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Deng Zi’s introduction to the bar singing job offered excellent conditions. The owner was Deng Zi’s friend, and Cheng Mi got such a good job thanks to Deng Zi’s favor. The working hours were flexible, the pay was decent, and she wasn’t charged for drinks at the bar.
On her first day, Cheng Mi thanked the owner. The owner was an easygoing person and laughed, saying he wasn’t doing her a favor. He said Deng Zi had guaranteed that his friend was beautiful and easy to talk to, sure to handle the crowd there, which was why he let her come.
Of course, this was just a joke. The owner was very kind to her. Hearing from Deng Zi that she was a high school student, he told her she didn’t have to come if she had exams or anything.
Although the owner said that, she only worked three nights a week, so Cheng Mi naturally went whenever she could.
This evening, Cheng Mi, as usual, went to the bar after dinner. She arrived and immediately ran into the owner, who was cracking melon seeds in the shop.
The owner ran a company during the day and a bar at night, a workaholic, even more driven than his employees.
Seeing Cheng Mi, he asked, “Have you had dinner?”
Cheng Mi said, “Yes, have you?”
The owner laughed, “Dinner? I’m saving space for drinks.”
Cheng Mi smiled. The owner handed her a guitar: “Have you seen anyone interesting recently?”
Cheng Mi took it: “What?”
“Haven’t a bunch of people been coming to ask for your number these past few days?”
Cheng Mi had only been there for a few days, but every night, no less than five people would strike up a conversation with her, some even timing their visits to the bar on the specific nights she worked.
The owner raised an eyebrow: “Didn’t give anyone your number?”
Cheng Mi indeed hadn’t given her number to anyone. She said, “I’m just here to practice my singing.”
The owner tossed a melon seed shell onto a plate: “Impressive. From what I’ve observed, some of them have pretty good conditions, looks and family background are impeccable. It wouldn’t be a loss to try dating.”
Cheng Mi leaned against the high stool, tuning her guitar strings.
Her fingertips paused slightly, and she casually looked up, unimpressed: “What if I told you I’ve seen better?”
“Oh, what kind of immortal being is that?” The owner sounded quite interested.
When this topic came up, most people would start listing comparisons.
But Cheng Mi didn’t.
Her hands still unhurriedly tuned the strings. She simply said, “He’s so captivating that just the first step, no one else can compare to him.”
The owner understood. Girls like Cheng Mi seemed unattainable, and it took courage to even approach them.
And it was true; it was hard for an average guy to truly catch her eye.
Anyone who could make her feel something was not simple.
The owner asked Cheng Mi, “Is he a student?”
Cheng Mi nodded and said, “Yes.”
“Then that kid is truly remarkable.”
After a few more sentences, the owner was called away. There weren’t many people in the bar yet, so Cheng Mi took out her phone and checked it.
The screen was completely blank.
Ever since that breakfast last week, Si Tingyan had been distant towards Cheng Mi. Cheng Mi was certain it was because of the conversation mentioning Li Yeheng’s phone call.
But Cheng Mi wasn’t entirely sure what exactly Si Tingyan was angry about, and she couldn’t expect to get anything out of Si Tingyan.
The two of them had been in this lukewarm state recently. For instance, today, Cheng Mi had only seen Si Tingyan once in the morning when she left home. Since then, they hadn’t seen each other a second time, hadn’t spoken a word, and it was also the first time Cheng Mi hadn’t texted him.
Tonight, Cheng Mi had dinner with Deng Zi again. Deng Zi had originally planned to come along, but he got a call and had to leave before finishing dinner.
There were other musicians in the bar. One walked over and asked Cheng Mi if she was ready.
Cheng Mi put away her phone: “Mm, let’s start.”
________________________________________
The atmosphere of the clear bar was not as lively as a regular bar; guests below simply drank and casually listened to music.
Cheng Mi sang beautifully and looked pretty. Guests who usually didn’t even lift their eyes frequently cast their gazes towards the stage.
One evening, lasting two or three hours, during a break, someone even brought a drink up to chat her up and ask if she wanted to join a band.
Cheng Mi rejected without thinking: “I have no such plans.”
The other party then asked for her contact information. After hitting a wall a few times, they sensibly took their drink and left.
Cheng Mi had sung several songs in a row, and her throat felt a bit dry. She reached for the mineral water nearby, and it was then that a familiar figure flashed in her peripheral vision.
A familiar figure, a laughing profile that made her eyelids twitch.
Her fingertips, reaching for the mineral water, suddenly paused, and she abruptly looked up.
At the stairwell leading to the second floor of the bar, a ruffian with yellow hair, eyes curved in a smile, was walking upstairs. The person next to him was half-obscured by the wall, only a corner of their clothes visible, nothing else.
Cheng Mi wondered if it was an illusion.
A memory that caused her discomfort and palpitations immediately flashed in her mind.
She frowned slightly, pulling herself back in time to stop the loss, completely oblivious that she had already forgotten she was originally going to drink water.
For the latter half of the performance, Cheng Mi was a little distracted. People came down from the second floor one after another, but she didn’t see that familiar face again.
Business was good at the bar today. After Cheng Mi finished work, it was still lively inside. She picked up her backpack and left the bar.
This street had few pedestrians after midnight. Cheng Mi didn’t leave immediately after exiting the bar, standing instead under a streetlamp about ten meters diagonally opposite the bar.
After an unknown amount of time, a drunkard passed by, reeking of alcohol. Cheng Mi felt a bit agitated, sweeping her hair back from her forehead, and wanting to pull out a cigarette.
The spot where she usually kept her cigarettes was empty. Cheng Mi had forgotten that she hadn’t smoked for a while and hadn’t brought any cigarettes with her.
She reached for her phone instead, tapped on a certain phone number, labeled “Li Chu.”
Cheng Mi’s fingertips hovered over it, hesitating whether to make the call.
Then she felt her mind was unclear; even if it was truly that person who found her here, she couldn’t let Li Chu know.
At midnight, the streets were desolate, and the wind carried a biting chill.
Cheng Mi’s dangling earring swayed slightly in the wind, her fair skin illuminated by the screen’s glow.
The screen stopped on the letter L.
Cheng Mi looked at that row of letters and tapped on S.
This line had two numbers: Si Tingyan’s and Si Huiru’s.
Thinking of that figure, her fingertip hovering over Si Tingyan’s number retracted without much hesitation.
The door of the bar opposite was pushed open, and boisterous, wild talk poured out.
Cheng Mi looked up and saw the owner and his brothers; at a glance, none were familiar faces.
It seemed they were about to close; inside was completely dark.
Cheng Mi suddenly realized it was already two in the morning.
The owner and his group were drunk. She stood in a spot where the streetlamp above was broken and unlit, so no one saw her.
After the owner closed the door, the group walked away, arms around each other’s shoulders.
She stood there until the bustle dispersed, scrutinizing every face, but didn’t see that person; it must have been her eyes playing tricks on her.
In some ways, besides the reason of Li Yeheng and Si Huiru getting married, this person also indirectly led to Cheng Mi leaving her original place.
It had been two years since she last saw that person, and Cheng Mi hadn’t thought about him for a very long time.
As if he had vanished from this world.
But this person’s name was a hatred carved into her bones, a hatred so deep that she wished he would disappear forever.
A dark thought flashed through Cheng Mi’s mind, but she quickly stopped it.
She didn’t stay there any longer, got up, and left the street.
________________________________________
It was nearly three o’clock when Cheng Mi returned.
And to Cheng Mi’s surprise, Si Tingyan’s room light was still on.
It was strange, usually he was asleep by this time.
Dim light, a sliver of it escaping from under the door crack.
Cheng Mi stood in the entryway, not turning on the light, watching that faint glow on the floor.
After a long moment, she finally moved, walking back to her own room.
The curtains in the room weren’t drawn, and the cool moonlight filled the space. Cheng Mi fumbled for the light switch, turned it on, and slowly walked to the table.
On her table sat a row of half-opened “Wangzai Milk” cartons. Last time, when she went to Si Tingyan’s room to ask him about a physics problem, she opened one carton for him, and later forgot to put the remaining three cartons in the refrigerator outside, leaving them forgotten in her room.
She picked up the three cartons of milk and walked out of the room.
As usual, she walked to his room door, reached for the doorknob, and pressed it down.
Smoothly, it opened with ease.
The door swung inwards, and the thin sliver of light expanded into a broader glow, unhindered, shining outwards and hitting the opposite wall of her room.
A faint light enveloped half of Si Tingyan’s face.
From the bridge of his nose, to the tip, to his thin, inwardly curved lips, a soft glow covered the line from top to bottom.
The warm-toned light, however, didn’t warm his complexion in the slightest, leaving the side of his face still frosty, like ice.
Noticing the movement, Si Tingyan turned his eyes to look over.
He watched her for a moment, seemingly calm yet seemingly gloomy.
Cheng Mi leaned slightly against the door, her hand still on the doorknob. Her jacket was already off in her room, leaving only a black dress underneath.
“Are you angry?” she asked.
Si Tingyan: “No.”
Cheng Mi said, “Because I didn’t text you today?”
Clearly knowing, yet still doing it on purpose.
Si Tingyan looked at her: “Deliberately, right?”
Cheng Mi looked at him gently: “Si Tingyan, you didn’t text me either.”
Si Tingyan suddenly said, “What if it was Li Yeheng?”
Cheng Mi met his gaze.
She remembered Si Tingyan’s expression that morning when Si Huiru told her to call Li Yeheng back.
After a moment, her eyes relaxed, and she smiled: “Are you even jealous of my uncle?”
Si Tingyan looked at her.
Cheng Mi asked, “What kind of look is that?”
Si Tingyan, however, seemed to not want to say anything more to her and turned his head back.
Cheng Mi’s skirt was wrapped around her thighs, revealing a pair of long, straight, fair legs.
Indeed, Si Tingyan’s sulking was a bit cute. Cheng Mi’s lips curved in a silent smile.
After watching his unresponsive profile for a while, she stood up.
The room door wasn’t closed. The lonely quiet of the early morning outside connected with the inside, both sober and confused.
Cheng Mi walked towards Si Tingyan, placed the milk in her hand on his table, and stopped behind his chair.
She leaned down, from behind him, her slender fingers climbing onto the back of his neck.
Her fingertips lightly caressed the back of his neck, her eyes glistening with a thin layer of moisture, and she slowly leaned in to gently press a kiss on his cheek.
Her lips were slightly warm, lingeringly touching Si Tingyan’s cool cheek, then pulling away.
Si Tingyan’s pen paused on the paper.
Cheng Mi noticed, her eyes smiling as they left his pen tip, and she straightened up from his face.
Without a word, she walked out of the room.
Before she reached the door, the chair behind her scraped, followed by the sound of the room door slamming shut.
Cheng Mi’s wrist tightened, and she was pulled back.
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