Chapter 12

Laughter and whistles broke out below the stage.

Cheng Lang clutched his guitar and eyed the crowd warily. "I sell my talent, not my body."

The woman toyed with her wineglass and asked with a half smile, "What if I insist? You like money, don't you? I'll pay enough to make you willing."

Chapter 12

"Ooh—"

"Whoa~"

"Hey!"

"Woo!"

Every kind of exclamation surged up from the crowd like a tidal wave. Applause thundered through the room. Someone cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Say yes! Say yes!"

The commotion from the dance floor reached the VIP area upstairs. People who hadn't noticed the scene turned to look. Sweating, Han Mingchen glanced downstairs and explained awkwardly, "That Cheng Lang is always pulling some stunt. I don't know why, but the guests at the White Jade Capital eat it up."

Han Mingchen meant every word. He'd never realized the White Jade Capital's guests loved a spectacle so much.

Qin Mu's dark eyes flicked toward Cheng Lang, who was bouncing around onstage. The faintest smile touched his lips.

What a lively little guy.

For some reason, Qin Mu thought of the little Husky his family had kept when he was a child.

It, too, had been full of energy, unable to sit still for a moment.

If Cheng Lang could have heard the big boss's thoughts, he would have felt terribly wronged. He genuinely wanted to be a quiet, handsome man, content to watch flowers bloom and fall before his courtyard and clouds gather and drift across the sky. Unfortunately, life rarely went as one wished.

Cheng Lang hugged his guitar and trembled as he whined to the system in his mind, I'm just an ordinary villainous bit player. Why am I the one getting dragged into a domineering CEO's forceful pursuit?

The system retched in Cheng Lang's mind and promptly muted its outrageous partner.

"What are you waiting for?" someone below the stage urged with malicious delight. "You're not going to turn her down, are you?"

I wouldn't dare!

Cheng Lang snapped back to himself. Hugging his guitar, he looked pleadingly at the wealthy woman below the stage, appearing small, pitiful, and helpless. "Ma'am, I really can't."

"Why not?" The woman raised an eyebrow and smiled. "There's nothing money can't solve. And if it can't, I'll offer more."

For some reason, those words sounded familiar to Cheng Lang.

The crowd's teasing grew louder.

Cheng Lang steeled himself. "I can't, and that's that. Some things just can't be solved with money. No amount of determination can overcome them. Physically, I can't."

The woman looked at Cheng Lang's pitiful puppy-dog expression. Good looks were a dime a dozen, but an entertaining personality was rare. Given her status, she'd seen plenty of handsome men with six-pack abs, but few who could amuse her like this. Something stirred in her heart. Earlier, she'd only meant to tease him on a whim. Now she was genuinely tempted.

"I said I'd pay more. I'll keep raising the price until you can."

Cheng Lang's face turned scarlet. Clutching his guitar, he whimpered, "How can you be like this? I told you, as a man, I physically can't! I can't, and that's that! More money won't fix it!"

As a man, he physically couldn't?

The guests took a moment to catch his meaning. The entire bar fell silent for a heartbeat, then erupted in laughter.

The woman caught on a moment later and burst out laughing too.

"Come on, General Manager Lü, stop giving the kid a hard time," another male guest said, coming to Cheng Lang's rescue. "Look what you've driven the poor boy to."

Then again, the White Jade Capital's new star performer really was one of a kind. And utterly shameless.

General Manager Lü carefully wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. She was still tempted, but she knew when to stop.

Seeing that she was no longer pressing him, Cheng Lang breathed a sigh of relief. He plucked a couple of strings and was about to sing when the man who had helped him said, "Play 'Silence Is Golden.' Do you know it?"

Cheng Lang nodded. Requesting "Silence Is Golden" at a bar? This man must have a story of his own.

At some point, the system had unmuted Cheng Lang. It drawled, "Or maybe he's telling you that silence is golden."

Cheng Lang ignored it. He plucked out the first notes of the intro, only for General Manager Lü to interrupt him again.

"Doesn't this count as a song request?" she asked with a half smile, unable to resist teasing him. "He just came to your rescue, and you're brushing off his heartfelt affection with that mass-produced tenderness of yours. Isn't that a little cold?"

Cheng Lang felt a stab in his chest. He finally understood what it meant when one wave followed another, each stronger than the last.

The male guest caught on too and chuckled. Looking at Cheng Lang, he teased, half serious, "I suppose I like you too. After all, my wallet is open to you."

Stab. Another blade plunged into Cheng Lang's heart.

The system laughed gleefully in his mind.

Clutching his guitar, Cheng Lang reflected deeply and said in a plaintive voice, "If I'd known you two were so good with words, I would've kept quiet."

In no time at all, he had turned into Lin Daiyu.

The male guest smiled. "We're not good with words. We just have decent memories."

Cheng Lang: "..."

General Manager Lü smiled. "Since you like bantering so much, sing 'Exploring Clear Water River' later."

Cheng Lang clutched his guitar in despair. Right now, he felt like picking up an erhu and playing "Moon Reflected on the Second Spring."

The guests below the stage were laughing themselves silly. Someone even offered Cheng Lang an idea. "Your boss won't let you take money for singing or drink what the guests order for you anyway. Why not just do comedy up there? If you're good, we'll all tip you directly. No middleman taking a cut."