SWG Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ruan Shengyi noticed the woman sitting in the corner booth by the bar as she walked in with her bag.

The sun had just begun to set in the west, and it wasn’t long after work hours, so the bar was still quiet.

The woman was even quieter, hiding in the corner of the booth, half concealed in the shadows and half bathed in the azure light. She leaned against the wall, her chestnut-brown, slightly wavy hair almost completely obscuring her face.

Motionless.

In front of her was a drink that she hadn’t even touched…

“Drunk?” Ruan Shengyi pushed up her glasses, tilting her head to indicate that she was asking about the woman.

Behind the bar, a server in a white shirt and black pants, the most standard of outfits, shook their head. “Non-alcoholic. She’s been like that since she came in.”

“Did she meet the minimum spending requirement?”

“Yes, she did.”

Ruan Shengyi stopped concerning herself with it, hoisted her bag onto her shoulder, and went into the back room.

As the nightlife gradually became noisy, and the dim, rhythmic lights replaced the original quiet and gentle azure, Ruan Shengyi changed into a white shirt and black pants, adjusted the cufflinks on her wrists, and walked out from the back room.

“Wow, after not seeing you for a few days, how is it that the boss Ruan has become even more beautiful?”

Ruan Shengyi skillfully took half a step back, dodging the hand the woman reached out to touch her hair, gently adjusted her glasses, and took over the bartender’s work, saying softly, “What would you like to drink today?”

“Boss Ruan is personally serving today? Then I need to think about how to make things difficult for our beautiful woman.”

“Ten Gin Fizzes.”

Boss Ruan wasn’t flustered, placing the glass upside down on the counter. She simply raised an eyebrow, and before she could speak, the person ordering the drinks hurriedly stopped her, smiling apologetically. “Just kidding, Boss Ruan. Whatever you want, I’m easy.”

Ruan Shengyi lowered her gaze. “The price?”

“98, I think.”

“Then Red Rose, please.”

The woman flipped her hair, stretched languidly, leaned back against the bar, propped her cheek with one hand, and said with a smile, “Watching Boss Ruan make drinks is a real pleasure. It would be even better if you could offer me a shot.”

“Baijiu?”

“Sure, either way, I’ll just sleep here at the boss’s place if I get drunk. Can I unlock a secret level?” As she said that, she leaned in a different direction. “Boss Ruan is so pretty and has such a great figure, this sister really likes you.”

Ruan Shengyi knew the temperament of this regular customer; the more you paid attention to her, the more enthusiastically she would flirt, but in her heart, there really wasn’t any special meaning.

She only needed to raise her eyes and glance around, and this regular would naturally shut up.

However, her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the corner. The chestnut-brown hair looked exactly the same as before; it seemed that it hadn’t even moved in all this time.

Ruan Shengyi called over the bartender, apologized, handed over her work, took a small glass from the side, and slowly walked toward the booth hidden in the darkness.

The woman hadn’t fallen asleep as she had expected. Hearing her footsteps approaching, she immediately sat up straighter, brushing the tangled strands of hair from her face and saying softly, “Am I disturbing business? I’m sorry, I…”

Her voice was very gentle, with a hint of hoarseness as if she had been crying, and even in the noisy bar, it couldn’t hide that fragility.

Many strands of her disheveled hair stuck to her face, and her fair face had a pair of reddened eyes; even hidden in the darkness, her flushed eyelids couldn’t be concealed.

Enough to make someone’s heart skip a beat.

“No,” Ruan Shengyi interrupted her anxiety, and handed the small glass to the woman, who looked at her with confusion. “Today’s first shot, you came the earliest, it’s for you.”

The woman seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, supporting her forehead. “I’m sorry, I probably can’t drink today.”

“A drink? Can you drink something cold?”

“No, thank you.” She didn’t seem to be able to adapt to the atmosphere here, gripping her bag tightly, her body stiffening slightly.

Only then did Ruan Shengyi see her clothes clearly.

It was already autumn, with golden leaves and flowers blooming their last, but this woman was wearing plain white.

The inner layer seemed to be a white dress, reaching her knees, but the pattern was unclear, as it was hidden by her handbag and light gray knitted cardigan.

She probably thought this was some kind of unsavory place, and this was the first time she’d ever come, having lived for so long.

And she was an unhappy person, the forced smile revealing bitterness, even now trying to hide in the shadows.

However, white can’t hide in the darkness; it’s too obvious, and too dazzling.

Ruan Shengyi slightly curved her lips, gently pushing up her glasses with one hand, and asked softly, “Then what would you like to drink…”

“Wenyu! Where are you?” An extremely sharp female voice pierced through the noisy voices and music, directly interrupting the conversation between the two.

The woman apologized to the “bartender” again, before standing up and waving in the direction of the entrance.

Ruan Shengyi even doubted whether the person could see her from such a distance.

But she did see her.

The girl hurriedly ran over, saying sorry but not being polite at all, almost squeezing into the booth from next to Ruan Shengyi, throwing down her handbag, and immediately grabbing the hands of the woman called “Wenyu,” speaking very quickly.

“Wenyu, you scared me to death! You didn’t answer your phone or reply to messages. If I hadn’t run into that person at the entrance of Le Xin, I wouldn’t have known you came here.”

Le Xin was another bar, quite far from here.

Tonight Intoxicated was a relatively quiet bar, but Le Xin was a veritable disco; after night fell, it was as bright as morning, and the music hurt your ears.

“She knows I came here?” Xiao Wenyu subconsciously looked at the woman who had been standing there for so long.

Lu Ke followed her gaze and looked over, exclaiming in surprise, “Boss Ruan? Are you handing out bonuses today?”

“…” Ruan Shengyi searched her mind for the figure of the person in front of her, gradually remembering a red-faced person who often drank until she was unconscious. She said softly, “Lu Ke?”

Even though she got so drunk every time, she still remembered that she was the boss.

Lu Ke nodded with a smile, grabbed Xiao Wenyu’s hand, and introduced herself with a familiar air, “This is my friend, her name is Xiao Wenyu, the ‘Wen’ in gentle, the ‘Yu’ meaning to give.”

She jumped up and stood next to Ruan Shengyi. “Ruan Shengyi, the owner of this place, the famous beauty boss in the small bars on these few streets nearby.”

Xiao Wenyu nodded in greeting, brushing her hair from her temple. “Hello, Boss Ruan.”

“Hello.”

Ruan Shengyi really couldn’t accept Lu Ke’s intimate behavior, and she didn’t want to recall the suspicious look that Xiao Wenyu had subconsciously given her earlier. She took half a step back, saying, “You guys talk first, but…”

“Tonight Intoxicated will not disclose customer information, rest assured.”

“…”

She saw the proper smile on Xiao Wenyu’s face visibly stiffen for a moment, and a sense of mischievous joy inexplicably rose in her heart. She bowed slightly. “Call a server if you need anything, I’ll excuse myself.”

Lu Ke sweetly said goodbye, not caring whether the person had walked far away or not, turning her head to whisper to Xiao Wenyu, “I heard that Boss Ruan is still single. She’s so pretty, I wonder if she’s waiting for someone…”

Ruan Shengyi staggered a step, steadying herself on the bar. The bartender, who was free at the moment, came over to support her. “Boss, what’s wrong? Are you drunk?”

“No.” Boss Ruan replied briefly, secretly perking up her ears.

It was a bit far away, so she couldn’t hear clearly.

“Hey, boss, what are you doing?”

“Go take a stroll outside, I’ll work for a bit.”

“Hey, boss! Will I still get paid?”

“…”

Boss Ruan slowly raised her eyes and silently rolled her eyes.

The bartender immediately raised two fingers to the side of her head. “Alright, boss, enjoy yourself, I…”

Ruan Shengyi leaned against the side of the bar, interrupting her softly. “I thought about it, it’s a bit of a loss, you work, I’ll rest.”

“…” The bartender immediately wilted, lowering her head and muttering, “Miserly boss, I’m definitely getting you drunk tonight!”

“Okay.” Teacher Ruan supported her cheek with one hand, raising her eyebrows slightly. “I’ll wait for you.”

But her mind wasn’t on that. The conversation in the shadows, in the noisy environment, intermittently fell into her ears—

Xiao Wenyu’s voice was very pleasant, even through the noise, it could be heard quite clearly.

Lu Ke: “… Promise me, you’re not allowed to mute your phone anymore, okay? Good!”

Xiao Wenyu: “I was busy in the afternoon, I came here after I finished. I didn’t check my phone, sorry.”

Lu Ke: “Haven’t you heard a song called ‘Sad People Shouldn’t Listen to Slow Songs’? You’re coming here, isn’t that just making you sadder? Let’s go, with me to… Anyway, there are so many lively places besides Le Xin, you can’t stay here.”

Xiao Wenyu: “I’m really not sad.” She paused, saying before Lu Ke could, “I’m lying if I’m sad!”

Lu Ke hummed and leaned back against the backrest. “Then what are you doing? Reminiscing about your youth?”

The woman seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying slowly, “Did you see her, at Le Xin? Passing by, or…”

“Oh, why talk about her? She was with a few friends, dressed in gaudy clothes, clearly going to Le Xin to have fun.”

After a long while, Xiao Wenyu softly said “Oh,” and snuggled back into the corner of the booth, pushing the shot that Ruan Shengyi had placed in front of her towards Lu Ke, indicating that she was treating her to a drink.

Hearing the sound of the glass sliding across the table, Ruan Shengyi withdrew her listening ear. Lu Ke’s last joke, along with the music, dissipated in the air, while Boss Ruan…

Picked up a glass, casually wiping it.

“The boss is very abnormal tonight,” the bartender said, shaking her head.

Another bartender picked up the conversation: “Indeed, the boss is giving off a feeling of heartbreak.”

“Did the boss fall in love at first sight with someone?”

“Well, the boss is twenty-seven already, it’s time to find someone.”

The two sang in harmony, not even noticing the cold gaze that Boss Ruan raised. Before long, each of them received a flick on the forehead.

“Teasing the boss, half of your salary is deducted today.”

The person who started the conversation said with a stiff neck, “I’m going to make you a lethal dose of See You Tomorrow!”

Boss Ruan paused for a moment.

“Hmph, scared now, aren’t you?”

Ruan Shengyi: “Make me a non-alcoholic See You Tomorrow, at room temperature.”

“…? Then why don’t you just drink plain water.”

“Because I want to. If you make it well, I’ll give you a raise today.”

“Alright, you wait.”

Before long, a glass of extremely dreamy non-alcoholic drink was placed in front of Ruan Shengyi. Her bartender, who was never quite right in the head, crossed her arms, with an expression that said, “I’m waiting for your review.”

Boss Ruan took a tray from the side, carried the drink, and walked out of the bar.

“Hey, boss, where are you going…” The bartender slowly retracted her hand that was trying to stop her, but couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

The boss actually put this drink in front of that girl in the far corner.

Was this still her miserly boss??

Xiao Wenyu, who had been leaning against the soft sofa with her eyes closed, also slowly sat up straight, looked at the drink in front of her that had no condensation, and then looked at the woman who was appearing in front of her for the third time tonight.

Xiao Wenyu paused for a moment, squeezed her handbag tightly, and asked softly, “Why?”