Harmonious Colleagues

Business at the Witch House would boom from eleven at night, only beginning to taper off around five in the morning.

With only one or two tables of regulars playing cards, those eating late-night snacks, and the few servers sitting behind the bar, it felt as though the tavern had entered the "regulars' time" segment.

"Good work," said the manager, Qin Shunying. She drew her wand to trace a simple, abstract symbol, summoning something invisible that automatically cleared away the clutter and trash in the tavern.

As a witch not yet well-versed in spells, Jiang Han wasn't sure what this was, but judging by the simple casting motion, the level shouldn't be high; it was likely a Level 1 spell, Unseen Servant.

However, Unseen Servant didn't possess the intelligence to clean, so the manager or some other witch must have modified it.

"Good work!" "Mhm, good work..." A chaotic chorus of voices rang out, coming from both the servers and the smiling regulars.

Excluding Jiang Han and Chu Yujun at the bar, there were six servers on duty today. Four had already gone home, including Du Ningzhuang, whom Jiang Han had seen in the breakroom earlier; the remaining two were quite lively.

One was Tang Wen, who had charming, jewel-red eyes and the sweet, well-behaved air of a girl-next-door, though she was actually very energetic. She and the other girl, a gray-eyed girl named Chai Ying, formed the core of the staff's little social circle and were very caring toward Jiang Han. The two had also played the erhu at the Witch House earlier, having developed a rapport similar to twins.

--According to a witch named Lin Liwan who was on shift today, the two could even perform crosstalk and occasionally put on shows.

"Today's drink list?" Tang Wen looked at Chai Ying with those jewel-red eyes.

"Gold Rum, Gold Ford, Huaizhen, Absinthe, Green Fungus, Mushroom Bubble, Spicy Sugar, Moon Sugar, Fates, Dream Rum, Silver Rum, Dragon Blood Rum, Platinum Rum, Magma Rum, Blood Ford, Green Vodka, White Vodka, Gold Coin Vodka..." Chai Ying rattled off over twenty drink names in one rapid breath.

"Good." After Tang Wen said this, she opened her arms and hugged Chai Ying; the two witches embraced, looking quite affectionate.

Jiang Han nearly laughed out loud. These two live wires were truly delightful and multi-talented, though they often complained about having signed a group indentured contract...

She glanced at the wall clock; it was past five, and they wouldn't be off until six. Although they had started at eleven, the end time remained the same.

Still a while until clock-out... Jiang Han returned to the breakroom, took her notebook from her clothes, went back behind the bar, opened it, and began to read.

Because the sofa was small, Jiang Han and Chu Yujun were sitting quite close; it was hard for one not to see the other's notebook when it was on the table.

As she read and took notes, she could see the content of Chu Yujun's notebook: a Level 2 spell called Shift and Shadow. The other girl's handwriting was elegant, and her English was written in a beautiful, flowery script.

Jiang Han glanced at her own English font and blushed a little. In her past life, she had been obsessed with 'Hannibal' for a while—the American TV show based on The Silence of the Lambs. Aside from the two leads who were so obviously into each other, her favorite thing was the elegant handwriting of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, so she had practiced Eastern European (Russian-style) cursive for a time.

They were both quite pretty, though the English style was sometimes more unrestrained.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Chu Yujun's gaze also resting on her notebook. Chu Yujun tapped her pen lightly against the paper and wrote in Chinese:

--Life is waiting, and those who wait will never come.

Jiang Han saw Chu Yujun nod slightly out of the corner of her eye, pick up her pen, and begin to write with a soft, scratching sound.

After she finished, Jiang Han looked at her notebook, where the following was written in elegant script:

--Waiting for Godot, by Beckett

Jiang Han let out a soft laugh, then covered her face, feeling a bit embarrassed.

It felt like being in elementary school, reading a classic and having your desk-mate discover you writing down quotes from it—at first, there was the excitement of finding a kindred spirit, followed by a slight sense of shame.

Chu Yujun's lips curled slightly as she looked down and wrote:

--Tang Wen and Chai Ying are so noisy.

From the sharp, hooked strokes of her writing, one could feel the frustration of a witch who loved quiet... Jiang Han didn't actually dislike witches like Tang Wen and Chai Ying; perhaps it was because her own personality wasn't too loud that she found such lively characters endearing.

Jiang Han wrote:

--Do you hate them?

The other replied:

--Just find them noisy, occasionally gives me a headache, but I don't hate them.

Chu Yujun paused, then placed a period at the end of the sentence.

It was like having a new desk-mate in elementary school, suddenly discovering you could talk about anything and everything. But even though they could have just lowered their voices to whisper, they insisted on writing on little slips of paper. This behavior felt childish during student years, but in adulthood, it felt romantic—the sound of pen tips scratching across paper, light and graceful, hazy yet clear.

As she wrote, Jiang Han suddenly felt the back of her right hand, which was holding the pen, touch something warm.

She looked over and realized she had bumped into Chu Yujun's left hand.

A lefty, huh... Jiang Han gave her a polite smile, and the other girl nodded slightly. The two sat in silence and shifted a bit further apart. Yet, this seemed to break some kind of barrier, letting the sound return.

"Are you learning Dispel Magic?" Chu Yujun asked.

"Yeah, it's an assignment for my tutoring class..." Jiang Han had modified the model for Dispel Magic over and over. To master a spell, one didn't just need to learn the theory and basics; one had to modify the fixed spell model to fit one's own magical characteristics, and finally brew a potion to store the model.

Chu Yujun turned her head and said:

"This spell is rare, but highly versatile. Any witch dedicated to dueling must learn it."

The duels on TV proved this point... Jiang Han had finally seen just how useful 'Dispel Magic' was. Almost every witch's instant-kill opening move started with this, used to strip away an opponent's shield spell or simply as a feint to bait out the enemy's high-level spells.

It was like ball control in soccer or dribbling in basketball—the most basic of basics, yet in the hands of a master, it could be played with endless variety.

Jiang Han nodded, chatted with her for a while longer, and drank two beverages provided by the Witch House for its employees until it was time to clock out.

She walked into the breakroom, changed out of her work uniform, put back on her black-ice witch robe, and stepped out of the changing room.

Outside, Qin Shunying stood there in a gorgeous dress, a Rubik's cube with several hundred squares floating in the palm of her hand. She gave Jiang Han a reserved, slightly manic smile and greeted her:

"You can take the work uniform home. Consider it an employee... perk?"

"Mhm, thanks." Although Jiang Han didn't think she would normally wear a qipao, she wasn't about to turn down free stuff. She went back into the changing room, packed the qipao uniform into a Witch House paper bag, and walked out with it in hand.

In the breakroom, Qin Shunying sat at a round table, counting a large pile of gold coins.

The price of gold is much lower now than in my past life because it is incredibly convenient for Witches to mine gold, and folded spaces are rich in gold and silver deposits. Perhaps some small nations still lack gold and silver, but the major powers certainly do not. The larger the land area, the higher the probability of folded spaces appearing—in fact, the only major power on Earth currently lacking gold is Canada...

"Although there are bank drafts and paper currency now, I still trust these golden coins more," Qin Shunying explained.

At this moment, the lounge door opened and Chai Ying walked in. This lady, with her black-gray hair and a pair of deep gray eyes, smiled at them:

"Is the changing room free?"

"Yes." "She just finished using it," Jiang Han and Qin Shunying said simultaneously.

Chai Ying tugged at the collar of her cheongsam, caught her breath, and asked Qin Shunying, "Manager, can I have my uniform remade? It's tight on my chest."

...Tight on her chest. Jiang Han instinctively shifted her gaze downward, then shifted it back up, and upon seeing Chai Ying's playful, knowing expression, she blushed, clutched the bag containing her clothes, and walked out quickly:

"See you tomorrow..."

"See you tomorrow, Miss Jiang Han." "Goodbye, ma'am." After Qin Shunying and Chai Ying finished speaking, they continued to discuss the issue of the uniform.

Jiang Han also reached the door, exchanged a few pleasantries with Tang Wen, who hadn't left yet, and then departed to retrieve her broom from the storage area to head home.