The car had barely moved a few meters before it stalled twice. The vehicle shook violently up and down—anyone who didn’t know better might think they were having car sex in the middle of the night. Li Jin Yu suddenly regretted why he had gotten into her car. Wouldn’t it be better to just live peacefully? Thinking like this, his depression was nearly cured by her antics.
He was firmly strapped in his seatbelt, his head resting against the headrest without moving, only glancing sideways at her as she struggled and failed to start the car. With a look of utter despair, he reminded her: “Friend, aren’t you going to put it in gear?”
Hearing this, Ye Meng shifted into gear, then instinctively glanced at him.
“Press the clutch first, shift to first gear, then release the handbrake,” Li Jin Yu said lazily. He realized that time truly was a wonderful thing—no matter how confused you might be about something, after a few years, you’ll eventually get your answer. Life doesn’t shortchange you. He suddenly understood why driving instructors smoked so heavily. He had gotten his license at eighteen, taking the test at the same time as Gou Kai and that group. They were all boys from wealthy families who already knew how to drive, so their instructor had it easy—barely needed to supervise them, just casually gave a few tips, and within days they all passed the test.
The group of girls who tested during the same period still hadn’t passed their road test a year later. The instructor had practically torn his hair out in frustration. Women’s neural connections in this area seemed particularly prone to short-circuit.
The car slowly moved out of its spot, and Ye Meng finally regained some driving feel. She smiled at him and said, “You know how to drive? Why don’t you take over?”
Li Jin Yu turned back toward the window and said mockingly yet lazily, “I don’t. But just because I haven’t eaten pork doesn’t mean I haven’t seen a pig run, right?”
Ye Meng was momentarily stunned as she rolled out of the quiet, narrow alley at a speed of twenty kilometers per hour. She asked suspiciously, “But Yang Tian Wei said you have a driver’s license?”
“I do, but can’t I have never driven on the road?” he replied casually.
Ye Meng smiled, “You’re so cocky for someone who can’t drive. Just be quiet. I hate backseat drivers when I’m driving.”
Li Jin Yu snorted. He could ride a tricycle at two and race cars at six.
But he didn’t say that out loud. He obediently closed his mouth, not out of fear, but simply because he didn’t want to talk to her.
As night deepened, the small town fell completely silent. Under the dim streetlights mixed with the hazy moonlight, one could vaguely see a small car wobbling out of a dark alley. The journey was quiet, with Li Jin Yu resting with his eyes closed on the seat, while Ye Meng focused on the road ahead, though there was hardly any traffic. Fortunately, she had originally learned on a manual transmission, and gradually regained her feel for it through the bumpy ride.
While waiting at a red light, Ye Meng turned to look at the man beside her. Leaning back, his jaw was thin, his Adam’s apple prominent, and that faint yet indented “kiss mark” scar on his skin mysteriously made him appear somewhat callous. Li Jin Yu kept his eyes closed the whole time, yet somehow seemed to have a third eye because when there were twelve seconds left on the green light, he spoke coldly with his eyes still shut: “Twelve seconds left. Seen enough?”
Ye Meng awkwardly looked away and, after some frantic fumbling, got back on the road. The car arrived at the bar at half past midnight.
Li Jin Yu could hardly believe it. For just five or six kilometers, she had taken more than ten minutes. He closed the car door, leaned against it, and teased: “Your driving reminds me of someone… you know, that guy who rides a donkey backward… what’s his name?” He pointed with his hand. “Right, Nasreddin. Even someone riding a donkey backward is faster than you.”
Ye Meng thought to herself: If you’re so fast, why don’t you drive yourself? But you can’t even drive!
To protect his pride, Ye Meng didn’t retort and just motioned for him to follow her inside. Being a weekend, the bar had a resident band and was packed with people. The music was deafening, and in the dim light, passionate young men and women were everywhere, swaying and indulging freely.
A rendition of “Mountains and Seas” brought the bar’s atmosphere to its peak. The lead singer was emotionally charged, with a raspy voice, much more full-bodied than Li Jin Yu’s. Singing the same “Mountains and Seas,” he conveyed compromise with reality, a scream for ideals, and an undying love—the kind that reaches into people’s hearts and resonates with the audience’s spirit.
Most people in the bar were dissatisfied with reality, spiritually empty, unable to change, and powerless to change. They could only watch themselves deteriorate day by day.
Ye Meng had always felt that Li Jin Yu shouldn’t be like that.
As soon as they entered, the premium waiter noticed them immediately and enthusiastically approached with a plate of melon seeds. “Brother Yu, what brings you here today? Oh, and your little fan is here too?”
Before Li Jin Yu could speak, Ye Meng directly led him to sit on the sofa in the center of the dance floor. Li Jin Yu looked up at her helplessly, almost shouting over the thunderous music: “What exactly are you doing?”
The premium waiter quickly followed, handed them the menu, and shouted over the booming music: “What would you like to drink, you two?” Li Jin Yu didn’t even glance at it, frugally ordering a can of Budweiser. Ye Meng didn’t bother to shout, just made a gesture to indicate she wanted the same.
The premium waiter, with mischievous intent, shouted in both their ears: “Would you two like a Jägerbomb or Four Loko to liven things up?” Li Jin Yu kicked him away.
The music roared in their ears. Though their eardrums felt tight from the noise, they soon adapted. Especially Li Jin Yu, who unzipped his sports jacket, leaving it loosely open on both sides. Half-sitting, half-leaning into the sofa, he quickly made it his domain again. The two said nothing, silently listening to the music and drinking. The long-haired lead singer, who somewhat resembled Wang Feng, came over and gave him two cigarettes. The two hooked arms around each other’s shoulders and casually chatted for a while, while Ye Meng sat motionless to the side, listening to people singing on the dance floor.
Although she had suggested coming here, now it seemed as if Li Jin Yu had forced her to come, sitting there like a statue.
Li Jin Yu hunched forward, elbows resting on his knees, and surprisingly lit a cigarette for himself. He held it between his fingers, deliberately exhaling a puff of smoke. Seeing this, the lead singer also leaned down, hooked his arm around Li Jin Yu’s shoulder, and asked: “Been craving cigarettes lately? I’ve seen you smoke twice now.”
“It’s fine, I don’t feel much, just bored,” he said, tapping the ash.
The lead singer offered half-hearted advice, “Your lungs aren’t good, you should smoke less.”
Li Jin Yu smiled as he put the cigarette between his lips, half-biting it, and looked at him sideways: “Then why did you give me cigarettes?”
“I was just being polite, who knew you’d take them.”
“Alright, understood,” Li Jin Yu responded casually, then suddenly began to cough, covering his mouth with his fist before saying, “It’s been a long time since I smoked, I can’t even taste it anymore. I still have one more, want it back?”
Just as he raised his hand, the cigarette was gently taken from his fingertips.
Li Jin Yu turned around. Ye Meng had taken it, holding it between her fingers, then bringing it to her lips. She leaned forward slightly across Li Jin Yu and said to the lead singer: “Brother, may I borrow a light?”
The lead singer immediately lit it for her. Since she had taken the initiative, he barely had to raise his hand from his knee to light it—just press the lighter to create a flame. But Li Jin Yu’s hand was still raised between them, and as Ye Meng leaned over, his hand just happened to touch her soft chest.
The lead singer became inexplicably nervous, failing to light it after several tries. He exclaimed in surprise: “Damn, suddenly out of fuel?”
Ye Meng never pulled back, like a soft cotton ball gently touching his long, knobby hand. The warm skin contact created an ambiguous atmosphere, amid the colorful lights and alcohol, inspiring fantasies and stirring hearts. If he were in his early twenties, his heart might have been pounding, restless like a young man, with blood rushing upward. But now he was quite numb—his heart and pulse were cold and numb, inside and out.
Li Jin Yu simultaneously took back the cigarette and the lighter, tossed them onto the low table in front of them, leaned back, and said to the lead singer: “Don’t you have a few more songs to sing?”
So the lead singer sang a few more songs about frustrated ambitions, collapsed ideals, and dead faith. Ye Meng felt that this singer had taken the culture of dejection to its extreme, no wonder Li Jin Yu was willing to be friends with him—he must be singing straight to his heart.
Because there was no suitable world outside for him, he was unwilling to venture out.
Ye Meng leaned against the sofa back, one hand lazily resting on top, supporting her head, quite comfortably staring at Li Jin Yu. He was truly handsome, and though his personality didn’t suit her, it certainly had an edge. The waiter brought a small plate of peanuts, which he methodically shelled, then brushed the crumbs off his hands and downed his glass of alcohol in one gulp. His eyes were thin, actually quite reserved, but when he smiled, that flamboyant energy in his eyes couldn’t be contained. Every inch of him exuded the air of a noble young master.
He should have been a goldfinch kept in captivity, not like this, curled up like a stray dog.
Ye Meng suddenly stood up.
Li Jin Yu tilted his head to look at her and also moved to stand up. “Leaving?”
Ye Meng pushed him back down, her hand on his shoulder: “You sit here for now.”
“Where are you going?”
Ye Meng smiled sweetly and said: “I spotted a handsome guy over there. I’m going to ask for his WeChat. You be good and sit here. If any girls come to ask for your WeChat, tell them your big sister is strict and won’t allow it.”
“So it’s ‘rules for thee but not for me’?” Li Jin Yu sneered.
“Be good, baby.”
Ye Meng offered these words of comfort without much sincerity.
Sure enough, Ye Meng found a handsome guy with a ukulele. The two chatted about something, and not only did she add his WeChat, but the idiot even gave her his ukulele.
Li Jin Yu leaned back on the sofa with his arms crossed, sneering.
Ye Meng carried the ukulele to the keyboard player, and after an exchange, added his WeChat too. Li Jin Yu watched her move leisurely and gracefully through the crowd, not glancing in his direction once, collecting WeChat contacts from all the men in the band like she was gathering treasures.
Li Jin Yu leaned forward and picked up the cigarette that had been tossed on the table earlier. He held it between his fingertips, took a drag, then rested it on the sofa armrest. His gaze grew colder and more distant.
When he looked up again,
Ye Meng was already sitting properly on a high stool, holding the ukulele. Her short legs dangled in the air—they weren’t short, but compared to Li Jin Yu’s long legs, they were a bit shorter, so she couldn’t reach the floor, sitting like a child with her legs hanging.
Idiot, the height is adjustable.
He felt that he always set it quite low, but Wang Feng would set it even lower, so when he sat down, it was like sinking into a valley.
He took a drag from his cigarette, looking straight at Ye Meng on stage, but waved over the premium waiter. After saying something, the waiter went up to the stage while Ye Meng was testing the sound with the band. “Miss Ye, Little Yu is asking if you’d like to lower your seat to be more comfortable?”
“Yes, please.”
After the waiter adjusted the height, everything suddenly went quiet.
Li Jin Yu still held the cigarette between his fingers.
Ye Meng was quite nervous. She had never pursued a boy with such effort before. In a bar environment, what kind of song would be most appropriate? The most suitable would probably be the depressing, dejected style the lead singer had just performed, or perhaps a heart-wrenching love song, but neither type seemed appropriate for a confession.
She wouldn’t sing a sappy love song, and she wanted to sing something inspiring, yet not too serious, that would convey what she wanted Li Jin Yu to hear.
After discussing with the band for a while, she decided to sing “The Youth Says.”
If the atmosphere was built properly, it could be quite blood-pumping and passionate. She just feared that with everyone feeling so dejected, her lone burst of enthusiasm would seem particularly childish.
But sometimes, this kind of solitary courage can also move people. The band members were moved to tears, playing with fiery enthusiasm, their eyes filled with maternal affection.
Their gazes occasionally fell on the man sitting on the sofa, holding a cigarette in the darkness outside the dance floor, full of admiration.
They admired the openness and fervor in Ye Meng, a kind of light they had never seen in other girls.
Like now, singing “The Youth Says” on stage, perhaps not sounding very good, but putting her heart into every note, with a kind of unstoppable determination in her eyes—
“The youth has their wildness, hearts like the blazing sun with ten thousand rays of light, I’ll fight through a thousand difficulties and ten thousand obstacles, today is for my young man, dare to challenge heaven and earth with my sharp edge, cutting through thorns and brambles, who can stop me—”
At that moment, Li Jin Yu’s phone vibrated slightly.
It was a text message.
[Ye Meng: Li Jin Yu, please allow me to conquer the world for you.]
At that moment, Li Jin Yu firmly believed that he was no match for her.