Young men from the Five Tombs, east of the Golden Market, on silver saddles and white horses, ride through the spring breeze. Chapter 99: The Soirée (1)

Fang Yu drove to the Western restaurant where he had originally planned to have dinner with Qin Lu. It was one of the finest places in Xianjiang at the time, and a bill of three to five hundred per person put it well beyond the reach of many.

"It's so pretty here. I've never been here before. I didn't even know there was a place like this in the city center." The girl took off her coat at once, and a waiter hurried over to hang it up for her, sneaking another glance at the lovely young woman.

"Make sure you don't catch a chill," he muttered.

"Hmph. It's Christmas Eve today, so of course I have to make you look good." Xia Churan tossed her long hair with a proud little lift of her chin.

Appetizers, salad, main course, dessert, and one dish after another of Western fare left the girl dazzled. She held her knife and fork timidly, not daring to make a move.

"What is it? Don't you like it?" He thought Xia Churan simply disliked this kind of food.

"Um... Fang Yu, I don't know how. I've never eaten Western food before." Her voice was a little aggrieved.

His heart softened. This girl wasn't from a wealthy family. If she had never met him, then no matter how beautiful she was, she might still have been unable to escape her mother's plan to trade her off for her younger brother's bride price.

"Here, I've cut it up for you. Eat." He carefully sliced the steak on her plate into bite-sized pieces.

"Hee hee, thank you, Fang Yu."

The meal went by neither fast nor slow. When the clock pointed to eight, the two of them finally walked out of the restaurant. Fang Yu patted her head.

"So, where do you want to go next?"

Xia Churan buried her face against his chest and answered in a muffled voice, "Fang Yu, the New Year's gala is in a few days. Will you come watch me perform?"

"A gala? Our lousy vocational college has a gala too?"

"Of course. We have one every year."

He thought about it and still did not agree right away.

"Hard to say. When the holiday comes in a few days, business at the internet cafe will be especially good. I may not be able to get away."

The girl shoved him away in a sulk.

"You jerk, you only ever think about that lousy internet cafe of yours. I'm sleepy. I'm going back to sleep!"

Fang Yu drove her back to the school. Only after watching her enter the gate did he take out his phone and call his white moonlight.

"Lu Lu, New Year's is in two days, right? Do you want to spend it with me?"

Qin Lu sounded very wronged on the other end of the line.

"Wah, I want to spend New Year's with you too, but the department insists on putting on some sort of welcome gala, and they even made Senior Sister Si Ying and me handle logistics. I may not have time."

His face fell at once.

"What the hell is wrong with them? Is the department head bored out of his mind? Why throw together a gala for no reason? Damn it."

Seeing him lose his temper, the girl felt awkward.

"Fang Yu, don't be angry, okay? Then I'll keep you company on New Year's Day."

"Mmm, I'm not angry. All right, get some rest early. I'll come pick you up first thing on New Year's Day."

After exchanging a few sweet words with the girl, he finally began to feel tired. He took a comfortable hot shower and fell into a deep sleep.

Blue Sea Academy was no first-rate institution, so the schedule was relaxed as well. By the end of the month, most students had already finished their final exams and were simply waiting for the gala to be over so winter break could begin.

Business at the internet cafe was booming these days. Not to mention anything else, even Fang Yu himself had to queue up if he wanted to get online.

Freed from academic pressure, Xia Churan came to the internet cafe every day around noon, knowing that Fang Yu usually arrived at that time.

"Fang Yu, come on, accompany me to rehearsal, okay?"

"Hm? A performance? You're going to perform too?"

"Mm-hm. I'm the beauty of the Foreign Languages Department, of course I have a program." The girl lifted her chin proudly.

"Oh? So the Foreign Languages Department is full of beauties. Boss Fang, can I go have a look?" Lu Zhen perked up immediately at the news.

"Then why don't you just go with Churan?"

"Tsk, tsk, I wouldn't dare. If I do, Boss Fang might break my legs later, and that'd be a joke." Lu Zhen was very clear-headed; he knew he had no chance with a girl like Xia Churan.

"What about you, Cheng Chen? Going or not?"

"I'm good either way. Hanging around the internet cafe all day gets boring, so I might as well go take a look." Cheng Chen rarely showed so much interest.

"Fine then. Zhao Bin can watch the cafe, and we'll go have a look at the auditorium." Fang Yu nodded and called over Cheng Chen and the others nearby.

"I don't want to walk there. It's too cold." As soon as they left the internet cafe, the two girls could not help shrinking their necks.

"Mm, it is a bit cold. Get in the car." He took out the key and started the 640.

The two cars roared toward the school gate, where the elderly security guard beamed and hurried to open the gate for them.

A fair number of students had already gathered outside the auditorium. Those with performances had come to rehearse, and those without had come for the fun of it.

"Look, Fang Yu and the others are here. Hiss, Xia Churan really has hooked herself a rich man. She's with Fang Yu every day coming and going. No wonder she looked down on Zhu Wei."

"Exactly. How can a cheap scooter compare with a BMW sports car?"

"You're all behind the times. I heard Xia Churan has already moved in with Fang Yu."

"Hey, look, that slightly shorter boy doesn't have a date. Tsk, maybe, sisters, should we give it a try?"

Under the gazes of the crowd, Fang Yu and the others entered the auditorium and took seats in the front row. Xia Churan looped her arm through his with a smile.

"Well then, Fang Yu, wait for me a bit. I'm going to change clothes."

"Hm? Change clothes? Are you putting on a fashion show?"

"What fashion show? If you're performing, of course you have to change into a stage costume."

Xia Churan was scheduled to go on third in the program list, while Li Jing and several other girls from the song-and-dance club were sixth.

Just as the girl went backstage to change, Zhu Wei's voice rang out from the auditorium entrance.

"Move, move aside. Where's Xia Churan?"

"Oh? Young Master Zhu is here?" Fang Yu called out teasingly toward the entrance.

Zhu Wei's expression changed completely. On ordinary days Fang Yu rarely came to school, spending most of his time lurking around the snack street. Even though he had been humiliated last time, at least they did not usually run into each other. He had not expected bad luck to bring them face to face in the auditorium today.

"Oh, Young Master Zhu, you didn't ride over on your top-class scooter? Your face is red from the cold," Cheng Chen added with just the right amount of mockery.

At this moment Zhu Wei felt both embarrassed and irritated, yet he had no real way to deal with Fang Yu. Fight him? He was no match. Compare money? That 640 of his was worth more than a hundred of Zhu Wei's scooters.

Fortunately, Zhu Wei had come prepared. He glanced at the bouquet of flowers in the hands of the flunky behind him and immediately found his courage again.

"Damn it, I came to cheer for Xia Churan. Tsk, Fang Yu, didn't you say you were rich? How come you couldn't even afford a bouquet of flowers?"

"You dare bring out a dozen-odd flowers and call that a bouquet?" Fang Yu laughed as he looked at the flowers in the flunky's hands. At best there were only about twenty stems.

"What's going on? Why so noisy?" Xia Churan had come out after changing into her performance dress. The one-shoulder little dress outlined the girl's voluptuous figure to perfection, and her black hair had been coiled high atop her head. Her exquisitely defined collarbones, together with that pale swanlike neck, made her entirely worthy of her reputation as the Foreign Languages Department beauty.