When they left OUT24, River City in the early hours had shed the bustle of the day, leaving only streetlights stretching their shadows long.
Although the revelry inside the bar was still going on, and the hourly "Great God Set" parade was still thrilling everyone's nerves, Su Bai found that staying too long in such a noisy environment eventually became a little dull.
Rather than splurging under everyone's watchful eyes, he now wanted to enjoy some private, cozy time.
"Tired?"
With one hand on the Land Rover Defender's steering wheel, Su Bai turned his head to glance at Li Xingya in the passenger seat.
Though she had only had a little low-alcohol fruit wine and her cheeks were flushed, her eyes held an alert nervousness. Her small hands gripped the seat belt tightly enough that her knuckles had turned pale.
"N-No, I'm not tired."
Li Xingya shook her head, though her voice was a little tight. "Boss, where... where are we going now?"
"To Ascott."
Su Bai's tone was calm, as natural as if he were talking about going home. "That's our base in River City. Those Shanshui Diepin layouts are more comfortable than hotels and more convenient than school."
"A-Ascott..."
Li Xingya swallowed.
She had heard of the place. It was one of River City's most luxurious Serviced Apartments.
But what made her nervous was not the price of the apartments, but what the place meant to Su Bai.
Though she had long known there was more than one woman by Su Bai's side, and even faced her master, Chen Yusheng, with her overwhelmingly main-wife-like aura every day in the lab, that unspoken mutual understanding was one thing. Actually meeting the others was another.
She was afraid.
Afraid of being excluded, afraid she was too plain to fit in,