568: Chapter 563: Minor Accident 568: Chapter 563: Minor Accident Dave Buddy walked away dejectedly, he was thoroughly defeated this time, but no one would sympathize with him.
Dave Brown, however, did not leave.
After Dave Buddy had left, Dave approached Gao Yang, reached out his hand again, and said earnestly while shaking hands, “An impressive match.
Do you plan to pursue this as a career?”
Gao Yang shook his head, smiling, “I haven’t planned on that, at least not for the time being.”
Dave seemed genuinely regretful as he said, “I really don’t know if this counts as good news.
If you chose to become a professional, you would be a strong competitor.
The battle for the championship would be tougher, but I’d still have the chance to beat you.
If you don’t enter this circle though, my chances for revenge will be slim.”
If this had been a standard three-gun competition, the shooting distance wouldn’t have been very far; Gao Yang’s chances of surpassing Dave would have been small since his advantage of maintaining high speed at long distances would no longer exist.
When the distances are shorter, anyone can shoot quickly.
Gao Yang smiled and said, “It’s okay, we can have one-on-one matches regularly if you have the time.”
“It’d be great to spar like that from time to time; at least then, we wouldn’t have to deal with the disgusting conditions of today.
Alright, I need to leave now.
Either way, today is not a good day for me.
I need to go home now, goodbye.”
Dave left, still showing his graciousness, but as he had said, it had indeed been a tough day for him.
He couldn’t remain cheerful after losing a very crucial match, especially since he had bet one hundred thousand US dollars on it.
It was a significant amount, and he had lost the match.
After Dave left, Arilan started making small talk with others and Gao Yang began to receive a very different kind of treatment than at the start.
Gao Yang inadvertently joined more than a dozen associations, the most outrageous being the Sniper Rifle Shooting Groundhog Association.
Jack had been persuading him to join the Rifle Association, but Gao Yang, thinking whether adding one association or ten did not make much difference, simply accepted all invitations.
The match itself lasted less than a minute, but interactions before and after the match took up much more time.
After chatting for a while, Gao Yang checked his watch and realized it was already eleven o’clock.
He then left the crowd and said to Jack, “I have some errands to run, and not much time.
I need to leave right away.”
Jack, looking surprised, said, “You’re leaving now?
The celebration party is about to start, and you are the guest of honor today.
How can you leave?”
Gao Yang shook his head and replied, “No, I really need to; it’s important.
Besides, I’m not suited for parties.
Just give me a car, I need to hurry.”
Jack shrugged and said, “Okay, if you have things to do, then no helping it.
But will you be going alone or do you need to take someone with you?”
“I’ll go alone.
You can have a good chat with Bruce.”
Jack pulled out a set of car keys, shrugged and said, “Remember the car we rented?
A Dodge.
Since you can’t make it to noon’s party, we’ll celebrate in the evening, just a few of us in private.
We’ll wait for you.”
Gao Yang really had matters to attend to; he had arranged to meet Justin in Los Angeles at twelve-thirty.
After greeting Bruce, and as Gao Yang was about to leave, Cui Bo laughed and said, “Are you going to meet Justin?
I’ll come with you.
Staying here isn’t fun.”
Eileen also shrugged and said, “Boss, I’ll go too.
I don’t like parties either.”
Gao Yang had been to Los Angeles before, but it was a quick visit, just a stop at Hollywood.
However, the place he was headed this time was unknown to him.
After having Little Donnie arrange his meet-up with Justin in Los Angeles, it was only last night that Little Donnie had confirmed the time.
Gao Yang hadn’t checked the map to know where the meeting spot was.
Shooting ranges are generally situated on the outskirts and having a large space meant it definitely would be outside the city, a drive to the city center would take about an hour.
Gao Yang looked at his watch and said, “Alright, let’s all go together.
Our car doesn’t have GPS, so we need to speed up a bit.”
Eileen snapped her fingers, smiled and said, “Tell me where to go.
I’ve spent a year living in Los Angeles, I know this place very well.”
Gao Yang was delighted, “Great, you drive then.
We’re setting off.
The destination is Sun King Restaurant in Beverly Hills, uh, it’s also called Louis XIV Restaurant.”
They reached the parking lot, pressed the car key and found a Dodge pickup, then all three of them got in the car.
Eileen’s driving habits were definitely not good.
After starting the car, she immediately sped off like a whirlwind.
As they drove out of the parking lot and heard the sharp squealing of the tires during a fast turn, Gao Yang hurriedly scrambled to buckle his seatbelt.
“We have a long way to go, we need to speed up.”
After explaining quickly, Eileen drove the car swiftly; her driving skills were excellent, though driving with Eileen felt much like flying in an airplane—constantly threading through every available gap, her driving habits were not exactly commendable.
From the suburbs to the city center, and then weaving through the city, they arrived at their destination at exactly twelve twenty, reaching ten minutes early and thankfully not late.
Upon finding the Sun King Restaurant, Eileen drove straight in and parked the car.
Laughing, she said, “I’ve never been to a place like this.
It’s a high-end restaurant serving French cuisine, very expensive.”
Gao Yang looked around and remarked, “I’ve never been here either.
Hmm, there are so many luxury cars.”
Eileen shrugged and said, “We’re right next to Beverly Hills; the people here are all wealthy.
Just don’t get too excited when you see that celebrity later; this isn’t a place to chase after autographs.”
Gao Yang chuckled and said, “Come on, I’m not into celebrity-chasing.”
The three of them joked and laughed as they approached the restaurant entrance where two doormen in uniforms and gloves stood.
Normally, the doormen would open the door for them once they approached, but this time neither of them made any move to open it.
One doorman stepped in front of them, bowed politely, and then smiled as he said, “Excuse me, are you here to dine?”
That’s when Eileen suddenly slapped her forehead and whispered, “Oh no, I forgot, this kind of restaurant requires formal attire.”
Now that Eileen had realized the issue, the doorman smiled and said, “Indeed, I’m sorry, but if you’re planning to dine here, you’ll need to change into formal attire.”
Gao Yang had just come from a shooting competition; he certainly wasn’t prepared with formal attire, and Eileen was in her M65 coat, while Cui Bo wore tactical gear all year round.
With such outfits, it was indeed impossible for a high-end restaurant to let them in.
Gao Yang sighed and said, “I forgot about that too.
Well, it’s too late to change now.
I’ll make a call and see what our guest wants to do.”
Rules are rules.
The restaurant had always had this policy; it wasn’t set up just to inconvenience them.
Thus, Gao Yang didn’t make a fuss about it.
Creating a scene would have been truly embarrassing.
Gao Yang did have Justin’s number but had never contacted him before.
Now, as the time of their appointment approached, he took out his phone, found Justin’s saved number, but ultimately didn’t use his own phone to make the call.
Instead, he borrowed Eileen’s phone, since she had mentioned that she could change her number anytime and didn’t plan on keeping it anyway.
After the call connected, Justin picked up quickly.
Hearing Justin’s voice, Gao Yang immediately said, “This is Ram, I’ve arrived at the agreed place, but we have a problem—we can’t get in because we’re not in formal attire.”
“Oh, that was an oversight on my part, but it’s a minor issue.
Please hold on, we’ll come to receive you.”
Justin and a blond young man soon came out.
Justin, no matter where, when, or the circumstances, always exhibited impeccable manners.
After shaking hands with Gao Yang, Justin smiled and said, “This isn’t the place for us to introduce ourselves and get acquainted.
Let’s wait until we’re inside.
Please follow me.”
Justin’s blond companion was tall and handsome, appearing to be in his twenties and perhaps Nordic, although it was unclear if this blond young man was the main person they were supposed to meet today.
Gao Yang was sizing up the young man, who was also interestingly looking Gao Yang over several times before nodding and saying with a hint of sentiment, “You’re Ram?
Incredible.
But you don’t look anything like what I imagined.
Oh, this isn’t the place for talking; we’ll chat later.”
After that, the young man walked ahead to the front, faced the doormen, pointed to his face, and asked, “Does this face work as a pass?”
The doorman smiled and replied, “I’m sorry, sir, you can certainly enter, but unfortunately…”
The young man shrugged and said, “You should be begging us to enter.
Okay, since my face isn’t enough, how about this—can we enter now?”
Gao Yang saw the young man seemingly pull out a card, but couldn’t see exactly what it was.
However, after looking at what the young man presented, the doorman immediately stepped back, pushed the door open, and bowed with a smile, “Welcome, and enjoy your dining experience.”
The young man then pulled out a banknote, and the sharp-eyed Gao Yang noticed it was a hundred-dollar bill.
As the young man handed the money to the doorman, he seriously said, “It’s a pity.
If you thought my face was handsome enough to work as a pass, I would have been very generous.”
As the doorman accepted the tip, he also seriously replied, “Sorry, sir, I’m not gay, so although you’re indeed handsome, that’s no use to me.” (To be continued.
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