DTBS – Chapter 54
Chapter 54: She's So Pitiful
"Sweet Heart?" The half-drunk, half-awake actress blinked, looking at the beautiful, dreamy pink and white cocktail. Her face grew even redder, and she softly cursed, "An indecent, perverted bartender!"
The woman in front of her was clearly startled, thinking she hadn't heard correctly. "What did you call me?"
"You actually flirted with me," the actress glared, thinking she was going too far. "It's our first time meeting! You're not reserved at all!"
"...Using violet-flavored liqueur as the base, plus Amaretto and red curaçao."
The woman with the clear voice raised her hand and placed a mint leaf on the heart shape. The drink in front of her instantly gained a subtle youthful touch. "Mixed with fresh cream and vanilla syrup, this drink is finally crafted into Sweet Heart. Miss, it's very popular with girls your age."
She didn't directly state that "Sweet Heart" was the name of the drink, but chose a subtle way to remind her, proving she wasn't flirting.
"Huh?" The dizzy actress's mind clearly wasn't catching up. "What lover?"
"Want to try it? This is the drink my previous customer ordered," the woman's long, fair fingers pressed the coaster, pushing the glass closer again. "The alcohol content is much higher than the beer you were drinking. I hope you can handle it."
A male waiter passing by raised an eyebrow at her and said in English, "New prey?"
The woman looked up, her indifferent eyes sweeping over him, but she didn't respond.
She knew many people in the bar were jealous of her.
Bartenders not only sell drinks but also stories, managing interpersonal relationships while occasionally moonlighting as "psychologists." Since she started working at this bar, her outstanding demeanor combined with her exquisite features perfectly hit most people's aesthetic sweet spot. Many customers were attracted by her appearance, both Chinese and foreign, and were willing to come to the bar during her shifts to have her mix drinks for them and chat with her.
A large portion of these customers were women. Her colleagues at the bar all said it was because she looked like a lesbian.
After all, she was polite to men but maintained a clear distance, while she would show a gentle and bright smile to women, chat with them while they drank, carve fruit, and could chime in on any topic.
This kind of beautiful woman, knowledgeable and polite, was very good at winning over girls.
The "Sweet Heart" cocktail, on the menu provided by Tao Qiuyun, had been ordered by almost every female customer. After all, everything in this drink was related to love.
The language of violets is eternal love, Amaretto is also known as love liqueur, sweet cream, sticky syrup, plus heart-shaped lemon and sweet and sour cherries, and even that mint leaf – girls could stare at Tao Qiuyun's face while imagining all sorts of stories.
The cocktail was layered pink and white, with a faint purple mixed at the bottom, looking pleasant and tasting smooth. It was rich in fruit flavor, a mix of sweet and sour, refreshing and not cloying, seemingly encompassing all a young girl's romantic feelings, filled with love.
"Who are you looking down on!" Stimulated by her words, Qin Qingshang grabbed the glass and tilted her head back, downing it in one go.
She drank too fiercely and too quickly, the liquid flowing down her chin, past the small mole on her neck, and the gulping motion made her look even more alluring. The excessive alcohol intake not only irritated her throat, causing her to cough repeatedly, but also made her face as bright red as the fruit platter Tao Qiuyun had just served, looking ready to drip.
Drinking like this completely missed the deliciousness of the drink and was disrespectful to the bartender. It was rare to see a girl so bold in front of Tao Qiuyun. Several staff members saw this scene and whispered:
"Is this... her charm declining?"
"Finally! Finally, a woman isn't interested in her! It's time to look at us!"
"Hilarious, her makeup is like a ghost. If I were Q, I'd be relieved."
"She looks underage. I knew Q wasn't a good person."
"Q actually pretends very well. She always hits on drunk girls."
Just then, noisy shouting erupted nearby, attracting a lot of attention.
The actress placed the glass on the table, her whole body slumped softly against the bar counter, whimpering, "Ugh, uncomfortable, doesn't taste good."
"Q, she actually said your skills are bad," David, the bartender at the next counter and one of the few male colleagues she got along with, whispered, "I think her alcohol tolerance is too poor. With this level, she still dares to be your 'Sweet Heart'."
"This drink is about 15 degrees," Tao Qiuyun began cleaning her tools. "And she drank it so fast, it would be abnormal if she didn't feel uncomfortable."
The sweet taste covered the alcohol, disguising itself as gentle and harmless, just like the famous Long Island Iced Tea. People who knew little about alcohol might even think Long Island Iced Tea was tea, as it tasted like a beverage, easily overlooking its essence as alcohol, and a high-alcohol beverage of nearly 18 degrees at that.
In some bars, Long Island Iced Tea was even called a "drink to take advantage of someone." Many people with ill intentions used this drink to trick girls who were entering a bar for the first time.
Tao Qiuyun took off her name tag and handed it to David. "Help me watch the counter for a bit. I'll take her to her classmates. If needed, I'll send her back to the hotel."
She knew the girl in front of her was on vacation with classmates and staying at a hotel, but she didn't know which one specifically.
"Are you going after lone women again?" David teased her. "Don't you know those guys like Dick are spreading increasingly outrageous rumors? Now they're even saying you pick up drunk women and take them to hotels to open rooms and sleep with them? They say you rely on your good bartending skills to secretly modify the drinks on your menu into 'drinks to take advantage of someone'."
"Nonsense. I have plenty of non-alcoholic drinks on my menu." Tao Qiuyun left the bar counter and reached out to support the actress who was losing consciousness. "If that were the case, why am I still fine? Shouldn't I have been sued by those girls' lawyers long ago?"
"They say those women thought sleeping with you was a gain for them, so they didn't sue you and tacitly accepted your actions towards them."
Tao Qiuyun was speechless. "Do those men only have sleeping with people on their minds?"
"Don't you think a lot of girls have been pretending to be drunk in front of you lately?" David looked at the actress rubbing against Tao Qiuyun's arms. "This one, maybe she is too. She's dressed so differently, are you sure she's not deliberately trying to attract your attention?"
"She's genuinely drunk," Tao Qiuyun supported Qin Qingshang. "I'll go ask her where she's staying."
The drunk actress struggled to speak. When she couldn't walk normally, there was no need to ask her any questions.
Talking to a drunk person was like talking to a brick wall, a waste of time.
Over there, the commotion continued: "We said, we're not drinking with you!"
They were all college students, and being in a foreign country, facing a group of men with tattooed arms and fierce looks, it was normal to be scared. So many students huddled in a corner, not daring to speak.
But the men insisted on dragging their classmates to drink. After arguing for a while, the foreign words coming out of the men's mouths got dirtier and dirtier. One male student couldn't stand it anymore and picked up a bottle, hitting one of the men on the head.
The situation instantly became uncontrollable.
Tiny scattered light spots fell on the quilt. Qin Qingshang raised her hand to cover her eyes. Last night, she forgot to close the curtains, causing her to be woken up by the sunlight early in the morning.
The woman slowly sat up, the events of yesterday and the memories waking up in her mind constantly mixing and repeating...
Yesterday, she had just finished simply treating Tao Qiuyun's wound when Su Qingxiang arrived. So everyone took Tao Qiuyun to the hospital. After that, she returned to the set to film, and then in the evening, she found they had moved to a different hotel.
Speaking of changing hotels, Qin Qingshang felt that Tao Qiuyun truly spared no expense.
Using Tao Zhuohua's name, she directly moved everyone from the film crew to a top five-star hotel. She covered all the expenses for the large crew during this period, citing the previous hotel's mismanagement and serious safety risks.
The actress pondered...
Paparazzi getting into the hotel was a big deal, and Tao Qiuyun getting injured was an even bigger deal. But the biggest thing right now was why the CEO of Chunjin used to be a bartender abroad when she and Tao Qiuyun first met?
Although she didn't remember the details clearly, she still recalled that Tao Qiuyun had mixed her a drink that looked like a beverage, beautiful in appearance, but very difficult to drink! And it made her drunk!
With that skill level, it was no wonder she couldn't continue being a bartender and chose to go home and inherit the family business. She probably received a lot of complaints, how pitiful.
"Achoo—"
Tao Qiuyun turned her head and sneezed, startling the group of people in the conference room.
Secretary Zheng immediately asked with concern, "CEO Tao, is the air conditioning temperature not suitable?"
"No," Tao Qiuyun shook her head, looking at the large screen in front of her. "Continue. My health is fine."
Everyone looked at CEO Tao with a gauze patch on her face, only feeling that this Tao Qiuyun was even more formidable.
No, you're not even resting like this? You just returned from a business trip abroad, CEO Tao, there's really no need to start working immediately upon your return, right? Actually, whether we can slack off isn't important, what's important is that your subordinates are very worried about your health!
Unfortunately, everyone knew that CEO Tao was a workaholic. As soon as she returned to the company, she started assigning tasks, holding various meetings, negotiating contracts, one after another. The progress bars for various tasks, big and small, within the group began to advance frantically.
The review and approval office was the most miserable. They had to process a continuous stream of documents from various departments of the group, filter and review them before submitting them to Tao Qiuyun for review. If there were errors, they would be called to the CEO's office to face the cold.
Your Majesty, your empire is already vast enough. Please, take a break! Don't lead the charge in overworking!
The subordinates missed the days when Executive Assistant Wang was "acting as regent."
After the meeting, Secretary Zheng followed Tao Qiuyun's pace, looking down at her tablet. "CEO Tao, we've finalized things with the government side. The formal meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, and you'll need to go to Shangjing. However, someone will arrive from there today. I've scheduled dinner at St. Ya Restaurant."
"Okay. Were there any other major events during our business trip?" Tao Qiuyun walked back to her office.
"The sea view project we discussed before," Secretary Zheng tapped her tablet. "The designer there seems to have new ideas. Secretary Zhang is following up and will report immediately once there's a result. Then there's the 'Changnian' charity auction next month. The organizers have sent you an invitation, CEO Tao, hoping you can attend. How should we respond?"
"What is the purpose?"
"It's to donate to children in need in mountainous areas."
"Have the fund flows and on-site inspections been verified?"
"Secretary Zhou has investigated everything and is currently organizing it. It will be sent to you later. There are basically no issues."
"Anything else?" Tao Qiuyun opened the office door.
"There's also mineral extraction and real estate..." Secretary Zheng paused because she saw a certain bold little cat sitting in the boss's chair in the office. She was swinging her legs, looking comfortable, and there was a dog sniffing around the room.
"Eldest Miss," Grandpa Zhang got up from the sofa, noticing the gauze on her face, and was a little confused. "Your face?"
"Just a small injury. Grandpa Zhang suddenly came to the company. Is there something Grandfather needs?"
Grandpa Zhang bowed slightly to her and smiled. "The Old Master misses Qinqin, so he wants you to bring her and her mother home to visit tonight."
Before Tao Qiuyun could respond, Grandpa Zhang continued, "Also, Mrs. Xia is back in the country. She said she lied about returning a month later just to give you a surprise then."
He paused for a few seconds, then sighed, "But, I know her surprises are usually shocks to normal people, so I'm telling you, Qiuqiu, in advance, hoping you'll be mentally prepared tonight."
"Then... Grandpa Zhang, what do you think Mom wants to do?"
"I don't know, but I saw her buy a lot of roses, and..."
"And what?"
"It seems... well, it seems to be something called a water bed, quite large."
Thanks, I'll go on a business trip tonight.
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