Chapter 10 The Lingering Ghost

After that day, Xu Yuewei thought she would never see Jiang Shiyan again.

Unexpectedly, they met again soon, in Song Jinshu's photo album, where she saw him at nineteen.

That day, with Xiao Han and Zhou Xu taking care of the coffee shop, they had some free time, so Jin Shu invited her to her home.

It's a two-story loft with good natural light and simple decor, decorated with lots of pink and blue ornaments. Looking around, there's no sign that a man has ever lived there.

In such an environment, the past years seem to have vanished. They are like two side by side green plants that have never been separated, never sprouting any grass shoots.

Xu Yuewei nestled on the sofa in the living room, flipping through a B5 photo album filled with Song Jinshu's wonderful moments over the years; she still maintained the habit of developing the photos.

Although she had already shown her many photos, the quality of the photos was different. She flipped through them with great interest while listening to Jinshu chatter on and off, and made a promise to do something in the future.

When Xu Yuewei flipped to the last photo album at the bottom, she was stunned for a moment.

On the first page, amidst a screen full of amusement park-themed photos, there's a group photo of three people in the middle—them and Jiang Shiyan.

It was the summer after graduating from high school. I remember that we had originally planned a date for four people. Song Jinshu said she would invite her then-boyfriend, but he stood her up, so it became a somewhat awkward date for three people. In today's terms, both Jinshu and he felt like they were Steve.

My thoughts flashed back to the past, but in a moment, they returned to the soil of reality.

"You still have these photos?"

Xu Yuewei looked up and smiled at Song Jinshu.

Seeing that her expression was normal, Song Jinshu felt relieved: "Ah... these are all from high school, turn to the back."

Xu Yuewei seemed not to hear, her gaze still fixed on the photo. The three of them were standing under the Ferris wheel, asking a passerby to take a group photo.

In a particularly awkward group photo, Xu Yuewei stands in the middle holding a plush toy she bought at the park, Song Jinshu is next to her making a peace sign with her arm around her, and Jiang Shiyan stands on her other side with his hands behind his back and his body slightly leaning towards her.

Song Jinshu pointed at Jiang Shiyan's poker face: "Wow, this jerk is making a sour face. Give it to me, I want to move this one to the corner."

"No, he actually smiled."

A smile that was only a few pixels wide.

Sensing the silence of those around her, Xu Yuewei quickly said, "I'm just stating the facts."

Song Jinshu's gaze drifted to the Ferris wheel behind the three people in the photo. A smirk played on her lips as she recalled the past with a malicious grin: "I remember you guys went to ride the Ferris wheel. I'm afraid of heights, so I waited below. I kept staring at your cabin until it reached the top..."

At this point, she half-covered her mouth, seemingly embarrassed to say such things at her age.

"I bet you two were kissing, hahaha! That's how it's always written in novels. But when you came down, your eyes were sparkling, and you said the scenery was so beautiful. You even showed me a picture you took of me, even though it was so blurry you couldn't see my features..."

Xu Yuewei listened quietly. As she described, a single pixel in the painting, named "Past," instantly expanded countless times, swallowing the viewer whole.

Gradually, the corners of her lips unconsciously turned up.

"Back then, mobile phone camera functions were pretty average," she interjected.

"Let me finish!"

Song Jinshu crossed her legs.

"Later, when we were sorting through the photos together, I saw the pictures he took of you on the Ferris wheel. They were all solo shots—front view, back view, smiling, surprised. There wasn't a single group photo. There were so many of them. It seems like we didn't even have time to kiss. I thought to myself, 'You two aren't as romantic as I thought.'"

"Can you tell me now whether you two kissed or not? I was so curious."

Xu Yuewei shook her head: "It was just a hug."

Having received the answer to her childhood curiosity, Song Jinshu rarely showed a wistful expression, and sighed, "It's fine. Did I not tell you that my first kiss was on a Ferris wheel?"

She pointed to the photos, "My first love and I went there too, but his kissing skills were terrible, it wasn't pleasant at all."

After closing the photo album, they set up a household charcoal stove on the small balcony, laid a barbecue rack on top, brewed a pot of flower tea, grilled oranges, and took beautiful photos with a Polaroid camera.

Song Jinshu wore a long, fluffy coat, as if afraid of getting on fire, and covered the coat tightly with both hands. Xu Yuewei wore a thin sweater, her scarf swung behind her, and used clips to turn the oranges over.

The warm glow of the charcoal fire wafted from her fingertips, spreading to her palms and wrists. She brought her face close, and the heat enveloped her like a cloud.

It reminded her of that hug that happened in the stuffy cockpit.

The cockpit was unstable, swaying as the angle changed during movement. Xu Yuewei was a little scared and didn't dare to stand up from her seat.

Jiang Shiyan suddenly sat down next to her from across the room, causing the cockpit to tilt towards her like a seesaw due to the uneven weight distribution. She screamed in fright and grabbed his neck.

The thin layer of sweat on his body, his rising and falling breaths, and his broad shoulders were just the right size for her to lean on.

This constitutes all her understanding of embracing men.

Then, she recalled that accidental "hug" with Zhou Xu, and in comparison, that youthful feeling was gone.

She just regretted it a little; she should have looked in the direction of table number 9.

"Hey, turn over the oranges!"

Song Jinshu's voice brought her back to her senses. Xu Yuewei picked one up, let it cool for a while, cut it in half, and handed one half to her.

The oranges were turned frequently during the baking process, so they didn't burn. Instead, they were coated with uneven black spots. I took a bite, and it just tasted like hot oranges; it wasn't bitter or sweet.

Xu Yuewei actually liked the taste, so she took two more and placed them on the baking tray, carefully turning them over.

She suddenly became sullen, her face expressionless. Song Jinshu tentatively asked, "What's wrong?"

Xu Yuewei was taken aback for a moment: "Nothing's wrong."

"I thought you were angry because of my question."

Song Jinshu breathed a sigh of relief and, as always, spoke her mind: "I've only chatted with you online all these years, and I'm not a familiar face to you in person anymore."

"...Maybe I have changed a bit."

During my years in Guangyang, I did consider developing a new relationship, but unfortunately, my heart was not under the control of reason.

One ordinary afternoon in a park, a young man wearing a fisherman's hat and holding a camera suddenly appeared in front of her with his back to the light and asked her if she could be his model.

Then, naturally, she developed a friendship with him, and sensed his subtle probing.

He was a guy who was good in every way. He worked as a book editor in the traditional publishing industry. He had a stable job and a romantic, passionate yet sensitive personality. There was no reason for him to refuse.

He asked her to go to the movies and visit museums, and she never refused.

But when he reached out to grasp her hand, she hesitated for a moment and then pulled away.

His expression shifted from surprise to shame and indignation, while Xu Yuewei calmly and firmly drew a line with her eyes.

Finally, he said, "You're so cold."

Is it indifference?

No one has ever used this word to describe her, but thinking about it carefully, perhaps it can replace the word "well-behaved" that adults used to use.

However, between her obedience and indifference, there was a golden period when she was as passionate as a jar of freshly made maltose.

It only becomes stiff after it condenses.

Saying you don't want to go back to the past is a lie.

But wanting to and daring to are two different things.

The crackling sound of the charcoal fire seemed to tell tales of long-standing grievances, unheard by those who were indifferent.

During a moment of silence, Xu Yuewei glanced at her phone.

Unexpectedly, I received another message from that Pan Debi:

[Mr. Xu, are you interested in being a hand double? The production team for "Guanshan" urgently needs a hand double who can play the guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument), and the pay is quite high.]

"Guanshan" is the period film that is currently being filmed.

Xu Yuewei bit into an orange, juice flowing freely in her mouth, her brows furrowing slightly as she pondered the meaning behind those words. After all, last time, the person who took the order had suddenly changed halfway through.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, startling both of them. Song Jinshu went across the living room to open the door and cautiously asked, "Who is it?"

"takeout."

Song Jinshu opened the door a crack, and a bouquet of flowers filled her vision. Her mouth formed a circle as she opened the door completely and took the flowers.

The flowers, in shades of white, pink, and purple, with roses surrounding the hydrangeas and small white cosmos and violets as accents, were so aesthetically pleasing that it seemed unlikely her boyfriend would have chosen them, especially since it wasn't a special day.

Song Jinshu walked suspiciously towards the balcony, while Xu Yuewei put away her phone and smiled at her: "Who sent it?"

"I don't know, maybe it was delivered to the wrong address."

"Check if the greeting card has a name on it. Is it someone secretly pursuing you?"

Song Jinshu glanced at her with a forced smile, then flipped open the closed card with one hand. There were only four words on it: "You can do it."

On her way home, she casually remarked, "My parents paid the down payment for this house, and I'm supposed to earn the money to pay the mortgage, but I'm afraid that will be a bit difficult. I'll cherish it while it lasts, and who knows, I might sell it next year."

Xu Yuewei didn't say anything at the time.

"A housewarming gift." She smiled and opened her arms.

Song Jinshu rushed over and hugged her: "You're so annoying, so sentimental."

"like!"

Song Jinshu buried her head in her neck and nuzzled against her: "You're so nice."

Song Jinshu placed the bouquet on the TV cabinet, then leaned over to the sofa and nudged Xu Yuewei, asking, "What are you watching?"

Xu Yuewei openly showed her her phone: "I have a collaboration offer."

"That's so nice? Then why are you making that face? Just say yes!"

"Hmm... how should I put it?"

Xu Yuewei glanced sideways, and Song Jinshu keenly sensed something. She nudged Xu Yuewei closer while tickling her, saying, "Are you hiding something from me? Confess!"

Xu Yuewei's stomach tightened as she laughed, and she reached out to push her cheek.

In a moment of turbulence, she lightly touched the screen with her thumb, which was hovering above the lit screen.

Xu Yuewei quickly parted their almost tangled hair, straightened her back, and saw a line dog emoji sending a kiss in the chat box.

"Oh my, sorry." Song Jinshu quickly sat down as well.

As Xu Yuewei lifted her thumb after long-pressing the emoji, another message arrived from the other end: 【? 】

Since he saw it, she didn't retract it, but typed an explanation: "Sorry, it was an accident. I'll retract it immediately."

Pan Debi: [No need, it's cute^^]

But she has already withdrawn.

...It's a bit awkward.

Pandby sent a meme of a bear hugging a pink heart.

The screen reflected two stunned faces. Two seconds later, Song Jinshu turned to her and said something shocking: "You really don't have an affair with this person?"

“How could that be? He is…” Xu Yuewei shrank her neck, but still confessed, “Jiang Shiyan’s assistant.”

"……ah???"

Xu Yuewei then told her about meeting Jiang Shiyan: "...Speaking of which, it was fortunate that your boyfriend was there when we went to the bar that night."

Song Jinshu's expression shifted dramatically, and she finally managed to stammer, "Damn, I wish I could go too!"

While we were talking, Pan Debi sent another message:

Are you considering it? No experience is okay; once you've done it once, you'll have connections and resources for future opportunities. ^^

"A lucky star," Song Jinshu said, stroking her chin. "Why are you being so kind? There's something fishy going on, isn't there?"

Pan Debi: [The original hand stunt double suddenly got injured, and the production team urgently needed someone, so they asked if we knew any guqin players with beautiful hands. That's when I thought of you. If it's inconvenient for you to ask, just let me know, and I'll ask around.]

She sent another cute emoji.

It turns out it was for firefighting purposes.

Xu Yuewei nudged Song Jinshu with her elbow: "What do you think?"

"I agree with what you said; making money is the first principle."

Xu Yuewei nodded, adding in her mind: I probably won't run into him when I'm filming.

To get a sense of the situation, she replied: "Excuse me, I wanted to ask, did Teacher Jiang send you to ask me about this?"

Pan Debi: [No, not at all. If I asked him about such trivial things, he'd probably find me annoying (chuckles)]

Xu Yuewei: [I'd like to try, but could you please not tell him?]

Pan Debi: [Okay, but I can't be sure yet. I'd like to trouble you to film a video of me playing the piano. It needs to be a clear shot of my hands, without any post-production editing. Can you send it to me today?]

Xu Yuewei replied "okay," packed her things, and said goodbye to Song Jinshu: "I'm going home now, see you tomorrow."

*

As the car drove through the bustling streets, Xu Yuewei didn't pay attention to the familiar yet unfamiliar street scenes.

I'm extra careful driving this newly repaired car.

Halfway there, it suddenly started to rain.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the wipers couldn't keep up with the speed at which the rain was falling. Fortunately, we weren't too far from our neighborhood.

A white car, unfamiliar to her, was parked steadily in her parking space.

After the initial surprise, she got out of her car, walked around to the front window of the white car, found the phone number for moving the car, and dialed it.

A strange man answered the phone: "Hello? Who is this?"

"Hello, your car is parked in my parking space."

The voice on the other end paused for a moment, then gave a knowing look: "Ah, you are... just a moment."

He seemed to hand the phone to the person next to him, and two seconds later, a familiar female voice came through: "Sister, it's me. Um... the car belongs to my boyfriend, I'm sorry."

"...Your boyfriend?" Xu Yuewei frowned. "Why is he at my house?"

"Isn't my workplace near your house? I used to come over for meals all the time after get off work, and I ate your aunt out of house and home."

Qi Shuyan's explanation was teasing, as if she were joking with the person next to her.

“My partner’s company gave out supermarket gift cards, so we thought we’d drop them off on our way home from get off work to cover my aunt’s meal expenses. His car had been recorded before, and it was raining heavily outside, so I let him drive right in. I didn’t expect you to be back so early.”

Xu Yuewei remained silent for a moment, the words "I told Mom I'd be back before dinner" stuck in her throat, unable to be uttered.

When she wasn't home, Qi Shuyan did take care of Ye Wanzhi, and in return, Ye Wanzhi would give her red envelopes and buy her jewelry and clothes, but these transactions had nothing to do with her.

From her own perspective, her cousin had indeed been a great help, and she couldn't be rude to her.

Xu Yuewei then relaxed her tone: "Oh, I see. It's alright."

Qi Shuyan: "Wait a moment, I'll tell him to drive the car out right away."

Then, Xu Yuewei heard a lively noise typical of the kitchen and guessed that they were cooking.

"No need, I'm relieved to have you here. You guys eat."

Qi Shuyan wanted to say something more, but Xu Yuewei cut her off.

"I happened to have turned down a friend's invitation to come back."

"Okay, it's raining heavily outside, drive carefully."

"Um."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Yuewei returned to her car, reversed, and drove away from the underground parking garage.

She ate a bunch of random fruits and snacks in the afternoon, and she's not hungry at all now. The way she's sitting at the table struggling to chew must be quite unappetizing. It's better to let the happy people out of her sight.

The car slowly passed through the barrier gate; she did not turn back to go to Song Jinshu's house.

Instead, they followed the flow of traffic, entered a more bustling section of road, and headed straight for the music hall.

More than twenty minutes later.

Xu Yuewei stood in front of the building with the door tightly closed, helplessly closing her eyes.

Knowing full well that they couldn't get in, they still shook the door a few times while holding the handrail before giving up.

The sound of rain pattered against the small rain shelter overhead. Xu Yuewei sighed softly and turned around, but she couldn't run the short distance of two or three meters in the rain as she had before.

A cool, damp feeling settles on the scalp near the crown of the head, making one lose courage and optimism.

She had nowhere to go.

As dusk settled, at a time that was neither too early nor too late, Xu Yuewei dialed Song Jinshu's number, hoping that she was also hungry.

But their hopes were dashed.

"If you don't have dinner with me, I'll go find my boyfriend."

Song Jinshu pretended to be fierce, then chuckled, "We're waiting for our number to be called. There are so many people in the mall... What, missing me?"

"...I lost one of my earrings and wanted to ask if it was left at your house."

"No, I remember you still had it on your ear when you left."

"I'll look for some more. You guys eat well, bye-bye."

All around was the sound of rain, and the air was damp, seeping into every pore and bone.

During the years she lived in Guangyang, she moved house on rainy nights and received IV drips in the emergency room in the middle of the night.

They didn't think anything of it.

For some reason, returning to the Fog Bridge made everything unbearable.

After standing there for a while to process the inexplicable sense of loss, she opened her phone's photo album and began to look through the performance videos she had recorded in the past.

Unfortunately, in pursuit of visual effects, most of those videos would include her full makeup and styling, and in the few that didn't show her face, the main subject of the shot was usually the piano itself.

And her account, which she hadn't logged into for a long time... had been filtered and the audio edited.

Today's scope is really quite large; 7 PM is today, and 11 PM is also today.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Yuewei sent a message to Pan Debi:

Sorry, could you please send the video later? I'm currently out and can't go home for the time being.

After waiting for a while, the sudden ringing of the phone shattered the rain curtain, instantly injecting a sense of unease into her heart.

Without time to think, Xu Yuewei answered the WeChat call: "...Hello?"

It was quiet around her. She picked up her phone and watched the countdown tick by, the call going on.

He put the phone back to his ear and said "Hello" again. A voice came from the other end, a man's voice mingling in the damp rain:

"So you really are outside."

Xu Yuewei abruptly pulled her phone away, her eyes widening in disbelief.

Why is it Jiang Shiyan?

The pale light from the screen shone through the rain, and the man's haunting face seemed to reappear before my eyes.

A note from the author:

----------------------