Chapter 2: The First and The Second Place in the Grade

When Chen Ruxiu had just started university, he had a brief encounter with Fang Yiran off-campus. At that time, he had already sensed that Fang Yiran wasn’t as sunny and simple as he appeared at school.

However, Chen Ruxiu had always been the type to keep out of things that didn’t concern him, never meddling in others’ business, so he never spread any rumors. He hadn’t expected that one day Fang Yiran would become a problem for him.

“Do I really have to wear this kind of outfit to work here?” Chen Ruxiu asked, holding up a pair of fluffy fake ears, looking a bit puzzled.

“This is our proper uniform, the cat-ear butler outfit, get it? It’s a popular style among young people these days,” the manager in charge of the club tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry, our bar is very reputable. The clients we attract are high-spending, high-quality individuals, and we have strict security. No one will give you trouble. Besides, with such a high salary, isn’t it worth wearing something a bit unusual?”

So, you think this outfit is weird too, huh? Chen Ruxiu thought to himself, but outwardly, he considered the salary and remained silent.

Seeing that Chen Ruxiu was obedient and good-looking, the manager offered him some advice with a hint of suggestion, saying, “You mentioned you’re short on money, right? The people here are all wealthy. With your looks, it wouldn’t be hard to get acquainted with a few rich young ladies.”

“I’m not into that,” Chen Ruxiu replied coldly, immediately rejecting the idea. “I’m not interested in money obtained through those means.”

“Heh, quite principled, aren’t you?” The manager clicked his tongue in admiration, though inwardly he thought he had seen many people who acted reserved at first. He figured this kid, despite his firm stance now, probably wouldn’t hold out for long.

On Chen Ruxiu’s first day at work, his task was to take orders from guests and serve drinks. The job wasn’t difficult, at least for a freshman from a prestigious university like him, it was just a bit of a monotonous assembly-line task.

“Take this bottle to Private Room A, for Young Master Fang, the one sitting in the center. Be careful when you carry it,” the manager instructed him after answering a phone call, emphasizing the importance, “Guess how much this bottle costs? It’s worth this much, so be extra careful.”

Chen Ruxiu glanced over and saw the manager holding up a single finger, figuring it must mean ten thousand.

Ten thousand, that’s way too much. It was equivalent to what he used to earn in a year working as a cashier at the convenience store.

In this hedonistic atmosphere, ambiguous things happened frequently. Chen Ruxiu kept his gaze straight ahead as he walked through the hallway, not sparing a glance at the couples kissing around him.

He politely pushed open the door to Private Room A and glanced around, noticing that the atmosphere inside seemed a bit unusual.

—

Unlike the lively scenes in other rooms, Private Room A contained only two groups of people, seated separately. Most of them were silent, with only the two leaders on each side occasionally laughing, drinking, and exchanging a few words.

Sensing a potential danger instinctively, Chen Ruxiu became much more alert.

He forced himself to speak up, “Sorry to interrupt, the manager asked me to deliver a bottle of wine for Young Master Fang.”

Both men looked at him simultaneously. The one with the peach blossom eyes was the first to speak: “Take a guess, which one of us is Young Master Fang?”

The other man also looked at him, his expression relatively calm, with no intention of stepping in to help.

Chen Ruxiu had no choice but to size them up. The man with the peach blossom eyes was dressed in a suit, speaking in a refined manner, looking like a typical urban professional. The other was wearing sportswear, with a pair of over-ear headphones hanging around his neck, exuding youthful energy, seemingly still a university student.

With a sigh, Chen Ruxiu gave his answer: “It should be the gentleman who just spoke.”

The moment he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room turned even colder, falling into a dead silence for several seconds, until it was suddenly broken by the man with the peach blossom eyes bursting into laughter.

“Hahaha… Little brother, didn’t I tell you? Even though my background isn’t as good as yours, with a mother who was a mistress, I’m far more suited to the title of Young Master Fang.” The man clapped his hands twice. “We share the same father, so why not call me ‘big brother’? There’s still some pine nut liquor left that I brought. How about another drink between us brothers?”

Chen Ruxiu immediately sensed that things were not looking good. He had figured it out: the one in the sportswear was the legitimate Young Master Fang, while the talkative one was just an illegitimate child here to stir up trouble.

When deities fight, it’s the small fry who suffer. The looks directed at Chen Ruxiu by those present were far from friendly, leaving him with no choice but to focus on the young man in sportswear, waiting for his reaction.

The young man stood up, patted the nonexistent dust off his pants, and as he raised his hand, the branded watch on his wrist, previously hidden by his sportswear, was revealed. He then slowly walked up to Chen Ruxiu.

Chen Ruxiu was slightly nearsighted, and it wasn’t until the other person was right in front of him that he vaguely recognized him as a classmate from the same major.

—But so what? In this situation, trying to establish any connection would just come across as forced.

“Oh? So you think this illegitimate child seems more like a young master than I do?” Fang Yiran’s lips curved into a bright smile, as if he was carefree and untroubled.

Chen Ruxiu found himself in a difficult position, hesitating for a moment before responding, “…I’m just a server here, serving tea and drinks.”

“So?”

“So my judgment isn’t good,” Chen Ruxiu replied decisively. “My judgment is poor, which is why I can only work as a server, while you are a guest. Any guest who comes here has a status and vision far above mine. I’m the least qualified person to be standing here.”

The underlying meaning was clear: You’re so outstanding, don’t make things difficult for me; I simply have poor judgment.

But Fang Yiran laughed. “You’re wrong. The fact that you’re able to stand here means you’re at least more qualified than that group over there.”

He turned back, walked over to the sofa, and pointed to the spot beside him. “Sit.”

Chen Ruxiu hesitated for a moment, but then he heard the other man emphasize his command, repeating, “Sit.”

With no other choice, Chen Ruxiu could only walk over and sit down, feeling completely baffled.

“Open the bottle,” Young Master Fang ordered arrogantly. “Take out two glasses and pour the wine.”

Chen Ruxiu had no choice but to comply. As he sat on the leather sofa, the clip-on decorative tail pressed against his tailbone, causing him some slight discomfort.

In a room full of men dressed in suits and ties, there were only two exceptions: Young Master Fang, who wore sportswear like a true college student, and himself, wearing cat ears and a strange butler outfit.

By comparison, even Fang Yiran looked more normal than he did.

“Both glasses are filled,” Chen Ruxiu reported to Fang Yiran after finishing the task.

Fang Yiran leaned forward, picked up one of the glasses, and took a few sips himself. Then, he tilted his head back and gestured to Chen Ruxiu, “You drink too.”

Chen Ruxiu hesitated for a moment, but under Fang Yiran’s intimidating gaze that seemed to say, Defy me, and you’ll regret it, he had no choice but to start drinking.

After Chen Ruxiu had drunk about half of the glass, Fang Yiran finally asked, “What does it feel like to drink this kind of wine?”

“It’s spicy,” Chen Ruxiu replied. Being a science student, he wasn’t very good at descriptions. “Drinking it just feels… expensive.”

His straightforward and innocent description had a certain charm to it. Sitting upright with a mix of restraint and caution, he resembled a young snake that had wandered into a pack of wolves.

Fang Yiran chuckled twice before saying, “This is Rémy Martin Louis XIII, priced at 1.08 million. That half glass you just drank is worth enough to buy a square meter in the city’s inner ring.”

Chen Ruxiu was stunned. He hadn’t expected that when the manager held up one finger, it didn’t mean ten thousand, but it meant a million.

The life of the wealthy was truly beyond his imagination.

He instinctively put down the glass, pressing his lips together. “I’d better not drink anymore.”

“Why not?” Fang Yiran asked, puzzled.

Chen Ruxiu tugged lightly at his sleeve, feeling an unusual sense of embarrassment. “…I’m just a server. I don’t have the right to drink this.”

“I gave you the glass, so you have the right,” Fang Yiran said directly, then finally shifted his gaze to the illegitimate child. “As for some gutter rats, they can take the remaining half bottle and get out. My words are meant for people, and someone like him, who is always scurrying around with no place in polite society, is the one truly unqualified to converse with me.”

After the illegitimate child and his entourage filed out, Chen Ruxiu noticed that Fang Yiran, who had just been fierce and unyielding, seemed to finally let out a sigh of relief. He leaned back against the sofa, slightly closing his eyes as he sipped brandy, one small mouthful after another.

Sensing Chen Ruxiu’s gaze, Fang Yiran turned his eyes toward him, raising an eyebrow and flashing a smile. “What I just said still stands, drink as much as you like. Keep me company for a bit, model student.”

Chen Ruxiu was stunned. “You know me?”

“Of course, my defeated rival, the second place in the grade, Classmate Chen.” Fang Yiran let out a light snort, neither contemptuous nor teasing, his tone ambiguous. “Since when does the first in the grade bother remembering the second? It should be you who knows me. Even though you rarely notice me, I’ve always had my eye on you.”

Being watched with such an intense gaze made Chen Ruxiu a bit uncomfortable, so he turned his head away and said, “…It’s my work time now, so don’t treat me like your classmate.”

He didn’t like drinking, and this was his way of hoping that the young master would stop pushing him.

But Fang Yiran took advantage of the situation and pressed further, “Alright, not a classmate then. What should I treat you as? A server here to serve tea and drinks?”

“You can think of it that way,” Chen Ruxiu nodded. Serving tea was definitely easier than drinking.

“There are a lot of rules when it comes to serving,” Fang Yiran said slowly, a hint of a smile in his tone. “According to the club’s guidelines, along with what I’ve spent tonight, when I asked you to open that bottle, you should have been sitting on my lap, feeding me the drink.” He leaned in slightly, his voice softening. “So, tell me, do you think you can just serve me tea? Hmm?”

At this moment, Fang Yiran seemed rather annoying, and Chen Ruxiu was just about to turn and leave when he was stopped by Fang Yiran’s voice.

“Chen Ruxiu, what should I say about you? You’re such a bookworm,” Fang Yiran shook his head helplessly, shedding the playful and flippant attitude he had just displayed, reverting to his cheerful, big-boy demeanor. “I was just messing with you earlier, trying to keep you on your toes. Find a different job, this isn’t a good place. If I were you, I’d have turned around and left the moment the manager asked me to wear that suggestive outfit.”

Chen Ruxiu was reluctant to admit that he had poor judgment, but the strange feeling the outfit gave him was undeniable, so he could only remain silent for a moment.

This brief silence gave Fang Yiran the chance to press his advantage further. He added, “Second in the grade, do you know that when you look up at people with those cat ears on, it really makes others want to bully you?”

This time, Chen Ruxiu left without any hesitation.

—

It was almost time for him to finish his shift anyway, so Chen Ruxiu found the manager and explained that he wanted to resign. To his surprise, after all the hassle of the day, the manager refused to pay him his wages upon hearing his intention to quit.

“Did you really think such a high salary was just for delivering drinks? A bit of physical contact between young people isn’t a big deal, you’ll get used to it over time. If you quit after just one day, I’ll have to find a replacement, and all my arrangements will be disrupted. So, you definitely won’t be getting your pay.”

After drinking half a glass of strong liquor, Chen Ruxiu was feeling a bit light-headed. He didn’t have the energy to argue with the manager and just wanted to go home and get a good night’s sleep.

As he drifted into a hazy sleep, he thought to himself that Fang Yiran could really hold his liquor. He drank so much without showing any signs of being drunk.

The next morning, he woke up to an unexpected apology from the manager via WeChat. The message was very polite, acknowledging the hard work Chen Ruxiu had put in the previous day and even paying him three times the original salary.

Chen Ruxiu found the manager’s sudden change in attitude rather baffling, but he saw no reason to refuse money that was offered to him. After accepting the payment, he received a new message from the manager.

Unprincipled Manager: 【I didn’t realize you were friends with Young Master Fang, so my tone was a bit harsh. I know that what I’ve given you isn’t even enough for a drink, but it’s just a small token of my apology.】

Unprincipled Manager: 【Please don’t take it personally. If you ever want to experience life again, feel free to come back. I’ll assign you the easiest tasks, and I promise I won’t make you wear any of those odd outfits again.】

Chen Ruxiu’s hand paused as he was brushing his teeth. Only then did he realize that it seemed Fang Yiran must have said something to the manager.