It had been many years since they last met and contacted each other. Her impression of him was so vague that she had almost forgotten his existence.
But still she remembered.
The last conversation they had was not a pleasant one.
They weren’t in a relationship where he would approach her and help her when she was in trouble.
The first thought that came to her mind:
He must’ve mistaken me for someone else.
However, another thought came to mind.
It could also be possible that Sang Yan had gradually matured and broadened his mind in recent years. He had let bygones be bygones. It was simply a polite gesture to a former schoolmate he just met.
Wen Yifan regained her thoughts. She handed him his coat with doubts and curiosity in her eyes.
Sang Yan didn’t take it as his eyes ignored her hands. Then, he muttered, “I’m the owner of this bar.”
Wen Yifan’s hand froze in mid-air. She was stunned.
For a moment, she was dumbfounded.
Is he introducing himself?
Or is he showing off that he is doing well now, becoming a boss at such a young age?
She was distracted and recalled what Zhong Siqiao had said previously under such circumstances.
——“The owner of this bar is said to be ‘The Icon’ of the Depraved Street.”
She couldn’t resist glancing at his face several times.
His black hair, defined brows, and pitch-black eyes were even more grim-looking under the lights.
His rebellious vibe back in those days was gone, his youthful facial features had grown distinctively masculine. He had a tall and thin figure, his black attire couldn’t hold back his effortless arrogance.
He was ‘The Icon’.
He seemed to live up to that title.
Sang Yan muttered again, catching her attention.
“My surname is Sang.”
“……”
Is he telling me his surname?
So, he didn’t recognize me. He was just introducing himself.
Wen Yifan understood the situation, and calmly replied, “Is there something?”
“My apologies. Due to our mistake, we have caused you trouble and inconvenience.” Sang Yan said, “Miss, if you need anything, please do not hold back to tell us. Besides, your bill tonight is on us, I hope your mood isn’t ruined because of our mistake.”
He was addressing her as “Miss”, but Wen Yifan felt that she wasn’t respected.
His tone of speech was still the same. He spoke slowly and lazily, and he sounded coldly annoying.
Wen Yifan shook her head and politely replied, “No, it’s fine.”
Sang Yan’s furrowed brows were immediately relaxed, he seemed relieved. His tone of speech softened, he nodded and said, “Then please excuse me.”
He left as soon as he finished his sentence.
Wen Yifan was still holding his coat in her hands, she subconsciously called out, “Sang…”
Sang Yan turned.
She realized they were both strangers at the moment when she met his eyes. His name “Yan” remained stuck in her throat.
Wen Yifan was stunned, she didn‘t know how to address him.
The atmosphere was awkwardly silent. Her mind was replaced by what she thought earlier, two words popped up in her mind when she was flustered. She stared at his face and uttered slowly, “…The Icon.”
“……”
They exchanged looks.
The world was quiet once again.
Wen Yifan seemed to notice his brows twitched in that seemingly static moment.
“……”
Hmm?
What did I just say?
Sang, The Icon.
Sang. The. Icon.
Oh.
Sang……
F*ck.
Ahhhhhhh!
Sang, The Icon!!!
“……”
Wen Yifan stopped breathing, she almost failed to maintain her expression. She didn’t dare to look at him. She pressed her lips together and handed over his coat once again, “Your coat.”
The best solution is to do whatever I’m used to doing before this. Nothing happened if I acted like nothing’s wrong.
She would simply forget what she just did.
However, Sang Yan didn’t give her the chance to.
He tilted his head and repeated slowly, “Sang, The Icon?”
Wen Yifan pretended like she didn’t understand what he meant, “What?”
There was complete silence for a moment.
Sang Yan looked at her, surprised. “Ah” He seemed like he figured out. He smirked like he was confident of what she was thinking, “I’m sorry, this is a decent and proper bar.”
“……”
He probably was implicating something else.
I know I’m captivating, but I never considered having services like this, please show some respect!
Wen Yifan wanted to clarify herself, but she felt unable to explain herself clearly.
She secretly sighed. Not wanting to start a conflict since they would not be seeing each other again in the future, she went with the flow and lamented, “Really? What a pity.”
“……”
Sang Yan’s expression stiffened for a moment.
It seemed like she had misinterpreted.
Wen Yifan blinked. His expressions remained calm and unchanged. However, she was not bothered, and she smiled politely before mentioning again, “Your coat.”
Sang Yan still didn’t have the intention to take it back.
In the next ten seconds, Wen Yifan noticed he was staring at her lips. His gaze intense as if he was lost in thoughts.
All he did was stare……
“You aren’t happy to have my clothes?” Sang Yan paused and suddenly smirked
“……”
Wen Yifan, “?”
“Although I’m not quite sure, but I seem to be more well-known than the bar, right?” He lifted his eyebrows playfully, and he gave her a chance to escape from their embarrassing situation, “Take it back as a souvenir.”
“……”
“Did he really just say that?” Zhong Siqiao reconfirmed again before bursting into laughter, “D*mn, why didn’t he just tell you to take it back and frame it?”
Wen Yifan muttered, “That’s what he meant.”
Zhong Siqiao held her laughter in and comforted her, “Don’t take it too seriously. Maybe this kind of situation has happened several times, Sang Yan must’ve assumed you were here to see him.”
“Did you forget why we were here?”
“Ah?”
“The word should be ‘get laid’.” Wen Yifan added, “Just ‘seeing’ was not worthy of his actions.”
“……”
Zhong Siqiao started laughing again.
Wen Yifan also smiled, “Come on, stop laughing. Laugh all you can when he’s gone, he’s still sitting there.”
The barstools in front of the bar were all occupied, Sang Yan was sitting at the outermost seat. He picked up a transparent glass from the table top and took a sip of liquor slowly. He was calm and relaxed, like a young and unruly master.
Zhong Siqiao finally behaved herself upon listening to her.
It so happened that the waiter who previously spilled the wine came.
The waiter was a male waiter, he looked young because of his baby fat on his face. He was holding a tray in his hand, and carefully poured and served liquor. Then, he returned the money paid by Wen Yifan, he slipped the money between the receipt and the bill holder.
“This is your liquor.”
Wen Yifan looked at the money, “This is…”
The waiter immediately explained without letting her finish her sentence. He looked slightly uneasy, “I’m sorry, it was all my fault just now. My boss has given orders that your bill will be on us.”
This was when Wen Yifan remembered what Sang Yan had said just now.
She stunned, and subconsciously declined, “It’s okay, I don’t need it. You can take the money back.”
The waiter shook his head, “You can call me anytime if you need anything else, anything but this.”
He was determined, and Wen Yifan didn’t continue insisting. She picked up the coat on the side, “I found this coat in the corridor when I went to the washroom just now. Maybe a customer dropped this.”
The waiter quickly took it from her, “Alright, thank you.”
Zhong Siqiao winked at her when he left, “What happened?”
Wen Yifan gave a brief explanation.
Zhong Siqiao glared, “Why did you pay when he said he’ll pay?”
“It’s not easy to open a business,” Wen Yifan took a sip of liquor, “There is no need for me to accept a few hundreds of his money for a simple matter.”
“Why are you still worried about the hardships of the son of a rich man? The young man is not rich for a day or two.” Zhong Siqiao added, “Anyways, he really doesn’t remember you?”
Wen Yifan speculated reasonably, “He might not.”
“Means he doesn’t?” Zhong Siqiao thought it was absurd, and she blurted out, “Hey, don’t you know what you look like? Do you think you’re really ordinary when your name has a ‘Fan’ word in it?”
*The word ‘Fan’ in Ping Fan means normal, ordinary.
“……” Wen Yifan nearly choked, she was speechless and thought she was funny, “Your tone makes me think that you’re scolding me.”
It was understandable why Zhong Siqiao thought her answer was unreasonable.
Because Wen Yifan was really beautiful.
Her extremely enchanting and sultry appearance was a total contrast with her gentle personality. Her foxy and slight upward-slanting eyes could seduce people, and every gesture of hers was full of charm.
She looked like she was glowing, even if she was sitting in a dimly lit bar.
Zhong Siqiao always thought how she would have made a living out of that appearance.
Little did she know that she would end up working as a miserable journalist.
“You don’t look different from your high school years, it’s just that your hair is much shorter than before……” She noticed what was happening at Sang Yan’s side, and she quickly changed her mind, “Alright, that could be possible too.”
“……”
“By what he had offered you, he must’ve dated many girls for years. As well as girls who look similar to you.”
Wen Yifan supported her chin with her hand and looked in the direction of Sang Yan.
This time, there was a woman beside him.
The woman seemed fearless of the cold, she was wearing a tight-fitting short skirt, revealing her fair and straight legs. She was leaning against the bar, tilting her head and having a toast with him. She smiled gracefully as her curves were accentuated by her actions.
Sang Yan looked at her with a smirk on his face.
The atmosphere was elevated under the sensual ambience.
The topic was short-lived, Zhong Siqiao started to talk about something else.
Her attention was pulled back by Zhong Siqiao’s voice. Wen Yifan stopped looking at him and continued chatting with her.
After a long time.
The female singer finished singing her last song. Wen Yifan was aware of the time, and she asked, “It’s almost ten o’clock, shall we leave?”
Zhong Siqiao replied, “Alright.”
Both of them got up and left.
Zhong Siqiao held onto Wen Yifan’s arm. She looked at her smartphone and said, “Xiang Lang just told me that he will return to China next month. We can ask him to come with us next time. We should go clubbing, this is a bit boring.”
Wen Yifan replied, “Alright.”
Before leaving, she glanced at the bar again.
Sang Yan was still sitting in his original position, and the women next to him seemed to have changed. He still had a cold expression on his face, as if he was indifferent to everything.
The unexpected reunion with her was just like what he presented, she was just another stranger he met.
Wen Yifan was lost in her thoughts.
She inexplicably recalled the day they last met before they broke off contact.
It was a quiet but chilly night and there was no moon. Thick fog and dark clouds were oppressing the small town, while rain drizzled down. The only lit light was flickering in a narrow alley, where the moths flew into it without hesitation.
A young boy’s hair was drenched, his eyelashes were covered in water droplets. He had fair skin and his sparkle in his eyes was wiped out.
Everything seemed unreal.
She couldn’t remember what state of mind she was in.
She only remembered.
Sang Yan’s voice was hoarse as he called out for the final time, “Wen Yifan.”
Then, he looked down and smiled wryly, “I’m not that lacking, am I?”
She remembered it clearly.
He gave up his pride and regarded himself as filth that people would avoid.
“Don’t worry,” He smiled, “I won’t bother you anymore.”
Yu Zhuo had been feeling uneasy all night since he spilled wine on his customer. He was extra cautious for the rest of the night to avoid repeating the same mistake, yet he once again reignited the anger of his boss.
He went to clean the tables once the customers left.
When he was clearing the glasses, he noticed some cash was slipped underneath the receipt on the bill holder.
His movements stopped.
He also noticed a bracelet that was under a chair.
Yu Zhuo reached for it and walked back to the bar with a stiff expression. He pushed the serving tray inwards and said to the blonde bartender, “Brother He, the customer from k11 dropped something.”
He Mingbo took it from him, He looked up and said, “By the way, the coat you gave me looked so much like Brother Yan’s.”
“Ah, I don’t know. The customer said she picked it up in the toilet.” Yu Zhuo scratched his head when he thought of the money, “Bro, Brother Yan told me to cancel the bill from that table. But k11 didn’t leave with the returned money. Should I tell him? “
He Mingbo glared at him, “Go and admit your mistakes.”
“……” Yu Zhuo was dumbfounded, he felt that he had to explain himself, “Bro, I don’t intend to take the money, the customer from k11 didn’t take it. I even told her to keep it several times.”
He Mingbo took a transparent bag to keep the bracelet before he smirked, “Brother Yan will not be so reasonable.”
“……”
He’s right.
Although he agreed, however, when Yu Zhuo went upstairs to find Sang Yan, he still felt miserable.
He previously noticed Sang Yan was sitting in front of the bar all night, he didn’t know when he went upstairs to the second floor. He was now sitting at the innermost sofa seat, his expression calm as ever.
He didn’t know if Sang Yan had listened to what he said.
Sang Yan remained silent while casually playing around with the transparent glass in his hand.
The atmosphere was overwhelmingly suffocating.
Yu Zhuo braced himself and said, “This may not be the money for the drinks, I overheard the two customers say……”
He suddenly realized that what he was about to say was not appropriate, so he stalled, “It was very noisy around that area, so I couldn’t hear them clearly. But I’m sure… It’s just, just……”
Yu Zhuo stuttered when he met Sang Yan’s ice-cold eyes, and he quickly finished his words, “I heard the customer’s friend asked her if she came to see Brother Yan, and she said no.”
Sang Yan’s eyelashes slightly fluttered.
Yu Zhuo added, “Then, she said… she… came to… get laid…”
Sang Yan “……”
Sang Yan “?”
“So, this may be your fee for it……”
“…”
