Chapter 16 A Twist of Fate
Xu Yuewei regretted asking the question as soon as she did.
Sure enough, Ye Wanzhi retorted, "You're back this time and not leaving? Then find a proper job first. You're never obedient."
Xu Yuewei fell silent.
She was too tired to face the challenges reality presented to her; all she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep soundly until the world turned dark.
The soft pillow cradled her heavy head. Before falling asleep, she thought she would dream, but she didn't. When she opened her eyes the next morning, she realized that yesterday was the dream.
She glanced at her phone and saw a WeChat notification in the notification bar. She hesitated for a long time before opening it. It wasn't a message from Pan Debi, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
As she fled in disarray, Xu Yuewei knew that she had completely lost this protracted battle and didn't want to fight anymore.
But the sun still rose as usual, and she thought she could return to her peaceful life.
Xu Yuewei ordered takeout for lunch. After eating, she put on her clothes and prepared to go out. Ye Wanzhi called out to ask her where she was going. She silently zipped up her leather boots with a smooth metallic sound.
“Let’s go to Jinshu’s shop,” she said.
Pushing open the glass door, Song Jinshu rushed over as soon as she saw her:
"Hey there, my superstar aspiring actor, why didn't you reply to my message yesterday?"
"...Oh, I forgot."
She barely looked at her phone yesterday.
"Is filming fun? When will it be released? Hey, what's wrong with you today..."
Song Jinshu bombarded her with questions one after another. Xu Yuewei yawned listlessly, thinking she was going to ask, "Why do you look unhappy?" and was prepared to answer, "I didn't sleep well last night." But then she saw Song Jinshu smile mischievously and ask her:
"Did you somehow fall for someone?"
Xu Yuewei also laughed, but the curve of her lips was slightly unnatural: "What?"
"When a woman has someone she likes, she suddenly starts paying attention to her appearance," Song Jinshu whispered in her ear. "Why are you wearing makeup today?"
When Xu Yuewei comes to the store, applying a BB cream and lipstick is enough.
But today, as she sat in front of her vanity, looking at her slightly tired eyes reflected in the mirror, she unscrewed the cap of her foundation. Once she started applying it, she couldn't stop, adding one product after another, coloring every feature of her face.
There wasn't any particular reason, but the first thing she said was, "No... it's just that I feel things can't be the same as before."
Song Jinshu squinted at her and said, "Are you going to turn evil? Then you can make your eyeliner longer and curlier."
Xu Yuewei perked up a bit from her banter and retorted, "You should watch less TV dramas!"
The coffee shop was relatively quiet today, so when there were no customers, Xu Yuewei went upstairs to wait.
The hard furnishings on the second floor are complete. The flooring matches the first floor, but the wall paint is slightly different. The bottom third is brown, and the top is a slightly dirty white. Once the lights are adjusted, it will definitely have a retro style.
The windows were all open to air out the smell. She chose a seat under the window, where a thin layer of foam protective film covered the table.
She put on her headphones, opened her music app, and selected popular music suitable for adapting guqin pieces.
Midway through, Song Jinshu came upstairs and saw her writing music in a notebook. She asked, "Are you going to restart that account? What happened? You don't actually want to become a star or an internet celebrity, do you?"
Xu Yuewei shook her head and said no, she just wanted to find something to do.
When she got off work in the evening, she selected three songs, and she had almost finished writing the tablature of one of them.
After the group left the store, Song Jinshu locked the door, then moved closer to her, scrutinizing her suspiciously.
"I still think you're acting strange today. What kind of magic potion did you drink yesterday? Did you suddenly become a high-class beauty? You're so cold to me."
Xu Yuewei didn't say anything, but put her arm around her shoulder and gave her a hard kiss on the cheek, making a clear "pop".
The two laughed and waved goodbye.
After turning around, Xu Yuewei's lips, which had been raised to the extreme, slowly lowered, and before she even reached the intersection, they flattened.
Just then, she heard a faint voice behind her: "Sister."
She took off one of her noise-canceling headphones and looked back.
Zhou Xu adjusted his cap, tilting it up slightly, and gave a faint smile.
"...It's you! You startled me."
"You didn't even say hello to me today."
"Oh, no?"
She tried to sound casual, speaking in a half-joking tone, "Good morning."
"Good morning," Zhou Xu replied, putting his hands in his sweatshirt pockets and saying softly, "You look great today."
Xu Yuewei was taken aback for a moment before asking, "When don't I look good?"
Zhou Xu gave an unexpected answer: "Today too."
He suddenly leaned closer, looking intently into her eyes. "Your eyes are bloodshot. That doesn't look good."
Then he quickly straightened up, pulled up the hoodie over his head, his eyes and brows hidden in the shadows: "Didn't you get enough rest?"
"……Um."
Everyone noticed her unusual behavior, so Xu Yuewei decided not to hide it anymore. The moment she admitted it, it was like a knot being pulled straight. Although it wasn't untied, the knot became smaller.
The red light turned green, and Xu Yuewei walked forward. Zhou Xu was probably going in a different direction, so he didn't chase after her.
Her car was parked in a small parking lot under the overpass. In the summer, it was a nice outdoor parking spot with shade, but in the winter, the low bridge surface pressed down on her head, leaving only darkness.
After she got into the driver's seat, she tilted her head back and rested for a while.
That smile with Jin Shu seemed to have exhausted her capacity for happiness. As the surroundings quieted down, her mind became a jumbled mess.
A pop-up message on her phone reminded her that her favorite podcast had been updated. She clicked play, and the host's familiar voice filled the car, opening up a space for her to breathe.
During the host's witty banter, Xu Yuewei gripped the steering wheel with both hands, leaned forward, and buried her face deeply in the gap between her arms.
Suddenly, a message notification sound abruptly interrupted the podcast's rhythm. Xu Yuewei looked up after a while, tidied her hair, and picked up her phone.
[Personally tested and proven to help you sleep, you're welcome^^]
*
Before going to bed, Xu Yuewei picked a song with a pleasing title from her playlist. It was a light piece of music with piano as the main melody, soothing and light.
It did have some effect, though not exactly a sleep aid; she fell asleep faster than usual that night, but she wasn't completely relaxed.
She had a strange dream in which Jiang Shiyan and Meng Jiao were the main characters in a movie, somewhat like the style of Farewell My Concubine or Waterloo Bridge. The atmosphere was dark, tragic, and eerie. Although she was an audience member, she felt as if she were sitting on the set, watching them act out their joys and sorrows up close.
She was terrified, as if the world would end after the movie, and she couldn't immerse herself in the film at all; all she wanted was to find a chance to escape.
Suddenly, her shoulders were pressed down, and the hands tightened from her collarbone to her throat, forcing her to raise her head.
Xu Yuewei opened her eyes, but couldn't see anything clearly. She tried harder to open them and woke up instantly.
She woke up at 2:40 a.m. and tossed and turned until after 3 a.m., still thinking about those two people.
I'm thinking about some things from high school.
The year she entered her senior year of high school, Jiang Shiyan graduated, while Meng Jiao was admitted to their high school.
The days of senior year hadn't yet become tense, and Xu Yuewei hadn't resigned from her job in the student council's publicity department. However, one day when she came out of the broadcasting room and heard the school bell ring, she sighed silently.
Since she was definitely going to be late anyway, she calmly walked down the stairs, through the long computer lab classroom, past the mechanical gear statues symbolizing technology, and found a girl in military training uniform in the space under the stairs at the corner.
New high school freshman? Are they skipping military training?
She didn't stop walking, and just then the other person leaned over and saw her.
"Huh? You are..."
At that time, Meng Jiao had clear eyes, delicate and quiet double eyelids, but her voice was quite loud, showing none of the modesty of someone hiding.
Xu Yuewei was also taken aback: "You know me?"
Meng Jiao nodded awkwardly, remaining silent, and looked her over earnestly yet timidly.
Xu Yuewei stared at her, frantically searching her memory for anything related to that face. When she couldn't find it, she honestly told the other person, "I don't remember ever seeing you before."
To her surprise, the other party dropped a bombshell: "Are you Jiang Shiyan's girlfriend?"
Standing between the white walls of the college, the lights hanging overhead seemed like the holy light of an ivory tower, and suddenly a sense of restlessness crept up my face.
Xu Yuewei glared at her with a stern face: "No."
“I’ve seen him give you a ride on his bike, you don’t need to hide it from me.” Meng Jiao lowered her voice, but her legs seemed to go numb, and she stood up for a moment but couldn’t stand up. “He can’t even give me a ride, let alone ordinary female classmates.”
This statement contained a great deal of information, and Xu Yuewei inevitably froze on the spot.
Xu Yuewei stared at Meng Jiao's bewildered yet sincere face in the shadows, not even wanting to mention that she and Jiang Shiyan were just neighbors.
That's a secret between them. Even if it's revealed, don't let it come from her.
The thought startled her; she swallowed hard, barely managing to stay calm.
With a stern face, she bent down and entered the stairwell, looking Meng Jiao in the eye at close range: "So? What do you want?"
Meng Jiao shrank back: "Don't, don't report me, or I'll report you for having a puppy love..."
Her voice faded, and Xu Yuewei's anger and bewilderment were gradually replaced by silence.
So this person was just using her weaknesses to protect himself.
She has this unwise stubbornness of deliberately running headlong into a gun barrel that doesn't even exist.
Xu Yuewei silently labeled Meng Jiao.
Unexpectedly, years later, Meng Jiao's labels changed to "pure and sweet girl" and "silly beauty," and her temperament changed drastically.
Ironically, it was she who was hiding under the shade of the tree that she was caught.
Like a final burst of light before death, memories long forgotten suddenly become clearer and clearer under the backdrop of the night.
Xu Yuewei meticulously replayed her first meeting with Meng Jiao over and over again, as if she were copying a painting. She couldn't read any harsh jealousy on that young face; it was as if she was simply stating the facts she had witnessed.
She was indeed given a ride on her bicycle by Jiang Shiyan once.
It was the summer after Xu Yuewei finished her second year of high school. After the school's final exams, a make-up physical fitness test was arranged.
There were hardly any people on campus, and the sun on the playground was still scorching, as if mocking these sports losers.
After finishing her run, she rested on the playground for a while. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and had a bad feeling. She quickly grabbed her water bottle and walked out of the school gate. Her legs were weak and she couldn't walk fast no matter how hard she tried.
As she walked across the road in front of the school, the sweat that had been streaming down her face was half-dried by the wind, and then a chilling sweat broke out again because of the pain. She couldn't take it anymore, so she found a corner and squatted down against the wall.
As her body plummeted downwards, that untimely force surged forth even more intensely, pinning her to that spot.
The girls' school uniform shorts are white, cotton, and trimmed with red.
With the thought "I'm doomed" swirling in her mind, she anxiously but also tried to remain calm as she looked at the street, hoping that one of the girls who had taken the makeup exam with her would walk this way so she could ask for help.
However, this was obviously not very realistic. Xu Yuewei was about to stop a kind-looking female passerby for help when, at that moment, half a bicycle wheel appeared in her low field of vision.
Are you squatting here drying mushrooms?
A mocking sound that I hadn't heard in a while.
Xu Yuewei looked up; the sunlight was intense. After a moment, she squinted again: "You... why are you back?"
Last month, after the college entrance examination, Jiang Shiyan moved.
That day, Xu Yuewei looked out the window, gazing at his back and the wrinkles on his clothes below his shoulders. Suddenly, she felt a pang of sadness, thinking that this might be the last time she saw him, and it was all on her end.
She continued watching and saw Jiang Shiyan open the car door. Before getting in, he turned around and looked up without warning.
Xu Yuewei suddenly fell backward, her silhouette obscured by the window frame, but she wasn't sure if she was still reflected in the glass.
She peered closer and saw that the car had already started and was quickly driving out of her window.
She then regretted that she shouldn't have dodged.
Unexpectedly, a little over a month later, Jiang Shiyan returned to this area, riding a bicycle leisurely.
No wonder he didn't tell her before he moved; he knew he would come back.
Xu Yuewei secretly rejoiced that because of her menstrual cramps, she couldn't show any joy. When she saw him, she only showed surprise, not delight, which made them evenly matched.
Jiang Shiyan clearly couldn't fathom the girl's complicated thoughts. In contrast, he naturally relaxed: "The house is for rent, so I came back to clean it."
Xu Yuewei knew that the house he lived in belonged to his elders, so she wasn't surprised when she heard this. She asked casually, "Is it rented to the next batch of freshmen?"
"It could also be a new senior year of high school, who knows?"
Jiang Shiyan shifted his weight to one foot, changing the angle between them from obtuse to acute.
There was a hint of mischievousness in his voice: "So, this new senior, you started school early?"
The physical fitness test makeup exam required students to wear school uniforms, and she didn't have a backpack, only a bottle of water, which was obvious at a glance.
Xu Yuewei glanced at his tanned calves, the muscles of which were well-proportioned and smooth, barely visible even when still, the kind of natural exercise that girls admire.
He probably didn't even know that the physical fitness test could be retaken.
She glared at him, annoyed: "I just retaken my test and got 800."
One person refused to stand up, and the other refused to leave.
Xu Yuewei urged him, "Weren't you going to clean?"
"Are you going home?" Jiang Shiyan asked, his expression slightly serious. "I'll take you home."
Before she could answer, he unzipped the front of his sports bag, pulled out a clean towel, and folded it into a rectangle: "Use this to cushion the sore spot."
There were many people coming and going on the street. Xu Yuewei hesitated for a moment, but still accepted his kindness.
She held onto the edge of the sun-baked steel frame of the back seat with one hand and clutched a towel in the other. The slight pain in her buttocks was insignificant; her only concern the rest of the journey was whether she would leave any marks.
At that time, I never imagined that such a short distance would be witnessed by someone I knew.
When they got downstairs, Xu Yuewei jumped out of the car before it came to a complete stop. As she quickly turned around to check the car seat, Jiang Shiyan also braked suddenly and looked back at her lower body.
"Is your foot alright?"
His gaze swept over her, but Xu Yuewei avoided it, lowered her eyes, and let out a soft "Ah."
Oh, I see. He misunderstood.
She deliberately walked a few steps to him to show that she was still able to walk, and handed him the towel back, saying, "Thank you."
Jiang Shiyan observed her eyebrows, which didn't look like she had been crying, and asked in confusion, "Then what happened just now...?"
"You should go upstairs quickly!"
Xu Yuewei cut him off, "...You go ahead of me, hurry up."
She took small steps back a short distance, her other hand behind her back, as if hiding some secret.
Jiang Shiyan stared at her for a while, puzzled, his pupils reflecting the girl's slowly blushing face.
He suddenly realized what was happening, blinked rapidly a few times, his lips parted slightly and then closed again. He raised his hand to take the towel, then pulled it back: "You keep it."
Xu Yuewei's mind went blank, and she blurted out, "I didn't get it dirty."
"..."
"..."
My last memory of T is of a large halo of light spreading across the mottled, gray building walls, and the slightly hurried and reserved figure of a boy.
How am I supposed to explain this to outsiders?
So she didn't say much to Meng Jiao at the time; only she knew and remembered those moments.
For the first time, she saw her own selfish motives clearly.
Xu Yuewei hugged her legs, her forehead resting on her knees, as memories flooded back. She forced herself to savor only the beautiful fragments, layering them down on the lid of Pandora's box, sealing it shut.
My body unconsciously softened, and I lay down, the boundary between memories and dreams gradually becoming blurred.
She turned over, leaving a faint water stain on the pillowcase, and finally fell into stillness.
*
Time flowed by slowly, and December arrived at its most leisurely pace.
The last month represents the end of the year. Xu Yuewei always treats December with the same energy she had in January, as if as long as she starts strong and finishes strong, the lazy "snake body" in the middle can be wiped away.
After the hand double's wages were settled, Jiang Shiyan and the people around him never intruded into her life again.
He must be very disappointed in her.
Thinking this way, Xu Yuewei breathed a sigh of relief.
This should be the end for them.
These days, Xu Yuewei spends her time either working at a coffee shop or practicing the piano. She has uploaded three videos, and the response has been neither good nor bad. She doesn't care much; she just wants to keep herself completely busy.
When I get busy, I rarely think of him.
Rarely, the opposite of that, it still happens.
In the brightly lit KTV room, a cool female voice softly sang:
"Some stories are left untold, so let's just leave them be..."
As the white lyrics on the screen were gradually replaced by red, Xu Yuewei sat quietly on the sofa, momentarily moved.
But as soon as the interlude began, the irregular, clattering noise of the maracas and tambourines shattered the illusion, pulling her back to the noisy reality.
"That's wonderful! You've been hiding your talent, Xiao Han!"
Song Jinshu spoke loudly into the microphone.
Xiao Han: "Everyone says there's a big difference between my speaking and singing voices, and I'm really impressed."
"Shut up and sing."
Xiao Han sang the second half of the chorus, and when it got close to "lalala," she gestured for them to continue.
Song Jinshu is tone-deaf. She used to howl without a care when she was with her, but now she was timid and shoved the microphone in front of her.
Xu Yuewei leaned forward and took the song. When she sang the words "I miss her," she looked up and saw Song Jinshu's eyes were filled with tears.
In front of others, Song Jinshu sniffed shyly and reached for the fruit plate on the table: "Pass me an orange."
The girl who was eating jujubes in front of the fruit plate was staring intently at them. Upon hearing the instruction, she pushed the fruit plate over to them.
The girl was a newly hired employee and was still in college; her name was Li Qianyi.
Zhou Xu asked for a week off, saying he had something to do, but he didn't explain what it was. However, Song Jinshu still granted him leave.
Considering that Xu Yuewei couldn't stay there indefinitely, she put up the recruitment posters again in the morning, and Li Qianyi came to apply that afternoon.
After a day of trying, Li Qianyi was both diligent and clever, and her appearance was very different from her name. She had round eyes, big eye bags, and a dimple on the left side of her face when she smiled. She was so sweet that Song Jinshu forgot her obsession with handsome men.
As is customary, the welcome party is suggested by the newlyweds, and Li Qianyi chose to sing karaoke.
Both she and Xiao Han were karaoke enthusiasts, and they took turns requesting songs. When they got tired of singing, they encouraged Song Jinshu and Xu Yuewei to sing instead.
Song Jinshu didn't want to sing alone, so Xu Yuewei chose a soothing old song that they both knew, and the two sang it together.
Before she had even finished singing half a song, a burst of laughter suddenly erupted behind her. Song Jinshu felt as if someone had poked her in the back and turned around to shout, "What are you laughing at!"
Li Qianyi covered her mouth with both hands and winked at them. Xiao Han pressed pause, the accompaniment stopped, and she laughed uncontrollably: "Qianyi asked me if you two are a couple."
Xu Yuewei: "..."
Song Jinshu laughed too: "It would be better if he were gay, then he wouldn't have to suffer with men."
Li Qianyi: "I'm sorry..."
Singing for almost two hours didn't have the same effect as breaking the ice with just one or two sentences.
They turned off the microphone and placed it on the table. They put on disposable gloves and gathered around to eat fruit, chatting about the topic.
Perhaps because Zhou Xu, the only male, was not around, Xiao Han took the initiative to bring up her personal matters. It was only then that Xu Yuewei learned that Xiao Han was not a local. She was forced to leave home by her family to get married and had met Song Jinshu online.
Xiao Han: "Don't touch men."
Song Jinshu: "Isn't that too absolute? But Qianyi is still so young. Don't just start dating because everyone else is. You're too young and you're more likely to get hurt."
Li Qianyi nodded obediently, her eyes sparkling like a little fox. She turned to look at Xu Yuewei, seemingly waiting for her advice.
Xu Yuewei looked into her eyes, so bright and full of life.
She said, "I think you have more energy for love when you're young."
Song Jinshu grabbed the microphone and switched it on: "Traitor! Banish me from my Fairy Castle!"
Amidst laughter, Xu Yuewei squinted her eyes, took out a tissue from her bag, and said goodbye to go to the restroom.
As she left the private room, the sounds of singing echoed like waves in the corridor. She walked past private rooms of all ages and genders, each with its own unique voice and musical style, until she finally found the restroom.
When she washed her hands after using the restroom, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She opened it and found several unread messages, but she couldn't hear them in the private room.
The message came from her college roommate, whom everyone called Gao Gao. The last time they contacted each other was several months ago.
Xu Yuewei looked through the list one by one with some curiosity, skipping the initial pleasantries and getting to the point.
Do you remember the books that were left outside our dorm room when we graduated?
Xu Yuewei had a vague recollection of that book, but not much, because she had already left school when it was discovered.
Gao Gao was the first to spot the book, a hardcover copy of "Love Letters." It wasn't required reading for Chinese literature majors, but many people had seen the movie, so it wasn't surprising that they bought the book to keep.
The book, sealed in plastic film and placed in a clean paper bag, looked more like a gift than a lost item.
The other two roommates hadn't left school yet, but none of the three of them knew where the book came from. They called Xu Yuewei, but she didn't know either. Finally, they asked in the group chat, but no one claimed it, so Gao Gao took it home.
[Because it was a hardcover edition, I kept it as a collector's item. I opened it and left it on the bookshelf without ever reading it. The other day, while tidying up, I opened it and found something that looked like a greeting card inside.]
Xu Yuewei also became interested.
In other words, someone put something inside before resealing it.
Then came two photos, and the last message came more than ten minutes later:
They just replied to me, saying they don't know what happened either. If you don't know either, then this is really strange.
As Xu Yuewei walked, she clicked on the first picture, which was the front of a "greeting card".
The moment the small picture was enlarged, her slow steps faltered, and she leaned against the wall, no longer caring about the dirt.
It was a white cardstock covered with various penguins drawn in black sketching pen, some in a cute style and others in a realistic style; some were drawn with just a few strokes, while others had messy strokes and indistinct lines, as if they were drawn by different people or were doodles by the same person at different times.
The box next to her was playing the original recording. The ordinary voice of the passerby was mixed with the low, husky female voice of the original singer. It took a while to figure out the tune.
"Even the moon fades when the white paper is hung high."
The lighthouse spins, the tide burns me.
Who is weeping in the clouds, silently chanting a spell, or whose name is it?
Take me away, take me away!
Xu Yuewei's heart clenched tightly, and she almost dropped her phone. After a moment, she opened the second photo and saw the back of the card.
The handwriting above is neat and strong, and it reads:
[If the person who flips this card over doesn't understand its meaning, please destroy it.]
As she pressed the lock screen with her thumb, Xu Yuewei took a deep breath, feeling something overflowing from her body, a mixture of stagnation and relief.
She knows, she remembers.
During the honeymoon phase, Xu Yuewei, ever mindful of potential problems, asked Jiang Shiyan what they should do if they had a big fight and neither of them was willing to apologize first.
He teased her, saying, "What can we do? Let's have a good time and all our anger will be gone."
Xu Yuewei ruffled his hair, cupped his face, and said seriously, "How about we set up a secret code?"
Jiang Shiyan raised an eyebrow: "Something like a safety term?"
Xu Yuewei threw a pillow at him, forcing his wandering thoughts back to the right track.
Jiang Shiyan smiled and corrected, "Like the 'three, two, one, cheese' slogan?"
"Yes, how about penguins?" She inexplicably thought of penguins from the pronunciation of "eggplant." "But can I really remember it? What if I forget..."
Think of another clue to hint at the penguin, and so on...
Jiang Shiyan said, "I've remembered it, but don't forget it."
Xu Yuewei retorted, "How could I forget? This is what I came up with."
At that time, no one would have imagined that it wasn't just one of them who had forgotten.
They were just played a cruel joke on them by the twists and turns of time and space.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Because the later plot requires a little girl around Zhou Xu's age, you're the one! Qianyi from the upcoming pre-order novel "Those Who Kiss Me Are Sweet" was dragged in for a cameo role! [dog emoji] The art style is different from this one, cute and sweet. Adults who are interested can check out the author's page! [dog emoji with rose emoji]
And Meng Jiao's strange thought process first began to emerge in high school.
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