KTV
The day after the college entrance exam, the blazing sun bathed the streets of Linjiang City, and the air was filled with a sense of relaxation. Gu Hanzhi and the others met at a popular local KTV, ready to release the accumulated stress.
Gu Hanzhi wore a loose blue sweatshirt, light white casual pants, a pair of white shoes, and a light blue sunhat, looking casual and refreshing. She pushed open the door of the KTV room, and warm yellow lights poured out, and the sound of music could be heard faintly.
"I'm so sorry I'm late." Gu Hanzhi looked at the four people who had already arrived in the private room, her face full of apology. As soon as she entered the private room, she felt the warm atmosphere. Various snacks and drinks were placed on the sofa, and a gorgeous picture was dancing on the big screen.
"It's okay, we just arrived." Jiang Wanning was wearing a floral dress and blue high heels, looking elegant and smart. She said to Gu Hanzhi with a smile, "Hanzhi, come here!" She reached out and patted the empty seat next to her, her eyes full of anticipation.
After Gu Hanzhi sat down, Jiang Wanning picked up the beer glass on the table, stood up, her eyes bright and excited: "To congratulate us on our successful college entrance examination, let's have a drink together!" She extended the glass to the other three people, and the crisp sound of collision rang out in the private room, which also sounded the prelude to this carnival.
Neon lights snaked across the ceiling like a shattered galaxy. Lu Chenzhou reclined on a leather sofa in the KTV, twirling a beer bottle between his fingers. A silver necklace peeked out from the collar of his black T-shirt. He raised an eyebrow at Jiang Wanning, huddled in the corner. The ice in his glass made a crisp clinking sound as it sloshed. "I didn't expect Miss Jiang would have a day to drink, did she?"
Jiang Wanning kicked off her rubbing canvas shoes, her white socks treading on the sticky carpet. She grabbed a cherry from the fruit bowl and stuffed it into her mouth. The juice slid down her lips and onto her swan neck, shimmering seductively under the purple light. "The college entrance exams are over, who cares about those things?" Her blue-tinted nails suddenly jabbed at Lu Chenzhou. "You, on the other hand, are just as good as me, and you're still blaming me?"
"Same here." Lu Chenzhou tilted his head back and gulped down his beer. The arc of his Adam's apple rolling made Jiang Wanning look away. Then Shen Zhihe's voice came over: "Stop playing dumb. Who of us will take the initiative to sing a song first?" He slammed the song-ordering tablet on the coffee table. The blue light of the screen reflected the boy's arrogant smile. "Those who can't sing well will have to play truth or dare!"
Jiang Wanning suddenly reached out and grabbed the tablet, her fingertips sliding rapidly across the screen: "Who's afraid of who? I'll go first." When the prelude of "Love in Crisis" sounded, Lu Chenzhou noticed that the tips of her ears were very red, like the cherry pits she had bitten, hiding an unknown sweetness and sourness.
The ceiling lights in the private room were tinged with an ambiguous purple. Jiang Wanning danced to the beat of "Love Crisis," the microphone twirling between her fingers, her ponytail brushing against the back of her sweaty neck. Lu Chenzhou leaned against the armrest of the leather sofa, the ice in his glass clinking softly with his swaying legs.
"Wan Ning, your high notes can shatter the sound insulation!" The mechanical watch on Shen Zhihe's wrist reflected a cold light under the light. Gu Hanzhi quietly straightened Jiang Wan Ning's tangled earphone cable, his fingertips lightly brushing her burning earlobe.
When the last note was completely off-key, Lu Chenzhou suddenly stood up and snatched the microphone, the metal edge rubbing against his palm. He raised his eyebrows and smiled uninhibitedly, but his Adam's apple betrayed his tense nerves. "Tell me, truth or dare?"
Jiang Wanning's eyes were red with drunkenness, and her eyelashes fluttered like a butterfly: "Then... tell me the truth!"
The box fell into an eerie silence. Lu Chenzhou stared at the sequins on her collarbone, a thousand unspoken questions swirling in his throat. The air conditioner suddenly hummed, and he heard his own hoarse voice: "Who was your first love?"
Shen Zhihe paused in his pen-twisting motion, while Gu Hanzhi pushed the warm milk tea toward Jiang Wanning's hand. Jiang Wanning's pensive expression, her head tilted, sent Lu Chenzhou's heart racing. Suddenly, those almond-shaped eyes flickered in his direction, and his breath stopped.
However, she turned around and hugged Gu Hanzhi's arm, her hair brushing against the collar of his white shirt: "Of course it's Hanzhi! I've slept in her bed and lived under the same roof with her."
That year in the first year of high school, Jiang Wanning also smiled like this and clung to Gu Hanzhi like a caterpillar.
The air conditioner hummed beneath the window, and fine droplets of condensation formed on the walls of the glass of iced soda. Jiang Wanning placed her phone on the wooden coffee table, and the pink case made a crisp sound. "This song-selection system is really advanced! It even has 'Letter from the Fog', a duet by Hanzhi and Zhihe."
She casually loosened her high bun, letting the loose hair hang down beside her flushed cheeks. "Let Hanzhi sing this! Hanzhi can definitely sing better than me." The purple light in the box made her eyes shine, as if there were a cluster of flickering flames hidden in them.
Gu Hanzhi, who was stirring the ice in her glass with a straw, suddenly looked up at the words, her long black hair sweeping across her collarbone. "I can't do it!" She waved her hands hastily, the cherry blossom manicure on her nails flickering in the light. "I only played a little better at the New Year's Eve party by accident. If I were to sing, I definitely wouldn't be able to do it."
"You're lying!" Jiang Wanning suddenly reached out and poked her side, startling Gu Hanzhi so much that she almost spilled her drink. "Last summer evening, you were humming 'Burial' in the corridor of the teaching building. I heard it clearly and it gave me goosebumps!"
Shen Zhihe leaned against the leather sofa and chuckled. "Hanzhi is such a great pianist, she must be a great singer too." He pulled out a tissue and handed it to Gu Hanzhi to wipe her hands. A small black rubber band peeked out from her slightly yellowish-black arm. Shen Zhihe had begged Gu Hanzhi to give it to him. "Just think of it as a live interlude for our graduation commemoration?"
Lu Chenzhou suddenly picked up the Polaroid camera he was using, the lens still fogged up. "I'll record it!" his eyes sparkled. "I'll upload it to the group chat later."
Gu Hanzhi hesitated for a moment, biting her straw. The cold air from the air conditioner twirled the hair around her ears. Outside the French windows, dusk was dyeing the city a honey-colored hue. In the distance, a large screen in the shopping mall played the college entrance examination results on a loop. She took a deep breath and took the microphone Jiang Wanning handed her. The cool metal casing was still stained with the sweat of her companion's palm. "Then... just sing a song."
As the prelude began, Gu Hanzhi began to sing. A warm yellow spotlight fell on her head, and she felt as if she had returned to countless late-night study sessions, her pencil scratching on the draft paper, the cicadas chirping outside the window gradually overlapping with the accompaniment of the current music.
When the first line of lyrics spilled from the lips, the box suddenly became so quiet that one could hear the soft sound of soda bubbles bursting - it turned out that all the worries hidden in the cracks of the exercise books had turned into flowing songs.
After a while, Gu Hanzhi's last words slowly dissipated into the air, and the words "I just realized that memories have already overflowed" were like a soft yet weighty silk thread, entwining in everyone's ears. Jiang Wanning's eyes widened, her face filled with surprise and admiration, and her voice was filled with unconcealed excitement: "How come I didn't realize that Hanzhi sings so beautifully? Hanzhi, you can enter the singing competition directly, and you are guaranteed to win the gold medal!"
Gu Hanzhi waved her hand somewhat embarrassedly, with a faint smile on the corner of her lips: "You think too highly of me. Actually, I don't know what happened. I just sang it naturally because I felt very familiar with it." Her words were humble and sincere, as if she had just done something very ordinary.
Lu Chenzhou spoke at the right time, his voice steady and powerful: "Since we all think Han Zhi sang well, let's move on to the next round."
Hearing this, Jiang Wanning's eyes turned, a mischievous smile appeared on her face, and she teased: "We all know Chen Zhou's singing skills very well, right?" After she finished speaking, she couldn't help laughing out loud.
Last year, Lu Chenzhou accidentally destroyed the speakers while performing his talent at the New Year's Eve party, causing the judges in the audience to be afraid to listen to songs for a week. The accident also caused a sensation in the entire school.
Then, Jiang Wanning turned her gaze to Shen Zhihe, who had been standing quietly by the side, her eyes full of curiosity and anticipation: "Zhihe hasn't sung yet, right? This is a good opportunity for us to see what the usually arrogant top student in grade can do this time."
After that, she enthusiastically selected a song she thought was good, "Always Online," a sly glint in her eyes, as if she couldn't wait to see Shen Zhihe's next performance. The air was filled with a relaxed and anticipatory atmosphere; a new "singing contest" was about to begin.
Shen Zhihe frowned slightly, wanting to refuse, but when he met Jiang Wanning and Gu Hanzhi's sparkling, expectant eyes, he swallowed the refusal that was on the tip of his tongue. He sighed helplessly and compromised, "Only this once."
Seeing this, Jiang Wanning and Gu Hanzhi instantly perked up. They smiled at each other, then clasped their fingers together and cheered excitedly: "Yeah, mission accomplished!" They looked so excited that they looked like little soldiers who had won a battle.
Soon, the prelude slowly flowed out, and the soft melody filled the air. Shen Zhihe nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and his slender fingers firmly grasped the microphone. His entire demeanor became calm and focused.
When the first line, "A Life Changing Color," emanated from his lips, the air seemed to freeze. Jiang Wanning's eyes widened, her mouth slightly open in disbelief; Gu Hanzhi froze in place, her eyelashes fluttering; Lu Chenzhou leaned forward slightly, his eyes filled with astonishment. This singing wasn't the shock of off-key vocals, but rather an unexpected beauty. Shen Zhihe's voice was clear and magnetic, each note perfectly timed, the emotional expression nuanced and detailed, bringing the story of the song to life.
At some point, the noisy chirping of cicadas outside the window quietly faded away, as if also captivated by the moving song. At that moment, time seemed to stand still, and the four of them were immersed in this beautiful song. Everything around them became unimportant. Only the song, slowly flowing through the air, told a story unique to youth.
The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky a gentle orange-red, and the lights in the KTV box suddenly lit up as the last note faded. Lu Chenzhou was the first to jump up from the sofa and exaggeratedly put his arm around Shen Zhihe's shoulders. "You boy, you have hidden talents! How come I didn't realize you could sing so well before?"
Shen Zhihe took off the microphone and casually brushed the hair on his forehead with his slender fingers: "Maybe you're stupid and didn't notice it?" His voice was filled with a clear smile, and his fingertips unconsciously stroked the metal microphone stand. The metal with a cold glow collided with the small black rubber band on his wrist, making a crackling sound.
The private room erupted in laughter. Lu Chenzhou chased Shen Zhihe, demanding his singing secrets. Jiang Wanning pulled out her phone and posted on her social media, teasing him as "a singer held back by his academic brilliance." Dusk deepened outside the window, the shadows of neon signs filtering through the frosted glass reflected on everyone's faces. The air was filled with the sweet aroma of cola bubbles and popcorn.
Time slipped away amidst gossip and laughter. When the last subway train's notification chimed on their phones, everyone realized with a start that it was already dusk. As they emerged from the mall in groups of three or two, the evening breeze carried the aroma of barbecue stalls, and the plane trees lining the street cast dappled shadows under the streetlights.
Shen Zhihe grabbed Gu Hanzhi's hand, not too hard or too soft, but it froze her in place. In the twilight, the boy's silhouette was softened by the streetlights. His Adam's apple rolled as he uttered a tentative question: "Can I invite you to my house?"
Gu Hanzhi looked up suddenly at this, her hair brushing against the boy's wrist. She looked at the blush on Shen Zhihe's ears and chuckled.
"If your family is willing," Gu Hanzhi lowered her eyelashes and responded in a deliberately nonchalant tone, but she couldn't hide the arc of her lips, "I will reluctantly agree."
Seventeen or eighteen is the age when one can't hide their thoughts. Shen Zhihe's tense shoulders instantly relaxed, and as he released her hand, his fingertips brushed against her palm, a feeling of electricity. They walked side by side on the ginkgo-leaf-covered sidewalk, their shadows overlapping and separating under the streetlights. The carved iron gate of the Shen family mansion loomed in the night, and the bronze bells on the eaves rang in the wind, like someone's secret thoughts that could no longer be hidden.
Dusk, carrying a chilly breeze, drifted into the alleyway. Gu Hanzhi, clutching the strap of her backpack, pushed open the vermilion lacquer door of the Shen family's residence. The sound of the copper rings knocking echoed in the empty courtyard. The wind blew dead leaves across the bluestone slabs, and the silence inside the house was like an abandoned house.
Turning around the corridor, the scene at the dining table suddenly broke the dead silence. Eight dishes and a soup were steaming, the glistening sauce of the braised lion's head shimmering amber under the light, while the scallions of the steamed sea bass retained their fresh green hue. A note sat on the edge of the bone china plate. Shen Zhiyuan's vigorous handwriting pierced through the paper: "Something's going on at the company. I probably won't be back tonight. - Chen Zhiyuan." The ink marks were still wet, clearly fresh.
"Again..." Shen Zhihe had walked up behind her at some point, his voice shrouded in a frosty chill. Gu Hanzhi turned to look. Shen Zhihe stared down at the note, his eyelashes casting tiny shadows under his eyes.
The wooden staircase groaned softly underfoot as Gu Hanzhi followed Shen Zhihe up to the second floor. The crystal chandelier at the corner cut light and shadow into diamond shapes, casting a shimmering pattern on the white wall. Just then, the soft clink of glass bottles echoed from the end of the corridor, and a girl in a long beige nightgown appeared at the stairwell, holding a glass.
The moment Xu Zhiyi's eyes met Gu Hanzhi's, it was as if they had been paused. The water in the glass rippled slightly, reflecting the stunned expressions of both of them. Three years had flown by quietly as they stared at each other. The girl had lost her baby fat, her collarbone now bulged slightly, and her once round, almond-shaped eyes had taken on a misty, distant air. At first, they were surprised, then met each other's gazes with a touch of joy, and they squeezed each other's hands.
"Long time no see, Zhiyi. You've lost a lot of weight." Gu Hanzhi was the first to break the silence, her fingertips gently brushing the newly appeared pale scar on her wrist. In her memory, the little girl with twin ponytails always loved to jump around, but now she was like a white chrysanthemum hit by frost, trembling gently in the night breeze.
Xu Zhiyi's eyelashes trembled violently, and when she lowered her eyes, her hair hid the surging emotions in her eyes: "Sister Hanzhi, the last time we met was about three years ago, but it seems like it was just yesterday." She suddenly raised her head, her eyes red but with a smile. This smile made Shen Zhihe vaguely remember the first time they met, the shy and stubborn girl squatting in the rose bushes.
"You two, pay attention! I'm still here," Shen Zhihe suddenly called out. He reached out and pulled Gu Hanzhi behind him, but as Xu Zhiyi turned away dejectedly, his Adam's apple rolled over and he swallowed back the unfinished words. The night wind rustled the window lattice, stretching the three people's shadows far longer. In the intertwined light and shadow, hidden were the unspoken memories of the past.
"Tsk, Sister Hanzhi isn't just yours, why are you pretending?" Xu Zhiyi withdrew the gentleness from her eyes, her eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyes as she lowered her gaze. Her tone was as cold as ice. Her fingertips unconsciously stroked the rim of the glass, and the water droplets condensed on the wall of the glass slid down through her fingers.
Seeing this, Gu Hanzhi quickly stood between the two of them, her almond eyes curved into crescents: "Okay, okay, don't be so unpleasant. Zhiyi, you should have something to do too, right?" She gently pushed the girl's shoulder, and the faint scent of jasmine was brought out when the ends of her hair swayed.
Xu Zhiyi bit her lower lip, glanced at the strawberry crystal necklace she had given Gu Hanzhi, and finally stomped her foot and turned around, her pink slippers making a shuffling sound on the floor. Even when her room door slammed shut, the air still lingered with the lingering smell of gunpowder.
Shen Zhihe stared at the closed door for two seconds, then suddenly grabbed Gu Hanzhi's wrist. The warmth of his palm radiated through his sleeve, and with undeniable force, he led her to the end of the corridor. The moment the door clicked shut, Gu Hanzhi was swept into the same aura as the young man.
With the soft click of a bedside table drawer opening and closing, Shen Zhihe pulled out a pink gift box. The gilded pattern shimmered in the twilight, and the ribbon bow had wrinkled slightly from his pinching. "This is for you." His Adam's apple rolled as he thrust the box into her arms, a suspicious red tinge on the tips of his ears. "A gift for the college entrance exam."
Gu Hanzhi's fingers paused as she unwrapped the paper. The pure white Polaroid camera lay quietly on the velvet, a small silver bell adorning the edge of the lens cap. She shook the box, raising an eyebrow at the crisp sound and jokingly saying, "What's the point of this? I don't have the habit of returning gifts."
"You don't have to reply." Shen Zhihe suddenly leaned closer, his breath brushing against her hot earlobe, "Just think of it as... my one-sided selfishness." The chirping of cicadas outside the window suddenly grew louder. When he reached out and pressed the wall behind her, the instruction manual that rolled out of the gift box happened to cover his violently heaving chest.
Night slowly fell like ink-soaked silk, the cicadas' chirping growing louder in the twilight. Gu Hanzhi trudged home through the steaming heat of the asphalt, her canvas soles clinging to the melted tar, each step making a tinny sound. The streetlights, filtered through the sycamore leaves, danced over her shoulders. The cool glow of the distant convenience store freezer felt like the only solace in this scorching summer heat.
The evening breeze swept across the green belt, carrying the fishy smell of grass and the aroma of cumin wafting from the barbecue stall. Gu Hanzhi took out the orange soda from her bag. The moment the pull ring popped open, fine bubbles gurgled, as if her unconcealable worries were heating up.
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