All the buildings in Linjiang Villa are designed with one elevator per household.
Shen Hechuan had casually brushed off Wu Huilan’s question that day, never expecting it would come back to bite him today, especially when she saw the bear slippers Qiao Le had worn.
Recalling Qiao Le’s comment about wanting to buy a pair just like them, Shen Hechuan thought that if he had known this would happen, he might as well have just given the slippers to Qiao Le.
Shen Hechuan knew that no matter what he said now, Wu Huilan wouldn’t listen.
She was convinced he was seeing someone, and that someone was a boy.
Wu Huilan truly didn’t believe him.
She couldn’t understand why her son wouldn’t admit it.
Same-sex marriage had already been legalized.
Although their family hoped for grandchildren, they weren’t an inflexible household.
Shen Hechuan’s behavior clearly showed he wasn’t taking the relationship seriously.
Thinking this, she looked at her son with disappointment:
“You’ve really let me down, playing with someone’s feelings like this.”
Shen Hechuan was unfairly blamed:
“I told you, there’s nothing between us.”
“Really now,” Wu Huilan said, “You just slipped up! Earlier you said there was no such person, and now you’re saying there’s nothing between you. Does that even make sense?”
Shen Hechuan: “…”
There was no point in saying more.
“Reflect on this yourself. When you’ve figured it out, bring the person home to meet us,” Wu Huilan said before leaving.
Shen Hechuan looked at the door that had just been slammed shut, his gaze falling back on the bear slippers under the shoe cabinet.
Bring the person home to meet them?
Bring who home?
Qiao Le?
Things were inexplicably heading in a surprising direction.
Shen Hechuan couldn’t help but imagine the scene.
It felt somewhat absurd, yet he had a feeling Qiao Le would probably win over his parents.
Good-looking, polite, and driven.
Such a young man would surely be well-liked by elders.
Realizing what he was thinking, Shen Hechuan quickly stopped himself, bent down to pick up the slippers, and put them back in the shoe cabinet.
It was a perfectly normal action, but after his mother’s baseless accusations, he felt as if he were trying to cover something up.
…This was truly madness.
Shen Hechuan shook his head to clear away these chaotic thoughts, turned around, and walked back, picking up the vibrating phone on the bar: “Hello.”
Pei Wenjing’s voice came through:
“Where are you? Why aren’t you here yet? Didn’t we agree on eight? What time is it now?”
Pei Wenjing had mentioned a new bar that was quite nice.
Knowing Shen Hechuan was probably stressed from being pressured by his family to marry, he had specifically organized a gathering with a few friends to relax, booking a spot for tonight at eight.
Shen Hechuan had planned to leave, but then Ms. Wu had suddenly shown up.
“I’m on my way now.”
Shen Hechuan hung up, changed his clothes, and headed out.
Arriving at the place, Shen Hechuan parked his car and went inside, following the waiter through the crowd to find Pei Wenjing and the others.
Today was a private gathering, with just him, Pei Wenjing, and two other acquaintances.
Shen Hechuan was late, so Pei Wenjing poured him a drink:
“Have a drink first, you’re so late. If you didn’t show up soon, we’d be wrapping up.”
This was an exaggeration.
Even if it wasn’t a high-energy bar, such places usually stayed open until two or three in the morning, and it wasn’t even ten yet.
Since they were already here, Shen Hechuan didn’t put on airs and took the drink, sipping it.
“Why are you so late today?” a friend beside him asked.
“You’re not still working overtime, are you? Don’t overdo it. Comparing yourself to others will only drive you crazy.”
Shen Hechuan placed the glass back on the table and poured himself another drink.
“No, my mom came over, so I got delayed a bit.”
Everyone present was familiar with each other, and they all knew Wu Huilan.
Upon hearing this, Pei Wenjing immediately asked, “Auntie Lan didn’t come to pressure you about marriage again, did she?”
Shen Hechuan leaned back slightly on the sofa and replied: “What do you think?”
Pei Wenjing: “You didn’t tell her I invited you out, did you? If she goes back and tells my mom, I’ll end up going on blind dates with you.”
“No,” Shen Hechuan replied.
Of course, he hadn’t mentioned it.
Among the four of them present, two were already married, leaving only him and Pei Wenjing single.
“I heard from A’Jing that you went on a blind date with Miss Cheng. How was it? Not a good match?” another friend asked.
“What kind of person do you like? Maybe we can keep an eye out for you.”
Before Shen Hechuan could respond, Pei Wenjing chimed in, “Wait, let’s broaden the scope a bit. Do you like men or women?”
Men or women?
Shen Hechuan hadn’t really thought about it in detail.
If he had to say, perhaps the first impression mattered most.
At the very least, it had to be someone who caught his eye, someone he’d like at first sight, or someone who made him feel comfortable.
It should at least be…
His thoughts paused as his gaze fell on a figure that flashed by in front of him.
Unconsciously, he tilted his head slightly, avoiding the obstructing people, and saw the person stop at a booth, bending slightly to place a tray of drinks on the table.
Qiao Le.
Shen Hechuan thought he might have been mistaken, but when the person turned around, he confirmed it was indeed him.
In the dim lighting of the bar, Qiao Le was dressed in a well-tailored shirt and slacks, carrying cocktails as he moved between the booths.
His upright posture and slender waist were impossible to ignore.
It was indeed Qiao Le, whom he had just met a couple of days ago.
What was he doing here?
And why was he wearing a waiter’s uniform?
Questions popped into Shen Hechuan’s mind.
Wasn’t Qiao Le working as a delivery guy?
And what about that “Let Me” platform?
Why was he here as a waiter?
Was he working another job?
Did he skip meals again today?
He was so engrossed in watching that he didn’t even notice what Pei Wenjing was saying beside him.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? What are you looking at?” Pei Wenjing, having spoken for a while without a response, followed his gaze and saw Qiao Le.
“Oh, you’re looking at him. No wonder.”
Shen Hechuan caught the subtle undertone in his words.
“What do you mean? Do you know him?”
“No,” Pei Wenjing pointed at Qiao Le.
“But it’s true that he’s really good-looking. I heard he’s the most popular waiter in this bar.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Hechuan saw someone at a booth stop Qiao Le and place something resembling a business card on his tray.
Qiao Le nodded at the person, said something, and then carried the tray to another area.
Pei Wenjing saw it too and remarked nonchalantly, “It’s either a business card or a tip. Before you arrived, quite a few people had already put things like that on his tray. I even saw someone slip him a room key.”
As he spoke, it seemed like he had figured something out.
He looked at Shen Hechuan and asked, “Do you like this type? Should I call him over to order a few drinks?”
Shen Hechuan withdrew his gaze and took a sip of his drink.
“No, it’s fine.”
He was just too surprised to see Qiao Le and couldn’t help but wonder how many jobs Qiao Le was juggling.
Was he made of iron?
Qiao Le wasn’t made of iron and was indeed feeling a bit tired.
The bar had been extremely busy these past few days.
From 6 PM to 4 AM, he barely had any downtime, constantly welcoming guests, taking orders, delivering drinks, seeing customers off, and cleaning tables.
The upside, though, was that he was making good money.
The bar had just opened, and the clientele weren’t poor or stingy.
Besides his base salary, he earned a decent amount from drink commissions and tips.
The only downside was having to constantly deal with guests asking for his phone number, WeChat, business cards, or even room keys.
For work convenience, he even had a secondary WeChat account specifically for handling guests he couldn’t afford to offend.
After delivering a round of drinks, Qiao Le returned to the bar counter.
Just as he set down the tray, someone bumped into him from behind.
“Move, don’t block the way.”
The person who bumped into him was also a bartender, carrying a tray with a bottle of imported liquor, brushing past Qiao Le.
The force of the collision made Qiao Le stagger half a step, but a colleague nearby quickly reached out to steady him.
“Thanks,” he said.
The colleague waved it off.
“That’s just how he is. Don’t take it personally. Before you came, he was the one who took the most orders and was the most popular. Now that you’re here, you’ve outshone him in everything, so naturally, he’s not happy.”
Qiao Le didn’t plan to hold a grudge.
He was only working here for three days and wouldn’t be coming back tomorrow.
There was no need to make enemies over a minor conflict, especially since he’d already made his money.
Tomorrow, he’d take Xiao Man out for pizza!
Thinking of his younger brother, Qiao Le felt half of his exhaustion melt away.
He picked up the drinks and order slips to make another round.
After placing the drinks on the table and saying, “Enjoy,” Qiao Le turned to leave.
As he passed by a booth, someone reached out to stop him.
“Wait.”
Qiao Le paused and looked at the person.
“Hello, how can I assist you?”
Pei Wenjing pointed at the person across from him and said with a grin, “I don’t need anything. Ask him what he wants.”
Qiao Le followed his gesture and unexpectedly locked eyes with Shen Hechuan.
Under the rotating lights, their gazes met in the interplay of light and shadow.
When Qiao Le saw Shen Hechuan, his eyes lit up, and he opened his mouth to speak.
For a moment, Shen Hechuan felt inexplicably nervous.
Two words spontaneously echoed in his mind.
The next second, he heard Qiao Le say, “Sir, what would you like to drink?”
Shen Hechuan: “…”
What was I even expecting?
U expecting him to call u husband🙂↔️🙂↔️