NOVEL NEXT 14: The Bar
“What happened?” Yuan Xiaoning curiously nudged her little head.
Bai Ling covered her eyes with her hand. Her eyelashes brushed against the palm like little brushes, causing a slight tickle.
“If you want to look, I’ll let you. But don’t blame me if you can’t eat dinner later.”
“…Then never mind.”
Summer days are very long. As the clock hands approached six, it was still bright outside.
Tianhai Plaza had been evacuated, with more than half of the area becoming a no-man’s land. Only investigators were inside checking the explosives. Those driven out of the plaza either went home or stood on the outskirts, chatting animatedly with strangers beside them.
“It was terrifying. I was shopping on the second floor at Aisha International when suddenly there was a loud boom. Everyone in the store was startled.”
“Indeed. I thought it was an earthquake. My wife pulled me to hide under the table.”
“Finally got a chance to go out, only to encounter this. Such bad luck today.”
“Not necessarily bad luck. This kind of thing rarely happens once in a lifetime.”
To avoid panic, news of no casualties was announced immediately, so these people were watching the commotion with a relatively relaxed mood.
However, they didn’t know that on the rooftop of the small building behind them, a corpse lay silently.
“You’d better eat something,” Bai Ling indicated. “We’re going out tonight. Don’t want you unable to walk later.”
After killing Lei Sen, she took Yuan Xiaoning away from Tianhai Plaza. They didn’t go far, randomly finding a Western restaurant nearby for dinner.
Yuan Xiaoning tried to pick up her knife and fork, but her little hands were trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Bai Ling pursed her lips: “I told you not to look. You insisted on looking yourself.”
They could have just turned and left, but this blonde girl had to curiously look back.
“I couldn’t help it. The more you emphasized it, the more curious I became,” Yuan Xiaoning said, also feeling wronged. “It’s normal human psychology.”
“No, that’s called rebelliousness,” Bai Ling coldly corrected.
“Actually, it’s not that I can’t eat. It’s just my first time seeing that kind of scene. I was a bit scared.”
Now her little hands were soft, trying to cut the steak with knife and fork, like giving the beef a massage.
Bai Ling couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She pulled the plate over and started cutting it herself.
Each cut was even, casual, as if cutting tofu.
Seeing someone helping, Yuan Xiaoning sat to the side, obediently watching her cut the steak.
“Bai Ling, when you cut this, do you use telekinesis to assist?”
“Do you need to use scripts when playing Bronze?” Bai Ling asked in return.
“Well, that’s hard to say,” Yuan Xiaoning answered. “I met someone who did last time.”
Bai Ling didn’t want to bother with her.
You really maintained it when I called you rebellious. Indeed, no matter how much you stir-fry a female brat, she won’t repent.
“Done,” she put the cut steak in front of Yuan Xiaoning. “Don’t tell me you can’t bite it.”
“Of course I can. I’m digging in.”
Yuan Xiaoning picked up her fork, about to eat, when she suddenly became curious: “What if I say I can’t bite it?”
“I’ll order you a new one, medium well.”
Wow, so gentle? The blonde girl felt warm inside…
“Then take you to the hotel next door to cure your problem of having too many questions.”
“…Then I won’t say anything.”
The small dining area fell silent, with only the sounds of the blonde girl’s “aum aum” as she ate. Bai Ling ate gracefully, without a sound.
After eating her fill, Yuan Xiaoning felt much better, with strength returning to her body. But having eaten her fill, she didn’t want to move for now, just drink some juice and rest a bit.
“Bai Ling, are we going to that place next, that what’s it called… what was it again?”
“The bar at 114 Queen’s Boulevard.”
“Right, that place,” Yuan Xiaoning wiped her little mouth. “The drinks here are quite good. The pineapple flavor is strong.”
She looked at her juice glass, blinking: “Oh right, Bai Ling, why did you order pineapple juice for me? I prefer strawberry.”
Bai Ling just looked at her calmly, without saying a word.
Yuan Xiaoning felt the atmosphere was a bit strange and laughed it off: “I seem to have seen somewhere that eating more pineapple can make that sweeter. How funny, haha.”
But Bai Ling didn’t laugh, just kept looking at her.
Yuan Xiaoning couldn’t laugh anymore.
“Um, don’t we have important things to do today?”
“Yes, we have important things to do. I need to find the middleman for information,” Bai Ling said flatly. “If things don’t go smoothly, I’ll be unhappy.”
Being unhappy means getting angry. When angry, there’s fire. Fire needs water to extinguish it.
Yuan Xiaoning quietly put down her juice, saying softly: “Actually, I don’t need to drink this. You know, I have that ability.”
“Alright, next time I’ll order you strawberry juice.”
Although unable to escape punishment, securing a preferred drink could be considered a small win.
They sat in the Western restaurant until 7:30 PM. The sky finally began to show signs of dimming. As the last ray of the setting sun shone down, Tianhai City was about to enter the night.
“The first snow of 2002 came later than usual~”
The taxi sped along the overpass highway, its car stereo playing an old song from twenty years ago.
The forty-year-old driver gripped the steering wheel, humming along with the stereo, driving freely through Tianhai City’s night, feeling utterly carefree.
A pedestrian on the roadside lowered his hand, cursing: “Damn it, the car has passengers but still shows the ’empty’ sign.”
After seven songs, he stopped the car somewhere on Queen’s Boulevard, unlocked his phone to change the playlist, then set off again.
“I send you away, thousands of miles away, you’re silent black and white~~”
“Old songs still have that energy,” the driver muttered to himself.
As for why he had driven all the way here, refusing several online orders, he had forgotten, and it didn’t matter.
Perhaps only when he got home after his shift and found an extra 30 yuan transfer on WeChat would he be puzzled for a moment.
“Good thing I was quick. I managed to scan the QR code before you pulled me out of the car,” Yuan Xiaoning put her phone back in her pocket.
Bai Ling had used mental suggestion to make the driver bring them here, without any memory of the passengers. They were originally going to just get out and leave, but the blonde girl remembered to pay.
Although it was just a small matter, the sense of moral satisfaction still made her involuntarily puff out her chest.
Turning her head, she realized Bai Ling had been standing in place, carefully observing the surroundings.
“Is there a problem?” Yuan Xiaoning looked around. “I don’t see any bar.”
Did we come to the wrong place?
“Found it.”
Bai Ling dropped these words and started walking forward. Yuan Xiaoning hurriedly followed.
Passing through an alley without streetlights, turning left and right, they finally saw the entrance of an unmarked bar. Two bouncers stood at the door, their gaze sweeping over the two girls.
Hmm, they lingered a bit longer on Yuan Xiaoning.
“Sorry, pretty ladies, this place is for special guests only. We’re not open to the public.”
Bai Ling wasn’t in a hurry. She turned to Yuan Xiaoning and said:
“Put on a show, pretty lady.”
Yuan Xiaoning: “?”