Bar 056

  Ruo Yi drove the car to the entrance of the Seamen's Club and called out to Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan to get off together. Yuan Jing didn't care, got off directly from the car, while Zeng Shan lingered in the car and refused to move: "Brother Luo, do we really have to go see foreigners?"

  Yes.

  "I'm afraid..."

  Luo Yi burst out laughing: "What are you afraid of, foreigners also have two eyes and one mouth, no different from Chinese people, just a different skin color."

  "I don't dare to look, people say foreigners are all devils and very fierce. In the past when my father was alive he told me that he heard it from my grandfather, my grandfather had seen foreigners."

  This is really a confusing account, Zeng Shan's father, and then his grandfather, probably need to count back 50 years, probably also during the time of some allied army. This historical shadow, the time is a bit too long.

  "It's okay, come down. We came here to have fun, they won't dare do anything to us. Listen, I'll get a foreigner to dance for you in a bit." Luo Yi said as he walked over to help Zeng Shan open the car door and pulled her out by the hand. Zeng Shan was actually just pretending to be spoiled, her dad had told her about what her grandfather had said, but it didn't leave any deep impression on her mind. Moreover, wasn't her godfather a student in a foreign country? Taking advantage of Luo Yi's pull, Zeng Shan and Luo Yi bumped into each other, her face brushing against his chest, and her hand also wrapped around his waist. Yuan Jing watched from the side, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh.

  The doorman of the club saw Luo Yi and his group get out of a small car, but he didn't stop them. He bowed slightly and let them in. This kind of entertainment venue originally only recognized money, not people. Those who could drive a small car with two women to visit were either rich second-generation heirs or...pimps.

  Luo Yi led the two girls into the club's bar, and the waiter brought them to a small table, took over the drink menu, and first handed it to the two ladies. Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan looked dizzy, both using pleading eyes to scan towards Luo Yi. Luo Yi tried hard to pretend to be a "young master", but for a moment, he couldn't think of a specific drink name either. He remembered seeing something like "Cappuccino" or "Caffè Latte" in there, and didn't know if it had been invented yet. If he said it wrong, he would lose face. He hesitated for a moment, snapped his fingers at the waiter, and said: "Give me two bottles of American beer, and each of these ladies a dessert."

  The waiter walked away quietly and came back with the drinks that Luo Yi had ordered after a while. Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan each got a cup of ice cream, topped with some unknown jam, looking colorful and green. The two girls were eating this for the first time, they secretly looked at the ladies around them, whispered to each other for a few sentences, then picked up their spoons and started eating slowly. Luo Yi couldn't help but want to laugh at their appearance, in order to look elegant, they took very little with each spoon, but ate very quickly, one spoon after another, unlike those ladies who would take half a day to eat one bite.

  "Is it delicious?" Luo Yi asked with a smile.

  "Mmm, delicious. Luo Zige, you have a bite too?" Zeng Shan scooped up a large spoonful and handed it over.

  "No need, beer is fine."

  "Is this liquor?"

  "Want to try some?"

  Zeng Shan took Luo Yi's cup and took a small sip, almost spitting it out. After finally swallowing, she muttered: "So bitter."

  Luoyi was delighted. Beer originally has a bitter taste. Zengshan had just eaten ice cream and then came to drink, so she felt even more bitter.

  "What's the point of drinking such a bitter wine?" Zeng Shan said, and quickly stuffed the big spoonful of ice cream she had just picked up into her mouth.

  "Have you seen foreigners?"

  "No." The two girls said, but in their hearts, they actually wanted to take a look at what foreigners looked like.

  "Huh, aren't those people foreigners over there?" Luo Yi was surprised by their shortsightedness.

  Yuan Jing looked in the direction that Luo Yi was pointing, took a serious look and said softly: "Wow, they're really foreigners. I thought they were just big guys earlier, didn't see their skin color clearly. Foreigners are really tall."

  "Oh dear, it's really a foreigner. Foreigners can smile too?" Zeng Shan also whispered.

  Luo Yi said: "I said it, foreigners are also human beings."

  Three people chatted while eating and drinking, commenting on the red men and green women in the bar. Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan quickly finished their ice cream, Zeng Shan looked at Luo Yi, hesitated to speak, Luo Yi smiled and asked: "How is it? Do you want another serving?"

  Zeng Shan said with embarrassment: "This thing, it's really quite delicious."

  "Xiao Jing, do you want some?"

  Yuan Jing lowered her head and said: "I'm just as good as Shan'er."

  Luo Yi raised his hand and beckoned to the waiter, saying: "Give each of these two ladies another serving of ice cream."

  The attendant nodded and was about to leave when someone on the side suddenly called out: "Attendant, wait a minute."

  Luo Yi and others turned their heads to take a look, only to see Du Xinyu standing in front of them with a smile, wearing an evening dress that sparkled with pearls, setting off her noble appearance.

  "Du Jie." Zeng Shan exclaimed happily.

  "Xin Yu." This is Yuan Jing's nickname for Du Xin Yu.

  Du Xin smiled sweetly at Luo Yi, but Luo Yi clearly felt a hint of murderous intent hidden behind her smile. Luo Yi had always lacked the ability to interact with girls since college, and although he had improved somewhat after spending time with Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan, two country bumpkins, his old phobia resurfaced when faced with an urban beauty like Du Xin.

  "Du...young lady." Luo Yi called out in a low voice.

  "Hmm!" Du Xinyu responded with a snort, then said to Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan in an overly familiar tone that raised suspicions: "You two sisters shouldn't eat too many sweets, it's not good for your figures. And that Luo Zi of yours is really rustic, coming to a place like this and only ordering desserts?"

  Luo Yi hastily nodded, I endured!

  "Waiter, bring two cosmopolitans for these two ladies and a martini for me. And for this gentleman, bring a whiskey on the rocks." Du Xinyu showed off her knowledge, not only did Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan look confused, but Luo Yi also had no idea what she was saying. Seeing Luo Yi's bewildered expression, Du Xinyu felt even more pleased with herself and added another sentence: "And bring this gentleman a black label whiskey."

  The waiter nodded and left. Du Xinyu sat down beside Zeng Shan. Zeng Shan curiously asked, "Sister Du, how did you know we were here?"

  Du Xin Yu smiled and said: "In this Shanghai, if someone from the Du family wants to find someone, there's really no one they can't find."

  Luoyi secretly laughed in his heart, the Du family just couldn't find the eldest sister of the Du family, otherwise it wouldn't be my turn to play the hero who saves the beauty. When Duxin Yu spoke, her eyes kept glancing at Luoyi, seeing Luoyi's mouth slightly raised, suddenly understanding what he was thinking, and she couldn't help but glare at him fiercely.

  When Luo Yi and others came out of the hotel, the hotel manager dispatched a few bodyguards to follow them from afar, reporting their whereabouts to the manager every now and then. In the evening, Du Laoban called to inquire about Luo Yi's arrangements, and the manager told him that they had gone to the Seamen's Club. Upon learning this news, Du Xinyu immediately changed into a evening dress and rushed over. She had chatted with Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan on the ship and knew that Luo Yi had never been far away from home. She thought to herself, "He has only read a few books in a small place, when he arrives in Shanghai, he will definitely be like a country bumpkin." Du Xinyu felt that she was at a disadvantage when she first met Luo Yi, and she wanted to find an opportunity to humiliate him and restore their positions. She generously helped everyone order cocktails, all for this purpose.

  Luo Yi was still a young boy who didn't understand romance, and he liked girls like Zeng Shan and Yuan Jing, the kind of next-door little sisters. He could play with them together. But for girls like Du Xinyu, who had an arrogant attitude, he always kept his distance. At this moment, seeing that Du Xinyu was trying to compete with him in every word, he simply turned his head away and looked at other people in the bar.

  Yuan Jing had a contradictory emotion towards Du Xinyu. As a Red Army soldier, she was repelled by all the bourgeois young ladies, especially one who claimed to be a queen of Shanghai. On the other hand, the urban girl quality on Du Xinyu strongly attracted her, making her secretly feel a little envious. Apart from intentionally going against Luo Yi, Du Xinyu didn't have any other bad habits and was actually a passionate and lively girl, which made it easy for people to have a good impression of her.

  Zeng Shan didn't have so many fancy ideas, she thought Du Xinyu was a good person and had vision, so she liked her. Du Xinyu also liked Zeng Shan's innocence, which was a rare kind of purity in Shanghai's lady circle. Seeing Zeng Shan's curious attitude towards everything, she suddenly had an idea and asked Zeng Shan: "Shan'er, do you want to go chat with foreigners?"

  "What? I won't." Zeng Shan immediately withdrew.

  Du Xin Yu didn't give her a chance to explain, and pulled Zeng Shan's hand, pulling her up. Zeng Shan still didn't know what was going on, but she had already been pulled by Du Xin Yu to the front of several foreigners who were sitting not far away. Zeng Shan wanted to run back, but it was too late. She secretly looked at these foreigners and found that they weren't very old, just around 20 years old. Except for their large pores and eyes glowing green, there was nothing special about them, and they seemed quite handsome.

  "Hello." Du Xinyu smiled and waved at the foreigners.

  "Hello." A few people responded, seeing two pretty girls taking the initiative to greet them. Several foreign boys were quite happy, and one of them said in English: "Two beautiful girls, please sit down."

  Du Xinyu didn't know much English, but in that era, rich girls from Shanghai took pride in speaking English, so Du Xinyu had learned some simple conversations and could communicate with people at social gatherings. When the foreign boy said "please sit down", she understood and smiled slightly before pulling Zeng Shan to sit down.

  "My name is Andrew, may I ask for your name, miss?"

  "This is a common phrase in bars, Du Xin Yu naturally understood it, she replied in English: 'My surname is Du, this miss's surname is Zeng, she is my... distant younger sister.'"

  The word "distant relative" almost took Du Xinyu's life, and in her desperation, she used the Chinese-style spelling of Far_Family.

  "Oh, Miss Zeng, I guess your name must be Jasmine, because you're as shy as a jasmine flower." Andrew said to Zeng Shan, who had been tense since being pulled over by Du Xin Yu, and her traditional Chinese dress gave off a classic charm.

  "No, no. My fiancée's name is Zeng Shan, 'Shan' means coral, red coral, symbolizing passion. My fiancée is very passionate in front of familiar people."

  A male voice sounded behind Du Xinyu, speaking more standard English than Du Xinyu. Du Xinyu turned around to see that the interrupter was none other than the rustic and rough-around-the-edges Luo Yi.