Decayed Vulgarian chapter 65
Lucky (Secondary story)
The shifting lights, resembling a colorful dream catcher.
A resident singer cradled a folk guitar, fingers gently stroking the strings—
“Baby take a chance, ’cause I want this to be something, straight out of a Hollywood movie—”
Meng Yuan Ning lightly tapped the table with her fingers; her ordered drink hadn’t arrived yet.
She felt like an out-of-place passerby, unable to see the diverse faces bustling in the bar.
On her first visit to the bar, she was inevitably awkward. She huddled in an inconspicuous corner, avoiding conversations with strangers. Remembering the social news she’d read online related to bars, she decided against drinking much more, though she regretted it as soon as she ordered. She intended to leave after finishing her drink, feeling regretful for the unnecessary expense.
A young man with grayish-blue hair appeared in her peripheral vision. Wearing a blue denim jacket, he caught Meng Yuan Ning’s attention.
Coincidentally, a beam of light fell upon him, casting his gray-blue hair in shades of purple. Placing a glass in front of Meng Yuan Ning, he said, “Yours,” pausing for a moment before recalling the words, “Bloody Mary…”
The English was difficult to pronounce and sounded Chinese. Meng Yuan Ning inexplicably laughed but maintained a cautious demeanor, asking, “Are you a server here? Why aren’t you in uniform?”
“No,” the young man glanced somewhat helplessly at the bar counter. “The boss asked me to help out. He said he needed an extra hand, so here I am, a free laborer.”
Meng Yuan Ning liked the guy’s hair color and started a conversation with him, “Do you have a good relationship with the boss?”
The man thought for a moment, “So-so.”
“So-so?”
Suddenly, Lu Huaiqian’s voice sounded behind him, startling the guy, who felt caught doing something wrong, as he pretended not to hear Lu Huaiqian.
“Cheng Shuo, in this life, when speaking, you must be honest and fair. What you just said would truly hurt my feelings.”
Cheng Shuo clicked his tongue a few times.
Lu Huaiqian placed a drink he was holding on Meng Yuan Ning’s table. “I know your brother, Meng Yuan Cen, so I’m treating you to a drink.”
The crystal-clear drink had a rim of salt. Lu Huaiqian pondered and said, “It might start out a little bitter and end sweet. Try it. If it’s not to your taste, you don’t have to drink it.”
Cheng Shuo looked alertly at Lu Huaiqian. “How do you know her?”
Lu Huaiqian chuckled, “Well, I worked at the law firm before.”
Under Cheng Shuo’s shocked gaze, Lu Huaiqian nonchalantly continued, “Surprising, right? I actually have a lawyer’s license, all legitimate.”
Cheng Shuo incredulously shook his head, silently calculating the list of occupations he knew Lu Huaiqian had engaged in. Lu Huaiqian had raced cars, performed as a resident singer, played in a band, studied taxation, and now, he added being a lawyer. It seemed like a rich second-generation experiencing various walks of life.
“…So, what haven’t you done yet?”
After some thought, Lu Huaiqian whispered something to Cheng Shuo, “I haven’t made love to you by a window yet.”
Cheng Shuo pushed him away, frowning, speechless for a while. “Mr. Lu, during working hours, let’s focus on work and not think about impossible things, okay?”
Lu Huaiqian laughed, thinking everything was possible, but he agreed, “Alright, then I’ll go mix drinks.”
Just a couple of steps away, he turned back to Cheng Shuo, “Don’t engage in excessively lively conversations with others. I suggest you avoid it because I’ll get jealous.”
Cheng Shuo, with his hands in his pockets, raised an eyebrow, “You’re very controlling.”
Lu Huaiqian also raised an eyebrow, “If I don’t control you, who will?”
“Damn,” Cheng Shuo couldn’t help but laugh. Waving his hand, he said, “Hurry and mix drinks.”
Watching Lu Huaiqian return to the bar, Cheng Shuo struck up a conversation with Meng Yuan Ning, “You see the heartless boss? No pay and now interfering with my freedom of speech.”
Meng Yuan Ning observed for a while and thought that watching others flirt was more interesting, “Forgive me for asking, are you two—?”
Cheng Shuo candidly replied, “We are dating.”
Meng Yuan Ning chuckled, “Ah, but you just said your relationship with him was so-so.”
Looking around to ensure Lu Huaiqian wasn’t nearby, Cheng Shuo nodded solemnly, but in a joking tone, “Yes, a ‘so-so’ kind of lovers.”
Meng Yuan Ning found Cheng Shuo’s way of speaking interesting, mixed with a bit of stubbornness and youthful vigor. She covered her mouth, smiling for a while, took a few sips of the Bloody Mary, feeling the alcohol spread in her mouth. Her smile gradually faded, “But if you both like each other, then you’re truly lucky.”
Cheng Shuo pondered for a moment, “Actually, not quite, because I didn’t like him at first.”
“Then you fell for him later?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s fortunate too. Regardless of how it starts, being mutually attracted is fortunate.”
Cheng Shuo was silent for a moment, then, turning his eyes, said, “No wonder Boss Lu sent you a drink for a broken heart.”
Meng Yuan Ning, puzzled, asked, “A drink for a broken heart?”
Cheng Shuo pointed to one of the glasses, “Because it’s a drink for a broken heart, so it’s bitter at first and then sweet.”
Meng Yuan Ning suddenly understood, her smile fading. She lowered her head, staring at the drink, tapping the glass wall with her fingertips, “Did I show it that obviously? I thought I disguised it quite well.”
“No, he probably doesn’t know you’re heartbroken,” Cheng Shuo explained. “When he just sent you the drink, he didn’t call it a broken heart drink. Maybe he noticed you weren’t happy when you first entered the bar. The bitter-to-sweet was just a beautiful metaphor. I think it shouldn’t be confined to just a broken heart.”
Meng Yuan Ning was stunned for a few seconds, then smiled faintly, “Yes, it shouldn’t be confined to just a broken heart.”
Cheng Shuo was about to say something else when he received a sharp look from Lu Huaiqian. He blinked at him and then turned to Meng Yuan Ning, speaking faster, “If I continue talking with you, Lu Huaiqian will really get angry. When he’s upset, it affects his cocktail-making skills, which in turn affects the bar’s reputation, so we really can’t talk anymore.”
Meng Yuan Ning suddenly thought of something, “Wait!”
Cheng Shuo turned back, “What is it?”
Meng Yuan Ning lifted the drink in her right hand, “Cheers to your happiness!”
Cheng Shuo extended his right hand, simulating holding the glass, and tapped Meng Yuan Ning’s hand across the air, with a poorly pronounced “Cheers!”
Meng Yuan Ning’s gaze returned to the other glass, not particularly fond of the taste of the Bloody Mary. She idly swirled the glass and took small sips. Lu Huaiqian hadn’t lied; it indeed became sweeter as she drank more.
By the time she’d drunk two-thirds of it, she felt a bit lightheaded from the alcohol, wondering why she heard someone calling her name.
Raising her head, she hoped she wasn’t actually getting drunk. Otherwise, why would she be seeing Meng Yuan Cen’s face, a little disappointed?
What shocked her even more was that the apparition of Meng Yuan Cen was actually asking her with a furrowed brow, “Is your phone on silent mode again? Why aren’t you picking up my calls? Do you know how worried we were?”
Meng Yuan Ning, perplexed, fished her phone out from her bag, finding more than a dozen missed calls on the screen. She was startled – it wasn’t an illusion; the Meng Yuan Cen in front of her was real!
She explained nervously, “I had a very important meeting this afternoon, so I set it on silent during the meeting and forgot to turn it back on after work.”
Seeing that Meng Yuan Cen was about to speak, she quickly interjected, “I know you’re upset. You can scold me, let it all out, criticize me as much as you want, brother.”
Meng Yuan Cen’s lips moved, but in the end, he sighed, “Call Mom back, she has something to tell you.”
So, Meng Yuan Ning found a quiet corner and called her mother.
Initially, the mother and daughter conversation was pleasant and harmonious. However, to Meng Yuan Ning’s surprise, her mother veered the conversation to blind dates. “Remember that boy you used to play with when you were a child? He’s back in the country and still doesn’t have a girlfriend. He wants to ask you—”
“Mum,” Meng Yuan Ning didn’t even bother to listen to the whole sentence, furrowing her brows, “Do I have to have a boyfriend to live? No, I’m not going.”
“I’m just mentioning it,” Meng Yuan Ning’s mother somewhat sensed something and asked softly, “What’s wrong? Feeling down?”
Meng Yuan Ning pursed her lips, instinctively squinting her eyes and said, “I had a breakup.”
Meng Yuan Ning’s mother immediately responded, “Who is so blind that they can’t see my daughter? Clearly, you’re outstanding, beautiful, and can make money. If he doesn’t see that, it’s his loss.”
Meng Yuan Ning was speechless for a moment and just murmured, “Hmm.”
“If you’re feeling bad, talk to me, don’t keep it to yourself.”
Meng Yuan Ning took a deep breath, “I’m not feeling bad; it’s not that hard. I don’t even like him that much.”
After a pause, she repeated, “I really don’t like him that much; perhaps after a good night’s sleep, I’ll forget all about it. It’s nothing.”
The call ended, the phone screen went black, faintly reflecting her features. Meng Yuan Ning stared at it for a while, feeling the mist clear from her eyes, before returning to her seat.
She finished the remaining half glass of the drink and asked, “Brother, how did you find me?”
Meng Yuan Cen replied, “Your WeChat Moments had a location tag.”
Meng Yuan Ning had a sudden realization, slapping her forehead, “Oh, how did I forget to turn off the location tag; I should have disabled it.”
After thinking for a moment, she asked, “I only missed a few calls; why were you so nervous?”
At the end, she teased, “I haven’t seen you care so much about me before.”
Meng Yuan Cen said, “The first half of your post on Moments was ambiguous.”
Meng Yuan Ning, confused, took out her phone and read the first half of the post, “‘And in case I don’t see you—'”
She stopped in disbelief, “That’s just a movie line, Brother. Haven’t you watched ‘The Truman Show’? You really should; I rewatched it recently and it’s thought-provoking.”
Meng Yuan Cen didn’t respond, asking instead, “What about the photo of the Yuanting Lake?”
Meng Yuan Ning quickly said, “Yes, I took that photo. Is it nice?”
Meng Yuan Cen hesitated, “…”
So, it was a complete misunderstanding. Meng Yuan Cen found it all amusing, “I almost thought you were going to jump in the lake.”
Meng Yuan Ning replied, “But, come on, would I really jump in the lake because of a breakup?”
“Of course, I know you wouldn’t, but when you don’t pick up, I can’t help but overthink.”
Meng Yuan Ning said seriously, “I’ll remember to turn off silent mode on my phone next time.”
The three didn’t stay long at the Mo Blue Bar. As Meng Yuan Ning was about to leave after having enough fun, Meng Yuan Cen, accompanied by Shen Xun, drove her home. He personally saw her to the door of her apartment building.
After some thought, Meng Yuan Cen couldn’t help asking, “Do you want me to stay and accompany you?”
Meng Yuan Ning’s eyelashes quivered slightly. She remained silent for a few seconds before asking, “Do you know?”
Meng Yuan Cen candidly replied, “Yes, Shen Xun told me.”
“No, you don’t need to stay. No need for you to accompany me. I have to tidy up the guest room for you guys, it’s a hassle.”
Meng Yuan Ning chuckled softly, “Go back and enjoy your alone time with Shen Xun.”
Meng Yuan Cen added one more instruction, “Call me if there’s anything.”
“Got it, you’re really quite talkative.”
Before leaving, Meng Yuan Ning watched the backs of Meng Yuan Cen and Shen Xun. As she did, she thought of something and suddenly said softly, “Brother, you and Shen Xun must be good to each other, stay together for a long, long time.”
Meng Yuan Cen turned to ask, “Why are you suddenly saying these things?”
Meng Yuan Ning earnestly said, “I just feel that encountering someone who shares your feelings is really lucky, and you two are truly suitable for each other.”
Meng Yuan Cen was silent for a few seconds. “You will also meet someone like that in the future, someone who shares your feelings.”
“Is that so?” Meng Yuan Ning was half doubtful, “I’m picky, and I won’t fall in love easily.”
Meng Yuan Cen nodded. “Yes, I believe so.”
“Then I’ll borrow your auspicious words.” Meng Yuan Ning smiled. “But even if I don’t find true love, it doesn’t matter. In my opinion, it’s just a condiment for life, so it’s optional. If I get it, I’m lucky; if I don’t, it’s not my fate.”