No Ghosting Allowed

As they were talking, a commotion suddenly erupted from the far side of area C. Zhou Qingbo remembered that Pei You had gone in that direction and couldn’t help putting down the glass in his hand. He gave his position to the bartender from Black Bar and stood aside, poking Ge Xing, “What’s going on? Who did you introduce him to?”

“Honestly, this time it wasn’t me,” Ge Xing said. 

Ge Xing rubbed his chin and continued, “It’s probably his mom who arranged it. Auntie He is open-minded and stubborn for some reason. She’s afraid that Pei You will end up lonely and wants him to find a partner as soon as possible. I heard she even registered an account for Pei You on a matchmaking website.”

Zhou Qingbo: “…”

This must be a joke, Zhou Qingbo thought.

The commotion over at area C hadn’t stopped, but it didn’t seem too serious. Zhou Qingbo thought for a moment and waved to call a nearby server over.

“My friend is over there,” Zhou Qingbo said. “Go check what’s happening at booth 17, and if there’s any trouble, let me know.”

The server was quick on their feet and left immediately. Ge Xing teased Zhou Qingbo, saying, “You seem to care about him a lot.”

“He’s a good person,” Zhou Qingbo thought of the suit jacket with a faint scent of perfume from earlier in the afternoon. “It’s comfortable to be friends with him.”

“Oh, by the way,” Zhou Qingbo suddenly remembered something, looking towards the commotion in the distance. He casually said, “Talk to your friend, that old friend of yours, Auntie He and tell her not to set him up on blind dates. He’s not suited for them.”

“What is he suited for then?” Ge Xing asked.

“I think… he’s more suited to find someone with a good personality, similar interests, someone he can get along with gradually, and then feelings might develop over time,” Zhou Qingbo touched his chin, seemingly remembering something, and couldn’t help chuckling, “Otherwise, based on how he was during our blind date, I don’t think he’ll find a suitable partner.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Ge Xing said, grinning. “Maybe there are people who like that type.”

As they were talking, the server sent by Zhou Qingbo to check the situation had returned from the crowd. He held an empty tray in his arms, stood in front of the bar counter, and thought for a moment before asking, “Brother Zhou, which one is your friend?”

“The one in the suit, wandering around the bar like he’s working overtime,” Zhou Qingbo casually said.

“Oh, they have eight people at their table, including him. The others seem to be a group of young people. When I went over, they wanted to play a drinking game, but he didn’t want to drink, so they teased him a bit,” the server said. “I explained that there are no rules in this bar, but I think he wasn’t comfortable with the situation.”

Zhou Qingbo furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing that and glanced towards the commotion. After a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t say anything and reached behind the bar counter, taking out a bottle of Grey Goose vodka.

“Still there?” Zhou Qingbo asked.

“Yes,” the server replied. “They just brought up the drinking game.”

Zhou Qingbo nodded, tapped the counter with his hand, and Ge Xing leaned to the side. Zhou Qingbo lifted the counter barrier and walked out from behind the bar counter, bending down to go towards area C.

The server was a bit worried and wanted to follow, but Ge Xing stopped him with a gesture.

“No need to follow,” Ge Xing said, grinning. “He can handle it on his own. He’s not going there to fight.”

Booth 17 in area C was easy to find. It was a semi-open, medium-sized room, and there was now a group of people surrounding it. Zhou Qingbo stepped on the small steps of the booth and, before reaching Pei You’s side, he heard a very young male voice.

“You’re here to have fun, and yet you’re so boring,” the voice sounded displeased.

The voice was not only arrogant but also somewhat ambiguous. Zhou Qingbo was principled and protective of his friends. Upon hearing Pei You being insulted like that, he felt uncomfortable.

“Sorry,” Pei You’s voice still sounded calm. “I…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhou Qingbo had already taken large strides up the small steps of the booth. In the semicircular booth, Pei You was sitting on the far right. Zhou Qingbo put his hand on his shoulder and interrupted the rest of his words.

“What’s going on?” Zhou Qingbo leaned on Pei You’s shoulder, smiling wryly as he bent down and said, “I only caught half of what you were saying earlier and didn’t quite understand.”

Pei You hadn’t expected him to appear suddenly from behind. His back tensed for a moment, but when he saw it was Zhou Qingbo, he relaxed and moved his lips, not knowing what to say.

Zhou Qingbo was a regular at Black Bar, and to the regular customers, he was one of the three owners. He could stroll through the bar with ease just by showing his face.

The young man sitting in the center of the booth looked like he was in his early twenties. Seeing Zhou Qingbo approaching, his face turned stiff for a moment, and then he smiled at him.

“It’s nothing,” the young man said. “I just invited him to drink, but he refused.”

The young man appeared to be a student, Zhou Qingbo thought. He looked a bit familiar, probably a frequent visitor to Black Bar.

“You’re right,” Zhou Qingbo nodded and smiled. “No problem, he’s not used to this scene, so I’ll have a drink with you instead.”

Pei You, though slow to react, realized that Zhou Qingbo was venting for him.

But before he could say anything, he saw Zhou Qingbo stepping onto the booth’s steps, lifting the bottle of vodka from under the table. He pretended to pour a drink but lost his grip on the bottle. The slender bottle flew out of his hand and headed straight for the booth. The young man sitting in the center of the booth screamed in fright, stood up abruptly to dodge, but before he could move, Zhou Qingbo quickly maneuvered with the back of his hand, and the bottle returned to his hand.

“Sorry, I didn’t hold it firmly,” Zhou Qingbo said.

He said it without sincerity, and the boy’s face turned pale, obviously still in shock and looking very unsightly.

In area C, the lighting was much dimmer than at the bar counter, and Zhou Qingbai’s eyes were not accustomed to that darkness. So he squinted his eyes, making him look a bit fierce.

However, Pei You’s attention was clearly not on that—that day, Zhou Qingbai was wearing a T-shirt with a loose neckline, and when he bent over, the red string with a jade pendant around his neck fell out from the collar.

Pei You stared at the swaying emerald bamboo jade pendant in front of him and inexplicably felt his face warm up. His mind went blank, and he completely forgot what he wanted to say a moment ago.

“This drink is on me,” Zhou Qingbai said. There happened to be an empty Goldschlager glass in front of the boy. Zhou Qingbai filled it with vodka and smiled, making a gesture for the boy to drink.

Grey Goose vodka, forty degrees. After one glass, half of the bottle in Zhou Qingbai’s hand was empty. Everyone present fell silent, looking at each other, then fiddled with the table’s covering beneath.

Zhou Qingbai didn’t like dealing with kids who couldn’t make up their minds and didn’t want to cause a scene. So after a brief standoff, he straightened up and left the remaining half bottle of alcohol on their table.

“As I said, drinks on me.” After the slap was dealt, Zhou Qingbai waved his hand and called a waiter to bring a plate of candied fruit for them, instructing, “Serve them a platter of snacks as well.”

With that, he slightly bent down, grabbed Pei You’s wrist, and pulled him up.

“Let’s go,” Zhou Qingbai said. “Let me buy you a drink as well. “

At the bar counter, Ge Xing had disappeared, leaving only an empty glass on the table.

Zhou Qingbai led Pei You to the furthest corner of the bar counter, then bent down and entered the bar area, signaling the bartender to make room for him.

Pei You’s mind was still occupied with the swaying emerald bamboo pendant. He was taken away by Zhou Qingbai in a daze and only just realized what was happening. He hurriedly said thanks.

“Thanks for what?” Zhou Qingbai didn’t stop moving and took out several small shot glasses. Without looking up, he smiled and said, “Those people are just playing around, but they are so unpredictable After drinking, they can do anything so you should stay away from them.”

Zhou Qingbai didn’t use any fancy techniques as he usually did; he just quickly brought up a glass of clear yellow liquid from under the table and handed it to Pei You.

“This is Cinderella,” Zhou Qingbai said, ” it’s alcohol-free.”

The color of that drink was warm and bright, with a sweet orange juice aroma. Pei You’s fingers moved, and he didn’t know why, but he suddenly wanted to explain.

“I’m not completely against drinking,” Pei You said. “But I drove today.”

“It’s okay, I just think this one suits you better,” Zhou Qingbai said with a smile. “You don’t seem like someone who can hold his alcohol.”

That was true, so Pei You didn’t refute. Instead, he silently pushed the glass of alcohol-free cocktail closer to himself.

“By the way, don’t come to a bar to find a date next time,” Zhou Qingbai said while sitting behind the bar counter, supporting his chin. “Those young kids are reckless, love to play around, and definitely not suitable for you.”

“It depends on the person,” Pei You sipped his drink and said softly, “It’s more about character not necessarily related to personality.”

“I don’t know. Do you really like someone who is lively and outgoing?” Zhou Qingbai felt something was off when he heard that topic and raised his eyebrows in surprise. He clicked his tongue lightly and said, “Then your personality won’t do. If you continue dating like this all rigid and uptight, you won’t find a boyfriend even in your next life.”

Zhou Qingbai himself was the chief victim of Pei You’s “straight-style dating”, so he knew well that no gay outgoing man would date Pei You with that personality. He genuinely felt worried for him.

“Do you really want to find a partner?” Zhou Qingbai asked curiously.

“It’s always better to have someone than to be alone,” Pei You said.

“Then you really need to upgrade yourself a bit. Dating requires skills,” Zhou Qingbai pondered for a while, suddenly had a bright idea, and thumped his hand with passion, saying, “Alright, how about I teach you?”