He fled the private room as if making an escape.
As soon as the manager left, Xie Yunjie opened the betting. "Let's make a bet. Will that Old Fashioned make it here?"
Chu Ziyu leaned over to place his bet. "What are the stakes?"
"That plot of land in Xidan."
"Deal!" Chu Ziyu speared another piece of honeydew. "I bet it won't!"
Xie Yunjie raised an eyebrow. "That leaves me no choice. I say it will."
"Don't do that." Chu Ziyu waved a hand. "You make it sound like I'm taking advantage. Pick whichever you want. It's just a little bet."
Xie Yunjie turned to Lu Lin. "President Lu, should I change my bet?"
Lu Lin's brows drew together slightly. "What do you mean?"
Only then did Chu Ziyu explain with a grin, "This young bartender's got quite a personality. His rule is one drink per person per night. No amount of tipping will change that."
Meanwhile, the manager ran all the way to the bar on the first floor. He had made up his mind: even if he had to get on his knees before Yan Heqing today, he would get that Old Fashioned!
Who was Lu Lin? A big shot whose single glance could send tremors through the capital. Of all the people he could offend, Lu Lin was the last!
To his surprise, Yan Heqing did not immediately refuse. "Is he someone very powerful?"
"Powerful doesn't begin to cover it." The manager seized the opportunity. "This whole street, including this bar, belongs to him. Xiao Yan, if we want this bar to stay open, you really have to make this drink."
The first half of what the manager said was true. The second half was his own exaggeration.
It was true that facing Lu Lin put him under far greater pressure.
Having taken over the Lu Group at twenty-two, Lu Lin had accumulated the authority of a man at the top over many years. Other second- and third-generation heirs could not compare.
But among the wealthy businessmen and celebrities who came here for fun, Lu Lin was the most low-key, as well as the most refined.
It was only a drink. If the manager took the initiative to explain, Lu Lin would not make things difficult.
Even without an explanation, if the drink never came, Lu Lin would not cause trouble over it.
The manager simply did not dare speak up himself.
Yan Heqing did not expose him. Things were going according to his plan.
He had added an extra ingredient to Lu Lin's Negroni.
He had calculated that the taste would make Lu Lin order a second drink.
But while events could be calculated accurately, Lu Lin could not.
Just as Yan Heqing was about to mix the drink, the manager received a call. He answered with several repetitions of "Yes, yes, yes," then respectfully hung up.
The manager turned around, resting one hand on the bar while frantically wiping away sweat with the other. "Xiao Yan, no need to make it. It's canceled."
Yan Heqing's fingers paused briefly. He looked up. In the private room upstairs, a silhouette let the sheer curtain he had lifted fall back into place, then turned away.
Lu Lin returned to his seat. Chu Ziyu was crunching away on honeydew again. "No wonder our President Lu makes so much money. Even at a bar, he follows the rules. I'll never be able to hold a candle to him."
Xie Yunjie asked something else instead. "Old Lu, don't you think the young bartender looks like him?"
Lu Lin did not so much as lift an eyelid. "Who?"
Xie Yunjie sighed inwardly. Lu Lin truly had no interest whatsoever in the Lin family's young master. With his photographic memory, he had not even retained an impression of the young man's face.
"Nobody." Xie Yunjie grumbled, "I don't want to talk to you two unromantic old men."
Dragged into it when he had done nothing, Chu Ziyu tapped the table in protest. "Hey, hey, hey. Who are you calling an old man? I'm thirty, just reaching maturity, all right? And who are you calling unromantic? I invited several absolute beauties today!"
He had barely finished speaking when someone knocked on the door.
"Mr. Chu."
Chu Ziyu's family ran an entertainment and media company, with plenty of big-name stars and models under its banner.
Today, Chu Ziyu had invited two female models, the two leading actresses from recent hit romance dramas, and three male celebrities.
For one thing, handsome men and beautiful women made pleasing drinking company. For another, he wanted to set Lu Lin up with someone.
It was not that he wanted to find Lu Lin a wife. With backgrounds like theirs, marriage was a resource for business negotiations.
It was just that this old friend of his was thirty and still a virgin who had never dated. He was genuinely afraid all that pent-up desire would turn him into a pervert.
Chu Ziyu gave the prettiest young actress a meaningful look. "Chengcheng, talk to President Lu about your new movie. He loves suspense films."
Qin Chengcheng had been drawn to Lu Lin the instant she walked in. The mature charm honed by the years could not be hidden even by the dim lighting.
Just as she was about to go over, delighted, Lu Lin finished the rest of his drink, set down his glass, and stood. "Enjoy yourselves. I'm leaving."
Chu Ziyu rose. "Old Lu, you-"
The closing door was his answer.
Looking utterly accustomed to it, Xie Yunjie did not even move. "Don't bother. His lordship is allergic to beauty!"
Qin Chengcheng's disappointment was written all over her face. Shuffling a deck of cards, Chu Ziyu beckoned her over. "Come on, come on. Melancholy doesn't belong on a beauty. Come play at my table. We need a fourth for bullfight."
Qin Chengcheng put on a smile and went over to sit down.
Lu Lin went downstairs. On the stage, several singers sang as they played their instruments.
The dim seating area and the dance floor awash with shifting colors were lively and loud.
Only at the bar in the corner did a slender, slight figure quietly mix drinks.
The flickering neon lights brushed over his lean profile, his cool detachment at odds with everything around him.
A pure white shirt, a little black
vest
-the standard uniform, yet on him it looked uniquely beautiful.
After pausing for a few seconds, Lu Lin withdrew his gaze and left with steady steps, his leather shoes treading across the floor.
When Yan Heqing got home, he was terribly hungry, so he cooked himself a bowl of small wontons.
He had rolled the wrappers himself and made fresh pork, shrimp, and vegetable fillings, filling the refrigerator compartment.
He had to go fishing during the day and review his schoolwork at night, with two evenings spent working part-time at the bar. He had no time to cook, so frozen wontons were the most convenient option.
Twenty plump, translucent little wontons sat in a bowl of light seaweed and dried shrimp broth.
Yan Heqing ate quietly.
In his mind, he went over the events of the evening.
His original plan had been to make the second drink and attract Lu Lin's attention.
But Lu Lin had been unexpectedly considerate, disrupting his plan.
Yet Yan Heqing was not disappointed.
He ate the last little wonton, picked up the bowl, and drank every drop of the broth.
He would wait patiently for the next opportunity.