Chapter 502: Chapter 500: Alright, Eldest Maternal Uncle
Unlike Jiang Feng, who had only tried Riesling on his first bar visit and didn’t know much about other cocktails, Sister-in-Law had an astonishing capacity for alcohol. Amidst the slow and lodious guitar music, she downed several of Wu Jialiang’s specially mixed cocktails, comnting on each one after she finished.
More than half of the Margarita remained in front of Jiang Feng, while Sister-in-Law had already had three cups.
During the ti they had been drinking, a steady stream of custors entered the bar. Contrary to Jiang Feng’s expectation of patrons in their early twenties, most of these custors were around thirty, and so were even older.
The stage was still occupied only by the guitarist, who played one song after another without any sign of a singer.
“Wu Jialiang, have you opened a bar without even hiring a singer?” Sister-in-Law, already slightly drunk, called him by his na.
“My dear wife, the resident singer won’t arrive until 9 o’clock,” Wu Jialiang said with a smile.
He seed to have fallen in love with bartending, not leaving the bar at all. When custors ordered drinks, he mixed them; when not busy, he polished glasses, squeezing the original bartender out to do nothing during his shift but lazily listen to the guitarist play.
Sister-in-Law fell silent, resting her chin on the bar and staring at her drink, her face screaming boredom.
“Qiqi, were you scared when you saw Jialiang’s engagent today?” Sister-in-Law suddenly asked in a soft voice.
Because her voice was so low, Wu Minqi had to lean close to hear her.
“Scared?” Wu Minqi didn’t understand at first what Sister-in-Law was afraid of and took a mont to realize it.
The Wu Family Restaurant wasn’t corporately owned; it had always been a family inheritance, passed from father to son, and had operated this way for generations. Whoever was the head chef owned the restaurant, and although others might inherit different assets after Sir’s hundred years, they would definitely not get their hands on the restaurant. If it wasn’t for Wu Minqi dating Jiang Feng and the possibility of her voluntarily giving up the head chef position, she might beco the first female head chef in the history of the Wu Family Restaurant.
“What about you, Sister-in-Law? Have you ever regretted marrying my brother? He used to be so eccentric, and now…” Wu Minqi looked up, intending to glance at Wu Jialiang, only to realize he had left the bar and was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s still pretty eccentric, right?” Sister-in-Law laughed, “Why should I regret it? I snatched your brother from so many other girls, I’m thrilled.”
“So am I,” Wu Minqi laughed, “Sister-in-Law, you don’t need to overthink it. Since we started learning to cook, Grandpa told us that becoming a chef is a hard and lengthy process. So people stop at talent, so at laziness. There’s only one head chef position, and if you want it, you have to fight for it with your abilities.”
“Shu is nice, but it isn’t quite Beiping. Beiping City gathers so many excellent chefs. Why should I regret choosing a broader and more challenging place? There’s nothing to feel sorry about. I should be happy. What I’ve learned is the Wu Family’s culinary skills, and wherever I go, they are still Wu Family’s skills.”
“That’s wonderful,” Sister-in-Law murmured, “If only I were half as good as you, I wouldn’t be troubled by so many worries…”
Her words were cut short as the sound of a violin filled the air.
At so point, the person on the stage had changed. The original guitarist was gone, and in his place stood Wu Jialiang, at the center of the stage, playing the violin.
The deep and lodious sound of the violin wrapped around every corner of the bar.
Wu Jialiang, still dressed in his sowhat punk style with a spiky hairdo, squinted his eyes and played the violin with great focus.
He was strikingly eye-catching.
Unconsciously, Sister-in-Law turned around to lean against the bar, her gaze fixed on the stage, her eyes filled with Wu Jialiang, as if stars were twinkling in them.
“Qiqi, do you rember how I t your brother?” Sister-in-Law suddenly asked.
“I rember Jialiang telling it was because of a lawsuit.”
“Back then, I had just been promoted from assistant lawyer, and the first case I took on was your brother’s. He had just started teaching violin and lacked experience. His student didn’t even make it through the preliminary round of a competition, and the student’s parents made a fuss about refunds and compensation. It was a minor issue that didn’t even go to court; after negotiating for two days, both sides settled.”
While talking, Sister-in-Law continued to gaze unblinkingly at Wu Jialiang.
“During the negotiations, your brother played a piece to prove his skill. At that ti, I was thinking, such a handso guy should be an artist, playing the violin every day, not concerned with worldly troubles.” Sister-in-Law proved with her actions that she was indeed chard by appearances.
“Of course, reality proves that the trifles of daily life are quite nice after all, or else we wouldn’t even have soone to cook at ho.”
Wu Minqi laughed without saying anything.
The piece ended.
Soft applause arose in the bar, along with patrons gesturing for the waiter to ask if Wu Jialiang could play another piece.
Of course, playing another piece was out of the question. The singer who perford regularly had arrived, and singers were paid by the hour. Wu Jialiang’s wallet had been very tight lately; he needed to save every penny that he could.
After stepping down from the stage, Wu Jialiang disappeared for a few minutes, probably to put away his violin. He appeared again before Jiang Feng and Wu Minqi a few minutes later.
Jiang Feng had co to the bar tonight purely for a life experience, barely sipping his drink and hardly uttering a word. It wouldn’t have been proper to eavesdrop on Wu Minqi whispering with the lady in charge of the hall, so he simply sat at the bar, listening to guitar tunes and one violin piece personally played by the boss, all evening.
Still, Jiang Feng was quite excited, just as he used to be when sneaking off to the internet café with his deskmates in high school for an hour’s temporary session costing five yuan, wishing he could return and write a journal entry titled “A Day Trip to the Internet Café”.
The focus wasn’t the internet; it was the class teacher who might appear at any mont by the entrance of the café, where the thrill was, the excitent they sought.
“How about it, Qiqi, did your brother Jialiang look cool on stage just now?” Wu Jialiang popped up from sowhere unexpectedly.
“The serenade was nicely done,” Wu Minqi tactfully sidestepped Wu Jialiang’s question.
“Cool,” the lady in charge of the hall complinted generously. “You were so cool it was hard to look away. It would be even cooler if you clean up that pigsty you made on the couch this afternoon when you get ho tonight.”
Wu Jialiang turned slightly to avoid the embarrassnt and slipped behind the bar. Seeing Jiang Feng’s margarita largely untouched, he asked, “What’s wrong, not to your taste? Want to mix you another one?”
Jiang Feng shook his head quickly, “No, no, it’s delicious. I just have low tolerance for alcohol and am afraid of getting drunk, which might prevent from waking up tomorrow.”
Wu Jialiang let it go, though he seed quite willing to mix another drink for Jiang Feng.
Listening to their conversation seed to remind Wu Minqi of sothing. She glanced at her phone and imdiately stood up, “Brother Jialiang, we need to go—it’s already nine o’clock, and Jiang Feng has to catch a bus back tomorrow.”
Hearing Wu Minqi say this, Wu Jialiang didn’t insist on them staying any longer. “Next ti you have a chance, co again. Do you need to call a cab for you?”
“No need, I’ve already called one,” said Wu Minqi.
“Sister-in-law, we’re taking off,” Wu Minqi looked down at the lady in charge of the hall, who had collapsed back onto the bar after just a few words.
“Mhm,” she struggled to lift her head to nod and grabbed Wu Minqi’s sleeve, “Qiqi, once you’ve made your choice, don’t have any regrets.”
“I know, I won’t regret it,” Wu Minqi said with a smile. She was about to leave but turned back to ask, “Oh right, sister-in-law, what was the first piece my brother played for you? You didn’t say before.”
“The first ti? Oh, you an during that coordination, ‘Moon Reflected in the Second Spring’,” the lady in charge said before slumping back down, instantly drunk.
Wu Minqi: …
Beauty lies in the lover’s eyes indeed.
“Future brother-in-law, I hope next ti I see you, we can leave out the superfluous words. Take care on your way ho.” Wu Jialiang made sure his wife had safely passed out by the bar before waving goodbye to Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng was taken aback for a mont, then, adhering to the principle of never passing up a good deal, smiled and said, “Sure, big uncle.”
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