saw it all, but he was merely an observer.

A sense of superiority?

No, it wasn't that.

Ever since he obtained the system in high school, he seemed to have lost interest in everything else.

As long as he was on the path of progress, he could continuously gain joy and happiness.

Human emotions are nothing more than hormonal regulation.

There are simple ways to trigger dopamine secretion, and then there are the exceptionally difficult ones.

The simple ones are like this.

If he could briefly set aside his studies, his stubbornness, and the goals in his heart...

...he could gain a massive surge of emotions through alcohol and this lively atmosphere in the bar.

It could relieve the fatigue and pressure brought about by his constant, relentless advancement.

But he couldn't let go.

Not even for a fleeting moment.

Even while out with his classmates now, his mind was on Professor Zhang's project, only sparing a bit of energy to observe his surroundings.

Coming to the bar was merely to maintain basic social relationships.

At the same time, he had always harbored a sliver of curiosity about bars, as people often spoke of them.

Now that he was here, he realized it was nothing special.

Once enough time had passed, he could leave.

His fingers unconsciously traced the cold beer glass as his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Professor Zhang Zhenhua's public lecture next week was on the cytoskeleton.

He had previously read one of the professor's papers; some data points regarding Rho GTPase's regulation of cell movement seemed to warrant further investigation.

If he could enter Professor Zhang's laboratory and use those more advanced microscopes, he might be able to more quickly verify his ideas about how microtubule dynamics affect Cell migration efficiency.

These concrete problems that needed solving were far more interesting than the noise in the bar.

Xiao Wen seemed to glance over at him again.

Chen Youhua didn't pay it any mind.

He picked up his glass and let the beer touch his lips; it was ice-cold.

It was about time.

He thought about finding a moment when they were deeply engrossed in their games to say he was leaving.

The sounds and lights of the bar felt very distant from him.

The games in the booth continued.

The sound of Wang Pengfei shaking the dice was loud, and the laughter of Feifei and Lili was sharp.

Zhao Lei and Sisi were whispering something amidst the music. Li Fan and Xiao Yuan were still playing dice, and Li Fan still looked very nervous.

Xiao Wen looked down at her phone.

Chen Youhua picked up a piece of watermelon and had just put it in his mouth.

Suddenly, a sharp, crashing "Clatter—Bang!" exploded not far from their booth.

Everyone was startled and whipped their heads around to look.

At another small booth about two or three meters away, a small round table had been completely overturned.

Glass cups, bottles, fruit platters, and snacks were scattered everywhere; shards, alcohol, and fruit were mixed in a complete mess.

Where the table had fallen, several people stood in a tense standoff.

A boy who looked quite clean, like a college student, had a flushed face and a heaving chest; he was staring intently at a fashionably dressed girl with exquisite makeup on the booth's sofa.

The boy was surrounded by several people who seemed to be his companions or bar staff trying to hold him back, but he struggled to break free, his eyes fixed solely on the girl.

"You told me goodnight! You said you were going to sleep! I wanted to call you before bed, but you didn't pick up! You said goodnight and then vanished!"

The boy's voice was loud and trembling with emotion, drowning out the bar's background music; people from several surrounding tables looked over.

"I was worried about you the whole time! I was afraid something had happened to you! My friend told me you were here, and I didn't fucking believe him! I spend all my allowance on you!"

"I buy you bags! I buy you lipstick! I give my all to get you whatever you want, and this is how you fucking treat me?!"

He was almost screaming, his voice filled with anger and the pain of being deceived.