Chapter 5: Junhao KTV
At the exact same time Ji Feng turned off his phone and went to sleep, inside private room 902 of Junhao KTV, Gu Xueting was dangling her phone and looking smugly at the other girls.
"See? What did I tell you? As long as I call Ji Feng, he'll definitely come. Has there ever been an exception in all these years?"
The other girls, who had placed bets, wore helpless expressions and muttered quietly:
"This Ji Feng is really pathetic. His family has some money, yet he's willing to be Gu Xueting's spare tire day in and day out. I really have to hand it to him."
"Sigh, forget about him. At least it's not bad if he comes and pays the bill."
"Heh, true. I guess we're sharing the benefits of having a spare tire around."
Though the girls whispered among themselves, Gu Xueting caught every bit of it.
Despite the noisy environment of the KTV making it impossible to hear their exact words, she could guess most of it from their expressions.
Envy? Jealousy? And a hint of something else.
She loved this feeling of standing above everyone else. This was why, even after making her relationship with Yan Honghao public, she still kept Ji Feng on a string.
Only Ji Feng—who had some money, was obedient, and possessed a touch of street-punk influence—could give her this feeling of looking down on others.
She had originally intended to invite Yan Honghao tonight, but unfortunately, he had matters to attend to and couldn't make it, leaving her short of her most important audience member.
No matter, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
Gu Xueting selected the love song "Legend of the White Snake" on the machine and began to hum along softly.
With her pretty face and melodious voice, she certainly lived up to her reputation as the campus belle.
After she finished the song, the other girls—some genuinely, others feigned—joined in with applause and praise.
"Xueting sings so well."
Gu Xueting smiled, and then she selected a second song.
A third song, a fourth song...
The more she sang, the uglier Gu Xueting's expression became. She had already finished five songs, and Ji Feng still hadn't arrived?
The classmates down below had already begun whispering among themselves, occasionally letting out chuckles that didn't take much imagination to realize were mocking her.
"What on earth is this guy Ji Feng doing?"
Seething with anger, Gu Xueting pulled out her Apple 5, found "Ji Feng" in her contacts, and dialed the number.
"Hello, the number you have dialed is switched off. Please try again later.
Sorry, the number you..."
Refusing to believe it, she dialed again, but the familiar automated prompt remained exactly the same.
Gu Xueting had already started wondering if something had happened to Ji Feng on his way over. A car accident?
She had never imagined that Ji Feng would stand her up, that he would pull a stunt like this on her.
By now, it was past midnight, and the female classmates who had come out together began to leave one by one.
"Xueting, it's too late, we're heading out first."
"Yeah, we still have classes tomorrow."
"Is Ji Feng not coming after all?"
Hearing them say they were leaving hadn't fazed Gu Xueting much, but hearing someone suggest that Ji Feng might not come caused her to snap instantly, like a frightened cat.
"Impossible, it's impossible for Ji Feng not to come."
The girl opposite her was startled by the outburst and curled her lip.
"Oh, well you can stay here and wait for him then. We're leaving."
Watching her three classmates leave, Gu Xueting's expression flickered with uncertainty. The KTV's flashing lights fell upon her pale face, making her look like a painted clown.
"This guy Ji Feng..."
Gu Xueting gritted her back teeth until they almost shattered, yet she was utterly powerless.
She rummaged through her purse and called over a waiter.
"Waiter, bill please."
"Hello, the room charge, drinks, and snacks come to a total of 1925 yuan."
Nineteen hundred and twenty-five yuan was quite a substantial sum back in 2012.
Gu Xueting's family wasn't poor either, but she was only a student, and the allowance her family gave her came nowhere near that amount.
She had originally planned for Ji Feng to come and pay the tab.
Now that Ji Feng couldn't be reached, and she couldn't scrape together that much money herself, she found herself completely trapped in an awkward dilemma.
"Hold on just a moment, I need to make a phone call."
"Certainly, miss."
The waiter could tell Gu Xueting was in a tight spot, but as an employee of Junhao KTV, his professionalism was naturally above average.
Exposing a customer wouldn't benefit him in any way; he wasn't that foolish.
He would just sit back, watch the show, and wait.
Inside the room, Gu Xueting dialed Ji Feng's number twice more, but the result was naturally the same.
She had told her mother earlier that she was going over to a classmate's house to study; if she called her mother now, she would surely be chewed out unmercifully.
After turning it over in her mind, Gu Xueting finally shifted her gaze to the number of her newly made public boyfriend, Yan Honghao.
She dialed. There was neither a busy signal nor a powered-off prompt.
Gu Xueting's heart instantly warmed up.
"Honghao, can you come over and help me with something?"
"Xueting? Sorry, I'm a bit busy right now. I'm riding my bike, ugh... I'm hanging up first, see you tomorrow, Xueting."
"You're busy? You?"
Beep, beep, beep...
Listening to the busy tone on the line, Gu Xueting dialed again in disbelief.
Yet this time, the outcome was the same as Ji Feng's.
"Hello, the number you have dialed is switched off..."
Gu Xueting stood frozen in place, not knowing what to do for a moment.
After a long while, the waiter who had been waiting outside walked back in.
"Miss, would you like to settle the bill now?"
"C-can I pay a part of it first? The rest... I'll come back and bring it tomorrow."
When Gu Xueting said this, she practically wanted to bury her face inside her bag. In her view, she was being extremely sincere.
Yet she was met with the waiter's merciless refusal.
"Apologies, miss, we don't allow customers to run tabs like this."
"I'm not running a tab."
"Is there a difference?"
Meeting the waiter's direct gaze, Gu Xueting had no choice but to look away.
"He's just a waiter, what's so great about that?"
"A waiter isn't anything special, but guests still have to pay before they can leave."
The waiter maintained a smile as he spoke, but those words sounded like the deepest mockery to Gu Xueting's ears.
She took out her phone and placed it on the table.
"Leave this here, and I'll come back to pick it up tomorrow, okay?"
The waiter glanced at the Apple 5 on the table. A phone like that cost several thousand yuan; it was definitely enough as collateral, but he still shook his head.
"Sorry, miss, we cannot accept property of unknown origin."
It wasn't as if people hadn't left items as collateral before. While some were redeemed, there were also occasions when the rightful owners of stolen goods showed up and turned the whole thing into a massive mess.
KTVs feared trouble above all else, and the waiter had no desire for such a situation to arise, which was why he refused.
Yet this only made Gu Xueting's humiliation even worse.
This Apple 5 was the birthday gift Ji Feng had bought her previously, priced at over 5,000 yuan after markups.
"Then, how about this and this? Would that work?"
Having run out of options, Gu Xueting had no choice but to take out her student ID.
The student ID would verify her identity, and the phone would serve as collateral for the money.
That way, it would comply with the rules.
The waiter glanced over Gu Xueting's student ID, his expression turning serious.
"So you're a student at No. 1 High School. Very well, leave the things here; I won't touch them. You must bring the money tomorrow."
"Got it."
Gu Xueting grabbed her bag and strode out.
The events of tonight were simply too humiliating. Once she stepped outside Junhao KTV, she hurled her bag against the railing by the street:
"This Ji Feng... tomorrow, tomorrow I'll make sure he pays for this!"