Beautiful Bad Woman (Thanks to Xiao Han of Yuequan Bay for the Silver League!)

"Why, do you know each other?" Milo was stunned too.

"Of course we do."

Zhang Ruolin said, "Ding Han is Xiao Bai's and my best friend in Creek City."

"I see..."

Milo looked a little embarrassed. "Then how about... joining tables? The drinks at this table are on me!"

"Sure!"

Zhang Ruolin nodded and smiled. Milo then arranged for the three of us to share a table. After apologizing, he went backstage to prepare for the performance.

"Ding Han, how do you know Milo?" Xiao Bai asked.

"He's my roommate..."

"Damn, what a coincidence."

At the side, Zhang Ruolin gave me a meaningful look and smiled. "So he was the one who stuffed you with condoms yesterday and told you to sleep with me?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Damn, no wonder that voice sounded so familiar..."

Zhang Ruolin sat down angrily.

"Ahem..."

I said in a low voice, "Sit closer. Let's talk quietly."

"You got it, boss!"

The two of them sat on either side of me, sandwiching me between them.

"So, couldn't you two tell that Milo was a player too? If he wasn't, how could he sing so many songs from our world?"

"We knew."

Zhang Ruolin said, "But we weren't going to expose him. Isn't it nice to keep a little mystery? Besides, Milo is genuinely talented at music. His voice and playing are both excellent, and he handles emotion perfectly. Honestly, even in our world, he would count as a very, very good singer. He just never got the chance he deserved."

"That's true."

I nodded. "Let's get this straight first. I can't hold my liquor, so don't force drinks on me."

"Don't worry, we won't let you get drunk."

Not long after, customers began entering the field one after another. The bar soon became nearly packed to capacity. Then, another familiar figure appeared in the bar.

Lu Xiaobei!

She had actually shown up all sneaky-like, sitting alone at a table with just one table between us.

Damn, this just got lively...

I was a little speechless. When I looked up at her again, Lu Xiaobei had already spotted me. Her beautiful eyes burned with anger as she stared straight at me, as if saying, "Well, well, Ding Han. I never thought you were this kind of man!"

At that moment, Zhang Ruolin and Ling Baiwei were squeezed together beside me. There was no explaining this scene anymore...

"Xiao Bei..."

I greeted her.

"Hmph!"

Lu Xiaobei said nothing and turned her face away.

"Oh..."

Zhang Ruolin was an old fox who had seen it all, so she naturally understood at a glance. "Is that gorgeous one your girlfriend?"

"No..."

I explained, "When I first came to Creek City, I had no one to rely on, so I worked at an internet café. She's the owner."

"I see..."

Ling Baiwei said, "Should we invite her over to hang out with us?"

"Judging by her attitude, that's impossible."

I was rather helpless. Lu Xiaobei was probably angry because she had painfully advanced two months of my wages, only for me to take that money and come to a bar to indulge myself. Of course she would be mad.

Not long afterward, Milo took two young men onto the stage. One was a drummer, the other a bassist. Milo himself served as guitarist and lead singer. After sitting down, he smiled and introduced a new song he had written, called The Ordinary Road.

"What shamelessness."

I said softly, "Pu Shu would be crying himself unconscious in the bathroom!"

Zhang Ruolin and Xiao Bai desperately held back their laughter.

The guitar began to play, and everyone was gradually drawn into the mood. When Milo began to sing, the crowd was instantly immersed in it. Say what you wanted, Milo really did have exceptional talent for music.

After singing three songs in a row, he won a round of applause.

Milo took a brief break and came down to toast us.

"Ding Han, Ruolin and Xiao Bai come here to support me all the time. You have to keep these two beauties company. Here, this bottle is my toast to the three of you, my good friends."

"Sure!"

The two beauties nodded in unison.

Helplessly, I could only pick up a bottle of Heineken beer.

I downed half the bottle in one go, and my head immediately started to feel dizzy.

After that, Milo sang one old song after another, filling everyone with melancholy. I began to miss our world, miss everything there, and especially miss my mom, who had been left behind in that world. Before I knew it, I had drunk a little too much.

My face started to go numb, but then I saw a handsome young man at Lu Xiaobei's table walk over with a bottle of beer and offer her a toast. Afterward, the two chatted and laughed.

When Lu Xiaobei happened to meet my gaze, she gave a huff and stopped looking at me, continuing to chat with that young man.

"Damn, seriously..."

I frowned and leaned close to Zhang Ruolin's ear. "I think I can't drink much more. Keep an eye on things, okay? Don't let that guy take advantage of Lu Xiaobei."

"What's with that?"

Zhang Ruolin said, "You care about her that much, so just go over and pull her into your arms."

"..."

I was speechless.

But the alcohol kept rising bit by bit, and that hazy feeling steadily seized the high ground of my consciousness.

Thud~~~

Before nine o'clock, I blacked out and collapsed onto the table.

My head was a muddled mess. Hangovers were truly awful, and what was even more shameful was that just three bottles of premium Heineken beer had put me in such a pathetic state.

"Whew..."

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a familiar ceiling.

This seemed to be my room. I was already lying on the bed, while my jacket and pants had been removed and hung neatly on the clothes rack.

Outside, I could hear a man and woman laughing as they talked. One of them was Milo. The other... wasn't Ruolin or Xiao Bai. It was actually Lu Xiaobei!

"Ah..."

I instantly sobered up, remembering what had happened before I got drunk. Hadn't Lu Xiaobei been having a great conversation with that handsome guy? Why was she here? And how did she know Milo?

I got up, dressed, and opened the door. Milo and Lu Xiaobei were sitting across from each other.

"Good lord, the Wine Immortal is awake!" Milo said with a laugh.

"Are you really going to mock me like that..."

I gave him a helpless look, then glanced at the clock in the living room. It was eleven thirty.

"Milo, weren't you working? Why are you back?"

"You..."

Milo said helplessly, "You passed out after three beers. Lu Xiaobei brought you back... I was worried something might happen while a girl like Xiao Bei escorted you home, so I got off work early and came back to check. Xiao Bei hadn't left yet, so I sang a few songs for her."

"Singing in the middle of the night? Aren't you afraid the neighbors will complain?"

"A true musician fears not the gossip of the mundane world~~~"

I gave him a look that said, You're incredible. Then I poured myself a cup of hot water, sat beside Milo, and glared at Lu Xiaobei.

Lu Xiaobei glared back at me, looking furious.

The atmosphere was a little stifling. Milo grinned. "Stop glaring at each other. Xiao Bei, I'll sing you another song. This is one of my signature pieces—I never usually perform it."

"Sure!"

Lu Xiaobei smiled and nodded. By now, she had probably become one of Milo's fangirls.

Makes sense. At her age, how many girls could resist a guy like Milo? He was somewhat handsome, bursting with talent, and had an indescribably artsy, melancholy air about him.

Milo played the guitar and sang Jay Chou's "Shanghai 1943."

"The yellowed spring couplets still clung to the wall, and a few words could faintly be seen: peace year after year. In the rice jar of the old home I had never returned to, Grandpa wrote a word in regular script..."

It had to be said, his voice was genuinely quite good. He gave the song a flavor completely different from the original singer's.

"That was beautiful..."

After the song ended, Lu Xiaobei was immersed in it, seemingly unable to calm down for a long time.

"Ding Han, how about one from you?"

Milo pushed the guitar toward me and smiled. "Come on, show Xiao Bei what you've got. Let her know that while we may not be able to drink, we've got some musical chops too!"

"You want me to embarrass myself in public?" I glared at him.

"It's just for fun. We're among friends, so don't worry about it."

"Fine, you said it!"

Putting on an all-or-nothing attitude, I picked up the guitar and began tuning it.

"..."

Lu Xiaobei stared at me in surprise, apparently shocked that I could play the guitar.

So, under Lu Xiaobei's expectant gaze, I began playing a tune and sang a song Milo had never performed—a Pu Shu song called "Birch Forest."

"White snow drifted over the quiet village, pigeons flew beneath the gloomy sky. On the birch trees were carved those two names; they swore to love each other for all their lives..."

Even though my playing kept going out of tune, I did not care in the slightest and sang "Birch Forest" through to the end with complete immersion.

Clap clap clap~~~

Milo gave a dry round of applause. "Impressive. You actually managed to finish the whole song. Remember to learn the lyrics later..."

I chuckled.

"Was that tune right? It sounded weird, and it didn't have any of that smoothness Milo has when he sings."

Lu Xiaobei commented, "Ding Han, you still need to learn more from Milo when it comes to music."

"Heh..."

Milo secretly felt pleased and scratched his head with a smile.

But Lu Xiaobei quickly added, "Still, Ding Han's tone is better than yours. It's cleaner and more transparent."

"..."

This time, it was my turn to beam with pride, while Milo was no longer so pleased.

"Enough!"

I slowly stood up. "What time is it? I'll walk you back."

"Okay~"

Lu Xiaobei stood up too.

Under the moonlight, we walked along the road toward the internet café. Both of us seemed preoccupied, and neither spoke. Only after escorting Lu Xiaobei into the internet café did I turn back.

I had gotten drunk at the bar and completely blacked out afterward, unable to remember anything. So I picked up my phone and sent Zhang Ruolin a message. "I've sobered up. Nothing embarrassing happened at the bar, right?"

"Voice call?"

"Sure!"

The next second, Zhang Ruolin sent me a voice call.

"Actually, a lot of embarrassing things happened..." Her voice was grave.

"How embarrassing?"

"Originally, after you got drunk, Xiao Bai and I planned to take you back to your place. But who would have thought that your little beauty of a boss would suddenly ignore the handsome guy beside her and rush right over to prop you up? From the way she acted, she took Xiao Bai and me for vixens from outside and treated herself as your proper girlfriend. She fiercely refused to let us touch you, then took you back by herself..."

"..."

I was completely speechless.

"And there's more."

Zhang Ruolin said, "I walked out of the bar to see you off. Do you know what Lu Xiaobei said to me?"

"What did she say?"

"She actually said I was a Beautiful Bad Woman and told me to stay away from you. Your boss is too adorable! Hahahahahahaha~~~" On the other end of the call, Zhang Ruolin laughed so hard she clutched her stomach, showing no concern whatsoever for ladylike decorum.