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Join the ServerJiang Yu hesitated for a moment, but still sat down, maintaining a safe distance.
Li Xiao didn’t mind either, slowly drinking his wine, occasionally asking one or two questions about mixing drinks.
Jiang Yu answered briefly and professionally, but his eyes kept avoiding Li Xiao.
At eleven-thirty, Li Xiao put down his empty glass.
“Let’s call it a night here.”
He said.
“I’m going on a business trip, won’t be coming by for the next few days. You just work normally at the bar.”
Jiang Yu looked up in slight surprise.
“…Okay.”
“What?”
Li Xiao raised an eyebrow.
“You’re disappointed that I’m not coming?”
“No.”
Jiang Yu immediately denied.
“Just… confirming.”
Li Xiao smiled, stood up, picked up his coat, and turned to leave.
Jiang Yu stood still, watching Li Xiao’s figure disappear around the corridor corner.
After packing up, Jiang Yu went to the changing room.
Just as he reached the door, he heard low laughter and voices inside.
“…Really? You saw clearly?”
“Of course I did! They were kissing with such passion… Tsk, usually acting so aloof, but behind the scenes…”
The voice stopped abruptly.
Jiang Yu pushed the door open.
Three waiters were standing in the changing room, including Feng Xu.
When they saw Jiang Yu enter, their faces turned awkward.
They immediately dispersed, each grabbing their things.
Jiang Yu walked to his own locker expressionlessly, opened it, and took out his clothes.
He could feel those gazes sweeping over his back.
Feng Xu deliberately cleared his throat and said to the person next to him, “Let’s go, let’s go. Don’t meddle in some people’s affairs, or you might offend someone you shouldn’t.”
The sarcasm in his tone was obvious.
The three left together.
The changing room was left with only Jiang Yu.
He leaned against the locker door and closed his eyes.
This was just the beginning.
Rumors would spread like wildfire.
Soon everyone in the bar would look at him with strange eyes.
He could not care about himself.
But he could not not care about his sister.
Jiang Yu opened his eyes, took out his phone, and looked at the smiling photo of Jiang Qing on the screen.
He had to be more careful.
After changing, Jiang Yu walked out of the bar.
The night breeze hit his face, carrying a chill.
He took out his phone, hesitated for a few seconds, and still opened Li Xiao’s WeChat.
The two had very few chat records, mostly Li Xiao unilaterally sending messages like “Arrived” or “Leaving,” and Jiang Yu occasionally replying with “Got it.”
Jiang Yu typed:
The rumors have already started.
He sent it.
He thought Li Xiao wouldn’t reply immediately, or maybe not at all.
But almost instantly, his phone vibrated.
Li Xiao: “Who is spreading them?”
Jiang Yu: “Feng Xu. Just now in the changing room.”
Li Xiao: “Got it. Before you go to work tomorrow, he will disappear.”
Jiang Yu’s fingers froze.
‘Disappear?’
‘What did that mean?’
Before he could ask, Li Xiao sent another message: “Don’t overthink it. Just transferred to another store. I won’t really do anything to him.”
Jiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Xiao: “Who else heard?”
Jiang Yu: “Two other waiters. Not sure if they’ll talk.”
Li Xiao: “I’ll handle it. Just work in peace.”
Jiang Yu looked at these words, and something in his heart moved slightly.
He typed: “Thank you.”
Li Xiao: “If you really want to thank me, next time I kiss you, don’t push so hard.”
Jiang Yu’s face instantly turned bright red.
He stared at those words, his fingers hovering over the screen, not knowing what to reply for a long time.
Finally, he put away his phone without replying.
When he reached the bus stop, his phone vibrated again.
Li Xiao: “Just teasing. Get some rest early. Good night.”
Jiang Yu looked at the words “Good night,” the dim yellow streetlight falling on his face at the stop.
He slowly typed a single character in reply.
“Mm.”
Then he put away his phone and looked up at the night sky.
There were no stars tonight.
But for some reason, the gloom that had been pressing on his heart seemed to have lifted a little.
****
On the first day after Li Xiao left, Jiang Yu went to work as usual.
Feng Xu indeed did not appear again.
The manager casually mentioned during the morning meeting that “Feng Xu voluntarily applied for a transfer to a branch store,” and then gave Jiang Yu a meaningful look.
The other two waiters who had been in the changing room avoided Jiang Yu in the following days, their eyes evasive.
The rumors still quietly spread in the bar.
When Jiang Yu went to the storeroom to get wine, he heard two servers whispering in the corner.
“Have you heard? That diamond VIP Mr. Li spent a fortune just to…”
“No wonder Feng Xu was suddenly transferred. Must have been because he talked too much.”
“What do you think Jiang Yu did? He’s usually so cold and aloof…”
Jiang Yu walked past them carrying a wine box, his steps steady.
The two were startled, immediately fell silent, and hurried away with their heads down.
Jiang Yu expressionlessly placed the wine box behind the bar, opened it, and put the bottles on the shelf one by one.
Wu Qi came over and asked in a low voice: “What they said… is it true?”
Jiang Yu looked up at him: “What are you referring to?”
Wu Qi felt uncomfortable under his calm gaze. “Just… you and Mr. Li…”
“Debt relationship.” Jiang Yu cut him off, his tone flat. “I owe him money, he is my creditor. That’s all.”
The statement was half true, half false, but enough to shut Wu Qi up.
Wu Qi gave an awkward smile: “I was just asking… don’t mind me.”
“I don’t.” Jiang Yu turned to attend to a new customer.
The rumors circulated for a few days, gradually changing flavor.
Some envied, some were jealous, some were scornful.
Jiang Yu gradually became numb and began to ignore them.
He arrived on time every day, stood behind the bar mixing drinks, movements precise, expression professional.
But occasionally, in the intervals of shaking the cocktail shaker, he would unconsciously glance toward the empty booth in the corner.
Li Xiao had been gone for a week.
Occasionally there were messages on WeChat.
Mostly photos Li Xiao sent—skies of foreign lands, strange buildings, a dinner that looked very expensive.
The captions were simple: “Saw this today.” “This thing tastes terrible.”
Jiang Yu rarely replied.
Sometimes when he got off work late at night and saw the accumulated unread messages on his phone, he would stare at them for a while, then turn off the screen.
In the second week, Gu Ran came.
He came with a few friends.
Gu Ran sat at the bar and looked at Jiang Yu: “I’m Li Xiao’s friend, Gu Ran. He asked me to check on you.”
“If you run into any trouble, give me a call.”
He took out a business card from his wallet and slid it over: “My number.”
Jiang Yu’s hand wiping the glass paused. “Thank you. But it’s not necessary.”
“Take it.” Gu Ran smiled. “That guy Li Xiao rarely asks me to do anything. I don’t know the specifics between you two, but he called from abroad specially to mention it, so he must care.”
Jiang Yu took the card, his fingertips brushing over the smooth paper.
“When… is he coming back?” Jiang Yu asked, trying to keep his tone casual.
“He didn’t say.” Gu Ran took a sip of his drink. “What, do you miss him?”
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore Crow's Golden Fragment. Start reading now!
Read : Crow's Golden Fragment
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