As evening approached, the noise in the bar grew louder.
At a distant table, boys and girls gathered in a circle, playing finger-guessing games and drinking, with cheers erupting from time to time, the surging waves of sound making the flickering candlelight in mid-air tremble.
A team of Little Elves flew down from the ceiling in a neat formation, landing on the smooth bar counter.
The glowing little birds transformed into specks of starlight the moment they landed, dissipating into the air.
The Little Elves chirped, put down the wine bottles and fruit baskets in their hands, flapped their wings, stomped their feet, twitched the small antennae on their foreheads, and stretched.
This was their short break during work.
The Multi-Armed Race bartender smilingly took the empty fruit plates and wine bottles, and refilled them.
In a few minutes, these Little Elves would summon their mounts again, carrying heavy wine bottles and fruit baskets, to provide excellent service to the guests once more.
Zheng Qing looked at these lively little fellows and couldn't help but think of the Little Elves sleeping in his dormitory, and his mood became a little low.
Li Meng also seemed to recall the story from the special plane, sighing slightly, her expression a little downcast.
"Your mist wine, please enjoy," the bartender placed Li Meng's mist wine, which had a lot of water added, on the bar counter.
Perhaps because too many ice cubes were added, the mist wine in the glass lazily flowed at the bottom of the glass, failing to form a swirling Qi mass. For this, the bartender specially added a milky white straw for the Little girl.
Li Meng didn't mind at all, and a happy smile reappeared on her face.
She hugged the Plush Bear and struggled to climb onto the high stool by the bar counter.
Zheng Qing looked worriedly at the Plush Bear in her arms, feeling like its head was about to be squeezed off by Li Meng's arm.
"Is this bear really Jiang Yu's pet?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Absolutely!" After Li Meng sat down breathlessly, she immediately pulled the wine glass from the bar counter into her arms and bit the straw on the glass.
"Using a Plush Bear as a pet... that's too strange." Zheng Qing felt he couldn't understand the aesthetics of the Little girls in the Wizarding World.
"You're the bear! Your whole family are bears!" The Plush Bear in Li Meng's arms suddenly opened its mouth, stitched from brown cotton fabric, stared with a pair of glass eyes, struggled fiercely, and yelled at the dumbfounded Zheng Qing, "Have you ever seen a talking bear?"
Zheng Qing was startled.
He shook his head blankly, but then nodded and whispered, "I've heard of them."
"Have you ever seen such a cute bear?" The Plush Bear finally broke free from Li Meng's embrace, climbed onto the smooth bar counter, stood in front of Zheng Qing with its hands on its hips, and angrily lectured Zheng Qing.
Zheng Qing blinked, shaking his head like a rattle-drum.
"Is there a bear as safe as I am?" The Plush Bear's glass eyes sparkled, and all its threads emitted a soft aura. Zheng Qing noticed a white tag on its waist.
"Indeed not!" Li Meng grabbed the Plush Bear's head, pulled it back into her arms, rubbed it hard, and said with a smile.
"Then why did he call me a bear!" The Plush Bear began to struggle again.
"I thought you looked like one, I mean, your appearance is more like a bear!" Zheng Qing replied, feeling a little dizzy.
"You hairless monkey! How presumptuous!" The Plush Bear became agitated again, screaming in a high-pitched voice, breaking free from Li Meng's embrace again, jumping onto the bar counter, and intending to have a discussion with Zheng Qing.
But it encountered other obstacles on the bar counter.
The resting Little Elves seemed to have found a new toy, swarming around, curiously examining the brown-yellow Plush Bear.
Li Neng was startled by these enthusiastic Little Elves. It stood blankly on the bar counter, allowing the Little Elves to climb all over its fuzzy threads, not daring to move.
Chirp, chirp!
The Little Elves danced joyfully on the Plush Bear's head, their green lights flickering.
Zheng Qing couldn't help but laugh.
"Would you like some snacks?" The Multi-Armed Race bartender behind the bar pushed a row of cakes in front of the two guests, apologizing, "The Little Elves in the shop are a bit mischievous, my apologies."
As he spoke, the bartender handed new fruit baskets and wine bottles to the Little Elves.
The Little Elves reluctantly left the comfortable Plush Bear.
"It's fine, it's fine." Li Meng waved her hands repeatedly, smiling as she looked at the relieved Plush Bear, and took another big sip of mist through the straw.
"Eat something before drinking." Zheng Qing handed Li Meng a strawberry mousse, then turned to Li Neng and smiled, "Li Neng, who is not a Plush Bear, would you like a piece of cake to smear your mouth?"
The Plush Bear froze for a moment.
It tried to roll its glass eyes, pondering the meaning of Zheng Qing's words.
"Haha, what a cute little thing!" Ilena suddenly emerged from the side, one hand still clutching her Tarot deck, and the other hand unceremoniously pulled the Plush Bear into her arms, smiling politely at the bartender, "A qing feng'er, please."
"What's your name?" She rubbed Li Neng's ears, smiling as she poked its head.
"Mmm-hmm," the Plush Bear twisted its body comfortably, finding the most comfortable spot in Ilena's embrace, one paw unceremoniously sliding along the smooth surface into a deep crevice, its sharp cries also becoming childlike: "My name is Li Neng, and I'm Li Meng's companion!"
"Aren't these types of construct creatures not allowed into the University?" Zheng Qing stared at this shameless Plush Bear, looking at its comfortable expression, and was instantly confused: "And, aren't you Jiang Yu's pet?"
"Tsk." The Plush Bear's glass eyes rolled and rolled, giving Zheng Qing a threatening look.
Zheng Qing cracked his knuckles, wondering whether he should hang up this annoying plush toy and beat it.
"It passed the University's security check, it's very safe!" Li Meng, next to him, told Zheng Qing seriously. Perhaps due to the alcohol, her face was flushed, and her eyes were a little unfocused.
"Besides, how can such a fuzzy little thing be dangerous?" Ilena rubbed Li Neng in her hands, smiling as she leaned closer: "The admission notice only prohibits dangerous Black Magic items."
The bartender behind the bar served the newly arrived Gypsy Witch a glass of qing feng'er.
Ilena took out a small jar of green powder from her handbag and sprinkled some into the glass.
The bartender's eyes widened in surprise.
"What did you add?" Zheng Qing was also very curious.
"A mixed seasoning powder of mint, Notoginseng, mustard, and such." Ilena asked for a straw, stirred her drink, gulped it down, and sticking out her tongue, said, "I've always felt that the bar's drinks are a bit too bland."
Zheng Qing looked speechlessly at the beautiful woman in front of him, her eyes red and her tongue sticking out, and a large herd of alpacas ran through his mind.
"Your face is even more contorted than mine! Hahahaha." Ilena seemed to have discovered something amusing, pointing at Zheng Qing and laughing loudly.
"Is there a difference between exchange students and transfer students?" Zheng Qing said with a wry smile, forcing himself to change the subject: "I remember Xiao Xiao told me you were an exchange student."
"It's all the same!" Perhaps the drink was too stimulating, Ilena blinked hard, squeezing out a few tears: "The Elders of the Gypsy Witch Coven have too many rules, they think 'transfer student' sounds too bad and harms the image of the Gypsy Witch Coven. So they specifically applied for exchange student status. Hmm, the full name is 'Gypsy Witch Coven Visiting Exchange Youth Student to First University,' it's a mouthful, hahahaha."
"Then how long are you staying?"
"Provisionally one year. But it can be renewed." Ilena wiped away the tear stains on her cheeks, then suddenly showed a mischievous smile: "Do you want me to stay, hmm?"
Zheng Qing waved his hands in a panic, but then felt it was wrong, and couldn't help but nod.
"You're too cute!" The Gypsy Witch burst into laughter.
Zheng Qing, blushing, took a big gulp of his drink.