Chapter 43

Traffic in Seoul was as congested as ever, and it was already two in the afternoon when Zheng Xiuyan and Lin Yun'er arrived near the tavern.

As the navigation announced "You have reached your destination," Lin Yun'er subconsciously looked around, intending to find a parking space nearby.

However, before she could find an empty spot, Zheng Xiuyan had already made a clean right turn, drove the car into a residential area, and skillfully parked in an empty space.

Looking up at the parking space sign above, Lin Yun'er hurriedly spoke, "Unni, this is someone else's parking space."

"It's fine, this is the parking space that guy rented, and the one next to it is too."

While speaking, Zheng Xiuyan had already turned off the car and looked at Lin Yun'er, "Let's go, get out of the car."

"Unni, you..."

Watching Zheng Xiuyan, who was so familiar with all these operations, a series of thoughts immediately emerged in Lin Yun'er's mind—absurd, reasonable, and even some she didn't dare to think about deeply.

The most outrageous thought was that her unni had already developed an extraordinary relationship with that "mysterious man," even reaching the point of sharing orchestral music and exchanging DNA.

And Zheng Xiuyan keenly sensed something wrong and chuckled, "What is your little head thinking about?"

"Nothing."

Lin Yun'er naturally didn't dare to say what she was thinking, so she hurriedly got out of the car and walked towards the exit with Zheng Xiuyan.

After leaving the residential area and turning right, less than a hundred meters away, the two arrived at the entrance of the small tavern.

At first glance, this tavern looked no different from an ordinary cafe, with outer walls made of gray-white wall tiles, revealing a bit of warmth in its low-key nature.

But when truly close, the differences in details were revealed.

First were the floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides, which looked transparent but seemed to only allow looking out from inside, with no peek possible from outside.

The two tried to get close to the glass to look carefully, but could only see their own reflections.

The afternoon sunlight spilled through the window gaps, casting mottled light and shadows on the wine cabinet and decorations in front of the window, creating a quiet and stylish atmosphere.

Those towering wine cabinets were both decorations and blocked the originally transparent view, leaving only a few gaps for light to enter and exit at the corners, which was quite artistic.

When her gaze fell back to the entrance, Lin Yun'er chuckled, "Such a small tavern, no wonder you said it's membership-based, unni. If it didn't limit the flow of people, I guess not many people could even squeeze through the door."

"I didn't expect it to be so small either," Zheng Xiuyan said while observing the surroundings, "From the renovation until now, this is my first time coming. I thought he would make it bigger."

Before them was a dark door hidden in a wooden frame, not wide, allowing only one person to pass, but it had its own sense of ritual.

Especially the circular mirror device embedded in the solid wood door, which revealed the breath of modern technology abruptly in the retro atmosphere—the small camera reminded Zheng Xiuyan of the gate of that villa in 2025.

And just as she intended to step forward to check, the wooden door was slowly pulled open from the inside, and Lin Xiuyuan, who had successfully promoted himself from a wage earner, street wanderer, and unemployed person to a boss, appeared before the two.

He had noticed their arrival through the gaps in the floor-to-ceiling windows, so after putting down what was in his hand, he came out to greet them.

"Welcome, both of you. Come in first."

He first greeted Zheng Xiuyan, then looked at Lin Yun'er on the side.

Similarly, the moment Lin Xiuyuan walked out, Lin Yun'er had already started sizing up the boy who was a bit beyond her expectations.

Because as far as she knew, her unni had always liked mature and steady older men, especially those successful men with established careers.

After so many years of getting along, she had rarely seen her unni give a young boy a good look, let alone take the initiative to transfer money, or even chat with a beaming smile.

After the two's gazes met briefly, Lin Yun'er subconsciously looked at Zheng Xiuyan, her eyes carrying a bit of small pride and inquiry: See, unni, I really can brush my face to get in, right?

Zheng Xiuyan didn't refute anything, just confirmed again with her eyes that the device on the door lock was correct, and then followed with a smile.

Accompanied by the sound of the wind chimes at the door, under Lin Xiuyuan's guidance, the three walked into the tavern together.

If the tavern didn't look big from the outside, then after coming in, the internal space was truly quite compact.

A few tables and chairs, paired with sofa booths, occupied most of the space, the right side was a bar against the wall, and the innermost part was a mini stage with a few newly unpacked musical instruments, the overall layout warm and comfortable.

"Let me introduce, this is Lin Xiuyuan, from Huaxia."

Zheng Xiuyan, who had come in, first looked around and introduced with a smile, "As for this one, I probably don't need to say it. Lin Yun'er, the center visual of our Girls' Generation."

"Hello."

"Hello."

*Ding-ling~*

While the two were getting to know each other, the wind chime at the door rang, attracting the gazes of Lin Xiuyuan and the others to the entrance.

Then, three girls filed in, and the one walking in front with a ponytail smiled happily after seeing Lin Xiuyuan, "Oppa~"

Only then did she notice the people next to him and hurriedly added, "Wow, Xiuyan unni, Yun'er unni, you are here too."

"Long time no see, Zhiyan."

Lin Yun'er politely greeted Park Jiyeon, and then turned to greet Xian Enjing and Park Xiaomin.

The two also responded one after another, and for a time, the tavern was filled with the sound of "Hello" one after another.

"Yun'er, long time no see."

"Jessica sunbae, hello, long time no see."

"Enjing, long time no see."

"..."

And Lin Xiuyuan, looking at this lively scene, thought of how quiet the tavern was just a few minutes ago, and was immediately glad that the door lock was installed correctly.

It was just that it wasn't convenient to start the verification system right now, so let's wait.

The small talk ended quickly, and everyone turned their attention to Lin Xiuyuan. Except for Zheng Xiuyan and Park Jiyeon, the others were slightly scrutinizing, making his back crawl.

Fortunately, the two of them stood up in time, and while helping Lin Xiuyuan out of the siege, they also introduced this 'friend' to their respective members.

Compared to Lin Yun'er's previous confusion and disbelief, Xian Enjing and Park Xiaomin didn't think too much. Because at first glance, this boy was quite clean and delicate, so it wasn't impossible for their own little dragon cub to take a fancy to him.

And Lin Xiuyuan, who was entertaining so many female idols for the first time, obviously had no experience and didn't know what to say, so he simply said politely, "Sit down first, it's tiring to stand."

Then he turned to the counter to get a few glasses and poured soda water for everyone.

Just as he was bringing the water over, Zheng Xiuyan looked at the lintel and suddenly asked, "Lin Xiuyuan, hasn't the sign for your tavern been unveiled yet?"

When she was outside, she had discovered a sign hanging above the lintel, but it was covered by a red cloth and hadn't been unveiled yet.

"Mm, I was thinking of waiting for you all to come, to have a witness."

Lin Xiuyuan nodded, then looked at the group of beautiful figures in front of him with some emotion, "But I didn't expect so many people to come. I thought it would just be you and Zhiyan."

Park Jiyeon, sitting on the side, was a bit concerned, "Oppa, your tavern opening is too simple. There isn't even a flower basket. If you had told me earlier, I would have sent two rows over for you."

"It's not too late now," Park Xiaomin on the side thought for a moment, "When I passed by in the car just now, I found there seemed to be one nearby. It would be fast to send."

"Really?"

Just as Park Jiyeon wanted to get up, Lin Xiuyuan pressed her back into her seat, "Don't, absolutely don't. I don't intend to become famous. Just everyone sitting together, chatting simply is fine."

Zheng Xiuyan, who knew what Lin Xiuyuan was worried about, smiled, "Then everyone is here, do you want to unveil the sign and open now?"

"Sure, it's just taking off a red cloth." Lin Xiuyuan didn't refuse.

And so, the group who had just sat down walked out the door together.

And Park Jiyeon excitedly took out her phone, turned on the camera function, and aimed the lens at Lin Xiuyuan standing at the door.

He reached out and gently pulled down the red cloth hanging down. As the fabric fell, a simple and ancient solid wood sign was quietly displayed before everyone's eyes.

Two vigorous characters were carved on the wood surface—【Jieyou】 (Relieving Worries).

Two small, vertical regular script characters were carved in the lower right corner—【Dukang】.

As if it were a signature, or like some kind of whisper, it quietly pointed out the purpose of this tavern: Only Dukang can relieve worries.

It was also at this time that Lin Xiuyuan, who had rolled up the fabric, walked to the door lock, turned back to look at Zheng Xiuyan and Park Jiyeon, and smiled slightly, "Come on, two beauties, please record your membership information. From now on, you can open the door and enter."

"Fingerprint lock?"

Lin Yun'er, who heard Lin Xiuyuan's words, asked subconsciously.

"No," Lin Xiuyuan said calmly, "It's a dual-sensing system of iris and fingerprint."

As soon as these words came out, not only was Lin Yun'er surprised, but even Xian Enjing and Park Xiaomin couldn't hide their astonishment.

They looked at the inconspicuous door lock one after another, not expecting it to be so high-tech.

And at this moment, in Xian Enjing's mind, the note Park Jiyeon received that night suddenly appeared, and the content written on it seemed to be quietly verified at this moment.

The door of this tavern seemed to be opened only for the chosen ones in the dark.