Chapter 28 You've been hiding from me for so long, you can't just...
Xu Yuewei kept her escape plan from Wuqiao a secret and quietly made preparations for her departure.
The first thing I did was change my hairstyle.
Around 7 p.m., the rotating light in front of the barbershop stood out brightly against the monotonous yellow and white streetlights.
Xu Yuewei sat on a soft chair in the store's waiting area, holding her phone in one hand and scrolling through a photo gallery of hair colors with the other, chuckling softly, "Isn't pink a bit too flashy..."
"How about purple? I remember seeing a post about purple hair fading into rose gold!"
On the other end of the phone, Song Jinshu's voice was filled with excitement.
"Why don't you just suggest I dye my hair blonde?"
"Sure, you're fair-skinned and pretty."
"..."
Xu Yuewei closed the illustrated book and put it aside: "Okay, that's enough chatting, see you tomorrow."
"Have you decided? What color do you want to dye it?"
"I'm not telling you, you can open the blind box tomorrow."
"cut."
After ending the WeChat voice call, Xu Yuewei said to Tony, who came to take the brochure, "Just straighten it and dye it black."
Since the goal is to remain hidden from human habitation, let's just choose the most thorough approach.
After washing her hair, Tony, the stylist, asked her to sit in the chair. A gray cloth was pulled down over her head, and she stared at herself in the mirror. Her dark circles were very pronounced.
"Where do you want the ends trimmed?" Tony asked.
"It's about ten centimeters long, and the ends are a bit tangled."
With a few snips of the scissors, she cut off the length of her hair that she had painstakingly grown over the course of a year. The hair straightener smoothed out the traces of curls that had once been there. Gradually, she returned to her former self.
From childhood to adulthood, Xu Yuewei has always had long, straight hair. At school, she would tie it into a low ponytail, looking refreshing and elegant. In Song Jinshu's words, she embodied the image of a cool, aloof white moonlight in the hearts of boys.
However, Xu Yuewei doesn't like her appearance because when she was a child, some annoying boys would pull her braids.
She expressed her desire to cut her hair short, but Ye Wanzhi wouldn't allow it. She thought she looked most beautiful with long hair, not just "pretty," but "beautiful."
Xu Yuewei was sent to learn dance at the age of four, but unfortunately she did not inherit Ye Wanzhi's talent. Instead, she was as clumsy as her father. After a year of suffering, Ye Wanzhi finally understood that she was more suited to standing quietly.
So she turned to musical instruments, and fortunately, the guqin was her own choice. After trying out a few, she found it to be her favorite.
Ye Wanzhi's only request of her was, "Don't act so old-fashioned."
Later, Xu Yuewei didn't change her hairstyle. If anyone tried to pull her braids or play childish pranks, she would stare at them until they felt embarrassed and made a face and ran away.
She kept her long, straight hair until she was twenty.
The braid that hadn't been pulled for so many years, even if it had developed consciousness, wouldn't have imagined that it would face another calamity years later, and that it wouldn't be as simple as just being pulled once.
The pull from her hair made her unconsciously tilt her head back. Her pupils became unfocused, and she was momentarily lost in thought, forgetting who she was.
This feeling was so addictive. She was no longer anyone's daughter; someone else had taken control of her body, and only then could her soul feel its own existence.
Sometimes, she prefers staying at home to going out.
Jiang Shiyan was displeased with her attitude: "Do you think I'm a gigolo?"
Xu Yuewei deliberately went along with the conversation: "Then should I give you money? Or should I reimburse your round-trip fare?"
This earned him a furious and ruthless revenge.
In her youth, her life was stagnant. Even though she tried her best to suppress it and tell herself that she couldn't, she still fell in love with the whirlpool that created chaos.
As I've grown up, I've come to yearn for peace and quiet even more.
Xu Yuewei stared at herself in the mirror, stretched her hand out from under the gray tarpaulin, and gestured to her collarbone: "Cut it here for me."
Tony used both hands as a ruler to measure the length he wanted to cut: "Hey beautiful, it's so long, are you really willing to cut it like this?"
"Um."
"Are you sure? Then I'll really get it cut?"
"Um."
"Okay, collarbone-length hair, right? That's my specialty."
A few quick snaps and changes in appearance create the illusion of a new life.
Xu Yuewei cooperated by writing positive reviews for their store and declined their offer to sign up for a membership card.
The next day, the first person she met with, sporting her new hairstyle, was not Song Jinshu.
I still haven't been able to make plans to have that meal with my senior.
Zhuang Fengrui had been away on a business trip and only returned yesterday. It just so happened that Teacher Yan was discharged from the hospital, and it wouldn't be right for the disciples not to visit her. So Xu Yuewei invited him to have a meal together before visiting their teacher.
Xu Yuewei chose a Jiangnan restaurant with a very stylish decor. The waiters were dressed in modern Chinese style, and their language and demeanor when serving tea and dishes were very particular. Whether the food tasted good or not was secondary.
When Zhuang Fengrui saw her, his eyes lit up: "Black hair suits you better."
"Really? Thank you, senior brother."
"Hmm, this feels more like a musician than before, but it would be better if it were longer."
Xu Yuewei fiddled with the ends of her hair and smiled, "I just wanted to cut it, I didn't think too much about it."
Once all the dishes were served, people started eating, and the meal included conversations about their recent experiences over the past month.
When Zhuang Fengrui heard that the collaboration with "Guanshan" had fallen through, he expressed his deep regret for her and insisted that she not pay the bill.
As they passed the conversation back and forth, Xu Yuewei blurted out something she shouldn't have: "I'm no longer considered a member of the music club, so I should thank you even more."
"You've already said 'you'," Zhuang Fengrui said with a light "tsk," a hint of reproach in his voice. "Hey, how can you say something like that?"
Xu Yuewei realized she had misspoke and drank a cup of tea instead of wine as an apology.
Sometimes, she misses her teenage years, when she was outspoken and it didn't matter. The seniors in the club treated her like a child, and even wrote articles on their official WeChat account praising her as a "genius guqin girl."
Xu Yuewei had also considered that she could stop studying and stay in the music club to play the qin for the rest of her life.
However, after graduating from university, due to a combination of factors, she did not stay in the music society.
Before leaving Wuqiao, Xu Yuewei wanted to return the key to the qin studio to her senior brother, but Zhuang Fengrui refused to accept it. He said that the qin society was the qin society, but the qin studio was his own, and he would never turn her away.
This time, regarding the matter of "Guanshan," how could she not be genuinely grateful?
Zhuang Fengrui said she was too polite, and poured herself another cup of tea. He blew on it and slowly said, "I was just thinking that if I built this bridge, you might take the initiative to say that you want to come back."
Xu Yuewei smiled and lowered her head, pushing the end of the chopsticks with her thumb to straighten them: "Jiang... Shi Yan doesn't even approve of my current skill level, so I shouldn't mislead others."
She never expected her senior brother to have this intention. She couldn't find a more tactful way to refuse in a short time. The atmosphere froze for a moment because her refusal was too direct. She quickly tried to make amends: "Of course, if you need any help, just let me know."
Zhuang Fengrui pushed up his glasses: "This matter concerning Guanshan has still affected you."
"No, not really..."
"No matter how talented Jiang Shiyan is, he's still an outsider. Besides, he might have run out of ideas himself. To be honest, the last time I saw news about him was when he wrote a song for some boy band, which was criticized by fans as being terrible. If he really had confidence in his work for Guan Shan's score, why did he have to ask Teacher Yan to come out of retirement? He just wanted to create hype. In the realm of pop music, veteran and traditional producers like Bi Yumin and Zhou Ming are still the best. If I can collaborate with these two in the future, I'll invite you again."
Zhuang Fengrui speaks slowly and deliberately, like a stream that flows endlessly without any waves.
After he finished speaking, he took a sip of tea to moisten his throat. Xu Yuewei forced a smile and also raised her teacup.
Her senior brother kindly comforted her, and she should have agreed. Besides, as the one rejected by Jiang Shiyan, it was only natural for her to casually curse him a couple of times.
But I couldn't bring myself to say it.
The Jiang Shiyan she knew was a creator who would nitpick for perfection. If she were to try to mend her self-esteem by belittling him, she would be far too fragile.
Xu Yuewei said half-jokingly, "It seems I have to go back to the Qin Society to prove that I haven't been affected."
“I know you don’t like teaching, just come back and film some videos.”
"Video? We shouldn't be short-staffed for that, right?"
"These days, social media is too focused on looks. There's no shortage of people with good piano skills, but people who are both good-looking and have good piano skills are extremely rare."
Xu Yuewei was both amused and exasperated.
"In the past two years, the guqin has really become popular." Zhuang Fengrui carefully picked out fish bones with his chopsticks. "The piano, on the other hand, is not doing so well. What goes around comes around."
Unexpectedly, the thank-you banquet turned into a re-employment banquet. However, judging from Zhuang Fengrui's words, her return to the Qin Society was similar to working at a coffee shop.
Xu Yuewei hasn't thought too much about the future; she's always let things take their natural course, both in her career and in her relationships.
For example, if Jiang Shiyan hadn't slipped that note with his phone number into her hand back then, she might have avoided him throughout her entire high school years.
While in the midst of it all, one is oblivious, but looking back, one realizes that fate has taken a turn at a trivial and ordinary juncture.
But this time, she gently took hold of the thread of fate.
"Senior brother, it's not that I'm unwilling, but I'm about to leave the Fog Bridge."
Zhuang Fengrui was taken aback: "So sudden? You haven't been back for long, have you?"
Xu Yuewei lowered her eyes and stared at the plate: "Some things came up, and I had to leave."
Zhuang Fengrui was silent for two seconds, then raised his glass to her, gesturing for her to take it: "Okay, wherever you are, take care of yourself."
After paying the bill, they each drove their own cars, one after the other, to Teacher Yan's house.
After being discharged from the hospital, Yan Yijun experienced problems such as weakness in her lower limbs and chest tightness. She went to a rehabilitation center for a period of time to recuperate before recently returning home. Her students have been visiting her one after another.
As the car drove along, it passed a wide river that encircled the city, offering a wide view and lifting my spirits, but the feeling quickly faded.
Xu Yuewei, carrying a food gift box in each hand, followed behind Zhuang Fengrui and rang the doorbell. The door opened from the inside, and they were both taken aback.
The moment their eyes met, Xu Yuewei froze, hastily looking away.
Jiang Shiyan smiled calmly, just like that afternoon when they reunited at the music studio, as if he were the master of this house:
"Please come in."
After a surprised and hurried greeting, Zhuang Fengrui and Xu Yuewei stepped into the room one after the other.
Yan Yijun sat on the sofa with her hands tucked in her sleeves and a smile on her face. Her face had far fewer wrinkles than one would expect for her age, and her features had a somewhat Buddha-like appearance.
They quickly went over to greet them.
Xu Yuewei placed the gifts next to the sofa, where there were already piles of health products such as Korean ginseng and deep-sea fish oil.
Jiang Shiyan and Zhuang Fengrui occupied the two single sofas next to them, so Xu Yuewei had to sit down next to Teacher Yan. She carefully avoided looking at certain people, but her eyes were drawn to a jade lotus bonsai on the coffee table.
The flower was made of jade, its white color warm and lustrous, flawless and sacred. The lotus was lifelike, vivid in its stillness, and its beauty calmed the mind.
Jade carving is an intangible cultural heritage craft, and not many people know how to do it. To be able to buy such exquisite craftsmanship must have taken a lot of time and money.
Through the jade carving, Xu Yuewei looked at the man beside it.
"You've all met before? Then I'll skip the introductions."
Yan Yijun held a hot water bottle, using physical methods to warm her stomach.
She followed the doctor's advice carefully and kept warm; she has always been a very cautious and meticulous old lady.
The caregiver served them tea. The Jin Jun Mei tea was sweet and fragrant, leaving a lingering aroma on the lips and teeth. Xu Yuewei took small sips and listened as they continued their conversation in a cheerful manner.
Jiang Shiyan had indeed come to invite Teacher Yan to come out of seclusion. It seemed they hadn't even exchanged a few words before they arrived.
"Look at all the medicine I have on the table. I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything for a while." Yan Yijun still politely declined his offer, pointing to Xu Yuewei, whose thin, bony wrist was dangling with a gold bracelet. "Isn't our Xiaoyue good enough? Don't be superstitious about us old fogies. Being young has its advantages."
Jiang Shiyan smiled noncommittally.
Xu Yuewei quickly said, "As the saying goes, seventy is the age to strive, and you're not even seventy yet, so how can you keep thinking about retirement?"
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone fell silent for a second, both tacitly and eerily, and no one followed the step she had dug.
Feeling awkward, Xu Yuewei didn't know where to put her hands, so she simply picked up the fruit basket on the table.
"...I'm going to wash some fruit."
Everyone present was shrewd and understood her intention to avoid the situation; no one suggested that the caregiver do it.
Xu Yuewei carried a fruit basket that someone had given her to the kitchen. She washed the apples twice and scrubbed each green grape. She was thinking of delaying going out for a while when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.
They didn't change their shoes after they came in; the hard soles of their shoes made a distinctive sound on the tiles, slow, heavy, and stopping just inches away.
Just as Xu Yuewei was about to turn around, her waist suddenly tightened. The man wrapped one arm around her slender waist, turned her over, and lifted her thigh with his other hand. In a dizzying moment, she was lifted onto the countertop next to the pool.
She gasped and grabbed his shoulders with both hands, her fingertips gripping tightly. The long black knitted sleeves of his shirt shrank, revealing her slender, fair wrists and the vine tattoo on the inside.
She quickly rolled up her sleeve with her other hand, but it turned into her clinging to his neck. Jiang Shiyan raised one eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"What are you doing!" she whispered, pushing him hard, but couldn't budge him.
What do you think?
Jiang Shiyan slowly and deliberately turned off the tap for her.
The sound of water suddenly disappeared, and the conversation in the living room could no longer be heard.
Sitting on the kitchen counter, they were almost the same height. The man stretched out his arm to turn off the water, and when he pulled back to his center of gravity to talk to her, his lips just brushed past her ear, leaving a warm breath on her skin.
"You've been hiding from me for so long, you can't just not pay back any interest, can you?"
Xu Yuewei grabbed her hair and tucked it behind her ear. With one hand on the edge of the table and the other pressing down on the brown-orange corduroy skirt, she tried to jump down. But a man's leg squeezed between her slightly parted knees.
The trousers were wrinkled from being rubbed together, and through the cool fabric, her inner knee pressed against his slightly taut thigh muscles, neither giving way.
Xu Yuewei panicked: "Teacher Yan and my senior brother are still outside, are you crazy?"
"It's okay, they won't find out."
Xu Yuewei then noticed that the kitchen door had been closed at some point.
But I always feel like I could be pushed away from the outside at any moment.
She punched him lightly: "Let me down."
Jiang Shiyan bent down and leaned closer: "Hold me steady, and I'll carry you down."
She hesitated, her willow-leaf eyes remaining calm as she looked at him with a persistent yet distant gaze.
Did you receive my 'gift'?
"You mean that box of Okamoto cigarettes?"
He watched her expression closely, and when he saw her brows furrow slightly, he knew he had guessed correctly. He smiled triumphantly, "Then it should be given to you by me."
"...So you admit that you were thinking about that kind of thing?"
"If I said no, would you believe me?"
Jiang Shiyan threw the question back at her.
He placed his hands on the table beside her, his broad body completely obscuring her from behind, except for his calves and the black high heels on his feet.
Today, in order to meet someone, they all dressed very formally without prior arrangement. Jiang Shiyan was wearing a shirt and trousers again, and this time he also wore a tie. The classic black tie hung down like a python spitting its tongue.
"However, if you continue to avoid me like this, I wouldn't mind taking that kind of measure."
"As long as I'm on the Fog Bridge, I'll always be able to find you."
His smile didn't reach his eyes, giving off a chilling, unpredictable feeling that made Xu Yuewei shiver.
In that instant, a sudden inspiration struck her, and her voice involuntarily rose:
Did you know I was coming to the teacher's house today?
Jiang Shiyan remained silent, and that was the answer.
Xu Yuewei gently placed her hand on his shoulder and stretched out her arm to widen the distance between them.
No wonder, he shouldn't be the kind of person who would lay hands on her in this kind of situation. No wonder she felt a strange atmosphere just now.
It turns out that his visit to Teacher Yan was just a pretense; his real intention was to catch her like a turtle in a jar.
What about my senior and Teacher Yan? Did they know beforehand?
"What did you say to them...?"
Her voice trembled slightly. The word "betrayal" was too heavy, and she was unwilling to brand her loved ones with this crime. But the demon in her mind had triumphed over the angel and poked its head out.
Could it be that her senior brother wants her to return to the music club to film videos, just for the publicity she brings as an added bonus to his career...?
She closed her eyes tightly, extinguishing the chaotic thoughts that were rising within her.
Jiang Shiyan seemed to be waiting for her to digest the information, maintaining his position without backing down.
Xu Yuewei could no longer hear her own heartbeat; the surroundings collapsed into a blank space.
"...Actually, that night at the bar, I saw someone sitting there who looked a lot like you."
Her five fingers rubbed against the fabric of his shirt, slowly tightening as if she were gripping someone's heart.
"For a moment I really wished it was you, just like before, to rescue me."
A glimmer of light flickered in the man's eyes.
"But now, I don't have the energy to waste time with you."
Her breathing became erratic, and the pitiful sincerity in her eyes turned into a knife, piercing his chest.
"Please let me go, okay?"
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Author's Note: A List of Wrong Examples of Chasing Someone ()
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