This remark momentarily rescued Song Xi from her predicament, sparing her from standing awkwardly like a fool right in the center of the room.
She hurried over to sit down beside Gu Lishang.
Gu Lishang had not instructed her to do anything specific, but Song Xi possessed at least that much situational awareness. Looking around the table, she quickly grabbed the most expensive bottle of liquor and poured a glass for the empty goblet in front of Gu Lishang.
Logically speaking, Gu Lishang and the others had arrived quite a while ago. Yet strangely, the glass in front of him was still completely empty—not empty because he had finished drinking, but empty because no one had poured a single drop into it, as not a single streak of alcohol clung to the sides of the rim.
Once Song Xi finished pouring, Gu Lishang picked up the glass and took a sip, giving her plenty of face.
Xie Qian teased, "Well, what do you know? He won't drink unless this young lady pours it for him. Making it out to be so special—does the wine she pours somehow taste more fragrant than anyone else's?"
Prompted by this thought, Xie Qian could not help his lingering curiosity.
"How about you pour me a glass, too?"
As a waitress, Song Xi naturally could not refuse such a request. She was just about to stand up and pour Xie Qian a drink when Gu Lishang stopped her.
"Ignore him."
"..."
Song Xi pressed her lips together in embarrassment.
Xie Qian was also a very important guest to her; would it really be all right to just ignore him?
Fortunately, Xie Qian did not make things difficult for her, laughing cheerfully as he said, "Fine, fine. As long as you serve Brother Shang well, idlers like us will take care of ourselves. No need for you to bother."
Though his words carried a slight edge of sarcasm, there was no genuine malice behind them.
Xie Qian continued, "That woman is really in for it now. Of all things to do, she just had to go out of her way to pull those little stunts. She can probably forget about ever working in any entertainment venue again. Once people know she crossed my Brother Shang, who would dare hire her? From now on, she'll probably be stuck doing odd jobs at some rundown little factory."
Song Xi thought to herself that crossing Gu Lishang certainly carried severe consequences.
She would definitely have to be much more careful from now on!
The private room returned to its previous relaxed and cheerful atmosphere.
The mood between the two of them remained as calm and harmonious as ever, until Gu Lishang took the initiative to speak.
"Song Xi?"
"Yes."
Song Xi nodded obediently.
"To be honest, you're the first woman who has ever bought me food."
"Huh?"
Song Xi lowered her head, inevitably thinking of what had happened last night.
Yet logically speaking, Gu Lishang should not have known she was that woman from last night.
"Thank you for the late-night snack the other night."
"Huh???"
Song Xi was noticeably nervous, though she tried her best to look blank and bewildered.
However, the extra force with which her small hand clenched the bottle betrayed her.
Gu Lishang took it all in.
"You were the one who brought me late-night snacks that day, weren't you? We had just met, yet you turned around and pretended you'd never seen me before. Not bad acting."
Song Xi kept her head down in silence.
She had no idea how Gu Lishang had figured it out. She had clearly kept her mask on the entire time and never once took it off.
Seeming to read Song Xi's confusion, Gu Lishang spoke again.
"When you came to the villa last time, I heard her call your name—Xiaoxi."
By "her," he must have meant Huang Liuer.
So it turned out her own name had given her away.
At this point, continuing to play dead would be somewhat impolite, so Song Xi quickly spoke up. "I didn't say anything at the time, and besides, one must have professional ethics when working. I couldn't always be thinking about trying to cozy up to the customers..."
Gu Lishang chuckled.
She was elevating this all the way to professional ethics?
Upon careful reflection, they really hadn't discussed anything that happened at the entertainment venue back then. Song Xi hadn't exactly lied; at worst, she just hadn't spoken up.
"Fine, my misunderstanding then." Gu Lishang was quite willing to offer her a way out.
Song Xi had initially worried that Gu Lishang would be displeased once this matter was exposed. After all, with Sun Xiaoyu serving as a cautionary tale right before her eyes, if she lost this job, she would really be reduced to drinking the northwest wind.
Yet she found that Gu Lishang did not seem to take the matter to heart at all. He looked to be in a very good mood, almost as if something worth celebrating had happened.
Was there anything worth celebrating?
There probably was.
Out of the blue, Song Xi asked, "How did you figure out that person wasn't me?"
"Intuition."
"..."
Such a fine intuition.
Song Xi thought to herself that if Gu Lishang's intuition really was that accurate, how could he possibly not have known she was the person from that night?
He was definitely talking nonsense!
Still, she didn't want to press the issue further. Nothing was more practical than pouring a bit more expensive liquor for Gu Lishang and earning a bigger bonus.
***
Sun Xiaoyu was swept out the door in utter wretchedness.
Standing at the entrance of the entertainment venue and staring at the luxurious, glittering lobby, she felt a lingering resentment. But the most important thing right now was to get her money; otherwise, she wouldn't know how to explain things to her boyfriend.
She pulled out her phone and dialed Huang Liuer's number.
The call connected, and before Huang Liuer could speak, Sun Xiaoyu blurted out, "I want to see two million in my account by tomorrow. If I don't see the money, I'll have no choice but to tell Lord Shang the truth. I mean it."
"Are you out of your mind?! Where am I supposed to get two million just like that?!"
"That's not my problem. I've already offended Lord Shang, and since things have come to this anyway, I might as well smash the pot and be done with it. You're different—you've only been living your days of luxury and wealth for a few days now. If you're suddenly dropped from heaven down to the bottom, how could you possibly take it?"
"You...!"
Huang Liuer was so furious she wanted to curse, but she ultimately swallowed it back. To keep living her good life right now, she had to keep Sun Xiaoyu steady. "I get it. I'll get it to you as soon as possible."
"Oh, right. Let me kindly remind you again: if you don't keep a better eye on your sugar daddy, he's really going to get stolen away by Song Xi. I truly never expected that little minx to look so innocent while actually having such high-level tricks up her sleeve."
Sun Xiaoyu spoke this way simply to stir up Huang Liuer's anger; she would love nothing more than to watch best friends tear each other apart.
Yet unexpectedly, Huang Liuer's immediate response was, "You're just jealous of others because you're incompetent. You're only fit to stick with your worthless man."
"Huang Liuer, do you believe I'll go tell Lord Shang the truth right now?!"
"If you want your money, shut your mouth!"
Sun Xiaoyu never imagined that Huang Liuer would show more spine than she did.
She genuinely needed the money, so no matter how angry she was, she couldn't actually tell Gu Lishang the truth. This was her last remaining bargaining chip.
In the end, Sun Xiaoyu could only leave behind a parting shot to vent her frustration: "When your sugar daddy gets poached away, I'll be waiting to see how you cry!"
***
Today, Song Xi had pocketed another two thousand in tips and nearly ten thousand in liquor sales commission. If she could make days like this every single day, Song Xi figured she would have become a wealthy woman long ago.
She never expected liquor sales to be so lucrative.
After handing over her bonus, the floor manager couldn't help teasing, "I see you have quite a talent for liquor sales. Would you like to consider pursuing this path full-time in the future?"
Having managed to wrap Gu Lishang—whom no one else could handle—around her finger so completely that he insisted on having her and nobody else, the floor manager felt Song Xi might actually be able to take over Sun Xiaoyu's position.
Song Xi smiled and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Sister Chen, I'm only here for a part-time job. Once school starts, I probably won't have time to come in and work anymore."
"Look at you—you can make ten thousand a day now. Can going to school earn you more than this?"
"Still, I want to finish my education."
"Sigh... What a waste."
The manager sighed and walked away, though she didn't press the matter further.
Just as Song Xi finished tidying up her things and prepared to leave, she suddenly received a message from Huang Liuer.
Huang Liuer: [Did you swindle Lord Shang out of money today?]