My name is Jin Yu, Yu in Lan Yu
Beijing, night. Outside the back door of the "Passing By" bar where Jin Yu performs.
Something ominous floated in the misty damp air. The rain was pouring down, thunder was rumbling, and pale lightning occasionally tore through the night sky, illuminating the wet narrow alleys. The light was so pale that it seemed as if it could cut a hole in a person's skin.
In the bar, where there were not many customers yet, the sound of singing and talking could be heard faintly, mixed in with the occasional rumbling thunder, muffled and like an invisible giant hand banging on the door roughly.
It was Jin Yu's break time. His tall, thin figure leaned against the short eaves by the back door, lighting a cigarette, his expression somewhat relaxed, the rain soaking his trouser legs.
Xiangyang approached, holding a black umbrella and stepping on the water. He looked particularly tall and straight in his thin long coat on this rainy night in mid-spring.
He finally saw him.
This scene, illuminated by the flickering lightning, looks particularly hazy and unreal.
It was just the beginning of autumn, in this alley, that fleeting glimpse of memory, and the subsequent six months of online communication, the mutual understanding and soul companionship conveyed through words, at this moment, all converged into the person before my eyes.
However, this name has a different face.
Xiangyang was stunned for a moment, and he did not hide his surprise.
The man in front of me also has handsome features, but he has a completely different aura.
The face in front of him, like his singing, has a kind of coldness and isolation from the world, but with a low-key and urgent attitude, he is looking for a soulmate in this world.
"A Cang?" Xiang Yang asked, his voice slightly hoarse amidst the sound of rain.
Jin Yu put out his cigarette and turned his head. The rain wet his uneven bangs. His eyes were sharp, with a fire burning in them. He smiled.
"A Cang is my brother. The photo and name belong to him." The corners of his mouth curled up in an indistinct arc. "You've been fooled."
Xiangyang laughed, raindrops dripping down the edge of his umbrella. He said deliberately, "This is a big loss. Should I turn around and leave? Or should I slap you?"
Jin Yu raised his eyebrows, his handsomeness suddenly turning a bit evil. "As you wish."
They chatted across the rain, one under the eaves and the other under an umbrella, with the sound of rain being the only background noise.
"But I still recognized you at first sight." Xiangyang's voice was sincere and firm.
Jin Yu looked at him seriously, his eyes deep, "Why?"
"The loneliness and tenacity deliberately disguised by cynicism between the lines," Xiangyang said slowly, "should not be as highbrow as the photos."
Jin Yu looked at him again, this time with a bit of inquiry, "Such literary nonsense, are you sure you've only written one book?"
Xiang Yang laughed out loud, "That's the only one. His main identity now is undoubtedly a businessman, a profiteer."
Jin Yu couldn't help but laugh, no longer so defensive, "I'm pretending to be you, and you don't mind being cheated. I guess you can't do anything bad."
"Ha, look," Xiangyang said lightly, "I've made my fortune online, so I've seen all sorts of tricks online. It all depends on how you identify them. I came to see the person I really wanted to see, and I recognized him right away. That's the key point."
Jin Yu's smile deepened. "You said you've seen me before? Are you sure it was me you saw here half a year ago?"
Xiang Yang hummed a melody, "I'm the one who loves you the most, how could you bear to make me sad..." He smiled and said, "It was just a fleeting glimpse. When you finished singing and left the stage, I saw a figure from behind."
"But you didn't come back to see me?"
"That's too dramatic, isn't it? I couldn't even tell if you were round or flat."
Jin Yu rolled his eyes in disdain, "Humph, as expected, they still only care about appearances, the appearance association, vulgar."
"What's wrong with appearance? With someone like you, I'm out of my league."
"Businessmen's words are deceiving." Jin Yu sneered, but the smile in his eyes could not be hidden.
Xiangyang's smile faded, his tone becoming serious. "What a coincidence! The online world is so illusory, yet we still met. What's your name?"
"Jin Yu. The Yu of Lan Yu."
Jin Yu's voice dropped. "You mentioned Lan Yu every three sentences when we just met. I was afraid you would think I was taking advantage of you, so I borrowed my brother's name temporarily. Jin Cang, Cang, Yu, are all the sky."
Xiangyang stretched out his right hand through the raindrops. "Hello, Jinyu, I'm Xiangyang. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me over the past few months. It made me realize that I'm not the only one who's pushing myself to be brave."
Jin Yu held his hand, which was warm and strong.
"Hello, me too..." He suddenly burst into laughter, "Damn it, why do I suddenly feel a little cheesy?"
Xiangyang also laughed out loud, "Hahahahaha!"
At this moment, there was a sudden loud commotion in the bar, someone was cursing, mixed with the screams of a woman.
An angry male voice pierced through the rain, clearly coming out: "Jin Yu, come out... Jin Yu, you shameless bitch... Come out, I will kill you!"
Xiangyang's expression changed, "What's going on?"
Jin Yu frowned, and the relaxed look on his face disappeared instantly. "Stay here, don't come over."
As he spoke, he turned quickly and hurried back to the bar.
Xiang Yang's heart suddenly began to beat wildly, and an ominous premonition seized him. He grabbed Jin Yu's arm and said, "Don't go!"
Jin Yu turned around, his eyes firm, "It's okay. I'll deal with the trouble I caused so that I can get to know you properly."
He gently broke free from Xiangyang's hand, pushed open the back door, and strode in.
Xiangyang was left in the rain by him, barely able to hold the umbrella in his hand, and anxiety in his heart surged like a tide.
But a moment later, an even greater commotion erupted from the bar. The thud of tables and chairs being violently knocked over, the men's violent shouting, and the women's hysterical screams intertwined together, leaving one shuddering.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" a male guest's scream cut through the noise.
"Murder...Murder..." The female guest's voice was filled with extreme fear.
Xiangyang no longer cared about anything else. He threw the black umbrella in his hand and rushed in like an arrow.
As soon as Xiangyang stepped into the dimly lit "Passing By" bar, the scene in front of him made his blood rush backwards.
It's a mess.
The young man, Lu Feng, was pinned to the ground by three bar staff and customers. His face was red and he reeked of alcohol. He was still roaring and struggling wildly, cursing.
Many tables and chairs in the bar were tilted and the floor was in a mess.
And in the center of this chaos, Jin Yu was lying on his back in a pool of cold blood.
Bright red blood, like a blooming flower of death, gushed out from his abdomen, staining the floor beneath him red.
An employee knelt beside him, pressing the wound with all his strength, but the shocking red color continued to spread.
A sharp knife, stained with blood, was abandoned on the floor not far away, flashing a ferocious cold light under the dim light.
A man in his fifties, Lu Feng's father, Lu Changlong, cried and tried to rush towards Jin Yu, but was stopped by another employee.
The entire bar was filled with screams, cries, and curses, creating a complete mess.
The bar owner yelled at the top of his lungs, "Hold him down! Hold him down!
"
A male customer shouted in horror, "Quick! Kick the knife away!"
Lu Feng, who was pinned to the ground, was still roaring furiously: "You deserve to die, Jin Yu! You've fucking torn our family apart, you deserve to die a thousand times!"
Lü Changlong burst into tears and cried out in despair, "What does this have to do with him?... It's none of his business..."
One employee yelled, "Hold him down!"
A female customer screamed, "Have you called 110?"
Another male guest shouted in a trembling voice, "Ambulance...Have you called 112?"
After the disastrous chaos, Lu Feng was forcibly taken into a police car by several police officers, and the sharp sound of sirens tore through the sky.
Jin Yu was carried onto a stretcher and quickly sent to an ambulance. The ambulance's red and blue lights flashed in the rainy night as it roared away with a sense of despair.
Xiangyang stood in the heavy rain, rain mixed with something sliding down his cheeks. His face was as pale as paper. He watched helplessly as the ambulance disappeared at the end of the rain. The whole world fell apart before his eyes.
At the entrance of the bar, a TV was unceremoniously playing the news, and the female anchor reported with a serious expression:
"News flash. A shocking murder occurred on Beijing's famous 'Bar Street', Shichahai.
It's understood that around 9 p.m., a 34-year-old man surnamed Lü, acting on impulse due to a misunderstanding, attacked a bar singer surnamed Jin. Lü allegedly mistakenly believed Jin was his father's homosexual partner. Under the influence of alcohol, Lü attacked Jin, causing vital internal injuries.
"It is understood that Jin is originally from Taipei and has been engaged in music creation in Beijing for three years..."
If there really is a God in the sky who looks down on everything, with His supreme authority, what kind of heart is behind Him manipulating the intricate plots and tangled trajectories of the world?
On the same stormy night, with the same flickering lights and the same lingering music, the ecstasy of meeting and the astonishment of parting happened at the same moment.
One story ends abruptly, but another story begins in blood.
You cannot tell whether the hands that manipulate fate contain a trace of compassion.
The only thing we can do is to continue to be brave, grit our teeth, and move forward.
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