Chapter 2662: Southern City Tonight Has Rain 24

Ling Gun Gun lounged on the car like an ornament, its little head wobbling, sighing with an old‑fashioned air.

【I get it, I get it, Host, this is called "no destruction, no establishment."】

It looked every bit the seasoned expert.

Jin Chen heard it, freed a hand, flicked its forehead, and said, 【It even knows how to jump in now.】

Ling Gun Gun was humble, 【Experience is something you pick up by watching; I've already learned a thing or two.】

Not long after the bar opened, business turned out surprisingly good.

Soon word spread in the circle that Rain Island had a bartender with superlative mixology skills and striking looks; within days people couldn't hold back and confessed, but without exception they all got turned down.

The better this boss's bartending, the colder and more distant his manner.

A few days later, at the Rain Island bar.

In a spacious booth in the corner, the atmosphere buzzed; Xie Linzhou sat there, somewhat absent‑minded.

Xiang Wenqing dragged him to a university friends' gathering; he hadn't expected the organizer to pick this very bar. As soon as he sat down, he instinctively glanced toward the central cocktail station, but the person skillfully shaking the shaker behind it wasn't the one he hoped to see.

"Zhou ge! Boss!" Xiang Wenqing, sitting beside him, leaned over and shouted at the top of her lungs several times before Xie Linzhou snapped out of his daze, looking bewildered, and asked, "What's up?"

"What are you spacing out over?" Xiang Wenqing teased him with a laugh; as the only girl in the crew who'd known Xie Linzhou since college, she always joked without filter, "Could it be you're worried your boyfriend will check in? Did you forget to tell that cool guy of yours you're going out?"

"No need."

Xie Linzhou lowered his eyes, lifted the cup before him, took a sip, and had no intention of continuing the topic.

The booth was full of people, and the conversation ran from college embarrassments all the way to post‑graduation work and current situations, inevitably exchanging flattery and teasing.

"I'd say Xiang jie and Xie ge are doing great—your team's landing some big jobs, right? Leadwood Office is quite the flashy signboard."

Xie Linzhou forced a smile, deflected the topic with a few polite remarks, and barely picked it up again.

Only when the talk drifted to the bar itself did he perk up a little and listen closely.

"I'd guess that half the people crowding the seats near the bar are there for the boss's face, the other half for his bartending skill."

A young man with dyed red hair said, "Several of the bartenders here were personally trained by the boss, but the vibe just feels different—really different!"

He clutched his chest, lost in reverie, "The day the bar opened I got lucky and tasted a drink the boss mixed himself—it's unforgettable for a lifetime."

The person beside him laughed and gave him a push, teasing, "Yuan Qiu, how many times are you going to say that? You can't stop thinking about that boss?"

"Exactly!" Yuan Qiu sat up a little straighter, a suspicious flush spreading across her face, mingled with excitement and shyness, "I've not only drunk his booze, I've chatted with the boss too! I've decided—I'm going to confess to him today!"

"Cough cough cough…" Xie Linzhou choked on a mouthful of drink out of the blue, covering his mouth as he coughed.

After finally catching his breath, he stared at Yuan Qiu in disbelief, "You… you want to confess to him?"

Yuan Qiu turned her head and nodded firmly, "Yeah! Xie ge, you don't know—loads of people have been confessing to the boss since the bar opened!"

"What if… what if I'm just lucky and it works out?"

Xie Linzhou: "……"

His fingers tightened unconsciously around the glass; he simply couldn't grasp that impulse.

"You two… how long have you known each other? Do you really know him?"

"Not really," Yuan Qiu answered matter‑of‑factly, even a bit defiantly, "I don't even know the boss's name."

Xie Linzhou frowned further, puzzled, "So… you're going to confess based on just that?"

"Just give it a try if you like him!" Yuan Qiu grinned, the usual reckless vigor of youth, "Even if I fail, spending a night with that handsome boss wouldn't be a loss!"

Xiang Wenqing laughed along, not noticing Xie Linzhou's face darkening, and slapped her thigh, "What a textbook fast‑food romance!"

She laughed her fill, turned to Xie Linzhou, and said, "Still, the boss and your cool guy are perfect—basically a match made in heaven."

Xie Linzhou tugged at the corner of his mouth, trying to force a smile, but couldn't manage it, the motion turning into a stiff little arc.

At that moment, a commotion stirred near the stairs in front of the booth.

The people at their table also glanced over instinctively.

All they saw were two men, one after the other, descending the spiral staircase from the second floor.

The man in front wore a strikingly avant‑garde outfit, his face bearing a carefree, mocking grin, and he blew a few kisses at several familiar patrons downstairs.

He noticed the crowd's attention wasn't on him, so he laughed, turned back, and gave the man behind him a shove.

The man was tall, dressed in a plain, crisp black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, walking down to the bar's rock music, he gave the noisy hall a detached glance, exuding a chill that felt out of place.

Xie Linzhou's heart gave a thump; instinctively he wanted to turn his head away to avoid that gaze.

But halfway through the motion he couldn't help looking again, and then realized Jin Chen's gaze had merely swept past—it never lingered in the crowded booth area, let alone noticed him tucked in the corner.

"Holy shit…" Xiang Wenqing beside him also froze, staring blankly at that figure, then slowly turned her head to look at Xie Linzhou beside her.

"Isn't… that the cool guy from the boss's family?"