Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The place I picked wasn’t far from the bar where he worked. I had chosen it on purpose.
I made the reservation early, so we even got a private room.
The other three had arrived long before us.
“Xiaozhou’s here? Come on, have a seat. We really owe you one today.”
I walked over and smiled at them. “Not at all, Brother Sheng. I’m the one who owes you guys. Things have been a lot quieter lately, so there’s no need to be so polite with me.”
But when their eyes landed on Xing He, Curly suddenly let out a whistle. “Brother He, going out to dinner with a pretty boy and dressing this flashy?”
Xing He kicked him in the shin, though not very hard.
“Screw you. These are my work clothes.”
The other three immediately burst out laughing.
Work clothes?
Seeing that I didn’t understand, Curly hooked an arm around my shoulders and explained, “Xiaozhou, Brother He opened a bar with a partner. Jiang Chiyu and I are in the resident band there, and Li Sheng does security. They’re short-staffed right now, and any decent bartender is hard to hire, so he had to step in himself. Turns out, men and women alike all got hooked on that face of his and started coming in to spend money on the view.”
Jiang Chiyu-Blondie-chuckled. “Our Brother He is basically the face of the bar now. Anyone else can ask for a night off, but not him. Every night, there are rich ladies and rich guys coming in asking if he’s short on cash and whether he’s up for being kept.”
Xing He stuffed a piece of watermelon into his mouth. “Stop corrupting the kid!”
“What’s so kid-like about seventeen? When I was seventeen, I’d already dated two people!”
Xing He said, “Which is why you didn’t get into college.”
“…Hey, come on. We’re attacking education levels now?” Blondie protested. “Brother He, you went to college, and aren’t you still my coworker now?”
“Even food can’t shut you up?”
“…”
We had ordered the dishes in advance, and not long after we sat down, the servers began bringing them in.
Halfway through the meal, Xing He left to use the restroom. Before he came back, I went out too. As I passed by, I found him at the front desk trying to pay, only to be told the bill had already been settled.
He turned around and met my eyes. I grinned at him. “Brother He, I said it was my treat. I paid ages ago.”
Xing He: “…”
“Who goes out to eat and lets a minor pay the bill?” he muttered. A moment later, he couldn’t help adding, “You’re so young. Where did you learn all this social etiquette stuff?”
“My mom taught me. If you’re treating someone to a meal, you have to show proper sincerity.”
Xing He raised his hand and patted me on the head. “A high schooler shouldn’t have so much on his mind. Studying hard is the proper path.”
After we finished eating, the other three even asked if I wanted to visit their bar.
Blondie said, “Xiaozhou, our bar’s pretty fun. Plenty of handsome guys and pretty girls too. With a face like yours, you’d definitely be popular-”
Before he could finish, Xing He cut him off. “Xiaozhou, I’ll take you home.”
He also shot Blondie a look. “Jiang Chiyu, don’t lead him astray.”
“Brother He, why are you so nervous? Anyone who didn’t know better would think we weren’t running a respectable bar!”
Xing He: “…”
After that meal, my relationship with my new neighbor did grow a little closer, but we still didn’t have much to do with each other.
I was a student. He was a bar owner and bartender.
We were people who lived on two separate tracks to begin with.
At last, I gradually got used to living alone-going to school every day, then coming home by myself.
Until summer vacation arrived.