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The next morning, when Cheng Mi came out of her room, Si Tingyan had already left.
Cheng Mi remembered that it wasn’t his turn for duty today. Si Huiru was trimming potted plants by the window; those flowers and plants, meticulously cared for by her every day, were thriving, with lush leaves and abundant blossoms.
Seeing Cheng Mi awake, she put down her scissors: “You’re awake? Auntie will go warm you a cup of milk.”
Cheng Mi stopped her: “No need, I’m allergic to milk.”
Si Huiru looked a little embarrassed, as if feeling guilty that she hadn’t known about Cheng Mi’s milk allergy despite her having been there for so long.
Anticipating that she would instinctively apologize, Cheng Mi added quickly: “I hadn’t told you about my milk allergy since I came here.”
Si Huiru’s apology was thus stopped. She changed tack: “Then Auntie will make you a cup of oatmeal. We have sandwiches this morning; you need something to drink with them.”
Cheng Mi said okay.
Going to the kitchen with Si Huiru, Cheng Mi asked casually: “Has Si Tingyan gone to school?”
Si Huiru took out the oatmeal from the cabinet: “He left half an hour ago.”
“So early.”
For Si Huiru, it was quite rare for Cheng Mi to mention Si Tingyan. She was happy to talk about Si Tingyan with Cheng Mi: “Xiao Yan usually goes to school very early. I don’t know what’s wrong lately; maybe the weather’s getting colder, he’s getting lazy and waking up later.”
Cheng Mi took the glass cup away from her lips and looked at Si Huiru: “He’s always been this early?”
“Yes, Xiao Yan doesn’t oversleep.”
Cheng Mi finished her sandwich and oatmeal, then left home for school.
________________________________________
Towards the end of the month, the entire school held monthly exams.
For senior year, Chinese was in the morning, Math in the afternoon, and English and science comprehensive subjects were scheduled for tomorrow.
Exam rooms were assigned by scrambling student numbers; Cheng Mi was randomly assigned to a diagonal classroom, not particularly close to her own class.
Freshmen and sophomores were also taking exams, and occasionally there were sounds of desks and chairs being dragged upstairs.
When the afternoon bell rang to collect papers, Cheng Mi returned to her classroom from the exam room.
Senior students were used to major and minor exams, and they were especially accustomed to monthly exams. There was no exam atmosphere in the class at all. Dozens of desks in the classroom corridor were placed against the wall, and boys ran past, loudly wrestling.
Cheng Mi’s desk wasn’t in the corridor but pushed to the back of the classroom. She entered the classroom through the back door and walked towards the window.
Meng Yin’s desk was next to hers. When Cheng Mi walked over, she was holding her phone, looking distraught, not even realizing Cheng Mi had returned.
It wasn’t until Cheng Mi pulled out her chair and leaned slightly to retrieve textbooks from under the desk, her long hair accidentally brushing past Meng Yin, that she suddenly snapped back to attention.
Cheng Mi noticed her distracted look out of the corner of her eye: “You look a little absent-minded.”
Meng Yin instinctively shoved her phone back under the desk.
Cheng Mi saw it but said nothing, nor did she have any desire to pry into private matters. She lightly pushed her textbook and pulled out her English book from underneath.
It was Meng Yin who, beside her, was twisting her pen in distress, saying: “I had a fight with a friend.”
Meng Yin’s personality undoubtedly always played the accommodating role in any friendship; she was the type to step back rather than argue when there was a conflict. The fact that someone could argue with her, or rather, as Cheng Mi put it: “What could you possibly argue about with someone?”
Meng Yin hesitated: “Well, I just didn’t like what she said.”
Cheng Mi didn’t tell her to calm down and talk to her friend nicely.
Instead, she said: “That’s good. Having a little temper is a good thing; it saves you some suffering.”
“Hmm, I won’t listen to her this time.”
If Meng Yin didn’t intend to say anything, Cheng Mi wouldn’t ask, just casually interjected: “The milk tea shop outside the school?”
Meng Yin was quiet by nature and not proactive, so she didn’t have many friends normally.
“How did you know?”
Cheng Mi smiled: “Guessing.”
It was common for friends to have minor disagreements at this age; it wasn’t a deep-seated grudge that wouldn’t be forgotten by tomorrow.
Cheng Mi picked up her school bag, ready to leave, and told her before going: “Don’t frown. You two will make up tomorrow.”
After saying that, she inexplicably thought of Li Chu. She and Li Chu were not like that.
It was only a fleeting thought, Cheng Mi didn’t dwell on it, and told Meng Yin she was leaving.
Most people had left the classroom, and there was no one in the corridor outside. Cheng Mi came out from the back door of the classroom, just about to head for the stairwell to go up to Class 1 of senior year 2.
But her eyes caught a glimpse of a figure downstairs, and her steps slowed.
Having not seen him all day, Si Tingyan was walking on the school path.
Cheng Mi stood by the corridor, looking down.
Si Tingyan wasn’t alone; the bouncy Qi Yunmiao was beside him.
Qi Yunmiao said something to Si Tingyan, and he replied.
Cheng Mi watched his profile without blinking.
There was no annoyance, no impatience. She knew that if Si Tingyan hadn’t allowed it, Qi Yunmiao couldn’t be with him right now.
The two walked out of the school.
Cheng Mi watched their two retreating figures.
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind her, spinning a book with his fingertips, his arms propped on the corridor railing, looking nonchalant.
Zheng Hongkai followed her gaze: “Who are you looking at?”
He came over, and Cheng Mi didn’t immediately pull her gaze back. After a while, she slowly retracted it: “No one.”
Zheng Hongkai acted as if he hadn’t heard her words: “Let me guess, it must be that guy named Si, right?”
In Cheng Mi’s memory, the first time she saw Zheng Hongkai at the bar, this person had belittled Si Tingyan to no end.
At that time, Cheng Mi didn’t even know Si Tingyan. She only listened to it as gossip then, but now, a slight recollection brought back what he had said about Si Tingyan.
He said he was a sickly person, a pretty boy, couldn’t understand why a bunch of girls liked such a person.
Cheng Mi glanced at him: “What, do you admit he has that charm now?”
Zheng Hongkai laughed as if he’d heard a huge joke: “Admit my ass, it’s you girls whose taste is rubbish.”
It was useless to reason with such a single-minded, extremely image-conscious person. Cheng Mi didn’t want to be mean and put him in an awkward position.
So she just smiled and remained silent, too lazy to argue.
The two were still looking at the two figures walking further and further down the school path.
Zheng Hongkai recalled some clues, like a detective: “I knew it. That time when you didn’t wear your school ID and got caught by Old Tu at the sports field, you two seemed a bit off.”
“What’s ‘off’ about it?”
Zheng Hongkai lifted his chin towards downstairs: “You were standing on his side, even speaking up for him.”
At that time, Zheng Hongkai and Si Tingyan were having a conflict. That time at the sports field, they directly confronted each other, and Si Tingyan almost lost an eye. But it was also from that incident that Zheng Hongkai realized Si Tingyan was not to be trifled with, and he didn’t dare openly target Si Tingyan afterward.
But he certainly still held a grudge, whether it was because of Si Tingyan himself, or because he had such a brother.
Cheng Mi hadn’t been very close to Zheng Hongkai these days, and she only learned from others chatting in the back of the classroom that he had been beaten by Li Zhiyu again.
Last time, Zheng Hongkai scratched Si Tingyan’s face with a safety pin. Later, Li Zhiyu, who knows where he heard the news, gathered people and ambushed Zheng Hongkai after school, giving him a beating.
An eye for an eye, the mark on Zheng Hongkai’s face hasn’t disappeared yet.
These two brothers were not easy to mess with, and Zheng Hongkai had suffered a lot at their hands.
But clearly, Zheng Hongkai was currently more resentful towards Li Zhiyu, after all, Li Zhiyu’s fists had smashed into his dignity. As for Si Tingyan, due to Zheng Hongkai’s cowardice and retreat, he hadn’t yet experienced anything from Si Tingyan.
Boys remember fights for a lifetime.
Speaking of the conflict at the sports field, Zheng Hongkai thought of Li Zhiyu.
He raised his eyebrows: “Wait, if I’m not mistaken, you and Li Zhiyu haven’t broken up yet, have you?”
Cheng Mi looked at him: “Why are you asking that?”
“Nothing, what else could I be doing,” Zheng Hongkai jiggled his leg, his face unable to hide a hint of schadenfreude, “That bastard Li Zhiyu is getting his comeuppance today, why shouldn’t I enjoy it?”
Then he asked Cheng Mi again, gesturing towards Si Tingyan’s direction: “How come you’re into this type now? He’s quite different from Li Zhiyu, isn’t he?”
Aside from a slight similarity in appearance, they were completely unrelated.
The matter of Li Zhiyu cheating on Cheng Mi was only known to Si Tingyan, Cheng Mi, and Meng Yin; no one else knew about it. Zheng Hongkai naturally didn’t know why Cheng Mi started pursuing Si Tingyan, nor did he know her vengeful intentions towards Li Zhiyu.
Cheng Mi didn’t want to talk in depth, so she casually replied: “Got tired of it, changing tastes, can’t I?”
“I didn’t expect our great beauty Cheng to like someone like Si Tingyan.”
Cheng Mi felt a little uncomfortable hearing that and looked at him: “What kind?”
Zheng Hongkai grinned: “The good student kind.”
He didn’t drink, smoke, or go clubbing, which was a world apart from the fun-loving Li Zhiyu.
Of course, there was another meaning in his cheap words. Zheng Hongkai and his gang of cronies used to verbally attack Si Tingyan a lot.
Now it seemed it wasn’t necessarily the case.
Si Tingyan could instantly pique Cheng Mi’s interest.
Something Zheng Hongkai and his ilk could never achieve.
Zheng Hongkai then told Cheng Mi: “Si Tingyan is notoriously hard to get. No girl in Fenggao has ever successfully pursued him.”
Cheng Mi nodded: “I agree with that.”
“Do you have confidence you can win him over?”
“What do you think?”
Zheng Hongkai’s expression not only contained gossip but also a hint of glee: “How long do you think it’ll take you to win him over?”
To be honest, Cheng Mi was also a little interested in this question; she was also very curious when Si Tingyan would let her win him over.
She made a bet with herself: “One month.”
Zheng Hongkai thought back to how many days ago that sports field incident was: “Damn, is that Si Tingyan guy really that hard to get? You’ve been pursuing him for over half a month and he’s still unmoved?”
Unmoved?
Cheng Mi thought of Si Tingyan’s loss of control last night; she remained noncommittal.
Zheng Hongkai said: “Can you do it? Our great beauty Cheng.”
Cheng Mi knew why Zheng Hongkai was so interested in her pursuing Si Tingyan; it wasn’t just because his rival was being cheated on and he enjoyed the drama, but also because of Qi Yunmiao.
The initial conflict that caused Zheng Hongkai and Si Tingyan to become enemies was because Qi Yunmiao liked Si Tingyan.
Zheng Hongkai definitely disliked Si Tingyan, and still did.
But this dislike was no match for his hatred for Li Zhiyu, and the pleasure he derived from Qi Yunmiao’s eyes no longer being solely focused on Si Tingyan.
If Cheng Mi managed to win over Si Tingyan, it would be killing two birds with one stone for him.
“It seems like there are only a few days left, step on it,” Zheng Hongkai tossed his book in his hand, enjoying the drama, “Let me see if you can win Si Tingyan over.”
Cheng Mi said: “What’s the hurry?”
Meng Yin came out from the back door of the classroom. Seeing that Cheng Mi hadn’t left yet, she walked over and gently patted her arm: “Why haven’t you gone back yet?”
Cheng Mi turned to look at her: “Are you going home?”
Meng Yin nodded.
Cheng Mi said: “Let’s go together.”
She turned back and told Zheng Hongkai she was leaving, then went downstairs with Meng Yin.
As they walked out of the school, they unluckily ran into Fu Shenwei and her group.
Qi Yunmiao had gone back with Si Tingyan and wasn’t there.
Fu Shenwei rolled her eyes so hard they almost disappeared into her head, but this time her eye roll wasn’t just for one person, and she cursed something under her breath.
They were by the tree over there, a bit of distance from Cheng Mi and Meng Yin, who only vaguely heard three words.
Cheng Mi had always treated them like air and didn’t listen closely.
But Meng Yin was different; she had heard those three words many times these past few days.
Nosy bitch, foul-mouthed bitch.
Every time she encountered Fu Shenwei and her group, she would hear those words.
Because Fu Shenwei and her group were cursing her.
Last time, Fu Shenwei and her group put toilet mop water in Cheng Mi’s water cup, and Meng Yin told Cheng Mi. Someone in their class must have spread the word, and Fu Shenwei’s group found out.
These past few days, every time she encountered Fu Shenwei and her group, she would be given eye rolls. The only reason they didn’t resort to physical violence was because her friend interceded for her.
Meng Yin’s friend was a classmate of Qi Yunmiao and Fu Shenwei’s group. Although she wasn’t part of their clique, their relationship was decent, and Meng Yin’s friend often treated them to milk tea.
Just now, Meng Yin and this friend, whom she had grown up with, had an argument over this very matter. Her friend told her not to play with Cheng Mi anymore, saying Cheng Mi was a troublemaker who would only cause her to be bullied by Fu Shenwei’s group.
Meng Yin had never argued with friends before, but this issue caused the two of them to fight.
Her friend said that if she continued to play with Cheng Mi and there was a next time, she wouldn’t be able to save her.
Meng Yin wasn’t entirely fearless; her hands always felt a thin layer of sweat whenever she encountered Qi Yunmiao and Fu Shenwei’s group.
But Meng Yin didn’t tell Cheng Mi any of this, and she didn’t plan to in the future either.
The two had different ways home and parted ways at the school gate.
________________________________________
At 8 PM, night had long fallen.
Outside the building, thousands of lights glowed brightly, a warm, golden scene of peace and happiness.
In contrast, Si Tingyan’s home was much quieter and more solitary.
Dinner was neatly laid out on the table, bowls and chopsticks in place, steaming under the lamp, yet there was no one at the table.
Si Huiru was on the phone in the living room, holding her mobile phone. After a long dial tone, Cheng Mi answered on the other end.
“Cheng Mi, it’s Auntie.”
“Where are you now? You can have dinner.”
Si Huiru’s soft voice carried through the room, clearly audible in Si Tingyan’s room.
After a period of silence, Cheng Mi was speaking on the other end.
Si Huiru’s face showed a hint of worry: “Not coming back?”
Cheng Mi must have replied something.
“Eating dinner outside?” Si Huiru asked.
Previously, if Cheng Mi wasn’t eating dinner at home, she would inform Si Huiru beforehand. Si Huiru was always worried about her safety. She had only been in Fengxun for a month, unfamiliar with the area, so Si Huiru asked her.
“Can you tell Auntie where you’re going?”
Cheng Mi’s next words made Si Huiru pause before speaking: “Lidao Bar?”
This was the first time Si Huiru heard Cheng Mi say she was going to a bar, and she was immediately stunned.
In the past, when Cheng Mi didn’t eat dinner at home, she would tell her she was going out to eat with friends or going to a friend’s house.
So Si Huiru also thought this was her first time, and asked: “Is the bar safe?”
After a short while, Si Huiru replied: “Okay.”
The call quickly ended, and the house returned to silence.
Si Tingyan was tinkering with robots in his room. When Si Huiru came to his room door, he was operating and debugging a robot.
“Xiao Yan, dinner’s ready.”
Si Huiru didn’t understand the machines Si Tingyan made, but she could recognize some of them. She often saw them when cleaning the room, and Si Tingyan often played with them.
The one he was holding now, Si Huiru had clearly never seen before; Si Tingyan had never played with it.
The robot, entirely silver, picked up a circuit board from the floor under Si Tingyan’s control and walked towards the desk.
Upon reaching the desk, it paused, then tossed the circuit board onto the desk.
Clatter.
Si Huiru watched from the doorway, smiling: “Is this a new one you made?”
“Mhm.”
“Is there a competition recently?” Si Huiru asked.
“No.”
Si Tingyan let it walk back to the cabinet on its own.
Si Huiru said: “You can have dinner now; your sister isn’t coming back for dinner.”
Hearing the mention of someone inside, Si Tingyan’s hand operating the controller paused slightly. The robot hadn’t reached the cabinet yet when Si Tingyan cut off its power.
He tossed the controller back onto the bed, got up, and walked towards the room door: “Let’s go, eat.”
Si Huiru returned to the dining table with a slight frown, still worrying about Cheng Mi. Halfway through the meal, she said: “I wonder if the bar is safe.”
Si Huiru, in her forties, had never been to a bar. Her perception of bars was that they were chaotic and unsafe.
Bars hadn’t been popular in their area for long; they only started gaining traction in recent years as the urban area developed. Regulation wasn’t comprehensive, and there were many troubled youths. Every month, there were countless bar fights, brawls, and date rape drug incidents.
Si Huiru had heard many such stories. Not long ago, a neighbor’s son was encouraged to touch something he shouldn’t have in a bar.
She took out her phone: “Let me see where Lidao Bar is.”
Si Tingyan stated directly: “On Chenxi Street.”
Si Huiru paused: “How do you know?”
“Passed by it before.”
Mentioning Chenxi Street, Si Huiru recognized it.
That area had everything: bars, bathhouses, hotels, all crowded onto that one street. The pedestrian traffic was very high every night.
Si Huiru’s frown deepened, and she worried even more.
“What should I do?”
She wanted to go find Cheng Mi now but knew the child wouldn’t like it and would think she was making a fuss.
Si Tingyan said: “She’ll come back by herself tonight.”
“It’s so chaotic in bars.” Si Huiru was still uneasy.
Compared to Si Huiru’s emotional and overly anxious nature, Si Tingyan appeared much more cold and rational.
He simply arranged for her: “If she’s not back by eleven, then you can go.”
He had just finished eating, put down his chopsticks, got up, and returned to his room.
________________________________________
Cheng Mi was performing at a clear bar tonight.
Deng Zi wasn’t pulled away by work halfway tonight and came along too.
The two sat on a sofa. Deng Zi heard her tell someone on the phone that she was at Lidao Bar. After hanging up, he asked her: “Who was that?”
“An elder.”
Deng Zi clapped for her: “Impressive, daring to tell an elder directly that you’re at a bar. I still don’t dare let my dad know I smoke and drink and hang out at bars every day.”
Cheng Mi bent her wrist slightly and took a small sip of her drink.
“Also,” Deng Zi slumped casually on the sofa, saying, “What Lidao Bar?”
If he hadn’t had a single drink and was clear-headed, he would have suspected his memory was faulty seeing how confidently Cheng Mi spoke on the phone just now.
He said: “Lidao Bar is next door; our place isn’t called Lidao Bar.”
Cheng Mi was perfectly clear-headed: “I know.”
Deng Zi was puzzled: “Even though both clear bars and regular bars involve drinking, wouldn’t it be better to tell an elder ‘clear bar’ than ‘bar’?”
The atmosphere in regular bars was indeed a bit more chaotic than in clear bars.
Cheng Mi still said the same thing, slowly: “I know.”
Deng Zi knew she must have a reason for saying that: “Why say it like that?”
Cheng Mi smiled: “Secret.”
After saying that, she put down her glass and got up to get busy.
At dinner time, there weren’t many people, but by nine or ten o’clock, people started to pour in.
After Cheng Mi finished her set, Deng Zi had already emptied three glasses of wine.
As soon as Cheng Mi came down, he gave her a thumbs-up: “First time hearing you sing. How did you turn out like this? Your face is flawless, and your voice is one in a million. What kind of geniuses are your parents to have a daughter like you?”
Cheng Mi listened comfortably to the first part, but her hand, pouring wine, paused directly at the latter half of the sentence.
But she reacted quickly, and the lighting wasn’t bright, so Deng Zi didn’t notice at all.
Cheng Mi’s lips curved into a smile, but her words were not so gentle: “My dad sings terribly.”
“Then you must take after your mom,” Deng Zi said.
“You’re right,” she said, “I’m nothing like that man.”
If a father-daughter relationship were close, no one would use “that man” to describe their father.
However, someone had already taken the microphone on stage, and Cheng Mi’s voice was drowned out by the song.
“Oh, by the way, I’ll tell you some gossip,” Deng Zi said, as if remembering something, propping an arm behind her and leaning close, “Guess who I just saw?”
“Who?” Cheng Mi casually blurted out: “Zhang Lingyin?”
Deng Zi scoffed: “Zhang Lingyin is not important enough for me to tell gossip about.”
Cheng Mi smiled.
In fact, ever since Deng Zi left GR, he often cursed Zhang Lingyin privately with Cheng Mi, not bothering to feign generosity. Because the post he made clarifying things for Cheng Mi pushed Zhang Lingyin into the spotlight of online criticism, Zhang Lingyin cursed him in a long voice message over this matter, and Deng Zi held a grudge to this day.
“I’m not talking about Zhang Lingyin now, she’s bad luck,” Deng Zi said, “I just saw Li Shen.”
These two ordinary words, combined, formed a name recognized by half the nation. He had directed many famous films and had even mentored a Best Actor and several popular actresses.
Cheng Mi said: “Director Li Shen?”
Deng Zi tapped his finger: “Exactly.”
“Why is he here?” Cheng Mi looked around, “Here?”
Deng Zi tutted: “No, you’ve worked here several times, don’t you know your boss has special services upstairs?”
Then he thought: “But it’s better not to know. Just do your job well down here, and whatever you do, don’t step upstairs.”
Cheng Mi actually knew, but she didn’t associate normal people with that.
“So,” she looked at Deng Zi, “he’s upstairs?”
Deng Zi nodded: “Alcohol, tobacco, tea, women, probably not lacking anything.”
“Of course, I’m not just telling you this, because I also saw an old acquaintance there.”
Cheng Mi was actually a little distracted by this gossip, her eyes inadvertently passing by the door, casually interjecting: “Who?”
“Qi Yunmiao.”
Cheng Mi’s fingertips had been tapping idly on the wine glass, but at the mention of the name, she stopped and looked at Deng Zi.
“Surprised, right? I was surprised too, but she probably isn’t there for that; a group of people came with them.”
Deng Zi had previously photographed Qi Yunmiao while working at GR. Later, the misunderstanding between Qi Yunmiao and Cheng Mi became widely known, making Deng Zi remember Qi Yunmiao even more vividly.
Deng Zi looked at Cheng Mi’s expression: “I thought you two enemies would be furious meeting each other, but it seems you’re genuinely not interested. With you like this, no wonder you manage to infuriate those young girls so much.”
“Like what?”
“Look, look, just how you are right now. They curse you behind your back, they dream about you, they’re furious, but you don’t even care, you don’t take them seriously at all. Who wouldn’t be spitting blood with anger?”
Cheng Mi was amused by him: “You’re exaggerating, I’m not a fairy.”
Deng Zi had been holding it in for a while and was uncomfortable sitting, so he waved his hand: “Alright, I’m going to the restroom first, I’ll talk when I get back.”
Once Deng Zi left, no one was chattering in her ear, and it became much quieter, with only the singing and the chaotic lights.
People drinking around her whispered to their companions.
Soon, Cheng Mi saw the old acquaintance Deng Zi had mentioned.
Tonight, Qi Yunmiao was a bit different from usual. Her upward-sweeping eyeliner was tamed and drawn downwards, and she wasn’t wearing a short, revealing skirt. Instead, she wore a black cinched-waist long dress that perfectly outlined her slender, beautiful figure. Due to her appearance, she looked like a black swan.
The light was dim, and she didn’t notice Cheng Mi at all.
Behind Qi Yunmiao followed a woman dressed in opulent attire. Cheng Mi had seats behind her, and she and the woman sat down there.
As soon as they sat down, that pampered voice immediately came through.
“So annoying, are adults all this boring? I’m almost falling asleep.”
“Miaomiao, your father is paving the way for your future,” the woman said.
“Do you need to tell me that?”
The woman then fell silent.
“Don’t think about telling me what to do. You’re my dad’s mistress; just be his mistress, don’t keep dreaming of climbing over me to become my mother.”
The woman didn’t look like someone easily bullied, yet she was silenced by Qi Yunmiao’s words.
Qi Yunmiao’s tone sounded exactly like someone rolling their eyes: “It’s just drinking, drinking. When did they ever talk about serious matters? It’s all nonsense.”
The woman said: “Don’t rush, once the alcohol gets flowing, everything will be easier to talk about.”
Qi Yunmiao was direct: “I think Li Shen just wants money.”
There was a rustle of a handbag, and the woman tried to cover Qi Yunmiao’s mouth.
Qi Yunmiao dodged: “Don’t touch me.”
She added: “If I’m going down this path, I can do it on my own.”
The woman couldn’t help but speak again: “We have a bit of fame online, but how can that compare to their circle? If you want to enter the entertainment industry, your dad has to get you in early; this is the only way.”
“We all know you’re ambitious and don’t want to rely on this method, but your father is doing this for your own good; he doesn’t want you to suffer.”
Qi Yunmiao gave her an eye roll, and the woman fell silent.
Cheng Mi wasn’t deliberately listening to them, but they were simply too close, and she didn’t want to move for a moment.
Just like now, she didn’t want to sit anymore, nor did she have any desire to hear another word. She got up and left the sofa.
She usually didn’t drink when she came to sing, but tonight Deng Zi was here, so she had a drink or two with him.
Perhaps she had stayed up too late last night, as her head felt a bit dizzy after just a little alcohol. Cheng Mi went to the restroom.
She still had another set to sing and urgently needed to be alert, so she splashed some water on her face in the restroom.
Halfway through washing, she felt someone watching her from behind.
Cheng Mi looked up, water droplets clinging to her eyelashes, and looked into the mirror.
The restroom sink was communal, while the male and female toilets were separated on either side.
Standing by the restroom door was a man in his fifties, smoking a cigarette, also looking at her in the mirror.
This man’s face was not unfamiliar; Cheng Mi had just heard his name.
Director Li Shen had deep lines around his eyes. He was casually dressed in a shirt, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, giving him a very artistic vibe.
Just then, a man, already showing signs of a middle-aged paunch, walked down the restroom corridor. Cheng Mi hadn’t paid attention at first, but a quick glance at his features, and she knew who he was.
Qi Yunmiao’s eyes were practically identical to his.
Qi Yunmiao’s father walked over to Li Shen: “Director Li, shall we go up for another drink?”
Li Shen looked at him, his expression kindly as he smiled: “Let’s go.”
Cheng Mi didn’t dwell on this. After they left, she splashed a little more water on her face, then got up and left.
________________________________________
The second half of the performance went smoothly. Cheng Mi took off her guitar.
Deng Zi was still in his original seat, looking down at his phone.
Cheng Mi walked over and sat down. Deng Zi handed her his phone: “How’s my photography skills?”
On the screen, Cheng Mi held the standing microphone with both hands, her striking features radiant even in the dim light.
Her chestnut hair was tucked behind one ear, revealing an earring, and there was a glow in her eyes.
She was so beautiful that everything else paled in comparison.
Cheng Mi had forgotten what she was singing at the time.
A message popped up on the screen. Cheng Mi didn’t mean to see it, but with her eyes on the screen, it was hard not to.
The message was an invitation for Deng Zi to stay overnight.
Cheng Mi reminded Deng Zi: “Someone sent you a message.”
Deng Zi took it back and looked, then tutted: “I’ve revealed all my secrets, haven’t I?”
Cheng Mi smiled, then spoke of text messages.
She seemed to suddenly remember something and pulled out her phone.
Opening her phone, the screen was cluttered with several messages.
She scrolled down one by one; there were no text messages, and Si Tingyan’s name didn’t appear at all.
Cheng Mi glanced at the time, a little past ten.
She turned off her phone.
The bar got livelier as the night went on, with the boss leading the atmosphere, putting on some more rhythmic music.
As the atmosphere heated up, people became more restless.
Everyone, who had been drinking separately, suddenly became more interactive.
The lights flashed wildly, creating a fleeting illusion of being in a club.
When her head felt a little hazy, she seemed to have even less resistance to alcohol. Cheng Mi poured a little into her glass and picked it up.
It was also then that a discordant stir appeared in Cheng Mi’s peripheral vision. Everyone had been getting pumped up with the music, when suddenly a figure detached from the atmosphere appeared.
Cheng Mi looked up and saw a figure who had been in her mind just a few seconds ago.
She had anticipated seeing him here.
But there was a slight deviation, because she thought he would be alone, but he wasn’t.
Two girls walked up to him, holding their phones, seemingly asking for his number.
His demeanor and the hot atmosphere here were two extremes.
Cheng Mi held her glass to her lips, not drinking, just watching him.
It was then that Si Tingyan saw her too. He didn’t look at the two girls in front of him, but directly at her.
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