Chapter 18: Simply Because I Am Amidst These Mountains

At times they spun, at times they strode quickly in ballet steps, perfectly synchronized, each leap and bound revealing their disciplined lightness.

Suddenly.

The piano soared into a rousing passage, the melodious strings joined in, and the dancers’ gentle footwork transformed with the music.

They scattered like petals in the wind, each raising their arms before their chests, balancing on one foot and spinning elegantly.

Their fluttering skirts opened and closed like the surface of a folding fan.

Thud—!

A heavy drumbeat sounded.

A girl in a blue dress leapt from the group at that cue, paused briefly in the center, then pushed off the tip of her toes, springing high with her legs stretched nearly straight.

At the height of her jump, the little red ball in her hand was thrown high into the air!

As she landed lightly, she darted aside, circled around the center, and slipped back into the formation.

From the group, a pink-dressed girl immediately leapt out, caught the falling red ball, and, mimicking the blue-dressed girl’s movements, hurled the red ball upward again.

Over and over, the sequence repeated.

The dancers’ radiant grace intertwined with the symphonic dance, creating a delightful spectacle.

But the guests were in no mood to appreciate the artistry, even though each of the seven girls was as lovely as any intermediate technician.

Their eyes, ever since the red ball had been tossed, were locked upon it, never straying for even a moment.

Their lips moved silently, murmuring, and each time the red ball landed in the hands of the girl in pink, they counted softly.

...

Wang Chen counted along as well.

But he was far less earnest than the others.

His phone’s recording function was already on, propped discreetly against his wine glass, faithfully capturing each exchange of the red ball.

After the previous round’s ordeal, he was not the only one with such forethought; several others had also taken out their phones to record.

Surely, no matter how deep into their cups everyone became, it would not come to pass that not a single person could answer.

Wang Chen was perfectly calm.

He hadn’t come for the massage, after all.

His true purpose was to have Na'er introduce him to the boss behind the scenes.

In the course of trading words with the other guests, Wang Chen had built up a modest camaraderie—perhaps not enough to fight shoulder to shoulder, but certainly enough to pass along a message.

In truth, he had already achieved his goal.

So his gaze did not follow the dancers’ leaps and the red ball’s arc as intently as the others.

This allowed him to notice when the side door of the small hall opened suddenly, and four men in black suits entered.

Each carried cleaning tools, and they moved quietly down the aisles on either side, forming a line beside Huang Ba.

They righted the round table that Huang Ba had overturned, gathered up the scattered beer glasses, and swept the broken glass from the floor.

Wang Chen found it all rather odd.

Why send four men just to clean up?

And all of them were large, broad-shouldered men.

Their black suits hardly suggested janitors.

The management here seemed terribly disorganized.

He wondered how much money they were losing.

Then it dawned on Wang Chen.

Every guest in this room had spent at least thirty thousand Tianlong coins to be here.

There was no way Na'er was the only senior technician; who knew how much they earned in a night? Perhaps hiring four strong men as cleaners was not so strange after all.

Lavish!

Once the men in suits had finished, they slipped silently away down the side aisles.

Wang Chen refocused his attention, continuing to count the red ball.

...

The music slowed.

The dancers’ movements softened, the group gathering in like swans preparing to rest.

At the drawn-out caress of the strings, their steps stilled, and the dancers joined hands to bow.

“Bravo!” someone called out, already enraptured by the performance.

They had likely given up; in that blur of movement, counting the red ball’s catches was simply too difficult.

Those unwilling to yield kept their heads down, scrolling through their phone recordings, watching and rewatching for confirmation.

Wang Chen checked his own footage.

He couldn’t be sure he’d counted correctly, but he doubted he was far off.

If no one got the exact number, perhaps the closest guess would win.

But everything depended on Na’er’s decision. After all, she was the senior technician with the right to choose.

“Wait—a moment, everything depends on Na’er?” Wang Chen’s mind caught on something, and he frowned in thought.

“How was our ‘Exotic Gentlemen’s Retreat’ song and dance performance?” Na’er’s voice rang out, sweet and clear. “If any of you gentlemen fail to answer the question correctly, perhaps you’d like to request one of those girls you just saw—they’re all intermediate technicians!”

As the dancers exited, Na’er smiled brightly.

“Miss Na’er, don’t tease us. I came here for you!” someone called out.

“Yes, don’t keep us in suspense!” another added.

“Hurry and confirm the answers. Do we write them down or what?”

...

Everyone gestured impatiently.

“Very well, since you’re all so eager, I’ll announce the question!” Na’er replied with a charming smile.

“Question? What do you mean?” someone asked, puzzled.

Amid the guests’ confusion, Na’er spoke: “Tell me, during the performance, how many people entered the room? And how many of them were wearing sunglasses?”

The guests, prepared for anything, found themselves bewildered.

“What does she mean? Weren’t we supposed to count how many times the red ball was caught by the girl in pink?”

“Did anyone come in just now?”

“I think so—maybe two or three men came in to clean.”

“I remember five, all in suits. Very odd!”

“Who would notice if they wore sunglasses?”

...

Na’er shook a small bell and explained, “I did warn you not to overlook any detail! In the first round, I told everyone the rules myself. Why did someone else announce the rules for the second round?”

“During the dance, people came in to clean, and they didn’t look like janitors at all!”

“Why didn’t anyone find that strange?”

Her words plunged the guests into silence. She was right—the lead dancer had explained the red ball’s rules. Some had found it odd at the time but hadn’t pursued the thought. Who would have guessed that would be the crux of the matter?

“So what now? No one could possibly remember such a trivial detail!”

“We were all focused on the dancers—who cared about the cleaning crew?”

“Is this round just going to be void?”

“Let’s just guess two numbers at random!”

...

Amid the noisy debate, someone raised a hand.

“I know the answer. Four men in black suits came in, and two of them were wearing sunglasses!”

Everyone turned in surprise.

They saw it was the same lucky young man who had won the first round.

Wang Chen scratched his nose sheepishly and looked at Na’er.

“Is my answer correct?”

Every guest looked to Na’er, though none believed Wang Chen had really remembered; they assumed he was guessing.

Still, at least that eliminated one possible answer.

But to their astonishment, Na’er nodded, her smile blooming.

“It seems your victory in the last round was not mere luck. That is correct!”