National Tide 1980.

The 348 nightclub was a mixed bag of people, and Ning Weimin knew this better than anyone.

Although he had successfully scared away the middle-aged woman by using Hong Hanyi's name, he didn't know if that person had any powerful backers, whether they would retaliate, or how deep the trouble Qu Xiao had gotten into.

Judging from the current situation, this is definitely not a place where Qu Xiao can hold him and cry about her grievances and explain the reasons.

The most urgent thing is to get them out of here.

So after letting Qu Xiao cry for only a few minutes, Ning Weimin gently patted her back and persuaded her to stop.

After managing to calm her down, he turned to look at Yao Peifang, who was standing to the side.

“Peifang, this place isn’t safe enough, and it’s not a good place to talk. Here’s what we’ll do: you take the two of them away first. Go out through the side door and take my car directly back to the Regent Hotel. After that, get them a room and let them settle in. I’ll handle the rest. Also, when you see Qin Jun later, tell him not to wait for me. Mr. Hong’s men are here to ensure my safety; have them accompany you back.”

Ning Weimin lowered his voice, his tone steady and unquestionable.

At this moment, Yao Peifang had already recognized who Qu Xiao was, but she sensibly remained silent.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately nodded in agreement.

"Okay, you can rest assured to leave them to me. I will definitely take good care of them."

She then stepped forward and gently supported Qu Xiao, who was still trembling, her tone gentle yet strong.

"Come with me, we'll leave here. Don't be afraid, follow me and you'll be safe. No one will bully you anymore."

Whether it was due to her competence or because it was Ning Weimin's idea, Qu Xiao, who was still crying, and the other girl were just like obedient children, doing exactly what was asked of them.

Yao Peifang then led the two quietly toward the side door.

Only the fleeting glance she cast as she turned the corner revealed her concern for Ning Weimin's safety and a hint of barely perceptible bitterness.

As for Ning Weimin, he stood there, watching the three figures gradually disappear at the end of the corridor, before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

The reason he didn't personally escort Qu Xiao away was because he knew that a group of business partners, including Tsui Hark, James Wong, and Ng See-yuen, were waiting for him in the private room.

He had to give the proper greetings, both out of politeness and because of his position.

He can't just run away like a coward at the slightest thing, can he?

Besides, this place belongs to Hong Hanyi. Since he has borrowed someone else's name, he can't just leave so insensibly.

They're in it to make money, so if there are any problems later on, he'll have to take the blame himself.

Sure enough, the matter was far from over. Not long after, someone came to him because of it.

However, it differs from the typical melodramatic plot of showing off and getting slapped in the face found in online novels.

The visitors were not arrogant or unruly; on the contrary, they were all very polite and courteous.

There were even a few familiar faces, some of whom had recently participated in a charity performance together.

Ning Weimin really didn't expect that Eric Tsang, that fatso, and Deric Wan, a rising star at TVB, would be among them.

In fact, as soon as Eric Tsang saw Ning Weimin, he immediately stepped forward to smooth things over, his face beaming with a familiar smile.

It looks just like a round ball.

"Ning Sheng, Ning Sheng, it's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! The people below are ignorant, talking and acting recklessly. We have already reprimanded her severely, and there will be no next time!"

Ning Weimin did not recognize the people behind him at first, but after they introduced him, Ning Weimin learned that they were Mr. Zhou from Kowloon Bank and several foreigners from HSBC.

Mr. Zhou from Kowloon Bank also stepped forward, adopting an extremely humble posture and extending his hand in a gesture of friendliness.

"Ning Sheng, you're quite the celebrity in Hong Kong's media these days. I never expected to have the pleasure of meeting you here today. As for the unpleasantness tonight, please don't take offense. I didn't know the two ladies were your friends, and I apologize for startling them. How about this, I'll pay for your bill tonight, Ning Sheng. Consider it a small token of my appreciation. Or, if you have any other conditions, please let me know, as long as you can calm down..."

That wasn't all; soon after, Hung Hon-yee also came over to smooth things over.

As the nightclub owner, he inquired about what had happened while trying to mediate between the two parties, prioritizing harmony.

In the end, it was the middle-aged woman who had pulled Qu Xiao earlier who stepped forward to apologize and take all the blame.

The woman who had been so arrogant and domineering just moments before, yelling at Qu Xiao in the corridor to "stop pretending to be innocent and virtuous," was now bowing her head, her face full of remorse, taking all the blame upon herself in front of everyone, and repeatedly apologizing and apologizing.

He said he acted impulsively and in a moment of anxiety, and that it had nothing to do with anyone else.

In short, almost everyone spoke very eloquently and their apologies were very sincere.

But Ning Weimin already had a basic understanding of the true situation.

Putting aside everything else, given the reputations of Zeng Pangzi and Wen Zhaolun, and the numerous accusations against them by female artists in the future.

Ning Weimin knew that these lecherous scoundrels, a den of snakes and rats, were definitely up to no good today.

Tonight's incident was not a coincidence or misunderstanding at all; it was clearly a setup targeting mainland girls coming to Hong Kong.

If Qu Xiao hadn't fallen for the trap and hadn't happened to run into him, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The so-called apologies and misunderstandings are nothing more than excuses for the other party to save face after weighing the pros and cons.

The truth is, some people wanted to seek thrills, while others wanted to profit from it. Their prey was girls like Qu Xiao, but they didn't expect to run into a brick wall and had to quickly rein in their arrogance and settle things peacefully.

After all, he is currently enjoying great popularity in the Hong Kong media, and many people know that he donated tens of millions to disaster relief and reached a cooperation agreement with the Huo family.

Nowadays, the most luxurious private room in this nightclub is filled with many big names in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, and he is on friendly terms with Hung Hon-yee.

These people naturally understood that clashing with him would be counterproductive.

In other words, the real culprit today cannot be just the person who bowed his head and confessed; there is probably no one on the other side who is innocent.

However, circumstances are beyond our control.

Since he could avoid a complete falling out right now, Ning Weimin didn't want to escalate the situation.

As the old saying goes, a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years; no one says he can't settle scores later.

So he took the step offered by the crowd, picked up the wine glass from the waiter's tray, and lightly clinked it with Zhou Gongzi and the others, responding in a calm but polite tone.

"Since it's a misunderstanding, let's leave it at that. I appreciate Young Master Zhou's kindness, but there's really no need to be so polite."

After a drink and some polite exchanges, the incident was considered over, and everyone left with dignity.

Subsequent events proved that Ning Weimin's guess was almost entirely correct.

When Ning Weimin returned to the Regent Hotel, he found Qu Xiao and her companion, inquired about the whole story, and combined it with the previous clues. All the fragments were instantly pieced together, and the predicament Qu Xiao was in became completely clear.

It turns out that Qu Xiao's life was not going well after she came to Hong Kong with the Textile Bureau's model team.

The title of the first champion of the model competition can no longer bring her any advantages. On the contrary, because she joined the model team halfway through the competition by taking advantage of her past connections, she is ostracized and isolated by the other taller and younger girls in the team.

Furthermore, the cost of living in the port city far exceeded her expectations.

The salary of the official modeling team was meager, far from enough to cover her daily expenses.

It was only out of financial hardship that she followed the example of the others in the team and took on part-time modeling and commercial performances in an attempt to earn extra money to supplement her livelihood.

Unexpectedly, this became her weakness, leading to her being targeted by the "hunter," the middle-aged woman.

The woman's name was Gu Huizhen, and she was no nobody. She was not only a member of TVB's training program, but also a classmate of Chow Yun-fat.

Unfortunately, fate played a cruel trick on her. She failed to graduate from the acting training class for two consecutive years, and her acting career was full of ups and downs afterward.

Seeing her contemporaries like Chow Yun-fat and Ng Man-tat making their mark in the industry while she remained an unknown extra, Gu Huizhen eventually gave up her acting career and devoted herself to studying "dinner party economics."

This transformation completely changed her destiny.

By 1985, Gu Huizhen had become a "queen" in the industry, attending an average of three dinner parties a day, earning HK$1,000 per meal, which amounted to HK$3,000 a day.

Keep in mind that back then, the average person in the port city earned no more than that in a month.

Gu Huizhen's business acumen is quite "shrewd," and many of the girls under her management are famous Hong Kong actresses.

From Amy Yip to Pauline Chan, they were all famous beauties in the industry, and the services she arranged for them were incredibly diverse.

Services include dining companionship, private services, travel accompaniment, and even high-end services such as accompanying wealthy businessmen abroad.

As for the price, it is naturally determined based on the girls' looks, figure, and fame.

Top-tier actresses can easily command prices of hundreds of thousands, while third- or fourth-tier artists can earn tens of thousands. If they have a title like a beauty pageant winner, the price will double.

Ultimately, this was no small business deal involving a dinner party; it was a scheme to manipulate female celebrities throughout the entertainment industry. Gu Huizhen had become a powerful "pimp" figure whom no one in the industry dared to offend.

But Gu Huizhen's good days didn't last long; fate soon played a cruel joke on her.

In 1989, the Hong Kong police launched a sudden crackdown on the sex industry.

This sudden crackdown was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Gu Huizhen.

As a pimp, she was arrested by the police and sentenced to two years in prison, falling from a glamorous "dinner party queen" to hell overnight.

After her release from prison, Gu Huizhen had already lost all her connections, and because of her criminal record, she became a "conspicuous bag" that the police and the media focused on.

With no other means of making a living, she had no choice but to return to her old profession, but due to her collapsed credibility, no big-name celebrities dared to ask her to act as a go-between anymore.

So this time, she had to shift her focus from established artists to young women who were new to the industry, inexperienced, especially those from mainland China who were unfamiliar with the city.

Tonight, Qu Xiao and her companions are her carefully selected prey.

To put the two girls at ease, Gu Huizhen first introduced them to one or two legitimate part-time jobs, letting them experience the benefits.

Today, she used the pretense of "attending a celebrity gathering, meeting the boss, and signing a lucrative long-term contract" to lure them into the 348 nightclub. She even gave each of them HK$1,000 for travel expenses beforehand, lying that she wouldn't let them come for nothing.

When they arrived at the destination, Gu Huizhen immediately changed her attitude. She not only closed the door and forced them to toast the guests like other girls, but also arranged for them to sit separately next to strange men and obediently serve them.

Qu Xiao and her companions weren't fools either. They quickly realized something was wrong. The men in the room were all lecherous, making lewd jokes at them without restraint and even touching them inappropriately.

Knowing full well that the consequences of giving in would be unimaginable, they took advantage of the chaos and secretly escaped under the pretext of going to the restroom.

However, Gu Huizhen was more experienced and prepared in advance. She personally chased after them and cornered them in the stairwell.

This is what they experienced today. According to Qu Xiao, Zeng Zhiwei even forced them to participate in a dice game and wagered their clothes.

Several financial elites were even more despicable, almost all of them were lustful and displayed shameless and depraved faces.

Ning Weimin looked at Qu Xiao, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying and whose body was still trembling slightly, and listened to her recount those terrifying and disgusting experiences.

He felt both anger at Gu Huizhen and her ilk for their ruthless cruelty and heartache for Qu Xiao's plight.

There was a sense of relief mixed with an indescribable lingering fear.

After listening, he remained silent for a moment, his gaze hardening, and slowly spoke to Qu Xiao.

“From today onwards, don’t go back to that modeling team. I’ve got your future all planned out. With me here, no one can force you to do anything you don’t want to do. Don’t worry, you don’t need to worry about housing, living arrangements, or work anymore…”

However, after hearing Ning Weimin's words, Qu Xiao, with tears still on her cheeks, gradually became stubborn.

She sniffed, shook her head slightly, and spoke with a hint of stubbornness, refusing to back down.

"Brother Ning, I know you meant well, and thank you for saving me tonight. But I can't rely on you like this; I want to rely on myself."

Ning Weimin was slightly taken aback. "Rely on yourself? How can you rely on yourself in your current state? If someone like Gu Huizhen targets you again, you won't even be able to escape."

"That's my own fate." Qu Xiao raised her head, her eyes red but unusually firm. "I can't rely on others to save me for the rest of my life. I have hands and feet, I can't just be a Cinderella waiting for a prince to rescue me."

She paused, her voice softening, yet it was like a fine needle gently pricking the heart. "Besides... you're already married, you have your own family, you can't possibly take care of me forever, can you?"

Ning Weimin was speechless for a moment, unable to answer her question and feeling quite embarrassed.

He could see that the girl's pride was no less than it had been back then.

That's not all. Seeing that he didn't speak, Qu Xiao's gaze shifted slightly, revealing a hint of a girl's unique sensitivity and probing.

"Brother Ning, is Miss Yao, the one who brought us back... your secretary?"

Ning Weimin raised an eyebrow, not expecting her to ask this suddenly.

"No, my secretary is Qin Jun, the young man who brought you back. Miss Yao is my entertainment company's agent."

"Then she must really like you..."

"That's not true, don't talk nonsense," Ning Weimin retorted instinctively.

Qu Xiao lowered her head, her fingertips clenching slightly, her voice as soft as a sigh.

"Tonight at the nightclub, I could tell. The way she looked at you, and the way she desperately protected you... that's not something an ordinary subordinate would do."

She looked up at Ning Weimin, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions: envy, clarity, and a touch of disappointment she herself was unaware of.

“Brother Ning, I don’t know if you’re aware of it yourself, but there are many girls around you who like you. Me too. But I really don’t want to cause you trouble, and I don’t want to be a burden to you, or the one who might break up your family…”

Looking at the proud, sensitive, and pitiful girl in front of him, Ning Weimin felt both helpless and tender.

He meant well, wanting to pull her out of the mire and give her a stable path to follow.

But he forgot that Qu Xiao was never the kind of girl who wanted to hide under someone else's umbrella and live a peaceful and stable life.

She is strong-willed, has self-respect, and is resistant to being persuaded but not to being forced.

The more desperate the situation, the less willing they are to give in.

Ning Weimin remained silent for a moment, then sighed softly. His tone softened, no longer condescending but showing more respect.

"Okay, I won't force you. I won't force you to stay by my side, but remember, as long as you ask, I will help you with anything, no matter how big the problem is."

He looked at Qu Xiao, speaking each word earnestly and solemnly.

"To me, you will always be the same person you were before. Whenever you can't hold on anymore, whenever you need me, just ask, and I will be there for you."

Qu Xiao suddenly looked up, her eyes reddening once again.

This time, it wasn't out of fear or resentment, but rather an indescribable, burning emotion that choked her, almost making her cry again.

She bit her lip and nodded forcefully, but couldn't utter a single word. (End of Chapter)