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Join the ServerLi Xiao’s glass clattered onto the bar.
It wasn’t loud, but in the soft musical background, it was exceptionally clear.
Jiang Yu and Zhou Mingxuan both turned to look at him.
Li Xiao’s expression was calm, even offering Zhou Mingxuan a smile:
“Sorry, my hand slipped.”
But his eyes were cold as ice.
Zhou Mingxuan flinched at that gaze, instinctively shifting aside, then, feeling it showed cowardice, straightened up and turned to Jiang Yu:
“So? Sunday evening?”
Jiang Yu could feel Li Xiao’s gaze like a knife boring into the side of his face.
He took a deep breath:
“I have work that night.”
“What about noon? You’ve got time at noon, right?”
Zhou Mingxuan didn’t give up:
“Jiang Qing shouldn’t have class on Sunday, right? Bring her along.”
“She has tutoring on Sunday.”
“Then…”
“Zhou Mingxuan.”
Jiang Yu interrupted him, his tone as gentle as possible:
“Thank you for your kindness. But I really don’t have time.”
Zhou Mingxuan’s face showed clear disappointment:
“Oh… how about another day?”
“Sure, another day.”
Zhou Mingxuan sat for a few more minutes, finished his Gin Tonic, and paid.
Before leaving, he glanced at Li Xiao again, his eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of wariness.
“I’ll be going now, Jiang Yu. Keep in touch.”
He waved, pushed open the door, and stepped into the winter night’s cold wind.
The moment the door closed, the air around the bar seemed to freeze.
Jiang Yu lowered his head to wash the shaker, the sound of water echoing clearly in the silence.
“Do you really not have time, or do you just not want to go out with him?”
Li Xiao asked, each word squeezed through clenched teeth.
Jiang Yu turned off the faucet and turned to face Li Xiao:
“Does that concern you?”
“Yes.”
Li Xiao stared at him, his eyes churning with the possessiveness and anger Jiang Yu knew well, but this time, beneath the anger lay anxiety, unease, and something desperately restrained:
“Jiang Yu, I meant what I said. I want to start over. But if you immediately go with someone else…”
“I’m not immediately going with someone else.”
Jiang Yu cut him off, his voice also turning cold:
“Zhou Mingxuan is just an old classmate.”
“An old classmate who specifically comes to invite you to dinner? Who remembers what your sister likes to eat?”
Li Xiao stood up, his tall figure casting an oppressive shadow across the bar:
“Jiang Yu, I’m not stupid.”
Jiang Yu met his gaze:
“Li Xiao, you helped me, and I’m grateful. But gratitude doesn’t mean I have to report every part of my life to you.”
“I don’t want you to report!”
Li Xiao lowered his voice, his fingers tightening on the bar:
“I just… f*ck.”
He cursed bitterly, abruptly turning around, as if afraid of losing control.
Jiang Yu looked at his back, and somewhere in his chest, a sudden ache struck.
Li Xiao’s shoulder line was taut.
He just stood there, back to Jiang Yu, like a sculpture of suppressed rage.
After a long time, he slowly turned back.
“I’m sorry.”
Li Xiao said, his voice hoarse:
“I… lost control.”
Jiang Yu didn’t speak.
“You’re right.”
Li Xiao sat down again, hands clasped on the bar, staring at his own fingers:
“I have no right to control who you eat with or who you meet.”
He looked up, the violent anger in his eyes already suppressed, leaving only exhaustion and a hint of rare vulnerability:
“I just… Jiang Yu, I’m just scared.”
Jiang Yu’s heart pounded heavily.
“Of what?”
He heard himself ask.
“That you’ll realize I’m not the only one in this world who can be good to you.”
Li Xiao curved his lips, a smile that was uglier than crying:
“That you’ll find people like Zhou Mingxuan. Clean, decent, sharing a past with you. Not like me, starting in the worst possible way.”
He paused, his voice even lower:
“That you’ll think choosing him is much easier than choosing me.”
The light from the bar’s overhead lamp flowed between them.
Laughter from customers, footsteps of waitstaff, the crisp clink of ice against glass came from afar.
But at this moment, Jiang Yu’s world held only Li Xiao’s words and the endless darkness in his eyes when he said them.
“I haven’t thought about choosing anyone.”
Jiang Yu finally said, his voice very soft:
“I don’t want to think about this right now.”
Li Xiao looked at him, for a long, long time.
Then, slowly, he nodded.
“Okay.”
He said, picking up his already lukewarm Hot Toddy again:
“I’ll wait. Until you’re ready to think.”
He took a sip, frowned:
“It’s cold.”
“I’ll make you a new one.”
“No need.”
Li Xiao stood up, pulled a few bills from his wallet, and placed them on the bar:
“I’ll head out first. You… work well.”
He turned and walked toward the door, the hem of his coat drawing a sharp arc in the air.
Jiang Yu watched his back, his fingers unconsciously tightening on the cloth he was using to wipe glasses.
Just as Li Xiao’s hand touched the door handle—
“Li Xiao.”
Jiang Yu called out.
Li Xiao paused and turned back.
The bar light shone from behind Jiang Yu, enveloping him in a soft halo.
His eyelashes were long, casting fine shadows under his eyes, his lips slightly pursed, as if he had made a decision.
“Sunday evening…”
Jiang Yu said, his voice not loud but clear enough:
“I’m off.”
Li Xiao’s pupils contracted sharply.
He stood at the door, the winter night wind seeping through the crack, tousling his hair.
But he didn’t move, just stared intently at Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu continued, his ears involuntarily reddening:
“On Sunday… my sister’s school has a parent-teacher meeting. She finishes her baking class in the afternoon. After that… I’ll be free.”
After saying this, he quickly turned around, back to Li Xiao, and began vigorously wiping a glass that was already clean.
His movements were fast and urgent, as if to cover something up.
Li Xiao stood at the door, watching his reddening earlobes and tense back.
Then, little by little, his mouth uncontrollably curved upward:
“Okay.”
The door was pushed open and closed again.
The cold wind rushed in for a moment, quickly swallowed by the bar’s warmth.
Jiang Yu stopped wiping the glass and looked down at the bills Li Xiao had left on the bar.
On the topmost one, there was a line of small words, the handwriting sharp and dashing:
“This time, I’ll start properly.”
Jiang Yu stared at those words, the redness spreading from his ears to his neck.
Wu Qi sidled over, grinning slyly:
“Ooh, setting a date?”
“Shut up.”
Jiang Yu put the bills into the cash register and slammed the drawer shut.
But just as the drawer closed, he couldn’t help it—an extremely faint smile curled on his lips.
Outside the window, this year’s first snow began to fall silently.
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore The Moon Reflected In The Water. Start reading now!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
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