Between Us : Chapter 15: Someone’s Picking Me Up

Coming out of the restroom, Chen Qian went back along the same route to the supervisor’s office. Zhao Chuan, freshly done with his business, was glowing with satisfaction. He readily processed Chen Qian’s return from leave, then looked him up and down from head to toe: “You’re dressed like this?”

Chen Qian naturally couldn’t compare to Yuan Shuang, whose dressing style was bold and revealing. He pulled his coat tighter, his expression calm as water: “I’ve always been like this.”

Zhao Chuan didn’t like him, but he was only a supervisor, while his second uncle was the boss of Elk who had Chen Qian’s back. No matter how much they clashed, he couldn’t casually trip him up, or else the supervisor position he got for nothing wouldn’t be secure either.

Chen Qian finished processing his leave just in time for his shift. He didn’t go into the main floor yet, but went up to the break room first to take off his coat.

The break room had a locker for every employee. Across from the lockers was a full wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Elk had strict rules: employees had to tidy up their appearance and attire before starting work.

The night crowd hadn’t arrived yet, so many people were gathered in front of the mirrors dawdling, straightening bow ties, tucking in shirt hems, applying makeup.

Yuan Shuang was there too, wearing black suspenders so thin they were straps, with nothing underneath. He had trained in dance for years, so his shoulder and arm lines were practically perfect. His chest and back were boldly exposed, and everyone around him was already used to it.

Chen Qian only glanced over briefly. He folded his coat and put it in his locker, pocketed his phone, and walked out of the break room.

The people who came to spend money at Elk fell into three types. The first type had money and knew how to have fun, directly ordering a host or hostess for the full package of drinks, dancing, and bed. The second type had no money but was addicted, circling the dance floor, getting handsy to see if they could pick someone up to take home. The remaining type didn’t care how much they spent, and might not even be regulars at Elk, just looking for a good time.

Chen Qian didn’t work as a host, nor did he go to the dance floor to give people a chance to grab his butt. He just carried a bottle of wine and wandered the floor, looking for those easy marks who were generous with tips and easy to string along.

This kind of work that went hand in hand with alcohol usually couldn’t be sustained through the second half of the shift. Newbie atmosphere coordinators with no one to guide them easily got others pouring drinks down their throats, and ended up foolishly getting taken away and deflowered.

Chen Qian was sharp. Before reeling in an easy mark, he had the bartender mix him a bottle of grapefruit juice with alcohol. Grapefruit sobered you up and woke you up, and he even sipped it through a straw, so one bottle could last him a long time.

Of course not all easy marks would fall for it. Customers with bad intentions would push the drinks brought over to the atmosphere coordinator’s face, claiming however much you drank was however much tip you got.

Chen Qian would then propose playing drinking games. The liar’s dice he played with Xu Jie that day was just the most common type. He played more complicated ones with them, cleverly setting traps for people. When they lost, he would pretend to be generous and take a tiny sip, then push the glass in front of the customer: “Boss, your turn.”

On the surface it was giving them a way out, but in reality he was playing the easy mark’s emotions.

The one in front of him now wasn’t easy to get drunk. After three rounds his eyes were still clear and bright. Apparently he worked as an executive assistant, and could really hold his liquor.

The other person’s gaze burned as he stared at Chen Qian’s lip piercing, his words ambiguous: “I’ve never seen someone with pearls inlaid by their mouth. Doesn’t it scrape your tongue when you kiss?”

Chen Qian propped his chin, subtly sliding the wine glass toward the customer: “Why don’t you try it and find out.”

People who came here to spend money liked those who played along. That person immediately tried to hook Chen Qian’s chin, but Chen Qian raised his hand to block him: “Don’t rush. The pearls are right here.”

Under the customer’s puzzled gaze, Chen Qian pinched the pointed collar at his chest, holding the pearl dangling from the collar corner between his thumb and forefinger. The gesture was full of suggestion, and the view beneath the sheer shirt became even more obvious without the long pointed collar covering it.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated against his thigh. Chen Qian slipped his hand into his pocket to fumble for it and pressed decline, his gaze flicking toward the customer’s crotch, clearly seeing that the arrow was already on the bowstring.

Anyone experienced could tell from someone’s expression how drunk they were. Chen Qian studied the other person’s eyes, his brows and eyes carrying a smile: “Drink two more bottles and then we’ll go eat pearls, okay?”

With a clatter, Xu Jie’s urgent movement to stand up knocked over a cup sitting on the coffee table.

The spilled water soaked the homework paper spread out on the table. He scrambled to grab tissues to soak up the water, his full attention on the words coming through the earpiece, not noticing that he had rubbed the paper to shreds.

“Chen Qian, where are you?” Xu Jie tried to make out the background noise through the phone. “Chen Qian!”

But all that reached his ears was the raucous background music, so loud it felt like his eardrums would burst. Chen Qian’s voice was mixed in there, light and drifting, like headphones malfunctioning, sounding incredibly distant.

Even so, Xu Jie caught a few words—

“…great, again…your mouth…even better.”

“…poke me…powerful…”

“…good…all up to you.”

“…good boy…”

But in reality—

“This wine is a new shipment Elk just got in. The taste is great. Want to drink a little more?” He was about to get the person drunk and down. Chen Qian’s attitude became eager. He leaned forward to pour out the expensive imported wine from the bottle, the two pointed collars adorned with pearls swaying before the customer’s eyes with the movement. “When you’re done I’ll reward you with something that tastes even better.”

He signaled for a server to come over with more wine. The colleagues were familiar with each other. That server set down the wine and stared dumbfounded as he gathered up the scattered tips on the table, all fifties and hundreds: “Qian Ge, this guy is pretty generous.”

“If he wasn’t generous I wouldn’t bother with him.” Chen Qian stacked the tips neatly, folded them in half, and pocketed them. He took a wine glass and pressed it against the other person’s flushed face. “Boss, still have the strength to eat pearls?”

That person had collapsed in the booth, his suit open, his glasses askew: “Eat! Anyone who says they don’t have strength is trash!”

“Alright, alright, whatever you say.”

Chen Qian called over several servers to work together to help that easy mark up to a private room on the sixth floor. Someone leaned in by his ear to ask his opinion: “There are still a few hosts free over there, all the ones who usually don’t get much business. Should we pick one to send up to this big boss?”

“Of course. Someone as drunk as him is the easiest to serve,” Chen Qian instructed. “Remember, pick a good obedient one.”

He had earned quite a bit tonight. Chen Qian was in high spirits and was about to move on to the next table. If things went smoothly he could clock out early. The outer side of his thigh was vibrating again until it went numb. He pulled out his phone and saw it was a call from Xu Jie.

The weather had been bad lately. Once night fell it would drizzle, fine and dense, noisy and irritating.

The English test paper spread out on the coffee table was still wet. A large patch in the middle had been rubbed to pieces by the tissues. He probably couldn’t tape it back together even with clear tape, so Xu Jie didn’t waste the effort. Anyway, even if he taped it back together he wouldn’t understand it. At most White Snake Lady would chew him out.

But right now, compared to worrying about getting scolded, what weighed more on his mind was the call he had personally cut off seconds ago.

Chen Qian was sweet-talking someone, but it wasn’t him.

When Chen Qian sweet-talked him, it was cupping his face, it was rubbing his nose.

When Chen Qian sweet-talked others, it was being tame and obedient, it was putting his body into it, it was full of praise.

The clock hand was fast approaching ten. Xu Jie couldn’t sit still anymore. He dialed that number again. This time Chen Qian picked up quickly: “Hello?”

“It’s me.” The secondhand sofa was about to get its leather scratched through by Xu Jie. “The hot water is about to shut off. How much longer until you’re home?”

Chen Qian left the inner floor and found a quiet hallway: “I’ve already showered. It’s fine.”

Xu Jie was going to make it not fine: “Where are you?”

Chen Qian said: “At Elk.”

“Lost?” Xu Jie shot to his feet, grabbed his school uniform jacket and threw it on. “What landmarks are around you? I’ll come find you.”

After playing along all night, Chen Qian’s throat was dry and his face couldn’t hold any expression. But at this moment he laughed despite himself: “It’s the Elk of ELK.”

“Did you drink?” Xu Jie couldn’t forget what Chen Qian looked like drunk. Quiet one moment, rowdy the next, but never annoying. The only downside was being too unguarded, not knowing to push away people with ill intentions.

“Drank a little.” In a few words Chen Qian had recovered. “I’ll hang up now. If you’re sleepy go to sleep first. Leave a light on for me by the door.”

Xu Jie had already changed his shoes. Hearing this he was slightly stunned, not finding the right footing for a moment.

The umbrella stand by the door held colorful umbrellas, neither more nor less, exactly four. Xu Jie thought fast on his feet: “I’ll bring you an umbrella.”

Chen Qian was taken aback. In the fully enclosed environment he had no idea what the weather was like outside: “It’s raining again?”

“Yes,” Xu Jie exaggerated. “It’s raining hard.”

This wasn’t the first time this kind of situation had happened. Chen Qian said: “It’s fine. Someone’s picking me up.”

Actually Jiang Linsheng probably didn’t have time to come. There was a lot of work before a business trip, and Chen Qian understood boundaries. Even when lovers were inseparable like glue, they still had to give each other space.

He pocketed his phone and went back into the main floor. In just that short while, the crowd’s enthusiasm in the hall had surged several dozen degrees. The lights shifted unpredictably, and the dance floor was howling like ghosts and wolves. Hundreds and thousands of raised arms waved in the air, like a haunted graveyard.

This scene was familiar to Chen Qian. Yuan Shuang was about to go on stage.

The pole dancer’s work and the atmosphere coordinator’s work didn’t interfere with each other. Chen Qian searched the surrounding booths on his own. He had his eye on a table of male college students. If he guessed right, they were people from the student union’s external relations department working their mouths off to pull sponsorship. He wanted to go join in the fun.

The business representative sitting in the middle looked refined, but his expression was stern. He gripped a signing pen and pointed here and there on the preliminary contract. The several college students sitting around exchanged glances, all at a loss.

But what proper person would come here to talk contracts? If they couldn’t reach an agreement, it could only be because the service hadn’t been delivered yet.

When Xu Jie found Chen Qian, the latter was nestled in a booth pouring wine for a man in a suit, his shoulder rubbing against the man’s arm, his waist twisting like it could churn out waves. That wasn’t all. Beneath the table, his raised toes were kicking the calf of the person across from him. The guy across was so flustered by the teasing he couldn’t sit still, his hand pressed tightly over his crotch that couldn’t be looked at closely.

Compared to the scene that day when he had used his school uniform jacket to cover his lower half, this was even more so.

In an instant it seemed like something was bursting out from Xu Jie’s chest.

He had never seen Chen Qian like this, seductive and charming, eyes holding deep springs that hooked people in, every move and gesture craving skin contact.

The scene he couldn’t imagine over the phone was now playing out vividly before his eyes. Though it wasn’t as outrageous as he had imagined, it was enough for him to want to tear that suit guy’s arm off with a fierce look, and then twist that guy across the table’s whole leg off.

Maybe the class teacher wasn’t wrong. He really did have violent tendencies.

While stopping himself from having further thoughts, Xu Jie suddenly grabbed Chen Qian’s arm and yanked him up from the sofa. Everyone in the booth was startled.

“Xu Jie?” Chen Qian was surprised too. “How did you get here?”

Meeting Chen Qian’s clear eyes for an instant, Xu Jie somewhat regretted his impulse. Even his lie was clumsily made up: “The power went out at home.” That business representative had long been poured drinks until he was out of his mind. Chen Qian’s mission was complete. He stuffed the other person’s business card along with a thick stack of tips into his pants pocket: “Little kids are still afraid of the dark? Then let’s go.”

Before leaving, he kicked the blockhead across from him in the calf: “What are you spacing out for? The contract is already signed, why aren’t you pulling out the ink pad quick? Don’t you understand hints?”