Spring is not late

After locking the door, Bai Luo hid himself in the shadow of his hat brim and walked down the stairs one step at a time.

The dim voice-controlled lights slowly dimmed.

The drainage in the pipes of Nanfeng Lane was blocked, sewage surged from the low-lying areas, and the brown turbid flow mixed with shredded paper and plastic garbage overflowed.

A series of printed footprints were left on the white snow.

Less than a hundred steps away, the bus stop sign for Nanfeng Lane is clearly visible.

The cold light flowing from the LED screen behind him thinned out the shadows of the people waiting for the bus, making their outlines almost transparent.

The buses in Hangzhou and Hong Kong are retro in color.

The sound of swiping a card echoed, and Bai Luo pressed his ear bones against the noise-canceling headphones, drowning in the undercurrent of the carriage.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the old city is a scene of fluctuating colorful lights as far as the eye can see.

Day after day, the bus windows heading to the university town become natural picture frames.

＿＿

During his three years of high school, Bai Luo was a lonely figure sitting alone in the back row. Once he put on his headphones, he said goodbye to the world.

The only good friends I have are the boarders.

Nanhuai No. 1 Middle School has strict rules, but it does not require students to live on campus.

My good friend is a minority student who transferred from another province. His family is poor, and living on campus is the only way he can save money.

After graduation, my friend followed her family's arrangements and married into a mountain village.

The two of them would occasionally come up to each other and say "I'm fine" without asking any more questions.

The funny thing is, she believed it.

It’s nice to trust her.

But from beginning to end, it was all fake.

She is not okay, not at all okay.

A light-hearted word "happiness" is just the last show performed for the past.

＿＿

"We've arrived at University City. Please get off from the back door. Have a nice day."

A female voice with a square and clear voice from a machine slowly flowed through the semi-quiet and semi-dry carriage.

Bai Luo sniffed his rosy nose and got out of the car.

The damp cold air hit my face, and I walked alone with my shoulders shivering.

The streets at midnight are an endless carnival, with desire and vanity dyed in neon colors.

The wind blew in from an unknown direction, bringing a damp chill. Advertising posters crackled on their iron frames.

Bai Luo looked at the bar with flashing neon lights above his head.

——36°BL.

What a niche bar name.

The alleys of the university town are lined with bars and KTVs, each with its own unique territory.

The exterior of 36°BL has a strong visual impact, with a metal security gate and colorful light curtains at the entrance, and the exterior walls covered with graffiti or electronic screens broadcasting music festival images.

Most of the surrounding peers have a minimalist style, with mottled exterior walls, no lighting at night, and low recognition.

Some shops even hide their signs, using abstract symbols to indicate their business types, and disguise their entrances as telephone booths, lockers or secret doors, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

36°BL's admission system is very strict:

Reservations. Membership. Referrals.

Choose one of three.

Appearance is not important for admission, there is a minimum spending threshold.

The entrance guards wear custom uniforms with a subtle logo on the cuffs.

The metal security door behind him is specially designed, with countless prism lenses embedded in the door frame, which refracts light and shadow finely when passing through.

Bai Luo took a deep breath and stepped forward to cooperate with the inspection.

The guard raised his eyes and spoke in a serious and formal tone.

"Please show your reservation receipt."

I flipped my phone, and it lit up, showing the appointment screen. Fortunately, I had already made an appointment for the afternoon.

"36°BL has reserved access for you. Please pass."

The other party lowered his eyes to check, and then a polite smile appeared on his face.

When I pushed open the door, drum beats hit my ears like a sudden rain, and scarlet beams of light moved on the ceiling.

At the bar, the bartender held a silver shaker and shook it gracefully, reflecting the shadows on the wall and making the gold fragments sparkle.

A beautiful young lady leaned on a high stool, concentrating on applying lipstick, but accidentally her mascara smudged, and a dark mass bloomed under her eyelids.

In the booth area, several handsome men and beautiful women were holding up their mobile phones to live broadcast, with flash lights flashing alternately, illuminating their cheeks that were swollen due to alcohol.

In the middle of the dance floor, men and women huddled closer than their shadows, their mixed smell of sweat and perfume steaming and fermenting.

The recruitment notice stated that the application location was in booth B, next to the window in the southwest corner.

Bai Luo stumbled through the bustling dance floor and suddenly felt dizzy.

＿＿

A week ago, she took her last fluoxetine pill. It wasn't a cure; it was a drug withdrawal. It was the end of the road. It was a pretense of recovery.

Three years. Almost three years.

Depression is like a shadow, haunting her like her breath.

Is it okay? She doesn't know.

Sometimes, my emotions are out of control and my anger is hard to suppress.

Sometimes, I couldn't sleep all night and sat quietly by the window, crying.

It’s not that I’m awake, it’s that I don’t dare to close my eyes.

I was afraid of nightmares, and it was so dark that I couldn’t see the exit.

Long-term malnutrition has caused my hands to tremble. Broken glasses have piled up in my memory.

On a rainy night of despair, she stood on the 33rd floor rooftop.

She didn't jump, she didn't seek death, she just wanted to make sure she felt the cold and the pain, and she wanted to see if the wind could wake her up.

The rain flowed down the ends of my hair and soaked my collar.

Chilled to the bone. It felt like being alive.

Perhaps it was a false mother's love that kept her alive until now, or perhaps it was the shadow of hope.

In short, we must make money so as not to starve to death.

＿＿

Outside the bar, endless blizzard once again descended upon Hangzhou Port.

Although Bai Luo was wearing a down jacket and jeans, he could not hide the clear and detached look in his eyes.

Pure and flawless, yet concealing an enchanting beauty.

In the bar, prying eyes followed her like a shadow, entangling her back, hanging in the air, waiting for her to look back, and then freezing.

She was completely unaware and just walked alone, aloof and self-satisfied.

Pulling away from the crowd on the dance floor, his gaze pierced through the hazy snowy night, freezing the flickering floor-to-ceiling windows of the bar.

Eyelashes fluttered and trembled.

A flash of neon light.

She was so confused that she recognized the wrong person.

In the middle of the circular sofa, a man in a black baseball cap and a blue and white school uniform leaned bonelessly against the glass window.

Is it... Bodi?

But his hair was clearly silver-gray, while the man in the middle of the sofa, idly tossing dice, had black hair.

Clearly two completely different sets of eyebrows and eyes.

Not to mention the empty ear bones and the iconic skull earrings were nowhere to be found.

Moreover, she clearly remembered that he was wearing a black down jacket before he went out.

It's not him, definitely not him.

Could it be Nanhuai No. 1 Middle School...

The snowy night outside the window is covered with a layer of mist.

Bai Luo's thoughts were like fog, but not fog, and he shook his head vigorously.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling window, the light intertwined, and the blurred figure was a swaying neon color.

She came here to apply for a job.

In the queue of applicants for the waiter position, there are seven or eight figures, each blooming with beauty.

Exquisite makeup, short skirt, high heels, she is charming in the cold air, and her exposed skin is delicate and provocative.

They looked at each other, their eyes competitive and wary.

Bai Luo quietly hid in the shadow of the corner, reducing his presence.

The young man was half lying in the middle of the sofa, surrounded by noise. He blinked occasionally, like a mannequin in a window, indifferent and heartless.

The boy next to me was wearing a dark-colored hooded jacket with the collar casually drooping.

A girl with delicate makeup is nestled in his arms.

The outline of his eyebrows and eyes seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where it was.

Most of the other faces were unfamiliar, with different expressions flickering under the light.

The boy in the windbreaker looked at the time on his wrist, his sharp eyes sweeping around him.

"I didn't expect so many people to apply for the job. What we need in our bar is staff who can liven up the atmosphere and provide attentive service."

The girl in his arms twisted the cigarette with her slender fingers, sparks flickered between her lips, and the smoke she exhaled curled up to the ceiling.

"Don't be nervous. Introduce yourselves and explain why you think you're suitable for this job."

The girls spoke one by one and the atmosphere became increasingly heated.

Some people praised his excellent social skills, while others praised his strict work attitude.

When it was Bai Luo's turn, two figures, one tall and one short, happened to arrive and naturally sat down on the empty seats on the sofa.

Bai Luo recognized them:

The boy is the director of the public welfare club, and the girl is the director of the English club.

The two of them are juniors, and they are truly precious.

However, because of his family background, he could easily become a minister for fun, and power was just a chess piece in his hands.

Bai Luo hid in the shadows of the corner, waves of light and shadow swept across her beautiful eyes, reflecting the foggy snowy night through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"My name is Bai Luo, and I'm applying for this job because I'm short of money."

The deafening sound of music swept all around, but a clear and refreshing ending pierced through the sound waves and lingered in the air.

In an instant, all the eyes on the sofa were like arrows shot out.

The group of people were basically all students of Hangzhou University, and her existence was known to almost everyone.

She has the purest face, but she can do many different things.

The ultimate contrast, the ultimate temptation.

The person in the middle of the sofa faced the light, his slender eyes narrowed into a line, and the fragmented light in his eyes firmly enclosed her between his pupils.

Tsk.

I work part-time at his bar.

What a coincidence.

"Hey, isn't this the famous 'White Crane in the Snow' from our Hangzhou University?"

"How did you get from that clean and bright cafeteria to this place full of lights and wine?

Could it be that you are tired of the bland life and want to find some worldly pleasures to refresh yourself?"

The person who spoke was Yin Shuanghui, the head of the English Club.

Tonight her makeup was so heavy that you could scrape off a layer of powder, and her eyeliner was so sharp that she looked like she was going to pierce people.

＿＿

Yin Shuanghui once saw Bai Luo in a corner of the cafeteria, wearing a white work suit, standing in front of the glass window of the kitchen.

The brim of the hat pressed down her long ice-blue hair, and the mask covered most of her face, leaving only a pair of clear and clean eyes.

Holding the plate in her hand, she listened to the dishes pointed out by the classmate who was buying food, and she would order that dish.

Later, her clear silhouette was secretly photographed by a curious person and posted on the forum, causing a sensation.

Many girls who disliked her and boys who came because of her reputation deliberately made things difficult for her under the pretext of getting food.

They may order a lot of dishes and then refuse them with various excuses.

Or he would deliberately urge her repeatedly when she was extremely busy.

Some people even nag maliciously in her ears, disguising sarcasm as concern and hypocritically asking some sarcastic and vulgar questions such as "Is your family's poverty due to your parents' failure to help you?"

Some people were so mean as to throw their meal cards on the ground and force her to bend down to pick them up, making people laugh at her.

Bai Luo's expression remained calm throughout the entire time, no matter how noisy the outside world was, his inner self remained unmoved.

＿＿

At this moment, neon lights are swaying and jazz music is flowing.

Bai Luo stared at Yin Shuanghui, who was wearing heavy makeup, slowed down his breathing, and replied in a gentle voice.

"Minister Yin, it's not your turn to give me advice on my affairs, right?"

Yin Shuanghui just sneered coldly, and her red lips raised slightly, outlining a sarcastic arc.

"Who doesn't know that you, the campus beauty of Bai University, are known for your various ways of doing things and your private life is a mess?

If we agree to let you be a waiter today, there might be a drunk man asking you for 'special services' tomorrow!

This isn't the place for you to show off your social skills. You're not qualified to be a waiter in our bar."

The air was moist on the snowy night, and Bai Luo's breathing was a little wet, but he caught two key words in Yin Shuanghui's chattering.

Ayan?

She glanced at the young man in the middle of the sofa, with a cigarette between his thin lips, the spark was not lit, and he was talking lazily.

He stared down at his phone, a veil of hostility emanating from him. He wasn't a pushover, he was a ruthless character.

Seconds later, the phone in my hand vibrated and I caught a glimpse of a new message notification on the screen.

Why did Bo Diàn send her a message?

[Not at home?]

The geese returning to their nests are actually returning to their old nests.

In an instant, all the thoughts that seemed like fog but not fog suddenly became clear.

The silent smoker on the sofa was the man who stole her first kiss under the eaves of Nanhuai No. 1 Middle School.

And the person who was sleeping next to her in the rental house in Nanfeng Lane was his blood brother.

Why don’t the twins go to the same high school?

There was a slight discomfort in Shure.

She raised her eyebrows, her voice clear and without any worldly air.

"Whether it's suitable or not, that's up to the bar owner to decide."

Yin Shuanghui let out a cold laugh and slammed the wine glass in her hand against the glass table.

With his arms folded, his mocking eyes were directed at Bai Luo, but Yu Feng turned to the gloomy figure on the sofa.

"Ah, you wouldn't hire her, would you? You might as well ask her if she has a messy private life and if she has slept with men before?"

Before Bai Luo could answer, Wu Kai, who was standing beside him, couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled Yin Shuanghui's arm and tried to dissuade her.

"Huihui, don't slander others without solid evidence."

Yin Shuanghui became instantly annoyed when she heard this and retorted angrily.

"I slandered her? You could ask her in person if her private life is chaotic."

Bai Luo looked at her quietly, as if she was mad and angry, and a faint smile gradually appeared at the corners of his lips, but the smile was obscure and inexplicable.

“It’s really quite chaotic.”

He has an irregular sleep and rest schedule and often goes to bed in the early hours of the morning.

The diet is unhealthy and always relies on takeout fast food to get by.

Due to financial difficulties, he could not even afford the rent and had to live in other people's homes and was taken in by strangers.