The car drove directly into the underground parking garage, and running away now seemed out of the question.
A group of people followed Old Zhou onto the elevator, went up to the fourth floor, and continued walking down the corridor. Huang Jingyu pulled on Bailiang, who was maintaining an expression of complete composure and looking around at the sights.
"Why are you so thick-skinned? Something's not right about this!"
"Huh? What's not right?"
"Old Zhou is probably dragging us here to be host boys... You willing to do this kind of work?"
Bailiang paused, then smacked his fist into his palm. "We should've told Xiaoliu. Isn't he doing this part-time lately? It's right up his alley!"
Xiaoliu was Bailiang and Huang Jingyu's other roommate.
Lately, he lived like a nocturnal creature and had barely been seen around.
Chances were high he had gone off to work the nightlife scene.
So Bailiang's comment about it being right up his alley was actually spot on.
Yet Huang Jingyu felt like his buddy had some serious mental issues!
Bro, how could your thought process possibly be this bizarre?! Weren't you worried there'd be a bunch of semi-retired Tiger tanks waiting for you in that private room?!
My brother, why aren't you running away?
Bailiang: Because I'm not scared.
Considering his own luck combined with his financial situation, Bailiang suspected there might be a super wealthy heiress waiting inside, ready to shove another mouthful of delicious, soft-rice sustenance right down his throat.
Who could blame him when he was strapped for cash right now?
In the end, Huang Jingyu never found an opportunity to run. Model agent Old Zhou stood right there in the corridor, watching them file one by one into the oversized VIP private room.
However, the situation inside wasn't quite as dire as imagined.
At least they weren't lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and forced to bow and shout, "Good evening, Bosses."
The interior of the private room was lightly decorated, suggesting someone was celebrating a birthday today.
Before their arrival, there were only three middle-aged women inside.
While they weren't the semi-retired Tiger tanks he had imagined, their looks and figures weren't quite old Bentleys either; at best, they were fairly well-maintained and possessed a bit of class.
Under Old Zhou's introductions, everyone found seats for themselves.
Those who were bolder and didn't want to struggle sat closer to the older women, while those who just wanted to collect an eight-hundred-yuan appearance fee found a corner to hunker down in.
Before Huang Jingyu could find a suitable spot for himself, he noticed that Bailiang had already sat his ass down.
He was even holding one of those plastic KTV noisemakers that rattled when shaken, already using it to cheer on the woman who was singing.
Good grief, a professional hype man, huh?
What a waste not to be a host.
Huang Jingyu quickly sat down next to him, resigning himself to toughing out the shift for the rest of the evening.
This eight-hundred yuan really wasn't easy to earn.
Then he watched as Bailiang very naturally started feasting on the fruit platter.
"Aren't you eating? It's actually pretty fresh." Bailiang issued an invitation to raid the fruit platter.
"You... whatever, I'll have some too."
Truth be told, the watermelon was really sweet!
Bailiang's attitude of wherever you fall down is where you lie down to take a nap was actually quite contagious.
Before long, Huang Jingyu almost forgot their current predicament, and the two of them even started on a second fruit platter.
"These two young men really can eat!"
With watermelon still stuffed in his mouth, Huang Jingyu froze, his neck stiff as he turned it slightly.
That remark just now had been spoken into a microphone, and it was loud as hell.
Public execution!
He was completely numb, which allowed Bailiang to successfully claim the very last piece of watermelon from the second platter!
A sneak attack!
When guys ate, fighting over food like this somehow made it much more appetizing. Bailiang remarked that having a raiding partner like Huang Jingyu really made his appetite soar.
As for the middle-aged woman who had just called them out, she didn't press the issue any further, seeming to just toss out a casual tease.
Still, Huang Jingyu didn't quite dare to keep eating; that had already drawn too much attention.
Consequently, Bailiang seemed to set his sights on the snacks on the table.
Fortunately, he didn't go criminally insane and target the unboxed birthday cake.
The two of them truly hadn't eaten dinner before coming over because they had originally expected to do work that involved taking promotional photos.
As a result, their stomachs were growling with hunger.
Yet Huang Jingyu honestly couldn't believe Bailiang was so unfazed that he still dared to snack after getting called out.
Just then, another peer got up to go to the restroom. As the guy moved, Bailiang suddenly patted Huang Jingyu. "Come on, let's go to the restroom!"
"I don't even need to go yet..."
"Let's go out for some fresh air."
"Let's move!"
Once they were out of the private room, Bailiang—whose expression had just been relaxed and gentle—suddenly lowered his voice. "Go take out that kid who walked out ahead of us!"
Huang Jingyu: "???"
"Huh?"
"Don't you want to debut as a star? That guy was using his phone to secretly take photos inside the private room just now, and I saw the camera angle seemed to catch us in it... You don't want to get smeared as a former host after you become a star, do you?"
That single sentence instantly pushed Huang Jingyu's anger into the red!
There was something he actually hadn't told Bailiang.
The reason he had recently started taking the entertainment industry seriously was because a friend had introduced him to audition for a production crew in Beijing next month.
That drama was still in the preparatory stages, but Huang Jingyu's photos and resume had already been shown to them, and he heard the original author and screenwriter were very satisfied with him...
Of course he hadn't mentioned these things to Bailiang; their relationship hadn't been that close before.
But right now... the feeling of someone caring about your matters, even if it was just a casual mention, gave him quite a buzz.
Huang Jingyu: I really deserve to die!
"Hurry up and go! Your Brazilian jiu-jitsu is finally going to come in handy—put him in a rear-naked choke!" Bailiang looked eager to try, seemingly quite interested in the impending spectacle.
Facts proved that the Brazilian jiu-jitsu Huang Jingyu practiced really did have some chops.
Catching the guy completely off guard, he really did manage to subdue him in a single move.
The most crucial part was that he only immobilized him without causing any injury.
And the clever Bailiang naturally went to fetch Old Zhou, because that kid's phone had a passcode, and he certainly couldn't commit any illegal acts.
"You two did a good job on this!"
Inside some unoccupied private room, model agent Old Zhou patted Bailiang's shoulder in deep appreciation after viewing the photos captured on the kid's phone.
By the way, he glared fiercely at the stealthy photographer!
Damn it, fun is fun and games are games, but no taking photos in entertainment venues!
If word of this got out, how was he, Old Zhou, supposed to survive in the modeling circle? How was he supposed to organize events?
"Don't either of you say a word about this. Here, I'll send you both a five-thousand-yuan red envelope... Later on, I'll introduce you to Sister Yang. She's a well-known agent in the entertainment industry. If she takes a fancy to you, who knows, you might soar straight to the top!"
This was hush money.
As for soaring to the top and all that, adults understood how it went—it was just drawing a pie in the sky to keep them full of hope.
However, Bailiang—who had lagged slightly behind in delivering the warning—scratched his head somewhat sheepishly at this moment. "Well, Brother Zhou, what you said before I accepted the money—that shouldn't count as 'not saying a word,' right? You'd better get ready."
Old Zhou: "???"
Get ready? Get ready for what?
Click, click, click.
At that moment, the sound of high heels striking the floor echoed down the corridor!
What the hell, you scheming bastard!
Then he laid eyes on the true VIP of tonight's gathering—the protagonist of the birthday banquet.
There was one thing Old Zhou hadn't fooled Bailiang and the others about: this Sister Yang truly was a prominent agent in the entertainment industry, and she had even managed Zhang Ziyi.
"Ding-dong."
Bailiang collected a WeChat transfer of five thousand yuan, and didn't forget to split two thousand five hundred with Huang Jingyu.
At the same time, he looked at Old Zhou with an innocent expression and said very politely, "Thank you."
Someone really did come delivering money today, after all~