Following the navigation instructions, Qin Zhiyi drove west to Yunfeng Street, about ten kilometers away.
The roads on Yunfeng Street were laid out in a “four horizontal, four vertical” pattern, forming a nine-square grid overall. The area was not very large, but it was highly developed, with large supermarkets, small scenic spots, pedestrian food streets, and more. In the small county town of Yuncheng, it could still be considered prosperous.
The Mercedes slowly came to a stop on a street near the outskirts. Gu Qiu opened the door and then looked at Qin Zhiyi.
“Thanks!”
“I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”
Qin Zhiyi placed both hands on the steering wheel and replied with a beaming smile:
“Then it’s a deal!”
“Don’t overthink it. I meant eating at the school cafeteria!”
Gu Qiu tossed out that line and got out of the car without another word.
“Hmph!”
“I’ll eat at the cafeteria too!”
Qin Zhiyi muttered under her breath as she lowered the passenger-side window.
Her gaze followed the direction Gu Qiu was walking, and soon she spotted a particularly eye-catching signboard in the middle of a row of small apartment complexes… Yulong Bar!
The four artistic characters were especially elegant, with a vertical dragon-shaped logo right in the center.
Below it, the entrance facade used a gray-and-red color scheme. The walls were carved with many trendy design patterns, and light strips hung everywhere, though they had not been turned on since it was still daytime…
Just as Qin Zhiyi was looking in fascination, a middle-aged man in a security uniform approached and reminded her:
“Hello, parking is not allowed here!”
Qin Zhiyi gave a slight nod to show she understood.
Then she withdrew her gaze and drove on.
…
Before long.
Gu Qiu, who had entered the bar, sensed that something was off.
As far as he knew, A-Long’s place opened at 10 a.m. every weekend. In the past, whenever he came by, it was always noisy, but today there were not only no customers coming and going, even the piercing dance music was gone!
As he walked into the inner hall, the first thing that caught his eye was that the colored lights and ambient lights that were usually on to create atmosphere had been replaced by the main lights, making the interior exceptionally bright.
Then he saw a scene of tables and chairs toppled over, with a group of waiters cleaning up broken beer bottles scattered everywhere.
Gu Qiu frowned and stopped a young waiter who was passing by.
“What happened?”
“Did someone come here to cause trouble?”
The young waiter had seen Gu Qiu several times and also remembered that the boss had said this man was his brother and should be given special care when he came. He was just about to explain politely.
But before he could speak, he was interrupted by a voice from the side.
“A-Qiu?”
The voice came from a young man.
He was over 1.8 meters tall and looked rather sturdy. He wore a white shirt, and the muscles hidden under his sleeves were faintly visible.
His skin was wheat-tanned. The features on his long face could not be called especially refined, but they were neat enough. He wore a 3-7 part hairstyle and looked quite dashing.
Gu Qiu turned to look at Zhao Yulong.
Since this was the first time he had seen him after being reborn, he could not help feeling a little dazed. But at the moment, he was more concerned about what had happened, so he asked again:
“What happened?”
Zhao Yulong spread his hands, lifted his chin slightly, and looked at the area the waiters were cleaning up.
“Isn’t it obvious? The place got smashed up!”
“The story is too good, so I’ll keep it short. This morning, a cheating woman brought her lover here to have some fun. As a result, her husband found out, and the big brother put on a live show right here… punching the adulterer and kicking the adulteress. He nearly beat those two to death, and in the end, they were both taken away by the police!”
“The big brother was quite proper about it, though. After smashing the place, he paid up right away, directly swiping 100,000 yuan with his card, so I didn’t pursue it.”
“The police station just sent people over to take photos and collect evidence. Once we clean it up, business should be able to continue later!”
As he spoke, he had already led Gu Qiu to the bar counter.
“Want something to drink?”
Gu Qiu was still digesting the information he had just heard.
This had also happened in his previous life, but back then he only heard A-Long mention it casually, so he had not looked into it too deeply.
No matter what, as long as it was not someone coming to pick a fight, that was fine!
After putting his thoughts aside, he finally replied:
“Just give me any drink.”
Not long after, each of them had a simply decorated sparkling drink in hand.
Zhao Yulong took several large gulps and asked:
“Weren’t we supposed to meet up at Grandma’s place?”
“Why did you come here instead?”
Gu Qiu was about to reply when he saw a waiter stop a beautiful woman who had just walked in.
“Sorry, miss, we’re temporarily closed. Please come back in an hour.”
However, Qin Zhiyi remained very calm and lifted a hand to point at where Gu Qiu was sitting.
“Then why can you serve them?”
“Uh…”
The waiter was momentarily at a loss for words.
She wanted to say that those were the boss and the boss’s brother, but felt that would sound like she was looking down on the customer.
Watching the situation, Gu Qiu rubbed his forehead with a slight headache.
“Like a persistent ghost!”
Seeing that Gu Qiu knew her, Zhao Yulong instantly became interested.
He first instructed the waiter to serve Qin Zhiyi normally, then turned and poked Gu Qiu’s shoulder.
“Who is that?”
Gu Qiu knew very well that A-Long liked to get to the bottom of things, so he simply did not hide it.
“The one I told you about before. She’s the one who drove me here too.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yulong widened his eyes and carefully sized up Qin Zhiyi.
At the same time, Qin Zhiyi also took a seat at the bar counter on the other side.
A neatly dressed bartender immediately came over.
“Miss, what would you like to drink?”
“Uh… do you have coffee?”
Whether in her previous life or this one, Qin Zhiyi had not had many friends, so she was both resistant to and unfamiliar with bars.
The bartender froze for a moment.
Coming to a bar to drink coffee?
Was this some new trend?
Although puzzled, he still smiled warmly.
“We do. Please wait a moment…”
After looking for a while, Zhao Yulong slowly withdrew his gaze.
He raised his arm and draped it around Gu Qiu’s neck, asking in a voice only the two of them could hear:
“Hey, what’s going on with you, kid?”
“I used to think the women pestering you were either too old or just average-looking, but this one’s clearly a beauty!”
Gu Qiu took a sip of his drink through a straw and said lightly:
“Zhang Wuji’s mother said that the prettier a woman is, the more dangerous she is!”
“Come on, didn’t he still end up with Zhao Min!”
Zhao Yulong replied casually, then glanced at Qin Zhiyi again and shook his head repeatedly:
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Her looks are good enough to launch a career, and you still don’t like her?”
Seeing that Gu Qiu was silent, he joked again:
“Hey, I’m asking you… could it be that something’s wrong with you down there?”
Suddenly, Gu Qiu frowned.
“Something’s wrong with you down there!”
“No, I mean here!”
Zhao Yulong raised a hand and poked Gu Qiu’s chest, adding:
“Don’t tell me you can’t fit a woman in your heart. You don’t have some kind of preference for men, do you?”
“Get lost!”
Gu Qiu had no mood to banter with him. He turned his head away, only to see Qin Zhiyi holding up the freshly brewed coffee and toasting him from across the room. He could not help but sigh:
“Day after day, what kind of bad luck did I bring upon myself in my past life?”
Hearing him say that, Zhao Yulong dropped his joking attitude and raised his eyebrows slightly.
“How about I go talk to her for you and tell her to stop bothering you?”
“Heh!”
Gu Qiu answered carelessly and simply lay down on the bar counter.
He had already told Qin Zhiyi himself several times, and it had not worked. There was no way A-Long’s words would work either!
Zhao Yulong did not think much of it and walked over to Qin Zhiyi.
“Girl, how should I address you?”
“If you’re the same age as A-Qiu, you should call me sister.”
Qin Zhiyi reminded him with a gentle smile, then added:
“Qin Zhiyi.”
Zhao Yulong had not expected that she was actually older than Gu Qiu. But from the fact that she could call him that, it was clear she really liked that brat. What a pity…
Thinking of that, he sighed again, then persuaded her:
“Um… Teacher Qin, I know you like A-Qiu, but he already has someone he likes!”
Upon hearing this, Qin Zhiyi was struck as if by lightning, and the smile on her face instantly froze.
R-really? He really does?