Things Getting Worse, Yet Better at the Same Time

The light, understated, yet soulful notes of a shamisen drifted through the air, mingling with the faint, intoxicating aroma of the tavern's mild spirits.

Jiang Han watched Chu Yujun, who stood behind the bar with a face as cold as ice, and began to sing happily in her heart, humming the lines to herself:

That's the look, I've always wanted to see that look—the look of jealousy because I can slack off so openly!

"Good afternoon, Miss Jiang Han."

"Good afternoon, Miss Bartender." Jiang Han rested her chin on her hands, smiling as she watched Chu Yujun's expression grow even frostier.

She added, "I heard you requested time off earlier, so you have to work a double shift today, don't you~"

This girl is becoming increasingly punchable... Miss Chu Yujun commented internally, then glanced at the wall clock and sighed, "I still have to endure eight hours before you start your shift?"

"Life isn't easy, is it?" Jiang Han nearly burst out laughing. She cleared her throat and had Miss Chu Yujun—the leader of the Feather Society, a likely candidate for Archwitch, and a lady of noble birth—serve her a glass of fruit juice.

Chu Yujun's mouth twitched slightly as she spoke to her:

"Fruit juice? You're in a tavern and you aren't drinking alcohol?"

"Miss Jiang Han, you are wasting your time."

"The last person who drank fruit juice at a bar... oh, I see, it was you too."

Jiang Han hummed a laugh:

"It's a miracle I'm not drinking milk here, you know? Miss Adult."

Chu Yujun wiped a glass, swept a glance over the still-quiet shop, and also hummed a laugh:

"No fruit juice, but I can treat you to all the milk you can drink."

"Great, treat me then." Jiang Han was always happy when she heard the word 'treat'; who doesn't love free things?

Chu Yujun's expression turned strange. She set down the glass she had been washing and said to herself, "I get it, I get it now. Miss Little Kid, you really can only drink fruit juice."

That means the free drink is gone... Jiang Han felt a brief moment of disappointment, but she cheered up again because Miss Du Ningzhuang had also walked behind the bar:

"Ha, Miss Bartender Number Two is here too?"

Du Ningzhuang fell silent, looked at Chu Yujun, and pointed at Jiang Han:

"Hmph?"

She seemed to have completed a form of communication with Chu Yujun that only 'expressionless people' could manage. She exhaled, and with a sigh-like gesture, pulled a bottle of orange juice from under the counter and filled Jiang Han's glass:

"This one is on me."

The free drink had arrived. Jiang Han picked it up, took a sip, and muttered to Chu Yujun, "Look at her."

She spent her time mocking Chu Yujun and chatting about shows with Du Ningzhuang. Later, the manager, Qin Shunying, arrived, and she even got to learn instruments like the erhu or the shamisen. Unfortunately, happy times always passed too quickly; after playing with the sisters for a while, Jiang Han had to change into her work uniform.

In the locker room, Du Ningzhuang, who had also been teased by Jiang Han, said to her, "You're going to get your karma, sister."

"Sister, I'll be just fine. I'll come back to laugh at you again when I'm free." Jiang Han finished putting on her disposable pantyhose, changed her shoes, and chatted with Du Ningzhuang.

She was in high spirits today because she had successfully slacked off, she didn't have to work tomorrow, and she could slack off with Miss Cen Jing. If that wasn't happy, then nothing in the world was worth being happy about.

Returning to the bar, it seemed that even the heavens didn't want her to be too tired today, as manager Qin Shunying brought good news:

"Miss Lin Qiang has something to attend to and can't come today, so you'll be at the bar today."

Being able to read and slack off at the bar was even happier, so Jiang Han nodded vigorously.

As she had predicted, this time slot—Monday night into Tuesday morning—had very few customers, as few witches were in the mood for a drink after finishing their work on a Monday.

Instead, there were quite a few witches from the East, spending money here while speaking in broken English.

It seemed that whether in her past life's Japan or this world's East, they all had the habit of 'going for a drink after work.' Since the East in this world had tried to invade and ended up getting beaten back, they hadn't left any trauma for the four hundred million witches, other than a few memes; they had even begun re-establishing diplomatic relations due to the current international situation.

I guess the day's work is ending like this.

Jiang Han thought leisurely, while flashing a professional smile at the Eastern witches who seemed to be praising her; she truly couldn't understand what they were saying.

But that wasn't their fault. Some people thought the Eastern witches' English was poor because of their accent, but that wasn't actually correct. Their English was poor because they weren't speaking English at all! It was Japanese...

To use the simplest example, 'cola' is Chinese, and 'Cola' is English. Although they refer to the same thing and sound similar, they are completely different languages. The Japanese word 'raito' is just the Japanization of the English word 'Light.'

So Jiang Han couldn't understand them, but she didn't blame them; smiling was enough.

Time ticked toward four in the morning. This was the time when many 'night shift' witches got off work, and the slightly desolate Witch House finally became a bit lively, though it was the last bit of liveliness for the day... or, strictly speaking, the 'earliest liveliness of Tuesday.'

Five witches walked in through the door and sat down at the bar in a neat row.

"Three Huaizhen, one Absinthe, one Spicy Sugar," one of the witches called out, while smiling and introducing them to her companions:

"We only need to scout 241 more taverns to have a clear picture of the taverns in this largest market in the south. The last one, 'Spicy Lute,' was okay, and I hope this one, 'Witch House,' is good."

She joked, "Although we haven't had a drink yet, the bartender is truly beautiful."

This witch had long black hair and a rather delicate appearance, with particularly beautiful light blue eyes.

At her praise, Jiang Han lowered her head, feeling a bit shy as she grabbed the liquor, while Du Ningzhuang helped her pour the drinks into the glasses.

She raised her head, put on a smile, and placed the tray on the bar, meeting the witch's gaze.

In an instant, Jiang Han's ice-colored eyes widened, and the witch's light blue eyes widened as well.

You have to understand, as a witch, no matter how things were in other areas, their memory was absolutely impeccable.

Especially when it came to people she spent every day with, her memory was never poor.

Jiang Han recognized who this Witch was in half a second:

Ye Keshu, her Mother B.

And the other party clearly recognized that this "beautiful-looking barmaid" was her own daughter.

The professional smile on Jiang Han's face froze instantly. She stood stunned for half a second before lowering her head again with a shy smile. Ye Keshu also coughed, took the tray, and both of them went about their business as if they were complete strangers.

--You're going to get your comeuppance, sister.

The words of Du Ningzhuang echoed in Jiang Han's mind. She lowered her head, glanced to the side, then looked back up at Du Ningzhuang's face, flashing a fierce expression.

This left Miss Du feeling wronged and confused: How did I manage to make this little friend angry again?

Never mind how wronged she felt.

After glaring at her, Jiang Han turned her head and secretly peeked at her second mother, only to be taken aback.

The woman was clearly a Witch with superb acting skills, chatting heatedly with the other Witches who were presumably her colleagues. She was extroverted and full of passion, occasionally cracking a dirty joke or teasing the other waitresses in the shop, acting every bit the female hooligan.

She looked exactly like someone who was visiting this shop for the very first time.

"How old are you, little sister?" Ye Keshu's colleague asked Jiang Han.

Jiang Han bit her lip and turned her head away, triggering a burst of laughter: "So shy. Store Manager Qin, the barmaids you have here are so cute!"

Another Witch also laughed: "You only called her cute, not pretty; you've made her angry."

That Witch covered her mouth and chuckled, making a gesture of apology:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let me buy you a drink... hmm, do you have fruit juice here?"

Between the horseplay and the verbal teasing, where on earth does my mom work? Why are all the people she knows hooligans... Jiang Han kept up a fake smile, holding the juice with both hands and taking small sips.

"Sister Ye, isn't this your favorite type? Why don't you chat with the little girl?"

Favorite... type... Jiang Han's expression soured instantly.

And calling her "Sister Ye"... she spat inwardly.

"If this guest likes her, you can also request her to play a tune for you," Store Manager Qin smiled. "Although she hasn't been learning here for long, she can still play a few songs."

The expression on Ms. Ye Keshu's face stiffened for a moment.

Requesting... a tune? Hiss... has my daughter really grown up this much... hiss, she looks much prettier than when she was a child... tsk tsk, although she's a bit short, her figure is quite good; this cheongsam really suits her... She looked directly at her grown-up daughter.

She realized that the little girl had already grown into a woman who radiated a sweet scent, a luscious fragrance, petite yet as alluring as honey.