Hmm, a bunch of boys and girls just barely in their twenties—their only capital is youth.
The owner glanced up and happened to notice the circle of red teeth marks on the back of Morrison's hand. He couldn't help but laugh with a bit of schadenfreude.
"Picking someone younger is always harder to handle—wild heart, fiery temper."
Morrison lowered his eyes to look at the back of his hand, a deeper smile spreading across his face.
"Our girl's heart isn't wild, just a bit careless."
The owner laughed loudly at that.
"Careless?"
"Impossible. When Mr. Mo shows up, every woman's heart is practically begging to be taken by you."
Morrison's reputation was well known—women threw themselves at him one after another. When Morrison said "not in her heart," it implied the girl's heart wasn't with him, which the owner found unbelievable and thought Morrison was joking.
Of course, Morrison wouldn't admit in front of others that he hadn't really won Lilian over yet, so he just smiled to dodge the topic.
The owner went on,
"The best way to conquer a woman is to sleep with her—make her so satisfied every night she can't live without you, then her heart will be yours."
At this, Morrison was the most vulnerable to such teasing. He lifted his glass, leaned over, clinked it against the owner's, and joked,
"Vulgar!"
"Isn't that what it's all about between men and women?"
The owner glanced at Morrison's expression, then half-jokingly said,
"Since your little girlfriend's off having fun over there, want me to send a girl in to keep you company? Otherwise, you must be lonely and bored."
Morrison was drinking when he nearly choked on his wine. He hadn't forgotten that earlier, because he'd hugged Monna for a moment, the little girl had grilled him into a corner, and he'd even apologized and promised. If now someone sent a girl in, it would probably be the end of his relationship with Lilian.
So he politely refused right away.
"No need, the little girl will play for a bit and then I'll take her away."
The owner looked at him deeply. They'd been friends for years and knew each other well.
He said no more, downed his drink, and got up. Before leaving, he patted Morrison on the shoulder,
"Don't forget to invite me to your wedding banquet."
Then he left.
Morrison glared at his retreating back, feeling very annoyed.
Wedding? Wedding banquet? What's that about?
Who is he supposed to marry? Lilian?
No way!
He never had any intention of settling down or getting married! He's never once thought about holding any woman's hand for life!
What kind of nonsense is that?
He tilted his head back and drained his glass, then glanced at the time. More than half an hour had passed—should she be leaving by now?
Letting her stay among a bunch of young guys for over half an hour was already his limit. Although there were plenty of girls in their class, he completely ignored them all. All he could imagine was her surrounded by those boys from her class, and it was unbearable.
So he picked up his phone and called her. On the other end, Lilian had just taken the mic to get ready to sing the next song she had requested. She struggled to answer the call and asked what he wanted.
He said,
"Can you leave now?"
Lilian was annoyed. With so many people around, she had finally gotten her turn to sing.
So she replied,
"The next song is the one I requested. Wait until I finish singing, then we'll talk."
Leave or not, it didn't matter. Since her song was about to start, she wasn't going to give it up. After all, they were out for the whole evening, and he had let them sing freely—she felt it would be a waste not to sing at least one song.
"What are you going to sing?"
Morrison's interest was piqued by her words. Without thinking much, Lilian told him honestly,
"'A Little Happiness.'"
Before he could say anything else, she quickly hung up,
"Okay, it's about to start. Talk later."
Morrison sat quietly in the room for a moment after being hung up on, then got up and walked over to the private room where Lilian and the others were. Of course, he didn't go inside—he just quietly listened from outside the door.
It was such a fresh and pure song.
It perfectly matched her age and mood at that moment—youthful, innocent, a secret crush unspoken, a love too late to confess.
But who was she someone's "little happiness," and who was he someone's "little happiness"?
Morrison had been navigating the business world since he was young. After all these years, his mind and soul were deeply stained by worldly greed, fame, and profit. His heart had long since hardened, invulnerable and unbreakable. Yet, standing there listening to such a simple and pure song, he suddenly felt very sad.
When the song ended, a group of young people cheered loudly inside. To Morrison's ears, the noise suddenly felt harsh and grating.
He couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion in his heart—youth, it's fucking beautiful.
After all these years, it was the first time he had felt this way.
Originally, he had planned to call her to leave together once she finished singing, but now he inexplicably felt a great distance between them, as if they were from different worlds, and as if he shouldn't be a part of her world. So he turned around and left.
After finishing her song, Lilian came out and called Morrison. The phone rang for a long time before he answered. She asked,
"Are you still in your room?"
The man's voice on the other end sounded somewhat downcast.
"No, I've left. You keep having fun."
Lilian felt frustrated—didn't he just say he'd call her to leave together? But now he was leaving by himself.
"Alright, thanks for tonight."
Lilian had originally wanted to go to his room to thank him. That last time she went to see him, he kissed her and left her head spinning, and she forgot to say thanks—thanks for treating her classmates to food, drinks, and fun.
As a boyfriend, Lilian thought he was really thoughtful and responsible. No wonder he was the perfect boyfriend in the eyes of women at Burg Eltz.
"Have fun."
He said this before hanging up. Lilian frowned slightly, sensing that his mood during this call was off. It was a stark contrast to his usual confident, arrogant, and domineering self—he sounded quite down.
But Lilian figured his low mood probably wasn't because of her. She hadn't done anything to provoke him while in their room, right?
With that thought, she felt reassured and returned to her room, continuing to have a lively time with her classmates.
In fact, Morrison hadn't left. He had gone to the KTV owner's place to drink.
After Lilian's call, Morrison took out his phone again and called Norton. He told him the name of the KTV and said,
"Come over and help me send someone home."
Norton had just dropped Monna off and hadn't even changed clothes yet when he got this new request. Feeling annoyed, he grabbed his car keys and went back out.
Morrison had originally planned to send Lilian home himself, but now he had gone off to drink with the KTV owner, and had drunk quite a lot. He was no longer able to take her home, so he had to call Norton.
When Norton arrived, Morrison was already somewhat drunk. Norton found it strange—Morrison wasn't usually someone who lost control like this.
He glanced at the KTV owner who had been drinking with Morrison. The owner shook his head in confusion as well.
"I don't understand why he drank so much," he said.
Just a little while ago, when the owner went to the private room to find Morrison, Morrison had been full of vigor. But in no time, his mood had dropped and he had come to drink.
Norton thought to himself: Could it really be heartbreak?
Had Morrison been seen holding Monna by his young girlfriend, causing her to get angry and dump him?
That seemed impossible. The owner's skill at comforting women was top-notch—it just couldn't be that he failed to soothe her, or that he was dumped. Norton simply couldn't figure out what had happened.
"Boss, should I send you home first?" Norton asked, seeing Morrison was drunk. He thought it best to get him home first, then come back to pick up the person the boss needed.
But the owner hadn't told him who he was supposed to pick up yet. Morrison waved him off.
"No need, you wait here. I don't even know when they'll be done."
The KTV owner also said,
"Don't worry about your boss. I'll find someone to send him home. You just complete the task your boss assigned you."
Then he called his driver to take Morrison home.
Norton helped Morrison walk outside. When they stopped by the car, Norton asked in time,
"Boss, the person you want me to pick up is...?"
Morrison, who had been leaning on him with eyes half-closed from the drink, opened his eyes and looked at him, telling him a name:
"Lilian."