Blue Cocktail chapter 2

Jiang Yan was startled by the commotion behind him. After recovering, he shook his head, “I don’t… know.”

Cheng Shuo stared at Jiang Yan and inquired, “Do you know why he took a leave of absence?”

Jiang Yan shook his head blankly, “I have no idea.”

Cheng Shuo continued to look at Jiang Yan, but his gaze gradually drifted, losing focus, and he fell into silence.

“Hey, Cheng Ge, didn’t you say you weren’t interested?” one of the roommates teased, breaking the silence. He leaned forward, curious, “Seeing your reaction, do you guys know each other? What’s the relationship between you and the former Student Union president?”

Hearing the conversation, the roommate across from Cheng Shuo, He Lingqiu, also set aside his tablet and joined in, looking at Cheng Shuo.

Cheng Shuo suddenly snapped back to reality.

What kind of relationship?

Cheng Shuo pursed his lips. How could he describe his relationship with Song Wenyuan? To him, Song Wenyuan was the destination of his unrequited love, a mountain spring, a moon in the sky, forever preserved in a clear image. But for Song Wenyuan, he might be nothing more than an insignificant memory, destined to be forgotten.

Cheng Shuo lowered his gaze, his lips moved, and he ultimately chose an answer that couldn’t go wrong and wouldn’t lead to wild speculation, “We were high school classmates. Even though he was a year ahead of me, we had some interactions because of school activities, but not many.”

Jiang Yan followed up, “You know each other, but do you still have contact in college?”

Cheng Shuo replied bluntly, “No.”

He answered as if he and Song Wenyuan truly had no contact in college, but in reality, there had been some.

Jiang Yan suddenly remembered something and opened his phone’s gallery. He presented it to Cheng Shuo as if offering a treasure. “Since you guys know each other, could you take a look for me? Is this person in the picture Song Wenyuan, right?”

It was probably taken sneakily, the bar was dimly lit, and the angle was tricky, so the image was quite blurry.

Cheng Shuo took Jiang Yan’s phone, and the facial features were familiar and matched his memory. He zoomed in as far as possible and leaned in for a closer look. Indeed, he spotted a faint, reddish mole on the side of the person’s neck.

It was Song Wenyuan.

Cheng Shuo handed the phone back to Jiang Yan. “It’s him.”

Jiang Yan, on the other hand, suddenly recalled something and nudged Cheng Shuo with his elbow. He persisted with his questioning, “Hey, Cheng Ge, in high school, was Song Wenyuan a two-faced person, a real player? Did he have many girlfriends in high school?”

“He didn’t have any girlfriends in high school,” Cheng Shuo paused. He quietly sat back down on his stool, gazing at his empty palm. He spoke softly, “Or maybe he did, but I don’t know. We had strict rules against dating in high school.”

“Oh,” Jiang Yan couldn’t help but sigh, “He really doesn’t look like someone who would hook up with three people in one night. People can be deceiving.”

“But,” Cheng Shuo couldn’t help adding, “Just as you initially said, these are just rumors. Even this picture can only prove that Song Wenyuan went to the bar to drink. That’s not definitive proof.”

Jiang Yan, without hesitation, replied, “If he goes to a bar, he must be hooking up for sure; it’s just common sense.”

Cheng Shuo asked, “Why do you think going to a bar necessarily involves hooking up? Isn’t that a stereotype?”

Jiang Yan thought for a moment, realizing he couldn’t argue against it, so he explained, “It’s mainly because my friend said he saw Song Wenyuan himself drinking with three men one night. After they finished, they staggered to the opposite hotel together. If they all went to the hotel, what else could it be but hooking up?”

Cheng Shuo looked at Jiang Yan for a moment, then fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “Is that so.”

Jiang Yan felt that Cheng Shuo didn’t believe him. To prove he wasn’t spreading rumors, he added hurriedly, “My friend also said he has run into Song Wenyuan at the Mo Blue Bar in the old city area several times. Each time, he was with different people. If you don’t believe it, you could go check out Moonlight Bar in the old city area yourself. Song Wenyuan frequents that place; you might just run into him.”

Cheng Shuo suddenly raised his head, “Could you repeat the name of the bar? I didn’t catch it earlier.”

“Moonlight Bar, phonetically it’s Mo Blue Bar.”

“Moonlight, like moonlight?”

“Yes.”

Cheng Shuo took out his phone from his pocket and began searching for this bar.

Jiang Yan noticed what he was doing and asked, “You’re not really planning to go there, are you?”

Cheng Shuo denied, “I’m not planning to go, just checking.”

Jiang Yan said, “Well, you better not go. That bar is rumored to be quite chaotic.”

Cheng Shuo questioned, “Why do you say that?”

“Because I heard that the owner of Mo Blue Bar, Mr. Lu, is also a bartender. He helps customers by spiking their drinks to knock them out as long as they pay him enough.”

Cheng Shuo questioned, “But bars often have to deal with the police. Where would the bar owner get drugs? And if he were doing something like that, wouldn’t the bar have been shut down already?”

Jiang Yan hesitated for a few seconds, “Ah, that’s right, that’s right. I made a mistake. It’s not drugging the drinks, but…”

“A bar owner doesn’t need drugs to knock people out.”

Jiang Yan frowned and said, “Think about it. Cocktail recipes include alcohol, right?”

Cheng Shuo nodded, deep in thought.

“So, as long as you increase the alcohol content, you can knock people out, can’t you?”

Jiang Yan spoke with the tone of an expert, “The bartender sets the cocktail recipe. If the bartender tampers with the recipe, most people won’t notice. And if you pay well, changing the recipe wouldn’t be illegal, though it might not be very ethical.”

Cheng Shuo responded with an “Hmm.”

Jiang Yan was getting more interested and was about to continue talking about the bar, but he hadn’t even started the first word when Cheng Shuo suddenly stood up, yawned, and stretched. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Hey, I still have gossip to share here. Aren’t you going to listen?”

“Is it related to Song Wenyuan?”

“No.”

“Then I’m going to sleep.”

Cheng Shuo turned and reminded, “You can continue gossiping, but remember to keep it down.”

Then he climbed into his bed without any reluctance.

“Damn,” Jiang Yan, jokingly cursing at the closed bed curtain, said, “So, you only want to hear gossip about Song Wenyuan, huh? Do you have a secret crush on Song Wenyuan or something?”

In the darkness, Cheng Shuo’s body hesitated for a moment.

Then, his voice emerged from behind the bed curtain, light and airy, accompanied by a self-deprecating laugh.

“How could I possibly have a secret crush on him?”

The next morning, he woke up at ten o’clock.

Although Cheng Shuo had declared that he had “something to do in the morning,” he knew that Jiang Yan was a laid-back person who wouldn’t bother to verify the veracity of his words. So, he had only given a gentle reminder to Jiang Yan, asking him to show some restraint and not chat until the wee hours, which could disturb others.

In theory, he had finally submitted his draft, and Sunday morning should be a rare moment of leisure. However, it wasn’t quite so.

Nightmares had come unexpectedly. Each dream was set in high school.

Cheng Shuo loathed his high school days, whether in the school or at home. It was a period of busyness, oppression, and breathlessness.

All the negative emotions seemed to be compressed into a biscuit he couldn’t muster the courage to chew. Swallowing it whole only hurt his throat, and the undigested biscuit lingered in his stomach, accumulating over time.

Upon reflection, the only worthwhile aspect of that time might have been Song Wenyuan…

Song Wenyuan…

His train of thought abruptly stopped, and Cheng Shuo severed that line of thinking just in time. He sat quietly on his bed for a while, dispelling the remnants of the nightmares, before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

The dormitory was empty, and Cheng Shuo headed to the cafeteria, where he grabbed some food for breakfast. He sat alone at a table, chewing on the simple meal.

The cafeteria’s food wasn’t extravagant, but it was inexpensive. However, there was no need to savor it too slowly. Cheng Shuo buried his head, intending to eat quickly. However, his phone suddenly vibrated.

After unlocking it and checking, he found a text message:

“Go to Moonlight Bar tonight for a surprise.”

Cheng Shuo’s initial reaction was that it was just a bar advertisement. He silently complained that personal privacy had become too vulnerable in the internet age. How did his number end up in the hands of this random person?

However, the phone vibrated once more, with a second message from the same number:

“Since you still can’t forget Song Wenyuan.”