A few months later, the pub was finally rebuilt and resumed business.
Qi Zhixi worked hard for half a year and finally became a formal bartender. Just standing there handsomely, he was a beautiful sight.
Since it is a scenery, there will naturally be people who appreciate it. Unfortunately, on this day, there was a familiar face among the people who appreciated it.
"Qi Xi!" A gentle and elegant middle-aged man saw Qi Zhixi, who was mixing cocktails at the bar with a handsome smile on his face, and blurted out in surprise.
Qi Zhixi subconsciously raised his head and saw his eldest brother's dark face. He was immediately startled and looked around quickly. He didn't see Liu Shichu, so he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his voice to ask his eldest brother Qi: "Brother, why did you come to the capital?"
Brother Qi's face was dark, he glared at him and said, "Of course you have something to do when you return to Beijing! But you, pouring wine for people in this tavern? You are really capable!"
Qi Zhixi replied seriously: "Brother, I am not pouring wine for people, I am mixing drinks for people, this is different, please don't misunderstand."
"What's the difference between pouring wine and mixing cocktails? Aren't they both about serving others? You are a young master from a wealthy family, but you neither get married nor pursue a career in politics or economics. Instead, you run off to the capital to be a servant? Are you throwing in the towel?" Brother Qi said with a look of disappointment.
"Brother, I'm not a servant. I haven't sold myself. I work as a bartender to earn money to support myself. How can you look down on me?" Qi Zhixi said with some dissatisfaction.
"Is what you did respectable?" Brother Qi yelled in anger.
Qi Zhixi hurriedly stopped him: "Brother, please keep your voice down. People here don't know my identity. They just think I'm a poor scholar."
People nearby began to notice them. In order to avoid being discovered, Qi Zhixi paused his work, pulled Brother Qi out of the tavern, found a secluded corner, and then stopped to talk to him.
"Why did you sneak me here? Are you guilty of your crime?" Brother Qi became furious when he saw him like this.
"The boss doesn't know my identity. She will be suspicious of me when she sees me talking to you. She was already making an exception by hiring me as a bartender. If she knew she was cheated by me, she might fire me. I don't want to leave now. Brother, please don't expose me." Qi Zhixi said righteously.
"Why do you insist on being a bartender? Even if you want to be a bartender, can't you just use your original identity? If your boss knew that you are the famous Mr. Xizhou and lowered your status to be a bartender, would she be honored to welcome you? But you insist on doing this!" Brother Qi glared at his younger brother.
Qi Zhixi shook his head and said, "Brother, do you think the boss would accept me if I came here as a bartender with my original identity? Even if they did, they would just treat me as a mascot and would not teach me without reservation like they are doing now. I am here to learn real skills, not to be the boss. Of course, I will understand the essence of bartending better if I start as a waiter..."
Qi Zhixi kept talking non-stop, and Brother Qi's ears were buzzing. He frowned and said, "If you are interested in this kind of novelty, why don't you find someone to study it yourself? You talk about learning real skills, but I think you are just greedy for wine! Look at what you have done? You are getting more and more reckless. No, after I finish my work, you should come back to Jiangbei with me."
"That won't do. I haven't finished my studies yet and I don't want to leave." Qi Zhixi said firmly.
"You, you are simply unreasonable! Look at those young men who grew up with you, which one of them comes to the tavern to serve people like you? Don't you feel ashamed? If people knew that Mr. Xizhou is so self-degrading, how will the world see you?" Brother Qi was so angry that his heart ached.
"What do you think of me? Do you think I'm a heretic who does whatever I want? It doesn't matter. Big brother, you're making a fuss about nothing. Being a bartender is nothing. In order to get a good horse, I once went to a horse farm on the grassland to work as a groom. I learned the skills of raising horses, judging horses, and horse jumping. I even learned a lot of veterinary knowledge. Big brother, if you want to buy a horse, you can come to me. I promise to pick a good horse for you!" Qi Zhixi became very excited as he spoke, and patted his big brother's shoulder with an expression that said, "Brother, I'll protect you."
Brother Qi's veins on his forehead almost popped out when he saw this, but in the end he was helpless to deal with his younger brother who had been very opinionated, rebellious, but gifted since childhood.
He sighed and said, "You've been gone for two or three years. You've come to the capital but never come back to Jiangbei. Grandma, mother, and father miss you very much. Even if you don't go back, you should write to them more often."
After hearing this, Qi Zhixi nodded obediently: "I can't go back recently, but I will write home often."
Brother Qi looked at his handsome but unmarried brother in his late 30s, and advised him earnestly, "Even if you don't want to go home, you still have to think about the important things in life. You are not young anymore, and people of your age are about to have grandchildren, but you haven't married yet. What will you do when you are old? Can't you listen to your grandmother and mother and go home to get married and have children? Why do you have to travel so far?"
Qi Zhixi smiled again and said, "Brother, although I don't have a wife or children, I'm not even thirty years old yet. Why do you always think about me getting old? Besides, even if I really don't have children in this life, don't I still have my nephew? Can my nephew ignore me?"
"Of course your nephew will take care of you! But you clearly know that your own children are different from your nephew. Asking you to marry and have children does not mean you have to go through fire and water. Why don't you want to do it?" Brother Qi, who was as law-abiding as his parents, could not understand his younger brother's thoughts.
"Brother, we haven't seen each other for a long time. Do you have to use this matter to spoil my fun as soon as we meet? Since we are at the pub, brother, please try my cocktail-making skills and see if they are great!" Qi Zhixi blatantly changed the subject.
Seeing that he was not afraid of boiling water, Brother Qi had no choice but to follow him into the pub. Qi Zhixi was like a peacock spreading its tail, showing off his skills in mixing several cocktails for Brother Qi, and said generously: "Brother, I'll buy you this table of drinks, drink as much as you want!"
Brother Qi came here to drink with his friends in the officialdom today. He did not expect to see his brother who had been away from home for a long time. He talked with him for a long time. Now Qi Zhixi said he wanted to treat them. His friends were surprised:
"Brother Qi, do you still know Brother Qi? Didn't you just come to the capital? Is this your first time in this tavern?"