"Let's head to the commercial street first. Liam Li and the others should be waiting over there."
"But Evan, you'd better keep a lid on it later. Liam Li and his crew are still pissed about last time." Yolanda Fang, walking ahead with her arm around Lynn Chen, turned back and gave Evan Lin a meaningful look.
"Let them be mad, what's it got to do with me? I'm not their parent," Evan said with a yawn, looking utterly unconcerned.
As they walked through Brightsea Garden Court, Evan glanced from afar at the villa by the foot of Three Thousand Mountain, but didn't spot that girl—leaving him a bit disappointed.
"You want him to behave? Hmph, you have no idea what he did last night." Lynn Chen glared at Evan's lazy attitude, grinding her teeth in frustration.
"What did he do?" Yolanda blinked, then stared at Lynn in mock surprise, her gaze slyly drifting toward Lynn's chest and hips.
Lynn felt creeped out by Yolanda's stare and shot her mischievous bestie a glare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I'm checking if my dear Lynn got ruined by this guy." Yolanda sighed dramatically. "It's like raising cabbage for years only to have a pig eat it. You wouldn't understand that pain. Tragic! Who could've guessed my little Lynn would become a woman before me—it's a disaster, the world is ending!"
"If those guys who trail after you all day found out their goddess got taken, they'd be devastated—might even have to go cry it out in private."
Yolanda kept shaking her head as she spoke, while Lynn finally caught on, her face flushing bright red and her mind spinning. "Yolanda, you idiot! What are you even thinking!"
"I'm talking about how last night he went drinking with my dad at someone else's house, got three elders drunk, and even got in a fight!" Lynn Chen muttered, exasperated.
Yolanda turned to Evan and grinned. "That really sounds like something you'd do. But is your drinking really that good? How about we pick a night, when it's nice and quiet, and you come over to my place for a real drinking session?"
Yolanda winked, making Evan's head ache. "Go drink with Ethan Yi if you want—I'm not interested in booze, and even less in drinking with girls."
"Hey, that's not fair, Evan—you're being sexist." Yolanda raised an eyebrow, then added, "Fine, I'll drag Lynn along too. Once you're both drunk, you can do whatever you want."
Yolanda gave Evan a tempting look, earning a few playful punches from Lynn and the others.
Seeing Lynn's face burning red, Yolanda just laughed even harder.
The two pretty girls kept play-fighting and joking as they walked down the street, drawing plenty of glances from passersby.
Trailing behind them, Evan actually felt a rare moment of peace.
The commercial street wasn't far, so the three just walked over instead of grabbing a cab.
At the entrance to the commercial street, a group of people was waiting.
Liam Li was dressed casually in a white shirt today. He wasn't tall, but he was clearly the steady "big brother" of the group.
Standing next to him was Jason Zhao, who'd gotten his face beaten to a pulp at Imperial Grand a few days ago—at least the swelling had finally gone down.
"Where are Yolanda and Lynn? It's almost seven thirty—if they're any later, we'll miss the train." Simon Li mumbled, his mouth crooked, words coming out slurred.
Last time he tried to smash Boss Long's crotch with a beer bottle, only to get dragged out and stomped by a bunch of muscleheads. The injuries were bad enough that his mouth was still crooked.
"Girls always take longer to get ready. No rush—our high-speed train leaves at eight thirty, so we've got an hour." Liam Li checked the gold watch on his wrist, making a few of the girls nearby glance over with sparkling eyes.
One of the girls giggled, "No need to hurry. Even if we miss this train, there's another. We're all staying at White Dragon Mountain Hot Springs tonight, right? Liam already booked the rooms, so we've got a place to crash—what's a few minutes?"
"And that hotel at White Dragon Mountain Hot Springs is expensive and hard to book, isn't it? I tried with some friends last month and couldn't get a room even booking a month ahead."
"It's fine," Liam said offhandedly. "I called the hotel yesterday—my buddy's the lobby manager, so he held some rooms for me."
That one sentence drew another round of admiration from the group.
"Jason, I could've booked one less room tonight, you know. As your bro, this is your chance—don't waste it." Liam grinned at Jason Zhao.
Jason Zhao caught on and grinned knowingly.
"Hey, Lynn, Yolanda—over here!" In the crowd, Sisi Shao spotted Lynn Chen and Yolanda Fang walking over, and jumped up to wave.
But when she saw Evan Lin trailing behind them, looking completely unfazed, Sisi Shao frowned. "Why's he here too?"
Liam Li, Jason Zhao, and the others also noticed Evan, their faces darkening slightly, brows furrowing.
"We've been waiting ages for you two."
Yolanda and Lynn walked over, and Sisi Shao came to greet them, sneaking a glance at Evan. "What's this kid doing here? Was he stalking Lynn at her complex again? Listen, you little toad, don't even dream about getting with our Lynn."
"We still haven't settled the mess you made at Imperial Grand KTV, you know. Do you even realize how much trouble you caused that night?" Sisi Shao kept nagging Evan, her tone full of disdain.
She just couldn't stand Evan's poor, shabby look.
Evan frowned, but Yolanda had already stepped up and clamped a hand over Sisi's mouth. "How could you say he was following us? I dragged him along to be our bodyguard!"
"Sisi, don't just run your mouth. Why not ask Liam if Evan can come along?" Yolanda turned to Liam Li.
Liam stared at Evan, his expression shifting, then suddenly smiled as if he'd remembered something. "Sure, he can come. We're all friends here. Last time, if this brother hadn't been around, we would've been in real trouble."
"No worries, the more the merrier."
But as Liam finished, he shot Evan a cold, mocking smile.
A broke nobody who only knows how to fight—so what if he can throw a punch?
Once we get to White Dragon Mountain, he'll have plenty of chances to embarrass himself.