Chapter 29. I like Xia Chan, I like you!

Chen Zhoudu paused for a moment before realizing she was referring to the two girls in the bar earlier. A mischievous smile curved her lips as she quickly said, "Guess."

Xia Chan paused for a moment, then immediately gave him a disdainful look.

His smile deepened, and perhaps because he had drunk a little alcohol, his eyes shone exceptionally brightly at that moment.

In the darkness, they shimmered like stars in a brown galaxy, saying, "I told them my phone was with you."

Xia Chan stared at his profile in surprise, feeling something slowly accelerating in her chest.

"They'll understand when they see you."

Lala and Siyi were still singing, and the whistling night wind seemed to carry their songs and words far away. Xia Chan stared at his clear, bright eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened her hands towards him.

He looked at her palms and then at her, puzzled.

"My phone!" Xia Chan demanded bluntly, moving her fingers. "Didn't you say it was with me?"

Chen Zhoudu couldn't help but chuckle, and obediently took the phone out of his pocket and handed it to her.

His phone still carried his warmth in the cold wind. Xia Chan took his phone but didn't want to do anything more for a moment. She scoffed and tossed it back into his arms, "Boring!"

Chen Zhoudu looked at her in astonishment.

"I can't open it," Xia Chan casually made up an excuse. "I don't know the password."

Chen Zhoudu laughed again, cleverly saying, "The password is..."

"I won't listen, I won't listen, you little dog chanting." She suddenly covered her ears and muttered, stubbornly refusing to listen, as if this would keep them outside the boundary between them and prevent them from crossing that unspoken distance.

Chen Zhoudu paused for a moment, sighed inwardly, and looked down to bring up a page on his phone. Suddenly, he gently grabbed one of her fingers and placed it on the home button.

Xia Chan was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what he was about to do and subconsciously withdrew her hand.

At this moment, his strength inexplicably became very great, and he stubbornly pressed her finger lightly on the home button again and again.

Registering fingerprints was quick and easy; the phone indicated successful registration in no time. He locked the screen and placed the phone in her hand, smiling gently, "This time, you can open it without a password."

Xia Chan's fingers trembled slightly as she held his phone. This time, instead of throwing the phone back at him, she stared blankly at the fingerprints remaining on the home button for a moment before chuckling, "Aren't you afraid I'll run off with all the money in your phone?"

"Go ahead and roll it up," Chen Zhoudu said with a resentful look. "You can open it and see for yourself; I'm truly penniless."

Xia Chan was amused for a moment for some reason, and silently played with his phone for a while before handing it back to her when it cooled down.

"You can keep it." He took it but then stuffed it directly into her down jacket pocket and zipped it up. "Anyway, I don't use it much."

Xia Chan quietly unzipped her coat pocket and put her hand inside, but didn't take out her phone. She silently held his phone tightly.

Soon it was the New Year. During this holiday, Ajiang gave Chenzhoudu a seven-day holiday, and Chenzhoudu spent the New Year with Xia Chan's grandmother and the Chao family at the "ferry".

After mid-December, there were hardly any guests in the courtyard, and Grandma also put down her sign to rest, running around every day to buy New Year's goods.

Every household in Shanfeng Lane has put up couplets and hung up big red lanterns. The whole way is red and cheerful, and the occasional crackling of firecrackers along the street adds to the festive atmosphere.

Fireworks are banned in Shanghai, and in the past few days, Chenzhoudu has heard almost every kind of fireworks sound he has ever heard in his life.

Sometimes, while he was studying inside, a sudden crackling sound from the yard would startle him so much that his wrist would tremble. Stepping outside, he would see Huang Mao and Pang Hu mischievously laughing at him, only to be chased away by Xia Chan and his grandmother with rolling pins.

On the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, my maternal grandmother and Uncle Chao and Aunt Chao's family gathered together early in the morning to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

Siyi and Xiachan juiced spinach, carrots, dragon fruit, and other ingredients, kneaded flour into colorful dough, and then gathered around to make dumplings.

Shenzhoudu used to not eat dumplings during Chinese New Year in Shanghai, and he didn't know how to make them; he had to learn on the spot.

Then, the blond-haired guy finally managed to find a flaw in her and mocked her for it.

However, he learned quickly and soon began to wrap them quite well, even creating various shapes such as little rabbits and ingots.

Grandma and Aunt Chao secretly put coins in the dumplings, saying that whoever found one would get a big red envelope, which caused several people to eat so much at dinner that night that they were as full as pufferfish.

Grandma and Aunt Chao also gave each of them a red envelope with 200 yuan each.

Several people insisted on refusing the money, but Grandma stubbornly made them accept it, saying that although the family was struggling financially and didn't have much money, it represented their hopes for the new year. Chen Zhoudu carefully tucked the two hundred yuan into his favorite book.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Ajiang's bar reopened, and Chenzhoudu was busy working part-time at the bar every night.

During the part-time job before the Lunar New Year, Chen Zhoudu had actually become quite adept at it.

He sang beautifully and was handsome. In just a few days, the name of a handsome singer spread in Ajiang's bar, which really attracted a group of customers to the bar. Ajiang really treated him like a cash cow and wished he could worship him.

He traveled between the two places every night, and the journey was long and unsafe, so Xia Chan and Huang Mao insisted on taking him there.

Xia Chan would stay at the bar every night to work as a waitress and earn some hourly wages, while Huang Mao would go out to pick up some jobs in the surrounding area and then pick them up in the evening.

Occasionally, Chen Zhoudu would include some of his own songs in his repertoire.

Some songs have beautiful and pleasant melodies, and customers will ask what kind of song it is.

Upon learning that it was a song he composed himself, some customers who had come specifically for him were even more amazed. Some girls rushed forward to take photos and videos with him, but he politely declined them all. Looking towards Xia Chan from afar, Xia Chan silently gripped the phone in her pocket, remaining impassive.

Halfway through the night's performance, Chen Zhoudu went on stage to sing his third song. As he stepped onto the stage, he lightly tapped the microphone, the echo drawing everyone's attention. Holding the microphone, he whispered:

"I want to dedicate this song to someone."

"—Xia Chan."

Xia Chan was serving drinks to a table when she heard this and paused, looking up at the stage. The guests around her also looked around and asked who Xia Chan was.

"I Like You!" He immediately swept the strings with his pick, and his ethereal voice echoed through the microphone in an instant.

I like you

Those smiling eyes…

Wow—!

The moment the words "I like you" were uttered, the entire bar erupted in a burst of cheers and whistles. Who Xia Chan was seemed no longer important; what mattered was that this appeared to be a more direct and subtle confession.

Xia Chan's heart pounded wildly as she stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide. Her fingertips involuntarily pressed against a small pendant beneath her clothes as she took a deep breath.

Ajiang, as if he had seen through something, looked around between the two of them and whistled with great interest.

He simply stood on the stage, quietly watching her in the bright light, as if he were smiling, his singing voice echoing in every corner of the bar like a declaration.

I like following you like this.

Take me wherever you want

Your face

Slowly approach

Tomorrow will gradually become clearer.

I love your heart.

A light touch on each of my fingers senses

I know

It speaks of your promises.

..."

-

When it was time to close for the night, Xia Chan and Shen Zhoudu said goodbye to A Jiang and stood outside the bar waiting for Huang Mao, who had not yet returned.

There was silence for a moment.

Standing side by side in the snow, the deep winter air caused thick white mist to rise with each breath. Xia Chan pulled her down jacket tighter; though she didn't look at the boy beside her, his presence was undeniable. Chen Zhoudu's gaze occasionally flickered at her, as if he had hesitated for a long time before finally breaking the silence.

"Did I sing well today?" he asked her with a smile.

Xia Chan paused slightly, then smiled casually at him, "When is your singing not good?"

The moment their eyes met, they both seemed to pause subtly, as if something invisible had been touched by a tiny needle, then poured out completely, impossible to conceal any longer.

Xia Chan silently met his gaze for two seconds, then looked away with a calm expression. Chen Zhoudu simply watched her quietly, and they remained silent.

After a long while, Chen Zhoudu's fingertips tightened as he watched her speak.

"Xia Chan." — "Chengzhou Ferry."

But to everyone's surprise, they all spoke in unison.

"..."

Two seconds later, the two spoke at the same time again.

"You go first."

"..."

This sudden, albeit useless, unspoken understanding made them both chuckle, and the atmosphere relaxed effortlessly. Xia Chan glanced at him with a smile and took the initiative to step aside, "You go first."

Chen Zhoudu stopped being polite, lowered his eyes and smiled slightly, then looked up at her with a solemn and deep gaze.

"Xia Chan, actually I..."

Before he could finish speaking, a voice suddenly rang out from not far away, "Zhou Ferry."

The voice was deeper and more solemn, sounding particularly cold and clear in the deep winter night, as if it had come from an impossible place.

Chen Zhoudu was stunned. He turned his head in disbelief and stared in the direction of the sound, deeply dumbfounded.

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Author's Note: The lyrics in this article are from the song "I Like You," sung by Kit Chan, released in 1996.

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There are two chapters today, and one more to come!