Chapter 162: Happy Birthday to You

Good grief.

So, it turns out Tian Kaixuan was perfectly fine.

He was just afraid that the Seattle Club would come after him, so he sold the bar for a pittance.

"Heh, I'm not bragging, but I orchestrated this whole thing. Red Rose will be out of business in a few days."

"As long as I give the word, Red Rose won't be able to stay in business, and they'll have to shut their doors the very next day."

Cui Jinghui laughed heartily, speaking of the matter with extreme pride.

"My Jinghui is so capable, unlike some people who can only be kept men."

Zheng Qian heard this, knew it was directed at him, and his expression darkened immediately: "What do you mean by that?"

Seeing Zheng Qian's hostile look, Cui Jinghui stepped in to defend Yu Nana: "What do you mean, what do I mean? Are you too stupid to understand?"

Shi Yuzhu read the room and immediately sensed that the situation was turning sour, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Today is Shanshan's birthday, after all. Why don't we start the celebration?"

Using Lu Shanshan's birthday as an excuse, Shi Yuzhu diverted the conversation to prevent the situation from escalating further.

Cui Jinghui shot Zheng Qian a dirty look but decided to let him off the hook for now.

Fine, he thought. So he's a kept man, and suddenly he dares to talk to Yu Nana like that?

Does he not know that Yu Nana is his girlfriend?

Once he was done with his business over the next few days, he'd have plenty of opportunities to mess with Zheng Qian in Yebai.

Back in college, Zheng Qian and Cui Jinghui had never gotten along. They had even argued before, also because of Yu Nana. At that time, Cui Jinghui had brought a group of people and almost beat Zheng Qian up, but Shi Yuzhu had intervened. Cui Jinghui had given Shi Yuzhu some face and spared Zheng Qian.

Zheng Qian felt he didn't need to give Cui Jinghui any face, but because Shi Yuzhu had intervened, the situation hadn't escalated.

Besides, this was Cui Jinghui's family's establishment; if a fight actually broke out, Zheng Qian wouldn't have the upper hand.

Afterwards, everyone ignored each other. They took turns singing to celebrate Lu Shanshan's birthday, but the microphone never made it to Zheng Qian.

Zheng Qian gradually began to feel out of place.

However, he didn't really mind. He, Cui Jinghui, and Yu Nana were never in the same circle to begin with, so it was normal that they didn't have much to talk about.

He listened attentively to Lu Shanshan singing; her voice was like that of a lark.

He had only come today because Shi Yuzhu had dragged him along; Zheng Qian hadn't intended to attend Lu Shanshan's birthday at all.

Zheng Qian had only told Shi Yuzhu about his secret crush on Lu Shanshan. Perhaps Shi Yuzhu had wanted him to reconnect with her, but he hadn't expected that Zheng Qian already had a girlfriend.

What annoyed Zheng Qian, however, was that Cui Jinghui and the others had been polite enough to offer him cigarettes at the start.

But after mistakenly thinking he was a kept man, they were almost ready to resort to violence.

Even Tang Xingyu and Lu Shanshan's gazes toward him had changed.

Only Shi Yuzhu occasionally spoke to him to keep things from getting too awkward.

In truth, having interacted with many girls, Zheng Qian no longer felt that same infatuation when he looked at Lu Shanshan.

Instead, he felt that among all the girls he'd known, Lu Shanshan's appearance and figure were quite average; she just came from a family with a bit of money.

In terms of figure and looks, Lu Shanshan couldn't compare to the sisters, Deng Yuqing and Deng Shuxin.

In terms of education, she couldn't compare to Xia Xixi.

In terms of capability, she couldn't compare to Xu Shuyun.

As for Zheng Qian's current girlfriend, Jin Lu, Lu Shanshan couldn't even be mentioned in the same breath. Jin Lu crushed Lu Shanshan in every aspect, leaving her in the dust by more than a few blocks.

The reason Zheng Qian had come to her birthday party today was, first, that he had been invited, and refusing would have made him seem arrogant.

Secondly, he wanted to put a proper end to his college youth and his secret crush on the school goddess.

Everything else was outside of Zheng Qian's considerations.

When everyone was tired of singing and had finished most of the drinks, a waiter carefully rolled over a five-tier cake.

The KTV playlist switched to "Happy Birthday."

The staff also carried several gifts that the group had prepared in advance.

Yu Nana gifted her an LV bag: "Shanshan, wishing you stay eighteen forever!"

Lu Shanshan covered her cherry lips, her eyes welling up with tears, looking deeply moved.

Cui Jinghui gifted her a women's watch: "Wishing you and someone special a happy ending soon, Shanshan!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Lu Shanshan's face turned crimson. Of course she knew who Cui Jinghui was talking about.

After all these years, she still hadn't been able to date Tang Xingyu and become his girlfriend, so naturally, he was talking about Tang Xingyu!

At the same time, she cast a secret glance at Tang Xingyu.

"Shanshan, every year from now on, I will spend this day with you."

This sentence was very ordinary, but coming from Tang Xingyu, it sounded a bit like a sweet confession of love.

Everyone saw him take a small square box from behind his back.

Everyone had assumed it was a ring.

Zheng Qian also thought it was a ring.

Lu Shanshan's heart raced. Was Tang Xingyu going to take this opportunity to confess to her?

She felt a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

To this day, she wasn't sure of Tang Xingyu's attitude toward her. Did he just see her as a good friend, or was it a mutual, unspoken crush?

A mutual, unspoken crush was a very painful thing.

When the box was opened, everyone realized that it wasn't a ring inside, but a diamond necklace.

"Shanshan, let me put it on for you."

Lu Shanshan nodded shyly: "Mm."

She thought to herself that it was a necklace, not a ring, which was a bit underwhelming.

However, this still counted as a big step forward between them, and it was better than just giving a luxury item.

She came from an excellent family background and wasn't lacking these things; what she lacked was sincerity.

Only at the very end did Shi Yuzhu find an opportunity to present the gift he had prepared: "Shanshan, it's just a small token. Please don't mind that it's not much."

Shi Yuzhu had gifted her a jade bracelet. Although it couldn't compare to those other expensive gifts, it still cost over ten thousand yuan, which was considered a very generous gift for someone from a family like Shi Yuzhu's.

Finally, only Zheng Qian was left.

Zheng Qian realized he had come in a rush and hadn't prepared any gifts.

"Shanshan, happy birthday."

"Everyone has gifts, but I didn't prepare anything. How about this: I'll pay for today's bill," Zheng Qian said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Before coming, he had been too focused on comparing cars with Cui Jinghui and had completely forgotten about preparing a gift.

Pay the bill?

Are you sure, kid?

Everyone snickered inwardly.

Shi Yuzhu quickly tried to smooth things over: "It's fine, Xiao Qian. You can just make up for it later. It's Shanshan's birthday; it wouldn't be right for you to pay the bill, right?"

He had hung out with this crowd long enough to know how high their spending was. The alcohol alone that they had ordered today was over one hundred thousand yuan, and with the Diamond Room fees and service charges, it was pushing toward one hundred twenty or one hundred thirty thousand yuan.

"It's okay, Xiao Qian. It doesn't matter if you have a gift or not. I can't let you pay for my birthday," Lu Shanshan also felt it wasn't appropriate.

It had been agreed from the start that they would come to this KTV, and since Cui Jinghui's family had shares here, they could get a discount.

If he were to pay the bill, judging by the scene the two of them had just caused, he probably wouldn't get any discount.

"Shanshan, if Zheng Qian wants to pay, just let him. He can't just come empty-handed and eat and drink for free, right?" Yu Nana added from the side.

"But..." Lu Shanshan just started to say something before Yu Nana stopped her with a look.

You want to pay the bill?

You want to show off in front of Lu Shanshan, don't you?

Fine, then we'll let you pay.

The total cost here could have been halved to only sixty thousand, but since Zheng Qian insisted on paying, he certainly wouldn't get that discount; the bill would be calculated at the full price.

Go ahead and pay, over one hundred twenty thousand.

Cui Jinghui really wanted to ask: If you use your girlfriend's card, won't she be angry when she finds out?