Pale Requiem: Transformed into a Girl

Chapter 33: Gold Medal Bartender (6)

At night, it was once again the time for Bai Lengci to display her skills.

When she arrived at Twilight, quite a few guests were already waiting for her, with many new faces among them.

A good number of them had come specifically after watching the videos.

When Bai Lengci performed her flair bartending, a circle of people gathered around the bar counter to record videos.

This time, she did not perform the old routine.

Instead, she increased the difficulty, at most controlling three bottles and two cocktail shakers in her hands, making the audience gape in astonishment and exclaim again and again......

On Sunday, Twilight experienced a small surge in business, with an occupancy rate reaching eighty percent.

After changing her clothes, Bai Lengci, as usual, nodded to the bartender Ah Ken, then walked toward her usual station at the bar.

However, just as her gaze swept past the far end of the bar, her steps paused imperceptibly, and a faint trace of surprise flashed across her face.

In that relatively quiet area sat two women.

Their presence was strikingly strong, not only because of their outstanding looks but also due to the intellectual and elegant aura that clashed with the tipsy atmosphere around them, drawing many glances in their direction.

Bai Lengci’s surprise was not because of their beauty.

But because she knew both of them—one was her school’s physician, Xiao Ran, and the other was her Chinese teacher, Yan Junzhu.

Jiangcheng indeed was not big.

Jiefang West Road was the core area for nightlife, and the chance of running into acquaintances here was not low.

She just had not expected it to be them.

Bai Lengci kept her gaze straight, walking directly toward her usual spot as if she had not seen the two focal figures.

They also seemed engrossed in their conversation and the menu, not noticing the bartender who had just stepped behind the counter.

Perhaps… they did not recognize me at all.

Bai Lengci thought to herself.

Even she had felt unfamiliar the first time she saw her own completely transformed appearance in the mirror, let alone people who were not especially close to her.

That Cheng Jiajia had recognized her immediately the other day was, instead, somewhat unexpected.

“Aria! You’re here!”

Just as she reached her spot, two finely dressed white-collar women on the nearby barstools waved to her warmly.

Aria was the stage name Zhou Zheng had given her.

According to him, using an alias in a bar was safer and created more atmosphere.

Bai Lengci had gone along with it, as she had no real attachment to the name itself.

Bai Lengci gave them a slight nod in response.

She remembered these two as regulars, with good spending power and a genuine appreciation for her performances.

But she never took the initiative to chat or show excessive enthusiasm.

Maintaining a just-right distance and a mysterious, aloof image, in her view, was necessary.

Getting too familiar would break boundaries and dissolve the attraction born of the unknown.

From both a safety perspective and the perspective of managing her persona, keeping her distance was the optimal choice.

“The usual, three Twilight Specials?”

One of the short-haired women asked with a smile.

Bai Lengci nodded again and silently began preparing the base liquor and tools.

At that moment, faintly carried over from Xiao Ran’s side, a smiling voice drifted clearly into her exceptionally sharp ears:

“…Look, that’s her, the bartender Aria who’s been all over my Moments lately. Didn’t expect she’d look even prettier in person than in the videos… that aura, it’s incredible.”

Yan Junzhu seemed to lift her head for a glance.

“She is indeed eye-catching.

But… she doesn’t look that old, does she?”

“Oh, come on, the point is that she’s pleasing to the eye! Watching someone this beautiful mix drinks makes them taste so much better!”

Bai Lengci’s hands did not pause, her expression unchanged.

Hearing Xiao Ran’s straightforward praise, she felt no ripples in her heart, nor did she think the other shallow.

Because when it came to appearances, both men and women were the same.

Being pleasant to the eye simply meant providing a kind of satisfying value.

All the more so in this kind of environment—her looks, her aura, even her aloofness, were themselves part of the product, part of the emotional value offered to the guests.

If the other was willing to pay for that aesthetic enjoyment or give attention, in essence, it was a fair value exchange.

A market rule that objectively existed.

She offered visual enjoyment and a brief escape from reality, while the guest paid with money and attention.

Perfectly fair.

Sliding three alluring Twilight Specials in front of the two white-collar women, she received genuine words of praise along with a tip.

After softly saying thank you, Bai Lengci offered nothing further, turning instead to start wiping down the bar.

Her gaze, seemingly casual, swept toward the far end of the counter.

Xiao Ran and Yan Junzhu seemed to have ordered their drinks and were speaking in low voices, occasionally laughing softly.

As her hand polished the already spotless bar, her ears clearly picked up the fragments of conversation drifting from the far end.

The dialogue between the physician and Miss Yan had no way of escaping her heightened hearing.

“To be honest.”

Xiao Ran took a sip from her glass, her tone carrying both admiration and a faint trace of regret.

“This girl… Aria, right? She’s flawless, her aura cool yet captivating. She’s a natural for this line of work. But what a pity…”

“What’s the pity?”

Yan Junzhu’s voice was gentle, tinged with inquiry.

“Look at her age, probably only eighteen or nineteen? Starting to work in a place like this so early… her bartending skills may look flashy, but… sigh, most likely she hasn’t had much chance to study properly. Her level of education can’t be very high.”

Xiao Ran sighed, as if beholding some beautiful regret.

“Nothing but a good-looking shell.”

Yan Junzhu chuckled softly.

“That’s a textbook case of judging by appearance. Who says working in a bar necessarily means having a low education? And who says being good-looking automatically makes one a vase?”

She paused, seemingly choosing her words.

“Not to look too far—take modern times, for example. So many men of letters and culture. Mr. Hu Shizhi, for instance, was handsome and elegant in his youth, a veritable refined gentleman. Would anyone say his scholarship was lacking? Or take Oscar Wilde abroad, renowned for both his striking looks and his extraordinary talent. Talent and appearance have never been opposites.”

Xiao Ran was rendered speechless by her best friend’s words, then broke into laughter, hastily conceding.

“Alright, alright, I was wrong, Miss Yan’s lesson is well deserved! It was my narrow-mindedness! Only our great talent Miss Yan could be so thoughtful and perceptive, while I, a commoner, can only see faces!”

Her tone was deliberately exaggerated in jest.

“No wonder you’re the paragon of both beauty and talent at our No.1 High.

Your outlook is truly on another level!”

Yan Junzhu, slightly embarrassed by the praise, felt her cheeks warm and gently pushed her friend.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m just plain-looking. I don’t deserve to be called a paragon. I only feel that casually labeling others isn’t very good, that’s all.”

“Plain-looking?”

Xiao Ran acted as though she had heard a joke, her gaze sweeping over Yan Junzhu’s intellectual and stunning profile.

“Miss Yan, if you’re calling yourself plain-looking, then what about us ordinary people? What you have is cultured beauty! The grace that comes from books and learning, don’t you understand? That kind of refinement, tempered by culture, isn’t something mere cosmetics could ever create!”

“You’re getting more and more ridiculous…”

Yan Junzhu shook her head helplessly, lifting her glass to cover her slight embarrassment.

Though their voices weren’t loud, their exchange still drew the whispers of a few other nearby white-collar women.