Chapter 2 You've Crossed the Line
The eyes of those around them were fixed on them.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xu Yuewei took his hand and smiled faintly, "Hello, it's an honor to meet you."
She pronounced those four words slowly and deliberately, her voice sounding as if it were covered in a layer of rust.
The man's warm palms made her realize that her hands and feet were ice-cold.
In less than a second, Jiang Shiyan calmly withdrew his hand, but the lingering warmth in her palm seemed to be burning.
Xu Yuewei's gaze followed him as he gently supported himself against the back of the chair and sat down, bowing slightly to her with his chin: "Please sit down."
She couldn't help but wonder if his reaction when he heard about her car accident was as calm and composed as this.
Startled by the thought, Xu Yuewei raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, but instead of doing as he instructed, she lifted the bag in her left hand:
"I apologize and ask everyone to try this. This is a tea cake I brought back from Guangyang, from a long-established brand, which you can't buy online."
Upon hearing the name Guangyang, Jiang Shiyan's indifferent gaze drifted towards her, then settled on her hand.
Xu Yuewei pretended not to see him, went around to distribute the tea cakes, and then chose an empty seat furthest away from him to sit down.
When she left Wuqiao that year, she only took a small suitcase. When she came back, she sent several packages, including more than a dozen boxes of tea cakes. She liked to eat them herself and also gave them to relatives and friends as souvenirs.
There were two more boxes on the back seat of the car, and she took one with her when she got out.
"It's delicious!" someone said. "Brother Jiang, why don't you try a piece?"
"I don't eat sweets."
Xu Yuewei paused as she poured tea for herself, stopping too late; the tea was almost overflowing the cup.
"This isn't very sweet; it's a little bitter," she said.
Their eyes met across the distance, and Xu Yuewei subconsciously tightened her grip on her teacup.
The cup was slightly hot, and my fingers gradually warmed up.
Opposite to her cold fingertips was his rolled-up sleeve.
The curling method is casual, the folds are not very regular, and the muscle lines on the forearm are smooth and firm.
The top button of his shirt was undone, and his collarbone was faintly visible as he rested his arms on the table, which was a bit low for him. Perhaps it was just a misperception caused by certain memories.
Xu Yuewei quickly looked away.
The assistant, who was eating tea cake, sensed something was wrong. She stopped chewing, glanced at T, and then at the boss.
He tentatively offered a way out: "It's really not very sweet."
Jiang Shiyan still refused.
Xu Yuewei took a sip of tea and regretted saying that extra sentence.
She knew all too well how difficult it was to coax him into having something sweet; he would exchange a piece of candy for a kiss, and he never let himself lose out.
The steam from the teacup brought back a summer they had spent together.
On a sunny afternoon that I still find very pleasant to think about, the cicadas were chirping noisily, my college acceptance letter lay on the table, and a bag of seasonal fruit lay sprawled under the table.
She carried half a watermelon that had been in the supermarket freezer not long ago, lightly jumped up the stairs, knocked on the door, and was welcomed into the room above her bedroom.
He pulled out a candy from his pocket and smiled slyly, "Jiang Shiyan, if you can only eat one thing, which one do you choose?"
Finally, the boy hugged her and squeezed onto the single bed, kissing her passionately and haphazardly, the sweet taste of chilled watermelon lingering between their lips and teeth, until they accidentally rolled onto the floor and the kiss ended.
She lay on top of him, smelling the soap scent on his thin short-sleeved shirt, and quickly got up in embarrassment.
But then he raised his arm to shield his eyes, and his moist, thin lips curved into a beautiful arc.
"What are you laughing at!"
"You succeeded, so be happy."
...
Xu Yuewei took another sip of the warm tea. The bitterness overwhelmed the temperature, pulling her from the summer of her nineteenth year back to the autumn of her twenty-sixth year.
Zhuang Fengrui sat to her right and whispered in her ear as he poured her tea, "Don't be nervous."
Xu Yuewei nodded.
She wasn't nervous at all.
Just then, someone called out to her, "Teacher Xu, I heard you were in a car accident, are you alright?"
I don't know how my senior explained it to them; he sometimes exaggerates.
Xu Yuewei replied ambiguously, "It's nothing, it's just... I was a little frightened."
She patted her chest lightly, awkwardly portraying being still shaken.
A sixth sense kicked in, and she suddenly looked up to the left.
The man sat against the light, making his silhouette even clearer.
He was holding a tea cake, about to bring it to his mouth.
Both of them were taken aback, then exchanged glances simultaneously in tacit agreement.
Xu Yuewei quickly took off her coat, turned around, and draped it over the back of the chair.
No one noticed the slight unease between the two at that moment, and they continued with their previous conversation.
"There have been so many car accidents lately. I've personally witnessed two this week."
"It seems that autumn is the season with frequent traffic accidents."
Xu Yuewei nodded in agreement. Her brown curly hair was loosely draped over her white sweater, gently brushing against it with the slight swaying of her head, like the fluffy, soft fur of a small animal.
Jiang Shiyan raised his cup and took a sip of tea, taking in her subtle movements. The slightly bitter and sweet aftertaste spread between his lips and teeth.
His eyes flickered, and just as he was about to look away, he bumped into the man sitting next to her.
Zhuang Fengrui, thinking he understood, steered the conversation back from small talk to the main topic: "By the way, Teacher Jiang just mentioned a musician I might know? Would you mind asking who it is?"
Xu Yuewei's smile froze on her face, her fingertips digging into her flesh as she restrained herself from casting any suggestive glances at him.
Even if he said it was her, so what? She's played the piano for so many people; she even played "Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank" at a high school talent show...
"I don't remember."
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuewei stiffly relaxed her fingers.
Jiang Shiyan bent his index finger and pressed it against his temple. After thinking for a while, he smiled and said, "However, it should have been heard at the theater in Wuqiao."
Zhuang Fengrui's face lit up with a perfectly timed look of sudden realization. He pushed up his glasses and said, "I see. No wonder you said I might know him."
Zhuang Fengrui is one of the founders of the Ya Ming Qin Society. The society has not only guqin players, but also musicians of other classical instruments. Such a scale is unique in Wuqiao. Therefore, only their qin society can hold concerts in the theater.
He nudged the silent junior sister next to him with the tip of his shoe, signaling her to speak up.
However, Xu Yuewei remained sullen like a quail, so he had no choice but to forcefully steer the conversation towards her, feeling frustrated and disappointed.
"Do you remember when it was? My junior sister was still in school when she performed with us. Maybe she was the one who played that piece."
Jiang Shiyan seemed not to realize that this was just polite talk. He tilted his dark eyes and looked at her carefully.
“Three or four years ago, I think.” He casually placed his five fingers on the outer rim of the teacup, as if holding a wine glass. “It seems we were quite destined to meet.”
I don't know if the "they" he used refers to her or the music club.
Xu Yue stared down at the teacup, seeing her tired eyes reflected on the water.
She hasn't even returned to Wuqiao for Chinese New Year in recent years, let alone participated in any performances.
Zhuang Fengrui, being a businessman, deliberately concealed the flaws in her product, only engaging in conversation to get closer to her, without mentioning the story of her absence.
But Jiang Shiyan clearly knew all of this.
It was as awkward as telling the other person a joke they'd already heard.
Xu Yuewei couldn't help but interrupt, "Um, my senior brother said he just played a piece that I transcribed. Which one was it?"
Zhuang Fengrui: "Of course it's Teacher Jiang's poem 'Searching for the Wailing Moon'!"
"..."
"Searching for the Waning Moon" was a work from about three years ago. Its catchy melody and romantic lyrics won him the Golden Melody Producer Award at the awards ceremony that year.
However, before that, he had already achieved great success. His works were widely sung and he had collaborated with many well-known artists. It can be said that in the field of pop music, probably no one is unaware of his name.
By the time he achieved great success, they had already broken up.
Xu Yuewei wasn't so open-minded. She set his name as a blocked word on social media, while she herself only worked sporadically on a video account, adapting popular songs, composing and playing them herself, and posting them online.
Because "Searching for the Wailing Moon" was very popular back then, many people in the comments section asked for a guqin version, so she played it, and it even became a minor hit on the platform.
I later found out it was written by him... Who listens to music and pays attention to the producer?!
After that, she would always check the production staff list before adapting any song, afraid of making a mistake. However, the only song she ever made a mistake on was brought to the original artist a few years later, which shocked her.
Xu Yuewei forced herself to slowly raise the corners of her lips, revealing a standard fake smile.
Jiang Shiyan smiled broadly, his eyes and brows radiating relaxation and ease: "It sounds beautiful."
She stood up, walked to the piano, sat down, rolled up her sweater sleeves, and played a familiar phrase—the first line of the main melody of "The Butterfly Lovers."
"This is the effect of using all the fingertips."
She pressed down to extinguish the vibrating strings, then started playing again. The first half of the phrase, mi-sol-la-do-re-la-do-sol, was still played on a stopped note, while the second half, sol-do-la-sol-mi-sol-re, was played on a harmonic, sounding crisp and delicate, with an ethereal and lingering resonance.
As the last note faded, applause erupted in the private room.
Jiang Shiyan rested his chin on one hand and looked at her across the distance: "Processing it into overtones would enhance the artistic conception."
Xu Yuewei paused for a moment: "Yes, the same melody, but different sheet music, will produce different effects..."
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly heard him chuckle softly.
Everyone's gaze shifted towards Jiang Shiyan.
"Feel sorry."
Jiang Shiyan leaned back in his chair, smiled slightly, and said in a half-joking tone, "It seems that Professor Xu talks more when discussing professional topics."
"..."
Zhuang Fengrui quickly tried to smooth things over: "She's just a bit slow to warm up, haha."
Although all the laughter that reached her ears was well-intentioned, Xu Yuewei was shy, and her hands, which were resting on her knees, stiffened from her fingertips to her wrists, making her appear even more reserved and sullen.
A few seconds later, Jiang Shiyan's smile faded, and he asked seriously, "How was the effect?"
"...The guqin has three types of notes: open strings, harmonics, and stopped strings, each of which produces a different effect in the music."
As Xu Yuewei spoke, she demonstrated, "There are also vibrato, tremolo, and other embellishments. Everyone's score and playing habits are different, so adjustments need to be made based on the overall needs."
Jiang Shiyan listened quietly, occasionally asking a question or two.
Time seems to be flowing faster; it's almost five o'clock in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Shiyan glanced at the mechanical watch on his wrist, and without delay, got up to say goodbye.
Zhuang Fengrui walked in front, seeing the guests downstairs. Xu Yuewei put on her coat and turned around. She was the only one left in the private room, and she completely relaxed.
When she heard the scattered footsteps outside the door completely disappear, she opened the door and came out.
A few steps away in the corridor, the man stood sideways to her, wearing a dark gray suit vest. The well-tailored vest accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist, making him stand out starkly against the antique scenery of the music hall.
Jiang Shiyan turned around upon hearing the sound.
Soft light streamed down from above, and he lowered his head slightly, the shadow cast on the bridge of his nose making his bone structure appear very three-dimensional.
The man's expression was cold, his eyes indifferent; his former indulgence and love seemed like a long mirage.
Xu Yuewei's palms were slightly sweaty, and she rubbed them together with her fingertips as she clenched her fists.
She stood still.
And he walked towards her.
The exquisite black leather shoes came into view, and her gaze followed them upwards, passing over his straight, slender legs and the gray-black overcoat he held on his arm.
Xu Yuewei closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again with a determined look, her gaze fixed on his eyes.
Unfortunately, he didn't look at her.
Jiang Shiyan tilted his head slightly to the left and rummaged in his breast pocket with his fingers: "I didn't bring any business cards today."
Xu Yuewei was taken aback for a moment, then said "Oh".
"But I got yours, so it's the same."
As if by magic, he produced a worn-out business card with two fingers and waved it in front of her.
Upon seeing the words printed on it, Xu Yuewei's eyes widened suddenly, and she instinctively raised her hand to snatch it away.
With a dull "smack," the man swiftly subdued her arm, leaving her unable to retreat or advance.
"I noticed it just now." He stuffed the business card back into his pocket, then grabbed her sleeve and pulled it down, pulling off her coat and sweater together, revealing a section of her fair wrist.
Xu Yuewei almost cried out, but when she saw the doubt and disappointment flash in the man's eyes, she suddenly thought of something. She quickly reached her left hand behind her back, her fingertips bending down to grab the edge of her sleeve, like hanging a lock.
Jiang Shiyan reacted quickly and released her: "Is it your other hand that's injured?"
Xu Yuewei knew what he had misunderstood.
She had a tattoo cover-up sticker on her left wrist, but it wasn't completely invisible; it was darker than her skin tone but lighter than the plaster, looking like a flesh-colored bandage.
But when she was playing the piano, the inside of her wrist was basically facing downwards, and he, with his microscope, actually saw it.
"...No, I'm not hurt."
She dodged and took a step back.
But Jiang Shiyan seemed oblivious to everything, following closely behind and stepping to the same rhythm as his dance partner: "I heard from your senior brother that you've run into a tough guy."
Xu Yuewei opened her mouth, wanting to say, "Senior brother is exaggerating, I'm fine," or "If something really happens, I'll be in the hospital, not here."
But she simply said, "You've crossed the line, Teacher Jiang."
But this statement, which is impolite to both parties but too polite to an ex-lover, somehow pleases men.
Jiang Shiyan chuckled: "So formal, can't I even look at your wrist?"
A note from the author:
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Chinese to Chinese: What part of you haven't I seen before? [doge emoji]
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