"Bang"

The empty wine glass was placed on the bar. In the crowded bar, Merlin seemed a little low and a voice sounded.

"One more drink."

"This is not like you, Merlin."

Josie, the owner of Josie’s bar, turned to look at Merlin.

She and Merlin have always met each other. When Merlin moved to Hell's Kitchen, she opened a bar here.

Back then, Qiao Xi was a famous long-sleeved and dance-good elder sister in Hell Kitchen, but now she has become a kind-hearted aunt.

And over the years, almost every week, Merlin came here with a short-haired lady for a drink.

Well, and Hill.

Since Merlin first brought Hill to Josie’s bar, picking a day a week to come to Josie’s bar to sit in, which has almost become a common habit for both of them.

The stout Russian aunt picked up Merlin's wine glass. She poured wine for Merlin and said:

"Why didn't you see your girlfriend today?"

"Josi, I've said it many times. Hill is not my girlfriend."

Merlin, who was sitting at the bar, smoked and said:

“I have to emphasize it almost every time I come.”

"Yeah?"

Aunt Qiaoxi placed a glass of wine with ice in front of Meilin.

She lay on the bar and said to Merlin:

"But I always feel that you two are very compatible, especially when you drink and chat together..."

"She likes you, Merlin, there is no doubt about this. Believe me. I have seen many couples who appear close and internally dislike in my life, but you are different from that Miss Hill..."

"When you first moved in, you were still a young man. Miss Hill was with you at that time, and until now..."

"Look at you, Merlin, you are no longer young, and Hill is no longer young, but every time she looks at you, it's exactly the same as she was a dozen years ago."

The bar owner, who is always very kind to acquaintances, was chatting with Merlin, and she said:

"Don't blame me for talking too much, but you two are really compatible."

"Maybe, but it's too late."

Merlin mumbled, and he pressed the cigarette out in the ashtray.

Then I picked up the wine glass, raised my neck, and drank the wine in the wine glass in one go.

There was a hint of depression in his eyes.

He is very much like those middle-aged office workers who have a depressed life without hope, but he has been drinking boomingly without any intoxication.

Maybe he wasn't trying to get drunk.

Maybe he was just trying to find a place to enjoy the depression.

"So, will Hill not come tonight?"

Aunt Qiao Xi glanced at the door, then looked at Meilin, who was standing alone. She picked up the rag and wiped the bar, and said:

"You two have a quarrel?"

"Well, she has a job, tonight...well, she may not be able to come to drink for a long time."

Meilin shook the ice in his life and said to Aunt Qiao Xi:

"Hill has been promoted. She is now the commander... Well, I mean, she is the department manager, and she has many people under her charge and runs around the world. She will definitely be very busy lately."

"Oh, I've been promoted."

Aunt Qiao Xi smiled and said:

"It is natural for a capable girl like Hill to do something."

"Another, Merlin, the last time I met your little Matt, he and Fuji came here to drink. I asked him what you did, and he stammered and refused to say it."

"I..."

Merlin placed the empty cup on the bar, and he blinked at Aunt Josie, saying:

"Hill and I are in the same unit, and I am still her boss."

"Oh, office romance."

A meaningful smile immediately appeared on the bar owner's face. She gestured to Merlin with a thumbs up, and she said:

"Awesome, no wonder I've been reluctant to announce my relationship, so that's it."

"I've said you're overthinking, Josie."

Merlin folded his hands on the bar, and he turned his head to watch the crowded bar.

Josie's Bar is almost an iconic building for Hell's Kitchen, and people from other districts have fun here almost every night.

The business here is really good.

A few seconds later, Merlin looked at the bar owner with some sense of consciousness, and he said:

"You just said, Matt and Fuji come to you to drink? Do you sell them wine?"

"Uh, no, those two kids were coming to drink that day, but I refused. I gave them a glass of watermelon juice each. It was illegal to sell wine to minors..."

The bar owner Qiao Xi was so smart. She waved her hand and forced the topic to the other side:

"Speaking of this, Merlin, you look in a bad mood today. What happened to you when you come to drink alone?"

"Hmm? Is that obvious?"

Merlin signaled Josie to pour him another glass of wine. He shook the glass and looked at the amber liquid in the glass, a trace of dark light shone in his eyes.

He said:

"Okay, it's a bit annoying..."

"Then let's talk about it."

The bar owner said:

"For the sake of your regular visitor, I'm willing to take the time to listen to your complaints."

Merlin was silent for a moment, and he remembered the advice of his personal psychologist Zatanna. It would be impossible to keep these things in his heart.

Maybe, he should really find someone to talk about it.

A few seconds later, Merlin took a sip of wine and said to Josie:

"A friend of mine, well, a friend at work."

"The others are terrible, they are the kind of guy who almost no one will like. They are somber and love to play conspiracies, but... he is barely a good person, we cooperated happily before."

Merlin shrugged, and he sighed and said:

"But overnight, he became an unreasonable bastard."

He remembered the quarrel with Fury today. He took out the cigarette box in a irritable state, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

Today in Nubani Industrial Park, Fury is like a different person, stubborn and rigid, and I don’t know what he was in a bad mood.

Seeing Fury's stubborn unwillingness to give up his insight plan, Merlin felt an unspeakable worry and anger in his heart.

He was the one who said he refused to understand the plan.

He is the one who restarts this plan now...

Merlin seriously suspected that the sss serum that Fury had been taking had sequelae, and Fury might have hurt his brain when he was attacked before. During this period, Merlin could not understand all of Fury's series of actions.

As the smoke rises, Merlin says:

"He was doing something very dangerous, and I knew the danger of that thing very well, and I tried to dissuade him, but..."

Merlin sighed and said:

"I'm in a bad mood, but I still have children at home, so I can only come here to calm my breath."

“Are you doing work?”

The bar owner shrugged and said:

"It's always annoying. I also worked before I opened a bar."

"But I always feel that, Merlin, this matter seems to be just an introduction..."

"In the past, you and Hill would also talk about work, but at that time, Hill was always complaining, and you were listening. You didn't seem to be a person who would affect your mood because of small things at work."

Josie looked at Merlin, and the Russian aunt said while wiping the table:

"It must be that you are not very happy in your heart. It's like a powder barrel piled up together. When you encounter this bad thing again, a spark that falls into your heart, and then...bang!"

The bar owner made an explosive gesture.
To be continued...