harleyscars Chapter 16 Jiaoxi Bar
Chapter 16 Jiaoxi Bar
The car was parked in front of an old bar.
The red bricks on the wall have been eroded by wind and rain, revealing the blackened cement seams underneath.
The signboard hangs above the storefront, its iron frame rusted.
Three or four lights in the sign "JOSIE'S BAR" were out.
The remaining few glowed faintly in the darkness.
The wood of the door frame has been polished to a shine by countless hands, and the bronze color on the handles has long since been worn into silver.
Brock pushed open the door and went inside.
Li En followed behind.
The moment he entered, his gaze habitually swept around the room.
There was a pool table against the wall on the left, where three men were playing. The tattoos on their arms stood out in dark blue under the chandelier above.
On the right is a row of booths, the dark leather surface worn and cracked, with several holes in the cushions revealing the yellowed filling inside.
A few people sat there, with water droplets condensing on the walls of their glasses, and the beer at the bottom of the glasses was almost gone.
Directly opposite is the bar counter, its wooden surface polished to a shine, the paint on the edges worn away, revealing the natural color of the wood underneath.
Behind the bar, rows of bottles were neatly stacked on the liquor rack. Some of the labels on the necks of the bottles were curled up, and a few bottles were just empty.
The proprietress stood behind the bar, her hair piled up at the back of her head, with a few silver strands sticking out from the side of her bun.
She was turning a glass upside down on the bar counter, wiping the water stains off the rim with a cloth, when she looked up and saw Brock, her hands still moving.
"Hey, Brock." Her voice wasn't loud.
"Jiaoxi." Brock walked to the bar, propped his elbows on the counter, and leaned back. "The usual."
Lee En walked over and sat down next to Brock.
The leather cushion of the bar stool made a slight creak, bounced once, and then settled.
Jiaoxi's gaze shifted from Brock to Li En's face, looking him up and down twice.
When she looked away, the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, it was hard to tell whether she was satisfied or indifferent.
"Is this your new partner?" she asked Brock.
Brock nodded but didn't reply.
Jiaoxi threw the rag into the sink, turned around and took a bottle of whiskey from the liquor shelf. The bottle had no label, and the liquid was very dark in color, almost opaque under the light.
She poured about two finger-knuckles' height into the cup, pushed it over, and did so cleanly and efficiently without spilling a drop.
Then she looked at Lee Eun.
"What would you like to drink?"
Before Lee could speak, Brock slid off the bar stool and patted Lee on the shoulder twice.
"This is the proprietress, Jiaoxi. She can make whatever you want to drink." He introduced her as if she were an old friend. "You have your drink first, I'll go find someone to chat with."
Brock released his grip and walked toward the pool table.
Li En's gaze followed his back for half a second before returning to Jiao hope's face.
"Cola."
Jiaoxi's hand froze in mid-air, her fingers holding the glass of whiskey pausing slightly.
"You're at the bar for a Coke?"
"I'm out of money." Li En smiled slightly, a faint smile with a hint of self-deprecation.
His gaze fell on the pool table again.
Brock was already standing in the middle of the three tattooed men, his right hand in his pocket and his left hand tapping the edge of the billiard table as if to say hello.
The one with the headscarf among the three stepped aside to make room for Brock.
Li En withdrew his gaze.
"And it's during working hours now."
Jiaoxi placed the whiskey in the brogue's seat, turned around, took a bottle of cola from the refrigerator, and poured it into a glass.
Bubbles rise from the bottom of the cup, burst on the surface of the liquid, and make a soft hissing sound.
She pushed the glass in front of Li En, the cool glass leaving a watermark on the bar counter.
"I'm afraid your personality and Brock's will be hard to get along with." Her tone was as if she were stating something that had already happened, not asking a question.
Li En picked up the cola and took a sip. The bubbles exploded on her tongue, and the sweetness and the stimulation of carbonation surged up at the same time.
He put the cup down and flicked his finger on the inside of it.
"Brock is a good guy."
Jiaoxi smiled, the lines at the corners of her mouth narrowing towards the center. Her smile was faint, but it didn't seem like a polite one.
She didn't reply, but picked up a dry cloth and started wiping the bar counter back and forth, removing the watermark and then wiping away any water stains that weren't there.
Over at the pool table, the tattooed man with a bandana leaned his cue against the edge of the table, straightened up, and looked over Brock's shoulder toward the bar.
He glanced at her twice, his gaze lingering on Lee En's profile for a moment before turning back to face Brock.
"Hey, could that kid be the masked guy?"
"They would go to the port to scout during the day and then strike at night."
He lifted his hand from the edge of the billiard table and gripped the cue stick resting against it.
The wooden pole creaked slightly in his palm.
The two people next to him also put down their cues, stood up straight, and looked at the bar with hostile eyes.
Li En didn't stop holding the cola; she brought the cup to her lips and took another sip.
His gaze didn't wander; his eyes were fixed on an unopened bottle of whiskey on the bar shelf, while his ears listened.
Brock took two steps forward, slightly shifting his body to block the three men's view of the bar.
"Hack, you've been on too much, haven't you?" Brock's voice was neither loud nor soft, just like his usual tone of voice when chatting.
"The masked men started their operation six months ago, when this kid was still in police academy and couldn't even leave the house."
He paused for a moment, then pulled his right hand out of his pocket and wiped it on the green velvet surface of the pool table.
"And the information about going to the port during the day was given by that kid Tek."
Hack's expression changed slightly.
First, he squeezed his eyebrows together, then he raised them.
He gripped the club again, poked the butt of the club into the ground, held the shaft with both hands, and rested his chin on the back of his hands.
"Terk? What's that kid up to, deliberately leading rookies to our port?"
"Hey, do I need to tell you what I'm doing?" Brock pulled his hands off the pool table, put them back in his pockets, and shrugged slightly.
"You brought officers who just graduated from police academy to your side, weren't you just trying to provoke a conflict between you and us?"
He took another step closer to Hack, so close that they could see the stains on each other's collars.
"But I've been training this kid for three months, he's not one of those greenhorns anymore."
Brock lowered his voice, so low that the people at the booth couldn't hear him, but the two people next to the pool table could.
As he spoke, his gaze never left Huck's face, and a smile or something else played on his lips.
"Both of your companies have suffered losses this time."
"I just want to know if things will escalate."
He pulled his hand out of his pocket and gestured in the air between them.
"If you do anything, please let us know."
Brock's expression looked like he was chatting with an old friend, but his tone left no room for negotiation.
Hack was silent for a few seconds.
His gaze shifted from Brock's face to the billiard table.
Bend down, rest the club on your fingers, aim, and push.
The white ball rolled out and collided with a patterned ball, which rolled into the bottom pocket with a dull thud from the leather opening.
Huck straightened up, pushed the cue stick in his hand to the side, and the end of the stick fell to the ground, leaning against the edge of the billiard table.
"Of course, we've been working together for so long, we know the rules."
The atmosphere around the billiard table seemed to have been switched off, instantly relaxing.
The other two picked up their cues again, bent down, and continued playing.
The crisp sound of the ball hitting the puck echoed one after another, sounding particularly clear in the bar, which had been quiet for a moment.
Li En finished the last sip of cola, leaving a few unmelted ice cubes at the bottom of the glass, which clinked and tinkled in the glass.
Brock's attitude is different today.
I brought him here for drinks today to show those people mingling in the harbor that he's not a masked man.
The information that Barrett gave him about going to the port during the day was not something he wanted to do himself.
Brock was clearing up the 'misunderstanding' for him.
Thinking of this, Li En placed the glass on the bar and circled her finger around the rim of the glass.
If he had intervened to rescue people at the port that day, the people sitting at the billiards table now wouldn't just be looking at him with unfriendly eyes.
This is one of the essential skills of the Hell's Kitchen police.
You have to turn a blind eye to many things.
Pretend you didn't see it, pretend you didn't know it.
Of course, how to strike the right balance requires further learning.
He picked up the glass and drank the remaining melted ice water at the bottom.
"Hey, Jiaoxi~"
The voice came from the doorway, bright and crisp, with a rising tone at the end, carrying a hint of laughter.
"Two beers, please!"
Lee Eun tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping across the reflection in the bar counter mirror.
Two young men pushed open the door and came in. The one in front was slightly chubby, with blond hair, and had the relaxed look that only someone who had just gotten off work and rushed into a bar could have.
The man behind him was wearing a dark suit, had short black hair, and wore sunglasses on his nose.
He held a cane in his right hand, and the tip of the cane tapped lightly on the ground, making a tapping sound.
The two walked to the bar, and the slightly chubby one sat down next to Li En. The bar stool creaked as he sat down.
The blind man stood next to him, probed the chair leg with the tip of his cane to confirm the position, and then sat down, his movements very steady.
"Hey, hello." The slightly chubby one turned around, took a business card out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket with his right hand, and handed it over between two fingers. "My name is Foggy."
He pointed to the blind man beside him.
"His name is Matt."
Li En took the business card and glanced at it.
The white background with black text features a simple layout, with the firm's name printed at the top and the names and contact information of the two individuals below.
His gaze lingered on that line of small print for a second.
"Hello, Foggy, Matt." He flipped the business card over to look at the back, saw nothing there, and then put it in his pocket. "My name is Lee En."
"Officer Lee," Fergie's voice was warm but not excessive, "we are Landmanzak's lawyers."
Li En raised his eyebrows slightly.
Landmanzach, a top New York law firm, specializes in serving high-end clients; it's not a place just any lawyer can get into.
The fact that two young people who look like they haven't been out of school for long can get their names listed on that company's website means they must be quite capable.
"Hahaha." Foggie laughed out loud, slapping his hand on the bar as if someone had tickled him.
"We'll be leaving Landmanzak soon to start our own company. We look forward to your support then, Officer Lee."
He paused, then leaned slightly towards Li En.
"Bright and I have been neighbors for many years."
"So he's a friend of Bright's."
Lee En extended his hand, and Virginia shook it.
The palms are thick and the knuckles are strong; they don't look like the hands of someone who sits in an office all year round.
Li En withdrew his hand and shifted his gaze from Virginia's face to the blind man.
Matt's sunglasses completely covered his eyes, making it impossible to see the shape behind the lenses.
He sat very upright, with his back not against the chair back, his hands on his knees, his cane resting beside his legs, the tip of the cane touching the ground.
"Officer Lee is really dedicated." Matt's nose twitched slightly, as if he was sniffing something, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"Coming to a bar to drink Coke? That's a rare sight in Hell's Kitchen."
He stretched out his hand, pointing directly at Li En's right hand.
A slight thought crossed Li En's mind.
There is usually an inch or two difference between the direction a blind person reaches out and the position of the other person's hand, requiring the other person to actively respond.
But when Matt reached out, the direction of his palm, the spread of his fingers, and the height of his hand were all exactly where his hand should be.
He took it in his hand.
Matt's palms were dry, and his fingertips were a little cooler than normal.
There is a row of hard nodules on the inside of the palm.
The area between the base of the palm and the base of the fingers has thick, hard skin, which is a callus formed after long-term training involving clenching fists to hit sandbags and wrapping bandages.
It's not one layer, but several layers stacked together, with the new cocoons at the bottom pushing up the old ones, forming small hard lumps.
"Attorney Matt has a really impressive nose."
When Li En said this, his tone was very calm, his face had a polite smile, and his grip on his hands was neither loose nor tight.
"Being a lawyer these days is so stressful, is Matt (the lawyer) boxing?"
Matt withdrew his hand, moving slowly and deliberately, and placed it back on his knee, his back still straight.
"To be a lawyer in Hell's Kitchen, you need to know something."
The smile still lingered on his lips. "Not only do you need to understand the law, but you also need to be able to protect yourself when you're being beaten."
"After all, this is Hell's Kitchen; anything can happen."
"If someone hits you," Li En added, "you must call the police. Don't think about running away or handling it yourself."
Matt nodded slightly, but the outline of his chin under his sunglasses remained unchanged.
Lee En's gaze lingered on Matt's face for an extra second.
The face was not clearly visible under the dim lights of the bar.
He looked away, flicked his finger on the glass, making a clear sound.
Matt suddenly spoke up, his voice low and his tone calm but with a hint of accusation.
"Officer Li En, did you go out on patrol last night?"
Li En's fingers stopped on the rim of the glass.
……