[Cloud City · Night Wanderer Bar]
"You two here for drinks?"
Bartender Xiao Zhou stood behind the bar counter, shaking a silver cocktail shaker in his hands. His smile was professional but genuine. He looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a streak of light brown dyed into his hair and a small silver hoop in his left ear. The whole person seemed much more alive than when they'd met during the daytime—the bar at night was his home turf.
Yin Wuwang flashed his badge briefly. "Major Crimes Unit. We came before."
Xiao Zhou's hands paused for a beat, but quickly resumed their shaking rhythm. "Right, right, Officer Jiang. You came during the day last time, asked about Brother Chen."
His gaze passed over Yin Wuwang's shoulder, landing on Xie Qingyan behind him.
Yin Wuwang shifted to the side in a motion so natural—natural as if he'd done it ten thousand times—letting Xie Qingyan move from behind him to beside him.
"This is Shen Han, forensic examiner." Yin Wuwang said.
Then he paused.
The pause lasted no more than half a second. But in that half second, Yin Wuwang made a judgment—they were here in plainclothes for an informal visit; the bartender already knew their relationship from last time. If they suddenly switched to a purely professional attitude, it would actually seem unnatural.
Besides, there were other customers in the bar. People were watching them.
So—
"Also my boyfriend." Yin Wuwang's tone was even more natural than when he'd said "Major Crimes Unit."
Xiao Zhou's eyes brightened, his gaze darting quickly between Yin Wuwang and Xie Qingyan.
Xie Qingyan stood beside Yin Wuwang, his facial expression unchanged.
But Yin Wuwang caught it from the corner of his eye—his ear tips had gone red.
Not a slight flush. A red that spread from the edge of his ear all the way down to the earlobe—impossible to hide.
He silently archived this image. High definition, permanent storage, no deletion permissions granted.
Little Deer Assistant made a small "tsk" sound in his mind, then tactfully shut up.
"Have a seat, have a seat." Xiao Zhou pulled out two glasses from under the counter. "What'll you have?"
"No need." Xie Qingyan spoke, his tone already restored to calm—the red at his ear tips hadn't faded yet, but his voice was steady as a scalpel. "We have a few questions to ask."
"Sure, sure, ask away." Xiao Zhou set down the cocktail shaker, propping both hands on the counter in a "let's chat" posture.
The bar at night was completely different from daytime. Warm yellow light cast down from track lighting overhead, gilding everything in an amber glow. Jazz played low from the speakers; the bottles behind the bar refracted deep and shallow shades of amber, emerald, and gold in the light.
The air carried the scent of alcohol, the smell of wooden furniture, and a faint hint of perfume.
Yin Wuwang surveyed the room. It was a weeknight; not many customers—two or three people sat at the bar, a couple of pairs in the corner booths that looked like dates. No one was paying them particular attention.
Good.
"Last time you mentioned Chen Wan was good to customers, had a gentle smile." Xie Qingyan got to the point, his pace unhurried, like casual conversation. "I'd like to understand more about his relationships with customers. Were there any customers who were particularly close to him?"
Xiao Zhou thought for a moment, fingers unconsciously tapping the counter.
"Close... how do I put it." He tilted his head. "Brother Chen was nice to every customer, but it was that kind of—how do you say—professional nice. Made you feel taken care of, but you couldn't really tell if he actually considered you a friend."
Yin Wuwang lowered his gaze imperceptibly. This matched his observation from the first bar visit—"the smile was fake, the eyes were empty."
"But—" Xiao Zhou's tone shifted, his voice dropping slightly. "There was one customer who was definitely different."
"Which one?"
"Miss Xu." When Xiao Zhou said these two words, his expression turned subtly complicated—not the kind of gossip-excitement complicated, more like "I know things I probably shouldn't say but since you're asking I'll tell you" complicated.
"Miss Xu came often." He said. "At least two or three times a week. And when she came, she didn't sit at the bar—most customers sit at the bar to drink, it's convenient for refills. She always sat in the VIP room in the back."
"Alone?" Xie Qingyan asked.
"Mm, came alone. But—" Xiao Zhou glanced left and right, confirming no one else was listening, before continuing. "Brother Chen would go in to keep her company. Every time she came, Brother Chen would tell me 'I'll take care of the guest inside, you handle out here.'"
Yin Wuwang and Xie Qingyan didn't exchange looks, but Yin Wuwang could feel the attention of the person beside him sharpen by three degrees.
"How long would he stay?" Yin Wuwang asked.
"Depends. Short would be half an hour, long would be... one or two hours." Xiao Zhou shook his head. "I don't know what they talked about inside. But Miss Xu was usually in a pretty good mood when she came out. She's generous—always tipped me before leaving."
"What's Miss Xu's full name?"
"Xu Ruolin. I only know because I saw it on her charge slips. She always paid by card; the slips had her name."
Xie Qingyan wrote "Xu Ruolin" in his notebook.
Yin Wuwang observed Xie Qingyan's expression—outwardly calm, but the pen tip lingered on the paper for an extra second. That second meant he was weighing the significance of this lead.
"The relationship between Xu Ruolin and Chen Wan—" Xie Qingyan's tone was neutral, as if confirming facts rather than making judgments. "What would you say was its nature?"
Xiao Zhou's fingers tapped the counter twice, as if weighing his words.
"I can't say for sure." He finally chose a cautious opening. "But I feel... it wasn't just an ordinary bartender-customer thing."
He paused.
"Once I left work late and saw Brother Chen seeing Miss Xu out. She'd had too much to drink, couldn't walk steadily. Brother Chen helped her into a cab, waited until the car left before coming back in. The way he did it... how do I put it, it was practiced. Like he'd done it many times."
Yin Wuwang filed this detail away quietly. A bar manager seeing a drunk VIP customer into a cab wasn't unusual in itself. But "practiced" and "like he'd done it many times" together gave it a different flavor.
"There's one more thing." Xiao Zhou seemed to remember something, his expression growing more complicated. "About a week before the incident, Miss Xu and Brother Chen had a fight. Right there in the VIP room."
Xie Qingyan's pen stopped.
"A fight?"
"Yeah. It was loud—I could hear it from outside." Xiao Zhou recalled. "Miss Xu's voice—she usually speaks very softly, but that day was completely different. Like she was crying, but also yelling. Brother Chen's voice wasn't loud, but I peeked through the door crack—"
He lowered his voice.
"Brother Chen's face—I'd never seen him look that bad."
[End of V2_Chapter 36]
Next: The fight, a cleaning lady named "Sister Li," and a bartender who notices too much.