Chapter 88: Local Cuisine

The wine glass struck him square on the forehead, snapping his head back.

The spicy liquor splashed all over his face.

The sudden turn of events startled Jia Jingwen and Xu Ruo, confused why Zhang Long had suddenly exploded.

That one blow to the head.

Instantly enraged the three men who had come with the tall guy.

They cursed and charged forward.

But in the next instant, their steps froze, their eyes darting in panic around them.

As the glass flew through the air, seven or eight young men in black suits rose simultaneously from two nearby booths, their eyes locked onto them—many even pulled back their coat hems.

Their hands gripped the hilts of blades beneath their jackets.

Li Luo, rising with them, caught a glint of cold steel.

If things turned even slightly wrong, these guys would charge without hesitation and start slashing wildly!

Fuck, we just came out for a drink.

Do we need to bring out knives?

The noise of the nightclub contrasted sharply with the quiet in the corner; seeing the tattooed thugs, the newcomers’ legs trembled, their heads spinning.

“Fuck!”

Wiping the wine off his face, the tall guy’s chest heaved with rage.

But as he moved to act, he sensed something was wrong, his throat working hard as he swallowed saliva.

To get into a fight in a nightclub.

He wasn’t afraid of that.

But crossing society types was an entirely different matter.

“Blackie?”

Seeing the disheveled guy, Jia Jingwen couldn’t help blurting out his nickname.

Hearing someone call his name,

Blackie squinted over—and when he saw Xu Ruo and Jia Jingwen, his panic eased slightly, but then he noticed Wu Dun sitting in the middle, smoking a cigar, his heart nearly stopped.

“You know him?”

Zhang Long, lifting the bottle to leave, frowned.

“I know him.”

Jia Jingwen was baffled, staring at Zhang Long in confusion: “That’s Blackie Chen Jianzhou—he’s supposed to be on your show in two days, right? What’s going on between you?”

Logically, you don’t even need to have dinner together!

Why did it come to blows?

Zhang Long had spent most of the past two years working on the mainland—he had no idea who Blackie Chen Jianzhou was.

With that reminder, Li Luo recognized the guy.

He also realized the man whose butt he’d half-grabbed earlier was Fan Wei, the singer of “Initial Dream.”

Hearing Jia Jingwen say she knew him,

Zhang Long’s lips twitched slightly as he shook his head to the side.

The men in black suits, receiving the signal, acted as if nothing had happened—releasing their grip on their blades, they returned to their booths, drinking, flirting with girls.

When they first arrived, Li Luo had noticed these men.

One or two might be coincidence.

A whole group of men in black suits coming to a nightclub to drink? He didn’t believe for a second they weren’t with Wu Zong.

Chen Jianzhou had lost all his earlier bravado; ordinary thugs didn’t scare him, but the man sitting there—even his boss would treat him with utmost respect.

“Wu Zong.”

He walked forward boldly, bowing deeply: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

He bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.

And held the posture.

He had no choice but to bow—if he angered Wu Zong, who knew what might happen?

Chen Jianzhou had good connections.

But frankly, he was just a variety show entertainer.

If a Hong Kong or Taiwan artist angered a big shot in the industry, no matter how big their status, it meant nothing—Zeng Zhiwei had deep standing in the Hong Kong scene, yet last year he was beaten black and blue.

The intimidation factor of Hong Kong society figures was no less.

“Oh?”

Wu Dun exhaled a smoke ring, smiling at Chen Jianzhou: “How did I not know you offended me?”

“I’m sorry.”

The other man shuddered, bowing even lower.

Jia Jingwen wanted to help.

But not knowing the full story, if there was truly a conflict with Zhang Long, she couldn’t interfere.

Xu Ruo felt the same.

She knew both Blackie and Fan Fan, but now she couldn’t say a word.

“Ah Long.”

Wu Dun flicked off ash, smiling as he shifted his gaze: “Did you get your anger out? If not, keep going—I’m here to drink, saw nothing.”

It’s just a variety show—find another one!

For him, it was as simple as making a phone call; society people sometimes had to let their subordinates feel satisfied.

“What anger do I have?”

Zhang Long lit a cigarette between his lips, the lighter clicking on.

“Huh~”

He blew a thick cloud of smoke directly into the face of the bowing Chen Jianzhou, scowling: “Fuck, it was just Li Luo bumping into your girl—did you think you could beat him up?”

“Young man, don’t get too cocky!”

Understanding what happened, Jia Jingwen gave Li Luo a look.

Signaling him to step in and smooth things over.

In truth, this guy had come to defend him—Li Luo was stuck; he couldn’t just step forward and undermine him, that would be unforgivable!

“Li Luo.”

After muttering a few curses, Zhang Long, cigarette in mouth, looked across: “You decide.”

Back at the betel nut shop today,

Li Luo had sincerely apologized to the betel nut girl for an innocent slip.

At the time, he’d seemed indifferent, but Zhang Long had genuinely liked Li Luo’s character because of that small act—hence why he’d come to pick him up tonight, and now he didn’t mind helping him save face.

As Zhang Long finished speaking, every eye turned to Li Luo.

Not only did Jia Jingwen quickly signal him, but Xu Ruo even tugged gently at his sleeve.

Among the crowd, Fan Wei bit her lip.

She watched Li Luo anxiously.

She’d tried to stop Blackie earlier, but couldn’t talk him out of it—now they’d truly kicked a steel plate.

Since Zhang Long hadn’t mentioned him, Li Luo couldn’t just speak up.

How to handle it? How to calculate it?

After all,

He and Zhang Long hadn’t suffered a single loss.

They’d gained everything!

“Brother Jianzhou, right?”

He picked up two glasses of whiskey and walked straight to Chen Jianzhou: “This was just a misunderstanding—the dance floor was crowded, a bump happened by accident. Really, our meeting is fate.”

“How about a drink?”

“Yes, yes, meeting is fate!”

Chen Jianzhou straightened up, quickly accepting the whiskey with both hands: “Brother Luo, right? Call me Blackie—I was impulsive just now.”

“I’ll drink this first!”

In just a few moments, sweat covered his face.

He downed the strong liquor in one gulp.

Li Luo didn’t hesitate—he drank his own glass too.

We’re just out having fun.

No need to turn it into a brawl.

He wasn’t the type to use others’ power to bully people.

Chen Jianzhou didn’t stop.

He grabbed the bottle, refilled his glass with whiskey, apologized to Zhang Long, drank it down again, then raised a final glass to Wu Zong.

Regardless of anything else,

He handled the situation beautifully.

After three shots of strong liquor, no one said anything else.

“Blackie, sit down and join us.”

Jia Jing finally stepped in to smooth things over, waving her hand: “Call Wei Qi over too—we’re filming your show in a couple days. We’ve all gotten carried away, but we’re all friends.”

With the boss lady speaking, the atmosphere fully eased.

Almost everyone in this circle is flexible and adaptable, and Chen Jianzhou was no exception.

Especially since Wu Dun was sitting right here.

If you can build even a little connection, what happened earlier doesn’t matter a damn.

Shoo away a few lackeys.

This guy called Wei Qi over, and the two groups who had just been swinging fists now sat together drinking, and under Chen Jianzhou’s deliberate flattery, the mood grew even livelier.

“About what happened earlier.”

Li Luo leaned forward, placing his hand on Wei Qi’s: “Hope you don’t hold it against me.”

“Of course not.”

Wei Qi gripped Li Luo’s hand with a bit of pressure: “It was all just small stuff.”

She’d been pretty scared by the earlier scene too.

Li Luo brushed it off lightly.

All she felt now was gratitude, not a single word of complaint.

“You’re promoting *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber* on TV Three Idiots in a couple days, right?” Chen Jianzhou took the initiative, and after Li Luo nodded, he slapped his chest: “Leave it to me!”

“I’ll make sure you get full promotion.”

The schedule did include that, but who the hell knew we’d bump into the *Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber* crew so early?

And in such a humiliating way.

“If I had to guess, Brother Luo, you’re playing Zhang Wuji.”

Chen Jianzhou rubbed his shoulder and joked: “Only someone with that kind of martial skill could take me down with one move.”

Able to take it, able to let it go.

A real character.

Most people couldn’t swallow that pride.

After laughing with him a bit, Li Luo turned his attention to Xu Ruo, thinking: What’s there to talk about with a bunch of guys? Drinking with a homebody goddess was far more relaxing and fun.

The more they drank, the closer they grew.

Li Luo nearly held her in his arms, guiding her hand through various drinking games.

He was having the time of his life.

Looking down from above, most of the paparazzi were in plain sight.

Xu Ruo occasionally lifted her head, meeting his intense gaze with a playful expression—this sexy actress showed no sign of annoyance; he was tall, handsome, and no nobody.

Pressed against him, she felt solid blocks of muscle.

In these few aspects alone.

She wouldn’t mind having something interesting happen with Li Luo—though she wondered how good he was in bed.

Her purity was only on the outside.

But inside, she was restless!

At this moment, Li Luo recalled the countless late nights of his past life, thinking of the sexy actresses he’d stared at intently in front of the DVD player—now obediently leaning in his arms.

He shook the dice cup with greater force, grinning as he watched her soft, trembling body.

【Glory Unbounded, Dreams Made Real】

【Indulgence in Success】

【Reward: Performance Experience +20】

“I need to go.”

Finishing her beer, Xu Ruo leaned close to Li Luo’s ear and shouted: “I’m hungry—let’s hit the night market for something to eat. You coming?”

The first half.

Made him feel down.

The second half.

Lifted his spirits instantly.

Looks like he had plans for tonight—after all, they were both urban singles.

Some things didn’t need to be spelled out.

“Sure!”

Li Luo leaned close to her ear too: “It’s my first time in Wandao—take me to taste the local delicacies.”

“No problem.”

Xu Ruo extended her palm; they lightly slapped hands.

He signaled Wu Dun with a phone gesture, exchanged a knowing smile with Jia Jing, and as for Zhang Long—that guy had already been dragged off by a few girls, God knew where he’d gone wild.

“Let’s go eat.”

Xu Ruo turned to Wei Qi, miming chopsticks: “Join us?”

“No thanks.”

This was a rare chance to drink with a film giant—leaving now would make all his earlier suffering pointless. Before his girlfriend could speak, Chen Jianzhou waved them off: “You two go ahead—we’re not hungry.”

He crushed out his cigar and followed Xu Ruo out of the booth.

They headed straight for the back door.

Though this girl with her pure looks had spent years developing in Sakura Country, she was still quite well-known in Wandao, so to avoid harassment, she always used the VIP back entrance.

Outside, the midnight air revived Li Luo’s spirits.

He saw Xu Ruo straddle a black motorcycle.

His spirits lifted again.

She leaned forward over a motorcycle with massive muscle lines, her hips curving upward.

A long stretch of pale, smooth waist was exposed.

“So cool.”

He took the helmet she offered, circled the bike once, and asked: “Yamaha—what series is this? Are you sure you can handle it?”

Her small frame riding such a muscular beast.

There was a strange contrast to it.

“V-MAX.”

Xu Ruo confidently snapped on her red helmet, flipped up the transparent visor, and shook her head: “Don’t worry—I only had a few beers. Get on!”

Luckily, this woman really hadn’t drunk much.

Otherwise, Li Luo wouldn’t have dared sit behind her.

He put on the black helmet, sat firmly on the back seat, and gripped the tiny seat tightly.

“Hold onto my waist~”

Xu Ruo turned back, her eyes smiling behind the visor: “You’re not shy, are you? I didn’t see you shy just now!”

“Oh.”

Li Luo muttered a reply and reached his hands forward.

“You’re so annoying~”

She twisted her waist, turned back, and slapped his helmet playfully: “I said waist, not lightning—you mainland guy isn’t being good, you know~”

“Sorry.”

Li Luo chuckled and moved his hands lower, wrapping them around her slender waist: “You know I don’t understand your Taiwan dialect—these two words sound almost identical, right?”

“Bullshit~”

Warm hands circling her waist made Xu Ruo shiver involuntarily.

Her hunger vanished.

The motorcycle engine roared as the black lightning sped through Taipei’s streets; Xu Ruo braved the cold midnight wind, her heart burning as she raced home.

They reached a quiet residential area; speed slowed.

Finally gliding to a stop.

She dismounted, removed her helmet, and Li Luo looked around in confusion at the rows of old, rundown buildings: “Where’s the authentic local food here?”

“Of course there is!”

Xu Ruo set down her helmet, flicked her long hair: “Didn’t you say you wanted local cuisine?”

“Right.”

Li Luo nodded.

“I am.”

With a light laugh, Xu Ruo grabbed his coat collar firmly.

Then rose onto her tiptoes.

She gave him a local appetizer.

Li Luo gasped in realization, then carefully inspected the upcoming main course; after a few minutes, he declared himself thoroughly satisfied—energetic, elastic, top-tier quality, an unforgettable feast.

After thorough inspection, Xu Ruo had turned into a rainy south.

"Don't make too much noise."

She eagerly pulled Li Luo along and hurried sideways: "My sister might be home."

Their steps were hurried.

The two quickly vanished into the three-story building.