After a solid month of hard work, business at the bar hadn't declined. Instead, it kept getting better.
Livestreaming wasn't physically tiring for Hua Jian, but it was mentally exhausting.
With him there, S.o. had become an instant hit. Like other viral establishments, it was flooded with young people coming to check it out.
Men and women alike.
After work, Hua Jian left through the back door and turned into the alley behind the bar. The footsteps following him grew increasingly distinct.
"Fuck, how did he get away?"
"Damn it, you idiot. You've followed him for days and still haven't found where he lives. What are we supposed to tell Young Master Feng?"
"Sorry, boss. Do you think that kid spotted us?"
Neither man was particularly tall, but both were packed with muscle. Their vicious expressions made it clear they had plenty of blood on their hands.
"So what if he did? Come on, after him."
The footsteps gradually faded, and the alley fell quiet.
Overhead, a dim yellow streetlight swayed in the wind, casting Hua Jian's face alternately in light and shadow.
He lowered his eyes and stared intently at the man he had pinned against the wall.
Only after a long while, once he seemed certain the two men wouldn't return, did he apologetically lower his hand from the man's mouth and nose.
"Sorry, senior. I was hiding here, and I panicked. I was afraid you'd..."
"No need to explain," Bo Lin interrupted. His eyes were slightly unfocused, his words tinged with drunkenness.
"Oh," Hua Jian said awkwardly.
Bo Lin had been drinking. No wonder Hua Jian's palm had felt so hot when he covered his mouth.
It might also have been because his heart had been racing.
But those two men following him had left ages ago.