What happened between the two afterward is unknown, but as Shi Jia's consciousness gradually blurred, a casual glance caused her dispersing gaze to suddenly focus.

In the next second, she immediately turned and patted her two friends beside her.

Yuan Yuan, unable to hold her liquor, had already fallen asleep, leaning on the shoulder of another girl. She was rudely shaken awake and looked in the direction they indicated with a bewildered expression.

The blurry image in front of them gradually came together until finally...

"Holy crap!"

The exclamation came from another girl named Jin Xizhen. She was of mixed Korean-Chinese descent, of average appearance, with a loose, heavy motorcycle-style leather jacket over her body. Paired with her neat short hair, the exposed collarbone revealed a rare snake coiled around a skull tattoo.

An spectacled cobra with an expanded hood emerged from the skull's eye socket, hissing outward.

Although the youngest of the group, she spoke with the air of a big sister. Every time she held forth on some Yakuza culture, the other three girls would just laugh, not calling her out.

Otherwise, she would feel like she lost face.

She was the one who drove everyone here in her sports car tonight.

Xizhen's mother was troubled by the fact that her precious daughter seemed to have some issues with her orientation.

Having grown up in a private school, she was already familiar with fighting and skipping classes. But what troubled her family the most was that the school principal had called, rather euphemistically, to say that Xizhen was... teasing female classmates at school.

And it had happened more than once.

Fortunately, she hadn't fouled her own nest. Up until now, Jin Xizhen hadn't shown any interest beyond friendship toward her three best friends.

On the sofa in the bar's booth, Yuan Yuan, who had a very good personality, shook her head violently, then opened her eyes again. The scene before her eyes clearly told her that she was not mistaken.

"We're done for," Yuan Yuan said, half-sobered. After a long while, she sighed, "I'm blind."

Shi Jia pursed her lips and added, "Count me in."

Nan Jin, originally the shyest of the four, was now sitting on Jiang Cheng's lap, holding a wine glass in one hand, brazenly leaning close to him, staring directly into his eyes.

The dim light barely touched them, and the scene was unusually ambiguous.

Jiang Cheng took a sip of his wine, then leaned over Nan Jin's long hair and whispered a few words in her ear.

The next moment, Nan Jin suddenly froze, and large tears welled up in her eyes. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Jiang Cheng's neck. The latter struggled symbolically a few times, but he couldn't resist Nan Jin's brute force and was pulled into her arms.

The wine glass in her hand shattered, and the wine-red liquid flowed on the ground, glinting with light.

For a while afterward, the three witnessed their best friend's joys and sorrows. She sometimes sobbed to Jiang Cheng like a wronged child, and sometimes fell silent, her beautiful eyes seeming to contain another world.

"What's wrong with Nan Jin?" Xizhen blinked. She had drunk quite a bit too, but her mind was still relatively clear. After saying that, she stood up unsteadily, "I'll go see."

But before she could take another step, she was pulled back into the sofa by two forces, one arm on each side, Yuan Yuan and Shi Jia.

"You..." Xizhen, already feeling unwell in her stomach, forced down the feeling of throwing up and looked at them in confusion.

"Trust me, don't go," Shi Jia said, not even looking at Xizhen. Her attention was still on Nan Jin. After a long while, she moistened her lips and continued, "If you still want Nan Jin to pay attention to you in the future."

From beginning to end, Jiang Cheng had been carefully playing the role of a listener. He rarely spoke or offered his own opinions.

Over the years, Nan Jin had received too much education, criticism, and scolding. Countless people had put on serious faces, wearing halos of doing it for her own good, teaching her this and that, but no one had been willing to sit down quietly and listen to her vent her grievances.

Jiang Cheng didn't remember how long he had listened, and even Nan Jin herself didn't remember. Fortunately, it was late, and those who were still here were already tipsy, so no one paid much attention to them.

Nan Jin lowered her head, as if all her energy had been drained. She wasn't drunk, but too many emotions had been released at once, creating a mysterious feeling of intoxication and weakness.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jiang," she said softly, "I... did I say too much that I shouldn't have? I was just talking nonsense, didn't I bother you? I can't even remember where I left off, you don't..."

"Did you bring cash?" Jiang Cheng raised his head, looking into her eyes calmly and gently. There was no aggression in them, but they struck a chord in her heart.

After a long while, Nan Jin seemed to suddenly react. She grabbed her chain bag and dumped it haphazardly on the table. A beautifully shaped lipstick rolled along the table and fell to the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Nan Jin pulled out her wallet, which contained only a small stack of bills.

She didn't have the habit of carrying cash.

She pulled out all the cash and handed it to Jiang Cheng, then blinked and looked at him.

Reaching out, Jiang Cheng put down his wine glass. Under the prying eyes of Nan Jin and the other three girls, he took the top bill.

Then he pressed the paper on the table and gently folded a crease into it.

His fingers flew up and down, his technique as dazzling as a brilliant butterfly. Under the catalysis of alcohol, his fair skin flushed slightly. Occasionally, light reflected on his face, outlining a sharp brow.

"Whoosh—"

Jiang Cheng covered the mouth of an empty wine bottle with his hand. His slender fingers slowly spread open, and the next second, Nan Jin's beautiful eyes trembled violently.

She saw... a rose blooming at the mouth of the bottle.

Immediately afterward, her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She suddenly remembered what she had said to the man in front of her.

Because of her mother's strict discipline and constraints, she had always been isolated among her classmates. She was unrealistically excellent, and her timid and inarticulate personality made her seem like a cold iceberg in everyone's eyes.

She had never been in love, let alone received a gift like a rose.

Even the most beautiful princess has a prince to match.

He took one bill after another from Nan Jin's hand, and the roses on the mouth of the empty bottle became more and more numerous and beautiful. Before long, or perhaps it was just not long in Nan Jin's opinion, a sea of roses bloomed before her eyes.

"Miss Nan Jin," Jiang Cheng slowly stood up. Under the gaze of the three accompanying girls, who were already stunned, he bowed slightly to Nan Jin, who had opened her mouth slightly but couldn't say a word, "Happy birthday."