CH 8

“Golden Glory” was a big, classy bar where no one dared to behave too presumptuously, so although Luo Wencheng’s old “friends” knew from various sources that he was working there and came to him every day to find fault, they were basically just sarcastic, difficult or looking for reasons to make him drink.

Compared to the other waiters, Luo Wencheng had to work extra hard, but it was much better than in his previous life.

“Gack!” Luo Wencheng rushed into the bathroom, held onto the sink and vomited up all the alcohol he had just poured in, together with a lot of gastric acid. His whole face was flushed, his eyes filled with tears.

“Brother Luo, are you all right?” He was followed by a newly recruited waiter, Xiao Chen, who was a year younger than Luo Wencheng and was on good terms with him. At this moment Xiao Chen patted him on the back and said indignantly, “Those people are too much. Every time they come, they have to pour you wine. We are waiters, not drinking companions.”

Luo Wencheng rinsed his mouth and then splashed a handful of water on his burning face. He finally gathered himself, took a tissue to wipe his face and said in a muffled voice, “Who’s to blame that I’ve offended them before? I deserve to be poured a few drinks, it’s good that I didn’t get beaten up.”

“But that’s too much.” Xiao Chen said with some disappointment, “The manager doesn’t care about those people either. I see him smiling all day long, but I didn’t expect him to be so indifferent.”

Luo Wencheng looked straight at him, “Stop saying that, how can the manager control such things? They are customers, they just ask the waiter to have a few drinks, and they give tips, so it’s not a big deal. If the manager interferes, it will seem that our bar is petty. What’s more, those people are originally coming at me. It’s good enough that the manager doesn’t think I’m causing trouble and lets me stay.”

He paused for a moment and patted his pocket with a smile, “Just a few drinks and a good tip, I have to thank them for that.”

Luo Wencheng’s eyes were a light amber colour and he usually looked a little distant and alienated, but when he smiled, his eyes curved and his temperament immediately softened.

In the past half a month, his complexion had improved a lot. His skin was white and rosy, and his shrivelled body also filled out and straightened. His hair was growing fast, dark and soft, slightly messed up and falling gently on his forehead. At this moment, when he smiled under the electric light, his eyebrows and eyes were beautiful, and his whole temperament was like that of a hero who walked out of a romantic movie.

Xiao Chen looked dumbfounded and thought to himself: Brother Luo seems to be looking better and better every day. He was silent for a while and then sighed, “Brother Luo, I understand, but your temper is really too good.”

Luo Wencheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a low voice, “It doesn’t have anything to do with a good or bad temper, that’s how you make a living, right? Go to work, I’ll take a break for a moment.”

After Xiao Chen left, the toilet was completely quiet. Luo Wencheng propped his hands on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror with an indifferent expression.

Was his temper good? If he didn’t have his own agenda, why would he be greeting people with a smile at this place day in and day out? Unfortunately, half a month down the line, there was not the slightest news about Lu Jiuye. When exactly was he going to come? Counting the time, it should be in the next few days.

Click.

Luo Wencheng instantly changed his expression to blank. Was there someone else in the toilet?

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The mirror reflected the doors of the cubicles behind him. One of them opened and a tall man stepped out of it.

At first Luo Wencheng was a little embarrassed to be overheard, but then he stared at the man in wonder. Why did he look familiar? If his right eye was covered with a cloth patch…

You can’t really watch people in the mirror. Luo Wencheng turned around abruptly. The bathroom wasn’t large and the man had already walked behind him and slightly raised his eyebrows at Luo Wencheng’s excited reaction, then came to another sink to wash his hands.

Luo Wencheng stared into those deep eyes for a moment and clearly saw the scar on the man’s right eyelid under his thick, sharp eyebrow.

It looked like a knife cut or like a scrape left by rough debris. It was not a light injury at a glance; no wonder he had to keep his right eye under the patch at that time. Luo Wencheng thought that the man was one-eyed and was following news of one-eyed people everywhere these days.

“You…” Luo Wencheng almost shivered in excitement.

Lu Chong cast a sideways glance at him again. He was tall; even when he slightly bent over to wash his hands he was a little taller than Luo Wencheng. His haughty gaze was deep and penetrating, full of a powerful pressure. Luo Wencheng’s voice suddenly stuck in his throat. He sensibly noticed that the man in front of him was different from the person who gave him food and drink that night and who was talking to him in a peaceful tone.

Like the first time their eyes met, the man’s gaze made him tense in nervousness, sensing the danger.

The faint scent of tobacco reached him, clear and crisp like grass in the snow. It was so special that Luo Wencheng couldn’t tell if it was really tobacco or some perfume, but he quickly calmed down and said deliberately, “Hello, do you, do you remember me?”

The kindness of giving him food that night, the few thousand yuan that saved him from embarrassment and the man’s tone that was so calm and gentle; Luo Wencheng had received so little help in his life that a gift like that was too precious to him.

Lu Chong’s expression remained unchanged and he didn’t seem to know what Luo Wencheng was talking about. He shook the drops of water from his hands and drew two paper towels to wipe them, a casual action that he did with an innate ease.

“Something wrong?” His eyes were cold.

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“Ah…” Luo Wencheng was slightly surprised. This reaction… he didn’t recognise him?

No, although it was too dark that night, the two of them were not far away from each other, so they could see each other clearly, right? Or was it that he had changed too much?

But then again, maybe the man didn’t even think about it. The dark night, the homeless person he met, the food and the wallet he threw at him carelessly…

It was just a trivial thing…

The loss Luo Wencheng felt was inexplicable.

He was standing dumbfounded by the hand dryer with a silly look on his wet face that he forgot to wipe. He looked white and clean, his hair was soft, the ends of his eyes were tinged with red from the liquor he had drunk. With his moist eyes he looked particularly innocent and confused.