Chapter 16 Has a Hidden Meaning: Her singing voice was indeed like his mother's...
According to behavioral psychology, it takes at least 21 days to form a habit. Zhu Liushuang counted on her fingers and realized that she had been writing long reviews for He Ming's radio show every day without fail for more than 21 days.
What if she suddenly "disappeared" for a day? Would it have any impact on He Ming's life?
Zhu Liushuang had made up her mind.
Although she was too excited to sleep that night, she unusually didn't click on the "Human World" radio station. Instead, she turned to the book on her bedside table, read a few pages aloud in a good mood, and then uploaded her own radio program.
"I wanted to ask you to see the stars tonight, but you're so late, it's a real loss to the stars." Reading this sentence, her heart was filled with a myriad of emotions, and unspeakable feelings swirled around her like threads.
The sky was starless tonight, and thick clouds obscured the faint moonlight.
But as she stood in the bustling street watching the passersby, for a fleeting moment, she desperately hoped that he would appear in the noisy street as he had that day, and come into her sight.
But he was late in coming.
————
Late at night, the last light in the old residential area went out. At the same time, in a high-end apartment building in Gucheng, the light in a window suddenly turned on.
The cool white light illuminated the entire spacious living room, shining on the young man's angular face.
He Mingcai returned from the celebration banquet at the firm, and because his colleagues had given him a lot of alcohol, he called a designated driver.
Although he was dressed in a suit and looked no different from his usual serious demeanor at work, his unsteady gait betrayed the fact that he was drunk.
Upon reaching the center of the living room, He Ming ripped off his dark gray striped tie, staggered a few steps forward, and then lay back, sinking into the soft sofa.
Annoyance welled up on his previously calm face. He suddenly reached out and waved his hand angrily in the air, trying to dispel the faint scent of perfume.
His temples were throbbing painfully, and his stomach was churning. He Ming endured the discomfort and closed his eyes to rest. Although he had drunk a lot of wine, he remembered everything that had happened at the celebration banquet.
At the dinner table, his colleague sitting to his left was Yu Huan, the team leader of the audit team, who kept moving closer to him, emboldened by alcohol.
Yu Huan's long, curly hair brushed against his shoulder intentionally or unintentionally, carrying a hint of ambiguous teasing.
If it were any other man, such advances would quickly become a readily accepted gesture. But for He Ming, it was utterly repulsive.
But he couldn't show it on the spot. After all, Yu Huan was his mentor when he first started his internship at the firm, having taught him personally for two years. She was also several years older than him and a key member of the firm.
In front of everyone, he couldn't just get up and push Yu Huan away, so he could only return the toast while taking the opportunity to sidestep and wink at Gu Xufeng.
Fortunately, Gu Xufeng understood what he meant and helped Yu Huan up in time, preventing her from leaning on He Ming.
Staring blankly at the ceiling for a long time, He Ming was somewhat dazed. Today was his day off, and he had originally planned to go back to his old house in the suburbs to visit his grandfather. However, he had a report to finish at the last minute, so he changed the time to the evening. Unexpectedly, he was then notified that there would be a department dinner that evening, and he could not be absent.
Looking back, it had been over a month since He Ming last returned to the old house. He felt a pang of guilt and wanted to call his grandfather to say hello. But as he pulled out his phone, he realized with a start that he had made a mistake.
The old man is very health-conscious and goes to bed before nine o'clock every night. If he calls at this hour, he'll probably get yelled at by his grandfather.
He Ming raised his hand to rub his temples, and as he did so, he habitually pulled down the notification bar on his phone. Several apps' latest gossip news feeds were displayed there; he tapped to clear them.
Next, there was a message from Gu Xufeng instructing him to go directly to the client's company for a meeting the next afternoon, and nothing else.
It seems like something's been overlooked?
Before his consciousness faded, he vaguely remembered that he hadn't received any message notifications from Yueyin FM today.
He Ming subconsciously opened the audio software, then clicked on his own radio station, squinted his eyes for a few seconds to confirm, and indeed there were no new comments.
I can't quite describe the feeling.
He found the comment from a day ago and glanced at it again, still somewhat dazed.
When he came to his senses again, the phone screen had already switched to new content.
It turned out that his hands were faster than his brain; he clicked on the profile picture and entered the stranger's personal homepage first.
Prior to this, he had never clicked on the homepage of any of the "visitors" who left comments.
Human World - Little Warmth?
He Ming's gaze lingered on the girl's radio station name. His pale face remained expressionless as his eyes continued to scan downwards; below the station were two audio episodes.
When was the latest episode uploaded? Half an hour ago…
An ambiguous emotion flickered in his dark eyes. He Ming's throat bobbed twice, and he only let out a few muffled coughs. He stared at the title of the first episode with a complicated expression.
"The past can only be reminisced about"?
When people are drunk, they often do things that are very different from their usual behavior. For example, right now, He Ming didn't hesitate to reach out his finger and press the play button.
"Time has passed and will never return, the past can only be reminisced..." The first two lines were sung a cappella. The girl's voice was like a gentle evening breeze, brushing past his ears.
Gradually, He Ming lost track of where he was and who was singing the folk song. All he knew was that the familiar melody kept echoing in his ears.
He closed his eyes and saw himself back in his home from many years ago.
The house was furnished just as I remembered. My mother, Xie Ling, looked very young; she was wearing a plain dress and dancing in the center of the living room with my father, who was dressed in a suit.
The gramophone in the living room was playing Teresa Teng's song: "Remembering my childhood sweetheart, we were inseparable day and night..."
He Ming's thoughts were jumbled. The singing and footsteps echoed his suddenly quickened heartbeat. He opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat.
He lowered his head, then raised it again. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a little boy with a buzz cut in the hallway leading to the bedroom. He was covering his eyes and peeking through his fingers at the couple dancing in the living room, a shy yet mischievous smile lingering on his lips.
He stepped toward the little boy, but just as he was about to touch him, everything shattered. All that remained before him was an empty bedroom.
He Ming recognized that this was the room where his mother lived before she passed away.
He turned his head hesitantly and saw his mother sitting alone in front of the vanity mirror, carefully drawing her eyebrows. Her lips moved slightly, and he heard her softly humming, "Time flies and never returns, the past can only be reminisced..."
...
When I woke up again, the sun was already high in the sky.
He Ming slowly opened his eyes, his head throbbing with pain, and his back ached as well. He belatedly realized that he had slept sloppily on the sofa the night before.
The living room curtains were only half drawn, and the glaring sunlight shone directly in through the right half of the floor-to-ceiling window, casting a long shadow of the banyan tree in the corner.
He Ming looked at the branches of the banyan tree to wake himself up, picked up his phone that he had tossed aside to check the time, but found that the phone had automatically shut down.
He moved his long, crossed legs to the floor and propped himself up from the sofa. Remembering he didn't have to clock in at the office this morning, he headed straight for the restroom.
A moment later, the bathroom light came on, followed by the sound of running water.
Meanwhile, the phone he had plugged in halfway through the journey was now vibrating incessantly. Several seconds later, numerous WeChat message notifications appeared on the phone screen.
The sound of the shower stopped abruptly, and a moment later, a muscular man wrapped in a bath towel came out.
His jet-black hair glistened with moisture, a few drops falling from the ends onto his broad chest. He Ming casually dried his hair with a towel, then sat on the edge of the bed to check his phone.
Most of the information came from his colleague Gu Xufeng, who seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold.
[I have to say, your WeChat Moments post today is really interesting. Sharing a song sung by a girl so late at night. What, has the iron tree finally blossomed?]
All your colleagues in the office who have your WeChat are talking about it...
【Wow... why aren't you replying at all? Are you feeling guilty?】
[Old He! Are you drunk? Or are you already asleep?]
...
He Ming frowned as he browsed Gu Xufeng's messages, finding the teasing inexplicable. A post on WeChat Moments? Sharing a song?
He did vaguely remember clicking into a radio station called "Human Warmth" last night and listening to the program hosted by that unfamiliar girl.
Then... he must have fallen asleep. He dreamt of his deceased mother.
Could it be? He Ming immediately clicked into his WeChat Moments profile and discovered that he had casually shared the song "Memories Can Only Be Relived" on his Moments last night.
The comments below were quite interesting. After all... he rarely posts on WeChat Moments; his last post was a month ago, when he shared an interpretation document about the "new income standards."
He Ming was somewhat impressed with himself. Although he had unconsciously shared the audio last night, he still remembered to group the files and mute the client group. He selectively ignored the inquiries and teasing from his colleagues, but his expression changed instantly when he caught a glimpse of his grandfather's comment.
My mind went blank; all other random comments disappeared, leaving only my grandfather's words: "This girl's singing voice sounds somewhat like your mother's. When are you going to bring her home so Grandpa can meet her?"
Clearly, Grandpa misunderstood his actions last night.
But one thing He Ming's grandfather was right about: the strange girl's singing voice did indeed bear some resemblance to his mother Xie Ling's when she was young.
Those trapped in the situation can never see through it, while bystanders are more clear-headed.
————
June is almost over. Some people are resting at home after a night of heavy drinking, while others have already been busy at the company for half a day.
Zhu Liushuang had just finished compiling the monthly input and output invoices and was about to go to the warehouse to take inventory.
The company warehouse has a separate floor. When Zhu Liushuang arrived at the warehouse entrance, the warehouse manager, Lao Li, had been waiting for a long time.
"Xiao Zhu, could you please not specifically choose to come to the warehouse for inventory before lunch next time... Aren't you deliberately trying to make me go hungry?" Old Li was a shrewd old man, and his face showed his dissatisfaction when he said this.
Zhu Liushuang thought to herself: It's only 10:30, how come it's late? But Old Li is an elder after all, so she could only smile and say, "I'm sorry, Uncle Li. I had a lot of things to do this morning, so I came as early as possible... I have to check accounts receivable and payable with the sales department this afternoon, so I'll have to take up some of your time."
"Alright, alright, you young people always have an excuse..." Old Li waved his hand and said, "The facial recognition access control in this warehouse often doesn't work. I've already reported it to the technical department, but unfortunately they haven't responded yet. I wonder if it will work today..."
"Verification passed..." With a mechanical voice, the sensor door opened.
Zhu Liushuang smiled and said, "The door is open... It seems I'm lucky today. Let's hurry up."
As she spoke, she stepped into the warehouse before Old Li and began to check the inventory against the inventory list.
This job is physically demanding, requiring little technical skill, but it's quite time-consuming. Zhu Liushuang squatted on the ground, patiently counting the goods. In the brief moment she turned around, she caught a glimpse of Old Li sitting in a chair not far from her.
Well, it seems she'll have to handle this all by herself today. Zhu Liushuang didn't want to cause any trouble with him, so she pretended not to see anything and continued counting her inventory.
Old Li, meanwhile, sat with his legs crossed, humming a little tune. Only when Zhu Liushuang didn't recognize a particular item in the inventory would he stop fanning himself and lazily raise his arm to give her a few pointers.
In late June, the daytime temperature in Gucheng was already in the thirties, making the heat unbearable. Adding to the problem was the lack of air conditioning in the warehouse; by the time Zhu Liushuang finished inventorying the entire stock, her back was soaked with sweat.
She raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, tucked a few strands of wet hair behind her ear, and said, "It's alright, I didn't delay your lunch. Thank you for today, Uncle Li."
Old Li, who had been sitting leisurely for half a day, had calmed down and replied with a chuckle, "You're welcome, you're welcome. As long as nothing went wrong... I'll go downstairs to eat now."
Zhu Liushuang hummed in agreement, her gaze still fixed on the detailed list. The warehouse was stuffy and hot, and squatting on the ground for an hour or so to count the items was truly uncomfortable. In addition, she had something on her mind, so she couldn't help but look a little dazed when counting the last two categories of products.
Watching Old Li's departing figure, Zhu Liushuang, who had originally intended to take a step forward, retracted her foot. The work still needed to be completed diligently, so she went back and carefully checked everything again, only feeling relieved after confirming there were no mistakes.
It was more than ten minutes later when I walked out of the warehouse again.
Zhu Liushuang took out the "culprit" that had been making her distracted at work and looked at it, but it didn't move at all. Her disappointment deepened, and even her appetite decreased significantly.
This morning, before leaving home, she shared her radio program on her WeChat Moments and used the "visible to specific groups" function, making it visible only to Ye Xingzhi.
She had her reasons for doing this.
Unfortunately, half a day passed, and Ye Xingzhi still hadn't commented.
A note from the author:
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"I had hoped to invite you to see the stars tonight, but your lateness is a real loss to the stars." — Wang Zengqi
The lyrics used in this chapter are taken from the song "Memories Can Only Be Relived".
Finally, our paths will cross! Don't be disappointed, both of you.
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