Parting on Bad Terms

"Cheers."

Gao Jing clinked bottles with Zheng Xing'an as well.

Zheng Xing'an tipped his head back and drained the beer in his bottle in one go.

After finishing, he glanced at Song Xue again.

This time, it was obvious.

Yet Song Xue seemed not to notice his existence at all, whispering to her friends instead.

She was practically treating him as air.

Zheng Xing'an's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, and he looked far from happy.

What the hell was this supposed to be?

Gao Jing exchanged a look with Zhang Hongyuan. The latter smiled and said, "Brother Zheng, shall we sit down and have a few more drinks?"

"Sure."

Zheng Xing'an did not stand on ceremony. He pulled over a round stool and sat down.

His expression quickly returned to normal, though a faint flush of alcohol had risen to his face.

Apparently, he was not much of a drinker.

"Buddy."

After a moment of silence, Zheng Xing'an picked up a pistachio, shelled it, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed as he asked, "Where do you hang around?"

Gao Jing did not like his flippant tone and answered lazily, "I don't hang around anywhere. I'm freelance."

Zheng Xing'an tugged at the corner of his mouth and gave a hollow laugh. "Freelance is nice too—free and easy. Unlike me, managing dozens of people up and down the company. The pressure's honestly a bit much..."

He tried to make it sound like nothing more than a passing cloud.

But anyone could hear the sense of superiority in his words.

This time, Song Xue finally turned and glanced at him.

Though Zheng Xing'an was talking to Gao Jing, all his attention was actually fixed on Song Xue.

That single glance from Song Xue made him seem as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He immediately perked up. "Xiaoxue, it's been a long time. How have you been lately?"

Gao Jing could actually hear a note of grievance in his voice.

Was he serious?

Zhang Hongyuan shot him a helpless look: I'm despairing too!

Song Xue frowned and replied unhappily, "I'm doing well. Zheng Xing'an, please call me by my full name from now on."

Zheng Xing'an was immediately left speechless.

Private room V508 gradually fell quiet, and no one sang anymore.

The air was thick with awkwardness.

Gao Jing leaned back against the sofa cushion, sorely tempted to make a sarcastic comment.

At that moment, Zheng Xing'an's girlfriend across from them had gone red in the face, veins bulging on her fair forehead.

The next instant, she abruptly grabbed the handbag beside her and left the private room without a word.

Clearly, she did not want to remain there and continue humiliating herself.

Zheng Xing'an seemed completely unaware.

His eyes appeared to hold no one but Song Xue.

"Lili, sorry, but I have something to do, so I'll be leaving first."

Yet Song Xue had reached the end of her patience as well. She rose and left after her. "Goodbye, everyone."

As she departed, she nodded to Gao Jing and Zhang Hongyuan.

It was her way of expressing an apology.

Zheng Xing'an opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out.

He simply sat there in a daze.

The sight of him looking so lost made the expressions of several of the girls, Zhu Lili included, turn rather subtle.

What people feared most was comparison.

Though he was dressed head to toe in designer brands and wore an expensive watch, whether in looks or bearing, Zheng Xing'an was instantly crushed into scraps when compared to Gao Jing beside him in his bargain-stall outfit.

They could not help thinking that if the two men's strengths could be fused together, it would be perfect!

Even if Zheng Xing'an had half of Gao Jing's good qualities, that would already be great.

Don't blame the girls for being too realistic.

Reality was simply too cruel.

Although Cloud City could not compare to the top-tier metropolises of Imperial Capital, Demon Capital, and Deep Sea, its development over the past decade had been extremely rapid.

The rapid increase in its migrant population had driven housing prices and consumer prices ever higher.

Nowadays, without four or five million, one could forget about buying a satisfactory home in Cloud City proper.

And without a house, how could one settle down and build a career...

How could one live a happy life?

With things having reached this point, no one was in the mood to keep partying, so they could only call it a night.

Before leaving, two of the girls added Gao Jing on WeChat.

They probably still had a little something in mind about Gao Jing.

In truth, they were overthinking it.

"Old Gao, let's find somewhere else and have a few more drinks."

Zhang Hongyuan went to settle the bill, then returned with an apologetic look. "How about hitting a bar?"

Everyone had been happily enjoying themselves, and no one had expected things to turn out like this.

He was deeply annoyed and felt terribly sorry toward Gao Jing.

"No need."

Gao Jing patted his shoulder and smiled. "You only just got back today. Get some rest early. I'm tired too."

"Alright, then."

Zhang Hongyuan did not force the issue. "We'll get together another day."

Still somewhat unwilling to give up, he asked, "You really aren't planning to go back to work at Golden Radiance?"

"No."

Gao Jing answered decisively, "I can't possibly go back."

Only then did Zhang Hongyuan completely give up.

After saying goodbye to Zhang Hongyuan and Zhu Lili, Gao Jing hailed a taxi by the roadside.

Since the gathering had ended in an unhappy breakup ahead of schedule, it was only a little past nine when he returned to the urban village.

The shops on both sides of the street were still open, and people out strolling or enjoying the evening cool could be seen everywhere.

As Gao Jing passed an intersection, he noticed quite a few elderly men and women gathered together.

They were chatting excitedly, their faces animated!

"Oh my, none of you saw it, but I was right there at the scene."

"That blood was pouring out in streams, flowing right into the gutter."

"He deserved it! This is called 'three feet above your head, there are gods watching'; those who commit too much evil will bring about their own destruction!"

"Those two dogs of his scared my granddaughter half to death last time. She woke up crying in the middle of the night for several days afterward."

"Heaven truly has eyes! I'm going to the City God Temple another day to offer a stick of fine incense!"

"This time, things are really better..."

Gao Jing was quite surprised. He had not expected Big Gold Chain to be bitten so badly.

But he felt neither the slightest pity nor guilt.

Big Gold Chain usually ran wild through the urban village, bullying honest people, kicking at widows' doors by night—fierce, brutal, and vicious.

Yet so long as the guy did not commit some major crime, the worst his misdeeds could earn him was being locked up for a few days.

He also had money, making him truly impossible to deal with.

Now he had finally been properly silenced.

Big Gold Chain deserved what he got.

What truly surprised, even delighted Gao Jing was that when he heard those elderly people thanking the gods and Heaven, a considerable amount of Faith Power had suddenly appeared within the Copper Anchor!

That worked too?

Actually, Gao Jing had already sensed that something was off back at the KTV.

The Faith Power in the Copper Anchor had been steadily increasing.

He had assumed that the Bilibili video, along with his marathon championship, was still giving off its lingering warmth.

Only now did he finally understand the real source.

But aside from Gao Jing himself, no one knew that he had been the one pulling the strings behind what happened to Big Gold Chain.

And people were not thanking Gao Jing either, so why could he still obtain Faith Power?

Moreover, it was so abundant and pure!

This made Gao Jing realize that his earlier understanding of how Faith Power was generated and where it came from had been seriously mistaken.

The facts proved that so long as he was the "cause," he could obtain the "result."

Gao Jing's train of thought was suddenly thrown wide open!

He hurried excitedly back to his rented room and switched on his laptop.

He logged onto Bilibili. —??

Here comes the second update. As usual, please support me with your votes. Thank you, everyone.

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