Blue Cocktail chapter 4
At the corner of Ai Hao West Road in the old city district, one orange-yellow pendant lamp after another shone like stars wearing the sunset, casting a red glow on the transparent glass.
In a European-style retro building, the sign read “MOONLIGHT COCKTAIL BAR.” Deep green vines and pink roses hung on both sides.
Cheng Shuo had limited English proficiency, especially when encountering English words in all uppercase letters. He had to mentally convert the capital letters into lowercase to understand the meaning of the words. Like now, it took him a few silent seconds to read the Chinese meaning of the sign, which was “Mo Blue Cocktail Bar.”
He entered the bar, where the singer on stage sang English songs that Cheng Shuo hadn’t heard of. Right in front of him was the bar counter, and he observed as the bartender held a bottle of amber liquid in his right hand and gently tossed it behind him.
Cheng Shuo’s gaze briefly halted. However, a few seconds later, he heard no sound of the bottle hitting the ground. The bartender, dressed in a white shirt and a black vest, extended his left hand from behind his back, and in the palm of his hand was the bottle that had just been thrown.
He had caught it blind.
Cheng Shuo was slightly surprised at first, but the next moment, the bartender suddenly looked up, his gaze gathering in the hazy atmosphere.
Caught in the act of sneaking a look, Cheng Shuo didn’t appear guilty or nervous. Instead, he continued to size up the bartender, and the corner of his mouth under the duckbill cap twitched.
The bartender responded with a faint smile, probably welcoming a new customer, Cheng Shuo thought.
Withdrawing his gaze, Cheng Shuo looked around. On the right were scattered tables, and most customers sat obediently in their seats, enjoying drinks and food. On the left was the singing and social area, with more people moving about, engaging in conversations.
According to Cheng Shuo’s character, who didn’t like socializing and preferred to isolate himself from the entire dormitory, he would have chosen the right side without hesitation on a normal day. However, he hadn’t forgotten that he came today to unexpectedly encounter Song Wenyuan, and the left side was clearly more convenient for moving around.
Cheng Shuo picked a relatively inconspicuous corner, to avoid people coming to strike up a conversation. He didn’t want the trouble and silently hoped that he could go through the evening peacefully.
As soon as he sat down, he couldn’t help but press down the brim of his duckbill cap, letting the shadow cast by the hanging lamp cover more than half of his face. Cheng Shuo began to restrain himself and looked around.
There was no Song Wenyuan in the scattered table area, and there was no Song Wenyuan in the social area either.
Had he not arrived yet?
Cheng Shuo glanced at the time; it was already 7:23.
“Excuse me, sir—”
Cheng Shuo furrowed his brow and continued to ponder. At this time, he should have already arrived, right? If… if Song Wenyuan really had three appointments tonight.
“Excuse me, sir—”
Cheng Shuo absentmindedly touched his chin, wondering if he had been deceived, and if the anonymous messages were just pranks.
He unconsciously began to reevaluate new possibilities, perhaps those that he had overlooked due to his habitual thinking.
“Excuse me, sir—”
A few seconds later, Cheng Shuo, looking somewhat bewildered, said, “Since we’re both Chinese, can you please avoid adding English words to your Chinese sentences? My English is not that good.”
His words were tactful, but he was more irritated than he let on – he found it really annoying when people inserted English words into their Chinese sentences.
“Sorry,” the bartender smiled and said, “The last page in this menu is for non-alcoholic cocktails. Perhaps you can consider that.”
This was the first time Cheng Shuo had heard of this term, so he turned to the last page, feeling like he was opening the door to a new world. “Can you still call it a cocktail if it’s non-alcoholic?”
The bartender’s response somewhat circumvented the question, not directly addressing it, “Non-alcoholic cocktails can still have layers of color. We use fruit juice, syrup, or soda instead of the base spirit. If you’re interested, you can give it a try.”
“No, I’d like one with alcohol.” They were all adults here, and Cheng Shuo didn’t want to be drinking a beverage in a cocktail bar. He flipped the menu back to the front. “I’ll go with this one, ‘Aladdin’s Magic Lamp.'”
“Sure,” the bartender took back the menu and joked, “Before you drink it, remember to make a wish. The lamp god will make your wishes come true.”
“Uh-huh,” Cheng Shuo nodded nonchalantly.
Jeez, he’s saying it as if it’s real.
But then, to Cheng Shuo’s surprise, Lu Huaiqian didn’t show any intention to leave. Cheng Shuo looked at him helplessly and asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be preparing drinks for other customers as well?”
“Don’t move.”
Lu Huaiqian suddenly interrupted Cheng Shuo’s words in a deep voice. He took a step forward, closing the distance between them. The shadows on the ground shifted slightly and fell on Cheng Shuo. He used the knuckles of his right hand to touch Cheng Shuo’s collarbone.
In an instant, a tingling sensation coursed over his neck. Cheng Shuo froze in place. However, before he could react, the other party had already withdrawn his hand and stepped back to a polite social distance.
Lu Huaiqian acted before Cheng Shuo could react, opening his right hand in advance. In his palm was a silver spider earring. “I saw your earring fall on your shoulder just now, that’s why I told you not to move. If it had fallen on the ground, it would have been difficult to find.”
“If I have offended you, please forgive me.”
Cheng Shuo initially thought the person in front of him was trying to hit on him, and a sarcastic comment was about to come out, but it got stuck in his throat.
He quietly looked at Lu Huaiqian for a moment, then reached out, pinching the spider earring in Lu Huaiqian’s palm. “Thank you.”
Lu Huaiqian remained composed, just smiling. “You’re welcome.”
Cheng Shuo’s hand went into his pocket, and the earring slipped into his pants pocket through the gaps between his fingers. He then looked up, and the other person was still watching him.
“I’m Lu Huaiqian, that’s my Chinese name. Others call me Boss Lu, because this is my cocktail bar. My English name is—”
Lu Huaiqian suddenly remembered something. “Oh, sorry, I almost forgot, you probably wouldn’t be interested.”
Cheng Shuo, “…”
Cheng Shuo silently watched Lu Huaiqian for a few seconds and then extended his hand, “I’m Cheng Shuo.”
Lu Huaiqian smiled and said, “I hope to see you at the bar again in the future.”
Cheng Shuo nodded expressionlessly, “Sure.”
With the affirmative response, Lu Huaiqian didn’t say more and turned to leave.
Finally, he had sent away this Boss Lu. Cheng Shuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Even though he didn’t understand why Lu Huaiqian touched his collarbone when he was picking up the earring from his shoulder, and even if he had accidentally touched it, if Lu Huaiqian really didn’t want to offend him, he could have told him about the earring on his left shoulder first and then let him pick it up himself, or he could have asked for his permission before acting. That would have been more appropriate, right?
Recalling the rumors about Lu Huaiqian knocking customers out in Mo Blue Cocktail Bar, though their authenticity was unclear, Cheng Shuo couldn’t shake the sense of danger he felt. Regardless of whether his judgment was right or wrong, he decided not to come to this cocktail bar anymore—assuming he managed to meet Song Wenyuan tonight.
Just as he was thinking this, there was a commotion behind the glass door. Cheng Shuo glanced over, and his perfectly composed expression quickly faded away, revealing a hint of surprise.
Song Wenyuan had arrived!