EFB Chapter 398 - 397: "Which Male Celebrity Are You Looking For?
Chapter 398 - 397: "Which Male Celebrity Are You Looking For?
Jiang Peng was bewildered by the shove. He saw Shen Chen’s reaction and followed his gaze to the corner, where Xu Su was just peeking her head out from behind him.
A girl of devastating beauty was smiling at him.
Xu Su ignored Shen Chen and asked Jiang Peng curiously, "Is what you said true?"
"..." Jiang Peng recalled what he had just said, and his face burned with embarrassment.
"He’s talking nonsense," Shen Chen explained, his face grim. "I’m not interested in any of that."
"Right, right, right," Jiang Peng nodded eagerly. "Brother Chen has already settled down. No matter how beautiful a girl is, they’re all just painted skeletons in his eyes. He doesn’t give any of them a second glance."
A vein throbbed on Shen Chen’s forehead. He wished he could kick Jiang Peng all the way down to the dance floor below.
’Still, for a guy who never cracked a book in school, he tried his best,’ Shen Chen thought. ’To think he could even come up with an obscure phrase like "painted skeletons" to defend me is impressive in its own way.’
Xu Su, however, felt something was off. The way Jiang Peng was acting made it seem like she and Shen Chen were a couple.
’But hasn’t he met Zhou Mochen?’
’He should know my boyfriend is Zhou Mochen...’
"Let’s not talk about this," Jiang Peng said, bringing a bottle of liquor over and filling both their glasses. He changed the subject abruptly. "You’re here to have fun, so just enjoy yourselves. Miss Xu, this is your first time at my place. If you need anything at all, just let me know."
At some point, Hou Yiming had also noticed the situation. Hearing Jiang Peng’s words, he chimed in, "That’s right. This is Pengzi’s turf. Miss Xu, you have to let him play the part of a proper host."
"I remember Miss Xu enjoys a drink, am I right?" said Zhu Yuxuan, who had also met Xu Su in Chang City. He already had one of a pair of twin sisters in his arms, but his eyes were on Jiang Peng as he called out, "Pengzi, what are you waiting for? Break out a few bottles of your top-shelf stuff for Miss Xu to try."
"You own this bar?" Xu Su asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Thanks to my bros looking out for me, business is decent," Jiang Peng replied with a smile, wearing an expression that said it was nothing to brag about.
Xu Su pursed her lips. It was obvious. With a top-tier playboy from Beijing’s elite circles like Shen Chen patronizing the place, countless outsiders who were desperate for connections but couldn’t find an "in" would be drawn here by his reputation. How could business not be booming?
Most of these people were businessmen with money but no power, who knew just enough inside information to come here hoping to make connections. After all, there were very few channels through which one could meet the elusive, almost mythical figures of this circle.
Jiang Peng beckoned over a hostess in a slip dress and miniskirt. After giving her a few instructions, he turned back to Xu Su and said, "The wine cellar is a ways off, so it’ll be a moment. I’m having someone go open two bottles of 1980 ’Ice Beauty’ for you to try."
"Ice Beauty?"
’And from 1980...’
Xu Su was a little surprised.
’That really is some fine wine. It’s no exaggeration to call it his most prized stuff.’
It was a wine produced in limited quantities each year by a century-old royal winery in Country Y. It was the winery’s true signature product, famous among high-ranking officials and nobles around the world.
Of course, the winery produced more than just this one wine, but this particular vintage was only ever gifted, never sold. If you didn’t have a certain level of status, you might not have even heard its name, let alone owned a bottle.
You might be able to find newer vintages at auction if you were willing to spend the money, but an aged wine like this—a decade or two old—had long ago been properly stored away in private cellars, or already drunk.
It was the kind of thing money couldn’t buy.
Overhearing him, Hou Yiming and Zhu Yuxuan raised their eyebrows in surprise. "Not bad, Pengzi. You’re really showing some sincerity. I knew you were hiding a few bottles. I was right."
Thinking Xu Su might not know the wine’s reputation, Hou Yiming began to explain it to her in earnest...
He wasn’t even halfway through when Shen Chen, unable to stand the sight of these guys getting so chummy with Xu Su, set his empty glass down on the glass table with a deliberate thud. He glanced up at them and said coolly, "Is one bottle of wine really worth such a grand introduction? Go amuse yourselves. What are you all staring over here for?"
His tone was completely dismissive, leaving them no face at all and completely at odds with Shen Chen’s usually good-natured personality.
In their circle, Young Master Shen was known for having one of the best tempers around. By contrast, even Second Young Master Xie—the one Xu Su considered a fool with more money than sense—was notoriously arrogant and difficult toward anyone from a different social tier who tried to curry favor.
The others were a little embarrassed, especially Jiang Peng. He cleared his throat and was about to make a retreat...
"Wait," Xu Su said, stopping Jiang Peng as he was about to get up. She asked him, "Is it really true you can get any celebrity I want to come here?"
Jiang Peng froze. He glanced at Shen Chen first, not daring to agree so easily. "You follow celebrities?" he asked tentatively.
Xu Su nodded. Just as she was about to speak, Jiang Peng quickly waved his hands defensively. "Male celebrities, I don’t have the connections for. All my contacts are for female stars. If you want to invite a male celebrity over, you can ask Brother Chen. He runs an entertainment company."
’Was she kidding?’ With the sharp judgment he’d honed over years of mingling in the top circle of heirs, there was no way he’d dare actually call another man over for this girl.
’Never mind the fact that Young Master Shen was already scowling right here, her official boyfriend was Young Master Zhou.’
’If Young Master Zhou found out that he arranged for a male celebrity to meet his girlfriend...’
Jiang Peng shuddered. He quickly slipped back to his own seat and, with a girl in each arm, started to sing.
Xu Su was a little speechless at how fast he’d scurried away. She lifted her glass and sniffed it. Just as she was about to take a sip, she heard Shen Chen’s voice beside her.
He asked, "Which male celebrity do you want to see?"
"Oh?" Xu Su’s spirits lifted instantly. "You’re going to get him to come here for me?"
Shen Chen gave a slight nod. "Name him."
"Zhao Yuansi. Do you know him? Are you familiar with him?"
"Zhao Yuansi..." Shen Chen repeated slowly. He thought for a moment. "The singer?"
His tone was hard to read, but Xu Su didn’t notice.
She hummed in agreement, glanced at her watch, and said, "Zhao Yuansi is holding a fan signing in Beijing these days. If you can get him to come over, I’ll call Qian Jia and Huang Feng to join us. They should be off work around this time."
"Oh?"
Shen Chen gave a half-smile. "The three of you all like this Zhao Yuansi?"
"Not the three of us. Just Qian Jia."
Thinking of how genuinely passionate Qian Jia was as a fan, Xu Su was eager to grant her wish. She pressed, "Shen Chen, can you get Zhao Yuansi to come or not?"
"I can!" The slight furrow in Shen Chen’s brow relaxed, and his smile grew more genuine. "I don’t have his contact information personally," he said with absolute certainty, "but I guarantee that as long as he’s in Beijing, I’ll get him over here for you even if I have to drag him out of bed."
With that, he pulled out his phone. Deciding Jiang Peng’s singing was too loud, he had someone cut the music. Only after he finished his call did the sound system come back on.
His little tyrant act made Xu Su look at him in surprise. "Shen Chen, he was in the middle of singing. Couldn’t you have stepped outside to make your call?"
’I always thought he had a pretty good temper, at least toward his friends...’