Chapter 301: Information Gap
This lunch between Wang Heng and Han Yixuan seemed to have a somewhat subtle atmosphere.
After the gentle encouragement, Wang Heng returned to his normal attitude, so both his gaze and tone no longer carried any ambiguous meaning. On the contrary, Han Yixuan couldn’t help but quietly observe him, making her eat even more delicately than usual, picking up only a tiny bit with each chopstick, which thus extended the meal quite a bit.
Just as the meal was about to end, Wang Heng’s mobile phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw it was a call from Lu Qi.
Wang Heng glanced at the young girl in front of him.
Han Yixuan appeared calm and composed: “Is it a business partner? Do I need to step away?”
“It’s Lu Qi,” Wang Heng said straightforwardly, “she can be considered a business partner. Of course, you don’t need to step away.”
Han Yixuan nodded, took out her own mobile phone, and pretended to be playing on it. Of course, inevitably, she still focused her attention on listening.
“Hello, Sister Lu, what’s up… Oh, so that’s it. Of course I have no problem, but I don’t have any ideas either… Hmm, alright then, let’s leave it at that for now.”
After saying this, Wang Heng hung up the phone.
Han Yixuan pretended to ask casually: “What did Sister Lu want with you?”
Wang Heng shrugged: “The project she’s in charge of is temporarily fine, so she can take leave to rest. She’s accumulated so much compensatory leave from overtime, and she wants to use some of it to give herself a two-day holiday. During the holiday, she invited me to go out and play around.”
Han Yixuan really wanted to ask ‘what did she invite you to play,’ but such prying questions were really hard to say out loud. After all, the young girl understood her position was just a subordinate, not a girlfriend.
But the next moment, Wang Heng continued: “She hasn’t decided yet what to do with the holiday and asked if I had any fun suggestions. Of course I don’t, so I can only let her think about it herself and tell me once she decides.”
“Oh, so that’s it…”
Han Yixuan nodded, her expression calm and unruffled, but deep down she felt a bit disappointed. Especially after just seeing his exceptionally warm side, now he was going out to ‘play’ with another woman—this contrast was just too stark.
But the next moment, Wang Heng’s words made her pause, and her mood immediately lifted.
“Once she decides, I plan to make a small suggestion: to include you as well. Are you free these two days?”
Once Lu Qi decided on something akin to a two-person date, Wang Heng would suggest adding one more? Just thinking of Lu Qi’s astonished reaction at that time made Han Yixuan find it extremely interesting.
The young girl’s peach blossom eyes blinked, and she smiled happily: “That’s so your style…”
“My style?” Wang Heng pointed at himself, “What style is mine?”
It was the style of a straight man who deliberately frustrated girls—that couldn’t be said to his face.
So Han Yixuan smiled: “Of course it’s the kind and generous style!”
Wang Heng smiled, stood up to pay the bill.
He wouldn’t tell the young girl that Lu Qi’s invitation was actually to go drinking together tomorrow evening, not to go out and play in a couple of days. But he knew even better that as long as he casually brought it up tomorrow night, then went out to play together once more and included Han Yixuan, it would be no problem.
In other words, Han Yixuan thought Lu Qi proposed a two-person invitation and Wang Heng directly requested adding Han Yixuan; but actually, Wang Heng agreed to the two-person invitation and then arranged a separate three-person game.
This was clever use of the information gap.
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The next evening, Wang Heng arrived at a bar as promised.
Compared to the one at the Telecommunications University doorway, this quiet bar was obviously of a higher grade and much quieter. Dim lighting, soft music, and… that girl wearing a fitted hip-hugging skirt and pantyhose, with a graceful figure.
When Wang Heng walked in, Lu Qi was sitting at the bar counter, holding a slender narrow-mouthed wine cup, lightly sipping the liquid inside.
The wine was bright red, refracting a ruby-like sheen under the bar’s orange-yellow lights. And Lu Qi holding this glass of wine appeared even more alluring—but this short-haired older sister type still had an aloof expression on her exquisite face that kept strangers at bay, more like an untouchable high mountain flower than usual.
Seeing him approach, Lu Qi set down her wine cup and pointed to the empty seat beside her.
Wang Heng sat in that spot and greeted her: “Good evening, Sister Lu.”
Lu Qi asked with a light laugh: “What would you like to drink?”
At this moment, the bartender timely handed over the menu.
Wang Heng glanced at it: “Mojito.”
The bartender put away the menu and got busy.
Wang Heng looked around and suddenly noticed several people’s gazes on him, and they all seemed to be men…
“Sister Lu, do you know them? The ones staring at me?”
Lu Qi glanced over, unconcerned: “Before you arrived, they tried to hit on me.”
Wang Heng pursed his lips: “They really picked the wrong target.”
Lu Qi: “In this kind of setting, what draws attention first is appearance, second is economic strength. That’s why I don’t like meeting strangers in bars.”
Wang Heng: “That’s why I don’t like bars, even quiet ones like this.”
Lu Qi: “But having a couple of drinks in a bar with people you know is nice. Before drinking and after drinking, people often show two completely different faces—very interesting.”
Wang Heng complained: “So you still remember that time the three of us—you, me, and Qin Meng—were grilling meat, you got drunk, and I ended up escorting you home. That face was indeed interesting.”
Lu Qi didn’t show any awkwardness, just smiled faintly: “So, thanks.”
At this point, the bartender brought over the prepared mojito. The transparent liquid with green mint leaves made it look very refreshing.
Wang Heng took a small sip and said: “In my impression, Sister Lu always stays calm and doesn’t like alcohol. So I’m a bit curious—when did you start liking to drink?”
Lu Qi looked straight at him, her lips curving slightly: “The last time I got drunk.”
The last time she got drunk, when he took her home?
This seemed to hint at something…
Wang Heng kept his expression unchanged: “Well, that’s a pretty new hobby.”
Lu Qi continued with a faint smile: “It’s not really a hobby. Drinking itself is neutral; what makes it interesting or boring depends on who you’re drinking with.”
Wang Heng nodded and subtly steered away from this increasingly dangerous topic: “Sister Lu’s holiday starts tonight, right? Are you free tomorrow? Want to go out and play around?”
Lu Qi raised her eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised: “You want to go out tomorrow?”
Wang Heng: “Yeah, Han Yixuan invited me to the amusement park tomorrow—does Sister Lu want to join?”
Lu Qi took a small sip of her drink, her smile becoming more pronounced.
In her view, this was obviously Han Yixuan inviting him, and he couldn’t refuse, so he was dragging her along to avoid being alone with Han Yixuan… Did something like this even need much thought?
“Of course, no problem.” Lu Qi agreed straightforwardly.
Wang Heng secretly gave himself a thumbs-up.
The so-called information gap naturally had to be played on both sides.
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Was busy making up for that until midnight… so I couldn’t muster any energy all day today. Next chapter after midnight, classmates can go to sleep first.
