Though he knelt because his legs had gone numb, A Jin was surprised as well.He wasn"t surprised because Wei Ling said he wanted to go to the Night Tower, many people went there. He was surprised because it seemed like he wanted to take a cat inside.
Can a cat go to a club, let alone the famous Night Tower?
A Jin came here almost every night. He would watch the club from across the street. He would watch people go in, watch the performing bands arrive, then he would wait. He would wait for people to come outside talking about a band or a singer.
This filled him with longing.
He couldn"t help but imagine himself as the one being talked about.
The reality, sadly, was they couldn"t even book performances in small bars. The Night Tower was out of the question.
It was just across the street, but it seemed worlds away.
He was entering that world now.
No matter what the man with the cat wanted, it was worth it to get a chance to experience the Night Tower.
A Jin followed Wei Ling and Zheng Tan. They entered through the side door. A Jin wasn"t expecting this.
The guard at the door saw Wei Ling and nodded. He called him brother Ling, then looked towards A Jin with curiosity. The young man was unfamiliar, and looked so disheveled that the guard wondered why Wei Ling brought him.
He would never ask Wei Ling however. He kept to his place and did only what was asked of him.
As for Zheng Tan, the guard a.s.sumed he was just Wei Ling"s pet. Wei Ling was close to the boss, he could bring whatever he wanted.
"Brother Ling."
They ran into someone in the corridor. The person looked like your garden variety gold-collar worker. He had gold rimmed gla.s.ses and looked quite intellectual. He had a name card pinned to his chest. Zheng Tan didn"t understand the patterns on the name card, but could guess that the man was some sort of manager.
Zheng Tan was curious, however, as to why these people called Wei Ling "brother Ling" instead of "brother Wei".
What he didn"t know was Wei Ling did used to be called "brother Wei" by people around him. Once someone with an accent called him that and the word sounded too much like v.i.a.g.r.a for Wei Ling"s liking. After that, he told people not to call him that anymore.
"Long Qi? You are watching over the club tonight?" Wei Ling asked.
"Yes, brother Hao had some business he needed to take care of and left with Bao Zi. He told me to look after you if you came."
The man named Long Qi eyed A Jin with suspicion but didn"t say anything. He led the little group upstairs.
The third floor was for VIPs. Only a handful of people were allowed in.
It was clear this wasn"t Wei Ling"s first time here. One of the private rooms was reserved for Wei Ling. Long Qi didn"t ask any questions and led the group there.
A Jin seemed reserved. He knew enough about the world now to know that no matter who these two people were, he couldn"t afford to upset them. The weirdest part was besides the two men, there was still the mystery cat. It was such an odd sight.
"Sit. Relax." Wei Ling patted the seat next to him and said to A Jin. He didn"t seem to mind how dirty A Jin"s clothes were.
Long Qi didn"t say anything as well. He was only there to play host. He still didn"t know why Wei Ling brought someone like that. The young man wasn"t someone in their world, nor did he share Wei Ling"s past.
Wei Ling had explained earlier that they ran into each other earlier and he brought him here on a whim. Long Qi knew him too well, Wei Ling was planning to trick information out of the young man. What could this boy know that would spark Wei Ling"s interest.
Zheng Tan walked around the room as Wei Ling chattered with A Jin. He liked the suite.
After inspecting the place, Zheng Tan jumped on to the coffee table in front of the sofa. There was a plate with some cakes and cookies but Zheng Tan had already eaten and didn"t have an appet.i.te. He continued to examine the room out of boredom.
He found out that the room had a karaoke machine. It was a shame, Zheng Tan would sing something for sure if he was his old self. Sadly, he was now a cat.
Long Qi had his eye on A Jin, but didn"t forget about the cat either.
Why did Wei Ling bring a black cat?
He watched the cat as it walked around the room and jumped up on the the table. Then Wei Ling asked him to bring the alcohol.
"A Jin"s young, bring something with a lower proof."
Wei Ling"s finger moved as he said that. Long Qi looked at him, then nodded and left.
Zheng Tan caught the little exchange between the two men. He knew Wei Ling didn"t bring A Jin here out of kindness and he doubted he meant what he said by "something with a lower proof".
A Jin was young but he had some experience on the streets already. He was guarded. Wei Ling didn"t get much out of him, so he was changing tactics.
"Will you have your usual, brother Ling?" Long Qi turned to ask when he reached the door.
"Yes. I"ll have my usual." Wei Ling answered without looking up.
Long Qi left without another word.
Zheng Tan watched the door close. He was annoyed. The man had left before he got to choose his drink.
A Jin was still quiet and tense. He stood out like a sore thumb.
Wei Ling didn"t say any more. He walked to a wall and pressed a b.u.t.ton. The wall s.h.i.+fted revealing a window. At the same time, loud music came from below.
A Jin"s eyes lit up at the sound. He came to the window.
Zheng Tan jumped onto the window sill. From what he could see, downstairs was a certain part of the first floor. It was for the public. There were tables on the side.
In the middle was a round stage. A band was performing on it.
"Is this the legendary Eastern palace?" A Jin seemed excited.
A Jin had heard people say the Night Tower was divided into four parts, named after the four directions. The northern district had the lowest entrance fee. The performers were not as good there. The western and southern districts were better, but the eastern district was called the palace for a reason. It was the crown jewel of the Night Tower. Well-known bands and singers performed here all the time. Except, the entrance fee matched the prestige.
Wei Ling smiled at A Jin"s expression.
"Yes it is. What do you think?"
"It"s magnificent!" A Jin watched the band on the central stage with admiration. He didn"t feel even an ounce of envy. They were too much good compared to his band. He could only watch them like fans watching a star.
Wei Ling opened the window to let A Jin hear the band better.
A live performance was stimulating and moving. Especially to people like A Jin.
Zheng Tan could see with one glance that A Jin"s guard was already down.
He shook his head. He didn"t know much about this place and did not enjoy the band"s music. He went to clubs only to let out steam. He never cared who was singing, which band was on stage, or if the DJ was famous. He didn"t bother observing any longer.
Judging from A Jin"s words, the place downstairs was quite high end.
Long Qi came back with a small cart.
Zheng Tan rolled his eyes. No need to bring a cart, just bring a bottle of alcohol.
When he saw what Long Qi took out from the cart, he felt like he had a fish bone stuck in his throat.
Hong Xing Erguotou?!
F*cking h.e.l.l! Wei Ling was going to drink erguotou at a place like this!
The plain packaged kind you can get everywhere too!
Long Qi handed the erguotou to Wei Ling and gave A Jin a c.o.c.ktail. He then took out two bottles of red wine and placed them onto the table. The rest he put into a cabinet.
A c.o.c.ktail later, A Jin opened up.
Zheng Tan found out why A Jin was by his own now. The other four people in their band were all in the hospital. Three were sick in bed and the other was taking care of them. All their money had been spent on the hospital bill.
They had no friends, no family, no support in this city. As outsiders, they were definitely the ones getting beaten. They didn"t start the fight, but couldn"t avoid it either.
A Jin was there helping at the hospital in the morning. He came out at night to clear his brain and think of a way for them to get through this rough patch. Life had to go on, and he was the leader of the band.
At the same time, Wei Ling found out what he wanted to know. It was about Fang San Ye. Wei Ling felt like he had discovered a huge secret.
The president of Shaoguang Co. was singing on the streets for money with a cat!
If he let this news out, the Fang family would probably have him murdered.
Wei Ling listened while opening a bottle of red wine. He filled a cup for A Jin, then poured some of his Chinese liquor into a shot gla.s.s and started drinking.
Wei Ling was the one performing his subtle interrogation which left Long Qi with nothing to do. He opened a bottle of wine for himself and drank alone in his corner. He was considering something the boss had asked of him recently when a gla.s.s was pushed in front of him.
Long Qi Looked up, the cat was in front of him.
Zheng Tan couldn"t take it anymore. If he didn"t do something, they would continue ignoring him. So he shoved a empty gla.s.s towards Long Qi.
Man and cat stared at each other for a minute. Long Qi s.h.i.+fted his gaze towards Wei Ling, who glanced over. He didn"t say anything indicating he wasn"t going to intervene. Long Qi looked back at the cat, whose paw tapped impatiently on the wine gla.s.s.
Long Qi was amused and poured a little bit of wine into the gla.s.s.
Zheng Tan was dissatisfied at how little he had poured, but at least he now had something. He would make the guy pour more later!