Chapter 688 Li Zhang’s Story (Part 2)

In the noisy restaurant room, businessmen with rosy faces served dishes, toasted, and talked and laughed. This was the daily social life that Li Zhang was already familiar with.

Not every dinner party would discuss business. More often, the wine table was just a place for people to get acquainted with each other and build relationships. Favors were established over wine and food, and they might come in handy at any time.

Mr. Zhou, who was sitting at the same table, brought two female employees and said he was taking them to see the world.

This kind of thing is very common. Most of the time, the drunkards have other intentions. Even if they don't want anything to happen, they at least want to have a taste of tofu.

One of the two girls was a good drinker. She drank half of the people at the table, and then found an excuse to take the other one away. Mr. Zhou was embarrassed and showed dissatisfaction on his face. Li Zhang, who didn't drink on the pretext of driving, laughed in time. He played finger-guessing to persuade people to drink. There was always something that was inconvenient to refuse, so the matter was just exposed.

Soon, the stall was over, and Li Zhang, the half-host, took the car to take the group to the Golden Years.

This is a well-known KTV in the local area, with European-style decoration and an elevator directly to the first floor. The golden light is well-lit and reflected on the spotless walls and floors.

Opposite the counter is a row of long sofas, where seven or eight heavily made-up women are sitting, wearing sequined dresses, stiletto heels, and their hair is done exquisitely. Some of them look down at their phones, and some put on lipstick in front of a small mirror.

Li Zhang and others entered one after another, confirmed the reservation information with the front desk, and entered the KTV's large private room.

Two male waiters followed in, one turned on the machine and confirmed the microphone, and the other held a fruit plate and a wine list.

"Come a dozen? Come first?" Li Zhang called.

"Okay!" Everyone is familiar with it, "Do you have tea? Hurry up and bring a pot first."

"Well, call a few princesses to accompany you to sing." Mr. Zhou said to the waiter.

"Okay, wait a moment."

The waiter nodded in response. After a while, the women who had just sat in the hall came in and stood in a row. Li Zhang and the one standing on the far right exchanged glances. Amid the men's picking and choosing, they smiled at each other in a rare polite and unremote way.

The selection process was very short. The remaining princesses sat down next to a male guest. At this time, everyone's hands were well-behaved, and there was no rush. They were very polite.

Accompanying singing, drinking, and chatting, with the soft voices of women, the atmosphere in the KTV room became much warmer.

"Oh, order another bottle, I like this."

After three rounds of drinking, there was already a woman sitting in Mr. Zhou's arms. She smiled and said coquettishly.

One of the performance items of the singing princesses is to persuade customers to order. The more customers order, the higher their commission. The business men who come here know it well, but they are drunk and don't care about this little money. They just order.

Everyone usually pretends to be a grandson in front of the boss and customers. It's worth it to spend some money to get a good-looking woman to hold her and coax her for a few hours.

"Xiaomei, give me... burp! Show me the way!"

After a few songs, Mr. Zhou put down his wine glass, drunk, hugged a singing princess, and apologized to others, saying that he was going to the toilet.

The KTV private room has two toilets. The men sitting here drinking and singing knew what was going on, and laughed and let him go.

Li Zhang saw that the other person had taken the lead, and he also breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at Chen Shufang.

Chen Shufang nodded to him, smiled and took one of his arms, and the two walked out with laughter.

A few minutes later, in the inconspicuous mini private room in the corner, Li Zhang sat on the sofa and sighed deeply.

"Why are you so tired?"

Chen Shufang no longer looked charming just now. Although her face was still heavily made up, her eyebrows and eyes showed a quiet and gentle look.

"Ah..."

Li Zhang sighed again, covering half of his face with a bitter smile.

"Water or wine?" Chen Shufang asked softly.

"Bar! It's okay to drink a little. I won't remember it when I'm drunk."

Li Zhang's eyes were still staring forward when he spoke, although his vision was unfocused.

"Okay, wait."

Chen Shufang responded softly and walked out of the private room. After a while, she held a tray with wine and hangover tea.

She poured a glass for Li Zhang and another for herself. The two of them clinked glasses like friends and drank.

"It's really hard."

Li Zhang lit a cigarette, his face full of fatigue, and the radiant look that he had just forced disappeared without a trace.

He told Chen Shufang what had happened during this period of time. The other party listened quietly, nodded from time to time, handed him an ashtray and hangover tea.

"There aren't many people like me, right?"

After Li Zhang finished pouring out his bitterness, he smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Not much, but it's good." Chen Shufang pursed her lips and smiled, then said, "Much better."

"Ah..."

Li Zhang sighed again.

"I'm so sorry, I always come to you to chat." He took the last puff of his cigarette and threw the cigarette butt into the glass jar with a thin layer of water and a lot of ash. "My wife, it's tiring enough to worry about the family. She is a typical little woman, easy to worry and cry. I really don't want to tell her these things. She can't help much if I tell her, and I will feel bad after it's over."

Chen Shufang's eyes flashed, and she smiled silently: "It's okay."

She said considerately: "It's hard to endure these things normally, right?"

"Yeah!" Li Zhang lowered his head and drank. "Every day when I go home, I have to be in a daze for a while before entering the house. I have to hold it in."

He added: "Well, men."

The buddies I have known for many years now have their own families. They don't have so much time to drink and scold the boss together.

The other people of the same age, generation, and sex that I can get in touch with are basically in the workplace, but the business world is like a battlefield, and every word in my heart has a potential risk.

Even if there is no such thing, as a man, I can't easily expose my vulnerability. That is not allowed.

Boss, husband, father, social attributes and role positioning are entangled and wrapped in cocoons, wrapping Li Zhang in it.

He has no psychological problems, so he doesn't need to find a psychologist. In the end, he can only choose to complain to Chen Shufang.

She is a woman, a gentle place, and a stranger, and she is tight-lipped.

So Li Zhang came here, spent some money, chatted, relieved his depression, and then went back to continue to work hard to live.

Before leaving, he generously gave Chen Shufang a tip.

She is shrewd, understanding of human nature and the ways of the world. Li Zhang regards her as a confidante based on a relationship of money.

"If I say to you, 'Welcome to come next time, boss', it will sound like a curse."

Chen Shufang sent Li Zhang downstairs, handed him his suit jacket at the door, and smiled lightly, "Then I wish you a longer time next time."

Li Zhang also smiled.

"Thank you."

He said, waving goodbye to her.

Some of the men who came to the drinking party were like Mr. Zhou, who spent the night outside on business trips, so as they sang in the KTV, they gradually disappeared, tacitly agreeing to go back to their own places and not disturb each other.

Li Zhang sat alone on the street. Across the street were young couples, office workers riding bicycles, and students wandering around in school uniforms.

He watched quietly, lost in thought, dissipated the last bit of alcohol, and exhaled to confirm that he was not in the category of drunk driving, then walked to the parking lot and drove away.

More than an hour later, Li Zhang drove into his neighborhood and backed into the garage.

It was quiet all around, with only the garage lights crackling. He sat in the car, lit a cigarette, and smoked it very slowly. His mind was empty, thinking about nothing, and he didn't want to "think" about anything.

A middle-aged man with a family and a career has no time of his own.

Sometimes loving a car is not loving the car, but loving this time of being alone and taking a breath.

When the cigarette between his fingers was about to burn his hand, Li Zhang pressed it into the ashtray and let out a long breath.

He got out of the car, walked into the elevator, and returned home.

The lights in the living room were still on, the dining table was set up in the kitchen, and the dishes were covered with dust covers.

The wife wrapped in a blanket on the sofa heard the door lock sound, rubbed her eyes and propped herself up, and said vaguely:

"I'm back, I'll heat up the food for you..."

"It's okay, no need."

Li Zhang walked over, hugged her sideways, and then carried her back to the bedroom with a force.

"What are you doing..."

The wife was still sleepy, and pushed him with a soft smile.

"Nothing, sleep."

Li Zhang patted her back gently.

"The living room light is not turned off..."

"I'll turn it off."

"You didn't drink today? Be careful of your liver..."

"I didn't drink much, don't worry."

Turn off the lights, get on the bed, the couple leaned against each other, and Li Zhang rubbed his wife's forehead with his chin.

He closed his eyes.