Chapter Twenty-Three: Interlude

“How do you mean by that?” Yan Xue prompted him to continue.

Gao Yang sighed. Compared to his previous, closed-off demeanor, he now clearly had the urge to open up, to finally let out the words he’d been holding back in his heart.

But just then, hurried footsteps sounded at the door. At the same time as a knock, someone pushed the door open from the outside—a young woman in a server’s uniform poked her head in.

When she saw Kang Ge sitting inside, she visibly let out a breath of relief. “Kang Ge, you really are here! Wonderful! We need your help—urgent!”

Her voice was anxious as she spoke to Kang Ge.

“What’s going on? Explain it to me first so I can judge how urgent it is,” Kang Ge raised his eyebrows at her.

The young server pointed behind her, out toward the private room: “There’s something off about a table in the main hall’s booth area. A few men brought two women for dinner—at first everything seemed normal, but then they started pressing one of the girls to drink. Xiao Qin is serving their table. She told us it looks like the girl being pressured to drink came with the other girl, and it’s clear the second girl is much more familiar with those men.

“The girl being pressured didn’t want to drink from the start. We even sent Da Gang, the food runner, over to ask if she needed help, but the men chased him off, saying it was a friends’ gathering and Da Gang’s hovering was ruining their meal.

“Just now, those men produced a bottle with all foreign writing on it. They’re trying to make that girl try it. We don’t know what to do, but based on experience, it feels wrong. Xiao Qin went over with an excuse, saying we don’t allow outside alcohol, hoping to scare them off, but they said the Consumer Protection Regulations forbid us from refusing outside drinks.

“We’re really worried something bad will happen. I heard from Sister Yue that you brought a friend, so I rushed over to tell you and see what you think we should do—after all, you’re a police officer!”

“Tsk! Watch how you say that. I am a police officer, not a fake, and what do you mean ‘after all’?” Kang Ge flashed a grin and glared at her.

Before he could move, Yan Xue stood up first. She nodded to the young server. “I’m a police officer too—a colleague of Kang Ge’s. Let’s go have a look.”

The server’s main concern was that the diners wouldn’t cause trouble. Though it was her first time meeting Yan Xue, hearing she was police put her at ease. She immediately took Yan Xue with her.

Yan Xue followed the server down the corridor toward the main hall. At the end of the corridor, Yan Xue stopped and, following the server’s signal, looked toward the table that had everyone on edge.

It was a table for eight, with three men and two women seated—a total of five. Generally, in such a scenario, unless two of the men were boyfriends of the women, the two girls would sit together, opposite the three men.

But the reality was one girl and one man sat on one side, while the other girl was on the opposite side, flanked left and right by two men—a clear pincer.

That wasn’t all. As the server had described, the men were all grinning, coaxing and cajoling the girl caught in the middle to drink, invoking friendship, face, and feelings—cornering her in a way that made refusal almost impossible.

It was obvious she was uncomfortable—her posture and expression said as much, but there was an even clearer sign: she kept casting desperate looks for help at her female companion.

Yet the other girl, the one clearly more familiar with the men, seemed to have shut off her “reception” completely, ignoring the silent pleas and laughing along with the men.

The girl in the middle shrank under the constant touches and advances, trying to refuse the drinks and dodging the men’s little gestures. Yan Xue frowned, ready to step forward. She’d just taken a stride when a firm hand on her shoulder made her slow down.

“Look at you, so hot-tempered!” Kang Ge’s voice, half teasing, came from behind. “Isn’t that what I’m here for? Sit back and watch me—let me be the one to charge in and take the enemy general’s head from the midst of a hundred thousand troops!”

With that, he moved past Yan Xue toward the table.

Only then did Yan Xue notice that Kang Ge was now holding a wine glass—when had he gotten that? The liquid inside looked like red wine, but deeper and thicker, clinging to the glass.

Kang Ge strode right up to the table and plopped down in the empty seat next to the man flanking the girl.

A stranger suddenly sitting down, glass in hand, threw everyone off. Not only the man next to Kang Ge, but the others too, including the girl being pressured.

While they hesitated, Kang Ge was all ready. One hand held his glass, the other slung affectionately around the man’s neck, leaning half his weight on him.

“A deep bond, one gulp; a shallow bond, just a sip! Come on, let’s drink!” He offered the glass to the man’s lips, his tone friendly.

The man jumped, then instinctively leaned back, trying to put distance between himself, Kang Ge, and the glass. “Who are you?”

“Hey, buddy!” The man across the table stood, reaching out as if to rescue his friend. “Had a bit much? You must have the wrong table. We don’t know you!”

“What does it matter if we didn’t know each other before? Fate brings people together! First time strangers, next time friends—relationships are built this way! Wine in the glass, feelings in the heart—isn’t that what you were saying just now? I think you’re absolutely right!” Kang Ge’s grin was dazzling, his words light, but he didn’t loosen his grip at all. “Meeting you guys here tonight is destiny. I feel a special connection with you all. So whether or not we’re close, you can’t turn me down, right?”

The group exchanged glances, unsure if Kang Ge was a drunkard or just acting crazy.

“Alright, alright—how about this: you drink yours, we’ll drink ours. Let’s toast to fate, then everyone can get back to their own business. Deal?” The man on the girl’s other side tried to smooth things over, clearly taking Kang Ge for a drunk and wanting him gone as soon as possible.

“No way! I came over especially to drink with you guys, and you want to just drink your own? That’s not giving me any face!” Kang Ge protested, repeating the very lines these men had used earlier to pressure the girl. “Besides, your drinks and mine are not the same! Yours is just regular stuff from the bar. This—this is a rare vintage, specially brought back from the Federated States of Micronesia! I don’t let just anyone drink this!”

He pushed the glass closer to the man’s lips. “Smell it! Isn’t it fragrant?”

“Where? Mic—what? Never heard of it…” The man on the opposite side was confused, taken in by Kang Ge’s bravado.

But the man in the headlock was far more agitated. He didn’t care if “Micronesia” was a real place—he just wanted this lunatic to stay away.

“Who the hell are you? Are you nuts? I don’t care what you’re drinking—I don’t know you! Why should I take your weird stuff? I’m warning you, get lost or we won’t be polite!”

Kang Ge grinned wider. “Have you been polite? From what I saw, you weren’t polite at all. We’re all men here—I come over with a drink and you’re too scared to drink? So much for fate and friendship.

“But this young lady—she doesn’t seem familiar with you at all. Yet you keep pushing her to drink, even brought out some mystery bottle for her. When she refuses, she’s the one lacking sincerity?”

Without waiting for a reply, Kang Ge tightened his arm, forcing the man to shrink lower into his seat, putting the girl and himself face-to-face.

“Miss, don’t worry. Just tell me one thing: are you close with these people?” Kang Ge asked gently.

The girl was flustered by the sudden episode, but after just a few words, she realized this stranger was here to help her.

She let out a huge sigh of relief, shook her head, and pointed across the table at the other girl. “I don’t know them. This dinner is the first time we’ve met—I’ve never dealt with them before.

“She’s my classmate. We’re both first-year students. She said she wanted to catch up with some friends and asked me to come along. I had no idea all her ‘friends’ would be men!”

As she spoke, she shot a resentful glare at her classmate across the table.