Chapter 50: The Shy Bottom

The Gentle, Shy Bottom Couldn’t Be Allowed to Walk Alone at Night

The bright moonlight spilled over the asphalt road. Xing Yue didn’t like the moon. She always felt that the moon added to her loneliness, making her feel even more isolated. She didn’t like this feeling.

Now, only when the moon climbed above the treetops could she see normal colors. She still didn’t like the moon, but she had no choice but to coexist with it.

Xing Yue came out of the optical shop. She had gotten a pair of light-filtering contact lenses. From now on, she wouldn’t need to wear sunglasses during the day. Unfortunately, manufacturing technology was limited at present. There were no lenses that could block light without affecting color perception. Although she could see the colors more or less, they weren’t a perfect match with the real thing.

Following the address Bo Wuxue had sent, she found the bar. Fresh flower baskets from the grand opening were still placed at the door. This had to be the right place.

The lit signboard read — “Meet Again Bar”

Bo Wuxue hadn’t shared much information about the shop earlier, only saying it was a bar. Xing Yue had never been to a bar in all her years. The name seemed oddly artsy and literary. She wondered if other bars were like this too.

As soon as Xing Yue entered, she was led backstage. It seemed the girl had already said something to them. The bar had just opened, so there were quite a lot of people coming in. It was lively.

“Miss Xing, right?” The person receiving Xing Yue was a young man in a work uniform. He seemed like a smooth talker. “President Bai is held up with something and will arrive a little late. Should I discuss the work details with you first?”

Bai Yulun was Bo Wuxue’s college roommate. The two were on very good terms. So, when Bo Wuxue had asked, Bai Yulun took the matter to heart. She had originally wanted to personally bring Xing Yue over, but some tricky family matters had come up, making it hard for her to get away.

She had even specifically instructed her staff to explain things properly to Xing Yue.

Upon hearing the two words “President Bai,” Xing Yue felt a flicker of recognition but couldn’t place it right away. She didn’t particularly care about these things. She was here to work. Whether the boss received her or an employee did, it made no difference to her.

She was just about to take out her resume when he hastily stopped her.

“Ah, no need for all that. Just call me Little Jiang from now on,” the man said, directly brushing aside these interview formalities. “Currently, our place has two resident singers. The work shift starts at 8 p.m. I’ll add you to the work group chat later. You can coordinate with the other two resident singers. There are ten guaranteed songs to perform per day, and you three can freely divide them up. Any songs beyond ten count as extra bonuses. Normally, you’d get off work around three or four in the morning. You’ll have eight rest days a month, and the three of you can arrange your schedule among yourselves.”

Although the work ended late, it was still a normal eight-hour work system. Not too exhausting.

Xing Yue, however, was worried about something else. “Manager Jiang, I… uh, all that stuff online…”

The man understood immediately and didn’t take it seriously. “Don’t worry. None of the customers who can afford to spend money at our place are ordinary people. They’re busy making money during the day and only have time at night to have a drink, listen to some music, dance a little, and relax. Where would they find the time to cyberbully a stranger? Even if they recognized you, it wouldn’t matter. It wouldn’t affect you, and it wouldn’t affect our shop.”

The prices here were very steep. Basically, anyone who could get in was not your average working-class person. They were either businessmen discussing deals, rich young masters from wealthy families, or young, wealthy, beautiful heiresses. These people didn’t have time to follow internet trends mocking or cursing at someone.

And even if someone did try to cause trouble, they’d have to think twice about Bai Yulun’s influence.

Hearing Manager Jiang’s confident assurance, Xing Yue finally felt relieved. She followed another staff member to familiarize herself with the bar’s environment.

It was different from the noisy chaos she had imagined. Although it was still a scene of revelry, there was no rowdy chaos. The background music was lively but much quieter and more melodic than she had expected. Calling it a bar, it felt more like a quiet music lounge. Even the ambiance had a melancholic vibe.

Xing Yue really quite liked it here.

The floor space wasn’t large or small. The second floor had private rooms, which were even quieter.

The young man guiding her brought her to the bar counter. “Feel free to have any of the drinks here. Once you get familiar with our bartender, you can even get fresh blends not available on the market. Our President Bai specifically hired him from abroad, a foreigner.”

Xing Yue glanced at all the unfamiliar bottles of alcohol, feeling a bit strange. Even if staff were allowed to drink for free, it should usually be ordinary beer or something, right? These looked like bottles costing tens of thousands, the kind stored inside the cabinet, not the ones on the shelf. How could she be allowed to drink these casually…

It seemed like it was at President Bai’s instruction.

She was just about to probe for some information when her phone suddenly vibrated. “Excuse me, I need to take a call.”

Xing Yue wanted to hang up and call back later, but seeing the caller ID was Dr. Tan, she had to pick up. During those few days of care, Tan Xiang’e had been quite good to her. She hadn’t yet had a chance to properly say goodbye.

She walked out into the back alley, found a secluded spot, and only then did she press the answer button.

“Xing Yue, where are you? I’m at your doorstep. I brought you some medication.” Arriving at the small villa, Tan Xiang’e happened to run into a group cleaning up. She asked around and was told the homeowner had sold the house and moved out already.

A warmth surged in Xing Yue’s heart, mixed with a trace of apology. “Thank you, Dr. Tan. My treatment plan might need to be paused for a while…”

The moment she had decided to pause the treatment, she had immediately settled the previous bills with Tan Xiang’e.

Those instruments were too expensive to operate even once. It wasn’t something she could afford right now.

Tan Xiang’e’s voice immediately rose in pitch. “No! Without academic results, what about my paper? You don’t need to worry about the treatment costs. If you sign an agreement with the hospital as a research patient, the medical fees can be waived. Your case with the snake tail is extremely rare. As soon as I applied, it was approved. The hospital director, afraid you’d refuse treatment, personally sent me here. Now, I’m the one begging you to let me treat you. Please, please, don’t give up on our hospital!”

Xing Yue was speechless.

“Besides, your eyes are injured. They need to be looked at. I even brought you eye drops.” Domestic eye drops weren’t expensive. The effect might be a bit slow, but it was better than letting her eyes just rot away with no treatment at all, right?

Tan Xiang’e had personally sought people out and brought medication. If Xing Yue still refused, it would truly hurt her feelings.

Not wanting Tan Xiang’e to have made a wasted trip, Xing Yue told her to leave the medicine at a nearby convenience store first and she would pick it up tomorrow.

Upon hearing that Xing Yue was starting a new job, Tan Xiang’e asked for the address and came straight over.

The two met up at a milk tea shop near the bar.

“This red bottle of eye drops is for daytime use,” Tan Xiang’e said, pulling out a pile of bottles and jars. “This green one is for when it hurts. This transparent one is for before bed. Remember, don’t be inconsistent. Use them every day.”

Xing Yue looked at the bottles. Paper labels were pasted all over them, clearly marking the time of day to use them. Someone had obviously put care into this.

She and Tan Xiang’e were just doctor and patient. To be treated like this, she couldn’t help but feel moved.

“Dr. Tan…”

“I, I have to get back to the hospital for my shift. Any issues, just contact me on WeChat.” Afraid that talking more would give things away, Tan Xiang’e didn’t linger. She wasn’t good at lying. After handing the things over to Xing Yue, she left hastily before they had chatted much.

Back at a nearby park, Tan Xiang’e rolled down the car window and waved at the woman sitting on a park bench.

He Zhiwen was holding paper strips she had cut out from a print shop. The strips of white paper were printed with instructions: “Use during the day, three times a day,” and “Use before sleep, two drops each.”

There was also a small tip: The first drop of the eye drops needed to be squeezed out and discarded before use.

But she hadn’t pasted that one on. She knew Xing Yue would recognize her handwriting, so she had deliberately not written it herself and specially printed it in Song font as labels to avoid detection.

He Zhiwen got into the car. “A’Yue didn’t suspect anything, right?”

That transparent bottle of eye drops was actually her own blood, specially treated to remove the smell of blood. It now smelled entirely of chemicals.

Tan Xiang’e patted her chest to calm herself. “No. Please, don’t make me do things like this again. You also said Xing Yue refuses to use Spirit Snake-derived medicines. If she ever finds out the truth, I’ll be stuck in the middle with nowhere to stand.”

He Zhiwen had lost a lot of weight. She wore a beige floral dress, her thin, bony shoulders so slight they looked like they could be toppled by a gust of wind. Her lips were also drained of color.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “If there’s ever anything I can help with in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will definitely help you.”

Initially, when He Zhiwen had first approached Tan Xiang’e, she had proposed gifting her a vial of her blood agent as thanks for doing her this favor.

Tan Xiang’e had refused. The country didn’t permit such research, and she didn’t want to do something so risky. This was partly to make up for her unintentional mistake—the matter of the four snake eggs still weighed on her conscience.

~

After familiarizing herself with the hotel environment, Xing Yue quickly got into the work.

At first, she was a little self-conscious. After all, she had always sung in recording studios or her work studio before. It was her first time going on stage in front of so many people, and she wasn’t quite used to it.

Thankfully, the bar’s lighting was a dim and melancholic deep blue, which put her much more at ease. She didn’t get stage fright; instead, she performed quite well. The soothing folk music was very relaxing to listen to.

After finishing a song, Xing Yue would come down to rest for half an hour.

She was sitting backstage when suddenly a bottle of mineral water appeared before her. She smiled politely, and the moment she took the water, she froze.

The face before her looked to be around the same age as Bo Wuxue. A tight crop top, high-waisted jeans, Chanel-style high heels, cold brunette wavy curls down her back, alluring red lips, and double-ring Korean-style earrings. She was youthful and fashionable, playful yet feminine.

Xing Yue was stunned, not because this woman was beautiful, but because this face was very familiar. She felt like she had seen her somewhere before.

Bai Yulun, seeing Xing Yue’s reaction, curved her lips upward in delight. “Do you still recognize me? Sister Little Yue.”

That form of address…

It dawned on Xing Yue. She remembered now. A long, long time ago, she had apparently held Bai Yulun before. Back when she was in middle school, she would occasionally visit the Bo Family’s palace and would sometimes run into Bo Wuxue and Bai Yulun doing homework there.

At that age, Little Snowflake, dragging her snake tail, would come pattering over, wanting to be held.

After holding Bo Wuxue, Bai Yulun would want to be held too.

Xing Yue had no choice but to take turns holding the two children. She’d hold Bo Wuxue, then Bai Yulun.

Later, Bai Yulun had gone abroad and only returned when she was seventeen or eighteen. She went to college with Bo Wuxue. Xing Yue had heard Bo Wuxue mention it, but since everyone had grown up, they didn’t need to be held anymore. Bai Yulun never sought her out, and she never sought Bai Yulun either.

After so many years without contact, they had drifted apart. Xing Yue rubbed her nose tip, her smile faint. “Long time no see. You’re back in the country…”

For a moment, she wasn’t sure what to call Bai Yulun. President Bai? Little Yu?

They were barely even casual friends; at best, they’d met a few times in childhood. After thinking it over, Xing Yue politely murmured, “President Bai.”

The woman’s eyes paused for a second. She nodded, then quickly lifted a bright smile again. “You can head back and rest at midnight tonight. I’m afraid you won’t manage staying up all night. Your body clock needs adjusting. Tomorrow you’ll officially start work. When the time comes, I’ll drive you.”

Xing Yue recalled that Bo Wuxue’s friends all seemed to have quite a few family restrictions, with rules for everything they did. Even Bo Wuxue couldn’t conveniently help her openly, let alone others.

“I can go back by myself. It’s not very far,” she politely declined.

Bai Yulun put on a pitiful expression. “Oh, alright then.”

Youth is wonderful, Xing Yue thought with a touch of wistfulness. As expected, before it was even midnight, she was already sleepy. It seemed she really needed to properly adjust her sleep schedule.

She had originally wanted to try keeping the same hours as everyone else, but Manager Jiang absolutely wouldn’t allow it. When midnight came, he urged her to go back and rest; there would be plenty of time to stay up late tomorrow.

Xing Yue had no choice but to pack up and head back to her rental. Since she’d listed the house for sale with all the furniture included, quite a few people came to view it every day. The agent said it was in fairly high demand, so she had moved out early to avoid hindering viewings and affecting the sale.

She had just stepped out of the bar when the woman whose offer for a ride she’d refused three hours earlier appeared punctually at the door.

Bai Yulun was leaning on the car window, chin propped on her hand. “Sister Little Yue, give me a chance, yeah? I’m under orders. I can’t let a gentle, wife-like, shy bottom like you walk alone at night.”

“…”

Xing Yue got into the car and explained, “I’m not.”

Bai Yulun: “Not what?”

“Not a shy bottom.” She fastened her seatbelt. Even refuting this at her age made her face flush slightly.

“Oh, not a shy bottom, so just a bottom then?”