My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 120

Under the moonlight, their two silhouettes looked a little desolate.

“Here. Take these.” Gu Zhinan handed two bottles of liquor to Lai Jingming, pulled down his hoodie, then tore off his mask and exhaled deeply.

“Singing with a mask nearly suffocated me!”

“Why’d you buy this stuff? Isn’t beer good enough? No need to splurge to comfort a bro! Just take me for a massage next time!” Lai Jingming was surprised, holding the two bottles of Rémy Martin Louis XIII. He had seen Gu Zhinan carrying them earlier when they left.

If he remembered correctly, each bottle cost 88,000 yuan!

“Buy what?” Gu Zhinan kept a straight face.

“These were courtesy of Lu Gaochi. I even left eight bottles behind for them. No one’s leaving sober tonight.”

“Courtesy of…?”

“Yeah. Didn’t he say he was treating us to dinner? While I went down to sing, I ordered ten bottles. 880,000 yuan total. Not a big deal. He’s rich, right?”

“Holy sh*t!!!” Lai Jingming almost fell to his knees. He stared in disbelief at the triangular glass bottles in his hands, the Rémy Martin logo gleaming under the streetlights.

“You’re seriously… a legend!” He felt lighter all over, refreshed, even! With a brother like this, life had no regrets. And that song Gu Zhinan sang tonight, it was absolutely epic!

“Zhinan, what was the name of the song you sang in there? It was so damn good! I want to download it and use it as my ringtone!” Lai Jingming sounded desperate. That song had hit hard.

“Kiss Too Real. You can’t download it though. It was my first time singing it.” Gu Zhinan cleared his throat and picked up a bottle of the Rémy to admire it.

“88,000 yuan a bottle. Think it’ll make me immortal?”

But Lai Jingming had gone quiet. He murmured, “Did you write that song just now… after seeing what happened to me?”

He knew Gu Zhinan was a musician. Gu Zhinan nodded. He didn’t hide it. “Yeah. Any problem with that?”

“Damn! So you used your bro’s heartbreak for booze, food, and a new song?”

“Now, that’s not fair.” Gu Zhinan placed a serious hand on Lai Jingming’s shoulder. “We’re cultured people. Let’s not drop F-bombs every few minutes. Not classy.”

“I never would’ve thought to waste ten bottles of Louis XIII on those two scumbags, but you, Mr. Cultured, did.” Lai Jingming curled his lips, slowly letting himself relax, though his heart still ached a little.

“I even asked the waiter to pour the remaining eight bottles into water jugs for them.”

“What the?!” Lai Jingming stared at Gu Zhinan, who looked totally harmless. After a long pause, he asked, “That’s your idea of classy?”

Gu Zhinan chuckled. “It’s easier to carry that way. They might even thank me.”

“You absolute madman.”

“Cultured man!” Gu Zhinan reminded him. They walked on, their shadows stretching long behind them.

“Thanks, Zhinan.”

Gu Zhinan didn’t look over, but he could feel the tremble in the pudgy hand still resting on his shoulder. “We agreed, it’s just tonight. Cry after today, and you’ll get smacked.”

Gu Zhinan looked ahead at the streetlamp, voice soft.

Lai Jingming trembled, then suddenly shouted, “Screw all of you! Worthless btch! Son of a btch! No damn conscience!”

“You can all go to hell! Without me, you’re just two useless losers!”

“I’ll rise again! Just wait!”

He downed a swig of the 88,000 yuan Louis XIII and turned bright red, coughing hard.

“No more of this! Never again! From now on, I’ve got a real brother by my side!”

“I’m not into dudes.” A calm voice came from beside him.

“HAHAHAHA!” Lai Jingming burst into laughter, or maybe tears. “Neither am I!”

“Zhinan, let’s drink! We can’t waste this 88,000 yuan bottle!”

“Take a real swig!”

“Chug it!”

“……”

They strolled down the empty street, their voices echoing around them.

Neither of them knew what tomorrow’s trending headlines would bring. Gu Zhinan didn’t know. Lai Jingming didn’t know. But several videos of Gu Zhinan singing at the music bistro had already made their way onto Weibo.

And the views were climbing fast.

Gu Zhinan was feeling woozy. In the end, Lai Jingming had downed most of the two bottles. He’d shared half a bottle with Gu Zhinan. Now, karma had arrived, Gu Zhinan was dragging 200 pounds of passed-out fat drunk through the streets.

“All that tough talk, and this is your limit?” Gu Zhinan had assumed Lai Jingming was a seasoned drinker. Turns out, halfway through the second bottle, he was already babbling nonsense, now he was dead weight.

To be fair, at least his fat was solid. Still, dragging him is tough work.

Eventually, Gu Zhinan found a hotel, put his mask back on, and under the surprised gaze of the receptionist, handed over both their IDs.

Booked a double room. Dumped Lai Jingming on one of the beds and pulled the blanket over him. Then he headed straight for the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Gu Zhinan emerged, refreshed and wide awake.

“Zhinan… I’m not drunk… let’s keep drinking…” Lai Jingming was still murmuring.

Gu Zhinan rolled his eyes. You’re not drunk? If I hadn’t dragged you here, you’d be passed out in some public square by now.

“Sure, sure. You’re not drunk. Let’s keep drinking. Cheers.”

“Cheers!” Lai Jingming’s hand suddenly shot out from under the blanket, then fell back down. “More!”

Gu Zhinan ignored him and returned to his own bed.

“Kiss kiss kiss you kiss too real!” Lai Jingming suddenly shouted, startling Gu Zhinan. He jumped up, but Lai Jingming had already gone quiet. “Kiss kiss kiss you kiss too real!”

“Kiss your sister!” Gu Zhinan kicked him hard. Lai Jingming rolled over and finally shut up.

Trying to drink like a pro and then wanting to drive afterward?

Ever heard of don’t drink and drive?

Now finally with a moment to breathe, Gu Zhinan pulled out his phone. It was already 1 a.m., what a night. 

But then he saw a message, sent at 11:30 p.m. from his landlady. Gu Zhinan opened it.

“How did it go?”

She was checking in on him? He casually typed a reply, “Handled. Nothing major.”

She must’ve already gone to sleep.

Ding. Just ten seconds later, the screen lit up. Gu Zhinan blinked. No way…? He opened the message. Sure enough.

Just a single word, “Oh.”

Xia An’ge was lying on her side, holding her phone. Her lips curved slightly at the message. If he hadn’t replied, she really might’ve dozed off.

“You’re still up? What, planning to become a celestial being?” Gu Zhinan shot off another message.

“Just woke up. Saw your message and replied.”

Yeah… that sounded like her, saw a message, casually replied. Logical.

“Well then… good night?”

“Oh.”

Xia An’ge typed the word lightly, meaning to delete it and change it to “Good night.” But she accidentally sent it. Her peach blossom-shaped eyes scrunched up immediately. 

This phone sucks!

She made a mental note to ask Xiaoying to get her a new one tomorrow. She set the phone down, turned over, and closed her eyes. Five minutes later, she picked it up again and sent one more message. “Good night.”

Her earlobes flushed pink instantly, and she yanked the covers over her head. Meanwhile, Gu Zhinan had just been about to put his phone away and sleep when it lit up again.

It was from the landlady.

“Good night.”