Part 4
Jiang Yunian blinked; that back carried a familiar sense of oppression. Knowing it couldn’t be Jiang Yan, his steps still slowed down unconsciously.
The carpet under his feet was a bit soft. He walked deeply and shallowly, his eyes chasing that black shadow until the other party disappeared at the end of the corridor, a private room door guarded by a waiter.
“What are you dazing for?” Hao Meng pulled him, sparse light spots hitting the top of her head. “Let’s go, find a seat first.”
“Oh, okay.” Jiang Yunian shook his head, forcing himself to withdraw his gaze. There were plenty of similar backs.
Just sitting down in the booth, a waiter carrying a tray walked over from the aisle next to them. The light swept across his face, and all three were stunned.
“He Qing?”
“Why are you here?”
He Qing held a drink list in his hand, wearing a fitted waiter uniform that set off his upright posture. The collar was a chic shallow V, a small patch of red mark looming below the collarbone.
Seeing it was them, he frowned slightly without excessive reaction. “Part-time job.”
Hao Meng laughed dryly and brushed her hair. “I said why I never see you, so you are here at night. How is it? The salary is quite high, right?”
“So-so,” He Qing said faintly, wanting to ask why they came and remind them the consumption here wasn’t low. Before the words could come out, they were interrupted by a burst of hurried footsteps. The manager walked over vigorously.
“Manager.”
“Mn.” The manager nodded, casually tugged at the hem of his uniform, and scrutinized the obviously student faces of Hao Meng and Jiang Yunian, seeming to doubt if they were adults.
Glimpsing the membership card on the table that only VIPs could obtain out of the corner of his eye, a professional fake smile immediately piled up on his face. After a little politeness, he whispered to He Qing, “The young master called your name, hurry up.”
He Qing’s knuckles pinching the booklet turned slightly white. “I am entertaining guests.”
“I’ll let Xiao Song come over to cover later.” The manager was angry at his lack of ambition; this blockhead refused to hug the ready-made thigh, he would cry when the young master got tired of him. Before leaving, he elbowed him, his eyes full of warning. “The young master can’t wait, you figure it out!”
He Qing pressed his lips together. The manager’s urging was like a thorn in his back. He looked up at that closed private room door and finally nodded, arguing no more.
“Understood.”
He placed the list gently on the glass table, looked up, and crashed into two pairs of eyes flickering with weirdness, which quickly looked away after being discovered, as if afraid of their thoughts being seen through.
It was self-evident who the “young master” in the manager’s mouth was.
Recall the conversation just now with huge information content, the two coincidentally thought of Zhou Shu’s mockery that day.
“Shooting women by day, accompanying men by night.”
So that was the meaning.
Feeling they weren’t some serious boyfriend-boyfriend relationship? But…
The thought of the aloof and arrogant He Qing having to be bullied and devastated by that dandy rich young master made the eyes of the two looking at him involuntarily add a few points of sympathy.
He Qing knew at a glance they thought wrong, and it wasn’t the first time. He pulled the corner of his mouth: “Put away your disgusting eyes, don’t think too much.”
“Didn’t think, didn’t think!” Hao Meng hurriedly waved her hand. “We didn’t think anything.”
Jiang Yunian nodded vigorously along.
The jazz music at the bar suddenly changed tune, the rhythm becoming very fast, sounding like urging.
He Qing had no time to explain and didn’t ask why they came. Before leaving, he fished out a work badge from his pocket, telling them to show it to the staff for a discount on drinks.
Hao Meng said we have a membership card. He Qing stuffed it directly to Jiang Yunian. “The consumption here is higher than you imagine. Take it, discounts can stack.”
Jiang Yunian clutched the work badge, watching He Qing walk towards the closed door at the end of the corridor. His figure was straight as a pine, revealing a stubborn fortitude, completely different from that blurred black shadow just now.
“Hey,” Hao Meng waved her hand in front of his eyes. “He is a serious waiter, don’t think crooked.”
Jiang Yunian’s face heated up, lowering his head dully. “I didn’t…”
Seeing him like this, Hao Meng chuckled. At this time, a curly-haired handsome guy walked over smilingly, the corners of his mouth curved, looking clever, estimating he was the Xiao Song mentioned by the manager.
But after chatting a few sentences, they found this waiter wasn’t as serious as he appeared.
Xiao Song had a glib tongue, bending over to squeeze between the two to promote special cocktails. Jiang Yunian saw the price of the drinks, swallowed, and his voice stammered: “I… I don’t drink alcohol, a bottle of cola is fine.”
He paused, then added in a whisper, “Small bottle, otherwise can’t finish, waste.”
“…”
Xiao Song didn’t know if he was pretending or real, muttering in his heart, who comes here to drink cola? Despising inside, he still smiled on the surface: “No cola oh, recommend this fruit wine for you? No difference from beverages, won’t get drunk.”
“Let me see.” Hao Meng took the booklet. The fruit wine he recommended was acceptably priced; others were a bit scary. The cheapest Mojito was three digits, exactly three times more expensive than outside.
Expensive enough to make her click her tongue inside, but thinking she had a discount in hand, she couldn’t lose face in front of the little male model. Pretending to be experienced on the surface, she ordered the fruit wine recommended by Xiao Song and asked for a Mojito for herself.
“Alright sister!” After instructing the passing waiter, Xiao Song sat down affectionately next to Hao Meng, calling her sister one after another, crisply, confusing people.
People in their line of work never tabooed men or women. He had poisonous eyes; the opposite Jiang Yunian was uncomfortable all over, cautious like a peer who just went to sea on the first day, no profit. On the contrary, the girl was open, looking easy to hook up.
Xiao Song’s eyes revealed an ambiguous energy, eyeing the niche watch with good design on Hao Meng’s wrist at a glance. Sticking to her ear, he acted coquettishly: “Sister, this watch really suits you, let me have a look too?”
Hao Meng hadn’t not seen the world; anyway, this watch wasn’t that expensive, so she let him take it off and wear it on his own hand.
Xiao Song put it on happily, acting as if it was already in his bag. He rubbed his curly head against Hao Meng’s shoulder, eyes sparkling like a puppy begging for a reward: “Thank you sister! Really good looking!”
The puppy had a sweet mouth and knew how to handle things, coaxing Hao Meng until the corners of her mouth couldn’t help rising, feeling cool inside.
Tsk, no wonder rich women love to order male models, who wouldn’t be confused with full emotional value?
After a while, drinks and complimentary snacks were served quickly, said to be exclusive benefits for members.
Jiang Yunian admired Hao Meng’s ease, unlike himself, who only dared to shrink silently in the corner of the sofa as a mushroom.
He sipped the fruit wine. It was sweet and sour; except for a bit of alcohol, the taste was similar to beverages, not feeling very special. Based on the principle of not wasting, he took a photo and posted it on Weibo.
The music changed style, and the surroundings suddenly became noisy. A trendy singer walked onto the center of the stage and sang a rather sentimental English song. The people around screamed excitedly, raising their phones to take photos one after another; looking like a singer with some fame.
Unknowingly, Jiang Yunian was attracted by the singing and listened entranced.
The opposite Hao Meng had no time to listen to any love song. The little lover was sticking to her ear, saying flirtatious love words, and looking at her with wet eyes, sticky and hooking: “Whatever sister wants me to do… is okay.”
After speaking, he buried his face in her shoulder, pretending to be shy.
“Really?” Hao Meng raised an eyebrow, eager to try. “Anything goes?”
Xiao Song rested on her shoulder and nodded shyly.
“Then… recite ‘Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng’ to listen?” Hao Meng said seriously: “I’m going there for tourism next month.”
Reciting the full text can even waive the ticket!
“‘Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng’?” Xiao Song looked up fiercely, the corner of his mouth twitching, thinking he heard wrong.
What is all this? Cola and reciting poems, are these two here to crash the place?
But he didn’t give up; after all, he had attended high school. He soon piled up a smile again, “If I recite it… can sister take me there?”
Hao Meng patted his face smilingly. “Depends on your performance.”
The singer on stage switched to a slow song; the lazy tone was intoxicating. Jiang Yunian felt a bit dizzy; maybe the aftereffect of the fruit wine came up. That wine indeed had low alcohol content, but Jiang Yunian’s alcohol tolerance was really terrible. Now the aftereffect came up, dizzy and just wanting to find the restroom.
Cold water splashed on his face, sobering him up a bit. Jiang Yunian supported himself on the sink. The person in the mirror had thin red cheeks, looking a bit blurry. He took out a tissue to wipe his hands. A corner of the work badge in his pocket slipped out, the transparent card holder flashing under the light.
At this time, the door of the next stall was suddenly knocked open. A drunkard wearing an old man shirt stumbled out, his round beer belly rubbing against Jiang Yunian’s arm, very deliberately.
“Looks really damn exciting! Why haven’t I seen you before.” The drunkard narrowed his turbid eyes, grinning, a sour and rotten smell of alcohol blowing over. “New here?”
Jiang Yunian shrank back in fright, his back against the cold countertop. Unexpectedly, the drunkard pressed on, his greasy face getting extremely close, eyes glued with mucus, yellow teeth bared.
“Let go! I’m not.” Jiang Yunian gagged at the smell, struggling to push him. In the panic, he knocked over the hand soap nearby. The plastic bottle fell to the ground, rolling far away.
The drunkard almost fell from the push, instantly flying into a rage out of humiliation, grabbing the person escaping by the door and dragging him into his arms. The back collar was tightly grabbed by him; Jiang Yunian’s neck was strangled painfully, crying out in pain.
“A duck pretending to be chaste?” The drunkard’s mouth was unclean, dragging him into the stall with brute force.
“Let go of me! I’m really not! Find someone else.” Jiang Yunian was pushed by a physique of at least two hundred pounds. With the disparity in strength, he could only cling to the door frame and wait for someone to come.
“I just want you! Stop pretending, just name a price.” The drunkard said lewdly, his fat arms hooping his waist, about to pick him up immediately.
“Stop!”
In the stalemate, a gentle and powerful voice cut in, instantly breaking the chaos.
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