Chapter 60: I’m Not Alone In This Dao
As Yang Chen expected, the sky was already dim and it was nearly 6PM when they arrived at Heavenly Province even though he constantly overtook other cars on the road.
Li Jingjing didn’t feel anything inappropriate about that. Throughout the whole journey, she sat at the front wearing a smile, and secretly glanced at Yang Chen from time to time, it was unknown what she had on her mind.
Heavenly Province’s main entrance seemed incredibly imposing, and the dazzling splendor of the neon lights made all of the surrounding bars and nightclubs look inferior in comparison, the several huge flamboyant words that were lit up stole gazes even from far.
Li Jingjing clung onto Yang Chen’s arm immediately after she got off the car, and followed him through the main entrance with a perturbed expression. She, who had always been a well-behaved girl would get scared even if she saw a place like this in a movie. Once she thought about how she was going to party with the other teachers in this place, and she was the main attraction, she began to feel a little dread in her heart.
“Don’t worry, it’s actually not a big deal, just think of it as having a meal together in a small restaurant.” Yang Chen consoled.
Li Jingjing nodded, as she breathed she could smell the scent of the man beside her, and subconsciously, her heart became much calmer.
After entering the main entrance, a female receptionist wearing a fiery-red qipao walked towards them and enquired, “Honored guests, do you have an appointment?”
Li Jingjing who had lost focus only now recalled the location of the party, “It’s…… It’s a room named ‘Scarlet Kaffir Lily’.”
The female receptionist smiled and gestured welcomingly, “Please follow me.”
Along the way, they walked through a corridor that was dimly lit, with glass-esque walls that refracted a dazzling luster. The employees here wasn’t lacking in handsome men or beautiful women, which showed that the treatment of employees wasn’t bad.
When they walked to the door with the three words, Scarlet Kaffir Lily, written in white with a brush, the female receptionist smiled and gestured them to enter.
Yang Chen fished out a 100 dollar note from his pocket, and the female receptionist with an unsurprised face said, “Thank you” before accepting the note and leaving.
Li Jingjing looked at Yang Chen with astonishment, “Big brother Yang, is it necessary to pay 100 dollars just for leading the way?”
“A place like this usually follows a western style hiring method, these service personnel have no pay, and only receive tips. In fact, it’s only a little more than 10 dollars in USD, and it isn’t considered a lot.” Yang Chen explained.
“I nearly forgot, big brother Yang you’re a student that returned from studying overseas.” Li Jingjing couldn’t care less about the pain of money anymore, and happily spoke.
Yang Chen wasn’t willing to stay on that topic, and dexterously opened the room’s door, the moment it opened, a deafening shout transmitted out from inside the room……
“Wanna remain but can’t remain and that’s what feels loneliest!!!——”
They saw a rather short and fat man with glasses standing in front of the TV doing his utmost to shout into the microphone in his hand, with his head pointed towards the ceiling and his eyes shut, singing to his heart’s content.
There were already quite a number of people sitting on the sofa in the room, if added up, there were at least 8 people. After seeing Yang Chen and Li Jingjing by the door, they first stared blankly, then most of them revealed unusual smiles.
“Our main protagonist of the day has finally arrived!” A skinny female teacher with wavy hair from using heat rollers took the initiative to call out.
Immediately, everybody else present stood up and applauded. The fat teacher that was screaming like he was killing a pig a moment ago also called out, “Teacher Li didn’t forget to bring her boyfriend for her first party, looks like your relationship is pretty deep!”
Li Jingjing promptly let go of Yang Chen’s hand timidly. In the dark room, her face was so red that it seemed like it was about to burst, “It’s not like what everybody is thinking, big brother Yang isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Then what is he?” Another male teacher laughed and asked, “He can’t possibly be your blood related brother, right?”
Seeing Jingjing look so anxious, and unable to speak a word, Yang Chen could only take the lead and explain, “Jingjing’s father and I are bosom friends despite the age gap, and I have taken care of her like a big brother. Today, I coincidentally heard that everybody wanted to hold a welcome party, and that she was too shy to come to a KTV alone, and so I’m merely here to accompany her.”
A female teacher that dressed up nicely chuckled and said, “So that is what happened, come and sit by my side handsome; Teacher Li probably wouldn’t mind, right?” As she said that she winked at Li Jingjing.
The moment Li Jingjing heard that, she subconsciously shook her head, “No can do, big brother Yang must stay by my side!”
Once those words were spoken, everyone let out kind laughs, Yang Chen also helplessly looked at the flustered Li Jingjing who blushed with shame, this girl is really skilled at making things worse.
Li Jingjing was no exception, she didn’t think much of it, and timidly lowered her head to say “Thank you.”
Just as the atmosphere within the room became harmonious, the door was opened once again. A man in his early twenties wearing a J.Press shirt walked in. His hair was neatly combed, along with a sharply contoured face; a rough glance revealed that he had the temperament of a brave scholar.
Upon seeing this person enter, all the teachers began greeting him as “Department Head Jiang.”
The man greeted the teachers with a warm smile before looking towards Yang Chen and Li Jingjing. Upon seeing Li Jingjing covered in fashionable clothes and her long slender legs revealed by the hot pants like white jade, excitement flashed in his eyes, and he praised, “Jingjing, you’re really pretty today. If you dressed like this in school everyday, I reckon all the teachers and students will have their eyes on you.”
The other teachers all agreed, and complimented how beautiful and attractive Li Jingjing’s attire was.
Such praise was a little exaggerated, but all women enjoyed others praising their beauty.
When he looked at Yang Chen, the man’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he warmly stretched his hand out, “You must be the one mentioned by Jingjing earlier, Mr Yang. I’m Jiang Shuo, Yi Zhong’s English Department’s Head. May I know, how should I address you, and where does an elite like you work?”
Yang Chen internally murmured “another smiling man with evil intentions” and unconcernedly went forward to shake hands, “I’m Yang Chen, you can call me whatever you like, I’m just a small employee in a company that buys breakfast and does odd jobs.”
Once he heard this, a light shone in Jiang Shuo’s eyes, and he straightened his back. With some stubbornness and arrogance he said, “Mr Yang need not be modest, we are still young, as long as you work hard, in the future there will definitely be a day you can succeed. Perhaps you can become someone like I, named Jiang who had a higher starting point. Oh right, Mr Yang might not know of this, but my father, Mr Jiang Meng, is the headmaster of Yi Zhong and the Vice Chief of Zhong Hai’s Department of Education. It is by taking advantage of my father’s connections that I managed to become Yi Zhong’s English department head and Vice Head of the Teaching Department. I feel ashamed to say that other than publishing a few theses in the country’s textbooks and bringing a team overseas for some interviews on a few occasions, I haven’t done anything noteworthy. Perhaps in the future, Mr Yang’s achievements would even be greater than mine.”
“Department Head Jiang is being overly modest. Amongst us, who is unaware that Department Head Jiang is our school, Yi Zhong’s hope for the future, and the most impressive rising star in the academic world?” A middle-aged female teacher swiftly stated.
“That’s right.” The skinny female teacher also chimed in, “Who knows, perhaps in a few more years Department Head Jiang would become our school’s headmaster. In terms of capability, who can compare with Department Head Jiang?”
All the teachers had actually sung a whole bunch of praises all at once, while Jiang Shuo was instead “modestly” smiling, waving his hands saying, “I don’t deserve your praise.”
Yang Chen had truly witnessed an eye-opener, and rubbed his nose to cover his smile.
I’ve seen shameless people, but I’ve never met someone even more shameless than me! Seems like I’m not alone in this dao, at the very least, there’s this chap in front of me whose skin is thicker than the city wall!