LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 8 - Why had He Come to the Bar Again?
Song Qiuzhi?
What right did she have?
These questions involuntarily surfaced in Su Yueniang’s mind.
She usually dressed casually, kept her hair very short – how did she look anything like a girl?
Could it be…
Did this President Gu Yan prefer tomboy types like Song Qiuzhi?
And that bitch Song Qiuzhi, who usually acted so high and mighty, hadn’t she now shown her true colors?
Thinking of this, Su Yueniang left the office doorway with a gloomy expression.
Everything she had now, she had obtained bit by bit through her own efforts. Among the artists who had joined at the same time, her Su Yueniang’s fan count had always ranked in the top three.
A predetermined competition spot given to Song Qiuzhi?
I, Su Yueniang, won’t agree to this first.
Since you, Song Qiuzhi, played these improper little tricks first, don’t blame me…
Su Yueniang quickly made up her mind – she had always been vindictive by nature. Even if Song Qiuzhi had won this round temporarily, she wouldn’t let her have an easy time of it.
…
…
Around five in the afternoon, Song Qiuzhi, having finished editing her video, yawned and stretched.
“Hah~~~”
Singing herself, filming herself, editing herself, posting herself – this was her daily work routine.
Listening to the sound in her earphones, Song Qiuzhi felt somewhat emotional –
Whether in her previous life or now, the hit singles on Douyin were basically all similar, mass-produced studio products that sounded okay but became tiresome after a few listens.
On one hand, the quality wasn’t up to standard and the lyrics were terrible; on the other hand, you could find traces of many other songs in these hits.
Therefore.
The Mango TV “New Generation” variety show matter was quite necessary.
It could both earn a lot of money and bring a small shock of Chinese pop to this world.
“Qiuqiu, want to have dinner together?”
Chu Wei had packed up her things twenty minutes ago, watching the time jump from 5:59 to 6:00 on the dot, and immediately stood up with her bag.
Song Qiuzhi, unsurprised, replied, “I need to go home to cook for my mom, you go ahead.”
“Okay.”
Chu Wei didn’t push it. In the year-plus she had known Song Qiuzhi, she had rarely been able to get her to go out for meals or shopping.
Chu Wei knew a little bit about Song Qiuzhi’s family situation.
“Then I’ll head out first, Qiuqiu, see you tomorrow~”
“Mm, see you tomorrow~”
After saying goodbye to Chu Wei, Song Qiuzhi also started packing up her things.
She needed to hurry home to cook for her mom, and after her mom ate and went to bed, she still had to rush to sing at the bar. There was hardly any free time in her day.
It wasn’t dark yet, and walking in the alley after getting off the subway wasn’t as scary as it would be late at night.
The rusty security door had several shallow dents, and the old Chinese-style openwork pattern looked quite dated.
Song Qiuzhi took out her key to open the door, and the teeth-grinding sound of metal scraping against metal rang out again.
“Is that Qiuqiu coming home?”
Her mother’s weak voice came from the bedroom.
Song Qiuzhi put down her keys and bag, changed into slippers, and walked toward the bedroom door, then pushed it open –
The rosy evening light lazily fell on the bed through the half-drawn curtains. Lu Qinghe was half-lying in bed against the headboard, pale and almost skeletal – this was Song Qiuzhi’s mother.
Ever since her mom had fallen ill, every time Song Qiuzhi saw her, she couldn’t help feeling a bitter ache in her heart.
Although they were “halfway mother and daughter,” Lu Qinghe had always been very good to her, letting Song Qiuzhi experience the maternal love she hadn’t really experienced in her previous life.
She used to be like a proud and pure white swan, but now under the torment of financial pressure and illness, she had long lost the grace of the former Mrs. Lu of Xinlan.
“Why aren’t you sleeping more, mom?”
Song Qiuzhi walked to the window to open the curtains and adjusted Lu Qinghe’s pillow position: “What about today’s medicine, did you take it all on time?”
Lu Qinghe nodded slightly.
“I took it, I’ve been sleeping all day, but now it hurts badly and I can’t sleep…”
Hearing this, Song Qiuzhi’s footsteps paused, and her eyes showed several traces of complex emotions.
Mom’s illness really couldn’t continue to drag on like this…
Calculating the time, it had only been four hours since she last took her medicine. Based on previous situations, mom shouldn’t be feeling much pain now.
Usually, it wouldn’t start hurting until eight or nine at night, and by then it would be time for medicine again.
“Should we go to the hospital?”
Song Qiuzhi adjusted her emotions and looked up at Lu Qinghe with concern: “We could at least have the doctor prescribe some better pain medication.”
Lu Qinghe shook her head again. Her daughter was already earning money to pay off debts and support the family, while also keeping her, this burden, alive. The pressure was already very, very great.
This level of pain…
Bear with it, it would pass quickly.
“I’m fine, it hurt a lot earlier, but it’s much better now, no need to go to the hospital.”
Lu Qinghe answered with furrowed brows, her lips trembling slightly, almost colorless, but Song Qiuzhi couldn’t see this from her angle.
“Really?”
Song Qiuzhi asked doubtfully.
Lu Qinghe forced a smile through the pain, trying to sound casual: “Oh, it’s really nothing, weren’t you going to cook? Mom’s hungry, go make dinner quickly.”
“Oh, okay…”
Since mom insisted she was fine, Song Qiuzhi could only drop it.
What concerned her more was that mom had actually said she was hungry – since the family troubles began, mom’s condition had gotten worse day by day, especially after falling ill. It had been a long time since Song Qiuzhi had heard mom voluntarily say she was hungry or anything like that.
After mom got sick, the only thing Song Qiuzhi felt fortunate about was that in her previous life, she had learned fairly decent cooking skills.
Crucian carp tofu soup, stir-fried vegetables, tomato and egg – nutritious, suitable for an ill person’s diet, and to mom’s taste as well.
“Mom, you eat first, remember to take your medicine after eating, okay…” Song Qiuzhi instructed while shouldering her guitar, hurriedly changing her shoes and preparing to leave.
Lu Qinghe had slowly walked out of the bedroom by then, and watching Song Qiuzhi who had already opened the door and walked out, she asked with concern: “Won’t you stay and eat before leaving?”
“No mom, I need to hurry to my part-time job, and they provide meals there anyway.”
The bar naturally wouldn’t provide meals, especially for part-time workers like Song Qiuzhi – that was even more unlikely.
She said this just so her mom wouldn’t worry.
“Then be careful, come home early after work…”
“Mm, don’t worry mom! Go eat your dinner.”
Watching Song Qiuzhi’s departing figure, Lu Qinghe stood leaning against the door frame for a long while, at this moment seemingly forgetting even the pain in her lungs.
She vaguely remembered that when Qiuqiu was little and went out to play with friends, she would say the same thing.
“Sigh…”
Lu Qinghe moved slowly toward the dining table, her heart full of melancholy sighs – how had life turned out like this?
…
…
Song Qiuzhi ran to the bar street almost at the same speed as her high school hundred-meter sprints.
Today she had spent a little extra time cleaning the crucian carp while cooking, and seeing that she was about to be late, although she knew Sister Jing wouldn’t mind, Song Qiuzhi still didn’t want to be late.
Although Sister Jing was very nice, one shouldn’t take advantage of others’ kindness recklessly, right?
“Sister Jing, I’m here, whew… fortunately, I almost was late.”
The moment Song Qiuzhi pushed open the bar’s door, she saw Sister Jing leisurely sweeping the floor.
Hearing this.
Sister Jing slightly raised her eyes to look at Song Qiuzhi, surprised: “Qiuqiu? Why are you in such a hurry, didn’t I tell you earlier there was no need to rush?”
“You need to fix this hasty personality of yours, what if you had fallen?”
Song Qiuzhi blinked her eyes, her gaze full of clear innocence. Sister Jing took one look at her like this – well, she was playing dumb again.
“You!”
Sister Jing helplessly rolled her eyes and raised her hand to point toward the bar counter.
“Look, isn’t that someone you know?”
Song Qiuzhi was stunned for a moment – she hadn’t told anyone about her part-time job at Sister Jing’s bar, how could there be an acquaintance here…
Then she turned to look –
“Huh?!”
Gu Yan smiled slightly, raising his glass and swaying it in Song Qiuzhi’s direction.
What was this dog doing at the bar again?
What did he want?!