Er Bar was always lively with music and dancing every night, and business was booming. Tonight was especially busy. Around 9:30 PM, during peak hours, a huge commotion suddenly erupted from one of the private rooms on the second floor.
Er Bar was essentially a nightclub. No matter what management style was used, its fundamental nature remained unchanged. Coincidentally, there was a rock performance on the first-floor stage at that moment. The instruments alone were loud enough to echo throughout the building. With everyone either lost in alcohol or absorbed in dancing, the second-floor private rooms were like a separate world, making it difficult to notice any disturbances. That is, until the “trouble” spilled out into the hallway.
A girl’s hysterical scream acted like a pause button. The dancing crowd below froze, and many people jumped out of the dance floor, finding advantageous positions to peer upward, trying to figure out what was happening on the second floor.
When Yan Cheng and Chen Jinyao arrived at Er Bar from Huaijiang, crossing half the city, they walked right into this scene. They had originally planned to drive straight home, but since Chen Jinyao hadn’t been properly introduced as the owner’s wife last time due to getting drunk, they decided to stop by. Who would have thought they’d encounter what appeared to be a “bar fight”?
Wherever there was drama, there was never a shortage of spectators. And these spectators all shared a common trait: they loved asking questions. Questions like “What happened?” “What’s going on?” “What happened to that waitress?” were endless. Even though people could roughly guess what had occurred, they still maintained and displayed their curiosity, wanting to confirm if their guesses matched reality.
Yan Cheng stood near the entrance, expressionless, with dark eyes. Who knew what intensity of storm was brewing in those black pupils? But one thing was certain – the good mood from their date had been ruined.
Chen Jinyao stood at his right side, trying to maintain silence. Though quiet, she tightened her grip on their joined hands, as if trying to transfer all her strength to him. In truth, such incidents weren’t too serious in Yan Cheng’s eyes. He relaxed his brows slightly and pressed his lips together.
He stopped a passing server to ask about the situation. The server primarily worked on the first floor and had no idea what was happening upstairs, appearing completely confused when questioned. Since no useful information could be obtained, the conversation didn’t last long.
“Never mind,” Yan Cheng sighed, decisively pulling Chen Jinyao toward the second floor. “I find myself surprisingly unconcerned,” he said.
Chen Jinyao lowered her eyes and made a rare attempt at humor, “Probably because I’m holding you back.”
By this time, A-Tai and Manager Lin were already there mediating the conflict. The incident unfolded much as one might expect.
The girl who had screamed and was now crying was a part-time employee at Er Bar, mainly working in alcohol sales – commonly known as a beer girl. Among various part-time positions at Er Bar, this one offered the highest income because they earned commission on alcohol sales. The more they sold, the more they earned. Sometimes one night’s wages could equal several nights’ worth for other positions.
But high income meant high risk. Working as a promotional girl in a bar meant wearing less clothing than others, having thick skin, and being able to put aside pride. They had to stay vigilant and be ready to deflect customers’ sudden harassment with tactical skill. They had to navigate situations carefully, and some touching was unavoidable.
The part-time employee’s name was Su Ran, and she had only been working at Er Bar for a few days. Everything had been fine until she encountered Xu Zhao today.
Xu Zhao came from a nouveau riche family, and those who knew him were familiar with his ways. He was well-versed in eating, drinking, and entertainment, but crucially, he was somewhat lecherous. He would flirt with any attractive woman he saw, and sometimes would get physically handsy.
This time, he had touched Su Ran’s waist a couple of times, which led to the current situation.
Su Ran had a fierce temperament and would rather break than bend. It wasn’t wrong for her to cause a scene to protect herself while there were many people around.
When girls encounter harassment, they should have this kind of courage. From most people’s perspective, her actions were easy to understand, sympathize with, and support.
Truthfully, she wasn’t wrong.
Xu Zhao was someone who cared greatly about face. After being publicly rejected, he naturally wouldn’t show Su Ran any kindness. He didn’t care whether she was female or not – when it came to fighting and arguing, he had plenty of battle spirit. More importantly, Su Ran had hit him on the head with a beer bottle.
Xu Zhao had never experienced such treatment before. He immediately became enraged and grabbed Su Ran’s hair.
Thus, the situation completely exploded.
When Xu Zhao saw Yan Cheng arrive, he finally remembered something. In a sense, he had caused trouble at Yan Cheng’s establishment. But what was done was done, and trying to fix it now wouldn’t help much. After a few seconds, his expression softened slightly, and he adjusted his clothes before spitting.
His speech was characteristically crude and offensive: “If you’re going to be a whore, don’t act like a saint.”
Beer girls were still viewed differently from regular employees in their eyes.
Su Ran huddled to one side, crying continuously.
After understanding the whole situation, Yan Cheng narrowed his eyes. His gaze lingered on Su Ran for a moment before turning to Xu Zhao: “Mr. Xu, could you do me a favor and let this matter go?”
Since she was a part-time employee, if anything serious happened at Er Bar, it would definitely damage Er Bar’s reputation. As the owner of Er Bar, he naturally had to consider his employees.
The circle was only so big, and they frequently ran into each other. There was really no need to let the situation deteriorate further over one employee.
Since Yan Cheng had said this much, Xu Zhao naturally didn’t continue making trouble. The scene was already ugly enough; there was no need to make it uglier. “I can’t refuse Young Master Yan’s request, but you should really control your Er Bar employees better.”
Upon hearing this, Su Ran suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were still red and brimming with tears. She was the victim, so why was the blame being pushed onto her?!
Biting her lip, Su Ran wanted to defend herself. “I did nothing wrong,” she actually said it out loud, “If he hadn’t touched me, I wouldn’t have hit him.”
Xu Zhao’s temple was still bleeding, though it was self-inflicted.
But many times, social reality doesn’t carry that much sense of justice. Being able to rescue her from Xu Zhao’s hands was already showing maximum kindness. If she was expecting someone to stand up for her, Yan Cheng admitted he didn’t have that much compassion – he wasn’t a saint or Guanyin Buddha coming to save all beings.
Yan Cheng didn’t respond to Su Ran’s words, but instead nodded to Xu Zhao: “Of course.”
With this, the matter was considered resolved.
But Su Ran was clearly not satisfied.
The crowd of onlookers dispersed, and everyone went back to their own entertainment. The clamor continued, and the revelry went on.
Chen Jinyao lowered her gaze and saw her own white-knuckled fingers. She could imagine that her face must be as colorless as her fingers, completely pale. Her whole person seemed frozen in place.
She didn’t even know how to think now.
Long, long ago, when she wasn’t yet Chen Jinyao, a friend who loved reading novels had complained to her about a particular story. She was the type of person who usually let things go in one ear and out the other, and had buried it deep in her memories. If it weren’t for today’s incident, she wouldn’t have realized that the unfamiliar world she was in was actually the world from that book.
Her friend had only described the general plot, using terms like male lead and female lead.
The male lead was a married bar owner, and the female lead was a bar girl. The female lead’s first encounter with the male lead was when she spilled red wine on him. Their second encounter could be considered, in some way, as him playing the hero…
The male lead had married his first wife through an arranged marriage, reportedly because his “first love” had married someone else. With a dead heart, he had carelessly gotten married. The dramatic part was that his wife was in love with the man his “first love” had married.
“…” In short, it was a complex relationship involving multiple parties.
At the story’s end, naturally, the male and female leads lived happily ever after together.
If all this wasn’t enough to prove she had transmigrated into a book, then there was also the female lead’s name. Her friend had complained specifically because the female lead’s name was similar to her own – Chen Jinyao’s friend was called Su Ran.
When too many coincidences pile up, they can no longer be called coincidences.
Chen Jinyao frowned, her expression unreadable. All the blood in her body seemed to flow backward.
If this was true, then was she the most insignificant cannon fodder in the entire book?
Her sudden change was too obvious.
When Yan Cheng had mostly resolved the situation, he turned back to look for Chen Jinyao. Just one glance was enough to spot her, and his first reaction was to notice her unusual pallor. Yan Cheng furrowed his brows, walked over, bent down, pressed his forehead against hers, and asked softly, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Chen Jinyao stared at him blankly, her heart a mix of emotions, her eyes filled with complex inquiry. After a long while, she finally shook her head: “I’m fine.”
She pressed her lips together, suppressing all her uneasy emotions.
After a moment of silence.
Yan Cheng straightened up and raised his hand to pat her head.
Again taking her hand, intertwining their fingers, he pulled her from the crowd’s periphery to its center. Standing before the troublemaker, he narrowed his eyes, and after a few seconds, turned to Manager Lin: “Fire her.”
Manager Lin repeatedly answered “Yes.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong, why are you firing me?” Su Ran suddenly raised her voice, questioning Yan Cheng’s decision.
Chen Jinyao tightened her grip, lowering her eyes.
Yan Cheng’s face was expressionless, speaking without emotion: “Because I’m the boss. You’re not wrong, but you’re not suitable for working at Er Bar, and Er Bar can’t afford to keep you.”
“How can you say I’m not suitable?” Su Ran argued again.
“Based on today’s incident.” Yan Cheng’s patience was exhausted, and he couldn’t be bothered to continue talking with her. “Working in a bar, especially as a beer girl, you should have known from the start what you’d face. If something like this happens again, and you cause another huge scene, it damages Er Bar’s reputation.”
“So you’re saying it’s my fault for wearing revealing clothes when I get harassed?”
Yan Cheng frowned, perhaps his explanation had been somewhat biased, but that wasn’t his real intention.
“I heard Er Bar had good management in this aspect, that’s why I came to work part-time. Now I see it’s nothing special.”
Yan Cheng: “No matter how good Er Bar’s management is, it’s still a bar. It’s inevitable to have all sorts of people here. Do you expect me to control what kind of customers come in?”
Yan Cheng was getting irritated now, different perspectives led to different stances and views: “Like I said, you’re not suitable for working at Er Bar.”
Yan Cheng: “What’s there to argue about? Go be a tutor instead, it’s better than being here.”
She looked so naive, terrifyingly taking everything for granted, as if she hadn’t experienced the real world yet.
He gave Su Ran no more chances to speak, instructing Manager Lin again: “Fire her quickly, and be more careful when hiring part-timers in the future.”
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