Chapter 19: Legend of the Hungry Wolf

After downing a few bottles of booze, everyone gradually warmed up to each other. Qin Ruo and Liu Hu were hooking arms and chugging beer like it was plain water, blowing straight from the bottle. Qin Ruo took a swig and said, “Tiger, after this drink, we're brothers for life!”

“Meeting Brother Qin is my good fortune!” Liu Hu grabbed a bottle and poured it straight down his throat. Soon, the whole bottle was in his belly.

He meant every word of it. Without Qin Ruo, he'd probably be dead at the hands of those Night Dragon Gang thugs by now.

Meanwhile, Xia Fei Xuan had just finished singing a song and was chatting intimately with Lin Yan'er and the other beauty. The three women quickly hit it off like old friends, giggling and playing nonstop.

“Qin Ruo, you guys do your thing, we're singing!” Lin Yan'er saw Qin Ruo and Liu Hu drinking away on their own and promptly urged them to sing.

“Tiger, you sing,” Qin Ruo said.

Liu Hu unceremoniously grabbed the mic, selected Friend's Wine, and belted it out. With his burly two-meter frame, he turned the song into something majestic and heroic, brimming with boundless passion.

After Liu Hu finished roaring his tune, Lin Yan'er picked a song too. Her singing was so-so—not bad, not great. Then she handed the mic to Qin Ruo. “Your turn to sing one!”

Qin Ruo shook his head vigorously. “I can't sing. You guys go ahead; I'll stick to drinking.”

Lin Yan'er was already quite interested in Qin Ruo, and hearing he couldn't sing felt like striking gold on his weakness. She pestered him relentlessly, insisting he sing one.

Unable to withstand her nagging, Qin Ruo took the mic and picked Zhang Xueyou's Legend of the Hungry Wolf.

A piercing wolf howl suddenly rang out, followed by Qin Ruo humming through his nose. The complex, ever-shifting melody paired with his magnetic, storytelling voice instantly hushed Xia Fei Xuan and Lin Yan'er. Dai Keni, the elegant lady type, sat nearby with her beautiful eyes gently closed.

The group listened quietly to Qin Ruo's singing. In the song, they sensed him as that lone wolf, endlessly saddened by repeated romantic failures.

Time and again, dejectedly climbing the mountaintop to gaze into the distance, waiting for that one person who never came. Who could truly understand the loneliness and sorrow?

Qin Ruo poured all his emotions into the song, infusing this already profound track with even deeper meaning. The dancing notes seemed to narrate his past—from the very first word, they painted a vivid scroll that completed with the final note.

The three beauties' eyes grew brighter and brighter. They exchanged glances, all utterly shocked.

Qin Ruo's voice was different from others'—you couldn't just hear it and forget. It pulled you into an immersive story. Unknowingly, the three women were drawn into his song.

Suddenly, Lin Yan'er and the others were filled with curiosity about Qin Ruo. Xia Fei Xuan was especially moved, her eyes reddening with tears. The sensitive girl thought to herself: Damn landlord, what the hell are you hiding? Even singing a song makes people so sad—you're awful!

Liu Hu drank alone, sighing inwardly with sorrow. So this great man harbored such deep emotions too.

The simplest way to understand someone is to have them sing a song—it reveals everything you want to know.

Just then, a burly, tiger-like brute shoved open the KTV door and coldly said, “Who's Qin Ruo? Our young master wants to see him!”

Qin Ruo gently set down the mic, eyes fixed on the man at the door. He stood up. “That's me.”

“Heh, then please come along, Young Master Qin!” The big guy's gaze turned sympathetic toward Qin Ruo. Poor fool, daring to steal a woman from Young Master Wang in Binhai City. He's as good as dead.

A mocking smile tugged at Qin Ruo's lips. “You think you can just order me around? Where's my face then? Tiger, go with him. Go easy on 'em!”

Liu Hu thumped his chest with a clang, standing tall. “Brother Qin, leave it to me!”

Qin Ruo chuckled. Under the worried gazes of Xia Fei Xuan and the other two, Liu Hu silently followed the man out.

After Liu Hu left, Xia Fei Xuan hurriedly asked, “Landlord, do you think Big Brother Liu Hu will be okay?”

Qin Ruo took a sip of beer alone and shook his head with a smile. “Nah, Liu Hu's plenty strong. Those guys can't touch him. Though there's one possibility...”

“What possibility?” the three women asked curiously.

“He accidentally punches himself!” Qin Ruo said flatly.

Liu Hu quietly trailed the big guy until they stopped outside the largest VIP room—the highest-grade package at Golden West, with a daily minimum spend of 100,000 yuan and advance booking required. Singing here was a status symbol.

The interior was lavishly decorated like a palace. Wang Shuai lounged on the sofa, an attractive woman under each arm. They held grapes in their mouths, rolling them onto his tongue with their own.

The door opened, and the big guy brought in who he thought was Qin Ruo, then shut it. Soon, a dozen men surrounded Liu Hu from front and back, eyes hostile.

An ordinary person would've been paralyzed with fear, but Liu Hu felt nothing. Ridiculous—a man who'd lived his life in battle, scared of this amateur setup?

Liu Hu lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, staring straight at Wang Shuai with a contemptuous grin. “Kid, you think these stray cats and dogs can touch me?”

“Who the hell are you? I told Qin Ruo to come!” Wang Shuai said, puzzled.

Liu Hu didn't bother answering, finally drawling, “You're not worth my big bro lifting a finger.”

“Your big bro? That country bumpkin? Scram, and pass him a message.” Wang Shuai waved dismissively, thinking he looked cool.

“Heh, we had no beef originally. But he touched Lin Yan'er—real or fake, you've scaled my reverse. No choice now. Two options for him. First: Go to Lin Yan'er right now, say you're leaving her forever, never to see her again. I'll give him cash to vanish from Binhai City.”

“Heh, and the second?” Liu Hu asked impatiently.

“Oh? Not picking the first for Qin Ruo? Heh, too bad. The second's brutal—I didn't want to go there, but since you rejected for him, only the second's left.” Wang Shuai paused.

“Soon, not just Qin Ruo—you'll both get beat so bad you'll never stand again! Let's see him stand with Lin Yan'er then. Think she'll date a cripple?” Wang Shuai sneered, eyes full of mocking glee.

“Pretty ruthless, huh.” Liu Hu smacked his lips. These rich kids were untouchable for regular folks. Qin Ruo just pretended to be Lin Yan'er's boyfriend and this was the fallout.

Liu Hu shook his head and suddenly said, “Bunch of morons!”