Jiang Ran actually had no intention of playing the hero to save a damsel in distress.
It was just that the weather had been fluctuating with humidity and warmth lately, and she had caught a cold, feeling somewhat drowsy. Originally, she had planned to have a couple of drinks and then go home to curl up under the covers and sleep. However, before she could even take a few sips of alcohol, Song Yan’s shrill voice gave her a headache.
She had curled up in the shadows, and now found herself the center of attention. Yet she appeared oblivious, neither responding to Song Yan nor acknowledging her. Instead, she slightly straightened her waist and leaned forward a bit—
Perhaps to get a clear look at the face of the troublemaking kid.
Then, she locked eyes with a pair of calm, dark, and expressionless eyes.
She paused for just a few seconds on those somewhat captivating eyes before shifting her gaze and letting it roam freely across the person’s face.
A soft strand of black hair fell from her forehead, grazing her delicate cheek. The young woman appeared to be in her early twenties but carried an air of aloofness that felt somewhat uncomfortable. After a brief flutter of her eyelashes, she slowly lifted her eyes, pushed the loose strand of hair behind her ear with her hand, and spoke in a slightly nasal tone, “It’s just a kid.”
Casual and indifferent.
—Although she admittedly looked decent, she was still too young. How could you people not discriminate between seasoned and inexperienced?
That was exactly what she meant.
The people sitting around the booth remained silent. Song Yan still held the bottle in her hand, hesitating as if wanting to say something.
Jiang Ran glanced at her, smiled, and lazily asked the kid in front of her, “What’s your name?”
She was just asking casually.
But she didn’t expect the person in front of her to glance at her expressionlessly and ignore her completely.
“?”
Generally speaking, responding to someone’s question with silence either meant you were deaf or looking for a fight.
Jiang Ran was momentarily stunned, blinked a couple of times, her eyes clouding for a second before gradually turning puzzled. She wondered if she had drunk too much today and was hallucinating—
Otherwise…
What was up with this ungrateful brat?
Slightly tilting her head, she momentarily shifted from her previous aloofness to something slightly petulant.
The young woman’s beautiful eyes were now slightly hazy.
“I asked what your name is,” she didn’t retreat from the other’s attitude, “Go deaf?”
Those dark eyes, what were they glaring about?
He stood there expressionless, as if his consciousness had already logged out.
Well, not entirely logged out.
He was just thinking how annoying these people were.
“Still not talking?”
She slowly leaned back, returning to her upright posture.
“Looks like you want to drink then.”
She said, pointing at the bottle sitting in the corner of the table—opened by her, not the one in Song Yan’s hand.
“Then go ahead and drink.”
The four words were spoken without much emotion, revealing neither joy nor anger.
Bei Jiao’s wandering gaze finally focused, flickering over her face for a second before following the woman’s long, pale finger to the bottle of Japanese whiskey worth over a thousand yuan, filled with amber liquid.
He didn’t even look at Jiang Ran again this time.
This time, he moved cleanly and decisively.
As if speaking another word would rot his mouth.
He bent down to pick up the bottle, opened the loosely capped lid with his thumb after shaking it slightly with one hand, and then took a large swig straight from the mouth of the bottle amidst the surrounding silence—
If not for the dim lighting, the people present might have seen the young man’s clear eyes gradually flush with color as the liquor slid down his throat with the movement of his prominent Adam’s apple…
Halfway through the bottle, his breathing became heavy and sluggish.
Seeing this, Zhao Keshan, who was sitting on Jiang Ran’s left and had exchanged glances with Bei Jiao upon entering the bar, couldn’t sit still anymore. He had just slightly lifted his butt when he hadn’t even had the chance to speak—
The woman sitting beside him, who had been watching coldly with her face propped on one hand, seemed to have eyes on the back of her head. Slowly turning her head, she stared at Zhao Keshan and smiled, saying, “You dare.”
Zhao Keshan: “…”
The hair on the back of his neck stood up as if singing the “Internationale,” and after hesitating for three seconds and swallowing hard, Zhao Keshan backed down, his butt landing back on the sofa—
How creepy was that!
He could only watch helplessly as Bei Jiao chugged the entire bottle of whiskey straight from the bottle until the last drop was gone—
The young man raised the empty bottle to gesture into the air, then casually tossed it onto the sofa beside him.
The dark pupils, already quite black, now appeared as bottomless as a deep abyss under the influence of the strong alcohol.
The bottle rolled, making a “plop” sound as it landed on the carpet, rolling to a stop at Jiang Ran’s feet.
She lifted her head, looking at the young man standing in front of her, backlit by the light. His hair had fallen down a bit from his rough drinking, partially covering one eye. Under the dim bar lighting, the corners of his thin lips glistened with moisture.
Jiang Ran’s gaze flickered.
But soon returned to its initial calmness.
She turned her head to look at Song Yan, who awkwardly moved her hand away from the bottle originally prepared for Bei Jiao.
Her gaze returned to the young man in front of her.
“Alright.”
She said.
“You can go.”
She lifted her chin slightly, her tone still arrogant, carrying an inexplicable generosity.
…
After several rounds of drinks, it was just past ten o’clock, and they were about to enter the midnight hour.
Jiang Ran had opened a new bottle of whiskey, but this one didn’t taste quite as good as the previous one. She began to ponder—how could a junior bartender who didn’t even give his name waste a bottle worth thirteen hundred yuan?
Was she doing charity work?
Wasn’t the bar owner already grinning from ear to ear?
Could it be a well-rehearsed act?
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.
While regretting, she silently continued drinking, half-listening to the chatter around her—
“Which snowboard did you get from the sponsorship this year?”
“I got a Red Tree (*Red Tree: flagship snowboard of the brand gray, model Type-R, nicknamed ‘Red Tree’ due to its red base).”
“Didn’t you already have a Red Tree?”
“My old one is 166cm long, too long, only suitable for carving (*carving: one of the main branches of snowboarding, English term ‘carving’, named for the deep tracks left on the snow like carving, a self-created Chinese term ‘carving’). I wanted a 154cm one, so I can do some tricks.”
“Wow, doing tricks on a Red Tree, how ambitious… Who do you think you are?”
“Damn! Didn’t you see Ran Jie practicing 720s (*720: double cork) at Rongchuang Big Fridge (*Rongchuang Big Fridge: Rongchuang Snow World) last week! If she really masters it—”
“What?”
“Then it would be my three hundred million people on ice, a rising power in winter sports! The first person in the country to do a 720 on a directional board (*directional board: a flat-nosed snowboard, typical for carving and racing) is a girl!”
“And then?”
“And then what do you mean ‘and then’? Where do we male riders save face?!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Don’t laugh! You dog who does flatland (*flatland: one of the three main branches of snowboarding, full name ‘flatland balance tricks’)!”
“Shut up, you! Don’t you remember the time you cried holding your grandpa’s sleeve when you first touched snow (*touching snow: a signature move in carving)?”
Zhao Keshan was laughing heartily. He turned his head and, like a troublemaker, tugged at the young woman sitting beside him, tattling, “Ran Jie, this trend-follower wants to imitate you and buy a short Red Tree to do flatland tricks!”
Full of jargon, the conversation probably sounded like nonsense to outsiders. Jiang Ran’s eyelids drooped, but she didn’t react much, clearly knowing what they were discussing and choosing not to comment…
At this point, she merely lazily “hmm”ed, swatting away Zhao Keshan’s hand that had grabbed her sleeve, “Let him master 540s (*540: triple cork) first.”
Her tone showed no sense of threat from the one who had just been boastful.
At this point, she felt sleepy and wanted to go home.
If she wanted to go home, she just did. No need to report to anyone.
Jiang Ran raised her hand, smoothing down her slightly wrinkled dress from sitting all night, stood up, and prepared to go to the restroom before calling a designated driver via the app to take her home.
This wasn’t the first time she had come to this bar, so she didn’t need to ask directions. She effortlessly made her way to the restroom, her steps a little light but not floating. Her drinking capacity was pretty decent among girls.
She moved cat-like toward the restroom and had just approached when she heard water sounds from inside.
The restroom door was slightly ajar, and the lights were off.
Standing at the sink was a familiar back figure.
…
The tall, lanky young man had his hands braced on the edges of the sink, his back arched, head bowed. The shadows cast completely enveloped the sink area, like a wild beast lurking in the dark.
The faucet was running, pouring out tap water, the “whooshing” sound almost drowning out the dry heaving coming from in front of the sink. The butterfly bones on his back rose and fell with his retching, but nothing came out.
The veins on the back of his hands stood out as he gripped the sink tightly.
His stomach churned, but since he hadn’t eaten much for dinner, there was nothing in his stomach to successfully vomit up.
Bei Jiao’s tolerance for alcohol wasn’t great.
He lifted his head and stared at his own red-rimmed eyes reflected in the mirror above the sink.
His vision blurred for a moment, the world spinning around him. He leaned back slightly, his broad shoulders pressing against the restroom door behind him. He held onto the doorknob, sliding down to sit on the floor…
His breath came out in hot puffs.
He slightly furrowed his brows, dazedly reaching for his phone to call the bar owner to come pick up his corpse and calculate the work-related losses, when suddenly he heard the sound of high heels clicking nearby.
His hand froze mid-reach.
An unfamiliar presence was close, very close.
A soft finger, as if petting a pet’s chin, lifted his chin.
Dazed, he slowly followed the force and raised his head—
At such a close distance, the young woman was bending over, one hand braced on her knee, looking down at him.
Author’s note:
Heroine: Doing all the things that traditional overbearing male CEOs typically do.
——————–
(This book comes from: Longfeng Interactive)
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