Originally, in this kind of game, the loser was supposed to drink half a cup according to the rules. However, just as Jiang Ran’s tongue touched the amber-colored liquor, she was interrupted and ended up drinking only a sip.
She didn’t intend to dodge the rule, merely setting her cup down temporarily while reaching out to touch the shrimp crisp—
It was still warm, and pressing her hand on it left a small indentation.
Picking up a piece and crushing it, she lifted the corners of her lips: “The boss is really generous tonight.”
She said this to Beijiao.
Unfortunately, the latter ignored her as if she were a stranger, keeping her eyes lowered and collecting several empty snack plates from the table without a word.
She moved quite close to the table’s edge, and Jiang Ran could clearly hear the two young girls beside her trying hard to control their heartbeats and carefully holding their breath.
Her smile deepened slightly.
When Beijiao picked up the empty broad bean dish, she casually moved the half-finished glass of alcohol further away, as if it had gotten in the way.
The movement looked natural, not appearing to be intentional.
As the glass was placed back in a corner of the table, a young woman’s soft, almost overly affected voice rang from above: “My glass—why did you move it so far? I still need to drink from it. According to the rules, at least half a cup each time.”
Beijiao: “…”
She sure was strict about these obscure rules.
The consequence of her complaint was that the young waiter collecting the table hesitated, and in a moment of distraction, poured all the duck neck bones directly into her glass.
The lighting wasn’t that dim, not nearly dark enough for that.
And his movement was swift and precise.
…It was hard not to suspect it was intentional.
Because after he did it, he dared to look up at her.
Everything was blurred in the dim light; outside the booth, only vague silhouettes could be seen. At this moment, only the wolf cub’s dark eyes gleamed brightly.
Jiang Ran had been completely provoked—
Just as she belatedly widened her eyes slightly in surprise, right under her nose, Beijiao said lazily, without much sincerity: “My hand slipped. Sorry.”
Then she poured the entire glass into the trash bin, tossing the empty glass casually into the tray full of leftover food.
Jiang Ran: “…”
She received a smile from her that radiated a heavy aura of confrontation.
Then Beijiao turned and left.
Jiang Ran hadn’t even managed to say a word, clearly defeated in a decisive victory for the other side.
At this point, someone nearby spoke up to comfort her, saying it was fine—just get a new glass—
In reality, no one really cared how much she had drunk or whether she followed the drinking rules. Everyone at the table listened to only one person, so as long as Xie Yu had no objections, the rest of the crowd naturally wouldn’t either.
A girl named Yangyang, sitting next to Jiang Ran, had been watching the handsome, moody-looking, and practically service-unconscious bartender walk away with his tray. When she turned back, she found that their school’s top popular and stubborn straight-A male not only hadn’t continued to push her to drink, but had instead become overly clingy—
At some point, Xie Yu had silently moved back next to Jiang Ran, calling her “Xiaoran Jie,” and obediently fetched her a new glass.
Jiang Ran said she’d prefer a cocktail for now and didn’t want beer, so he obediently put the glass back.
Not a single complaint.
Yangyang smiled and said, “Xie Yu is definitely falling this time. He remained untouched through freshman and sophomore years, only to come to Guangzhou before junior year and deliver himself right into someone else’s hands.”
Everyone around laughed noisily.
Sitting close to Jiang Ran, Xie Yu seemed deaf to the mockery, only tilting his head to look at her, lowering his voice and half-drunk, asking if she wanted to come watch his 3-on-3 streetball match against A University’s basketball team the next day.
3V3 streetball—the most masculine way to play basketball.
No other intentions, just wanting her to see him play.
Jiang Ran held the base of her cocktail glass, idly playing with it, her fingers scraping off the condensation on the glass walls… Upon hearing this, she immediately took out her phone to check her schedule. She noticed that Song Die had completely disappeared since being exposed, leaving her free the next day with no classes, so she generously accepted Xie Yu’s invitation.
Putting her phone down, she added a caring remark—
“You should drink less tonight,” she said. “What if your legs give out tomorrow from being too drunk for the game?”
In an instant, she could clearly see the emotion of “joyful excitement” appear on the young man’s face.
So different from someone who was hard to tame, this kind of open and simple happiness was indeed contagious—
Smiles always tended to please people.
So she smiled along with him too.
…
“Brother Bei, I mean, do we really have to be that rigid?”
Behind the bar counter, the bar owner slowly wiped glasses while scolding his employee.
“I told you to watch, not to stare so intensely; I told you to manage, not to control so tightly; I told you to keep an eye on Ran Jie so she wouldn’t be taken by outside wolves, but I didn’t tell you to rush over the moment she touched her glass…”
He kept muttering.
Bei Jiao grew annoyed listening to him.
He reached out and took the glass from the owner’s hand, continuing to wipe it without responding. After finishing one glass, he threw the cloth aside impatiently and asked, “So many demands, why don’t you do it yourself?”
“The shrimp crisps will be deducted from your salary.”
“Is that plate worth fifty cents?”
The bar owner was stunned, staring at the sullen teenager in front of him. After a long silence, he asked in confusion: “Why are you so angry? Are you in a bad mood?”
The first half was fine, but the second half really stirred up a hornet’s nest.
“Angry? Are you crazy?”
“Don’t you want to look in a mirror? If you saw yourself even once, you wouldn’t sound so self-righteously justified.”
“No need. Looking in a hundred mirrors still shows a face full of kindness.”
“A big bad wolf dressed in grandma’s clothes in ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ also looked kind…” The bar owner picked up another glass and continued wiping, suddenly throwing down the cloth in confusion, “I just thought I didn’t offend you. Is being a temporary security guard really that upsetting?”
Bei Jiao wasn’t upset at all.
Just then, a new drink order arrived. He gave the bar owner a half-hearted smirk and turned to prepare the drink accordingly.
The bar owner ghosted behind him, watching him mix the drink according to the instructions. After a while, he said, “Want me to sing you a song?”
Bei Jiao: “Have you been drinking tonight?”
The bar owner ignored him and started singing his improvised ditty: “I’m a security guard, I love Teddy bear biscuits, I protect the ‘Wuwo’ bar, secretly loving my elder sister Xiaoran—”
Bei Jiao paused pouring the liqueur into the cocktail shaker, turned his head, and looked at him expressionlessly.
“What’s wrong?” the bar owner asked.
“Can we have three seconds of silence?” Bei Jiao negotiated. “Even one second would be fine.”
“Then can you stop randomly taking guests’ glasses? Do you remember we run a bar?” the bar owner said. “I’m afraid you’ll go so far next time that you’ll call the police to report someone drinking here.”
“The police don’t interfere with adults drinking.”
“You know that,” the bar owner chuckled. “I thought you didn’t know.”
Bei Jiao turned to look at the booth behind him—
At some point, Jiang Ran had already acquired a new pink cocktail in her hand, smiling cheerfully and clinking glasses with those around her like nothing had happened…
Then she tilted her head back and gulped down the entire glass in one go.
“…Fine, I won’t interfere anymore.”
He heard his own calm voice clearly say,
“Whoever wants to can take over. If no one does, let them get drunk to death and be taken away.”
See, I told you you’re upset.
The bar owner shrugged and made a gesture that said, “As long as you’re happy.”
…
The ‘Wuwo’ bar wasn’t only popular among students; it was quite famous throughout the entire university district, all thanks to a set of twelve cocktails they sold as a set, named by the owner as “Monet’s Twelve Seasonal Gardens.”
This name might sound a bit artistic, but its meaning was simple and direct: after drinking all twelve cocktails, just lying on the bar’s sofa would allow you to see Monet’s water lily pond blooming gloriously before your eyes.
Now, two-thirds of those twelve had already gone down Jiang Ran’s throat.
And at the booth in the corner, they had started their fourth bucket of beer.
People came and went at that table, totaling about seven or eight individuals. The two girls had long since had enough and had called other girls from their school to come pick them up.
Two guys had already given up, leaving three still going.
The bar owner peeked and said, “It’s about time.”
His tone sounded mysteriously like that of an illegal criminal planning to get someone drunk and then harvest their kidneys.
Standing behind the bar counter, the bartender showed little reaction upon hearing this, as if he had indeed decided to ignore everything—
One ear listened to the owner’s chatter while the other seemed to let it drift away. He steadily and carefully sliced an apple in front of him, as if this apple were his ancestor.
The bar owner looked down at the apple in his hand, carved into the shape of a rabbit.
“…Security team,” the bar owner tugged at the bartender’s clothes, “I think it’s really time to step in now.”
The person whose clothes were tugged hesitated, forced to put down the fruit knife, and raised his eyelids to glance at the distance. What met his gaze was a woman holding a blue cocktail in her hand. She removed the mint leaf on top and once again brought the glass to her lips.
Bei Jiao: “…”
Bei Jiao: “Don’t call me now.”
Bar owner: “Huh?”
Bei Jiao: “Call 120 if it gets worse… 110 is fine too.”
Bar owner: “…”
Another hour passed.
With a sigh, the bar owner watched as the fourth beer keg was emptied.
Jiang Ran’s stomach was full of Monet’s entire garden.
In the dim light, the people in the corner booth who had previously been lively were now playing cards, but their pace of playing had slowed to the point of resembling a group of sloths gambling in a zoo. They held their cards in hand, no one played, just posing.
Xie Yu was the last to fall.
As he leaned back on the sofa for a brief nap, his dazed mind wondered: at this point, who could still stand up and walk out of the booth?
…
At the same time.
Bei Jiao watched the woman walk out from the booth.
Behind her, a bunch of northeastern guys lay sprawled on the floor, all drunk by her.
Pulling his head back from over the bar counter, Bei Jiao turned around and calmly asked the bar owner: “When we first opened today, you told me to keep an eye on someone so they wouldn’t be taken by wolves, right? Was it the one in blue shorts with a buzzcut? Or the one with a thick gold chain? Or the one who’s six foot one?”
Author’s note:
Bei Jiao: There really were wolves, but they were female.
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