Chapter 44

L’amour Bar is a bar located outside the west gate of Huaxin Community. It's quite large, but its popularity is average.

The area around Huaxin Apartments is filled with numerous bars and cafes, making the competition fierce. However, only a few have truly stood out, while the rest can only be described as average.

Shuishuichuan’s newly hired waiter, who is rather dim-witted, didn’t recognize the notice board outside L’amour Bar, which looked like an old wall, and pasted the promotional poster right there. This naturally infuriated the bar’s owners.

This was clearly a provocation!

That evening, a handsome man with short braids, named Shen Tailong, 27 years old, who looked a bit prematurely aged, and was a minor shareholder of L’amour Bar, came to Shuishuichuan to observe the Jazz Night. He brought three female resident musicians from L’amour Bar, intending to see what level the performers here were at.

The girl who had bumped shoulders with Sun Yuzhen was named Yu Xiran, a second-year student in the Popular Singing program at Dongyi University of the Arts. She was Shen Tailong’s new girlfriend.

The other two girls were Yu Xiran’s friends. The one wearing fashionable Korean-style tortoiseshell glasses was Wang Xiaofei, a second-year student in the Piano program at Dongyi University of the Arts.

The slightly plump girl was named Le Zihui, a third-year student in the Composition program at Dongyi University of the Arts.

The three of them formed a band called "Purple Flying Fish" and usually performed at L’amour Bar, showcasing their impressive musical skills.

Shen Tailong brought these three girls to Shuishuichuan, planning to challenge them with their music.

To be fair, Shuishuichuan Coffee Shop did make the first mistake by pasting the poster at L’amour Bar’s entrance. When Shen Tailong revealed the poster and explained the situation, Lu Shishi immediately understood what had happened and frowned, asking Shen Tailong, "Are you the owner of L’amour Bar?"

Chewing gum, Shen Tailong replied with a casual attitude, "You don’t need to know who I am. I’m just a guest tonight, here to listen to your music. Your poster design is quite nice, and your promotion is well done, but are you sure you didn’t print the words 'Jazz Night' wrong? With your level, calling it a Jazz Night? People will get tired of jazz in ten minutes."

Yu Xiran sneered, echoing Shen Tailong, "Is this the resident singer of your place? Are there any others? I hope we won’t have to listen to this level of jazz all night."

Le Zihui and Wang Xiaofei both covered their mouths and laughed.

Hao Yuan was furious, "If you don’t appreciate it, leave! I didn’t beg you to listen to my singing!"

"How did you not beg us to listen to your singing?" Shen Tailong spat out the gum and stuck it on the poster, "Your poster with your picture has been at the entrance of L’amour Bar for two days. Isn’t that begging us to come listen to your singing? But your level is really too low!"

"You’re the one with the high level!" Hao Yuan retorted.

"My level is indeed higher than yours! Not just me, my girlfriend’s level is much higher than yours. I’m telling you, the music level at L’amour Bar is much higher than your so-called 'Jazz Night' at Shuishuichuan. Don’t argue with me about it!"

Shen Tailong’s words almost made Hao Yuan explode with anger!

That night, Shuishuichuan welcomed the most customers, with about 40 people coming for the Jazz Night. Now, Shen Tailong was not only insulting them but also promoting L’amour Bar, which was too much!

Lu Shishi also felt that Shen Tailong was being too overbearing, acting like a bully!

The proud Russian Blue cat in her arms didn’t like this scene and meowed, trying to jump out of Lu Shishi’s arms.

Lu Shishi bent slightly and let the cat down.

The blue cat remembered Lin Zaishan and, after touching the ground, ran straight to him. It nimbly jumped onto Lin Zaishan’s lap, turned its elegant neck, and looked back at Lu Shishi, as if watching the drama from a distance.

Lin Zaishan smiled and stroked the smooth, mink-like back of this uninvited guest.

Yu Mei, her brows furrowed, followed the blue cat’s gaze to Lin Zaishan and asked unhappily, "Uncle, are you from L’amour Bar too?"

"What L’amour Bar? I’ve never heard of it."

Lin Zaishan, of course, had heard of L’amour Bar. It was right outside the west gate of Huaxin Apartments, visible as soon as you stepped out.

However, seeing Shen Tailong and his group being so aggressive and disrespectful, he found them annoying and not considering the feelings of other customers.

Plus, Yu Xiran had been rude to Sun Yuzhen earlier.

All these factors made Lin Zaishan dislike this group.

Although he didn’t have a good impression of Hao Yuan either, the fact that they came to challenge the place made him even more annoyed.

"You old folks, of course, wouldn’t know about the bars we young people frequent," Shen Tailong shot back, giving Lin Zaishan a dirty look.

This comment infuriated Lu Chen, who asked with a forced smile, "What’s the name of the bar you young people frequent?"

"L’amour!"

"La-mo?" Lu Chen laughed loudly, "Like the donkey pulling the millstone? Who named it? That’s really creative!"

Everyone except the one man and three women laughed at Lu Chen’s joke.

Shen Tailong clenched his fists, almost ready to fight with Lu Chen.

Yu Xiran was even more furious, her strap almost slipping off her shoulder. She adjusted her pink strap and scolded Lu Chen, "Fat uncle, are you from the countryside? Donkey pulling the millstone, and ox plowing the field! Our bar is called L’amour, which means 'love' in French!"

"It’s still La-mo," Lu Chen deliberately provoked her.

"It’s Le-amour!" Yu Xiran corrected him, glaring.

Shen Tailong patted Yu Xiran, "Enough, don’t waste your time with these hicks. They’re eating boxed meals in a coffee shop, they probably don’t even understand English. Why are you talking to them in French? It’s like playing the lute to a cow!"

"Sun Zhe, who are you calling a hick?"

Lu Chen stood up, ready to fight.

After a night of reminiscing about their youthful days with Lin Zaishan, he felt like he had truly recaptured his rebellious youth.

With the alcohol in his system, his anger was fully ignited, and his fists were itching to give the other side a good beating.

Shen Tailong didn’t expect Lu Chen to be so confrontational. Although he looked harmless when smiling, his cold and fierce expression was truly intimidating.

Shen Tailong, who often fought, could tell from Lu Chen’s eyes that he was a seasoned fighter.

Looking at his build, Shen Tailong knew he would likely be at a disadvantage in a real fight.

Shen Tailong didn’t want to lose face, so he coldly glanced at Lu Chen and ignored him.

If he had responded, a fight would have been inevitable that night.

Yu Xiran glared at Lu Chen but, intimidated by his size, didn’t dare to be too aggressive.

Seeing that the other side was backing down, Lu Chen made a dismissive sound, as if he was looking at a bunch of cowards.

Sun Yuzhen timely intervened, persuading Lu Chen to sit back down.

Lu Chen threw a few more insults at the other side but didn’t pursue the matter further.

Shen Tailong treated Lu Chen’s words as if they were nothing, shifting the focus back to Lu Shishi, "Are you the owner of this place? Do you have any good musicians? This one has been singing for over an hour, and it’s getting worse! We stopped booing her because we were afraid of losing our voices. Are you trying to entertain customers or torture their ears? And you call this a Jazz Night, and you dare to put up posters at our L’amour Bar?"

Struggling to maintain her composure, Lu Shishi replied, "I’m sorry, sir. If you don’t appreciate the music here, please leave and don’t cause trouble. If you continue to cause trouble, we will call the police for assistance."

"What trouble am I causing? You invited us with your poster to listen to your Jazz Night, but what kind of Jazz Night is this? You can’t even sing well, and you don’t allow criticism?"

Despite her efforts, Hao Yuan couldn’t hold back any longer. She pulled her hand away from Lu Shishi’s and slapped the microphone at Shen Tailong, "You sing well! You sing! I want to see what kind of jazz you can perform!"

Lu Shishi tried to stop Hao Yuan but failed. The other side had been using provocation tactics, waiting for a chance to challenge her. She was helpless.

"Ha ha."

Shen Tailong smiled triumphantly and stood up.

The short-braided handsome man, who looked tall when sitting, was actually only 1.6 meters tall with very short legs. Even with thick-soled shoes, he was only 1.7 meters, shorter than Lu Shishi in heels and Hao Yuan in flats.

"I don’t need to sing; my girlfriend sings much better!" Shen Tailong turned on the microphone and, like a host, addressed the dozens of spectators, "Attention, everyone! The level of this coffee shop’s Jazz Night is too low. As a customer, I can’t stand it. Now, let the Purple Flying Fish band from L’amour Bar show you what a real Jazz Night should be like. Please give them a warm welcome!"

"Boo—"

Besides the regular customers, some of Lu Shishi and Hao Yuan’s friends were also in the cafe, and they booed Shen Tailong, putting pressure on him.

The regular customers were entertained by the drama but didn’t applaud, as they found the behavior of disrupting the performance somewhat disgraceful.

Shen Tailong didn’t care about the boos and led the three girls from the Purple Flying Fish band onto the stage.

Lu Shishi tried to stop them, fearing they would ruin the reputation of the Jazz Night.

Hao Yuan, however, held her back and whispered, "Let them sing! I don’t believe they can sing that well!"

Seeing Hao Yuan’s determination, Lu Shishi sighed helplessly and decided to go along with it.

The service staff, including Li Nan and Du Yang, had gathered, and they were extremely annoyed by Shen Tailong’s group. They wanted to sabotage the performance by tampering with the sound system.

But seeing Hao Yuan’s resolve, they didn’t dare to use such underhanded tactics and decided to listen to the performance to see the level of the L’amour Bar performers.

The original jazz band, all students working part-time, quickly vacated the stage, leaving their instruments for the new performers.

"Bepa, come here." Lu Shishi turned and called the blue cat.

"Meow~"

Bepa, the little blue cat, shook its head, refusing to return. It preferred to sit on Lin Zaishan’s lap.

Lu Shishi, feeling as stubborn as Bepa and Hao Yuan, looked at Lin Zaishan with a pained expression.

Lin Zaishan stroked the cat’s back, nodded at Lu Shishi, and gave her a calm look, indicating, "Go do what you need to do. I’ll take care of Bepa."

Lu Shishi, with a heavy heart, turned gracefully and went to find Hao Yuan.

On stage, Shen Tailong and the Purple Flying Fish band quickly settled into their positions.

Shen Tailong sat behind the jazz drum set, taking on the role of the drummer.

Wang Xiaofei, with ten years of piano experience, took the jazz piano.

Le Zihui, the best musician among them, picked up the electric guitar, ready to play jazz guitar.

Yu Xiran, the most beautiful and sexy of the group, stood in the center of the stage, holding the microphone as the lead singer.

The audience was there for the entertainment, and no one was particularly sympathetic to Shuishuichuan, as it was a relatively new cafe without a loyal customer base.

Only the friends of the cafe’s owners continued to boo Shen Tailong and his group.

Shen Tailong, with his thick skin and stage experience, didn’t care. He played a drum solo, instantly drowning out the boos.

Next, Le Zihui played a guitar solo to set the tone.

Then, Wang Xiaofei played a simple piano piece.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Yu Xiran nodded to the other three, who indicated they were ready to start. She smiled confidently, turned to the audience, and announced, "Our first song—'L’amour,' named after our bar, dedicated to everyone, and especially to the two uncles in the corner who don’t understand French."

After the deliberate provocation, Yu Xiran began to sing with a proud voice.