Chapter 45
Near the end of the year, Wenhua No. 1 Middle School was bombarded with exams. An English test made most of the first class depressed. The English class representative Jin Jing walked in with the class's papers, knocked on the podium and said, "Wake up, don't sleep. The papers are about to be distributed. Teacher Bi said that the papers were done very badly this time. He will definitely be furious in class later."
The students all lamented Bi Aoxue's devilish grading speed. One boy shouted to Jin Jing, "Class representative, why do I feel like you seem quite happy? Are you the only one who got a high score?"
Jin Jing scolded the boy with a smile, and Bi Chengfei suddenly appeared on the podium, raised his hand and said loudly: "Isn't this a big happy event? Big news! This Sunday night, in the Tanghuang private room 225, there will be a birthday party for the beautiful Jin Jing. Everyone must come! I will go too!"
The class started to cheer and Jin Jing hit Bi Chengfei on the head with the test paper and cursed, "Who said we're going to treat you!"
Tao Xi knew about this. Just before that, Jin Jing gave him a homemade invitation. He looked at Lin Qinhe and asked, "Will you go?"
Lin Qinhe did not accept the invitation with a heart on it and said, "I'm going to my grandfather's house on Sunday night." Even if he didn't go to his hometown for a family dinner, he usually wouldn't go.
"Are you going?" Lin Qinhe asked Tao Xi.
Tao Xi hesitated for a while and said, "I should go."
When Jin Jing gave him the invitation, she also apologized to him for the incident with Jiang Xinyue a long time ago, but Tao Xi didn't think Jin Jing had done anything wrong, as Jin Jing had even spoken for him at that time.
"Then I'll pick you up after I finish my work." Lin Qinhe said.
Tao Xi's eyes lit up and she nodded, "Okay! I'll wait for you!"
On Sunday night, Tao Xi followed the address Jin Jing gave him and took two buses before arriving at the grand club which looked quite high-end. He walked in under the guidance of the waiter. The colorful lights and the ghostly singing coming faintly from the private room made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Tao Xi then realized that this was a large KTV. He had never been there and didn't really like singing. He was thinking of finding a reason to leave early, but he met an unexpected person on the way.
"Tao Xi?" Guan Fanyun, wearing a low-cut miniskirt covered with golden sequins, with heavy makeup on her face and a slender lady's cigarette in her hand, asked with a smile, "Will you come to our party?"
Tao Xi didn't expect that this woman could recognize him after just one encounter at the art exhibition. He vaguely remembered that Guan Fanyun had sent a party invitation in the WeChat group of the Qing Painting Association a few days ago.
He said, "No, I have a classmate's birthday party here."
Guan Fanyun smiled and said, "Have fun. Our party is in room 334." She took a puff of her cigarette, leaned closer and said, "Many of my friends have studied abroad. Some of them are here today. Maybe you can get to know them later."
Tao Xi turned his head slightly to avoid the smoke exhaled by Guan Fanyun. The sweet smell made him frown.
He felt that Guan Fanyun's sudden enthusiasm was a little inexplicable, and said in a distant tone: "Thank you, but my classmate's birthday party is about to start, so I have to go first."
Guan Fanyun smiled and said, "It's okay. If you think the birthday party is boring, you can come and play with us."
After Tao Xi said goodbye to Guan Fanyun, he went to the bathroom to wash his face. After making sure that there was no smell of smoke on his body, he walked towards the private room on the soft carpet.
He remembered Guan Fanyun who was with Yang Zhengming at the art exhibition last time. She was wearing a white dress and light makeup, and she was completely different from today. He also thought of Fang Hui in the painting, who was also wearing a white dress.
He pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile and pushed open the door of private room 225. Bi Chengfei was holding the microphone and singing "Say I Love You" loudly to Jin Jing who was sitting in the middle of the sofa.
Bi Chengfei saw Tao Xi coming in, stopped singing and called out, "Brother Xi!"
The private room was very large. Tao Xi found that most of his classmates had come, even Huang Qing had come. He saw that Jin Jing seemed to show a disappointed look after he entered the room, but she quickly stood up and walked towards him, saying sincerely: "Tao Xi, thank you for coming. Have fun tonight."
Tao Xi handed the gift in her hand to Jin Jing and said "Happy Birthday" with a smile.
He greeted the other students and found an empty seat in the corner of the sofa to sit down. Next to him was Huang Qing, who was doing exercises on her phone. When she saw him sit down, she asked, "Didn't Lin Qinhe come with you?"
Tao Xi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "He has something to do tonight."
Huang Qing seemed relieved and continued to do the questions.
The tables were filled with beer and drinks, and colorful spots of light flickered on the soft-padded walls. I don't know who ordered a brainwashing song, and some of the usually active people in the class now rushed up like crazy to grab the microphone and sing. Suddenly, the dance was so chaotic that people were dazzled and their eardrums were about to burst.
Tao Xi opened WeChat in the corner and found the party invitation sent by Guan Fanyun in the WeChat group of the Qinghua Association. He found that the address on it was not here.
He thought for a while, opened Ding Yanan's WeChat and asked her about the party.
Ding Yanan quickly replied with a message: "The association's formal gatherings are all organized by the president. Vice President Guan has a few good friends in the association and often organizes private gatherings, but we usually don't attend."
Tao Xi noticed the hidden meaning in Ding Yanan's words. He thought about it and told her about his encounter with Guan Fanyun in Tanghuang.
Ding Yanan replied: "You'd better not go. How should I put it? The Qinghua Association is actually a mixed bag. You are still a high school student. There is no need to make friends with them."
Tao Xi replied with a few words of thanks and looked at the chat history thoughtfully.
He got up and went to the bathroom. When he came out of the bathroom, he saw two familiar figures walking around the corner of the corridor and heard a female voice saying, "Ancestor, I don't have any money to lend you."
Tao Xi quickly returned to the bathroom, washed his hands again, wiped the water off his hands with a tissue, and walked out.
The carpet in the corridor was very thick and soft, and there was no sound when walking on it. Tao Xi followed the corridor that the two people had just walked through. After turning a corner, he found that there was only a security door at the end of the corridor. The safety passage should be outside the door.
He took a light breath and walked quietly to the security door. The door was half-open and voices could be faintly heard from inside.
Guan Fanyun had finished her cigarette, so she changed to another one, exhaled a puff of smoke, walked back and forth a few steps, and sighed to the boy in front of her:
"Ancestor, I changed the address of the party to here specifically for you, and I also invited that kid, so what exactly do you want me to do?"
There was only a dim white light in the safety passage. Yang Duole raised his head, his eyes dim in the light and shadow, and he said:
"Didn't I tell you? Please help me teach him a lesson." He said it politely, and his expression was also asking for help. He smiled and continued, "After all, aren't you the best at this kind of thing?"
Guan Fanyun bit the cigarette and stared at Yang Zhengming's son, her face looking unhappy for a moment.
Her past history was indeed not very glorious. Although her father Guan Shuwen was a famous calligrapher in the literary and art circles, she was just an illegitimate daughter and had never received any artistic influence before the age of sixteen.
"What's the conflict between you and that kid? Do you want me to help you teach him a lesson?" Guan Fanyun exhaled a puff of smoke, feeling a little annoyed. She didn't really want to get involved in the affairs of these high school students.
Yang Duole's face darkened and he said, "This is none of your business."
"Does your father know about you? He always says you are a good child." Guan Fanyun chuckled. If she could marry Yang Zhengming smoothly, Yang Duole might have to call her mom in the future, which made her feel a little funny.
Yang Duole looked up at Guan Fanyun, smiled, and said, "You will definitely not let him know."
"Okay, it's a good thing you said that kid doesn't have any background, otherwise I would be a little worried about the trouble."
Guan Fanyun put out the cigarette in his hand against the white wall.
When Tao Xi returned to the private room, the microphone master Bi Chengfei had already changed the song and was singing "Love Until Death" to Jin Jing. His tone-deaf and broken throat made Jin Jing roll her eyes.
He returned to his seat and saw Huang Qing still working on the questions with her head down.
Not long after sitting down, the door of the private room was opened again.
"Yakult! Why are you here so late!" Li Xiaoyuan was holding the microphone and singing. When he saw Yang Duole coming in, he spoke directly to Yang Duole into the microphone.
Tao Xi looked up and saw Yang Duole holding a beautifully wrapped gift box in his hand.
"The traffic was stuck for too long. I ran up here as soon as I got off the car. I'm still gasping for breath."
Yang Duole said to Li Xiaoyuan with a smile. After he gave the gift to Jin Jing, he glanced at the sofa in the private room and walked towards the empty seat in the corner.
Tao Xi saw Yang Duole coming over and asked him with a smile: "Tao Xi, can I sit next to you?"
The look and tone were even somewhat intimate.
Tao Xi stepped aside and nodded, "Of course."
Yang Duole said "thank you" and sat down. There was a sweet smell of cigarettes on his body that had not yet dissipated. He watched Li Xiaoyuan and the others singing, smiling and clapping, and seemed very happy.
Tao Xi saw a pack of unopened cigarettes under the coffee table. Perhaps the cigarettes were left here by the last wave of customers and not picked up. He took out the pack of cigarettes, opened it, took out a cigarette, handed it to Yang Duole, raised his eyes and asked him:
"Do you smoke?"
Yang Duole frowned, looking a little strange, and shook his head: "I never smoke."
Tao Xi smiled, put the cigarette back into the cigarette box, and said, "I don't smoke either."
He threw the cigarette box back onto the coffee table, leaned back on the soft sofa, and watched Li Xiaoyuan invite Yang Duole to go up and sing.
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