A Young Woman's Heart

"Haha, not tonight." Mr. Xue hiccuped, almost slipping off the stage, but managed to pull himself back up with one hand. "Next time!"

"Hehe, when is the next time?" The lady looked at him with amusement. "Don't worry, I won't skimp on the money." As she spoke, she took out an exquisite crocodile skin wallet from her pocket, pulled out a stack of hundred-yuan bills, stepped forward, and gently brushed them across Mr. Xue's face.

The men next to him joined in the laughter, and some even asked if they could do it.

"Rich woman, just give me money and I'll go with you!"

"Haha, you're so ugly, no rich woman would ever want you!"

Mr. Xue chuckled drunkenly, but seeing that the rich woman didn't seem to be joking, he immediately became serious and suppressed his smile: "Sorry, I don't need this money."

"What, you think it's not enough?"

"It's just that you don't need it. But if you ever need to relieve your worries, you can come to me again."

"Hehe, so how am I supposed to find you?"

"If fate allows, you will find me." Mr. Xue blinked and revealed his playful smile again.

The people around them burst into laughter.

"Young man, you have ambition! Come on, let me toast you again!"

"Okay—but I can only drink water, any more and I'll get drunk."

"What do you mean 'drunk'? I think you're far from drunk. Come on, don't be shy, it's on you!"

……

The Rainy Night After Chapter 232 Ends

(One)

Since they are still students and have to go to school tomorrow, the performance didn't go on too late.

The performance ended around 10 o'clock.

The music continued to play, but for the rest of the time, the stage was left for the guests to improvise.

Carrying their instruments, the group emerged from the deepest part of the bar, floor by floor. The boisterous music was gradually left behind.

Le Tingfeng stood at the bottom of the ascending steps, sidestepped to make way, and leaned against the rough wall covered in graffiti with one hand: "I'll leave you here. You know the way out, right?"

"Of course!" Hua Yinyin waved her hand. "Bye-bye!"

See you tomorrow, Xiao Fengzi.

Le Tingfeng was powerless to resist the nickname Mo Xueyao had given him.

One by one, the people said goodbye to him and headed towards the stairs.

"Xiaoxue, are you alright?"

"No problem." Mr. Xue straightened his chest. Although his steps were a little unsteady, he didn't seem to be so drunk that he couldn't even walk.

The music in the bar was almost inaudible. Hua Yinyin, who was walking at the front, pushed open the thick wooden door with all her might.

"Splash—" The sound of rain instantly reached everyone's ears. In the pitch-black night, only a few lights could be seen. The torrential rain was blown wildly by the wind.

"It's raining so hard..." Hua Yinyin stopped in her tracks, and Mo Xueyao, who was walking behind her, lost her balance and bumped into her.

"what happened?"

"It's raining so hard."

"Do you want me to get you umbrellas?!" Le Tingfeng had obviously heard the rain too, and he shouted from the bottom of the steps.

"Luckily I brought an umbrella..." Wang Jiale said thankfully as she took a small folding umbrella out of her bag.

Did you bring Wanyan?

"I brought it." Li Wanyan was always so well-prepared and would never disappoint Mo Xueyao.

"Two?"

"Ah."

"Then why don't you and I share an umbrella? — Yu Shu, did you bring an umbrella?"

"No..."

"Hey, am I the only one who didn't bring one?" Hua Yinyin muttered.

“Neither my sister nor I have any!” Mo Zhuyou raised her hand high.

"Xiaoxue, do you have one?" Le Tingfeng looked at Mr. Xue.

"No." Mr. Xue tilted his head, hiccuped, and tried to stand up straight. "Could you... grab one for me too?"

"Alright, four in total, right?"

"One is enough for my sister and me!"

"Okay, wait for me!" He immediately darted back like a rabbit. Perhaps because of the opening and closing of the door, the music coming from the bar was sometimes loud and sometimes soft.

Mo Xueyao leaned against the doorway, clutching her keyboard case, letting the cold wind, damp with rain, brush against her face.

After a lively and exciting performance, a refreshing rain like this can help cool down the burning passion.

"Phew..." She suddenly let out a long breath, a smile on her face, "The performance was really great."

"There will be many more opportunities to perform together in the future." Hua Yinyin blinked. "It's decided, let's form a real band! Our goal is to hold a national tour!"

"Isn't that a bit too much?"

"I think it's perfectly fine, Yaoyao, you should have confidence."

"With such heavy rain, will Xiaoxue be able to go home alone?" Mo Xiaoxiao asked with some concern.

"No problem..." Mr. Xue said, then let out another burp, the strong smell of alcohol making the girls involuntarily cover their noses.

Fortunately, he didn't drink too much, otherwise everyone would have had to carry him back.

"Or we could just let Xiaoxue sleep in our off-campus activity room, which also serves as our base and studio..."

"Stop adding so many qualifiers, okay? Hmm, let's leave the instruments there and ask if there's anywhere Xiaoxue can sleep for the night."

"But what about our schoolbags tomorrow?" Mo Zhuyou's probing question stunned everyone for a few seconds before they began to consider the problem.

“No problem, I didn’t even bring my schoolbag home this time.” Mr. Xue laughed heartily, tilting his head back. “Haha…”

"Alright, alright, stop laughing. Be careful you don't throw up later. If that's the case, you'll be fine. Just go to the shop and sleep."

Below, the sound of Le Tingfeng's hurried footsteps could be heard, indicating that he had brought the umbrella.

……

(two)

Raindrops pattered on the umbrella. Mo Xueyao and Mo Xiaoxiao each took one side of Mr. Xue's arm and walked with everyone to the store entrance.

There were more than a dozen large jars filled with rice wine in the shop. The pink sofa that Sanhua Tongjue bought last time was still in the corner, covered with a cloth, as if to prevent it from getting dusty.

Several men who used to be petty thugs but now have decent jobs are gathered together discussing something, while the skinny man with a buzz cut is on the other side, intently drawing something.

When the glass door was pushed open, the wind chimes on it made a crisp sound.

The sound of rain outside suddenly flooded into the room.

"Hey, wanna play some instruments?" The man in the lead, named Wu Xiaoping, asked with a hearty laugh. He glanced back and noticed the somewhat drunk Mr. Xue. "Haha, Boss Xue, what happened to you? How much did you drink?"

"I didn't drink much, but I'm already feeling the effects of the alcohol," Mr. Xue said with a smile. Although he was a little unsteady on his feet, he was clearly still quite lucid.

"Is it alright if we leave Xiaoxue here for the night? Is there anywhere he can sleep?"

"No problem!" Wu Xiaoping patted the empty sofa next to him. "Sleep on the sofa! I'll go get you a blanket. You can sleep on it for a month, not just one night!"

"Haha, even Boss Xue gets drunk?" the chubby man joked with a laugh. "It seems even Boss Xue has his limitations."

"Haha, after all, everyone has flaws and weaknesses." Wu Xiaoping patted his chest proudly. "When it comes to drinking, I'm still much better than Boss Xue."

The nickname "Boss Xue" doesn't mean that Mr. Xue is actually the boss. Rather, it's because Mr. Xue taught them a lot, and out of respect, as well as as a form of banter among friends, they gave him this nickname—or rather, a pet name would be more appropriate.

"Okay, would you like to sit down and play for a while? Judging from the looks of it, are you going to perform somewhere?"

"It's the underground bar around here." Mo Zhuyou dragged her drum kit case in and placed it in the area designated for bands. "I'll put my drum kit here! I'll come pick it up tomorrow morning~"

"no problem."

"Then we'll be going now." Mo Xueyao waved her hand. "We have school tomorrow."

"Alright, then I won't keep you any longer!"

After saying goodbye to each other, some took taxis and others took buses, heading home in the pouring rain.

……

(three)

Mr. Xue took off his shoes, wrapped himself in a blanket, and lay down on the sofa. He didn't seem very sleepy, and listened with his eyes open to Wu Xiaoping and the others discussing something.

"I think comics are the best format. You see, do you read novels? But you definitely read comics. This kind of thing has a wide appeal."

"But comics are difficult to make, too slow, and the printing costs are high."

“It’s definitely better to draw comics. Besides, isn’t Brother Tianyuan already teaching himself to draw? He’s studied it before, and he’s making good progress now.”

"But that's too much of a stretch."

"I think we should stick with comics. We can move on to animation and games later. Comics are where we can start."

“Zhixing is right, and he can handle the storyboarding. The rest of us should also learn more.”

Wu Xiaoping nodded: "I think we should all learn to draw. Everyone has to be able to draw. It's too slow for one person to draw. Everyone has to get hands-on experience. Even if we don't have to be in charge of the main drawing, we can at least be responsible for drawing some scenes, or even just help with coloring."

"Thinking about publishing a comic book?" Mr. Xue rested his head on the armrest of the sofa and asked with great interest.

"Yes, we need to accumulate experience first. The main reason is that comics are cheap to buy, unlike games, which require a computer to play. Comics can be read immediately if you buy them at a newsstand."

"So, you should start with comics to accumulate some experience and capital?"

"That's right, after all, as Boss Xue said last time, we can't be too ambitious, haha."

Have you found a publisher for your comic book? Or are you planning to self-publish it?