Chapter 31: 31 - Engagement Party
Li Yun took a day off to return home on the weekend and attended Fatty Fang and Mu Lian's engagement party. The first day was relatively traditional with their parents, but on the second day, it was just a party between friends at the karaoke bar.
"How's life in Magic City?" asked Ju De, he hadn't seen his sister in awhile.
"Great, starting a small business with a friend," Xuxu replied. "But I'm also busy with my master's thesis, so I'll probably head out early."
"You have friends?" asked Bufu. "Female or male friend?"
"I will have you know, I have a healthy female relationship."
"Stop egging her," Li Yun glared at Bufu. "How have you been?"
"The usual. Just a lot of traveling to the headquarters."
"He doesn't hang out with us either," Ersan remarked and turned to Xuxu while passing along a portfolio. "Senior Xuxu, I will be graduating this year. Please hire me when I graduate."
Xuxu chuckled as she took the portfolio.
"You kids sure are sure growing up fast," Lao Bu sighed, recognizing his own age.
Everyone noticed Fatty and Mu Lian arriving.
"Here, here to our two lovely friends!" Lao Bu toasted first.
Everyone toasted and drank.
When it was time for Fatty Fang to sing, he did a long monologue over the track of Love Confession. By the end, he recited what he said to her when he asked her to marry him.
"Mu Lian, my lovely sweety pie," Fatty Fang announced into the microphone. "I never thought that my first girlfriend would also be my last for eternity. Thank you for picking me out of anyone else in this world."
Fatty Fang approached Mu Lian and they kissed.
"Why am I feeling nauseous?" Xuxu sneered as she drank a shot of tequila. "I can't believe I returned here just for this."
"I think it's cute," said Ju De, also taking a tequila shot.
"Those two lovebirds aren't going to stop, should we leave?" Bufu asked after finishing his shot.
Ersan and Beibei didn't seem to mind.
"Okay, that's it for me," Xuxu prepared to leave. "Congratulations Xiao Lian, and Fatty too."
Fatty Fang let go of Mu Lian and smiled happily. Mu Lian hugged Xuxu before she left, and everyone started drinking and singing again.
Unsurprisingly, Lao Bu was the first to be knocked out after a couple of drinks. His wife Tingting had to carry him back to the taxi.
Everyone knew he was pretending to escape the party and to pick up his daughter.
Later in the night, only Bufu and Ju De remained with Li Yun. The three of them had the best alcohol tolerance.
Bufu jumped over to Li Yun and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.
"Help me find someone," said Bufu. "And then you should find someone to have fun with."
"What happened to Shi An?" asked Li Yun out of habit, but he already knew. Bufu was the passionate type of lover who fell in love quickly, but fell out of love just as fast.
"Broke up last week," replied Bufu.
"You should know by now," said Ju De. "He's worse than you when it comes to relationships."
"But at least my relationship lasted more than a month," Li Yun took his last sip of beer.
"Your 5-7 months relationship is just as bad as his 1 month relationship. At least with Bufu we could ignore them, but with you we never know if we should ignore them or treat them as a sister-in-law," Ju De got up from his seat. "I'm going to sleep, you two have fun."
"Not going to stay?" Bufu asked.
"Unlike you, I have a girlfriend."
"How does he have a girlfriend and I don't?" Bufu complained.
"Maybe you have more problems than him?"
After Ju De left, Li Yun looked around the bar. It was always tricky to search for a girl suitable for Bufu. Based on Bufu's personality, it would be better to find him someone honest and bright. However, those types of women would be the worst after a breakup. The best bet would be a junior or senior college student with some experiences, and who had already gone through enough breakup that another one wouldn't be a big deal.
"Why do I feel like a s****** every time I help you find a girlfriend?" Li Yun asked.
"I thought you said women are resilient?" Bufu coyly asked.
"Only a resilient woman can deal with you."
"How about those girls?"
From the group that just arrived, the girl with a black dress was the best choice for him. She wasn't the best looking, but had the brightest personality. Li Yun whispered to Bufu, who immediately got up. Bufu had a natural advantage when it came to finding a girl, and never needed a wing man like the others.
Li Yun looked around the bar again. He wasn't sure if he wanted to find another girlfriend so soon.
His eyes settled on a woman sitting at the bar. Her face was immaculately sculpted by make-up and framed by a short bob. She exuded confidence.
Unfortunately, she was talking to a man at the bar. They were talking business, but it was full of innuendos.
The woman had a seductive look, and the man was completely smittened.
The man reached for her thigh and suggested they head to a hotel. The woman smiled.
"Mister Qin, it is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with your company, but your position is quite dependent on your wife's family," although she still had a seductive look, her words were a bit sharp. "You should be careful with what your secretary has hidden in her desk. Not the most flattering angles."
The man frowned, but then turned angry.
"I would be careful if I were you," she waved her hand toward a corner. "I heard they added more cameras to avoid lawsuits. Maybe you should do the same?"
The man got up quickly, fumbling his way out of the bar. She rolled her eyes, but then noticed that she was being watched.
As she looked around, their eyes meant. Her eyes looked curiously at him, but then turned flirty as she winked at him. She ordered a glass of wine from the bartender and then walked toward Li Yun.
"Hi, are you also alone?" she asked.
She had a bit of an accent, so it was likely that she was from aboard. Li Yun invited her to sit and they chatted for a bit. He learned that her name was Chu Rouxi.
"Are you here on business?" Li Yun asked her.
"Did the suitcase give it away?"
Li Yun nodded. He would be stupid to say he was lip reading and eavesdropping. "Are you getting used to how business works here?"
"Business dinners are a bit unusual, but I get free drinks, so I'm adjusting well."
"Are you in real estate?"
"Wow, you would make a good detective," she leaned in a bit closer and batted her eyes. "Since you're a doctor, it's probably a useful skill. Are you in western medicine or TCM?"
"Western medicine," he replied, but something else was on his mind. "How long are you staying?"
Her eyes looked down at her phone. "A few days… It's almost midnight, I should head back."
"Do you need an escort back?" He lent his hand to her as she got up from the couch.
"No, I'll probably get a hotel room across the street," her fingers seemed reluctant to let him go.
"Should I walk you across?"
It wasn't long before they headed toward a nearby hotel.
The next morning, Li Yun woke up alone, and contemplated on what had transpired.
"Ah F***," Li Yun cursed to himself as he rubbed his face and pushed his hair back.
It bothered him that his reading on Chu Rouxi was completely off.
His only excuse was that he momentarily lost his ability to think when she drank the wine and fed it to him from her mouth.
"F***," Li Yun cursed again.
He dialed his phone to ask Lao Bu to search for Chu Rouxi.
"So you want me to find the woman?" asked Lao Bu.
"Yes, she might have a record," Li Yun replied.
"What sort of record?"
"Most likely fraud and identity theft."
"She didn't take anything from you?"
"I don't have much on me."
"Okay, I will search in the database, but it's pretty limited. If she had traveled here a long time ago or if she traveled from another city, I may not be able to find her."
"It's fine," Li Yun hung up the phone, put on his clothes, and left the hotel, cursing the entire way out.
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