I said, "I'll keep adding more as long as someone drinks."
The man quickly replied, "Someone's drinking, someone's drinking. We're from the construction team on the next street. We'll leave and another group will come over, we'll take turns drinking."
Sun Sixin and I walked inside. He said, "Brother Qiang, won't it be a problem if a bunch of migrant workers gather at the entrance every day? It'll be disruptive."
I said, "What can we do? We have to get them to finish this jar first, otherwise it will smell even worse. We can just add more water to it for them to drink later."
Sun Sixin thought for a moment and said, "I think pouring more wine is the right thing to do. If they drink too much, they'll be sleepy while working, and the foreman won't let them come anymore." This made me laugh in exasperation, and I said, "You're quite the schemer—hey, why aren't you keeping your General Manager Chen company?"
Sun Sixin glanced at me and said with a double meaning, "I came out with you."
Chen Kejiao had lost her former elegance and arrogance. She plopped down on the stage, surrounded by wine jars, glaring at one and shoving another. I handed her the small wooden spoon I was about to use to scoop wine: "Try it, this time it's really on me."
Chen Kejiao knocked the wooden spoon away, pointed at the pit full of jars, and said excitedly, "Is this what we agreed on?"
"Miss Chen, I strictly followed the contract and didn't change the layout of your place in the slightest. I just put a large vat at the entrance and placed some smaller vats inside." This excuse was something I had already prepared.
Sun Sixin said cautiously, "President Chen, these are all our newly launched five-star gin. We just did a market test yesterday, and the response was very good..."
"So you've turned this place into a night market stall?" Chen Kejiao interrupted him. "Are you even planning to set up a barbecue grill in the dance floor?"
“That won’t do,” I said with absolute certainty. “But if you agree, I’m planning to tear down the bar counter and build a long wooden counter with shelves behind it, where we can display our Five-Star Juniper, Six-Star Juniper… Do you agree?”
Chen Kejiao seemed furious. She suddenly stood up, sneering, "Fine, I'll wait and see if your Five-Star Gin will really be a hit—Manager Xiao, let's make a bet. This bar's average daily revenue is around 10,000. We'll see in a bit. If your Five-Star Gin can sell 5,000 a night, I'll admit defeat, and you'll be in charge of the bar from now on." She then raised her voice sharply, "If you lose, I'll break the contract and take the bar back!"
I said, "How could that be? If we can't sell it for 5,000, our contract will automatically be terminated."
I said it, but I wasn't sure. Although Yang Zhi sold half a barrel of wine for 3,000 yuan yesterday, popularity is hard to predict. Yesterday, people just joined in the fun, and each glass of wine sold for an average of more than 100 yuan, and that was all thanks to hype.
But today is today. Even people who had a good time yesterday might not come today. If even beer drinkers are scared away by the bar's state, I'll be completely ruined.
Chen Kejiao grabbed a drink from the bar and angrily found a table to sit at. I brought over two glasses of wine, placed one in front of her, and said earnestly, "Little Chen, don't be so upset with yourself. It'll be over soon, and someone has to be eliminated. If you lose, it proves our bar will get better and better; if I lose, we might not be in business, but we'll still be on good terms, so why make the boss look so sullen?"
Chen Kejiao pushed the glass of wine away. Her anger subsided slightly, and she said calmly, "Mr. Xiao, it seems you are not the partner I am looking for. Apart from being a rogue at times, you have absolutely no business sense. All your ideas are childish."
I wanted to argue with her, but then I realized that what she said made a lot of sense.
Chen Ke puffed out in a spoiled manner, her chest heaving with each breath. This woman always covered herself up completely, but that didn't detract from her sex appeal at all, especially her breasts, which were always so high and smooth, giving the impression of being slightly constricted, as if even breathing was difficult for them. I really wanted to help her unbutton her clothes to let her breathe, but whether it was out of kindness or not, I don't know; I certainly wasn't.
"She must have added breast pads," I thought maliciously.
At this moment, the foreman of the migrant workers, who was leaning over the rim of the vat, strained to look inside through the glass and tapped the edge of the vat with his enamel cup, shouting, "Hey, you can't reach it to scoop it up."
I said to Sun Sixin, "Go find him a stick."
Sun Sixin looked left and right for a long time before finally pulling down the Native American spear from the stage backdrop and running out. Chen Kejiao glanced at him, held back her anger, and didn't say anything. "I'm leaving today, and Little Sun can retire honorably."
The migrant workers tied their tools to their spears, drank for a while, and then left. Before leaving, they left the enamel mug behind, saying it was a way of repaying me.
After the workers left, besides leaving behind their water cups, a huge question remained: was the stuff in the jar really delicious?
The crowd, who had been watching the spectacle, slowly began to gather around the water vat, but no one dared to be the first to step up. After about five minutes, a portly middle-aged man finally mustered the courage to climb the wooden ladder, picked up a cup that was resting on the rim of the vat, reached inside, scooped out a full cup, poured it into a paper cup, and drank it all in one gulp. Someone below asked: "Was it good?"
"It's nothing special," the middle-aged fat man said, pouring himself another drink. Someone else asked, "What does it taste like?"
"Hey, it's just cold water." The fat man poured himself another glass and drank it. A shrewd person in the crowd asked, "You keep drinking glass after glass of cold water?"
"I'm thirsty, what's it to you?" He poured and drank. Now everyone realized what was happening and shouted, "You go down, it's our turn!" The fat man drank two more cups before leaving, burping.
This time, no one held back, and they all surged towards the wooden ladder. A young woman in red stood atop the ladder, with delicate eyebrows and cherry lips. As the crowd pushed forward, her slender figure swayed precariously on the ladder, nearly falling into the vat. I watched, my heart pounding, and was about to rush out to rescue her when the young woman raised her spear, pointed the tip at the crowd, and declared loudly, "Anyone who comes forward, I'll give them a good thud!" The crowd trembled, retreating in disarray. The young woman held the spear upside down, drawing a small circle around the ladder with the handle, glaring at the crowd: "Those who enter the circle die!" Then, she leisurely scooped up some wine, drank a cup, and drifted away.
From then on, a small circle remained around the ladder, and the custom of drinking there never extended beyond that circle. As for the identity of the girl, people speculated endlessly but never found out, which eventually became a beautiful legend…
After 5:30, the bar staff gradually arrived, squeezing through the crowd to get in—by then, a small group of people had already gathered at the bar entrance.
After 6 o'clock, even the people taking a stroll were drawn over, and they stood at a considerable distance. Here's their conversation: A said, "What's going on?" B: "I don't know, let's see..."
Later, more and more people gathered at the bar entrance, but... not a single one went in. Of these people, only the few at the very front of the tank knew what they were doing; those behind and across the street were just like blind dogs looking at stars. It was like when I was a kid, I had sand in my eyes and walked forward with tears in my eyes, and eventually a long line of people followed behind me, heads down, groping around.
After 7 p.m., I started to get restless. The bar should be packed by now, but today even those who came for a drink were kept on the outer edge of the crowd. But they didn't leave; these people were there to relax and didn't mind spending a few more minutes to see what was going on.
Chen Kejiao sat there, her sneer growing stronger. The huge bar was empty except for a few of us and the waiters. Three waiters stood dumbfounded beside the wine jars, holding wooden spoons; I had deliberately arranged for them to sell alcohol. The overhead lights were on, swirling and flashing, casting spots of light on our few group, like a scene from an absurd stage play.
Sun Sixin was about to pull a few people in, but I said, "Don't go. I don't believe in this nonsense!" Then I stood at the door looking at the people outside, and they looked at me too. I stood with my hands on my hips, staring at them with a serious expression. They looked at each other, and then quietly looked back at me.
A stalemate... silence... even the people drinking from the water tank remained silent, finishing their drinks and quietly walking away. Nearly 1500 people stood in the bar, seemingly under some kind of spell or contagion, all eerily quiet. The scene was incredibly strange! Extremely strange!
Just then, four agile figures pushed through the crowd. The first one burst through the door, shouting, "I'm so thirsty! Get me some wine!" It was Zhang Qing. He pushed the door open, not seeing me standing dejectedly behind it, and shoved me far away.
Zhang Qing looked around, then jumped onto the stage, grabbed a bowl, and poured himself a drink. Yang Zhi followed closely behind, followed by the laughing Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu, who also grabbed bowls and started chugging. No one noticed that poor me was being slapped at Chen Kejiao's feet, who was watching me with a cold, mocking smile.
With the four of them rushing forward, many people were swept up in the chaos. Sun Sixin opportunely said, "Welcome everyone to try our Five-Star Gin..."
A bespectacled man asked dumbfoundedly, "How much?" as he sniffed hard.
"five……"
"Five yuan a bowl!" Before Sun Sixin could finish saying the last ten, I blurted out.
"Then I'll try... one bowl." The bespectacled man held out five yuan to the waiter holding a spoon. After taking a sip, he slapped the fifty yuan on the stage and shouted excitedly, "Ten more bowls, please!" The people who had been squeezed in with him also surrounded the stage, eager to try.
Once the stalemate was broken, a steady stream of people poured in from behind.
Today, the 1500 people surrounding the Reverse Time Bar embodied the age-old Chinese instinct to join in the fun. When the first 500 rushed in, the remaining 1000 launched a near-suicidal assault, pushing and shoving their way in. And when 300 of the first 500 completely blocked the stage, the remaining 200 didn't even bother to go anywhere else…
The usually packed first-floor lobby, which normally accommodates 200 people, was now crammed with over 1,000. They were all crammed under the stage, with those at the front holding up money and bowls, while those behind held up money. Zhang Qing and Yang Zhi couldn't get down, so they simply carried jars and poured wine for people. As each jar emptied, the rich aroma of wine became even more unbearable.
If the first people were there out of curiosity, then those who came later were drawn in by the aroma. This included a small group who had sampled it yesterday; they recognized the familiar scent and became unpaid promoters, pulling the 1,000 people out of their collective unconsciousness and finally making them understand why they had been swept in by the crowd: Five-Star Gin!