Chapter 32: Long Island Iced Tea

Page 1 of 3

After showering and changing into a fresh set of clothes, Xia Kewei stepped out of the bathroom to find the dining table already covered with takeout ordered by Wang Can.

Skewers of every variety blanketed the entire tabletop. Several oysters gleamed enticingly beneath the lights, drawing the eye at once.

“Are you trying to eat yourself to death?”

“Please. I’m hungry enough to swallow a whole cow. What’s this little bit supposed to be?”

Wang Can had already taken his seat. He eagerly grabbed a skewer of lamb kidneys sizzling with grease and casually sprinkled a layer of sugar over them.

“Where’s my beer?”

Xia Kewei scanned the table but found none of the familiar cans.

“Here.”

With a sharp clack, Wang Can set down a glass of amber-colored liquor. The liquid swayed gently inside, reflecting a captivating sheen beneath the lights.

Curious, Xia Kewei leaned closer. A faint alcoholic fragrance reached her nose. “What is this?”

“Long Island iced tea. A cocktail,” Wang Can said without batting an eye.

Xia Kewei had heard of it, but had never tried one.

She cautiously took a sip. A cool, sweet-and-sour sensation burst across her tongue. There was none of the tea flavor she had expected; instead, the sweetness of cola blended perfectly with the rich warmth of alcohol. Surprisingly, it suited her taste.

She nodded in satisfaction, then could not resist taking several more sips.

“Do you like drinking?” Wang Can asked curiously while helping himself to the skewers.

“Not particularly.”

Xia Kewei swirled the glass. “I used to be accustomed to staying up late. These days, if I don’t have a little alcohol at night, I can’t seem to fall asleep.”

“By the way, how did the negotiations over the livestreaming website framework go?” Wang Can asked.

“We’ve more or less reached an agreement.”

Xia Kewei delicately picked up a lamb skewer. Her red lips parted as she bit off a small piece, the savory aroma of fat spreading between her lips and teeth.

“They’re asking four hundred thousand. They won’t sell for anything less. I had someone inspect it carefully, and the site architecture is quite solid, without any obvious vulnerabilities. The price is fairly reasonable.”

Wang Can nodded thoughtfully. For a website framework with no user base, the price was indeed within a reasonable range.

“What about the technical team?”

“A complete five-person team: front end, back end, development, design, and testing. Their combined base salary is sixty thousand a month.” Xia Kewei quoted the figure.

“Sixty thousand? With sixty thousand, I could hire twenty college students.”

Wang Can decisively abandoned the idea of acquiring the team.

It was not that he could not accept the price. But if a tightly knit group like this became the founding veterans of his company, they could easily grow strong enough to challenge him in the future.

After chatting idly for a while, Xia Kewei suddenly felt her head growing heavy.

She stared at the seemingly harmless “drink” in her hand and frowned slightly. “How strong is this?”

“Forty percent.”

“?”

…

…

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Chen Xiaobei, who had spent the entire day holed up in the dormitory, suddenly heard the door creak open.

A moment later, Wang Can limped inside, continuously rubbing his backside with his right hand.

“Didn’t you go to a girl’s place? You’re back surprisingly early.” Chen Xiaobei’s voice was thick with undisguised teasing.

“What’s so interesting about girls? I came to university to study.”

Wang Can cursed Xia Kewei inwardly. That crazy woman had no sense of reason whatsoever.

It had only been forty-percent alcohol. It was not as though he had lost his virtue.

“Tsk, tsk. Keep pretending.”

Chen Xiaobei scoffed. His mood seemed to have improved considerably as he picked up his phone and began his grand “Shake” campaign.

About an hour later, the dormitory door opened again, and Yang Shuang and Zhang Bailan entered one after the other.

Yang Shuang looked like a withered eggplant, utterly dispirited. He tossed out a single remark: “Having too many women really isn’t a good thing.”

With that, he collapsed face-first onto his bed and fell asleep without even washing his face.

Zhang Bailan was the complete opposite. His face was glowing, and a smile he could not conceal lingered at the corners of his mouth. Clearly, his meeting with his online acquaintance had gone very well.

“How was she? Was the girl pretty?” Chen Xiaobei asked nosily.

“Pretty… pretty enough.” Zhang Bailan scratched his head bashfully.

“Did you two make it official?”

“Not yet. She said she wants to start out as friends.”

Chen Xiaobei shrugged in boredom, evidently dissatisfied with the result.

After returning to his seat, Zhang Bailan picked up his phone and resumed chatting on WeChat, though his eyes kept drifting toward Wang Can from time to time.

After a long while, he finally seemed to make up his mind. He slowly walked over to Wang Can’s bed and stammered, “Brother Can, um… how do I get in touch with the cafeteria about an interview for a part-time job?”

Wang Can turned over and examined him with interest. “What changed your mind all of a sudden?”

Zhang Bailan sighed, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness. “Because I realized that going out with a girl is expensive even if you don’t get a room.”

At that, Wang Can sized him up. “How much did you spend today?”

“More than three hundred…” Zhang Bailan answered, visibly pained.

“Did she spend anything on you?” Wang Can asked again.

“No. How could I let a girl pay when we’re out together?” Zhang Bailan replied as though it were self-evident.

Wang Can sighed and patted him on the shoulder. “Bailan, the simplest and most effective way to control a woman is to guide her into spending money on you and investing in you.”

“Only after a woman has invested in you will she sink deeper and deeper into the relationship, until it becomes harder and harder for her to pull away.”

“In psychology, this is called the sunk-cost effect. The more someone invests, the more reluctant they are to let go.”

Zhang Bailan scratched his head blankly, his voice betraying a lack of confidence. “But I’m not particularly handsome, and unlike Brother Bei, I’m not covered in designer labels. Why would anyone want to spend money on me?”

Wang Can smiled slyly. “What skill is there in winning someone over with money and material things? A man still needs to know how to talk. You have to be able to fool women senseless without paying the price.”

“Brother Can, that sounds like something a scumbag would say.”

“No, no, no. I’m not a scumbag. I just want to give every girl a home.”

…

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

…

The following morning, sunlight streamed through the gauzy curtains into the bedroom.

Xia Kewei, who had only just moved into her new home, was awakened by a hurried knocking at the door. Rubbing her temples, she reluctantly got out of bed.

She slipped on a silk robe, her fair feet stepping into slippers as she walked to the door. When she peered through the peephole, she found Wang Can standing outside with a broad smile.

Frowning, Xia Kewei opened the door just a crack. Her voice was husky with sleep.

“What are you doing here?”

Wang Can shook the plastic bag in his hand. Steam rose from its opening, carrying the faint aromas of rice porridge and tea eggs.

Only then did Xia Kewei open the door fully and step aside to let him in.

Leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded, she said, “Has the sun risen in the west? Young Master Wang is actually bringing me breakfast?”

Wang Can entered the dining room as though he knew the place by heart and arranged the steaming breakfast on the table.

“Yesterday, I saw that your refrigerator contained nothing but bottled water, and the cupboards held only a few packets of instant noodles. I thought I’d take pity on you.”

His gaze fell on the empty Long Island iced tea glass. “You finished all of it?”

“Yes. Apart from being a little strong, it tasted pretty good.”

Xia Kewei stirred the porridge absentmindedly, recalling how she had enjoyed an unusually sound sleep the night before.

“And then you kicked me.”

“You know perfectly well why.”

“Don’t wrong an innocent man.”

Wang Can sat down with a grin, and for a while the two of them ate breakfast in silence.

Seeing that Xia Kewei had a healthy appetite, he suddenly spoke. “Let’s discuss something.”

“Anything unrelated to work is off-limits.” Xia Kewei did not even look up as she took small sips of hot porridge.

“This will benefit both of us.” Wang Can pretended not to hear her refusal.

“What is it?” Xia Kewei finally raised her head.

“You know that after Old Wang tricked me out of the money I saved from working over the holidays, I came to Sea City with only a few hundred yuan. That money has already gone toward topping up my meal card, taking the subway yesterday to help you move, and buying you breakfast today, so…”

Before he could finish, Xia Kewei put down her spoon as though she had been shocked. “How much was the breakfast? I’ll pay you.”

Wang Can clicked his tongue. “Listen to the rest of what I have to say.”

“What I mean is, starting today, could I come here for dinner every evening? Of course, I won’t eat for free. You pay, and I’ll cook.”

“You can cook?” Xia Kewei’s tone was openly skeptical.

“Of course. Who are you looking down on?”

Wang Can gave a foolish little laugh. Inwardly, he thought: I can certainly cook, but whose cooking ends up on the table—that’s another question.

Page 3 of 3