Chapter 5

On the weekend when Shen Jia and his friends went to the concert, Shi Zhi went back to her "uncle's house" as usual.
Around four in the afternoon, before business hours, among the full room of tables and chairs, only two staff members were holding phones, huddled together discussing something.
Shi Zhi pushed open the glass door and walked in. One of them, a beautiful woman with wavy permed hair, looked up, wearily raised her cigarette-holding fingers, and greeted her hoarsely: "You're back."
This bar was opened by Shi Zhi's uncle. An old shop, it had once been glorious for a while, and the uncle's family had made some money from the bar.
More than ten years had passed. The bar's decoration, furnishings, and sound equipment were all outdated. Under the impact of trendy nightclubs and clubs sprouting up like bamboo shoots after rain, it was already a miracle it hadn't closed down.
Uncle and aunt had failed in investments a few years ago and no longer had the ability to invest in upgrading the shop. Like other old shops on this street, they could only operate on the verge of collapse under the banner of good quality and low prices, afraid of not making ends meet, repeatedly reducing staff.
The woman with wavy permed hair was called Wan Ran, the bar's resident singer.
Lingling sitting next to Wan Ran was half a year younger than Shi Zhi, a hothead who would rush in to help argue even when couples among customers were fighting.
Wan Ran had said that with Lingling's intelligence, if Shi Zhi ever sold Lingling, Lingling would happily help count the money.
There was also a bartender teacher in the shop called Old Qian. Old Qian had followed Wan Ran's words to tease: "More than that, after Lingling finishes counting the money, she'd still have to send Shi Zhi gift boxes during holidays to thank her."
Shi Zhi skillfully walked behind the bar, put her backpack on the chair, entered the password, and used the computer to check the inventory of drinks: "Smoke less. Your voice is already like this."
"Already reduced to half a pack a day." Wan Ran threw the remaining stub of her lady's cigarette into a used cola can. The cigarette butt met water and made a sizzling sound.
Shi Zhi printed the inventory list and walked toward the storeroom holding the paper still warm from the printer.
Before entering the storeroom, she sent Shen Jia a message, telling her boyfriend she had arrived at her uncle's house and wishing him a fun time at the concert.
Shen Jia might not have seen it and didn't reply for a long time.
When she was admitted to B University, her aunt immediately contacted her uncle who had lived here for many years and eagerly pushed Shi Zhi onto her uncle's family.
Aunt was of course not happy about it.
When Shi Zhi first moved in, aunt kept a stern face all day. Fortunately, Shi Zhi wasn't freeloading and could serve as free labor for the shop, which had some value.
Aunt said: "We have fewer employees now. There's a small room upstairs in the bar. Clean it up and it'll be fine for living. It's more convenient for Shi Zhi to live in the shop, can help take care of the business."
Uncle had wanted to say something but stopped. Aunt secretly pinched uncle: "Shi Zhi, you just finished the college entrance exam, you know how hard studying is. Your cousin will take the exam next year, it's the most critical time. If you live at home, your cousin will be distracted."
Over the years, Shi Zhi had been passed around like a ball by relatives, living under others' roofs for too long, seeing too many faces and hearing too many complaints. She was actually used to it.
But none of her classmates at school knew about these circumstances, not even Shen Jia.
They only knew that Shi Zhi had relatives here who ran a business, and that Shi Zhi would go back to her relatives' house on weekends.
After checking inventory, Shi Zhi called each ordering channel, agreed on delivery times with them, and went out to tell Lingling when to receive the goods.
"Remember to check the quantities according to the orders."
Lingling nodded: "Don't worry, Sister Shi Zhi, I'll complete the task."
It was already the bar's business hours. The sign and indoor lights were lit one by one. Old Qian also arrived right on time, leaning against the bar scrolling through short videos on his phone.
No wonder the business here couldn't take off.
Other bars had bartenders so handsome they made hearts flutter. Here they specifically hired cheap labor. Old Qian was middle-aged, fond of smoking and drinking, with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deep enough to plant rice.
Uncle and aunt were now running other businesses. The small bar was managed by Shi Zhi. She had a lot to do every weekend she came back.
It was already mid-month, time to pay salaries. Shi Zhi's work shifted from inventory management to finance. She checked Wan Ran and the others' leave deductions from last month, calculated commissions, listed out the salaries, and sent them to aunt.
Resting her chin on her hand waiting for a reply, Shi Zhi heard Lingling say excitedly: "He's here, he's here! Sister Wan Ran, our shop's biggest patron is here again. Do you think he's attracted by your singing?"
Last weekend there was an exam, so Shi Zhi didn't come back. She didn't know the shop had gained a patron in the past two weeks and listened a bit more.
It wasn't singing time yet. Wan Ran idly leaned against the bar counter, very clear-headed: "No, attracted by the recharge promotion."
The promotion was aunt's idea. They hired people to distribute flyers for several days.
Shi Zhi originally thought it wouldn't be useful, but unexpectedly it really attracted customers to spend.
Shi Zhi wasn't interested in patrons or not.
Actually, she was rarely curious about people or things. With her back to the hall, she didn't turn around, just casually reposted the recharge promotion on the bar's WeChat account.
Thinking, since it's useful, might as well post it a few more times.
Lingling finished taking orders and ran down from upstairs. Wan Ran was about to go adjust the microphone to sing. Old habits die hard, she tapped the bar counter: "Get me a beer, to moisten my throat..."
Staff food and drinks had to be recorded. Shi Zhi picked up a ballpoint pen, casually wrote "1664" on Wan Ran's tab, took a bottle of room-temperature beer, knocked it against the table edge, skillfully knocked off the cap, and handed it to Wan Ran.
"Tch, 1664, not strong enough." Wan Ran complained as she took the beer, tilted her head back for a sip, and walked toward the stage.
Lingling hid by the bar counter and whispered to Old Qian: "...The person is quite handsome, but seems like a weirdo. Always orders expensive drinks, but never sees him drink..."
Someone with similar behavior, Shi Zhi had just met a month ago.
She suddenly had a bad feeling, abruptly turned around, and looked up at the second floor.
The person was indeed already sitting at the best table upstairs. Fu Xiling was leaning back in the sofa, also looking at her.
The distance was far. Shi Zhi couldn't see the emotion in Fu Xiling's eyes, only felt like he smiled at her.
B University was quite far from here, across two districts. This wasn't the area where Shen Jia's group lived. Shi Zhi had never imagined she would meet a familiar face in the bar.
She stopped Lingling and took the wine from Lingling's hands: "Ordered by the guest upstairs?"
"Yeah..."
"Got it, I'll deliver it."
Being able to meet Shi Zhi in such a rundown little bar, Fu Xiling was also quite surprised.
Beyond surprise, he felt that the way Shi Zhi had just stood behind the bar with a blank face looking at him was closer to her original personality.
It made him a bit distracted, replying to others' messages absentmindedly.
Fu Xiling had just put away his phone when he looked up and saw Shi Zhi coming up from downstairs.
She was quite different today from the two times he'd seen her before.
At the bar that time, Shen Jia wore a cardboard birthday hat from the cake. After cutting the cake, friends around them all teased, asking Shen Jia and Shi Zhi to kiss.
Shi Zhi was especially shy, covering her face and refusing to look up.
In the end, Shen Jia smiled, wrapped his arm around her waist, leaned over, and kissed her forehead.
Shen Jia's movements were quite gentle, as if afraid of scaring her.