“What are you mumbling about over there? Come drink.” Sheng Nanzhou heard him talking about fat and thin, and hung up the phone with a “snap.”
Dusk was heavy, light dim. Coming down from the elevated bridge, Zhou Jingze steered straight down the ring road. Once down, his vision narrowed, neon lights hung high.
Just off the elevated bridge, he encountered traffic halfway. Horns honked continuously. From above, the ring road looked like boiling colorful dumplings.
Stopping and starting all the way, Zhou Jingze arrived at the pub quite late. Pushing open the private room door, Sheng Nanzhou was pouring drinks, complaining: “You’re way too slow.”
“Traffic jam, what could I do?” Zhou Jingze laughed, raising an eyebrow. “Fly a plane through the city?”
The two clinked glasses, chatting about their recent situations. Sheng Nanzhou nudged his knee with an elbow: “Hey, your car got crashed.”
“Xu Sui.” Zhou Jingze’s voice was low and deep, pronouncing those two characters like a mantra.
Sheng Nanzhou was stunned. In his lifetime, he could still hear him mention this name. After all these years, “Xu Sui” was like his vital point – one touch and he’d react, not even allowing others to mention it.
Today he actually brought it up himself.
“You ran into her? Well, Beijing isn’t that big, but it’s not small either.” Sheng Nanzhou nodded.
“Looking at your expression, you got burned there, huh? Serves you right, who told you not to look for her back then.” Sheng Nanzhou was happy seeing his displeased face.
Zhou Jingze casually poured wine. Hearing this, his hand paused, spilling a few drops on the table. He looked up: “How do you know I didn’t look for her?”
Sheng Nanzhou was stunned. There seemed to be such a thing, but he couldn’t remember clearly. Saying this, he felt a bit sorry for Zhou Jingze, so he patted his shoulder: “I heard Xu Sui is now the department flower at Puren Hospital. She’s outstanding with plenty of good men lining up to pursue her. Better hurry.”
Zhou Jingze tilted his head back, draining the glass. His throat was extremely dry, but he remained outwardly composed, glancing at him with a slow tone:
“Don’t need you to tell me.”
Saturday morning at 11 o’clock, Xu Sui was still in bed. Finally the weekend – she wished a day had 48 hours all for sleeping.
At quarter past eleven, Liang Shuang called. Xu Sui poked her head out from under the thin blanket, speaking with a sleepy voice: “Hello.”
“Hello, baby,” Liang Shuang replied, hearing her turn over on the other end, her tone threatening: “You didn’t forget something today, did you?”
Xu Sui immediately sat up, suddenly remembering they’d planned to go shopping today, nervously swallowing: “No, I’m putting on makeup.”
Liang Shuang snorted: “Come on, who are you fooling? I knew you were still sleeping.”
“Anyway, it’s still early,” Liang Shuang glanced at her watch. “Get up, put on makeup, eat lunch then come out. The weather’s pretty nice today.”
“Okay.” Xu Sui breathed a sigh of relief, lying back down.
After staying in bed a while longer, Xu Sui finally got up, slowly brushing her teeth, washing her face, then cooking pasta and heating milk.
By the time she was ready, it was already 2:30 PM. They met at IFC Mall. Not having seen each other for half a month, Xu Sui felt Liang Shuang looked even better, becoming more and more beautiful.
During graduate school, Liang Shuang suddenly realized one day that clinical work was too hard. To save her increasingly sparse hair, she resolutely chose anesthesiology.
After graduation, she became an anesthesiologist at her father’s private hospital – much easier than Xu Sui, the constantly busy surgeon.
Once in the mall, Liang Shuang went into shopping mode, continuously buying things. In her words: “We’re 28! Our prime years are about to pass – shouldn’t we treat ourselves well?”
“Hold on, I still have 3 months to go.” Xu Sui laughed.
Initially, Xu Sui could accompany Liang Shuang trying clothes and bags, but later, upon entering any store, Xu Sui would immediately sit on the sofa. Liang Shuang came out wearing a sequined dress, seeing Xu Sui sitting there reading magazines:
“Why are you like some old man?”
Xu Sui closed the magazine, laughing: “Then treat me as a man. This man says that dress looks pretty good on you.”
Only then was Liang Shuang satisfied. She picked out a coffee-colored silk scarf and happily paid for everything. The two walked out of the boutique arm in arm. Liang Shuang nudged her: “Hey, this is nothing compared to my shopping power – I’m still not as good as Qianxi.”
Mentioning this name, both thought of that flamboyant, willful, yet lively young miss who had brought everyone much joy.
Both fell silent.
Liang Shuang asked: “Hey, do you still keep in touch with Qianxi?”
“Rarely,” Xu Sui shook her head. “The last postcard she sent was six months ago.”
Who would have thought that timid, delicate girl would resolutely join an international wildlife organization after graduation, becoming a wildlife rescue veterinarian, traveling the world.
These years, Hu Qianxi had cut contact with everyone, but she’d send Xu Sui a postcard from each place she visited.
Liang Shuang stretched: “Sui bao, let’s go get something to drink on the second floor, chat while we drink.”
“Okay.” Xu Sui nodded.
At the café, Liang Shuang ordered cold brew coffee, an egg tuna sandwich, and a small blueberry chestnut roll. Xu Sui ordered an iced peach oolong.
After drinks and desserts arrived, Liang Shuang sipped her coffee, thumb scrolling her screen, opening her photo album to show Xu Sui: “How about it, handsome? A young celebrity who came to our hospital for surgery recently – I did his general anesthesia.”
Xu Sui glanced – handsome and young, thick eyebrows and big eyes, well-defined features: “Not bad, a young wolf.”
“Hey Sui Sui, I heard that certain someone came back, did you know?” Liang Shuang said, forking a small piece of cake.
“Which certain someone?” Xu Sui bit her straw. Seeing Liang Shuang’s hesitant expression, she calmly said the name: “Zhou Jingze? We ran into each other last week.”
“Holy shit, really?” The cake Liang Shuang was about to eat fell with a “plop.”
Xu Sui nodded, telling her what happened last week. Liang Shuang’s eyes widened: “You mean he got your phone number but didn’t ask for compensation and hasn’t contacted you since?”
“Right.”
Liang Shuang looked puzzled. Remembering something: “You remember my ex-boyfriend Wang Liang who became like a brother later? He was Zhou Jingze’s year, even a fanboy of your ex. I heard from him that Zhou Jingze seems to have violated some regulation and was grounded, so he’s currently unemployed. I heard what he did was quite serious – his career might be over.”
Xu Sui was using her straw to hook an ice cube up along the rim. Hearing this, she paused, and the ice cube fell back into the milk tea with a “thud.”
Liang Shuang looked regretful: “Sigh, I really can’t believe it. I was his fan back then – such an amazing, awesome person actually got grounded. Life is unpredictable.”
Xu Sui kept her head down, simply unscrewing the transparent cup lid, picking out an ice cube to put in her mouth. She crunched it, swallowing the cold fragments. Her throat was so icy she couldn’t speak.
After dinner that evening, Liang Shuang looked at an incoming message on her phone: “Did you check the group? Li Yang asked if you’re going to Brown Sugar Jar?”
Xu Sui shook her head: “No, I want to sleep early tonight.”
Liang Shuang looked at her phone again: “He says there’s a live performance tonight, added last minute. It’s that band you quite like.”
“Let’s go.” Xu Sui changed her mind.
Xu Sui was different in one way – she rarely went to bars or nightclubs, but never missed band performances. She felt live shows were very relaxing, and there she could release another side of herself.
She used to like listening to Mayday because of that person. Now she discovered there were many songs she could like.
Liang Shuang immediately waved for the check, grabbing her bag to leave: “Hurry up, sister. Li Yang says he saved us two great spots.”
“Okay.”
Xu Sui hailed a green taxi. After getting in and giving an address, the taxi slowly moved forward. About forty minutes later, they arrived at Brown Sugar Jar.
They walked down an alley into a hidden pub. Pushing open the door, electronic music mixed with drumbeats hit them. The band had been playing for thirty minutes, waves of people layered upon layers, incredibly heated.
Li Yang sat at the bar waving at them. When they approached, Li Yang handed them each a depth charge, speaking in a pinched voice: “My sweethearts, I’ve missed you so much.”
“Heh,” Liang Shuang rolled her eyes. “Would you think of us if you hadn’t broken up with your gym muscle trainer?”
Xu Sui laughed out loud, raising her glass to him. Li Yang was a year younger, 27, a photographer, a rich second-generation living aimlessly, a nightclub regular who had connections for everything and treated them well. Good-looking with long hair and a somewhat feminine temperament, oriented toward men – he was their gay best friend.
Initially Liang Shuang’s friend, he later brought Xu Sui out a few times. Everyone got along well, so they often played together.
“Where are the spots you saved us?” Xu Sui was currently most concerned about this.
“There, the pro area.” Li Yang pulled out two green wristbands from his pocket, thoughtfully helping them put them on.
Liang Shuang sat at the bar drinking. Xu Sui satisfiedly patted the wristband, her usually calm face showing excitement: “You guys drink first, I’ll head over.”
“Okay, sweetie, we’ll find you in a bit.” Li Yang waved at her.
Xu Sui turned and entered the pro area just as the band started a new song. When the drumsticks hit the drum surface, Xu Sui squeezed into the crowded masses, smiling as she screamed along with them.
Red and purple lights shone down together, dry ice rose, smoke surrounded the stage’s lead singer. As percussion beat faster and faster, the atmosphere reached its peak.
In the crowd, arms pressed against arms, clothes creating friction. Someone ran onto the stage with a flag to crowd surf, the atmosphere growing hotter. Xu Sui was covered in sweat. People in the dance floor began dancing or forming trains.
Xu Sui started with small body movements, but getting too happy, she untied the scarf around her neck and began dancing freely.
As Xu Sui danced, she felt someone pressing close, wanting to dance with her. She nervously looked up, discovering it was Li Yang, and relaxed.
Perhaps because Xu Sui and Li Yang, this handsome man-beautiful woman pair, were too eye-catching, the photographer gave them a thirty-second shot. Their smiling interaction was projected on the big screen.
Li Yang shamelessly blew a kiss to the audience, immediately causing screams. Xu Sui smiled at the screen.
Zhou Jingze sat bored in a booth, mixing drinks. Red wine slowly poured into a transparent glass, his slender fingertips picking up an ice lemon wedge to place on the rim.
Red light stretched over, his profile sharp and defined, eyes deep-set. The hand holding a cigarette rested on his knee while his other hand single-handedly played table football, attitude careless.
Dry ice kept billowing behind him.
No matter how lively the stage was, he couldn’t be bothered to lift his eyelids for a glance.
Women in neighboring booths watched with itchy hearts, wanting to strike up conversation but feeling a man this upright would require someone special to catch his eye – they had no confidence.
This man exuded nobility from head to toe.
Not expensive in terms of wealth, but precious in the sense of being rare and hard to find even with lanterns.
Cheng You sat beside him, attracted by audience screams, also looking at the projection: “Boss, isn’t that the girl you rescued at the barbecue stand that night?”
Zhou Jingze finally deigned to look over.
Sheng Nanzhou across from him sighed internally while desperately signaling Cheng You with his eyes. Unfortunately, the big fool didn’t notice Zhou Jingze’s emotional changes, still seeking confirmation:
“Holy shit, it really is her. I was wrong before – so this is the boyfriend! They even came to watch the show together!”
Zhou Jingze narrowed his eyes looking over. Xu Sui wore a black knit sweater with a square neckline showing fair chest, blue high-waisted jeans accentuating her curved hips. With that pure yet alluring clean face, many male gazes lingered on her with restless desire.
She’d indeed grown up considerably – in all aspects, not just physically but also in courage, able to be comfortable in such hedonistic places.
A man with half-tied long hair pressed close, the two very near with arms brushing shoulders. Lights flowed, the stage thundered. Suddenly, the man leaned down, seemingly whispering something in her ear. Her eyes curved as she looked up at him.
The two looked about to kiss.
Suddenly, the lights in their area dimmed, red light moving elsewhere. Complete darkness – nothing could be seen.
They say the best place to start a new romance is in a bar.
Most intoxicating, abandoning reason needing only one drink, one gaze in ambiguous atmosphere.
Ice dropped into the glass, just mixed with some Sprite. Carbon bubbles made sizzling sounds, instantly competing to surface. With a “bang,” the glass was set down on the table, neither heavy nor light.
Everyone turned to look at him.
A lit cigarette was thrown into the drink, the crimson flame extinguished.
This drink was ruined.
Zhou Jingze walked toward the crowded dance floor, one hand in his pocket.