Chen Luzhou: Less sarcasm, will you? Are you coming in or not? I’ve already taken off my clothes. Didn’t you want to see?
Xu Zhi: … If human curiosity could be exchanged for money, I’d be so wealthy now. [Sigh.jpg]
In the end, Zhu Yangqi went in and dragged Chen Luzhou out. His hair seemed to have been blow-dried, hanging limp on his head, very light but exceptionally soft. Xu Zhi felt his hair grow quickly; when they kissed at the doorway earlier, his hair was prickly like wild grass, but now it was as soft as a puppy’s fur.
Xu Zhi sensed that Gu Yan beside her tensed up the moment Chen Luzhou walked out. Xu Zhi felt that Gu Yan simply wanted to sleep with him.
Xu Zhi and Chen Luzhou exchanged a leisurely glance. There was no place for him to sit; even the coffee table was occupied by Da Jun. Only the three-seater sofa had an empty spot, with Gu Yan sitting in the middle and Xu Zhi on the armrest. Chen Luzhou walked over and sat on the armrest next to her, lazily draping half his body, and asked Zhu Yangqi, “What are we playing?”
Zhu Yangqi didn’t know what to play either. He snatched the microphone from Da Jun and said, “Werewolf, murder mystery? Truth or dare? Take your pick.”
“Boring,” Chen Luzhou said, leaning back on the armrest. He lowered his head to explain to Xu Zhi, “It’s no fun playing anything with him. This guy’s a sore loser.”
Xu Zhi hadn’t played much, “What’s a sore loser?”
“It means he can’t handle losing, throws tantrums when he loses,” he said.
Zhu Yangqi remembered playing a few rounds with their elite class before and couldn’t help but retort, “Fuck, that time you and Li Ke ganged up on me, didn’t you? You two were in cahoots. Damn, you faked being the Seer, and you two coordinated to fool all the divine roles. I was the real Seer and got voted out. How could I not be angry?”
Jiang Cheng tossed over a microphone and suggested, “Why don’t you sing a song, Chen Luzhou? It’s been a while since we heard you sing. Your singing always livens up the atmosphere.”
Otherwise, a bunch of people just sitting around was fine usually, but with two girls present, they couldn’t make some of their usual jokes. They could only awkwardly discuss recent current events, gossip, and sports matches, which was quite boring to listen to.
They had heard Chen Luzhou sing before, but he rarely did. Zhu Yangqi suspected this guy was just showing off and then never willing to sing again. He had only sung once or twice, and it was always the same song. It left everyone eager to hear him sing, but he probably only knew that one song.
Zhu Yangqi immediately pulled up that song. Chen Luzhou lazily glanced at Xu Zhi while holding the microphone, his eyes seemingly asking, “Want to hear it?”
Xu Zhi indicated it’s up to you.
With Xu Zhi, Chen Luzhou could only ever show off halfway.
They rarely spoke, but occasionally, just a few glances were enough to understand each other’s meaning. Everyone present, except for Zhu Yangqi, didn’t think too deeply about their relationship. The cool way they interacted also made them seem not very close. Gu Yan tried to probe with a couple of questions, but Xu Zhi brushed them off.
When the music intro started, the room suddenly quieted down. Zhu Yangqi, that fool, was using his phone’s flashlight as a glow stick, frantically waving both hands.
At that moment, she was replying to Old Xu’s WeChat message.
Xu Zhi: Dad, can I come home a bit later tonight?
After being scammed out of 80,000 yuan, Old Xu had a great awakening and just bought himself a new phone today. He was probably hugging his phone, figuring out the input method, as his reply came incredibly fast.
Dad: How much later? If it’s too late, you might as well sleep at his place. It’s not safe on the roads late at night.
Xu Zhi: Is that okay?
Dad: What do you think? [Bloody knife.jpg]
Xu Zhi: …
Dad: Tell Chen Luzhou to give me a call.
Xu Zhi immediately handed her phone to Chen Luzhou. By then, the intro had just finished, and Chen Luzhou was precisely hitting the rhythm while taking the phone from her hand, softly singing—
“Everyone lacks something, that’s why we can become unhappy in an instant, simplicity is hard, burdens are many—”
It was Lin Yuxia’s “Wanting Freedom.” As soon as the first line flowed out, the atmosphere in the room immediately heated up, as if at a concert. Everyone was cheering and drumming, acting as if they were hearing a superstar sing, going overboard with their support.
Xu Zhi found his voice deeper and more magnetic than she expected, so she was a bit surprised. It was indeed very pleasant to hear. Zhu Yangqi and the others went crazy as if pierced by Cupid’s arrow of love. They clutched their pounding hearts, falling back in various poses, overcome with emotion.
“Damn, I’m dead—”
“I’m moved by this bastard’s voice again. I could listen to this song a hundred times without getting tired of it.”
Xu Zhi looked up at him. Chen Luzhou was holding her phone in one hand and the microphone in the other, and he glanced down at her. His eyes were like those of a fierce beast in a zoo, all fangs removed, yet still sharp. Only she had seen his most gentle moments.
“Only you understand me, like a trapped beast in a skyscraper, craving freedom…”
Hearing this, everyone was drawn into the mood. Zhu Yangqi and the others also stopped their exaggerated cheering, quietly swaying to his singing.
His singing voice was quite similar to his speaking voice, just deeper. It had a clean, crisp magnetism. Each word was like a smooth, slippery little fish, gliding into her ear, gently impacting her heart.
In the flickering light, he lowered his head and looked at her deeply. The various colors from the music video screen reflected in his clean eyes as if witnessing the neon lights of a mirage, both brilliant and lonely.
“I can’t bear to give up this moment for the uncertainties of the future. Perhaps only you understand me, so you didn’t escape. Crying while holding me tightly, softly saying how much you love me…”
After he finished singing, for some reason, everyone fell silent. The atmosphere became even more subdued. Everyone quietly stared at the TV screen, silently drinking. When they came to their senses, perhaps caught up in the mood, they didn’t notice that two people had disappeared.
“I used to dislike going to school, but now I suddenly feel that school is quite nice. I hate separating. During those three years when Chen Luzhou went to another province, no one reminded me to wear my uniform on Mondays, and no one told me that Feng Jin uses his left hand when playing cards, with all the bombs on the far left.”
“Damn, how is it that I’m already missing him before he’s even gone?”
“I feel like our story just stops here. It’ll be hard to meet again in the future, won’t it?”
That night, there was a group of young people who seemed to be trying to understand youth and life again and again in the endless sound of cicadas, repeatedly refuting their answers.
“Da Jun, have you thought about what you want to do in the future?”
“I just hope that while I’m alive, my paintings can sell for a million yuan each.”
“Then I hope that by then, I can casually buy paintings worth a million yuan each! Achieve the freedom to buy art!”
That night, they talked unrestrainedly and passionately about dreams, prospects, beliefs, and their glorious futures outside.
In the bedroom, just a wall away, people were kissing, fierce and lingering embraces. The room was very dark, with only a yellow floor lamp lit, illuminating their feet. The girl’s feet were bare, her clean toes seemingly unable to bear it, tightly gripping the floor, as if enduring waves crashing through her body.
Xu Zhi also forgot how long they kissed that day. All night, they seemed to be kissing until both were breathless, their breathing disrupted, their chests desperate for air, yet their heartbeats refused to calm down. The soft, dense sounds of pecking kisses in the silent night seemed almost uninterrupted.
But the sound of cicadas that year seemed to come to an abrupt end on that day.