Chapter Twelve Amidst Such "Bromance"

  Dazzling colorful lights, strong rhythmic DJ music like a stormy rain, the bartender's expression is calm and elegant with every move, the waiters in bow ties holding trays of drinks weaving through the crowd. The audience is packed downstairs, with mature men dressed up, as well as young boys, cheering and shouting in low and excited tones.

  The two men on the left side of the stage were bare-chested, wearing only a pair of pure black tight-fitting shorts that reached the base of their thighs. Their lean and slender bodies were smeared with a layer of olive oil. The two men entwined and separated on the black steel pipe, each smooth and powerful flip bringing a new wave of climax to the atmosphere on site.

  On the right side of the stage were several handsome young men with fair skin and slender figures, dancing in extremely seductive postures. Every raised eyebrow and smile was so captivating that each time they lifted their hands, an article of clothing would be thrown off the stage amidst a flurry of alluring glances, triggering fierce scrambles to grab it, until... there was nothing left to throw away.

  And the people on the sofa seats around them were too busy to pay attention to the passionate performance on the stage, because they themselves were performing a live show that was even more tempting!

  What a thrilling scene that makes one's blood boil, isn't that what a real gay bar should be like?!

  But at this moment, the scene unfolding before our eyes, this teen, this B city's most famous gay bar, is it going to defy heaven?!

  The bright light, like daylight, illuminates every corner of this place, and the luxurious high-end dark-colored decor is just as I imagined. Indeed, there are handsome waiters carrying trays walking around, but on the trays are not colorful cocktails or strong vodka, but... teapots! Why teapots?! Why are the two brothers behind the bar not performing fancy cocktail-making tricks, but instead brewing tea with serious faces?! And it's steaming hot and misty! On the empty stage, there are tall green bamboo shoots, their leaves swaying in the wind. In the middle sits a man wearing a white Tang suit, but why is he... playing the guqin?! Guqin! Who can tell me why this ancient instrument has appeared in a gay bar?! I could almost accept it if he were playing the piano! And what's with the card table that was supposed to be for live shows? I'm going blind! Why are those men playing chess?! Chinese chess, Go, Five-in-a-Row... even Flying Chess! From time to time, they pick up delicate tea cups and take a sip. Is this calming tea really so delicious?! Can it make you passionate and excited?!

  Why why why is this really why?! This seems even worse than those ordinary bars we've been to!

  Faced with this atmosphere that is not even slightly ambiguous, but can be said to be the most bizarre scene I've seen this year, no, this century, I really don't know whether I should make a run for it or continue to petrify on the spot.

  At the same time, the people inside were also sizing us up, the five of us outsiders. The inquiring gazes were meaningful and profound, but not very surprising. I somehow felt that they seemed... as if they had already known we would appear here all along. I was even more shocked - how could I have such a thought?

  Suddenly a waiter walked over and bowed to us, stretching out his hand to gesture: "Ladies, please follow me."

  After we looked at each other, A-Qian asked him: "Is Mr. Wen here?"

  "If you're referring to Mr. Wen Zhili," the waiter smiled, "then yes."

  "He asked you to find us in the past?"

  "Yes."

  "Alright, let's go."

  "Please come this way."

  Fortunately, the people in the bar just took a brief glance at us and continued their chess game, calm as if our group of misfits didn't exist. We followed the waiter along the edge of the dance floor towards the inside, passing by the stage when I took a closer look at the man playing the guqin. To my surprise, he was unexpectedly young, seemingly only in his early 20s, with a unique charm to his downcast eyes and eyebrows. I didn't know what song he was playing, but the melody was elegant and soothing, making me feel completely relaxed. The hands playing the instrument were slender and fair-skinned, with what looked like fake fingernails on his fingertips, and his technique seemed incredibly skilled - of course, it's also possible that I just don't know what unskilled looks like...

  When she walked into the corridor and saw that the walls on both sides were actually hanging with landscape tapestries comparable to "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", Xiao Yu finally couldn't help but exclaim.

  "B city still has another teen ah? I feel like I've entered an art gallery."

  "If I'm not mistaken, you're the one who's been causing trouble at the entrance, right?"

  "And look, Ah Qian's acquaintance with the surname Wen is also here." Mu Mu said softly.

  The little wings drooped, revealing a dejected look, and fell silent.

  The sea cherry walking beside me suddenly stopped in her tracks, looking thoughtfully at the painting on the wall, and even went over to sniff it.

  "What's wrong?" I asked her.

  The raw material of this tapestry is silk, and the floral pattern on it is processed by computer digital simulation technology. After finishing, it is mounted with traditional craftsmanship in satin, so the characteristics of this silk product are that the picture is bright and vivid, has a strong three-dimensional sense, and is not easy to fade.

  I was taken aback, how did it suddenly come up with me introducing this thing for no reason?

  "You mean... let me go back and hang this tapestry in 'Sweet Sweet' too?" I said after a moment of contemplation.

  She was taken aback for a moment: "Your idea is not bad, this tapestry painting is easy to preserve, the quality is high, and hanging it in the dessert shop can add some decorative points. However, I didn't mean that earlier, smell this painting, does it have any peculiar smell?"

  I leaned in and took a sniff: "Doesn't smell like anything, looks pretty fresh."

  A'qian, who was walking in front of me, turned back and listened to what I said. Without hiding her expression, she stared at me: "You're so obsessed with making desserts that you've gone crazy, right? Do you want to cut some down and try the taste?"

  I eagerly looked at the leading flight attendant: "Can I really cut it?"

  The smile on his face was a bit hard to maintain: "Miss, can't destroy private property..."

  "Actually, Yaoyao is right. This kind of silk fabric will have a very faint mulberry leaf smell within the first month after it's made, which is what she meant by 'fresh'. Haiying gently strokes the painting on the wall, "And this painting feels so clean that it's almost beyond imagination, the texture is just like when it was first made."

  I looked at her blankly: "Then what?"

  "I remember when we first saw this bar called Teen online," she said slowly turning her head to stare at me, "we were in our second year of high school."

  "So you're saying," Ashin said lightly, propping her chin up with her hand, "this painting was actually just recently hung."

  After Ah Qian reminded me, thinking about the unusual scenes I saw when I came in, my heart felt a bit hairy: "This place, won't there be any problems?" How similar it is to the 'Wall Corpse Case' in Xiao Yu's book.

  But Ah Shallow glanced at both Ha Ying and me: "Isn't it just a new decorative painting? What's there to think about, is there some invisible secret that can't be seen by people? Can't you just ask the person here directly?"

  "Your face looks terrible, what's wrong?"

  We all looked at the waiter's face, his originally pale complexion was now deathly pale.

  He paused for a moment, then quickly and clearly solved our problem: "Because the previous tapestry was accidentally scratched by a drunk gentleman with a knife a few days ago, so our boss replaced it with a new one. This lady is really impressive, she can see this." He chuckled again, "I suppose Mr. Wen is eager to meet the ladies, let's go, we're almost there."

  I was surprised to find that they also sold liquor here, I thought it was only Da Hong Pao and Pu'er tea, but you can have unlimited refills. However, I looked at him in puzzlement as he walked with a much faster pace than before, why would customers bring a knife into this place? Don't the strong men at the entrance check for weapons?

  After passing through an arched doorway, the corridor in front of us suddenly splits into three, with a number of simple yet elegant solid wood doors lined up on both sides. We all gasped in unison - the sheer number of private rooms is simply astonishing!

  He walked steadily and directly towards the middle corridor without stopping.

  I let out a deep sigh, and the point is, no matter which corridor... I didn't see the end.

  Finally, after turning one corner on each side—

  "Mr. Wen is inside." He raised his hand and pointed to the door with a VIP sign next to him, then wiped the fine sweat on his forehead, as if he had also let out a sigh of relief.

  "Thank you," said A-Qian.

  "It's a matter of minutes," he smiled wryly and said, "I'll go back to work now."

  Xiao Yu looked at his back disappearing around the corner, then elbowed me: "Actually, he doesn't look bad."

  "Ah, it should be a gloomy and depressed person." I said seriously.

  She let out a disappointed "ah" sound, as if she had suddenly realized that this pretty good-looking guy actually worked at the gay bar.

  I originally thought that as soon as we entered the private room, we would see a handsome guy with a charming smile warmly welcoming us. Even if he wasn't as stunning as Qiao, at least he would be eye-catching. To put it simply, just thinking about meeting a real man who was either top or bottom made my blood boil with excitement!

  But when I finally saw the scene behind the second door that Ah Qian pushed open tonight, I think she will never open any doors in any bar for the rest of her life.