Lin Nantian and Wang Tianwen had been friends for many years, but there was no way Lin would offend Hao Jian for Wang's sake because crossing Hao Jian would be tantamount to joking with one's life and fortune.
"Who exactly is he?" Wang Tianwen asked in a deep voice.
He knew he was doomed, but before his downfall, he at least wanted to know who his adversary really was.
"I don't know either," Lin Nantian shook his head and smiled bitterly, "With my status, I'm not qualified to know his identity. Old Wang, you've really crossed the wrong person this time."
Afterward, Wang Tianwen was locked up for suspected corruption, and Zhang Yueqin was also expelled from the Wang Family because of this incident.
And Teacher Zhao, because of this matter, became infamously notorious throughout the community. After being fired by the school authorities, no other school dared to hire him, and he had no choice but to shamefully slink back to his hometown.
A week went by, and suddenly one morning, Hao Jian received a phone call from Che Xiaoxiao.
"Uncle, it's my birthday tonight. I'm throwing a party at the bar; are you coming?" Che Xiaoxiao asked.
Hao Jian rejected her without a second thought. How old was he, to be mixing with a young girl like Xiaoxiao? He didn't want to end up with people suspecting him of having a predilection for children.
Moreover, the party guests would surely all be around Xiaoxiao's age. He had nothing in common with those youngsters. Hao Jian didn't want to go there just to sit around foolishly.
"Come on; it'll be fun," Xiaoxiao pleaded when she heard Hao Jian wouldn't come, immediately resorting to a persistent, nagging persuasion.
"No, I want to sleep at home. If there's nothing else, I'm going to hang up," Hao Jian said, growing impatient.
"Wait, uncle, I have a lot of beautiful women here. Do you want me to introduce you to some?" Seeing Hao Jian's continued refusal, Xiaoxiao resorted to seduction.
But who would have known that Hao Jian remained unmoved, uttering indifferently, "Bye-bye."
"I'm a child without a father!" Xiaoxiao suddenly yelled out.
Hao Jian was about to hang up, but hesitated when he heard this. He was perplexed as to why Xiaoxiao would suddenly say that to him.
A somewhat dejected voice came from the other end:
"My dad died early, and my mom is always so busy with work that she never has time to spend with me. Although today is my birthday, I think she probably forgot about it too. Honestly, I don't even want to celebrate it because it's always my friends who insist on celebrating for me, and I've grown tired of that feeling."
"You don't expect to find your father's shadow in me, do you?" Hao Jian asked with a grimace.
"Just this once, okay? My dad never celebrated a birthday with me. Even if it's pretend, I want to experience what it feels like," Xiaoxiao spoke in a disheartened tone.
"If you don't want to, it's fine, I'll tell them to cancel the party," Xiaoxiao said with a wry smile, not wanting to trouble Hao Jian anymore.
"Time, place?" Hao Jian finally sighed.
"You agreed?" Xiaoxiao asked, full of surprise.
Hao Jian gave a bitter smile, "After what you've said, how could I refuse?"
At eight o'clock in the evening, Hao Jian appeared punctually at the entrance of a bar called "Bonfire."
From a distance, he spotted Che Xiaoxiao standing not far away, clad in a thin backless dress, shivering in the night breeze, her little face also red and flushed from the cold.
Yet even so, Che Xiaoxiao's mouth still carried a hint of a smile, her flushed little face full of excitement.
Hao Jian shook his head helplessly and walked over to her, "Why didn't you wait for me inside?"
"I was afraid you wouldn't find your way here," Che Xiaoxiao laughed carefree.
"You," Hao Jian didn't even know what to say to her, so he took off his own jacket and draped it over Che Xiaoxiao.
Che Xiaoxiao's face turned a bit redder, she had never been treated with such consideration by a boy before.
"Let's go in," Hao Jian ruffled Che Xiaoxiao's hair and walked into the bar with her.
The bar wasn't very large, just over a hundred square meters, and when full it probably accommodated around a hundred people.
At the moment, the bar was almost empty, with only seven or eight people sitting there drinking and chatting, one of them an old man.
Seeing the confusion on Hao Jian's face, Che Xiaoxiao explained, "This is my friend's bar, they closed for business today to celebrate my birthday."
Hao Jian nodded in understanding.
"Xiaoxiao, your friends have arrived?" a fashionable girl turned around, also scantily dressed, trying to be provocative with every gesture.
As soon as she spoke up, she immediately attracted the attention of the others, all of whom started staring at Hao Jian.
The group was all dressed in avant-garde, or rather, artistic styles that made it clear at first glance that they were involved in the arts, which made Hao Jian feel they were being pretentious—as if they were afraid others wouldn't realize they were into art.
One of the men, seeing Che Xiaoxiao wrapped in a man's jacket, immediately took on a colder expression and said with derision,
"Xiaoxiao, your friend here seems a bit old, doesn't he? This getup of his, I often see on my grandfather. Bringing him to hang out with us young folks, won't he feel out of place?"
These words were excessively offensive, as Hao Jian was clearly about the same age as them, but the comment implied he was older and dressed like an old man, no doubt a jab at him being old-fashioned.
Hao Jian was actually dressed quite normally today, in a tidy shirt paired with jeans; this attire would be considered average, but it certainly seemed out of place compared to the trendy clothes of the others.
Hao Jian also scrutinized the man, who was wearing a cape, had messy long hair, and stubble around his mouth, reminiscent of those artists in the movies who are devoted to their art.
Upon hearing these words, Che Xiaoxiao's friends all laughed quietly.
"Qian Shaohang, why is your mouth so nasty? Does my friend need your judgment?" Che Xiaoxiao said angrily.
Hao Jian was someone she had gone to great lengths to invite, yet Qian Shaohang insulted him for no reason—how could Che Xiaoxiao not be annoyed.
For her, all the friends here were less important than Hao Jian.
Although they appeared to treat her well on the surface, each of them looked at her with a degree of derision. Unlike Hao Jian, who looked at her with such pure eyes, treating her completely like a little sister.
Back on Qiuyun Mountain, the scene of Hao Jian standing up for her remained unforgettable to this day, and perhaps even Che Xiaoxiao herself hadn't realized that she had come to see Hao Jian as someone she admired.
Qian Shaohang curled his lips, "I'm speaking the truth. We're talking about things related to art—does he even understand that?"