Outside the Zero Degree Bar.

Qin Mo, in a short slip dress, put down her phone and pouted, a look of disappointment on her face.

"Xiaomo, what's wrong?"

Seeing Qin Mo hang up, a tall, handsome man with a tin foil perm and a flashy leather outfit asked curiously. He was Qin Mo's classmate and a suitor named Li Chao. Today was his birthday.

"It was my sister. She told me to come home early and even asked Chen Yang to pick me up," Qin Mo said with an annoyed expression, putting her phone away.

Hearing the name Chen Yang, Li Chao assumed it was some other guy and frowned. "Who's Chen Yang?"

"Just a good-for-nothing who lives off a woman!" Qin Mo clearly didn't want to elaborate, waving her hand dismissively. "Forget him. Anyway, I'm not going back with him!"

"Exactly! We just finished dinner and haven't even started drinking properly. How can you go back now?" a lanky man with bleached, punkish hair immediately chimed in. Despite his thuggish appearance, he was dressed in top designer brands.

His name was Lu Hao. His family was in the river sand business, and having ridden the wave of the recent real-estate boom, they had accumulated tens of millions, making him one of the wealthiest in their circle.

"Don't worry, I won't go back with him," Qin Mo assured them, patting her chest confidently.

Li Chao nodded. "Alright, let's go in then!"

With that, the group entered the Zero Degree Bar.

Qin Mo's best friend, Fan Xiaoxian, ran over and hugged her arm, giggling. "I think I heard you say Chen Yang is coming?"

"Yes! My sister is unbelievable, sending that loser to pick me up!" Qin Mo grimaced, clearly displeased.

Fan Xiaoxian, however, looked delighted. "That's great! I'll get to see him again today!"

Qin Mo was speechless. She stared at Fan Xiaoxian in utter astonishment. "What are you so excited about, Xiaoxian? Don't tell me you've fallen for him just because he helped us that day?"

"I… I'm not good enough for him!" Fan Xiaoxian's eyes darted away as her cheeks turned slightly red. "Besides, he already has your sister, doesn't he?"

"Tch! He's the one who's not good enough for you! A waste of space who married into our family just to mooch off us. The very thought of him is disgusting!"

Fan Xiaoxian sighed to herself. If only Chen Yang hadn't made her swear to keep his identity as the Zhennan Prince a secret, she would have shouted it out loud and slapped Qin Mo right across the face with the truth. How could she be so superficial? At the same time, she found herself admiring Chen Yang's tolerance, and his love for Qin Mo's sister. How deep must that love be for him to willingly hide his identity and silently endure the scorn and condemnation of everyone around him, all for one woman? A man like that was simply beyond outstanding!

With that thought, Fan Xiaoxian found herself daydreaming. For a girl in her early twenties, on the cusp of first love, it was easy to be captivated by such an exceptional man. If she were to truly fall for him, there would be no logic to it.

Inside the bar's private room, the girls started selecting songs while Li Chao ordered a hundred bottles of beer, completely covering the coffee table. The other guys had already prepared dice to start a game. Each person had a cup with five dice. After everyone shook their cup, they would take turns guessing the total number of dice showing a certain face value among all the players.

Though simple, it was a game of wits.

…

By the time Chen Yang arrived, the party was in full swing, and twenty to thirty beer bottles were already empty. The majority had been consumed by Qin Mo, Fan Xiaoxian, and Li Chao.

Despite the dim lighting in the private room, Chen Yang instantly spotted Qin Mo in her highly revealing outfit. Her already stunning figure and face, combined with such attire, naturally made her stand out from the crowd.

Facing the questioning gazes from everyone, Chen Yang waved and greeted them. "Hello, everyone. I'm Qin Mo's brother-in-law. Her sister asked me to pick her up."

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't have a brother-in-law like you!" Qin Mo shot back, giving him no face whatsoever.

Instantly, everyone except Fan Xiaoxian showed a mocking, half-smiling expression.

"You can leave! I'm not going back with you!" Qin Mo added.

Lu Hao was the first to speak up. "Did you hear her?" he said coldly. "Hurry up and leave. Don't ruin the mood."

Chen Yang's expression didn't change, his face retaining its faint smile. In fact, he had anticipated this exact situation.

"Well, since you're already here, you have to sit down and play with us!" Fan Xiaoxian stood up, walked over to Chen Yang, and pulled him down onto the sofa. She then brought over two glasses of wine and said excitedly, "Brother Chen, let's have a drink!"

When Chen Yang downed the drink in one go, Fan Xiaoxian was thrilled. This is the Governor himself! How many people in the world ever get the chance to drink with him?

Putting down his glass, Chen Yang glanced at the time and said to Qin Mo, "It's half past eight. How about we head back at nine?"

At his side, Li Chao's brow furrowed instantly.

They had planned to party until the early morning. More importantly, he had no intention of letting Qin Mo go home tonight. He was confident that he and Qin Mo were on the verge of becoming a couple; all that was left was to pierce that final layer of paper. Today was his birthday, which presented the perfect opportunity.

"No way!" Qin Mo snapped, her face darkening with fury. "Who do you think you are, trying to order me around?"

"Your sister asked me to pick you up early."

Qin Mo sneered. "If you want to go back, go by yourself. Don't bother me while I'm playing."

With that, she gestured to the people around her. "Come on, everyone! Let's keep going. Don't let some annoying guy ruin the atmosphere."

"Yeah, let's continue!"

The clattering of shaken dice immediately resumed.

Li Chao shot a look at Lu Hao, who instantly got the message. He stood up and, along with two of his buddies, sat down next to Chen Yang.

Lu Hao raised his glass. "Brother, what does your family do for a living?"

"He married into the Qin Family as a live-in son-in-law. He's busy enjoying the sweet life of a kept man, so does it really matter what his family does?" Lu Hao's girlfriend, Zou Dan, immediately chimed in sarcastically.

This Zou Dan was dressed even more revealingly than Qin Mo. Combined with her mature features and heavy makeup, she looked bewitchingly glamorous.

"I heard you've made quite a name for yourself in Lingjin City by mooching off a woman. Truly impressive!" another rich kid sneered.

Chen Yang swirled the drink in his glass and glanced at them. "What, are you looking for trouble?"

"Of course not, Brother Chen. You're too impressive for that! At home, you get to live off a woman, and out here, you get to bask in Xiaomo's glow. You can get by anywhere with that mouth of yours. Who would dare mess with you?" Lu Hao mocked.

"What is wrong with you all? Do you not know how to speak properly?" Fan Xiaoxian flared up, glaring fiercely at them. "If you can't, then shut your mouths!"

Lu Hao and his friends just chuckled, changing the subject while persistently urging Chen Yang to drink more. Their objective was simply to get Chen Yang drunk. This way, Li Chao would have his opportunity tonight.

After more than a dozen bottles of beer, Lu Hao and Zou Dan were the first to tap out, heading to the bathroom together.

Zou Dan came out first. As she was touching up her makeup in the mirror, a potbellied middle-aged man's eyes lit up. He walked over and viciously groped her chest.

Zou Dan screamed in terror and instinctively slapped the man hard across the face.

The man winced, but his expression instantly turned ice-cold. He grabbed Zou Dan from behind and began dragging her toward the men's restroom.

…

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.