The gold-plated words seemed so bright that made Xiang Wan stupefied for a moment.So this is the renowned "The Palace"?
Xiang Wan had never stepped into the place before. However, as a native Jin City citizen, she had heard of this place.
"The Palace" was completed two years ago in Jin City. It was a place that provides entertainment to the rich and famous. "The Palace" was said to be owned by a wealthy man who came from the capital.
Located in the golden area of Jin City, the building consisted of nine floors, each floor seemed to cater to a different social cla.s.s. The ordinary people could not even afford the expenses in the first floor.
Bai Muchuan brought her to the ninth floor, the floor where one would be served like a king.
Of course, when the bill comes, one might feel as if they might have landed in h.e.l.l…
Xiang Wan had read gossip from the local Jin City news about "The Palace", that even if one had money, they might not be able to get into the ninth floor. The ninth floor were not for the ordinary wealthy people.
"Mr. Bai, welcome."
A beautiful woman who looked like the manager responsible for this floor, served as their guide. Her body hugging uniform revealed her curvaceous figure.
"Brother Nian has informed me to specially reserve the "Heavenly Chamber" for you. Mr. Bai, Miss, please follow me. This way please!"
The ground was laid with a soft rug that when Xiang Wan stepped on it, she felt a floaty feeling as though she was a piece of feather.
The lightings in "The Heavenly Chamber" seemed to make the place look rather misty which instead gave off an abnormal vibe.
Such lavishness was something that Xiang Wan had not expected, as well as the team of detectives.
The detectives were a group of rowdy, rough guys who were not used to such a posh, exquisite environment. They seemed uncomfortable and restless as they sat on the sofa in the huge, cla.s.sy room. When they looked at the waitresses who were dressed like palace maids, they felt really awkward.
"Captain Bai"s here!"
Detective Tang acted as if he saw his savior, when Bai Muchuan came into sight.
There wasn"t much work that night. Besides the detectives that were on night s.h.i.+ft, everyone was here. "The Heavenly Chamber" was a very big room, it did not seem to be over-crowded at all even after accommodating the large group of people.
Such a high-cla.s.s dinner banquet made everyone rather uneasy. When everyone saw him, they quickly stood up to offer their seats.
"Just sit anywhere you like!" said Bai Muchuan as he walked to Detective Tang.
There were two empty seats beside him.
Now, the question was, where should Xiang Wan sit?
Fang Yuanyuan was sitting with Huang He. She couldn"t be sitting in between them, right?
"Come, sit here. Why are you still standing?" Bai Muchuan pulled a chair out, looking at her leisurely.
The banquet room was air-conditioned. He folded his long sleeves a little, reached out for a bottle of wine and scrutinized it carefully.
Due to that action, the watch on his wrist was revealed, the glint of light that flashed past caused Xiang Wan to lose concentration momentarily.
That was not a watch, but the social cla.s.s.
She sat down slowly without a word, while Detective Tang laughed and started to talk.
"Captain Bai, you"re too nice to us. This place is totally like the Imperial Palace that makes us hesitate to step into. Earlier on when I went to the toilet, even the urinal felt as if it was plated with gold, I got so overwhelmed that I took a long time to pee…"
Cough! Cough!
"Boss, our Little Tang is still a virgin. He had never experienced all these before… Next time if there"s such an event, just keep us informed will do."
"… Tang Yuanchu, don"t be such a wuss!"
"I"m a wuss and you"re not? So who"s the one that asked the waitress sister if he had transmigrated to another world just now?"
"I"m just humorous, got it?"
"Do you mind getting out of my face, please?"
"Let"s drink up! If you"re not a wuss, then finish this up!"
"No problem!"
"Come on, drink up, drink up!"
The group of detectives livened up the atmosphere with their humorous and rowdy dialogues.
Xiang Wan and Fang Yuanyuan were also a little uneasy as well. Besides Bai Muchuan who wore a nonchalant expression, Huang He was looking serious as well.
After all, with his new girlfriend beside him, he didn"t want to appear rowdy and ungentlemanly in front of her.
However, when he couldn"t unscrew a bottle of foreign wine and Bai Muchuan opened it without any effort, his grim face started to get red.
"D*mn, these things from the foreigners are interesting but weird. Why couldn"t I open it?"
"It"s not that you can"t open it. Rather, you couldn"t understand it!"
Pffft! Fang Yuanyuan couldn"t control her laughter and squeezed his hand secretly.
"Heheh," Huang He squeezed back and whispered, "Don"t laugh at me."
"You silly! I don"t understand either. Who"s laughing at who?"
Xiang Wan saw the two lovebirds engaged in a soft susurrus of conversation and pursed her lips in enjoyment.
She played her role as part of the audience and watched Captain Bai perform by opening the wine bottle.
Bai Muchuan did not talk much. When the dishes were almost fully served and the wine poured, he got up slowly from his seat. "My fellow brothers, you"ve worked hard for the case this time. I shall offer my first toast to all of you!"
Everyone exchanged glances with each other, then looked at Xiang Wan who was beside him, with a meaningful gaze.
No matter what, it was their job to rescue her, yet Captain Bai specially invited them for a meal to express his thanks… that could mean this matter was significant to him.
"Captain Bai, your business is also our business."
Detective Tang continued the topic.
"Let"s not talk about this if we"re brothers. Why not stay here and work together with us?"
Bai Muchuan was about to drink the gla.s.s of wine and paused when he heard that. The next moment, he smiled and took a sip of the wine.
He had an elegant posture when he drank the wine. In one look, it was obvious he had good upbringing.
"I… might not be able to come back."
Not coming back? Xiang Wan"s spirit sank.
Everyone"s smiling face seemed to be a little stiff.
"But…" Bai Muchuan looked at the group of detectives, "maybe there will be a chance to work together in the future."
In the future…
When?
Everyone looked downcast.
He was going back to the capital, whereas they were in Jin City.
A transfer between cities was the most difficult. It was practically impossible without any connections.
Not everyone could come and go as easily as he did.
When Huang He saw the rest of detectives gone silent, he got up from his seat laughing and offered a toast to Bai Muchuan. "Captain Bai, I offer this toast to you, on behalf of all of us in the team, we wish you a bright future ahead!"
Bai Muchuan clinked his gla.s.s with his. "Wait for my good news."
His words actually held two meanings, but as everyone was laughing and clinking gla.s.ses with him, they did not think too much of what he said.
Nevertheless, being the bystander, Xiang Wan could sense an unusual hint in his words.
Bai Muchuan was not someone who would make irresponsible remarks.
If she linked his words together, it was clear that he had a plan for the future.
But, as to who would be included in his plan… that was something she would not know.
"You don"t like the food?" Bai Muchuan asked. He was sitting beside her and happened to see her clouded eyes: she seemed distracted.
Xiang Wan was startled. Then she gave a smile, as though she had not gotten over his earlier prank in the car.
"It"s so exquisite that I find it hard to swallow."
Bai Muchuan swept a gaze at her. "You really like hotpot so much?"
Xiang Wan was actually not picky over food. She had kept quiet as she was still brooding over the incident.
Bai Muchuan looked at her for a while before turning his head and called for the waitress.
"Go! I need you to prepare a table of hotpot."
The waitress was clearly stunned at his request. "Sir, we only serve Chinese cuisine here, we do not…"
Bai Muchuan gave her a subtle, flirty gaze. "Ask for a take-out delivery."
Waitress: "…"
She lowered her head.
At the ninth floor of "The Palace", the guest was the king. Any request would be reasonable no matter how unreasonable it was.
Besides, the manager had specially instructed them that the guest in the "Heavenly Chamber" was their boss"s cousin, so they could not afford to offend him.
…