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Chapter 120: Never Been Drunk
“Taking leave? Heh, you’ve been late for so long, what’s the difference from not showing up? That person hasn’t come for a while either; do you know what that means?”
This time, the manager didn’t say anything particularly harsh, but upon hearing the implication in his words, Suya’s face turned pale for a moment.
If what the manager said was true, it meant unemployment.
It would be difficult for Suya to find another job; she was clumsy and couldn’t do anything well. Even tasks like serving food or washing dishes only caused more trouble.
Fortunately, she had a good tolerance for alcohol.
Being looked at with disdain made Suya feel uncomfortable, but it was really hard for her to muster many emotions like frustration—she could only feel a hint of disappointment.
Here it comes again.
The manager looked at this wooden-like woman and felt powerless to continue speaking. After all, it’s hard to say much unpleasantness to a rock or a scarecrow. It was like playing music to a cow.
But naturally, there was no pleasing expression either.
“Sorry.”
Suya slightly bowed and then walked into the bar, preparing for her work tonight.
The fluorescent lights spun and intertwined, casting light on her hair and shoulders. Around her were the sounds of clinking glasses and flirtatious laughter, and the utterly ordinary Suya didn’t seem out of place at all. Instead, she resembled a backdrop in the crowd, easily overlooked no matter when or where she appeared.
She walked slowly past pairs of men and women, her gaze darting about quickly but never truly focused, as if she were aimlessly wandering.
Before she was called out, she could only continue being lost like this.
The hostesses in this bar didn’t have a fixed salary; how much they earned depended almost entirely on the customers’ mood, and Suya was among the unluckiest of them all.
However, she didn’t have the extra mood to complain about her misfortune.
“Hi, I’m here.”
After wandering for about ten minutes, a faint call suddenly came from behind Suya. The voice was incredibly familiar, and almost instantly, the entranced Suya turned back.
At the source of the sound, a girl with chestnut short hair sat at the most solitary little round table in the corner, lightly tapping her fingers on the table.
Suya hurried over and sat across from her, managing to force out a smile that was not unpleasing.
The girl in front looked completely out of place for someone at a bar, yet she had been a regular for over ten years.
Managers had come and gone, and each time a new one arrived, she would be questioned about her age. Unfortunately, she really did seem somewhat mismatched.
If one intentionally ignored her slightly curvy chest, she could easily be mistaken for a boy who hadn’t fully developed. Her voice was somewhat androgynous, her short hair not yet reaching her ears, and her facial features were not angular, requiring a few glances to discern.
In fact, she had a pretty face, but lacked any feminine charm; in a crowd, she was as hard to notice as Suya, only becoming more noticeable when faced with a direct gaze like this.
But the only person who would sit across from her would be Suya.
“What would you like to drink today?”
This question should have come from the customer, but it was the girl who spoke up instead.
She was asking Suya’s opinion, but it was not to cater to her feelings; it was to decide what kind of drink she would concoct for Suya today.
It sounded somewhat absurd—this table’s drinks were prepared by the customer for the hostess, and to encourage the hostess to willingly drink them, she even spent quite a bit of money.
“Uh, is there a stronger drink? One that could really get me drunk.”
Suya hesitated for a moment and then spoke. Upon hearing this, the girl shook her head.
“You’ve said that many times, and we’ve tried it many times. To be honest, I don’t think there’s any drink in reality that could get you drunk… unless you don’t mind me adding some special ingredients. By the way, I feel like something’s different about you today; maybe this time it will work.”
Suya’s eyes suddenly lit up, and her speech speed unconsciously quickened.
“Really? Then let’s try it quickly.”
“Don’t get too excited; I can’t guarantee your body can handle it. Anyway, let me try mixing it first…”
The girl closed her eyes, her head drooping drowsily as if she were about to fall asleep. After a moment, she suddenly lifted her head, her brown pupils gradually focusing.
“This time I have to do it myself; I’ll go to the bar.”
She was probably the strangest customer in the whole bar. She wasn’t here to confide or listen, nor was she looking for a physical companion; she simply came for the drinks.
There was an environment suitable for mixing drinks and people willing to drink, so she appeared here.
She was already familiar with the bartenders, and the bar had even considered hiring her, but she had no interest in that job.
Suya quietly waited at the bar, watching as the glasses and the clear liquids danced gracefully between the girl’s fingers.
The girl submerged a rocks glass into liquid nitrogen; ten seconds later, a layer of white frost appeared on the glass’s wall. Yet, the girl seemed completely unafraid of the cold as she reached her hand straight in, her fingers still nimble as she smoothly poured in distilled vodka and rum.
As she stirred, she slowly poured the absinthe along the glass wall, bringing in some dreamy elements at what approached the human tolerance limit for alcohol.
Her technique was indeed splendid; even though Suya had seen it countless times, she couldn’t help but be amazed.
With a dose of capsaicin sinking to the bottom of the glass, the next moment, the girl ignited the liquor within with a torch, causing a wave of flames to burst forth from the surface. However, she paid no extra attention to the alcohol flower of flames; just a moment later, she covered it, watching as the faint core of flames gradually extinguished due to lack of oxygen.
Once finished, the girl gently wiped away a few beads of sweat from her forehead and looked at Suya:
“Want to know what it’s called?”
Suya dazedly shook her head and then nodded.
“I don’t know either. You’ll only know after you drink it.”
The girl looked with satisfaction at the layer of frost still remaining on the glass wall, silently counting in her heart. After ten seconds, the layer of frost shattered on cue.
The previously calm liquid began to agitate, as if some invisible thing were stirring within.
And Suya could see that the gleam breaking through the surface of the liquid was the special ingredient the girl mentioned—magic power.
What she was doing was to have the girl experiment with the world’s most wonderful yet dangerous beverage, the magic cocktail.
Rather than saying she was a hostess, it would be more accurate to call her a drink tester; for others, even a drop posed the risk of drunkenness.
But the girl’s drinks had never made Suya truly drunk.
