Chapter 114: Veterans' Bar

Manerk Street, Huadu, Zone One.

This was once one of the bloodiest battlefields of the Independence War. Located on the edge of Huadu, the north side of the street was a slum with endless rows of low-rise buildings and dovecote houses. Inside lived mostly Old Mo people who mixed with gangs and poor black people. Basic living facilities were extremely inadequate, and especially after the war ended, this became a forgotten corner of Zone One.

The right side of Manerk Street was the Pulai New District, home to Zone One's elite class. Every night when darkness fell, the colorful high-rises of Pulai New District shone with dazzling and magnificent lights, their glaring brightness spilling onto the edges of the slums - perhaps this was the only form of communication between the two areas.

When the Independence War broke out, fierce fighting lasted here for three days and nights, with over twenty thousand casualties, blood everywhere. Thus, every corner of this street was filled with the taste of history.

......

"Screech!"

A business car stopped on the north side of Manerk Street. Su Tianyu opened the door and waved, calling out: "Come on, brothers, let's start an exciting night!"

Wawa got out first: "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking - you just want to get our Qiqi drunk and sleep with her."

"Why not sleep with you?" Su Tianyu asked sideways.

"I'm not fully developed yet, suggest waiting two more years, brother!" Wawa had a cheerful personality and loved joking, otherwise Big Bai wouldn't tease her for no reason.

"Alright then," Su Tianyu nodded in admiration and pointed to a bar not far away: "This is it."

"Looks really run-down!" Wawa was somewhat dissatisfied, turning her head to look at the slums across the street. "I heard this area is quite chaotic."

"It's fine, hehe," Su Tianyu led the three into the small-fronted bar.

This bar was called "Veteran Bar," and before entering, An Qiqi was very resistant, because she had also lived in Huadu for a while and knew this area was chaotic. She instinctively thought the bar's customers would mainly be black brothers. But unexpectedly, upon entering she discovered that all the patrons were Chinese, with no other races present.

The bar was dimly lit with melodious music playing. Most customers were shabbily dressed and had obvious disabilities, mainly male.

An Qiqi curiously surveyed the bar, feeling it was a bit strange.

Su Tianyu walked familiarly to the bar counter and said to a Chinese woman in her mid-thirties: "Long time no see, Sister Hong!"

The woman who was chatting with someone behind the counter turned to look at Su Tianyu, her expression slightly stunned: "Oh my, Big Pit Su is back."

"Haha, did you miss me?" Su Tianyu grinned.

The woman had fair skin and wore a tight qipao. Though not stunningly beautiful, she was pleasant to look at, with spirited phoenix eyes: "Hehe, I missed you so much, missed how you still owed me over a thousand in drink money when you left!"

Hearing her mention money, Su Tianyu immediately pointed at An Qiqi and Wawa: "These are all my friends, here for drinks, arrange something for us."

The woman glanced at An Qiqi and the others, smiling as she replied: "Alright, what would you like to drink?"

"The usual, simple and brutal, you arrange it!" Su Tianyu instructed, pointing to the dark corridor inside: "I'll go find those guys."

"Okay," the woman nodded.

"You all enjoy first, I'm going to see some friends," Su Tianyu waved to An Qiqi and the others before walking toward the back rooms.

An Qiqi and Wawa had never been to this kind of place before. Looking at the thoroughly drunk patrons around them, they felt nervous and unsure, seemingly very uncomfortable.

Sister Hong stood behind the counter without talking to An Qiqi and the others, just skillfully using various bartending tools to mix drinks.

On the high stool, Bai Hongbo lit a cigarette and stared blankly at Sister Hong, also not speaking.

After a short while, Sister Hong mixed three sets of drinks, each set with large, medium, and small glasses. The drinks' colors looked very dazzling and beautiful.

"Let's roll dice!" Sister Hong pushed the glasses to the three, smiling lightly: "If I lose, I'll waive one drink's cost, if you lose, you drink one, OK?"

Bai Hongbo glanced at her and directly picked up the largest glass, replying: "No need to waive anything, I'll drink first."

With that, Bai Hongbo, in his extremely bad mood, downed two glasses of strong liquor in succession, immediately feeling his head buzzing and seeing stars.

Sister Hong was stunned: "This can kill people, brother!"

"Who gives a fuck if I die!" Bai Hongbo took a deep drag on his cigarette, feeling his head spinning, seeing the whole room's scene floating.

"Come on, I'll play with you," An Qiqi called out to Sister Hong.

The two rolled dice, and An Qiqi, with no nightlife experience, lost twice right at the start. She gritted her teeth and emptied the medium and small glasses.

"If you can't drink, you can sing a song for everyone instead," Sister Hong said to An Qiqi.

"I... I can drink!" An Qiqi was also a bit dizzy but still stubbornly persisted.

......

Deep in the corridor, Su Tianyu pushed open a door and walked into a room.

The room was dimly lit, with someone lying on a row of beer crates covered by a dirty thin blanket, facing away from the door, seemingly sleeping.

Su Tianyu stepped lightly forward, bending down and reaching to pinch the person's nose.

"Slap!"

Su Tianyu's hand was caught by the wrist just as he reached out.

"Not bad, old soldier, drunk as hell but can still hear someone coming in?" Su Tianyu teased with a smile.

The person lying down sat up groggily, squinting at Su Tianyu: "Damn it, just about to fall asleep. You bastard, got knocked down in Dragon City and came back?"

"Mm, got knocked down, came back to gather people," Su Tianyu bent down to sit.

In the light, the person sitting up straight revealed his true appearance. He had a square face with sharp features but looked very unkempt, with long hair and unshaven beard. Plus his clothes seemed unwashed for a long time - overall he looked like a beggar.

This person was once Su Tianyu's company commander, named Zheng Han, thirty-five years old this year.

Zheng Han yawned and picked up his blanket, reaching out to ask: "Got any cigarettes?"

Su Tianyu reached into his pocket for his cigarette pack and threw it to him.

"Damn, really got knocked down in Dragon City?" Zheng Han's hands were shaking, taking a while to find a lighter on the cardboard box.

"Yeah," Su Tianyu nodded: "I almost fucking died!"

Zheng Han lit his cigarette and asked flatly: "Don't know where Bean and the others went, I'll go back with you?"

"Are you sober?" Su Tianyu asked with a smile.

"Sober or not doesn't affect fighting!" Zheng Han smoked: "Tonight you treat the whole place, tomorrow I'll go back with you."

Su Tianyu tilted his neck looking at him, grinning very brightly.

......

In the Yu family apartment.

Yu Jinrong walked out of the study and looked up at Yu Mingyuan who had just returned: "Meeting someone else tomorrow."