Chapter 23 Eternity
Chu Yu and I chose a Japanese restaurant for dinner. The private room was elegantly secluded, its bamboo curtains drawn low, letting in only the gurgling sound of spring water flowing through bamboo tubes. The cuisine was exquisite, like a work of art, each dish imbued with the chef's ingenuity and the gifts of the season.
Chu Yu wasn't talkative, but he would chat with Chu Yan about project progress, industry trends, and occasionally touch upon insignificant matters concerning his master's family. His aloofness wasn't deliberate; it was an inherent detachment and efficiency, as if time was precisely measured and not wasted. Chu Yan, in turn, was a perfect listener and complement, his occasional conversations always landing squarely where Chu Yu's thoughts left off.
The meal was quiet, more like a high-level business negotiation. At its conclusion, Chu Yu, taking the rare step of taking the initiative, said, "Thank you for your continued support in advancing cloud-based intelligent control. The master's resources will fully cooperate." This was a sign of immense recognition and authorization.
"Don't worry, Brother Yu." Chu Yan smiled and nodded.
After seeing Chu Yu off, Chu Yan stood alone at the entrance of the Japanese restaurant. The evening breeze carried the unique hustle and bustle of a city night. He looked at his watch and, with no intention of returning to the apartment, raised his hand to hail a taxi.
"Master, let's go to the Undercurrent Bar."
The car drove through the neon-lit streets. Chu Yan leaned back in the back seat, eyes closed, resting. The delicate interactions with Chu Yu and the charming entanglement with Gu Xu receded like the tide, leaving behind only a deep, somewhat weary calm.
The car stopped at the entrance to the bar street. I paid and got out. The blaring electronic music and the mixed smell of alcohol and cigarettes hit me in the face, forming a world of contrast with the elegant tranquility of the Japanese restaurant just now.
The "Undercurrent" sign is inconspicuous amidst the dazzling neon lights, but the stream of people coming in and out of the entrance betrays its popularity. As soon as I push open the door, the powerful drumbeats instantly pound into my eardrums, nearly shattering my heart.
Under the dim and blurry lights, people are everywhere, bodies are twisting wildly on the dance floor, and laughter, finger-guessing games, and the clinking of glasses in the booths mix into a dizzying wave of sound.
Chu Yan's appearance was like a magnet suddenly thrown into boiling iron filings.
He stood tall and straight, his demeanor cool and pure, a stark contrast to the chaotic, sticky, and primal surroundings. The dim light fell on his overly delicate features, softening their outlines while accentuating his inviolable aloofness. Almost the moment he stepped through the door, gazes darted in from all directions—with amazement, curiosity, inquiry, and even naked desire.
Chu Yan ignored all of this. With a calm gaze, he walked straight through the crowded crowd, heading towards the staff passage behind the bar with a clear goal. Wherever he passed, the crowd seemed to be parted by an invisible force, and the clamor seemed to quiet down for a moment.
He walked to the entrance to the staff passage. The heavy soundproof door was ajar, letting in slightly less light than outside. He was about to push the door open when the sound of conversation from inside stopped him in his tracks.
"...Xiao Gu, your birthday is in the middle of next month, right? You'll be turning eighteen, and it's your coming-of-age ceremony. Do you want to invite Aliang and the others to come to the store to celebrate with you? I'll make you some good drinks!" It was the voice of Lao Zhang, the familiar bartender at the bar, with a bit of elder concern and the bar's unique boldness.
A brief silence.
Then came Gu Ye's voice, with a touch of deliberately feigned ease and nonchalance, but if you listened carefully, you could hear the subtle tension underneath: "...Birthday? Forget it, Brother Zhang. It's troublesome. Besides, I don't like celebrating birthdays."
Old Zhang seemed a little surprised: "Huh? What young person doesn't like to celebrate their birthday? Coming of age ceremonies are so important!"
Gu Ye's voice became even lower: "What's the big deal? That's something only children go through." The last few words were so light as a sigh, almost drowned out by the music outside the door.
Chu Yan stood quietly outside the door. The dim light from the corridor fell on his quiet profile. His long eyelashes cast a small shadow under his eyes, covering the silent emotion in them. His fingers on the doorknob curled up almost imperceptibly.
Gu Ye's words reminded Chu Yan of Gu Ye's drunken sobs that night, his mother's desperate leap, and the fear of not being able to win and the indifference to being abandoned buried deep in his eyes. Birthdays, a day that symbolizes blessings and happiness for most people, were perhaps just another cruel reminder to Gu Ye of his unloved, unimportant status.
Chu Yan stood there for a few seconds. Then he bent his knuckles and knocked three times on the heavy soundproof door, neither too hard nor too soft.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
The conversation inside stopped abruptly.
The door was opened a crack from the inside, and Lao Zhang poked his head out. Seeing Chu Yan standing outside, he was visibly stunned for a moment, then put on a professional smile on his face: "Sir, this is for backstage staff only. Are you..." He was interrupted before he could finish his words.
"I'm looking for Gu Ye." Chu Yan's voice was not loud, but it clearly penetrated the faint music coming from the crack in the door.
"Ah? Oh oh!" Lao Zhang quickly stepped aside and shouted inside, "Xiao Gu, someone's looking for you!"
Gu Ye was standing with his back to the door, wiping the worktop with a rag in his hand. Hearing Lao Zhang's shout and that familiar voice, he turned around abruptly, his face filled with undisguised surprise: "...Chu Yan?"
Under the dim backstage lights, Chu Yan stood at the door, his tall figure almost blocking the entire door frame. There was no special expression on his face, but his eyes fell calmly on Gu Ye: "Well. Are you done? It's time to go home."
Gu Ye looked at Chu Yan, who had suddenly appeared here. He felt a slight jolt in his heart as he saw his noble aura, which was incompatible with his background. He subconsciously glanced at the wall clock. It was almost one in the morning. Why was Chu Yan here? Was he here to pick him up?
This thought made Gu Ye's ears slightly warm. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end, he just quickly put down the rag and said to Lao Zhang hurriedly: "Brother Zhang, I'm leaving first!"
"Hey, go, go, be careful on the road!" Old Zhang watched Gu Ye walk towards Chu Yan almost in a panic, then looked at the young man with extraordinary temperament at the door. His eyes were full of curiosity and understanding, and he waved with a smile.
Gu Ye lowered his head and walked quickly to Chu Yan. Chu Yan stepped aside to make way for him and waited for him to come out. Then he naturally reached out and straightened his collar, which was a little crooked due to his haste. His movements were so familiar as if he had done it a thousand times.
"Let's go." Chu Yan's voice remained calm.
"Yeah." Gu Ye responded softly and followed Chu Yan. The two of them walked one in front and one behind, passing through the noisy dance floor again and walked out of the heavy door of "Undercurrent".
The streets of the early morning finally faded from the hustle and bustle of the day and the frenzy of the night, revealing a rare tranquility. The evening breeze, with its refreshing gentleness, brushed across my cheeks, carrying away the turbid smell of the bar.
The streetlights stretched their shadows into long, thin lines, moving silently across the empty sidewalk. Chu Yan didn't take a taxi, but simply walked slowly, his hands in his pockets. Gu Ye lagged behind him, following silently. The subtle emotions brought on by the conversation backstage at the bar gradually settled under the night breeze, replaced by a warm calm.
"Is the store busy today?" Chu Yan suddenly asked, his voice remarkably clear in the quiet street. He asked casually, as if chatting about the most ordinary family matters.
Gu Ye was stunned for a moment, not expecting Chu Yan to ask that. He took a step forward, walking side by side with Chu Yan, glancing sideways at him. Chu Yan's profile appeared soft in the halo of the streetlight, devoid of the gentle mask he wore in the classroom during the day, nor the sharp edge he wore when handling official business. Only the faint weariness and peace of someone returning home late at night remained.
"It's okay." Gu Ye retracted his gaze and followed Chu Yan's example, putting his hands in his coat pockets. "It's a weekend night, so there are quite a lot of people."
"Yeah." Chu Yan responded, his eyes sweeping across a dessert shop on the roadside that had already closed, with a warm yellow light still on in the window. "I heard the chestnut cake there is pretty good."
Gu Ye followed his gaze. The delicate cake models in the window looked particularly tempting under the light. He subconsciously licked his dry lips and said, "...Oh. I haven't eaten it before."
"Try it next time?" Chu Yan suggested.
"...Okay." Gu Ye agreed, but he was a little puzzled. Chu Yan didn't look like someone who liked sweets.
"Did you understand the comprehensive electromagnetic induction problem that the physics teacher talked about in class today?" Chu Yan quickly changed the topic and switched seamlessly to studying.
Gu Ye suddenly felt overwhelmed, and the painful memories of being tortured by that question during the day came flooding back: "...No, that question is too abnormal! It goes around and around, it's simply not something a human can do!" He complained, his tone carrying the exaggeration and irritation unique to teenagers. But as he spoke, he glanced at Chu Yan again: "I didn't mean to say you are not human."
Chu Yan chuckled softly. The sound was so soft that it was barely audible in the night wind, yet it held a strange soothing power. "It's not that exaggerated. Give me the test paper tomorrow and I'll help you review it."
Gu Ye secretly glanced at Chu Yan. The light from the street lamp outlined his smooth jawline, and his Adam's apple rolled slightly as he spoke.
"Aliang sent me a message this afternoon, saying that he wants to go to the newly opened extreme sports park to play go-karts next weekend and asked if you want to go." Gu Ye remembered the message he received in the afternoon and asked casually.
Chu Yan didn't stop walking, and pondered for a moment: "We'll see how things go next weekend. I might have to go to Lin City for a project."
"Oh." Gu Ye's voice dropped, and the warmth rising in his heart seemed to be cooled a little by the evening breeze. He forced himself not to think too much and changed the subject.
The two chatted haphazardly, their topics hopping from which teacher at school gave the most hypnotic lectures to the watery soy milk at the new breakfast shop at the entrance to the community, to how he couldn't always perform a certain movement correctly during evening training, to Chu Yan complaining that Gu Ye had used another of his financial magazines as a cushion for his instant noodles... They didn't deliberately choose a topic, just saying whatever came to mind. Sometimes they would even remain silent for a moment, leaving only the soft sound of their footsteps echoing in the empty street.
The evening breeze gently brushed against the tips of their hair, and the light from the street lamps cast a hazy and quiet light on the road ahead. The hustle and bustle of the city was left far behind, as if the whole world was left with only the two of them and this seemingly endless road under their feet.
Gu Ye listened to Chu Yan's calm, slightly weary voice echoing in his ears, feeling the real presence of this person beside him. He no longer thought about the complicated and confusing emotions. All the anxiety, uneasiness, and grievances seemed to be soothed by the gentle night and the gentle breathing of this person beside him.
Just walking side by side, talking about the most insignificant nonsense, sharing the most trivial daily life, and listening to each other's breathing and footsteps so close.
It was as if time had stood still for them.
It seems like it wouldn't be bad to keep going like this.
Gu Ye quietly slowed down his pace, letting himself lag half a step behind Chu Yan. He looked at Chu Yan's tall back, at his soft hair that was blown by the wind, and at his bony hands tucked into his pockets.
An unprecedented sense of satisfaction, like warm spring water, silently filled his chest, making it feel sore and bloated, yet incredibly soothing.
He thought, if only time could stop at this moment.
Just keep walking like this.
Forever and forever.
Chu Yan seemed to notice that he was lagging behind, and his pace slowed down slightly. He turned his head, and the dim light from the street lamp fell into his deep eyes, spreading out an almost invisible ripple.
He did not ask Gu Ye why he slowed down, but the corners of his lips slightly curved upwards, then returned to straightness, and his gaze returned to the hazy front.
The two of them tacitly maintained this subtle half-step distance, their figures stretched and overlapped by the street lights, blending into the gentle night of this sleeping city.
This moment alone is eternity.
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