Muchuan and Xiang Wan - Chapter 228
Chapter 228: The Demoness Wants to Eat Tang Monk’s Meat
Tang Yuanchu did not know why he agreed to that. Xie Wanwan’s words felt as if they were imbued with magic that he could not reject.
He was thinking this woman must be a demoness.
Her face, her smile, and her charming gaze seemed to be constantly casting magic on him, seducing the unknown chord hidden away at the deepest area in his heart.
It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
…
“How is it?”
Xie Wanwan looked at herself in the mirror and turned to him.
“Are you still able to recognize me?”
Tang Yuanchu looked at the heavy makeup she had put on her face.
“Yes.”
“Still able to recognize me even to this extent?” Xie Wanwan’s eyebrows were slightly squished together in a troubled frown. She kept turning left and right to check herself in the mirror. “It shouldn’t be. I almost can’t recognize myself under such heavy makeup…”
“I can recognize you even if you turned into a pile of ashes,” snorted Tang Yuanchu.
“…”
Xie Wanwan turned to glare at him and put down her cosmetics pouch.
“Fine, this will do. The peerless femme fatale is returning to nightlife, I’m gonna kick some ass… Let’s go!”
Earlier on when she had gone to the trunk to get her full set of makeup tools, she passed the car keys to Tang Yuanchu.
Women generally have a bad sense of direction and tend to be distracted even while driving. Their driving skills were also not as good as men.
Since someone could act as the chauffeur, she would naturally be glad about it.
She was humming a tune merrily when she suddenly turned to him.
“No, no, you get down first.”
“… What is it again?”
Xie Wanwan pulled her top—she was donned in a hip-hop style clothing from head to toe.
“This is not suitable, right? I want to have a change of clothes.”
She had a lot of dressing up equipment in her trunk. Besides cosmetics, she also had a suitcase filled with clothes.
Tang Yuanchu rubbed his forehead and got out of the car resignedly.
Xie Wanwan instructed, “Walk further away and no peeping.”
Tang Yuanchu behaved as though he had not heard anything and shut the door.
“Hah.” Xie Wanwan couldn’t help but feel amused.
…
When Tang Yuanchu got into the car, he was surprised to see Xie Wanwan really did seem as if she was another person altogether in terms of appearance.
She had changed her clothes to more of a sexy style with heavy make-up. It was a complete deviation from her usual style. Totally unlike her publicly known pure and lovely image.
Those who did not know Xie Wanwan well enough would not be able to recognize her.
Tang Yuanchu finally believed make-up was indeed one of the four great skills of ‘sorcery'[1] in Asia.
…
Grand Orchid Pavilion.
It was half-past seven in the evening. The time where its employees started their work there.
Guests came in one after another. The night club gradually gets more and more crowded.
Tang Yuanchu knew Huang He was still working here, so he did not want to come here initially.
However, he failed to dissuade Xie Wanwan who had a special preference for Grand Orchid Pavilion. She would not go anywhere other than this place.
Fortunately, when he went in there, he did not see Huang He.
Tang Yuanchu’s tense mood sort of relaxed.
It was not the first time he had been in a nightclub. Yet it was the first time he had felt how the decadent music in the bar could be so uncomfortable.
A wild dancing crowd was writhing to the beat on the dance floor, like night elves fallen to the mundane world, stirring up the nerves of the ones inside the nightclub.
“A glass of Silent Third Party, please.”
The bartender prepared and handed over a glass of translucent amber-colored liquor where it glittered under the spotlights, tempting one to give a taste…
Xie Wanwan’s eyes lit up in an instant.
She lifted her neck and downed the drink. She heaved a sigh of satisfaction and looked toward Tang Yuanchu.
“Any drink you want?”
Tang Yuanchu frowned. “I’ll drink later. You need not bother about me.”
Xie Wanwan raised an eyebrow. Clearly, she was not in the mood to bother with him, either.
“Another glass, please!”
“Miss, we have a couple of new drinks…”
“Silent Third Party, thank you.”
Xie Wanwan was not interested to know what the bartender was keen to promote.
While Tang Yuanchu was mulling over the name of the drink—Silent Third Party, Xie Wanwan had already downed her second glass of drink, waved her hands, and hit the dance floor…
She was like a small animal kept in a cage for a long time that received her chance to embrace freedom. She was shaking her body wildly to the beat, with both hands thrown up high in the air. There were a few enthusiastic men around her who were also dancing passionately, swinging and shaking their hips. They were having a lot of fun.
Tang Yuanchu started to frown as he looked on from afar.
Young people are passionate and bold. When he went to college, he used to enjoy such activities where he could let his hair down and go wild.
After he stepped into the workforce, somehow, he did not like to visit such places anymore. His choice of being a detective seemed to have isolated himself from the gaiety and splendor nightlife… There were times he even felt he had become a little old-fashioned…
“Sir, any drink for you?”
The bartender inquired politely as he noticed he was just sitting around quietly.
“I accompanied a friend here, and I don’t want a drink yet. Thank you.”
Seeing how Xie Wanwan was enjoying herself in such a crazed manner, Tang Yuanchu felt it was not suitable for him to drink.
He sat outside the crowd, watching her on the crowded dance floor.
She was unaware of that at all as she continued to release her burst of enthusiasm that influenced everyone around her to groove vigorously to the rhythm.
The dim, warm, and colorful lights were stimulating and ambiguous as they danced around the faces of the crowd…
The music of the DJ was as though it hit a climax.
“Come over here, come!”
Xie Wanwan looked toward the direction of Tang Yuanchu and waved at him with all her might.
Tang Yuanchu continued to sit at the high stool, unmoving.
“… You’re no fun at all!”
Xie Wanwan shouted loudly but was buried by the loud music.
Seeing how Tang Yuanchu behaved like a block of wood as he sat there, she couldn’t stand it and dashed toward him.
“What are you doing?” Tang Yuanchu took a look at his wrist she grabbed and was now trying to pull him.
“Follow me!”
Xie Wanwan dragged Tang Yuanchu to the dance floor.
“Come on, let’s dance! Follow me, groove to the beat…”
The DJ was urging people to dance to maintain the mood, and she was also doing the same.
Her slender waist was like a snake, wriggling and shaking wildly yet so pleasing to the eye, stimulating Tang Yuanchu’s nerves.
He was not used to such rhythm. But now that he was on the dance floor, he swung and dance along as well…
“Hey! You dance well!” Xie Wanwan’s eyes lit up as she observed him from a close distance and even whistled at him. “You have a great figure!”
Nevertheless, the music was too loud. Tang Yuanchu did not hear that at all and had to lower his head to hear her.
“What did you say?”
“I said you have a great figure. Your dance moves are also quite sexy… totally a hot young stud. Do you lift?”
The dance floor was jam packed with people. Xie Wanwan was almost in his arms.
“… No.”
This time, Tang Yuanchu could hear her now.
His ears felt a little hot. “I just move randomly to the beat.”
“Wow! Just move randomly and you can dance so well?”
Xie Wanwan moved her hips teasingly like a snake and half-leaned on him with both hands on his shoulders. She also blew a puff of air on his cheek playfully. “But, young man, you’re still too conservative in your dance… Be wild! Dance without restraining yourself, you understand?”
“…” Tang Yuanchu’s cheeks were red as he was embarrassed. “I don’t know how.”
Without waiting for Xie Wanwan’s reply, he took her wrist and pulled her away from the dance floor. “Didn’t you come here to drink?” He asked her seriously, “Why are you dancing?”
“We’ll dance for a while first. After the alcohol evaporates, we’ll continue to drink!”
“…”
Prior to entering the dance floor, Xie Wanwan had already finished up two big glasses of liquor. Her cheeks were already flushed red from the alcohol. Tang Yuanchu could only puff a helpless sigh as he followed her to return to the dance pool, and let her dance all she wanted. He would prevent men from approaching her every now and then by shielding her with his arms. He could tell in one eye these men were up to no good.
“Oh please! Don’t pull a long face, young man.”
Xie Wanwan was thoroughly enjoying herself, and when she saw Tang Yuanchu’s guarded expression and protective stance, she could not resist pinching his cheek.
“Don’t pinch me.”
As she kept treating him like a kid, Tang Yuanchu would also subconsciously treat her actions as that.
“Hur, are you shy?”
Xie Wanwan felt like laughing as he blushed and push away her hand.
“Hey, don’t tell me you have never held a girl’s hand before?”
“Who said so? I have done so before.”
Xie Wanwan had a look of doubt. “You have a girlfriend?”
“That was in the past.” Tang Yuanchu looked away as he replied in a sullen manner. He did not want to look at her in the eye.
He did not want to think about it, either. His first love left him because he had no money to buy her a branded handbag; it was his younger days where he first tasted love as well as the period where his pride was being crushed to pieces…
Pffft! Xie Wanwan laughed beautifully like the flowers in spring. “From the way I see it, you don’t look like someone who had a girlfriend before.”
Tang Yuanchu did not reply.
Xie Wanwan could not resist teasing him. “Hey, have you ever kissed your girlfriend on the mouth?”
“…”
“No?”
“…”
“How about telling me how did you and your girlfriend part ways?”
Tang Yuanchu shot an unfriendly glance at her. “It’s none of your business.”
Xie Wanwan raised an eyebrow. “I only wanted to know who is the girl? She’s smart to jilt you, the Tang Monk—”
The music was very loud on the dance floor.
She had to lean in close enough and said all these right in his face.
However, before she could finish saying her words, Tang Yuanchu instantly changed his expression.
“I don’t want to dance anymore!” He interrupted her and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Xie Wanwan called out to him, but he did not turn back at all. She was puzzled by his behavior and followed him.
There were empty glasses on their table.
Tang Yuanchu sat on his seat and seemed to be sulking.
Xie Wanwan ran her fingers through her hair casually, sat beside him, and leaned over to look on his face.
“You’re angry?”
Tang Yuanchu looked at her indignantly. “Are you going to drink? If not, we’ll leave right away—”
Xie Wanwan: “Of course, I want to drink.”
As she said so, she turned her head to call for the bartender. “I want two more glasses of Silent Third Party.”
Tang Yuanchu was slightly appalled. “Two more glasses? You don’t want your life anymore?”
Xie Wanwan chuckled with joy. “My life is used for drinking.”
Tang Yuanchu was speechless and looked away in silence.
The music in the nightclub was always on without any interruption, stirring up people’s mood.
Xie Wanwan’s addiction to alcohol was as though activated. After she finished the two glasses she just ordered, that was not the end of it.
She was totally immersed in her intoxicated state that she forgot where she was. But fortunately, she did not forget to remind Tang Yuanchu: “If I drank too much, please call my assistant—they will make necessary arrangements.”
Tang Yuanchu took a look at her and said nothing.
Of course, there was nothing to say with a drunkard, either.
“You’re a strange person,” remarked Xie Wanwan with a laugh, “you’re now in a nightclub, but you didn’t even drink. What’s the point of living like this?”
Tang Yuanchu looked at her indifferently. “If I drink, who’s going to send you back later?”
“Fine,” pouted Xie Wanwan, “you’ll be my personal chauffeur then. I’ll call you whenever I want to drink. When I drink, you’ll watch from the sides. When I had my fill, you’ll send me back, alright?”
Tang Yuanchu snorted. “How much will you pay me monthly then?”
Xie Wanwan burst out laughing without restraint. “You name the price. I just wanna know if you’re able to work part-time as my chauffeur?”
Tang Yuanchu fell silent.
A while later, he said, “I’ll do it. I’ll be your part-time chauffeur.”
The hot music drummed the nerves of Tang Yuanchu.
That night, he totally lost count of how much liquor Xie Wanwan chugged down her throat.
He only knew that when she was drunk, she would behave like a crazy woman who was difficult to handle and was very noisy. Now, she was grabbing his hand and refused to let go.
“Mind if I read your palm?”
Tang Yuanchu’s gaze was focused on the pair of delicate hands holding his rough palm…
Her hands were fair, clean and slender with a coat of glittery nail polish; they seemed like a pair of hands belonging to a fairy that somehow touched his heart…
“Tang Monk, you have a tough life, full of ups and downs. You’ll also suffer from emotional setbacks…”
In her drunken state, Xie Wanwan held onto his hand, her eyes were staring as though she was cross-eyed as she studied his palm.
“… What thick callus, so rough.”
“…” Tang Yuanchu looked at her face which was half covered by her hair.
“What has thick callus and rough hands got to do with my fate? Do you really know palmistry?”
“Rough hands are rough hands, a tough life is a tough life.” Xie Wanwan mumbled on and looked up, her mannerisms were as though like that of a seer as she stared at him mysteriously. “I have a way to resolve that for you, do you want to know?”
She had a way to resolve it?
Tang Yuanchu was speechless and amused.
“How to resolve it then?”
Xie Wanwan narrowed her eyes, forming a sly look as she spoke slowly but clearly.
“Sleep with me for a night, and I’ll make sure you’re safe and sound with a bright future ahead…”
“…”
The music at the club seemed to soften down due to a change in the song.
Tang Yuanchu looked at her hand in a daze before looking at her in the eyes.
“Xie Wanwan, do you know who you are talking to now?”
“Of course, I know!” Xie Wanwan giggled, “It’s Tang Monk!”
“…” Tang Yuanchu did not know whether to laugh or to cry. He looked at her in a despondent manner. “So, you’re a demoness?”
Urgh! Xie Wanwan burped, her head suddenly fell directly onto his palm, causing him to gasp in pain.
After that, he heard another sentence coming from the head which was buried on his palm.
“You’re right. You’re Tang Monk, I’m the demoness… well, the demoness wants to eat Tang Monk’s meat!”
[1] Four great skills of sorcery in Asia (亚洲四大邪术) — refers to (1) gender reassignment surgery in Thailand, (2) cosmetic surgery in Korea, (3) make-up skills in Japan, (4) photoshopping or more commonly known as PS skills in China.
