Chapter 10 9

Exactly one week later, the woman in mourning came to "Ming He" again.It was just after one o'clock in the morning.There were very few guests this evening.A male customer sat on a seat in the back of the store, who was chatting with Qianduzi about something. The woman walked in quietly.No, there should have been a sound when the door was opened, but Shinsuke didn't hear it.He was facing the liquor cabinet at that time.Even so, the woman made him feel completely breathless, which can only be said to be inconceivable.Regardless of whether he heard the sound, the opening and closing of the door and the silhouette of the guests coming in should be reflected on the bottle or the glass of the wine cabinet, but Shinsuke didn't notice it just now.

So when Shinsuke turned his head and saw the woman standing quietly opposite the bar, he couldn't help screaming, and at the same time his heartbeat began to fluctuate violently. The woman stood with her back straight, staring intently into Shinsuke's eyes.Her posture seemed to be an emissary announcing something to him.In fact, Shinsuke also fell into a slight hallucination for a moment, waiting for the woman to take the initiative to talk to him.There were only a few seconds in the middle, but he felt that the time passed very long. There was a few seconds of silence.Shinsuke finally remembered that he had to speak.

"Welcome!" His voice was rough as if he had a cold. The woman looked down and sat down on the same high chair. "Give me the same wine as last time." The voice was also reminiscent of a fife. "Is it Hennessy?" The woman nodded slightly to Shinsuke's question. Shinsuke turned his back on the woman and reached for the bottle.While pouring wine into the glass, he thought back and forth about what the woman had just said.The woman said it was the same as last time.In other words, she should remember that she had been to this store a week ago, and she also recognized the bartender in front of her.

For people in the service industry, remembering the face and name of customers is a matter of course.Even Chengmei will never forget the faces and names of the guests.In case of forgetting the name, try not to ask the other party as a last resort. You can ask other people in private, or try to recall it while chatting with the guest.If you can't remember it, you can use the last trump card and say to the guest: "By the way, you didn't leave me a business card before." Visit your home. However, Shinsuke couldn't imagine that this customer who only came to the store once would remember him.

Shinsuke thought that the other party might be testing him.But what's the point of testing a bartender you've never met?He was baffled by this. Shinsuke put the brandy glass in front of the woman.The woman said thanks.Although the voice was faint, it was clearly heard.The woman also showed him a coquettish smile, and he also raised the corners of his mouth to smile back. Shinsuke suddenly looked to the side, and found that Chizuko was observing their actions.To be precise, she was staring at the female customers all the time, and although she would occasionally chime in with the customers who were chatting, her attention was obviously focused on other places.Qianduzi winked at Shinsuke, asking him to find out the identity of the woman.

Shinsuke knew what Chizuko was thinking.She was worried that the woman was a competitor in the mall, so she was so wary.It is not uncommon for businessmen who plan to open a new store to enter a store that has been operating locally for a long time. This kind of thing is not uncommon in every industry. Shinsuke took out a small plate of chocolates and re-observed the woman's appearance.She was not wearing mourning clothes today, but a long dress of the same length as last time, and the color was not black but dark purple.Besides, she didn't wear gloves tonight. Shinsuke also noticed another thing about the woman that was different from last time.That is the length of the hair.Last time the woman's hair was so short that her ears were completely exposed, but tonight only half of her ears could be seen.After only a week, it is impossible for my hair to grow so fast, probably because I changed my hairstyle a little.The hairstyle also softened her expression a bit more than last week.

The most straightforward way to find out who she really is is to chat with her.But Shinsuke couldn't think of how to speak.He felt that no matter what he said, the woman would deal with it lightly.Show a mysterious smile, say a few necessary and brief words, and cut off all conversations.The aura emanating from her body made Shinsuke guess so. Shinsuke is not bad at dealing with customers, but rather good at it, since he was in "Sirius".However, he couldn't find a way to attack this woman.This woman was a completely different type from every woman he'd ever met before.

Twenty minutes passed without a word from him.So, she spent the same amount of time drinking a glass of brandy as last week.The woman wrapped her palms around the empty brandy glass and looked at Shinsuke with meaningful eyes. "Same?" he asked.Already reaching out to the bottle of Hennessy. The woman didn't nod.She asked while playing with the wine glass in her palm. "What else should I drink?" Shinji was startled.He hadn't expected a woman to ask that question. "What type do you like?" He pretended to ask calmly. The woman rests her chin in one hand and holds a brandy glass in the other.

"I don't know the name of the wine. Can you mix anything?" Shinsuke immediately understood that she was talking about cocktails, and was very nervous because he thought the woman would rate the drinks he made.She said she didn't know the name of the cocktail, so it shouldn't be true. "Then make it slightly sweeter." "This way, it should be good." "Is it okay to use brandy as the base wine?" "It's all up to you to decide." After thinking for a while, Shinsuke opened the refrigerator and saw Irish Cream Whiskey. "Sirius" in Ginza is a bar that specializes in cocktails.The owner, Koichi Ejima, was originally a famous bartender. He only entrusted the work of bartending to people he really trusted, and Shinsuke was one of the people he trusted.

However, since he came to "Minghe" for more than a year, the number of regular cocktails he made has been greatly reduced, and it can even be said that he has no chance at all.At most, he would concoct something similar to a cocktail when asked by the girls who came to work occasionally.Most of the guests will position this place as a place to court the hotel lady they bring. Therefore, the types of cocktails that Shinsuke can make are limited.After all, there is no extra space for stock materials. Even so, there are currently brown cocoa liqueurs and crème fraiche that can be blended with brandy.In order not to let his hands become dull, Shinsuke practiced all the time, but he still knew that his hand movements for shaking the wine vessel were not smooth enough.

After Shinsuke poured the cocktail in the shaker into the cocktail glass and sprinkled nutmeg powder, he realized that the woman was always staring at his hand.But that look was not appreciating the bartender's hand movements, but cold like a scholar observing bacteria. "Please use." Shinsuke put the cocktail glass in front of the woman. The woman did not immediately reach for the wine glass, but stared down for a long time.Shinsuke thought that if the woman had to observe for a while, he would tell her, "The cocktail tastes better early." Because the cocktail will deteriorate with the temperature. Not long after, she picked up the cocktail glass and raised it to eye level, as if confirming the viscosity of the wine, she swirled it slightly and began to sip. The cocktail glass was attached to the woman's moist and shiny lips.The light brown viscous wine flowed into the woman's throat.She closed her eyes gently, the dim light in the shop casting shadows on her face.This scene can only be described by the word obscenity.In Shinsuke's mind, he pictured the liquid flowing down her tongue and into the depths of her throat.This imagining aroused Shinsuke's sexual desire, and he felt his erection.When the woman drank the liquid, her slender throat rose and fell slightly, causing his heart to speed up immediately. The woman took a deep breath.If you touch it with your hands, you may feel the temperature.She opened her eyes, a little distracted. Then, the woman's eyes slowly focused, and her eyes returned to Shinsuke. "What do you think?" Shinsuke asked. "It's delicious. What's the name of this glass of wine?" "It's called Alexander." Shinsuke replied. "It's a famous cocktail." "Alexander? The emperor who ruled Greece?" "No," Shinsuke shook his head with a wry smile. "The allusion is from the Princess Alexandra who married King Edward VII of England. This is the cocktail used to congratulate their wedding." The woman nodded contentedly.I don’t know if I appreciate Shinsuke’s fluent explanation of the origin of the cocktail, or she likes this little allusion very much. The woman raised her glass again and took a sip.At this time, her fair cheeks flushed rapidly, as if a thin layer of crimson paint had been sprayed on it. "It's delicious," she said again. "Is it? If it suits your taste, it's all the better." "I must write it down, Alexander," she said in a low voice, as if speaking of something important. "Please don't drink too much." A thought flashed in Shinsuke's mind, and he asked, "Do you know the movie 'Days of Wine and Roses'?" "I've only heard the title of the film." She still answered in a low voice. "This is the cocktail that the hero forbids his wife to drink in that movie. Do you know how it ended?" The woman shook her head slightly. "She was obsessed with cocktails and soon became addicted to alcohol." She stopped for an instant, her lips parted into a beautiful shape and did not close.Then, after nodding vigorously, she put the cocktail glass into her mouth, and drank the wine that still had a considerable amount in one gulp. The woman exhaled a warm breath towards Shinsuke, of course she didn't do it on purpose.The sweet smell slightly stimulated Shinsuke's nostrils, making his senses tingle. "Give me another drink, please," she said. Yes, Shinsuke replied. The second Alexander cocktail became the last glass of wine the woman drank at "Ming He" tonight.After the wine glass bottomed out, she said "I'm going back" and got up suddenly.Although his cheeks were stained crimson, he didn't look very drunk. After helping the woman pay the bill, Shinsuke walked out of the bar and went to the entrance to open the door for her.The woman walked past him with her head held high. "Where are you going from now on?" Shinsuke asked, looking at her slender back. She stopped walking towards the elevator and turned around. "Why are you asking me that question?" she said, tilting her head slightly. Shinsuke racked his brains but couldn't find the answer, so he asked her where she was going, but it didn't mean anything.No, it can't be said that there is no such thing at all, but he can't say it right now.He thought to himself, if he told that woman that he misses you every day, how would she react? "Uh, I'm just guessing, you should go to the next one to drink again." Shinsuke didn't answer her question directly. The woman seemed to be planning to let Shinsuke have a step down, but most of them were also admiring his distressed appearance. "Yeah. Maybe I will, maybe I won't." Shinsuke couldn't find a word to continue.Although he tried to say something witty and humorous, his mind went blank.He was irritated that he had turned into such a dull man. In order to hide his wavering, Shinsuke ran after her and pressed the elevator button.The elevator happened to stop on this floor, and the door opened immediately. She said thanks and stepped into the elevator. "Please be sure to come again." After Shinsuke finished speaking, the woman stared at him as if her heart was touched.Then she reached for the control panel of the elevator.Since the elevator door was not closed, the woman should have pressed the "open" button just now. "The cocktails are really good. Thanks for the treat," she said in a low voice. "Thank you for your patronage." Shinsuke bowed. "Could you make another cocktail for me next time I come here?" After Shen Jie heard this sentence, the depression in his chest completely disappeared, and a sense of pleasure emerged spontaneously.Because it means she will come to the store again. "I will prepare first." "Good night." The woman's hand left the control panel.The elevator doors closed quietly.Shinsuke looked at her face, and the eyes of the two met in the air. Boom, he felt a tight pain in his chest, as if his heart had been pierced by a foreign object.Until the elevator door closed and she was nowhere to be seen, that feeling was still lingering for a while. "Do you know who she is?" Qian Duzi asked softly.She really paid attention to Shinsuke and the two from the beginning to the end. Shinsuke pursed his lips, shrugged and shook his head.For some reason, he made a straight face on purpose. "You seem to have said a lot to her." "Just chatting about cocktails." "Cocktail?" Chizuko's eyes sparkled. "Does she know much about wine?" "I don't know." Shinsuke put his hands in his pockets, tilting his head and said. "It doesn't look like it, but she might be acting." "That's it..." Qian Duzi showed a dignified expression.She couldn't seem to think of anything good about that woman. "Xiao Shen, next time if that woman comes again, remember to ask for clues." "Isn't it against the way of hospitality to keep asking guests about their personal affairs?" "There are exceptions. After all, that woman is too suspicious." "Okay, I'll try my best." There was the sound of running water from the toilet.It wasn't long before the last guest appeared wiping his hands.Chitoko quickly took out the towel.She immediately showed her public relations smile at work again. Shinsuke returned to the bar to clean the woman's used glass, and a list of cocktails he wanted her to try came up in his mind.