Li Yang eventually found a relatively secluded spot and ordered two glasses of juice.
There are two quiet bars in the county town, but they aren’t open at this late hour, given there wouldn’t be any customers in the dead of night.
The small county doesn’t have a large consumer base, and with Space being fully packed, the market can’t sustain another bar like this.
Even the juice in the bar tastes better to Jiang Banxia than the ones outside.
The satisfaction comes not from the juice, but from a lifestyle, a vibe.
She’s eighteen, has never been to an internet cafe or bar, and her drinking is limited to liqueur chocolates.
She’s never done anything outside her parents’ rules.
The day she announced Li Yang’s name at the noodle shop, she felt she was incredibly cool at that moment!
Meanwhile, Li Yang’s gaze was locked onto another corner.
Xue Ning was sitting there with a guy.
The guy is from a P2P company, essentially an online lending platform.
To attract funds, they pretend to offer financial management services.
The A-share bull market is about to start, and his P2P company will be involved in off-market financing. The result is clear: when the stock market crashes next year, the company’s entire capital chain will break, and the money invested in them will naturally be unrecoverable.
And during this year’s time, the guy became Xue Ning’s boyfriend.
"Li Yang, don’t keep looking at Ning. If she finds out, we’re finished."
Jiang Banxia feels like she’s doing something sneaky, making her understandably nervous.
Li Yang replied calmly, "Xue seems to be drunk."
"Her friend will take her home, right...?"
"Who’s to say that person really is her friend?"
"Huh? How can you tell?"
Li Yang said, "If I were drunk, what would you do?"
"I, let me think..."
Li Yang: "..."
She actually needs to think about it?
He could tell that Jiang Banxia is genuinely curious about many things, but she is essentially a novice with little life experience.
Maybe she focuses all her attention on her studies.
"I should take you home, make you some hangover soup, turn on the air conditioner for you, and lastly, place a glass of water by your bed."
Li Yang pointed to the guy and said, "Look at him. What’s he doing?"
Jiang Banxia observed for a moment and said, "He seems to be waiting, waiting for Ning to wake up?"
"No, he’s confirming whether Xue is drunk; if she is, he’ll take her directly to a hotel later."
Jiang Banxia was immediately frightened.
If the guy is Xue Ning’s boyfriend, it might be acceptable, but wouldn’t a boyfriend be less cautious?
If they’re just ordinary friends, then...
"No way, I need to take Ning home!"
Li Yang suggested, "Aren’t you afraid of Xue finding out?"
"We can’t just ignore her, right?"
Li Yang nodded; Jiang Banxia wasn’t that timid after all.
He offered, "I have a plan. I’ll take you home first and then come back to take Xue home. That way, she won’t know you were at the bar. As for me... well, I’m already a bad student. Coming to a bar is perfectly normal, isn’t it?"
Jiang Banxia’s eyes lit up, but she soon voiced her concerns, "But what if something happens? What if the guy doesn’t let Ning go?"
Li Yang chuckled, "Who am I? Aviation Road’s top guy. If I want someone, who dares say no?"
Li Yang felt inexplicably agitated inside.
If he hadn’t come, it would be fine since Xue Ning’s issues really don’t concern him. Letting Xue Ning follow her past life’s path might even earn him some extra cash.
But the problem is, he did come.
Seeing such a scene again, he felt an inexplicable sense of NTR.
What the hell!
Jiang Banxia was a bit uneasy, "Should I wait here for a bit? What if Ning is taken away by the time you get back?"
"This... could work too; just sit here quietly, don’t wander off, you hear me?"
"Mmm, mmm, mmm."
Jiang Banxia nodded fervently.
Li Yang left after saying his piece, and Jiang Banxia’s gaze never left him.
She watched Li Yang go over, trying to call Xue Ning first.
Of course, this was just her guess, given the distance and the bar’s loud noise; she couldn’t hear anything.
Then, she saw the guy across from Xue Ning stand up, seemingly questioning Li Yang.
Li Yang was unfazed, arguing with the guy.
Then it seemed like the guy wanted to get physical...
Jiang Banxia’s heart was in her throat; although Li Yang appeared confident and robust, he was still a student.
But she noticed Li Yang wasn’t intimidated at all; he just took out his phone and made a call.
A word suddenly popped into her mind.
Call reinforcements.
After the call was made, several people quickly walked over to Li Yang in the bar, putting on smiling faces and exchanging some words, eventually scaring off the man sitting across from Xue Ning, who rushed to the counter to settle his bill and leave.
Jiang Banxia was truly stunned.
Is Aviation Road’s top dog really this powerful?
Just like that, reinforcements arrived?
Immediately, she watched as Li Yang lifted the drunken Xue Ning, placed her on a nearby sofa to rest, and instructed some people before finally walking toward her.
As Li Yang approached, he said, "I’ll take you back first, then come back for Teacher Xue."
"Is Ning going to be okay?"
"She’ll be fine. I have someone watching over her."
"Okay, okay."
Jiang Banxia didn’t dare delay, but as they reached the door, she suddenly remembered, "We haven’t paid the bill yet."
"No need, the two juices are on the house."
After all, he had already called for backup, two underage people in a bar almost scared the owner to death. One wrong move and he might have to temporarily close the business.
Even if there are connections behind the scenes, a situation like this means a major financial hit.
The bar usually serves plenty of minors, but who does it like Li Yang, using it as a trump card?
Two juices are nothing in comparison.
Jiang Banxia’s mind was filled with Li Yang’s unwavering presence in any situation.
A few days ago, he openly scolded Liu Dayou in her presence, which really moved her.
It seemed like no one had ever done such things for her in her life... Just because he saw she was unhappy, he called to scold the class teacher?
He’s a bad student, but I’m not a teacher.
There were a few taxis parked outside the bar. Once Li Yang got Jiang Banxia into one, they headed to the school.
It only took a few minutes to arrive.
Li Yang let Jiang Banxia get off the car. The teachers’ apartments weren’t far from the school entrance, so everything should be fine now.
After watching Jiang Banxia enter the school, Li Yang told the driver, "Back to the bar."
"Alright... Man, not to be nosy, but that girl just now, she’s the type to be a good wife and mother..."
It was the same driver from the beginning.
"With your eye for people, it’s a waste not to work as a fortune teller, that field’s got a brighter future than driving taxis."
To Li Yang, it was simply nonsense.
"Well, it’s just that no one’s guiding me. It’s not easy to break into that field; most people can’t even find their way in."
The nighttime taxi ride was quick, and in just a few exchanges, they were back at the bar’s entrance.
"Twelve bucks, I’ll charge you for one way."
Li Yang said, "Just wait a bit, I’m picking someone up."
"Come on, man, don’t do me like that. I just saved you at least two bucks just now..."
After getting out of the car, Li Yang laughed and said, "Relax, you’ll get your fair share."
Soon, Li Yang walked into the bar, headed to the rest area, and saw Xue Ning still sitting dizzy on the sofa with the bar owner watching over her.
Li Yang approached and said, "Thanks a lot."
The bar owner replied, "No need to be so polite, young man, it was our duty."
In the next moment, Li Yang took out a hundred yuan, saying, "For the two juices!"
After putting the money down, Li Yang lifted Xue Ning’s arm onto his shoulders.
The bar owner quickly said, "Young man, consider the two juices on me."
"No, no, it’s fine."
"Even so, a hundred is too much. Two juices are only 72."
"Use the rest to pay the cab driver."
"Got it!"
Li Yang, with Xue Ning in tow, headed outside, and the bar owner walked alongside them.
After seeing Li Yang into the taxi, the bar owner went over to the taxi driver’s seat and said, "Come back later to get the cab fare from me."
That scared the taxi driver, "Xiong, I can let such a small fare go."
"If I call you, you come. Don’t expect I owe you a favor for a little fare, alright?"
"Hey, okay, okay..."
At that moment, Li Yang had just pulled Xue Ning’s arm away.
Xue Ning looked slim, but she was always like this, weighing in at 106 pounds.
Only by touching her could one know she had a soft, full figure.
Just then, as he pulled away, Xue Ning suddenly clung onto him again.
Li Yang told the driver, "Driver, to the school!"
However, Xue Ning suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, in a half-dazed state, leaned into Li Yang’s ear and murmured, "No, to the hotel!"
As soon as she finished, she lay down on Li Yang’s shoulder.