Chapter 1 Chapter 1 "Do you know me?"
Just after the winter solstice, the temperature in Huaicheng dropped below zero at the end of December.
As evening approached, a light snow piled up on the road.
Qiao Yu had just finished his part-time job at a tutoring institution and hurried across the crosswalk carrying two large test papers that had not yet been graded.
His hair was not long and was pushed up flatly at the back of his neck. His forehead was messy, revealing a handsome face.
He had dark circles under his eyes and looked a little haggard. His face was too pale, with only a little bit of blood color left on his lips.
His neck was cool without a scarf, and the cold wind blew sharply, making him shiver.
The gray cotton coat is not very wind-resistant, and my hands are cold in my pockets, and I can't keep them warm no matter how hard I try.
It's clear that he hasn't been treated like a slave yet, but he still has a sense of class.
People were hurrying around, so Qiao Yu quickened his pace and walked into a bar called "Qingxiao".
The heavy double-opening glass door could only be pushed open by leaning on it with one's shoulder. Qiao Yu almost pressed half of his body against it, squeezed out a gap, and then rushed into the house.
He also works here part-time, also in the evenings.
The fixed salary is not much, but there is commission from selling wine. Although Qiao Yu is not talkative, he has a decent face. When he is lucky, he will meet a beautiful lady who will give him a meal. The amount he earns is enough to buy a few more chicken legs.
The bar is quite busy today and everyone is in a good mood.
The older bartender is a chatterbox. When there are no customers, he likes to tease Qiao Yu and say he will introduce him to someone.
Qiao Yu has become accustomed to it: "Shhh - I just want to make money now."
He was quite popular when he first entered college. After all, young people are popular and everyone likes them.
There is no shortage of young faces in the school, and the flowers and grass grow new every year.
Qiao Yu made it through his freshman year and into his first year of graduate school, but now he has little presence on campus.
Perhaps at the age of twenty-three, a man has passed his brief prime, and now he is not as lovable as his lively younger brother who is eighteen or nineteen years old.
However, no matter how rough your life is, your bone structure will not change.
Qiao Yu is good-looking, adding some pleasing color to this rather dull bar.
Light beauty, light friendship.
A faint sense of existence, living a faint life like most people.
But there are occasional surprises.
"Those guys are here again." The colleague shifted his gaze and raised his chin towards somewhere in the store.
Qiao Yu also looked over, but after a quick glance, he looked away: "Yeah."
The person sitting in the booth is a regular customer of the store, his last name is Luo, and he has been coming in late for several days in a row to have a drink and cool off.
Yesterday I privately asked the store manager about Qiao Yu, and he seemed to be quite interested in him.
This situation has happened several times and people are no longer surprised.
However, flowers have feelings but flowing water is ruthless. Qiao Yu is more or less a serious college student. The straight and broad road is right under his feet, so there is no need for him to take those narrow paths.
But one has no choice in the world, and in the adult world, one has to maintain one's face.
Qiao Yu took the fruit plate to the corresponding booth. Mr. Luo gave him a two hundred tip and invited him to sit down and have a drink together.
Qiao Yu smiled and declined, saying that the working hours were not suitable.
The other party didn't make things difficult for him and waved his hand to tell him not to work too hard.
It was a bit strange to be so polite in such a glamorous occasion.
It was a little after eleven and there were few people at the evening show.
The booth area was only half open, so Qiao Yu could handle it all by himself.
Serve fruit plates, sell drinks, clean and do odd jobs.
After working from seven o'clock to half past eleven, Qiao Yu was already covered in sweat after emptying the last bucket of garbage.
The 26-degree heating in the room made his face look a little more flushed, but the air was too dry, causing several cracks on his lips.
Qiao Yu licked it with the tip of his tongue.
"Okay, you guys go back now." The bar owner, Brother Wang, put his arm around Qiao Yu's shoulder and stuffed a red envelope into his pocket. "This is your year-end bonus. Buy something delicious."
Qiao Yu reached down and touched it, and it was quite thick: "Thank you, Brother Wang."
"Are you free tomorrow night?" Brother Wang asked, "Someone has reserved the place."
Someone has to look after the entire theater, and tomorrow night and the day after tomorrow, so it will probably take all night.
The girl who took over shifts with Qiao Yu would not come to the nightclub. What Brother Wang meant was quite clear.
The red envelope in Qiao Yu's pocket was still warm, so he had no choice but to accept it.
After changing clothes and opening my phone, I saw several unread messages.
The top one had just been sent over when Ji Zhongyuan said the car had already parked in front of the bar.
Qiao Yu had his schoolbag hanging halfway over his shoulder. He replied while locking the cabinet: I'll be right there.
Ji Zhongyuan is two years older than Qiao Yu. They live close to each other and have been following almost the same path from kindergarten to college graduation.
However, the other party started working directly after graduating from university, and usually works in Huaicheng. He would occasionally take care of his childhood friend and give him a ride on the way.
But the frequency of hitchhiking is somewhat high.
There is a bit of human interference.
In less than two minutes, Qiao Yu trotted out of the bar.
Ji Zhongyuan threw him a box of rice cakes, saying that the shop was newly opened and he had some leftovers.
The rice cakes were still hot, white, glutinous and soft, squeezed together and neatly arranged in a paper box.
"Is it delicious?" Qiao Yu picked up a rice cake while it was still hot.
Ji Zhongyuan replied: "Not bad."
He took a bite of the rice cake and took out his phone to check the unread messages from the past two hours.
With his fingertips poking at the screen, he first accepted the information sent by his tutor and fellow students, then quickly exited to see what Aunt Sun was reporting to him about his grandmother's situation at home.
Two voice messages, one saying that we had chicken noodle soup for dinner and the old man had already gone to bed.
Another person said that it was cold recently and he couldn't breathe when turning on the air conditioner. The ventilator stopped working several times for unknown reasons, as if it was broken.
Qiao Yu's cheeks paused, and his good mood disappeared.
It is difficult for elderly people to survive the winter. My grandmother has severe asthma and a little dementia.
He was in school and couldn't take care of her full-time, so he hired Aunt Sun as a caregiver. She has been with him for two or three years and has developed some feelings for Qiao Yu.
Sometimes Qiao Yu couldn’t come back from work at night, so Aunt Sun would watch grandma fall asleep before leaving.
If grandma refuses to sleep, Aunt Sun will wait with her, and it will be considered a night shift, so Qiao Yu will give her some extra pay for her hard work.
It is not easy to find a caregiver with a suitable personality. Qiao Yu has always valued Aunt Sun and replied to the message immediately.
After that, I started to worry about what to do with the ventilator.
"One day when we have time, let's go together and change grandma's ventilator."
Qiao Yu came back to his senses and stuffed the remaining rice cake into his mouth: "No, I'll go back and fix it."
Although he didn't think he could really fix it, he didn't want to involve Ji Zhongyuan: "By the way, the bar will be booked by guests tomorrow, so you don't have to pick me up by chance."
"Another all-nighter?" Ji Zhongyuan sighed and complained, "I'm really worried that you'll die suddenly if you work so hard..."
"It's okay," Qiao Yu carefully packed up the remaining rice cakes, "I can take a day off tomorrow afternoon to catch up on my sleep."
After returning home, Qiao Yu was afraid that something might happen at night, so he moved the small table next to his grandmother's bed and corrected the papers from the cram school while preventing the ventilator from going off.
Grandma slept soundly and even snored a little.
Qiao Yu tucked the quilt for her and didn't turn off the lights until the second half of the night before going to bed.
The next day, Qiao Yu first went to the teaching assistance institution to submit the test paper, and then went to the school to deal with all the things that needed to be dealt with.
I went back to the dormitory, covered myself with the quilt, and slept until night. His roommates brought their dinner and started playing games and watching TV series. Only then did he, with his messy head, clean himself up and go to the bar.
The guests who booked the entire place tonight seemed to be quite important, and the drinks they brought were very expensive.
Brother Wang wanted to insure every bottle and take good care of them.
He was a little hesitant to do this kind of business, as any small accident would be enough to offset his turnover for half a year.
But the boss who booked the whole place specifically requested to be here, and if he couldn't accept the wealth and honor that was delivered to his door, he would be in trouble. He didn't dare to provoke this group of rich and powerful young masters.
So, with trepidation and reluctance, Brother Wang took the business.
Because it was so important, the bar was decorated in the afternoon.
The flowers used were the freshest, and there was a huge pile of unpacked cartons in the backstage.
Qiao Yu took some time out of his busy schedule to pack them all up, estimating that they could be sold for thirty or forty dollars.
"I heard it was a welcoming banquet," a colleague chatted with Qiao Yu, "Is it to welcome the Jade Emperor?"
Qiao Yu thought it was funny: "Who knows."
My colleague smacked his lips and said, "How strange! How come someone so rich would choose our bar?"
The "Qingxiao" bar has been open for less than two years. It's not a big place, the drinks are not expensive, and it's not considered a particularly high-end consumption place in this area.
In the past, booking a venue was basically for student gatherings, where they just wanted to have fun and have fun, and their spending power was limited.
This was the first time that Qiao Yu had met such a generous guest as tonight.
The tip might be a lot.
He was ready to work like a slave for his guests.
Who knows, after this night, grandma might need a ventilator.
Thinking of this, Qiao Yu felt full of energy.
The floor should be mopped to make it shiny and the sofa should be covered with soft fabric.
The appearance should be neat and handsome, and the service should also be great.
He was in high spirits, waiting at the door of the bar with fireworks in his hand.
After waiting for about ten minutes, there was a noise outside the house. Qiao Yu hurriedly arranged the fireworks and he and his colleagues stood on the left and right to welcome the arrival of the "Jade Emperor".
A moment later, surrounded by a crowd of people, a tall figure stepped over the threshold.
"Bang--"
Fireworks scattered everywhere.
"Tsk," the Jade Emperor raised his hand to block it, "Isn't it vulgar?"
The familiar voice made Qiao Yu's smile freeze.
The ceiling light on the porch came on, and warm yellow light fell on everyone's head.
At the same time, it also illuminates the guest in the center who is surrounded by everyone.
Confetti fluttered all over the floor, discarded firecracker barrels fell to the ground, the noise drowned out by the noise and laughter.
A colleague nearby hurried to get the flowers, but when he turned around, he found Qiao Yu still standing there like a concrete pile.
"Xiao Qiao! Take the flowers! Xiao Qiao?!"
Qiao Yu turned a deaf ear to it.
He stared at the man walking past him and subconsciously called out to him.
"Jiang Mian."
With full name and surname.
The man who had already walked past him turned halfway and raised his hand to take off the ribbon on his shoulder.
He looked Qiao Yu up and down and asked curiously, "Do you know me?"
Every question he asked casually was tinged with laughter.
The deep facial features were bathed in warm light, dividing the bridge of the nose into light and dark, making the small mole on it particularly conspicuous.
Qiao Yu almost laughed out loud.
He was dazed for a moment and couldn't stand.
He calmed himself down, looked carefully into those slightly curved eyes, and then spoke.
“No.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
