Chapter 79

Xiangxiang was usually very obedient and quiet. It basically stayed curled up in its cat bed for an entire day and didn’t move a muscle on set either. Only when Jiang Sisi or Leng Xiang came over to pick it up and play with it did it become a bit lively.

This time, on the bar counter in the bar, it had been eating its cat food perfectly fine. So why had it suddenly darted into the back kitchen?

The bartender’s heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

Jiang Sisi was still in the back kitchen.

A thick, heavy door curtain separated the back kitchen from the bar area, with about half a meter of space between the bottom of the curtain and the floor. From outside, you couldn’t see a thing inside.

The curtain even had the words “Back Kitchen: No Admittance to Unauthorized Persons” written on it in big characters.

Xiangxiang hadn’t come out of the back kitchen for a while, and Leng Xiang grew a bit anxious. She asked, “Can I go in?”

The bartender said, “I’ll go check. Wait here for a moment.”

Leng Xiang nodded.

The bartender turned, lifted the door curtain, and went inside.

The back kitchen was filled with all sorts of liquor and drink ingredients, along with a long preparation counter stocked with every tool needed for mixing cocktails. There was also a huge cabinet nearby, crammed full of stuff.

Behind the door curtain, Jiang Sisi leaned against the cabinet with Xiangxiang rubbing against her feet.

She had already changed into the Black Pool Bar’s female server uniform: loose black clothing with the Black Pool logo embroidered on the chest of the top, and a red silk ribbon tied around her waist that accentuated her slender figure.

She also wore a work cap that completely hid her messy hair under the brim.

On top of that, she had a black mask covering her entire face.

The bartender: “…”

No one would recognize her like this.

The bartender whispered, “Boss, you’re pretty well-prepared. Where’d you get this mask?”

“I found it in the storage room,” Jiang Sisi explained softly. “I was afraid she’d come in.”

Jiang Sisi glanced toward the door, confirming that Leng Xiang wasn’t making any moves, then squatted down and picked up Xiangxiang.

Jiang Sisi ruffled Xiangxiang’s fluffy head. “You little thing. I’ve raised you for so many years, and this is how you repay me—by selling me out.”

Xiangxiang: “Meow!”

Jiang Sisi held Xiangxiang, and the bartender got the hint, reaching out to take it from her.

If the bartender carried it out, her identity wouldn’t be exposed.

But Xiangxiang refused to let the bartender hold it. It meowed twice and jumped down from Jiang Sisi’s arms, landing on the floor before darting out from under the door curtain.

Jiang Sisi and the bartender turned to look at the curtain.

Leng Xiang stood there, having lifted half the curtain to peer inside.

Leng Xiang: “Sorry, my cat…”

Her eyes met a pair peeking out from behind a black mask.

Jiang Sisi instinctively averted her gaze. Leng Xiang narrowed her eyes, looking suspiciously at the woman in the server uniform.

For some reason, Leng Xiang felt this woman seemed very familiar.

But the woman quickly turned away, facing the large cabinet. She opened it, as if searching for something.

The bartender smoothly chimed in, “How much sugar stock do we have left?”

The woman said in a low voice, “One more box.”

Her voice was a bit hoarse, like she had a cold.

This woman must be back kitchen staff, the kind who helped with cleaning and stocking.

Leng Xiang scrutinized her back from head to toe for a good while, until Xiangxiang’s little paws tugged at her foot.

Leng Xiang looked down at her feet, let go of the curtain, bent over to scoop up Xiangxiang, and walked away from the counter.

Jiang Sisi let out a long breath of relief behind the curtain.

She closed the cabinet door, leaned back against it, and took off the mask and hat.

The bartender said coolly, “Why go through all this trouble?”

Jiang Sisi waved him off wearily. “Just go. Let me be alone for a bit.”

The bartender said, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you—you won’t fool her for long. I think she’s already suspicious. She stared at you for ages just now.”

Jiang Sisi said, “I know.”

The bartender emerged from the back kitchen. Leng Xiang was still sitting on the barstool, holding Xiangxiang.

Leng Xiang poked Xiangxiang’s cheek with one finger. “I told you to behave and not run around. Why’d you go into someone’s kitchen?”

Xiangxiang hugged her finger with both paws and looked up at her pitifully. “Meow QAQ…”

Seeing the bartender come out, Leng Xiang withdrew her finger and asked casually, “Was that one of your staff members inside?”

The bartender: “Yeah.”

Leng Xiang asked again, “Do they all wear masks too?”

The bartender lied calmly now. “Some staff don’t want others knowing they work at the bar, so they wear masks.”

Leng Xiang: “…”

It actually made sense—hard to argue with.

The clock on the wall pointed to 10:30.

The soft, slow music abruptly stopped. The dancers on stage blew kisses to the crowd below and floated offstage.

The central stage began to sink inward, revealing Black Pool Bar’s red fangs.

The low-key, modest Black Pool stepped aside—it was now time for the wild, passionate Red Pool.

The music switched to a classic samba tune.

Most of the drinking patrons in the bar shed their jackets, laughing as they jumped into the Red Pool. Soon, men and women in masks were dancing in the Red Pool.

Leng Xiang stared at the people in the Red Pool, holding Xiangxiang and lost in thought.

That woman’s figure had looked just like Jiang Sisi’s.

The loose clothes hid her figure, the hat covered her hair, and the mask obscured her face.

But Leng Xiang trusted her instincts.

She had spent months with Jiang Sisi, and Jiang Sisi had some unique little habits she wasn’t even aware of herself—like putting shoes into the shoe cabinet one at a time when changing.

Or, when opening a cabinet door, using one hand to open the left side first, then the right.

The woman just now had opened the cabinet in exactly the same way.

Leng Xiang had good eyesight too. That woman’s hands looked just like Jiang Sisi’s—clearly defined knuckles, slender, with thin skin. Beautiful hands.

An artist’s hands.

How could a back kitchen server who cleaned and stocked have hands like that?

But if it really was Jiang Sisi… was she working at Black Pool Bar?

Impossible.

And if it was Jiang Sisi, why hide from her?

She got so lost in thought that her hand stroking the cat tugged too hard, nearly pulling out a tuft of fur.

Xiangxiang: “Meow!!”

Leng Xiang quickly loosened her grip and soothed it. “Sorry, sorry.”

Xiangxiang turned its head away and swatted her with its big tail.

Leng Xiang’s face was covered in cat fur. Suddenly, a possibility occurred to her.

A possibility she’d never considered before.

In an instant, countless clues flashed through her mind. Details she’d overlooked before now stood out crystal clear.

She even suddenly recalled, several months ago, her argument with Yu Shan, and how the Black Pool Boss had mediated.

If she remembered right, the Black Pool Boss’s gait, demeanor, tone, even the way her words connected at the ends—they were identical to Jiang Sisi’s.

If that server was Jiang Sisi.

If the silver-masked figure she’d seen at the bar counter when she arrived was the Black Pool Boss.

If the Black Pool Boss was Jiang Sisi, then everything made sense.

How had she only realized it now?

In disbelief, she thought of something else. She quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket, opened WeChat, and scrolled down.

Her hand trembled slightly, her lashes lowering as she stared at the Black Pool Boss’s profile picture. After a moment, she tapped into the chat and typed.

Leng Xiang: Where are you?

She waited a few minutes, but Black Pool Boss didn’t reply.

Leng Xiang typed more.

Leng Xiang: Are you still in the bar?

Leng Xiang: I just saw you.

Leng Xiang: Jiang Sisi, is that you?

Still no reply from the other side.

Looking back now, the Black Pool Boss had always been highly suspicious.

If the Black Pool Boss was Jiang Sisi, then that first enchanting night when Jiang Sisi appeared in her bed to comfort her wasn’t strange at all.

Later, when she added the Black Pool Boss on WeChat, the way she chatted—teasing a bit before apologizing, with meticulous care—sounded just like Jiang Sisi.

How dense had she been not to notice for so long?

The facts had been right there.

Leng Xiang stood up and headed toward the back kitchen.

Xiangxiang nestled on the bar counter, tilting its head in confusion as it watched Leng Xiang rush toward the kitchen.

The bartender stroked Xiangxiang’s fur melancholically and muttered softly, “What do I do? I think I messed up. If Skinny Jiang docks my bonus, who am I supposed to complain to?”

Leng Xiang stood at the back kitchen entrance, took a deep breath, lifted the curtain, and went inside.

The back kitchen was empty, save for the piled-up ingredients and bottles. No one was there.

She walked in, stood before the large cabinet, ran her fingers over it, and opened it, scanning the alcohol and other supplies inside.

There wasn’t any sugar at all, let alone a whole box.

The back kitchen had a rear door leading to the second floor, a direct staircase up.

Leng Xiang circled the kitchen and found the stairs to the second floor.

She went straight up.

The second floor of Black Pool Bar consisted of private booths, offering secluded spaces for those who preferred quiet spots to drink and do business.

She searched the second floor but found nothing.

Leng Xiang came back down and sat on the barstool again.

She stared intently at her WeChat chat interface, scrolling up through her old conversations with the Black Pool Boss.

Leng Xiang: But the one I like is someone else.

Leng Xiang: She’s really so annoying.

…

Leng Xiang: If this is what falling in love feels like, why is it so painful and troubling?

Leng Xiang: Even acting in a romance is this painful? It really hurts.

…

Black Pool Boss: Maybe she just thinks she’s not good enough for you?

Black Pool Boss: You’re so great.

…

Maybe she just thinks she’s not good enough for you? You’re so great.

Leng Xiang stared at that line for a long time. She thought she should be angry—thinking about how Jiang Sisi was the Black Pool Boss and had kept her in the dark for so long, her first reaction should have been fury.

But whether angry or annoyed, it wasn’t just anger. Little bubbles started bubbling up in her heart, popping gently to release a sourness mixed with a hint of sweetness.

Leng Xiang thought, Jiang Sisi actually feels unworthy of me?

How is that possible?

That’s Jiang Sisi we’re talking about.

At that thought, the bit of anger in her heart deflated like a punctured balloon—gone in an instant.

Her eyes suddenly reddened.

Xiangxiang tilted its head at Leng Xiang and meowed.

Leng Xiang reached out and hugged Xiangxiang close.

Leng Xiang murmured softly, “What on earth is your owner thinking?”

Xiangxiang, clueless, meowed again in her arms.

Xiangxiang stretched out a paw and touched Leng Xiang’s face.

It was smooth, cool, and wet.

Leng Xiang said, “She knows everything, clearly.”

…

Jiang Sisi stood in a corner on the second floor, looking down below.

Her eyesight was sharp. From this spot, she could take in everything happening at the bar counter.

Jiang Sisi gripped her phone. It vibrated a few times before going still.

The screen showed: You have new WeChat messages.

She unlocked it, opened WeChat, switched to her work account, and read Leng Xiang’s messages.

Jiang Sisi lowered her gaze, looking down at the floor below, then at her phone.

She’d been found out after all.

Jiang Sisi gave a wry smile. Her identity as the Black Pool Boss couldn’t be hidden forever—it was only a matter of time before it came out.

She let out a long sigh.

Jiang Sisi typed.

Black Pool Boss: Xiangxiang.

Black Pool Boss: Xiangxiang, sorry. I didn’t mean to deceive you.

Black Pool Boss: I just couldn’t find the right chance to tell you.

Black Pool Boss: Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Yujing Villa No. 1. It’s my birthday—will you come?

Black Pool Boss: I can explain everything to you, tell you the whole truth.

Leng Xiang wiped her eyes and looked at the Black Pool Boss’s reply.

Oh, no—not anymore. Now it was Jiang Sisi.

Leng Xiang lifted her head and, amid the deafening dance music, looked toward the second floor.

In the corner of the second floor, there was a small protruding balcony where a woman stood.

Leng Xiang watched her from afar.

The woman was still wearing her black mask and female server uniform, leaning against the railing as she gazed back at her from a distance.

The people in the Red Pool continued their wild, demonic dancing, but none of it had anything to do with them anymore.

All sounds seemed to vanish in that instant. In their eyes, there was only each other.

Leng Xiang clenched her fist, stood up, and headed toward the wooden door of the Black Pool.

Xiangxiang was left behind on the bar counter, the entire cat looking a bit dazed.

Jiang Sisi watched her walk away so resolutely—calm on the surface, but terrified inside.

Her phone suddenly vibrated again.

Leng Xiang: Xiangxiang is left to you. Sleep well tonight.

Leng Xiang: I’m heading back first.

Leng Xiang: If you don’t give me a proper explanation tomorrow, we’re not done.

Jiang Sisi stared blankly at the WeChat messages before suddenly letting out a chuckle.

Halfway there, Leng Xiang lifted her head again and looked toward that balcony corner on the second floor.

Jiang Sisi was still watching her.

Leng Xiang couldn’t hold back. She stuck out one finger and flipped Jiang Sisi off.