To Get Married - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

In the deep alley at the end of Yangliu Street, there was a bar belonging to a yāo but one that never discriminated against humans.

The bar’s style leaned toward the ancient. Upon entering, looking up, one could see a canopy of interspersed purple wisteria vines hanging elegantly. Irregularly suspended between the vines were small, spherical pendant lamps. The balls of light, nestled among the wisteria, looked like fruit born from a magical vine. The light filtered through inverted oil-paper umbrellas hanging beneath them, casting various colors onto the floor.

The interior of the bar was divided into several small areas, each separated by screens or wooden railings. Within each small area, bamboo curtains hung between adjacent tables, which could be rolled up or lowered at any time.

The surrounding walls were decorated with small antique musical instruments, trinkets, and candle-style wall lamps.

In the innermost part of the bar was a small singing stage. The stage was small, only visible to guests in the surrounding few areas.

However, the singing could be heard throughout the entire bar.

Not Old Acquaintance was shrouded in a layer of yāo energy barrier, but this barrier wasn’t meant to block the outside world; it was to mask perceptions.

Most of the bar’s servers were minor yāo with incomplete human forms due to their low cultivation. This barrier prevented ordinary humans from seeing their yāo forms. This way, if the minor yāo accidentally exposed a little ear or a small tail, it wouldn’t be noticed by the customers.

Gradually, this place became the favorite spot for the yāo of Yuanchuan City—after all, being around their own kind felt comfortable.

Of course, it wasn’t just yāo who patronized the bar; there were many humans as well.

This was because the resident singers primarily sang lyrical songs, and during their breaks, mostly quiet, instrumental music played.

Not Old Acquaintance didn’t just offer drink service. Most of the time, the staff—from the owner down to the servers—could also chat with guests who needed to talk, though this was strictly limited to conversation (with the exception of the bartender).

Because of this, there were typically three types of customers who liked drinking here:

1. Those who simply liked the atmosphere and wanted to bring friends to show off.
2. Those who had recently suffered setbacks in love or career, needed comforting, had nowhere to vent, and came here for some spiritual solace.
3. Regulars.

The atmosphere at Not Old Acquaintance was always good, the bar’s style was unique in Yuanchuan, and the conversation service was genuinely attentive, so there were naturally many regulars. Over time, both customers and staff grew familiar enough to know each other’s nicknames.

December 27th was an ordinary snowy night.

The main door of Not Old Acquaintance bar was gently pushed open, and a small head peeked through the gap, just wide enough for one person.

It was a little girl who looked about ten years old. She was wearing the Wenhain Middle School uniform, carrying a small blue-grey cloth backpack on her shoulder, her hair tied in a ponytail, her small face red from the cold, and her eyes looking inside with a mixture of confusion and fear.

As the door opened, Lu Yudong heard someone singing Faye Wong’s “Red Bean,” the voice gentle with a slight huskiness, yet seemingly floating on a cloud.

The air conditioning inside the bar was running high. The moment the cold air rushed in, the young man in a white shirt behind the left-hand bar counter looked over, a flicker of surprise in his beautiful eyes.

After a brief pause, he signaled to a passing female server. The server snapped out of her daze, glanced at the doorway, and quickly walked over.

Lu Yudong thought she was coming to chase her away, and her heart trembled. But the server sister only pulled her inside, gently brushed the snowflakes off her body, and leaned down to ask, “Little sister, what brings you here? Are you looking for someone, or are you lost?”

Lu Yudong blinked, unsure how to speak, her eyes unconsciously looking inward.

Seeing her reluctance to answer but her obvious desire to go in, the server immediately stopped her. “Little sister, this is a bar. You’re too young; you shouldn’t just wander in.”

Hearing what sounded like a dismissal, Lu Yudong quickly shook her head, her eyes red as she whispered, “I, I came to find my sister…”

“Your sister?” the server asked.

“Mhm!” Lu Yudong nodded.

The server tilted her head, considering whether to take the girl inside to search, when she heard the owner’s voice.

“Huanxi, this is Manzhu’s child.” Mu Chensan walked out from the back.

Huanxi, hearing this, stopped blocking the girl and turned to attend to other duties.

Lu Yudong, seeing Mu Chensan, quickly ran up to him, looked up, and quietly called out, “Little Uncle Mu!”

Mu Chensan asked curiously, “How did you find this place?”

“Does Elder Sister Manzhu work here?” Lu Yudong blinked her sore eyes and whispered. “My classmates said she works here. They said…”

Mu Chensan asked, “What did they say?”

Lu Yudong bit her lower lip. After much deliberation, she shook her head, not mentioning the gossip she had heard during the day.

Children can’t hide things in their eyes. Even if she didn’t say it directly, the adult could somewhat guess.

Mu Chensan said, “What do those little brats in your class know? I’m a legitimate businessman, and your Elder Sister Manzhu is singing inside.”

Lu Yudong’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Is Elder Sister Manzhu singing?”

Manzhu’s singing voice seemed different from her speaking voice; she hadn’t even recognized it.

“That’s right. She couldn’t find a job right away, so she came here to help me out,” Mu Chensan said, leading Lu Yudong to the bar counter. He opened the side door of the bar and gently nudged her inside. “This is a place for adults. I can’t let you wander around inside. You sit here for a while. Later, I’ll have her take an early break and take you home, alright?”

Lu Yudong quickly nodded. She held the bar table, stood on her toes, and hopped onto the tall stool, sitting down very obediently.

“Don’t wander off,” Mu Chensan said, instructing the “White Shirt” next to him. “Zhaomu, keep an eye on her. I’ll be busy.”

After Mu Chensan left, the “White Shirt” looked at the child sitting next to him. As luck would have it, their clear gazes met.

The child still had her backpack on her shoulder, and it looked heavy.

He pondered for a moment, reached out, helped her take it off, and placed it on the empty stool next to her.

“Thank you, Big Brother,” Lu Yudong whispered, then lowered her head.

Customers came and went, each casting a curious glance at Lu Yudong.

Some even smiled as they approached the bar to order a drink, playfully asking, “Little Yan, where did this child come from? She’s not yours, is she?”

When faced with such questions, the “White Shirt” simply shook his head and offered no explanation, quietly mixing drinks for the customers.

Fortunately, the customers didn’t seem to care much. When they didn’t get an answer the first time, they didn’t continue asking.

Lu Yudong sat at the bar, observing everyone who passed by. She noticed that most of the servers in the bar were wearing ears, tails, or wings as decorations.

For example, the server sister named Huanxi was wearing a pair of orange cat ears and had a matching fuzzy cat tail—they looked quite realistic.

In addition to little cats, there were others wearing rabbit ears, goat horns, dragonfly wings… She wondered if it was a bar dress code.

Children always like fuzzy things.

Lu Yudong wanted to touch them several times but was too shy to ask.

The clock turned to 10:40 PM. No customers had entered for a while, and there was no sign of the customers inside leaving either.

Lu Yudong suddenly felt thirsty and wanted a drink, but she didn’t dare to speak to the quiet “White Shirt” next to her.

She swung her little legs uncertainly and reached out to flip over a small sign standing on the bar counter. She thought it was a price list, but it contained several lines of text.

“Please state… the drink you want, or your current mood… If you need to talk, please find another server… Do not attempt to communicate with this mixing apprentice…” Lu Yudong finished reading, looked up at the “White Shirt” next to her, and felt a sense of relief.

No wonder the customers here rarely spoke to him. They must have been used to it.

This Big Brother looked very young, fair-skinned, and handsome. His eyes, in particular, were beautiful, immediately making people feel kindly toward him.

He just… seemed difficult to approach.

The “White Shirt” noticed Lu Yudong’s curious gaze. He reached out and turned the sign back around, thought for a moment, and spoke: “Yan Zhaomu, my, name.”

Lu Yudong’s eyes flashed with delight upon hearing the seemingly aloof Big Brother suddenly speak to her. “I’m Lu Yudong. I’ll be twelve soon.”

After she spoke, she received no response, and the two fell silent again.

Lu Yudong turned to look at the cabinet full of liquor, her eyes full of curiosity. She couldn’t help but quietly ask Yan Zhaomu, “Big Brother, are you a bartender?”

“Mhm,” Yan Zhaomu responded.

“Is there any drink I can have too?” Lu Yudong asked cautiously.

She had just watched Yan Zhaomu mix drinks for people, and each one was different, which made her extremely curious.

Her father once pointed to alcohol and called it tea, tricking her into taking a small sip. The taste was so awful she remembered it for years. She thought she would never be interested in alcohol, yet she didn’t expect to have a craving for it someday.

But clearly, Yan Zhaomu was unwilling to mix a drink for her.

He thought for a moment, bent down, opened the cabinet at his feet, and sequentially pulled out a Sprite, Coke, Mirinda, orange juice, peach juice, coconut milk, and other beverages. Only then did he close the cabinet and say, “These, you, you can.”

Lu Yudong looked at the row of drinks in front of her and finally chose a bottle of coconut milk, lowering her head to twist the cap.

Yan Zhaomu put the remaining drinks away. As he stood up, he saw Lu Yudong still struggling with the cap, so he took it from her and helped her open it easily.

“Thank you,” Lu Yudong said softly, taking it back gratefully.

She held the coconut milk, which she had already taken two sips from, as Manzhu began singing a song she had never heard, from the area she couldn’t enter:

She lived on the flood of July

The rooftop poured out ten thousand feet of ideals

She slept in the reeds where the north wind passed hurriedly

…

The grassland in her dream was vast and white

The train carried sorrow and joy, going back and forth

She tasted all the sugar with a time limit, gifted by every foreign land

…

At her young age, the child didn’t understand the story or the person the song was about.

She just simply thought that Manzhu sang the song exceptionally well.

“Big Brother,” Lu Yudong looked up and asked Yan Zhaomu, “What song is this?”

Yan Zhaomu: “Scenes of Many Towns.”

Lu Yudong tilted her head, confused. “Grains Grains Grains Ten Thousand Fragrances?”

Yan Zhaomu was momentarily speechless. He found a piece of paper and a pen somewhere, wrote the song title down, and pushed it toward Lu Yudong. “Th-this…”

“Thank you!” Lu Yudong lowered her head, feeling very embarrassed.

She now knew why Yan Zhaomu didn’t talk much. He had a stutter.

Her mother had told her that repeating someone’s stutter was very impolite, and it would make the other person unhappy.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Fortunately, the awkwardness didn’t last long. The music in the bar switched to a piano piece, and soon, Manzhu came out, walking with her head down, tying the sash of her cloak.

Lu Yudong was so happy that she immediately jumped to the floor, waving her thin arms from afar.

Manzhu saw her, quickly walked up, leaned her hands on the bar counter, and said angrily, “Late at night, instead of going home to sleep, what are you doing running over here all by yourself?”

Lu Yudong shrank her neck, blinking tearfully and pouting, squeezing out two small whines from her nose, not daring to speak.

Manzhu remembered what Mu Chensan had quietly told her earlier and took a deep breath.

Lu Yudong quickly walked around the counter, firmly took hold of Manzhu’s slender wrist under the cloak, and looked up at Manzhu, her eyes full of obedience.

Manzhu was torn between laughter and tears. She really had no way to deal with this child.

“Alright, let’s go home,” Manzhu said, stroking Lu Yudong’s head.

“Elder Sister Hong,” Yan Zhaomu handed out the backpack from the side.

“I almost forgot. Thank you,” Manzhu said with a smile, taking the backpack and leading Lu Yudong, who was waving goodbye to Yan Zhaomu, out of the bar.

On the way home, Manzhu thought for a moment, looked down at Lu Yudong, and gently asked, “Lu Yudong, are you very concerned about your classmates giving you strange looks because of me?”

Lu Yudong shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

“Then why did you run all the way here late at night to find me?” Manzhu asked.

“I was just afraid… that you’re doing something you don’t like for me…” Lu Yudong said, her voice trailing off.

Manzhu listened, then smiled. “I don’t dislike it. You saw for yourself, this job isn’t what you imagined. If there’s one bad thing about it, it’s that I can’t be with you at night…”

Lu Yudong nodded. “I understand.”

She should have trusted Manzhu. She shouldn’t have believed the gossip from her classmates.

Perhaps this is what it means to be worried sick.

Lu Yudong thought, deciding she should change the subject.

She gently shook Manzhu’s hand, looked up, and asked, “Elder Sister, I saw so many little decorations like ears, tails, and wings there. They looked so real. Can you get me one too?”

Manzhu’s steps suddenly halted. She seemed to have suddenly remembered something, and she frowned slightly.