Before she spoke those words fluently, with clear logic, and righteously confident, Chen Kuang, summarizing her previous behavior, really thought she was an easy-to-talk-to person with not much scheming.
After being asked back by her with a few sentences, he had a brief few seconds of surprise, as if in an instant catching a glimpse of another side of this person.
But the next second, when Qiao Ling softened down pitifully and acted shameless, Chen Kuang again concluded—she indeed does not have much courage.
Could only hold strong for three seconds.
Her coming up right away with a completely uncooperative reaction made him unhappy.
These years, for the sake of livelihood, he had done all kinds of work, had come into contact with all kinds of people. Summing up, the most difficult kind of person to deal with is—people difficult to communicate with.
The mint candy just finished eating, sleepiness and irritability once again swept up, Chen Kuang pressed down his brow cloud, staring at her.
Qiao Ling tugged at her shoulder strap, her eyes nervous to the point they were about to drip water.
Chen Kuang with one hand in his pocket again touched a candy, just about to continue speaking, someone suddenly cut in——
“Is there anything I can help you with, miss jiejie?” Qiao Jing with a mischievous smile leaned close.
Qiao Ling was already about to be scared to death by Chen Kuang, with cousin coming to rescue the scene, she let out a breath of relief, immediately going along with the offered step down: “Uh, I, I want to pay the bill.”
“Leaving already?” Qiao Jing put on a guest-sending posture, lightly pushing her back toward the door direction, turned his head to glance at Chen Kuang, deliberately said: “Sorry we couldn’t make a flavor to your satisfaction. Just now we said, if not satisfied our bartender will pay the bill for you, this bill is on the house.”
He tried hard to retain a return customer: “Next time, next time you come again, I’ll let our other bartender serve you.”
Qiao Ling awkwardly acted, cooperating with cousin: “Alright… then that’s that…”
Chen Kuang stood in place, quietly staring at those two people.
Arms around shoulders, whispering in private.
Practically writing “our relationship is not ordinary” on their backs.
He turned his eyes aside, nose breath letting out a very light snort laugh.
After walking far away, Qiao Jing leaned down, hand scratching at the back of cousin sister’s head, secretly reminding: “Don’t wander around outside, go straight home, recently this area isn’t peaceful.”
“Take a car, the fare ge will reimburse you.”
Qiao Ling had lost face all night, said with no good mood: “It’s originally supposed to be you paying! I almost got played to death by him.”
Qiao Jing: …
Little sister, can you sometimes not use such extreme wording?
Qiao Jing quickly coaxed: “Fine fine fine, alright alright alright, my fault, didn’t expect this kid to be so cunning.”
“I’ll call you after I get off work for a proper chat, go home first.”
Qiao Ling was coaxed and tricked into coming over, muddle-headed lost face for a round, again coaxed and tricked into leaving.
Angrily went home deliberately called a special car, fiercely extorted Qiao Jing for a sum.
Qiao Jing sent off Qiao Ling, holding back the desire to smoke, directly returned to the bar.
He pushed the door in, just happened to meet Chen Kuang walking over.
Qiao Jing glanced at him, picking up the deputy store manager’s posture to scold a sentence: “Tonight it’s just you holding up the front, already so many people, bartender if there’s nothing to do don’t leave the bar counter, what are you wandering around for.”
“Believe I’ll deduct your salary or not.”
“Already so many people, and yet there are still deliberately picking-fault customers.”
Facing this man who counts as one of the bosses, Chen Kuang lazily scrutinized, not a bit of respect: “Even like this I can hold down the scene for you, you should be feeling lucky, deputy store.”
He tilted his head, recalling Qiao Ling’s appearance just now, face cold hinting at something: “You really ought to send me a red envelope to compensate my mental damage.” [red envelope: hongbao, customary way of giving money as gift/bonus.]
Getting questioned about skill level by a complete noob who can’t drink using one glass of Gin Tonic.
This level of insult, can count as mental work injury, right?
Qiao Jing didn’t expect him to directly expose things regardless of occasion, “You!”
“What’s up? What are you all standing at the door for?”
At this time, store manager Xie Rouyin, who had been answering customer questions nearby, stepped over, fitted long dress swaying gracefully.
Seeing these two people’s tense atmosphere, she reminded them: “Don’t pile up like this, if customers see they’ll think something happened in our store.”
Qiao Jing saw her, immediately acted obedient and tattled: “Rouyin jie~ really not my fault, ask this big bartender of yours.”
“Just now a meizi came over, drank until her face turned green, forehead darkened, changed three glasses still not satisfied, almost got scolded to tears.”
After saying even imitated a crying face expression like Qiao Ling sitting here just now.
“If it weren’t for me persuading for a long time and giving the bill free, definitely would’ve already gotten a bad review.”
He crossed his arms, looked at Chen Kuang with another kind of gaze: “Back then when you insisted on pulling him in, I held reservations. In our line of work, we can’t show attitude to customers.”
“This kind who doesn’t even know how to coax a girl a little, how to attract customers.”
Chen Kuang couldn’t be bothered looking at his credit-snatching dog-like appearance, turned his head aside and said: “I am someone who mixes alcohol, not a male model.”
“Selling alcohol, not selling smiles.”
Xie Rouyin looked toward Chen Kuang, covered mouth lightly laughed to smooth things over: “I agree with your viewpoint, but your face, even if selling smiles would still be more than enough, right?”
Chen Kuang helpless.
Qiao Jing got anxious hearing that: “Ai! Store manager, can’t be so biased.”
If this brat wasn’t born looking like that, he wouldn’t have resorted to desperate measures like letting cousin sister make a scene.
Qiao Jing left in anger, biting teeth going to serve other customers, Xie Rouyin looked at his back, then turned back to pat Chen Kuang’s shoulder, comforted: “Don’t bother arguing with him.”
Xie Rouyin’s facial features leaned toward plain, but in her every move there was an indescribable mature sensuality, very attractive.
“After knowing him for long you’ll know he’s just like that, no bad intentions.”
Chen Kuang gathered back the momentary arrogance from earlier, didn’t say anything, nodded and turned back to the bar counter.
Considered giving store manager face, chose for the nth time to ignore Qiao Jing’s childish behavior.
Friction between adults is like sudden thunderstorms, comes fast and sudden, but also because of ongoing work ahead will stop after a few words.
…………
After tonight’s episode, Qiao Ling really kept tossing and turning until Qiao Jing got off work and still hadn’t fallen asleep.
When the other party called to review the situation, she had just finished showering, couldn’t sleep and was cooking noodles.
When her cousin’s face, distorted from anger, popped up on the screen, she was still in a daze—this was really too much of a coincidence. The neighbor she had just gotten into conflict with because of noise turned out to be Qiao Jing’s love rival.
After Qiao Jing called, he first apologized to her, then accused her of how heartless she was to book a luxury car for a one-kilometer trip just to scam money from him.
Qiao Ling recalled those conversations she had with Chen Kuang at the bar… Her face and ears couldn’t help but heat up again.
“You have the nerve to say that, I’m someone who doesn’t even understand Gin Tonic, why did you think I could give him a hard time!?”
How did these brother and sister both end up embarrassed in front of the same man?
Qiao Jing sighed: “That’s exactly why I thought someone like you who doesn’t know anything, picking a fight would look real.”
He gave her a sidelong glance: “But I forgot your mouth is clumsy.”
Qiao Ling: “……”
Hate you! Always hated you!
She tasted the soup flavor on the chopsticks, secretly probed: “So what’s that person’s background anyway? Since he’s working at your bar, how come I’ve never heard you mention him before.”
Qiao Jing’s expression carried disdain and resistance: “Why would I bring up that brat for no reason!”
Then he tilted his head and let out an “ai,” explained the situation: “I don’t know much about him, when I got to know him, the store manager had already brought him into the bar.”
“Chen Kuang and our store manager must have known each other for quite a while. Came from another place, just moved here not long ago, where exactly his hometown is, don’t know.”
“Although he looks like he just graduated, his age isn’t small anymore, he’s three years older than me.”
Qiao Ling recalled Chen Kuang’s fair and clean face, surprised: “What? He’s twenty-eight years old?”
Looked like he was the same age as her, at most twenty-three.
How did he grow up looking so youthful?
Body too, besides having a bit of gloomy tiredness, he was completely that kind of boy still in school, full of that thoroughly exercised sense of strength.
Especially the upper body, she remembered last time at the store entrance he wore a T-shirt with a hole in the abdomen, seemed like she saw abs…
With the increasingly heavy breathing from getting angry, the abs even…
Right, she was so focused on the abs—what was he angry about again?
“Hey, hey? Stuck?” Qiao Jing waved his hand over there.
Qiao Ling’s eyes were dazed, her mind completely occupied by Chen Kuang’s face, suddenly snapped back: “Ah, no.”
Realizing what she had just been replaying in her mind, her face burned with embarrassment.
She thought of Chen Kuang and cousin’s love rival relationship, then remembered catching a glimpse of the beautiful lady boss’s face at the bar, suddenly sighed like a floppy-eared rabbit giving up: “Anyway, it has nothing to do with me anymore…”
Such a high-quality abs—oh no, man.
Surely destined to like an even better woman.
No matter how good the abs are, she could only sigh at someone else’s dish.
“How does it have nothing to do with you, him making fun of you like that, even if you can endure it, I can’t endure it!”
Qiao Jing thought of how just now the boss spoke up for Chen Kuang, even smiling at Chen Kuang, and his anger surged up: “No, I have to come up with another move to curb his arrogance.”
Qiao Ling couldn’t help but complain: “Why are you always looking to cause trouble for him? Logically speaking, he’s three years older than you, you should at least call him ge with a bit of politeness.”
“If you don’t understand dating, I won’t fight or snatch, but my boss is about to get taken away by him.” Qiao Jing was anxious to death.
“You’re sure he likes your boss too?” she asked suspiciously.
“How would I not be sure? If he doesn’t like Rouyin, why would he come all this way to help her open a bar? If he doesn’t like her, why would he work hard without complaint, voluntarily taking the lowest pay grade? And Rouyin-jie is so pretty, her temper is also good.”
Qiao Jing spoke with full conviction: “And you don’t know, I always feel the way Rouyin-jie looks at him isn’t right.”
“The way she looks at me and the way she looks at Chen Kuang are different, just, super ambiguous, you get it?”
“And they’ve known each other for so long, have so many memories together, what do I even have to compete with?”
“I have to put distance between the two of them.”
Qiao Ling listened to all this until she was drowsy, had zero interest in cousin’s love crisis, instead was stuck in inexplicable disappointment.
The call between the two ended without a result, they didn’t really talk about anything useful either.
She still had work the next day, tossed her phone aside and fell asleep.
But because today’s events were too stimulating, as soon as she entered the dream, she directly dreamed of Chen Kuang.
And also store manager Xie Rouyin.
In the dream, Xie Rouyin was wearing a fitted qipao, graceful and charming, raising her hand about to take his hand.
She didn’t know what kind of adrenaline she had hit, actually rushed forward in a heat of the moment, like a little cow butting in to push open the distance between the two of them.
“Wait a second!!”
Chen Kuang glanced sideways at her, furrowed his brow.
Qiao Ling was so anxious she stuttered speaking, standing in front of him looking up, pitifully: “That, that… you, you don’t consider the cute type?”
Oh my god, she was half-asleep and half-shocked at her own behavior.
What was she even saying??
Chen Kuang’s left hand in his pocket, right hand suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her forward.
Looking at that increasingly enlarged handsome face right in front of her, Qiao Ling held her breath, her heart was about to jump out.
Right in front of Xie Rouyin, Chen Kuang slowly leaned down bit by bit, the dark circles under his eyes obvious, directly buried his face into her soft fragrant neck hollow, letting out a sigh.
Qiao Ling was about to start smoking from her head.
OMG!
But the next moment.
Chen Kuang closed his eyes, exhausted low and hoarse voice full of threat.
“First solve the disturbing-the-neighbors problem for me.”
“Then I’ll consider you.”
After saying that, he turned his head, viciously bit down on her neck.
Boom——
3:30 a.m.
Qiao Ling touched her completely unscathed neck.
Woke up in shock.