Chapter 6: Celebrate A Birthday
Never Night Palace.
A nightclub whose business scope and purpose could be deduced from just its name. Its decoration style was very in line with the newly rich and fuerdai's aesthetic. Even the sink taps in the toilets were gilded in gold and screamed nouveau riche.
Two rows of female ushers in white shirts, black stockings, and uniform skirts that barely covered their thighs stood at the entrance of the nightclub. As soon as a guest pushed open the door, they would bow ninety degrees and call "welcome" in a coquettish voice, and then in a hip twisting walk they would lead the guest from the magnificent lobby to a hallway covered with oversized mosaics and flickering lights that practically blinded. Awful howling and screeching from guests singing karaoke could be faintly heard from the private rooms on both sides.
Finally, at the end of the hall, the karaoke singing gave way to dynamic dj dance music that got louder and louder the closer they approached, and then the field of vision suddenly opened up——
Young men and women who liked to go clubbing stood on the dance floor, shaking their heads and raising their arms with the deafening dj dance music. The dance girls in particularly revealing and sexy garments stood on the stage dancing, attracting howling and whistles one after another. Above their heads the colorful disco balls flickered blinding and dizzying colors as they spun crazily. At first glance, it looked like zombies were on the dance floor going wild.
Tao Mu actually felt a little uncomfortable watching the crowd dancing on the dance floor twisting waist and hips and rubbing up against chests and backs.
Before rebirth, Tao Mu was obsessed with making trouble for Shen Yu, and had no time to relax himself. Later, he was driven to quit the entertainment circle by Shen Yu's admirers, and was brought along by the Shen family eldest brother to learn to do business. As a precocious and mature business prodigy, Shen Chen himself was an extremely strict and old-fashioned person. He hated entertainment venues such as nightclubs and KTV, and even strongly opposed his family frequenting such places.
In the first few years when Tao Mu returned to the Shen family, in order to please the Shen family, naturally he would not do anything that the Shen family did not like. After being expelled from the house by the Shen family, all he wanted was revenge so there was even less opportunity for him to visit such places. Every day he was either thinking about schemes or enacting schemes, turning himself into a bitter and hate filled neurotic, and all entertainment activities were completely disregarded.
Now that time went backwards for him, Tao Mu quietly looked at the scene of the dancing crowd on the dance floor, and couldn't help feeling rueful——he felt that he was rather pathetic in his previous life. The moment he met Shen Yu, it was as if he became possessed, his IQ plummeting like a bull's sanity when seeing a bullfighter's red cloak.
[Was this the so-called protagonist halo? Whether it was a vicious cannon fodder or a big villain, so long as they faced up against the protagonist their IQ would be infinitely lowered. Was the author unable to write a normal villain?]
Tao Mu's heart jumped. After seven days of being reborn, the fragmented dreams were finally pieced together and Tao Mu basically accepted the fact that he was re-living his life over again. However, the words that popped up in his head from time to time were still startling and hard to adapt to.
Of course, by now, Tao Mu would not still suspect that he had developed schizophrenia or something. And judging from the information that continued to emerge in his head——these words were probably evaluating a novel.
According to Tao Mu's speculation, it seemed that the protagonist of the novel was Shen Yu, and he was the vicious cannon fodder used to promote plot development and emotional interaction?
"Tao Mu, what are you thinking about?" Da Mao suddenly placed a hand on Tao Mu's shoulder, and shouted with a wide smile: "Seen a girl you like? Us buddies will help you chase her. For your 18th birthday, our goal is to have you say goodbye to being a virgin!"
Tao Mu came back to his senses and gave Da Mao a shove: "Go and play on your own!"
Da Mao snickered, and dragging Xiao Pang, he jumped onto the dance floor.
Because Tao Mu had worked as a part-time waiter and bartender in a nightclub in Beijing, so the two childhood friends who often sent and picked up Tao Mu to and from work had become nightclub masters. At this moment, following the hot dance music, they began twisting their waist and hips, wildly flirting with the young ladies around them, all of whom had big chests and long legs.
Tao Mu followed them absently. When he woke up and went downstairs, he had changed into a black round-neck T-shirt, while his slender and straight legs were wrapped in ripped jeans. His skin appeared even more pearly white under the dazzling light on the dance floor. Alternating bright and dark colored lights highlighted his profile and emphasized his defined and flawless facial features. The handsome face, the tall figure that appeared slender but not frail in clothes, and the indifferent and languid aura that oozed from his pores——it all simply screamed sex appeal.
As a result, wherever Tao Mu walked by, someone would intentionally or unintentionally press up against him. Some daring young ladies even took out small slips of paper from their chests and stuffed them into Tao Mu's trouser pockets with a smile. And then take the opportunity to stroke Tao Mu's shoulders, chest, abdominal muscles and even buttocks. It had been a long time since Tao Mu had experienced his tofu being eaten by anyone so he was a bit slow in dodging, and could only accept his fate with a straight face. But that expressionless face only made him appear even cooler and more attractive.
Some boys were not happy that Tao Mu could attract so many hot girls and sexy women with just a face. Twisting their hips and dancing over to Tao Mu, they tried to provoke Tao Mu to have a dance-off with them, and prove to everyone that even the most handsome guy could turn out to be a stiff mummy on the dance floor. A group of idle melon-eaters who was only more eager for the excitement to heat up immediately gave up space, and the crowd began to whistle and heckle.
It was a pity that Tao Mu himself did not have the intention of dancing. Even if he was provoked he didn't feel like bothering to take up the challenge. But Da Mao and Xiao Pang, two fellows who get hyped up in front of an audience, jumped over and joined in on the dance off.
Gou Rixin, who had been so eager to make amends, had brought along his girlfriend and his buddies, and had been waiting for a long time. Hearing the commotion on the dance floor, he squeezed over and dragged Tao Mu and the other two to the table beside the dance floor. There were dozens of beers on the table, as well as a few plates of fruit platters and various snacks were ordered. There was also a beautiful matcha cake in the middle of the table——with a pink longevity peach in the middle that looked very out of place.
Gou Rixin threw an arm over Tao Mu's shoulders familiarly, and said with a smile: "Come, come, come, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Tao Mu, tonight's birthday star, and the main target of our apologies. This is Yu Mei, my girlfriend. What do you think, pretty?"
Under Gou Rixin's introduction, a glamorous and mature woman in her twenties with fair skin and heavy makeup stood up from where she had been sitting on the sofa with her feet propped up. She looked at Tao Mu with unconcealed surprise and appreciation in her eyes. She stretched out her slender hand towards Tao Mu and shouted: "Hello, handsome guy. Call me Mei Mei."
Out of courtesy, Tao Mu also stretched out his hand, but the moment he shook her hand, Tao Mu felt his palm being tickled.
Yu Mei blinked at him and leaned forward to reach his ear and said loudly, "Or, you can call me sister-in-law."
If Tao Mu hadn't tilted his head subconsciously, Yu Mei would have kissed his ear.
The noise interference from the dance floor was too strong. Everyone had to talk with mouth to ear or shout, so no one noticed something wrong with Yu Mei. Tao Mu calmly withdrew his hand and Da Mao leaned forward with a grin: "Sister-in-law, you are so beautiful."
Yu Mei didn't seem to hear Da Mao's words, she still stared at Tao Mu and shouted, "Happy birthday. I chose this birthday cake. Do you like it?"
"That's right! This cake was chosen by Yu Mei. But I personally added the longevity peach." Gou Rixin pointed to the peach which was very inconsistent with the cake's overall style, and smiled stupidly: "Do you like it?"
Tao Mu and the other two all had a look of realization on their faces. Da Mao laughed and said: "I had wondered why this cake style was so inconsistent. Brother Gou, your aesthetic is not as good as sister-in-law."
Gou Rixin seemed to be particularly satisfied with his girlfriend, and he smiled wide when he heard this. In contrast, Yu Mei seemed to be more interested in Tao Mu, the birthday star. When she sat down, she moved from Gou Rixin's side to Tao Mu's side and said with a grin, "How old are you, handsome guy? I heard from our family's Big Dog that your kung fu is particularly good, and you have also been admitted to the Beijing Film Academy. You will definitely be a big star in the future!"
"Come on, let's have a drink! Your brother Gou said that he offended you and your buddies on the crew today, and he will make amends tonight, and was even afraid that you would not accept it. Then you give this sister some face, let's drink a toast——"
Before Tao Mu could speak, Yu Mei added frivolously: "As long as you are willing to forgive your brother Gou, your sister-in-law will even be willing to drink a wedding toast with you." (TN: drinking with intertwined arms, formal exchange of cups of wine between bride and groom as traditional wedding ceremony)
As soon as Yu Mei said these words, several of Gou Rixin's buddies frowned uncomfortably. Of course, there were those who were not sensitive, and they still sat there heckling. Tao Mu had never liked such frivolous and overly familiar people. It reminded him of the type of guests he had to deal with when working in bars or other places in his previous life——such as those who lusted after his physical appearance, or pretended to be drunk and act unruly.
In the first few years he had just returned to the Shen family, he was reluctant to mention these experiences. However, Shen Yu's self-proclaimed protectors and white knights would always remind him in various ways on various occasions, just how lowly and ingratiating Tao Mu's past was——in order to earn a bit of wine commission, he could swallow his anger and lay on the flattery. They used this to make their case that he would do whatever it took to achieve his goals when facing greater interests, and indirectly prove that Tao Mu's personality was so hypocritical and slimy, scheming and manipulative, completely incomparable to Shen Yu's innocent and noble character.
Of course, they later proved with facts that Tao Mu was indeed such a sinister, vicious, hypocritical and jealous person.
Tao Mu never denied that he was that kind of hypocritical and self-serving person. But in matters that had nothing to do with his interests, Tao Mu was also happy to show a noble demeanor and moral character. Because of this, even if he didn't like Yu Mei's behavior very much, Tao Mu still picked up his glass and toasted in the direction of Gou Rixin: "No need for a wedding toast, I'll have a drink with brother Gou and all hard feelings will be brushed aside. "
With that said, Tao Mu drank a large glass of cold beer very decisively. Probably because he was used to not wasting anything in the orphanage, Tao Mu's drinking of the beer was also very clean. Even drinking from such a big glass the beer did not drip down his chin and getting it everywhere on the face and neck like with many people. On the contrary, not a drop was left or spilled out, and when the last drop disappeared he slammed the glass cup turned over on the table. At that time, Gou Rixin still had half of his drink left and had to bow down in defeat. While drinking, he gave Tao Mu a thumbs up.
Da Mao, Xiao Pang and Gou Rixin's martial arts brothers all slapped their hands in applause. Probably because Tao Mu took the initiative and his decisive personality meshed with Gou Rixin and his martial arts brothers so their opinions of Tao Mu and the other two got better and better. The atmosphere also became more and more harmonious.
Men, no matter how old they were, if they get together and drank too much it would always include alot of bragging. Gou Rixin, who said he was going to make amends by drinking three big glasses of beer madly slammed down three bottles of beer in actuality. And then across his girlfriend he grabbed Tao Mu’s arm and began to brag about his past achievements——he claimed to be a layman disciple of the Wudang School of martial arts, saying that his kung fu was also very good. He had served as a body double for many big stars, and several of them were very popular stars currently in the entertainment circle.
"……Actually I don't think that group of people are much better than me. They just have better luck than me. If I was in front of the camera, I might not be worse than them. Action stars, as long as the movements are beautiful then it's fine. Besides, I am also not bad looking either, right?"
Saying so, Gou Rixin patted his bulging chest muscles and biceps: "Look, it's so masculine!"
Tao Mu sat next to him, looking at Gou Rixin who was currently acting like a bodybuilder with a wine bottle as weights in one hand. He vaguely remembered that in his previous life, this man seemed to have broken his leg because of a wire accident. And because he could not get timely treatment, his leg in the end became crippled.
Thinking about it this way, the luck was indeed pretty bad.
Tao Mu's own luck was also very bad, so he looked at Gou Rixin, who was also unlucky, and felt empathy for his fellow sufferer.
Yu Mei was sandwiched between the two of them. Looking at her boyfriend who was drunk and acting wildly, she rolled her eyes very subtly, and said loudly, "You got drunk again! Talking about useless things all day long. Now even bothering Tao Mu with it. Aren't you ashamed? You don’t really think you can be a big star, do you?"
It seemed that he was familiar with Yu Mei’s comments. The drunken Gou Rixin just smiled honestly, and replied carelessly: "Aren't we just having a small chat. I just wanted to talk to brother Tao Mu about my ideals. Isn't there such a line in the movie, one must have ideals and ambitions in life, otherwise you will be no different from salted fish."
Yu Mei sneered, and in a very familiar gesture she lit up a lady cigarette: "The way I see it, you are just a salted fish. You won't be able to turn over in this life."
Gou Rixin's buddies couldn't listen anymore, glaring at Yu Mei. Yu Mei also glared back, unwilling to show her weakness. The red lips and the cigarette in her hand all added to the shrewish look.
This atmosphere was going in the wrong direction!
Da Mao and Xiao Pang looked at each other and shouted at Tao Mu: "Shall we go dancing?"
"That's right, it's not easy to find the time to come to the nightclub so we can't just hide here and drink?" Xiao Pang smiled and went to grab Tao Mu, shouting: "Please give a round of applause for our little prince of the nightclub as he appears on stage."
Little prince of the nightclub……
Tao Mu couldn't bear to look directly, wiping his face in exasperation, as he was pushed to the dance floor by his two childhood friends.
After a few bottles of cold beer, Tao Mu was also feeling a little high. He was not as lacking in interest as when he first came in. Stepping to the music, he slid into the dance floor, and then jumped onto the center stage of the dance floor with a backflip. The simple and neat movements combined with Tao Mu's beautiful and flawless face was definitely one plus one equals greater than two hundred visual impact.
Immediately, screams and whistles came from the crowd, and even the DJ on the second floor put out a more intense and dynamic electronic music. Under the stimulation of alcohol and the screams, Tao Mu matched the intense dance music with even more sizzling break dancing. With his hands supporting him on the ground in a handstand, his legs swung rhythmically in the air, completing a succession of extremely smooth and perfect handstand bicycle kicks. Soon he switched to one-handed bicycle kicks, followed by an air flare, then a headmill with the help of inertia, and finally ending in a freeze.
The sequence of movements flowed as smoothly as water and the beautiful six-pack abs could be faintly seen under the thin black t-shirt. The dazzling display was practically bursting with sex appeal and ignited the crowd which immediately began to wolf call and scream.
In the private room on the second floor, Luo Yang, who was drinking with his friends, looked towards the dance floor subconsciously. At a glance, he saw Tao Mu showing off his skills and exuding sex appeal on the dance floor, and his eyes lit up: "It's him."
Following the eyes of his childhood friend, Li Xiaoheng also lowered his gaze with mild interest. But before he could see anything on the stage clearly, Luo Yang had already pulled his arm up from the sofa: "Let's go, let's join in as well."
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