Chapter 135: 133 Haoyunlai Bar

The Haoyunlai Bar on the Bund in the Magic City has always had good business, and today the customers are once again arriving in an endless stream.

Young men and women bustle in and stagger out, the indoor and outdoor areas both awash in a riot of colorful lights; to them, getting drunk in the shop or getting drunk on the street seems to make no difference.

The customers here are mostly out-of-town tourists and university students, but drinkers who live near the bar are also regulars.

The shop is not large, and the staff is not numerous; that it can maintain such stable revenue is inseparable from the quality of the drinks, and even more so from the skill of the bartenders. Their menu features several cocktails that are the only ones of their kind in the Magic City, with no other branches, and other shops cannot learn the craft, so naturally, it can stand out in the Magic City where bars bloom like a hundred flowers.

If one were to ask what the most unique and delicious cocktail at Haoyunlai Bar is, it must be the "Lucky Goddess."

Countless drinkers come for its reputation, just to taste this divine nectar at Haoyunlai Bar; it is said that those lucky enough to have drunk it will be captivated by it.

Alas, a glass of "Lucky Goddess" is hard to come by, simply because the only bartender who can perfectly mix the flavor of this fine wine, even in Haoyunlai Bar, is the world-class master bartender "crystal," and crystal is a capricious bartender who works one day and rests for three. Every time she is on duty, she only mixes drinks for certain groups of people, and she receives at most three customers a night, so whether or not one can drink it depends on the customer's own luck and the mood of this master bartender.

However, the trend at Haoyunlai Bar has changed recently; the "Lucky Goddess" is no longer hard to come by.

crystal took on an apprentice and, in a very short time, taught him the preparation method and recipe for the shop's treasure—the Lucky Goddess—and let him mix the drinks that those alcohol-obsessed customers most want to drink during her absence.

Of course, like master like apprentice, this apprentice's "arrogance" and "capriciousness" are inherited from crystal. He also mixes at most three glasses of Lucky Goddess a day; he won't make more, he won't make them for those he doesn't like, and he especially won't make them if he's in a bad mood—throwing money at him doesn't work either.

And the apprentice has the capital for his own arrogance; his skill is almost not below that of his master crystal, and he has a handsome mixed-race face capable of attracting thousands of women.

For a guy who has talent and high looks, no matter how capricious he is, he can be "forgiven."

Since he works in a bar, the apprentice naturally has his own stage name, "season," but this stage name really seems ordinary compared to his own looks and bartending skills, so the drinkers often tease him, calling him "Siji Ge," making his title even more rustic.

Siji Ge is a capricious person; to a certain extent, he can also be considered a free-spirited person. He doesn't care about the teasing from those customers, and he is even happy to accept it.

Today, it is Siji Ge on duty again. Ever since she had a useful apprentice, the beautiful bartender crystal has had an excuse to "slack off," and the times she appears have become fewer and fewer.

"Siji Ge, give me a Lucky Goddess." A young urban white-collar worker who had just finished work said with a charming smile to the handsome bartender who was wiping glassware behind the bar.

Hearing this, Siji Ge raised his head and glanced at her, shook his head decisively, and said very bluntly: "Not making it."

The beautiful white-collar worker's smile froze in this thirty-plus-degree summer night, but she was not surprised by this answer, because this was not the first time she had been rejected. She put on a slightly pouting look and said, "Then can you give me a Mojito at least?"

"One moment." Siji Ge agreed very quickly this time, then turned to prepare the ingredients and went to mix the drink for the customer.

Seeing this scene, the friend or bestie who came with the beautiful white-collar worker giggled and teased her: "I told you that you wouldn't have any luck today either."

"Then you try?" The beautiful white-collar worker rolled her eyes at her in annoyance.

The bestie laughed: "I'll try."

The bestie then also ordered a Lucky Goddess from Siji Ge, but she received the same response as the beautiful white-collar worker.

"Not making it."

"Then give me a Margarita."

This time she received a positive response from Siji Ge.

The bestie then spread her hands to the beautiful white-collar worker, "Congratulations, I have no luck either."

The beautiful white-collar worker pursed her lips, then asked Siji Ge, who was mixing drinks: "Siji Ge, how many Lucky Goddesses have you mixed today, and how many do you plan to make tonight?"

"I haven't made a single one, and as for how many I'll make tonight, it's the old rule." Siji Ge replied with a light laugh.

"That means there are still three left." The beautiful white-collar worker chuckled, picked up her phone, and said, "Then I'll shake for friends nearby to come over and see who can have such great luck to make you take action. I can even mooch a sip then."

"Please do." Siji Ge had already finished a Mojito while chatting with the beautiful white-collar worker and delivered it to her, "The Mojito you ordered, please enjoy it slowly."

"You take some photos, I'll make a call." The beautiful white-collar worker's eyes lit up when she saw the exquisitely styled Mojito in front of her, but she didn't forget the Lucky Goddess she was pining for, pulling her bestie to help take photos while she called friends nearby to come out.

Birds of a feather flock together; friends of alcohol lovers don't necessarily all love to drink, but most of them certainly...

When those friends of the beautiful white-collar worker heard that they were coming to Haoyunlai Bar and that there were still three spots for the "Lucky Goddess" tonight, those people who had initially found all sorts of excuses to decline the weekday night drinking session suddenly all got excited and immediately indicated they would be there right away.

But while dialing, the beautiful white-collar worker suddenly found her hand slipped, and she dialed a friend she hadn't intended to call.

"Oops." The beautiful white-collar worker just wanted to hang up, but unexpectedly, the other side answered even faster.

"Hello, Alin, is there anything you're calling me for so late?" While delivering the newly made Margarita to the bestie of the white-collar worker, Siji Ge heard the deep male voice coming from the other party's phone receiver. The other party's mood didn't seem very good, even though the person on the other side was trying his best to cover it up with a hearty laugh.

"Uh, nothing much, just calling to ask if you have time to come out for a drink... of course, it doesn't matter if you don't have time, after all, you still have to take care of the child." The beautiful white-collar worker laughed dryly. This friend of hers is a single father who usually takes care of the child alone; the child is only eight years old and just started the third grade of elementary school.

Hearing this, the man on the other side was silent for a moment, but gave an answer beyond the beautiful white-collar worker's expectations: "Okay, where are you?"

"Eh? Don't you need to take care of Xiaopeng?" The beautiful white-collar worker was suddenly surprised.

The man let out a few melancholy chuckles, the laughter full of stories, and said: "Xiaopeng was sent to her grandmother's recently, I... forget it, let's talk when we meet."

"Alright, alright, waiting for you to come, Yu." The beautiful white-collar worker was a bit pleasantly surprised after hearing this, quickly gave the bar address, and ended the call with the other side.

Friends who haven't seen each other for a long time suddenly coming with "side dishes" always makes gossiping drunks overjoyed.

In less than half an hour, the friends summoned by the beautiful white-collar worker arrived one after another, including "Yu," who came with a story.

Yu is a man who looks a bit haggard, in his thirties, wearing an out-of-place striped polo shirt, but everyone can see that this man had made certain preparations to come out today, such as shaving his beard, although it was a bit perfunctory, and a few "weeds" that weren't shaved clean were still growing wildly on his chin.

Yu is not considered handsome, but there is a kind of affinity in his appearance that makes people feel at ease and want to get close to him.

"I'd like a Lucky Goddess, is that okay?" Yu sat next to the beautiful white-collar worker, also in the middle of the friends at the bar. After sitting down, he ordered. He didn't forget the beautiful white-collar worker's instructions on the phone, and after arriving at the shop, he ordered a "Lucky Goddess" from the handsome mixed-race bartender for the first time.

Everyone who had already failed to order a Lucky Goddess turned their hopeful eyes to Yu, then looked at Siji Ge expectantly, all thinking in their hearts, "This time it must succeed."

"Alright." Siji Ge responded to the inner thoughts of the drunks and agreed.

The first Lucky Goddess of the night was successfully ordered!

"Yu, this glass is on me." The beautiful white-collar worker said generously, giggling as she squeezed Yu's shoulders, "But later, you have to let me have a sip."

"Damn, despicable Alin! I want to drink too!" The bestie and the other friends who were summoned were immediately unhappy and scrambled for it.

Yu was amused by these drinking buddies who used to hang out together, and he sneered: "Then you guys share it. That, Siji Ge, right? Give me another Martini."

"Yu is righteous!"

"Yu is handsome!"

"Yu, this Martini is on me!"

"..."

Everyone heard Yu generously give away the fine wine, all showing ecstasy, and one after another began to blow rainbow farts at Yu.

Soon, the legendary shop treasure, "Lucky Goddess," was served. The thoughtful Siji Ge even divided it into small glasses for everyone, so that everyone, including Yu, could have a drink.

Yu looked at the swirling pink liquid before him, puzzled as to why everyone was so fanatical about this drink; no matter how good it tasted, how far could it really go?

With skepticism, he downed a glass, and Yu only felt a refreshing, profound fragrance bloom from the tip of his tongue, bursting forth in two directions simultaneously—one surging up to his brain, the other sinking into his stomach; the tipsiness of the wine flushed his cheeks and warmed his eyes, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Hearing the sigh, every drunkard immersed in the delicious aroma of the wine suddenly perked up, sipping their remaining drinks with restraint while asking Yu the reason for his sigh and if he had any troubles on his mind lately.

Yu stroked his forehead and looked at the crowd, wanting to speak but stopping himself, switching back and forth between sighing and preparing to open his mouth for a long time, making everyone itch with impatience.

After a while, Yu said hesitantly, "You all know that my wife passed away from cancer five years ago."

"Yes, what about it?" a close friend pressed.

"Recently, Xiaopeng's art teacher gave her class an assignment to draw what they imagined Heaven to be like."

"That's great," the white-collar beauty didn't hear anything wrong, but as she spoke, she felt something was a bit eerie when connecting it to the context.

"Yes," Yu licked his dry lips and said, "but Xiaopeng is still young, and there are some things she doesn't know; she asked me what Heaven was, so I said it was the place where Mommy went, and then I described to her what I imagined Heaven looked like."

Xiaopeng understood the meaning of Heaven, but she looked at me with confusion without saying anything; she has never been one for many words, and then she started to draw; an hour later, she said she was finished and showed me the drawing."

"What did she draw?" everyone realized the horror was coming.

Just when everyone thought Xiaopeng would draw something shocking and terrifying, they didn't expect Yu to say something that made their hearts tremble.

"She drew our attic..."