There is going to be a comeback.

Zhang Pa smiled and said, "I'm not that delicate." He repeated, "This matter is already settled."

"Fine, if you say it's settled, then it's settled. Let's have another drink." Xun Ruyu raised her glass once more.

Zhang Pa smiled and asked, "Aren't we here to talk about the script?"

"That won't be delayed. Drink first, and we can talk once we're done," Xun Ruyu said. "Tonight belongs to me. Let's eat first, go singing later, and have a good time all night." With that, she smiled and asked Long Xiaole, "Xiaole, my three girlfriends here are all single. Pick one. You can't just drink in silence by yourself; you have to take care of our female guests."

Long Xiaole replied, "Forget it. I'm practically a female guest myself and can't take care of anyone."

When he said this, Wang Changchang and Meng Ting both looked up, obviously aware that this young man was the crown prince of Kowloon Real Estate. Meng Ting raised her glass and said, "Young Master Long, let's have a drink."

Long Xiaole pretended not to understand, "Where to?"

"Playing dumb, keep playing dumb!" Meng Ting said. "I'll finish mine first." She tilted her head back, and her glass was instantly empty.

Seeing this, Zhang Pa thought it was far too dangerous and resolutely refused to raise his head, keeping his eyes down to focus on his meal. As for the potential script, there was definitely no way to discuss it today.

While they were eating, Liu Xiaomei called to say she was in a taxi heading toward Xingfuli, and asked where Zhang Pa was.

Zhang Pa hurriedly replied, "I'm over here at Kowloon Garden."

"Kowloon Garden? What place is that?" Liu Xiaomei asked. "What are you doing? Are you eating?"

Zhang Pa said he was eating. Remembering the four women at his table, he quickly asked, "What do you want to eat?"

"Have you finished eating yet? If you haven't... who are you with? Is it convenient?" Liu Xiaomei asked.

Zhang Pa answered, "Remember I got that two hundred thousand? It's with that guy."

He had previously told Liu Xiaomei the origin of the two hundred thousand yuan, and she smiled, "He's thanking you, then."

Zhang Pa said yes, then asked, "Where have you reached? I'll come out to pick you up." He paused mid-sentence. Just as he was about to give the restaurant's name, he suddenly realized something was amiss. Since he was a guest at a dinner party of six, he couldn't just make decisions on his own. After a moment of thought, he said into the phone, "Wait for me a second," and hooked his finger at Long Xiaole. The two of them stepped outside to talk.

Long Xiaole asked, "Who is it? Just call them over to join us."

Zhang Pa asked, "Is this your treat?"

Long Xiaole said, "I thought it was my treat at first, but looking at it, Xun Ruyu might end up paying the bill."

Zhang Pa said, "Forget it then, I'm leaving." He spoke into the phone, "I'm coming out now. How long before you get here?"

Liu Xiaomei asked the driver and replied, "Ten minutes."

Zhang Pa said okay, I'll wait for you at the entrance of the building.

After hanging up, he told Long Xiaole, "You guys eat, I'm not staying."

"Damn it, if you're not going, what's the point of me staying here? Those four women are older than me, we have nothing in common," Long Xiaole complained.

Zhang Pa said, "I'm older than you too."

"That's not the same," Long Xiaole said miserably. "If you leave, I'll be the only guy left? How am I supposed to hang out?"

"You can all sleep under the same quilt," Zhang Pa said casually.

"Might as well just kill me. Xun Ruyu is my dad's friend's woman, sleep in your head!" Long Xiaole said. "You can't leave. Go pick up your friend."

Zhang Pa said, "I really can't." Then added, "Let me have a word with Sister Xun." He turned back toward the private room.

Without the two of them present, the four women were drinking just as happily, toasting one another, giggling and making a ruckus. Seeing Zhang Pa enter, Wang Changchang stood up and said, "What are you doing? Are you drinking or not? Running around everywhere? Come on, bottoms up."

Zhang Pa went back to his seat and stood still. Seeing his glass was full—he had no idea who poured it—he picked it up and said, "Sisters, I'm really sorry. I got a phone call and have some business to attend to."

"No matter what business you have, you can't leave," Wang Changchang said. "Finish this first." She raised her glass from afar and drank it all in one gulp.

Women at a drinking table were truly terrifying. Zhang Pa accompanied her with a glass. After refilling his cup, he said, "I really do have matters to attend to. Next time I'll treat you all, truly. I apologize and beg for your forgiveness. Let's take things slow; it's not like we won't see each other again."

Among the four women on the table, Wang Changchang refused to let him off, Yu Jiao smiled without speaking, and Meng Ting said, "You can leave, but finish three drinks first." Xun Ruyu was whispering to Long Xiaole, asking what had happened to Zhang Pa.

Long Xiaole pointed to his own face, implying that Zhang Pa was covered in injuries and genuinely had business to attend to.

This was the best excuse. Xun Ruyu stood up and said, "All right then, we need you to write the script anyway. Leave your phone number, let's leave it at this for today, and we'll get together another day."

Since the host had spoken, the other three sisters raised no objections. They watched Zhang Pa and Xun Ruyu exchange phone numbers, and watched Zhang Pa finish another glass of wine. True to their word, they drank along with him.

In all this time, they hadn't eaten anything, just drank. Zhang Pa cupped his hands in a salute to the four women and patted Long Xiaole on the shoulder: "I'm off."

Long Xiaole cursed, "Get the hell out of here."

Zhang Pa smiled apologetically, went out, and walked downstairs.

Waiting at the building entrance for two minutes, Liu Xiaomei stepped out of a taxi. Seeing the person standing by the entrance, she felt a bit puzzled: *Is it really necessary to wear both a hat and sunglasses in the middle of the night...*

Liu Xiaomei was still dressed simply in long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. She walked up and asked, "How is it?"

As she drew closer, she could see that the two sides of Zhang Pa's face looked uneven. Not only uneven, but the left side of his face also had a piece of adhesive tape on it.

Zhang Pa greeted her with a silly grin, chuckling a couple of times before speaking, "Were you tired in class today?"

Liu Xiaomei tilted her head to look at him and asked softly, "Was it Wang Zhongxing and his people giving you a hard time?"

Zhang Pa said yes, then immediately added that it was already resolved. Fearing Liu Xiaomei wouldn't believe him, he pointed to his face and said, "This is the result of fighting back against them. I won a complete victory, and I even won a million yuan. Heh, aren't I awesome... Oh no, I didn't bring my bag." Mentioning the money reminded him that the fifty thousand yuan, his pants, and his shoes were still in the bag upstairs.

He hurriedly called Long Xiaole: "Bring my bag down, quickly."

Long Xiaole asked where he was.

Zhang Pa said, "On the cabinet by the door of the private room, next to the coat rack."

Long Xiaole got up to check: "Got it, wait for me." He brought the bag downstairs.

Zhang Pa said, "Wait for me here a second." He turned back to get his bag, only to be heavily scolded by Long Xiaole for lacking loyalty and leaving him stranded by himself.

Zhang Pa pushed him back into the elevator: "Hurry up and go back up." Then he turned and ran out.

Liu Xiaomei stood quietly at the entrance with a trace of sadness in her eyes. When Zhang Pa reappeared before her, she softly said, "I know, I'm the one who dragged you into this."

Zhang Pa said, "I like you, so your matters are my matters. What do you mean by dragging me into it?"

Liu Xiaomei looked at him and asked in a low voice, "Can you take off your hat and glasses?"

Zhang Pa said he certainly could, but since she hadn't eaten yet, the two of them should find a place to eat first.

Liu Xiaomei hadn't eaten dinner and said okay.

Zhang Pa had drunk a bit too much and felt dizzy the whole time. Right now, what he wanted most was a few pieces of fatty pork to suppress the alcohol. Looking around after taking a couple of steps outside, he spotted a Northeast Chinese restaurant, pulled Liu Xiaomei inside, and ordered a bowl of braised pork belly along with a few refreshing light dishes, asking Liu Xiaomei if that was okay.

Liu Xiaomei said it was fine, then fell silent, gazing at Zhang Pa behind his sunglasses.

Zhang Pa smiled: "Look closely, I'm going to perform a magic trick for you."

First he took off his sunglasses, then slowly removed his hat, revealing a huge bald head and a massive piece of gauze covering it. Beneath the sunglasses were bruised, dark eyes, a swollen cheek on one side, and a piece of tape on the other.

Liu Xiaomei asked, "Are your teeth okay?"

Zhang Pa smiled and said, "They're fine." As he spoke, he bared his teeth for Liu Xiaomei to see.

Liu Xiaomei said, "It must hurt a lot."

Zhang Pa said, "With you by my side, it doesn't hurt at all, not even a little bit."

Liu Xiaomei stopped talking and stared blankly at Zhang Pa's bald head. Zhang Pa said, "Stop looking, drink some water first." Eagerly, he poured a cup of tea for Liu Xiaomei.

As he raised his hand, the scars on the back of his right hand were clearly visible. Liu Xiaomei reached out to take the teapot, set it down, and then gently grasped Zhang Pa's right hand with both of hers, lightly stroking the scars. She squeezed out a smile and said, "What do you suppose I should do?"

Zhang Pa said, "Can we not be so cliché? In my heart, you are a god-like existence. All you need to do is blow a breath, chant a spell, pat your belly and say 'all is well,' and I'll be completely fine."

Liu Xiaomei was amused and let out a small laugh: "Why pat your belly?"

"Should I pat my butt instead? That wouldn't be very convenient either," Zhang Pa said earnestly.

Liu Xiaomei said, "You're just talking nonsense." Then she added, "Will you stay with me tonight? Tomorrow is my day off, I'll accompany you to the hospital."

Zhang Pa hurriedly fished the medical bill out of his pocket: "I already went, the doctor said it's nothing." He waved it in front of Liu Xiaomei's eyes, tucked it back into his pocket, and continued, "Really, it's fine. The matter with Wang Zhongxing's side is already resolved, he won't come harass you anymore."

Liu Xiaomei murmured an acknowledgment, fell silent for a moment, and said, "It's so good to know you."

Zhang Pa smiled: "There you go being cliché again. We can't model ourselves after those cheesy romance dramas. We have our own love story, and it's much more sophisticated than theirs. They're too cliché, crying over every little thing, totally meaningless."

Liu Xiaomei gave a small smile: "When your injuries heal, I'll wear sexy clothes for you, okay?"

"Most definitely okay," Zhang Pa chuckled foolishly.

Liu Xiaomei looked at him a moment longer: "Let's eat."

Of course Zhang Pa agreed. He shoveled down several large chunks of fatty pork and gulped down water, desperately trying to dilute the alcohol. Whether it worked or not, it certainly felt better than before.

Liu Xiaomei asked, "Did you drink that much with him? I smelled alcohol on you the moment we met."

"I didn't drink much," Zhang Pa explained. "If it had just been him, he would have let you come up. He found me a gig, helping a minor actress write a script. That actress is hooked up with a tycoon who plans to spend fifty or sixty thousand—no, five or six hundred thousand—to make a movie, and they said they'd give me thirty or fifty thousand."

"Is the script finished?" Liu Xiaomei asked.

"Not yet, we just met. The guy only knew how to drink and we didn't talk about anything. Next time will be our chance," Zhang Pa replied.

Liu Xiaomei said, "I believe you can do it."

Zhang Pa said, "If you say I can do it, then I definitely can." He continued, "I have over a million yuan now, we can buy a house."

When he had no money, Liu Xiaomei had been the one planning to buy a house. But now that he had money, Liu Xiaomei instead said, "Let's not buy a house yet. Our place is so big, we can just move in there."

Zhang Pa pointed to his face and said, "How can I move in looking like this? Won't your mom be scared to death?"

Liu Xiaomei smiled slightly: "You look like you could star in a horror movie right now." (To be continued.)