The wind was a bit strong, and there were occasional bouts of rain that were sometimes heavy and sometimes light.
The food stalls in the night market had erected rain shelters, swaying precariously as if they might be blown away by the wind at any moment, yet the number of customers for late-night snacks remained undiminished. People drank beer, peeled lobsters, and chatted excitedly about Sino-US friction, alien invasion, secret weapons, and celebrity gossip. Beer foam, chili flakes, shrimp shells, and saliva flew out all at once, swept by the wind from one table to another.
The bad weather didn't seem to affect the mood of the people in Wuzhong at all; in fact, business at Ruhua Bar was even better than usual.
When Bian Ziyuan entered the bar, there were no good seats left, so he had to sit down at the bar counter. He kept glancing at the dark corners out of the corner of his eye, hoping that the customers there would leave soon and make room for him.
The bartender was focused on mixing drinks behind the bar, while the customer next to him was talking about Windmill with a strange girl. He rattled off a string of seemingly knowledgeable meteorological and geographical terms, leaving the girl bewildered, but he still couldn't win Beauty heart. The conversation turned into a tug-of-war.
Bian Ziyuan this kind of scene many times and chuckled to himself. This was typical of a science and engineering guy trying to pick up girls; knowledge might earn a woman's admiration, but it wouldn't win her heart. A thousand formulas and ten thousand theorems couldn't compare to someone telling a joke that made a woman laugh so hard she was doubled over and her heart flutter.
Bian Ziyuan is a typical STEM guy, so his laughter is a form of self-deprecation. Of course, he's no longer as lost and helpless in front of girls as he used to be, because he's learned the true essence of picking up girls, especially in places like bars.
Women admire knowledgeable men, and they especially like handsome, charming men who can tell jokes, but none of these can compare to even a tenth of money. If you drive Lamborghini, wear Patek Philippe, and are dressed in Armani, you basically don't need to say a word; just a glance is enough to have countless women willing to follow you. Of course, there are even wealthier men who may be very low-key and would never go to places like bars. They don't need to show their faces to keep women fantasizing day and night.
Although Bian Ziyuan's current income doesn't qualify him as a wealthy person, and he still lacks the ability to charm people with his eyes and actions, ordering a few bottles of the most expensive wine and having the bartender deliver them to the girls' table, then waving his Tesla key and Hilton room key to show off his personality, the masculine charm he exudes is enough to attract some women to come up and talk to him.
Of course, he wasn't here to pick up girls today; he was here on a date with Mei Ziqing, a woman he both fantasized about and felt a bit in awe of.
On Qingming Festival, I was drinking and having dinner with Old Yu when Mei Ziqing bumped into me. Mei Ziqing jokingly said she wanted to join their gathering, and later said that when Bian Ziyuan away, she should invite her to drink at Ruhua Bar.
Bian Ziyuan thought she was just saying it casually, but he didn't expect Mei Ziqing to take the initiative to contact him today, asking when the proprietress of Ruhua Bar would be there, as she wanted to try her cocktails. Bian Ziyuan was overjoyed, knowing that trying the drinks was just an excuse. A single woman willing to go to a bar with a single man—no matter how things developed, this was a great start.
He originally wanted to invite Mei Ziqing to have dinner at the Silence No Words, No Speech next door first, but Mei Ziqing said that the professor had some things to do, so she would have dinner with the professor and then come over.
Bian Ziyuan watched the bartender's elegant movements, tapped the bar counter with his finger, and asked, "Isn't your famous bartender, the owner, here?"
Xiao Qi looked up and saw a familiar face, recognizing him as a regular customer. He smiled and said, "What's wrong? Not satisfied with my cocktail?"
Bian Ziyuan said, "No, a friend of hers is here because of her reputation, he'll be here soon."
Xiao Qi said, "Oh, what a coincidence! The landlady rarely comes these days, but she actually came today, but..." Xiao Qi shrugged, "She just left."
"Oh dear, am I lucky or unlucky?"
Bian Ziyuan turned his head and saw Mei Ziqing standing behind him, her face showing a hint of disappointment, but still smiling, just like her usual gentle demeanor.
Mei Ziqing took a step forward and sat down next to Bian Ziyuan. For some reason, Bian Ziyuan became a little nervous, and for a moment, he even forgot to breathe.
"What would you like to drink?" Xiao Qi glanced at Mei Ziqing a few more times, not because he was lusting after her beauty. As a bartender, he had seen all kinds of beautiful women, and Mo Yu was a great beauty, so he had no interest in other women. He just felt that Mei Ziqing had a very special temperament, and women with this kind of temperament were rarely seen in bars.
Mei Ziqing said, "Ah, whatever, just do whatever you're good at."
This put Xiao Qi in a difficult position. To be honest, he didn't have any particular special skills; he was just average, unlike Bi Shenghua, who could create a unique flavor for every type of wine, even changing the taste depending on the weather and his mood.
Bian Ziyuan asked, "Do you have any sake?"
Xiao Qi was stunned for a moment, then looked at Mei Ziqing and suddenly understood, " Japan?"
Mei Ziqing smiled and nodded.
"Your Mandarin is excellent!" Xiao Qi complimented. "We do have sake, how would you like to drink it?"
Mei Ziqing said, "Then let's have a sake bomb."
Xiao Qi nodded, opened a bottle of sake, poured it into a small glass, then poured about half a glass of ice-cold beer. He placed two chopsticks on the beer glass, rested the sake in the small glass on the chopsticks, and then slammed his hand on the table. The glass and chopsticks vibrated, causing the chopsticks to shift to the sides, and the sake glass fell into the large beer glass below with a loud bang, creating a lot of foam.
Mei Ziqing watched with great interest, and when she tasted it, she did so with equal relish. Bian Ziyuan, however, was not focused on the wine, but rather on the dimly lit, inconspicuous seat in the corner.
The bar was surrounded by people, Bian Ziyuan know what to say. The atmosphere suddenly became a little quiet, completely different from the usual lively atmosphere of a bar.
He made conversation by saying, " The Windmill is going to make landfall the day after tomorrow, right?"
Mei Ziqing said, "The professor said he won't be able to log in!"
"Huh?" Bian Ziyuan found it strange. "They've already entered southern Japan and the Ryukyu Islands, why haven't they landed?"
Mei Ziqing said, "I don't know either. That's what the professor said. He said the Andes Mountains are a wall that will block the Windmill from moving forward."
" The Andes Mountains? Isn't that in South America?" Bian Ziyuan.
Mei Ziqing shook her head, indicating that she couldn't figure it out either.
A male customer sitting alone at the bar, drinking, suddenly chimed in, "Don't worry, Shenzhou has a protective barrier; the typhoon won't make landfall."
Mei Ziqing asked curiously, "What is a barrier?"
"A barrier is a very mysterious spatial theory that can hide a place. It clearly exists, but you can't see it or touch it."
As the man spoke, his body slithered closer like a wriggling maggot, moving to a very subtle distance that wouldn't make the woman wary or disgusted.
Xiao Qi could tell at a glance that this guy was a seasoned womanizer.