Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s-Chapter 1549: Prey in the Eyes of Others

Bizarre lights flickered about; young men and women danced disco in the center of the dance floor, surrounded by men seated in booths competing in drinking games.

Wang Erzhu and Liu Xiaolian found a spot to sit, and the waiter came over with the drink menu: "What would you like to order, sir?"

Liu Xiaolian took the menu and gave it a glance; the prices of the drinks were frighteningly high. He felt his not-so-thick stack of cash in his pocket and, even before ordering, his heart ached.

Seeing him hesitate to order, Wang Erzhu snatched the menu, and his vision darkened at the sight of the numbers.

This was no place for the common folk, everything here was damn expensive.

A single bottle of beer cost as much as ten kilograms of chicken eggs.

But since they were here, it wouldn’t look good not to order anything.

Deciding simply, they each ordered a bottle of beer, nothing else, and handed the menu back to the waiter.

"Is this all?"

"Yeah. We don’t have much of a tolerance, just here to have a seat casually," said Liu Xiaolian awkwardly.

"Cheh." The waiter let out a snort of contempt through his nose and turned away.

Upstairs.

At a table sat three people, who had just witnessed the whole scene below.

"Penny-pinching nobodies. Miserly worrying over money means they’ll never get rich," said the speaking man, in his forties, broad and corpulent, clearly one of those well-oiled types.

"Mr. Hou is a major businessman, naturally, he can’t understand the feeling of being broke. Of course, neither can Miss Guan, with her distinguished background and formidable capability – she is truly a heroine among women! I, Wang Jiu – a down-and-out fellow, flaunt it when I have money, and when I don’t, I crouch like a mouse..." Wang Jiu couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

"Short of cash? You’re the Overlord of South Street! Half of Nancheng City is under your rule," said Hou Zicheng jokingly, with a mix of flattery.

"No, no! Mr. Hou, you flatter me," laughed Wang Jiu heartily, though aware it was mere flattery, he still enjoyed it thoroughly.

These kinds of people feed on officials and profit from businessmen, not dealing in outright thuggery, but they do take money to handle tricky situations for others.

Folks like Guan Qing and Hou Zicheng, businesspeople, naturally weren’t free from shady dealings.

They needed him, and he needed to cling tightly to these two influential figures – mutual benefit, one might say.

After a round of mutual praise, they noticed Guan Qing’s gaze persistently fixed on the two men. Wang Jiu, a bit puzzled, casually asked, "Does Miss Guan know these two?"

"I feel they look familiar, don’t you think we’ve seen them somewhere before?" Guan Qing pondered with furrowed brows as she looked their way.

"Aren’t these the two partners from An Ping’s vegetable company?" Wang Jiu would not forget.

Previously, there was a supply issue with the army’s vegetables, and Guan Qing had him investigate all of An Hao’s connections.

Among those connections were naturally An Ping and his two close buddies.

"That’s it," Guan Qing smirked and said, "An opportunity has arrived."

"What opportunity?" Wang Jiu inquired.

"An opportunity to act. Come on, you’ll join me in putting on a play! And there’s a reward if you do it well," said Guan Qing as she stood up.

"Alright! You set the scene. But before we act, don’t you think you should share the script with me?" Wang Jiu stated.

"Of course."