Employee Lounge

After signing the employment contract and having it notarized, Jiang Han was officially registered at the Witch House.

Qin Shunying led her behind the bar and into the employee lounge. It was a room with a brownish-red carpet, and one corner was set apart by burgundy curtains and an ornate bookshelf screen, apparently serving as a changing area.

At the center of the room stood waist-high bookshelves and a round table piled with scrolls and dark-covered books.

In the lounge, a witch in a black qipao was copying something down. She looked around twenty-six or twenty-seven, with striking princess curls and wispy bangs. Her dark green eyes were clear and bright, lending her an air of refinement and innocence.

"Hello, boss," the witch said, then lowered her head and continued copying.

Qin Shunying asked, "Ningzhuang, do you have all the materials you need? Should I find you anything else?"

The witch looked up, the corners of her mouth lifting ever so slightly. "No, this is plenty. I never expected the Witch House to have a handwritten copy of Mineral Records. It's a wonderful surprise."

She turned to Jiang Han, greeted her, and introduced herself. Then the witch, whose name was Du Ningzhuang, closed her notes, put them away in storage, and left the lounge to get to work.

"Miss Ningzhuang is a diligent witch. She joined us to pursue more advanced knowledge, too." Qin Shunying went behind the screen by the curtains and searched for something.

"She has a very distinctive air about her," Jiang Han said, following her lead.

"An air about her, hm?" Qin Shunying's sweet voice held a touch of unhinged instability. "You're absolutely right. That innocent, scholarly air of hers always helps us sell plenty of expensive drinks."

"Expensive drinks?" Jiang Han saw her rummaging through a jumble of small boxes behind the screen.

Having found what she wanted, Qin Shunying came back out from behind the screen and pointed to the bottles displayed on a shelf in the room.

"The base ingredients for alcoholic drinks often include potion materials, and they give off a sweet aroma. With the right proportions and a touch of magic, these bases all have remarkable restorative effects. The Green Ridge Absinthe Essence produced at Virdoco Manor can repair damaged parts of the body in no time—even regrow severed limbs. But the essence is precious, so the expensive drinks we get are usually made by diluting it to a certain ratio."

Jiang Han stared at the bottle in amazement. If these expensive drinks could be used as effective remedies, it made sense that they would sell for a fortune.

"Is the essence the most expensive kind of drink you sell?" Jiang Han asked.

Qin Shunying shook her head.

"Of course not. The essence is only the first drinkable product we get after blending the ingredients. It has its full effect, but everyone knows potions can be poisonous. These thick essences are especially dangerous. Only a few kinds can be consumed directly by ordinary people to heal themselves. Most need to be properly mixed and filtered."

"I'll give you a basic list in a bit. This is free knowledge from the Witch House. We can't have girls selling drinks without knowing anything about their effects." She winked and took out the things she had just been searching for.

She held up a qipao, mostly ice-blue with black accents.

"Ta-da! Ever since we met the day before yesterday, I've had an idea in mind. I had a uniform made just for you!"

...Though she had decided to work here, Jiang Han still found the slightly translucent qipao hard to accept.

"Try it on." Qin Shunying handed it to her. "Don't be shy. Just pretend the outfit isn't there. It's about the same as working in a bikini at a seaside bar in summer."

A bikini had less fabric than underwear... Jiang Han thought of the deadpan joke, then gave a stiff little twitch of her lips to show she understood.

She had to admit, the joke made her a little less reluctant to wear the qipao.

Blend in, blend in!

Just think of it as working at a gentleman's club. Love what you do...

After a moment of silence, Jiang Han steeled herself, picked up the uniform with a fearless, inquisitive spirit, and carefully peeked out from behind the screen. Qin Shunying had her back turned as she sat in a chair, lighting a cigarette. Jiang Han quickly drew the curtains closed again.

The changing area had a mirror, a wardrobe, a laundry basket labeled "Free Dry Cleaning," a pile of individually wrapped disposable stockings, and Chinese-style round-toed shoes in various sizes.

There were lots of sticky notes on the box holding the disposable stockings:

[Girls, please don't use these stockings as disposable gloves. --by-QSY]

[Someone left their notes in the lounge yesterday! --by-TW]

[Thanks, sis. --by-CY]

[Du, what's the song on your record? It's pretty good. --by-TW]

[OwO, "When Love Is Gone." --by-DNZ]

[Girls, please don't use sticky notes to chat on the stocking box... --by-QSY]

[Thanks, Du. Boss, hear me out. When you're changing stockings, it's easy to jot down a few words without thinking. You can't crush a witch's love of writing, her fondness for chatting, or her devotion to leaving behind calligraphy. --by-TW]

[Bestie, this is my sixty-sixth breakup. Anyone free to comfort me tonight? --by-LJS]

[Get lost, you heartbreaker. Have you been practicing rap? What a load of crap. --by-LLW]

[If it's your crap, I'd gladly eat it. --by-LJS]

[...]

The notes grew more and more outrageous, leaving Jiang Han at a loss. She covered her face and sighed, then quickly changed out of her clothes and into the uniform. She took off her shoes and put them in the shoe cabinet, changed into a pair of Chinese-style round-toed shoes, and finally removed her witch hat. She folded her clothes neatly into a clothing compartment and placed the hat on top.

Facing the full-length mirror, Jiang Han tied the long black-and-ice-blue ribbon around her neck.

The outfit looked more elegant than the other qipaos at the Witch House: a backless, shoulder-baring qipao in black and ice blue, paired with a matching long ribbon. It gave her a cool, feminine look.

Clothes made the person. Jiang Han felt that she looked more mature in this outfit than in her witch's robe—not like an underage girl.

Uneasily, she hooked a finger under the ribbon around her neck. It looked as if it were tempting people to grab it.

Jiang Han came out of the changing area and saw Qin Shunying, dressed in finery, leisurely puffing away on a long-stemmed pipe.

"Not bad. Very nice." Qin Shunying praised her twice in a row, her eyes practically glowing. There was no lust in her gaze, only the appreciation of a collector. She jumped up and came closer, holding her pipe, but made no inappropriate move. She simply studied Jiang Han closely.

"I thought black and ice blue would suit you. Your hair..." She pointed the pipe at the tips of Jiang Han's hair. "Look, the ends are dyed ice blue. It almost looks like highlights... One of your ancestors must have drunk the blood of some powerful monster, which caused you to inherit some of its traits. Fair skin, unusual hair, icy eyes—you're beautiful."

"...Thank you?" Jiang Han replied awkwardly.

"Don't be so formal. Everyone here is easy to get along with. Now, let me work out your schedule." Qin Shunying switched into work mode.

She opened a notebook to a page and showed it to Jiang Han. There was a table on it.

"Jiang Han, that's your name, right? I hope I got it right."

Not only had she gotten it right, her handwriting was beautiful, too... Jiang Han nodded.

"Then which days of the week would you like to work?" Qin Shunying asked.

"Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday," Jiang Han replied. She definitely had to work weekends, so she'd put in a little extra effort on Thursday and Friday and take it easier over the weekend. After relaxing, she'd work one more day on Monday, and that was that.

As the saying went, save the thing you hate most for Monday. That was the idea.

After jotting down a couple of notes, Qin Shunying said:

"So, those five days... Mm-hm. I should also explain how to use the employee lounge. You get thirty minutes of break time, which means you only need to work five and a half hours. If you use the lounge for more than thirty minutes, you'll have to make up the extra time during your shift. Is that okay?"

Jiang Han nodded without hesitation.

"No problem."