EM 33. Picking Up Girls

Song Feng spent most of the drive in a daze. The way he looked made people feel like the only way to snap him out of it was to call Zheng Qiyong over and have him give him a beating. Maybe then he would calm down and go back to normal.

The girl-chasing crew consisted of the twelve remaining members, plus Xiao Mingxuan and two instructors. Three off-road vehicles made their way down the mountain road, then slowly followed the highway into the livelier part of town. It was already past dusk, and the sun hadn’t fully disappeared from the sky. They found a restaurant, ate to their hearts’ content, drank a little, and relaxed over casual conversation. Then the whole group set off in full force toward a nightclub.

Night had fallen. The city lit up. Neon lights cast a sultry glow over the streets, and it was the perfect time to go looking for fun. Song Feng rested one arm across Wei Xiaoyan’s shoulders and kept the other tucked into his pocket as he strolled into the dazzling club. His beautiful eyes carried a leisurely, flirtatious glint.

“They say a full stomach stirs desire. Turns out it’s true.”

“Exactly,” Wei Xiaoyan said, arm slung back around him. “Life is short. Pleasure comes first.”

Song Feng beamed. “Good kid. You’ve got the right idea.”

The two of them walked ahead, chatting and bantering, leaving the others behind in collective speechlessness. Song Feng was still in his usual outfit, but he had swapped out the combat boots for a pair of high-top casual shoes and added a stylish belt around his waist. With that tall frame of his, he stood out effortlessly in a crowd. Wei Xiaoyan had a more cheerful look, and his features were no less attractive. The two of them together turned more than a few heads.

Xiao Mingxuan stood slightly behind and to the right of Song Feng. Even in casual clothes, there was no hiding the aura around him. This club was one of the most exclusive entertainment venues in the area, and the staff knew how to read a room. A server came over immediately and addressed him politely.

“Sir, how many in your party?”

Xiao Mingxuan didn’t answer. He lifted his eyes and, just as expected, saw the lobby manager heading over with a broad smile on his face.

“You must be Mr. Xiao?”

Xiao Mingxuan nodded.

The server quickly realized that this visit had been arranged ahead of time, and that this man’s status was not ordinary. He backed off without another word. The lobby manager gave a respectful gesture.

“This way, please.”

Song Feng walked over to Xiao Mingxuan and asked in a low voice, “You called ahead?”

This wasn’t the capital, but there were still plenty of second-generation officials here who knew how to play. Giving advance notice could save a lot of trouble. At the very least, they’d get whatever they asked for.

Xiao Mingxuan gave a quiet hum of confirmation.

Song Feng didn’t ask any more questions. He glanced back and noticed that the two instructors who had driven them hadn’t come in.

“They’re not joining?”

“They went to buy some things,” Xiao Mingxuan explained simply. “Everything is still in the exploratory stage. The main unit doesn’t want the entire squad corrupted right off the bat.”

Song Feng shrugged. “Fair enough.”

The group followed the manager up to the third floor and entered a private room. A few bottles of liquor were ordered. Since Song Feng and Xiao Mingxuan were here to observe, they took seats in the corner of the sofa furthest inside. Song Feng leaned back, eyes narrowed slightly.

“Call in some girls.”

The lobby manager had already been briefed beforehand and replied politely, “Of course. Please give me a moment.”

As the man left, Bai Xuyao hesitated for a long time before quietly stepping forward and whispering, “Bro… we’re really getting girls?”

“Yes.”

“Then… then…”

Bai Xuyao had never even thought about sleeping with a prostitute. It wasn’t something that belonged in his world.

Song Feng glanced at him. “What are you scared of? We’re just having a few drinks. Nobody’s asking you to sleep with anyone. You’re pathetic. Go learn from your senior.”

Bai Xuyao turned his head away with a dry expression. Wei Xiaoyan was holding a glass of wine, eyes practically glowing as he stared at the door.

The manager wasn’t gone long. He soon returned with a group of young women, each with a different style, all beautiful, dressed provocatively, and clearly at their peak. As soon as the manager gave a signal, they stepped in with bright smiles, pouring drinks, slicing fruit, and chatting with the guests like they had known them for years.

They had already been informed in advance that the strikingly handsome man with the commanding presence, along with the refined-looking man beside him, were off-limits. Everyone else was fair game.

Song Feng watched the entire process from beginning to end, then blinked and counted carefully. Still only eleven girls. He immediately got up, ready to ask for two more, but just as he moved, a firm hand pressed down on his shoulder. He turned to look at Xiao Mingxuan.

“What are you doing?”

Xiao Mingxuan was calm. “None of them are for you.”

Song Feng took a second to process that. “Says who?!”

“You’re here to observe.”

“I can observe just fine with a girl next to me, can’t I?”

“No,” Xiao Mingxuan said seriously. “I think it would distract you.”

“I swear it won’t. I promise.”

“Second Young Master, your history with women is known across the entire circle. There’s no way I’m trusting you.”

“…” Song Feng looked toward the girls with misty eyes. “I want one.”

Xiao Mingxuan tried to console him. “To keep things fair, I didn’t take one either.”

“What about Xiaoyan?” Song Feng muttered under his breath, teeth gritted. “He’s been in places like this plenty of times. Why does he get one?”

Xiao Mingxuan stayed completely unbothered. “Someone has to take the lead and set an example.” He paused briefly. “With him as the example, there’s no need to include you. Your job is to supervise.”

“…”

Xiao Mingxuan reached out and patted his head. “Don’t look at me like that. Do your job.”

Song Feng gave in and turned to look across the room. Most of the others had turned red in the face. Their backs were stiff and upright, frozen like wooden boards, eyes glued to the TV screen in front of them. Only Wei Xiaoyan and a few others looked somewhat relaxed. Among them, Wei Xiaoyan stood out the most. He already had an arm wrapped around a girl’s waist, chatting with a bright smile on his face. The girl burst into laughter and even gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Song Feng’s eyes filled with tears again. “Xiao Mingxuan, I hate you.”

“Hate me all you want.” Xiao Mingxuan rested his arm along the back of the couch. From the outside, it looked like he was holding Song Feng in his arms. “Don’t waste time. Get started.”

Song Feng understood the setting. He took a breath and looked around carefully. None of them knew the real purpose of tonight, so they kept glancing instinctively toward the chief instructor. Song Feng picked up a glass from the coffee table.

“You know,” he said, “if you’ve got time, it’s best to tone down that military vibe of yours. Here’s a simple example. If you show up with your lieutenant colonel rank on display, these girls will have to call you sir and won’t dare do anything out of line. Why? Because disrespecting a superior means solitary confinement, maybe even demotion. Mercenaries have field commanders too, but we can still mess around together like normal people.”

“I get it. I’ll take care of it from now on.”

Song Feng nodded and looked around again. All eleven were doing their best. Some were clearly nervous, their hands visibly trembling as they held their glasses, but when the girls asked questions, they managed to reply. None of them were totally speechless. Song Feng finished his drink with a smile and pointed to the girl nearest him.

“You. Come pour me another.”

The girl instinctively looked toward Xiao Mingxuan, who was clearly the one in charge. When she saw him nod, she came over with a smile and poured the drink. Song Feng reached over to pat Xiao Mingxuan down, pulled his wallet from his pocket, and took out a stack of bills, dropping it on the table.

“You’re wearing too much.”

“No problem.” The girl tucked the money away, then quickly slipped off her outer clothes, revealing a set of sexy lingerie. She leaned in with a smile. “Take another look.”

A few of the men couldn’t hold it in and spit out their drinks on the spot. Their eyes were glued to her.

“Not bad,” Song Feng said approvingly. “Go get the manager for me.”

“Of course.”

As she stepped out, Song Feng narrowed his eyes. “Waist’s about nineteen inches. B cup. Decent in the hand. Legs are too short though. I like long-legged beauties.”

Everyone looked his way. Judging from how casually he commented, he’d clearly done this far too many times. Just one glance and he had the girl fully assessed.

Wei Xiaoyan had seen it all before. He looked at Xiao Mingxuan, calm as ever, then at the lineup of girls, each clearly matched one-to-one. For a second, he actually doubted whether his boss would ever lay a hand on a woman again.

The manager returned a few minutes later. Song Feng pulled him aside and said a few quiet words. The manager gave a nod, had the girls step out, then quickly brought them back in. This time, the girls came back in lingerie and pressed themselves directly against the men.

A few of the men stood up at once, stiff and red-faced, the flush spreading all the way to their necks.

Song Feng lifted his chin. “Sit down.”

The few men looked toward Xiao Mingxuan. Before they could speak and call him “sir,” he ordered calmly, “Sit properly.”

They hesitated for a moment, then slowly sat back down. Song Feng glanced across the room. As before, Wei Xiaoyan was the calmest of the bunch. The rest looked lost. Some were sneaking glances at the women’s chests, some were burying their heads in their drinks, some sat like they were on pins and needles, and some stared blankly at the screen like they had gone wooden.

Duan Qing, who had grown up in the city, was one of the more composed ones earlier, but even he was starting to look a little uncomfortable. His usual outings involved meals and drinks with friends, nothing like this. Bai Xuyao was in a similar situation, but far less steady. His face was red, and he looked panicked as he gently pushed the woman’s hand off his shoulder.

“Ma’am, please… don’t… don’t do that…”

Song Feng happened to see it and immediately doubled over laughing against Xiao Mingxuan’s shoulder.

“Hahaha, my apprentice is too damn cute. I bet he’s still a virgin. What do you think?”

Xiao Mingxuan patted him on the shoulder. “Focus.”

Song Feng kept laughing for a while before finally calming down. He reached for the deck of cards on the table, pulled one out with a grin, and flicked it sharply. The card hit Bai Xuyao square in the chest. Bai Xuyao blinked, picked it up in confusion, and looked at Song Feng. His eyes lit up.

“Bro, are you jealous? Want me to send her over?”

Song Feng looked touched. “Good kid. I didn’t dote on you for nothing. But no, let her stay with you. Even though I really want her.”

Ignoring the other’s silent wail of despair, he turned toward the rest of the group and flicked another card. When it was Wei Xiaoyan’s turn, the latter caught it midair with a smile, eyes still fixed on the girl as he chatted away.

Song Feng smiled in approval, flicking a card to each of them one by one. When he was done, he dropped a stack of cash on the table and told the women to leave. Once the room cleared out, he walked over to the speaker and shut off the music. Then he stepped to the center of the room and looked at each of them in turn.

“Just now, six of you noticed when a card came flying at you. The rest only reacted after it hit you. If that had been a knife instead of a card, you’d already be dead. Of the six, four only noticed halfway through the throw. But don’t forget. Knives are heavier than cards, and faster too. You wouldn’t have had time to react. That’s still a one-way ticket to death.”

The group snapped out of their pink-tinted daze and all turned to him at once.

Song Feng paused for a moment.

“Some of you might be thinking, maybe you could dodge if it were just a knife,” he said slowly, clearly. “Alright, then think of another possibility. What if I wasn’t throwing a knife or a card? What if I was holding a gun?”

The entire room froze. The air went completely still.

“Don’t question the point of this exercise,” Song Feng said, both hands in his pockets. “You’re here to chase girls. That’s exactly what this is for. To teach you how to handle situations like this in the future. But chasing girls is one thing. Don’t throw your life into it. Got it?”

“Yes!”

Song Feng stepped back half a pace. “This isn’t the base. Stop shouting like that. There are other customers outside.”

He turned and called the women back in, sat down again, and started shuffling the deck. This time, the trainees couldn’t help glancing over at him again and again. None of them were paying attention to what the women were saying. Song Feng sighed inwardly and waved them all out, leaving only the one sitting beside Wei Xiaoyan. That instantly drew the whole group’s focus to them.

The girl beside him looked nervous and whispered, “Why are they all staring at us?”

Wei Xiaoyan gave her a calm smile. “Don’t worry. If they try to mess with you, I’ll get revenge for you.”

He shifted slightly as he spoke, and a card came flying past, grazing his shoulder before landing on the sofa.

The entire room went still.

Song Feng smiled and walked the last girl out, then stood up.

“You all saw it just now. That’s exactly the kind of awareness I want from you. No matter where you are or who you’re talking to, you need to stay alert to your surroundings. Because you can never be sure when someone might suddenly show up trying to kill you.”

Everyone knew that Song Feng and Wei Xiaoyan had come here together, but even so, they couldn’t believe what they had just seen. Their level of awareness was unbelievable. All of them found themselves circling back to the same question they had at the beginning. Just who the hell were these two?

Xiao Mingxuan looked over at Song Feng. “We stopping here for today?”

Song Feng thought for a moment, then smiled. “Let’s do one more. Something fun.”

He looked around the room. “From now on, no matter what you see, try to stay calm.”

He turned and left the room. A moment later, he returned with a pretty young boy in tow.

Song Feng handed the boy a wad of cash and whispered a few words into his ear. The boy smiled, walked over to Wei Xiaoyan, and climbed into his lap, pressing soft kisses from his cheek to the corner of his mouth, then trailing slowly down his neck.

Everyone froze. A few faces even started to contort. Knowing that gay men existed was one thing. Watching it happen right in front of them was something else entirely.

Wei Xiaoyan’s lips curved into a smile. His eyes narrowed slightly, and under the soft, hazy light, his whole face seemed to carry a strange allure. One hand slipped around to the boy’s lower back. The other reached under his shirt from the front and lightly pinched his pale, sensitive nipple.

“Mmh…” The boy let out a soft moan.

Silence.

Just as the tension was about to break, Song Feng called it off. The boy didn’t seem the least bit bothered by having just been watched. He got up smiling and walked off like nothing happened.

Song Feng said, “That was already one of the more normal scenarios. If you run into something even more extreme in the future, try not to lose your cool.”

Silence again.

Just what the hell were these two? What were they?

Seeing that it was about time, Xiao Mingxuan stood up and led them out. The two instructors were waiting outside. The group got into the vehicles and drove through the night back to the base.

Once they arrived, Xiao Mingxuan had them fall in and stood at the front of the formation.

“Training schedule stays the same. Starting tomorrow, we’ll add coursework on disease prevention and the identification of edible wild plants. What happened tonight won’t be the last time. Go back, clear your heads, and don’t embarrass yourselves next time. Understood?”

“Understood!”

Xiao Mingxuan waved them off. Wei Xiaoyan was about to follow Song Feng, but stopped in surprise when he saw him walking toward Xiao Mingxuan.

“Boss, where are you going?”

“Hm?” Song Feng turned his head. “Oh. I’m sleeping at his place.”

Wei Xiaoyan fell silent.

The rest of the group stopped in their tracks and all turned to look. The shock from earlier still hadn’t worn off. At this point, they didn’t believe in the innocence of male friendship anymore.

Song Feng said nothing.

Xiao Mingxuan gave them a single look. “Not tired?”

They all turned away at once and started walking.

Wei Xiaoyan looked stiffly at Song Feng. “Boss… you’re sleeping at his place?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Are you planning to throw yourself at him now?” Wei Xiaoyan gave him a dry look. Afraid the chief instructor might punish him, Duan Qing quickly came over and dragged him away.

As they walked, Wei Xiaoyan added casually, “You know, during breaks, Boss only really handles two things.”

“Oh? What are they?”

“One, when a beauty’s feeling lonely and needs company. Two, when he’s feeling lonely and needs company.”

Duan Qing fell silent.

“He usually spends one wild night with the beauty, then waves goodbye the next morning. Never touches the emotional side of things,” Wei Xiaoyan said lightly. “And his background’s a bit unusual. He’s had people catering to him since he was young. Basically skipped the whole awkward teenage phase and went straight into playing around. Even when someone tried to trap him with feelings, it never worked. His big brother would step in and shut it down. Later, with the kind of work he does, emotional stuff became even less of a concern.”

Duan Qing gave him a strange look. “And what exactly are you trying to say?”

Wei Xiaoyan tilted his head slightly. “He’s never been in a real relationship.”

They were already standing close. When he leaned in like that, his breath brushed right past. Duan Qing suddenly recalled the heated scene from earlier. His chest tightened, and he shifted uncomfortably away.

“Okay… and?”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to do now.” Wei Xiaoyan stared at the two walking off in the distance. Boss was smart. Was he repaying a debt, or had he sensed something? That part, he really couldn’t be sure.

“What do you mean you don’t know what to do?”

Wei Xiaoyan snapped out of it. “Did I say something?”

Duan Qing stared at him.

Wei Xiaoyan turned and started walking toward the barracks. “Stop thinking about all that nonsense. Just go to bed, babe.”

Duan Qing stood frozen, unable to come up with a single word.