The noises from that pair of "wild lovebirds" were getting louder and louder, and Bella really couldn't listen to it anymore.
[Shen Qi'an, Su Xiaotang, truly worthy of being the male and female leads with protagonist halos. Do they really think everyone else is blind and deaf?
To make such an earth-shattering commotion in a place like this... I wish you two would just lock yourselves together and stop coming out to harm others.]
Bella grabbed her bag and quickly darted out of the restroom as if avoiding the plague.
The corridor was deep, and the elevator lobby was just around the corner at the end. She could faintly hear some conversation.
That voice...
Bella paused slightly. It sounded so familiar.
[Who is it? Could it be...]
A strong sense of curiosity drove her to quicken her pace.
However, just as she was about to step out of the corner, a high-pitched scream suddenly erupted from the restroom behind her:
"Ah~~~!"
It was Su Xiaotang's voice.
At this moment, in the quiet corridor, that scream was simply too much.
The people ahead who had been talking all stopped their conversation and turned their heads in unison to look at the source of the sound.
Bella froze in place, one foot still suspended in mid-air.
[Help... My second-hand embarrassment is acting up.]
Bella wished she could dig a hole in the ground deep enough to bury a whole university town.
It was clearly the two people inside who were "wrestling," but now, as a passerby who had just come out of the restroom, she had to bear these ambiguous "everyone knows" looks under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
It clearly wasn't her, yet she suffered from the condition of feeling embarrassed for others.
She quickly glanced over the men who had turned their heads.
They were all dressed in black suits, looking like top executives. The outermost circle seemed to be professional bodyguards, all with unfamiliar faces she didn't recognize.
What Bella couldn't ignore was the one standing in the center of the crowd, surrounded like the moon by the stars.
That person didn't turn his head curiously like the others.
The man had his back to Bella. His posture was tall and straight, exuding an ascetic aura that kept strangers at a distance.
From Bella's angle, she could only see the back of his head.
She silently moved a few steps to the side and caught a glimpse of his jawline.
Unable to see much else, Bella looked at his hair and realized that this man actually sported a wolf cut.
Quite trendy.
[This back view... there's a high probability he's an absolute hunk.]
Bella marveled inwardly.
The way everyone subtly positioned themselves around him was enough to show that this "wolf-cut hottie" had an incredibly high status. He was probably a big shot in some industry.
Curiosity killed the cat, not to mention she was still under the gaze of this group of men in black.
Her backless hot-girl outfit really didn't give her any sense of security.
Eyes on the nose, nose on the heart.
Bella acted like a little cat sneaking away along the base of the wall, passing through their line of sight as expressionlessly as possible.
Just then, with a "ding," the elevator doors slowly opened.
The leading man turned sideways and, surrounded by his bodyguards, strode toward the adjacent VIP elevator.
In the split second he turned around, Bella walked past his elevator entrance.
If Bella hadn't fled in panic because of that embarrassing scream;
If she had taken one more greedy glance at that "wolf-cut hottie";
If she had looked back in the final second before the elevator doors closed...
The elevator slowly ascended.
"Mr. Ye, it's a rare opportunity today. You must do me the honor of letting me be the host so we can have a good get-together."
The boss standing to the side had a prominent potbelly. He smiled so hard that the fat on his face trembled, his words full of flattery.
Ye Jinzhi stared at the jumping numbers on the elevator display, his mind still going over the information sent by his subordinates.
The elevator was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The boss awkwardly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, not daring to utter another word.
"Ding—"
Fourth floor.
The moment the elevator doors opened, Ye Jinzhi stepped out with his long legs.
Seeing this, the boss and his group behind him wanted to hurriedly follow and continue their fawning, but they were firmly stopped by several bodyguards and an expressionless secretary.
"I'm sorry, everyone, please stop here."
The secretary pushed up his glasses, his tone polite but revealing an unquestionable coldness,
"This is Mr. Ye's private time.
If you have work-related matters, please follow the rules and make an appointment with the general manager's office in advance."
The smile on the boss's face instantly froze, and he could only watch helplessly as the other party disappeared into the shadows.
Ye Jinzhi walked extremely fast, his leather shoes making no sound on the expensive carpet.
Bella was originally calculating how to survive the night with her pitiful two hundred bucks. Before she could even step out of the bar's doors, she was stopped by a guy wearing a staff badge.
"Hey, beautiful! Sorry to bother you, but would you like to participate in our bar's tasting event?"
The guy smiled brightly and pointed to a brightly lit semi-circular bar counter not far away. "Our store has developed a new series of drinks. If you finish all ten glasses and write down your honest feedback, you can get a cash reward of one thousand yuan."
[One thousand yuan? They're giving away a thousand yuan just for writing a few words?]
The abacus beads in Bella's heart instantly started clicking furiously.
A thousand yuan was enough to tide her over for a few days!
She cautiously scanned her surroundings. There were dense, omnidirectional surveillance cameras everywhere, and the bar counter was in the most conspicuous position in the entire place.
"Don't worry, miss, this is a legitimate event. Only three of the drinks contain a very low alcohol content, about 5%, and the rest are entirely non-alcoholic."
Bella pursed her lips, thought about the thin red banknotes in her bag, and made up her mind.
[In broad daylight... oh wait, under the watchful eyes of the public, I bet they wouldn't dare pull any tricks right under everyone's noses.]
When she walked over, she found that there were already six people sitting at the bar counter, both men and women, chatting enthusiastically.
Seeing the bartender opening bottles and mixing drinks live on the counter, Bella's last shred of hesitation dissipated, and she confidently sat down at the seat on the far end.
Seeing that everyone was present, the host clapped his hands:
"Alright, everyone. There is an unopened bottle of purified water in front of each of you. After finishing each glass, you can rinse your mouth to clear the taste, making it easier to evaluate the next one. Here are our survey forms, please record your feedback truthfully."
"Okay, the first glass, let's begin!"
Bella rested her chin on her hand, staring intently at the bartender in front of her.
The bartender's movements were highly skilled. The ice tongs flew up and down as he poured several clear bases into the shaker and added a few crystal-clear ice cubes.
Next, he began to rapidly shake the shaker in front of everyone. The sound of ice colliding with metal was crisp and melodious, like impromptu percussion music.
Finally, he neatly flipped open the lid and strained the pale pink liquid into the glasses.
The most amazing part was when he added a few drops of deep purple liquid at the very end. The color slowly bloomed at the bottom of the glass. The pink and purple were distinct and unblended, refracting a dreamlike quality under the lights.
"Please enjoy."
The bartender pushed the glasses in front of everyone one by one, explaining in a gentle tone:
"This drink is called 'Pink Lover.' The ingredients used are fresh red dragon fruit juice, a specially blended lactobacillus, and..."
Bella picked up the glass and took a sip, her delicate eyebrows slightly arching.
The first taste was the sweet and refreshing aroma of dragon fruit, followed immediately by the slightly sour lactobacillus which neutralized the sweetness. The taste was surprisingly refreshing. Not bad at all.
She carefully wrote on the feedback form: "Smooth on the palate with an excellent color transition. The sweet-to-sour ratio is 4:6, making it a perfect aperitif."
And just as the guests lowered their heads to jot down their notes and murmur amongst themselves, the bartender had already moved on, seamlessly picking up the second set of glasses.
A new round of rhythmic clinking began to ring out once again...
