“Don’t you think you’ve been acting a bit oddly in this matter?” Method Yan knew Ye Meng’s character; she would go through fire and water for friends but wouldn’t waste time on strangers. “You deliberately wanted to embarrass him.”
“I admit I had bad intentions. I’ve been like this since I was little,” Ye Meng said frankly, with an expression that seemed to say, “I’ve always been heartless; do you have some misunderstanding about me?”
Method Yan understood this well. So that night, when Li Jinyu went downstairs to pay for the extended hospitalization, Method Yan had a premonition that Ye Meng would follow him out, and sure enough, she followed closely behind just seconds later. It was deliberate. Ye Meng didn’t have many virtues; she had been stone-hearted since childhood. Despite her carefree demeanor and shameless attitude with everyone, even after years of masquerading as a cat, a fox’s nature is hard to change. Even Method Yan’s friends from the street had said this girl was someone destined for great things. If not for Method Yan stopping them, they would have sworn brotherhood on the spot.
Method Yan was suspicious: “Just because he’s Jiang Luzhi’s boyfriend?”
“Because I discovered that after I resigned, the company’s legal team also changed, and the new team is Jiang Luzhi’s Chengren Law Firm,” said Ye Meng.
“You suspect she’s behind your troubles?”
Ye Meng calmly retrieved her phone, casually flipping through a few photos before tossing the phone on the bed for Method Yan to see—photos of Jiang Luzhi and her new partner. With a forced smile that didn’t reach her eyes, she said, “Be confident, remove the ‘suspect’.”
“That bitch Jiang Luzhi, she is…” Method Yan cursed.
Ye Meng continued: “Then guess why Gou Kai agreed to let Jiang Luzhi push me out?”
“Why?” Method Yan was completely bewildered; how would she know?
“Gou Kai once had a rich second-generation friend who suffered from depression and attempted suicide, dropping out of college in his junior year. After that, Gou Kai hardly had any friends. When I met him, I had just resigned from the newspaper and was feeling disillusioned. Gou Kai extended an olive branch to me. At that time, I didn’t know anything; I knew I was incompetent, but I was also too lazy to learn and had no desire to work hard, just getting by. In such circumstances, I should have been fired within three days, but Gou Kai didn’t fire me. Instead, he told me, ‘You must maintain this negative and lazy state, don’t work hard at all,’ because he had a friend who worked too hard, and pursued excellence and good manners to the extreme, which caused Gou Kai to grow up in the anxiety of ‘being compared to his friend.’ Seeing me made him feel healed. He said if his friend had met someone like me earlier, perhaps he wouldn’t have attempted suicide due to depression or dropped out. Maybe he would have been an excellent journalist, news reporter, translator, diplomat, and so on.”
Method Yan was quite incredulous. “Is that insulting you or praising you?”
Ye Meng continued smoothly: “But later I changed too. I wanted to establish myself in Beijing, began to work overtime frantically, and kept a pair of high heels in my bag ready to meet clients at any time, wishing I could stretch twenty-four hours into forty-eight. Gou Kai felt I was no different from other Beijing drifters. He said, ‘You’ve been assimilated, so why not find someone from a prestigious university? Why choose someone from a third-rate college like you? He doesn’t lack talent.'”
“Do all rich people have a bit of…” Method Yan found it incredible that there was a boss who complained about employees being too hardworking.
“Heaven knows how much I want to lie around and get paid, doing nothing at all.”
“Right, why doesn’t he just pay you a salary and let you be negative and lazy all day?”
“The interesting part is,” Ye Meng solemnly shook her head, “when you receive income that doesn’t match your effort, people fall into anxiety. Within a year, you’d be depressed and anxious because you have no idea how long such days can last. But if he gives you wages equal to your effort, how much money can you earn in a month in that negative and lazy state? It would be better to pack up and go home—why waste time there? Gou Kai essentially wanted to see how good my attitude could be. He wanted to see me blow up, then go back to doing nothing and being his lapdog. But I can’t help it; I have no other merits except for my extremely good mindset.”
Method Yan once again sighed that rich people were simply too idle, lamenting: “But this has nothing to do with Li Jinyu; you shouldn’t take your anger out on him. Now he doesn’t even want to see you.”
“I know,” she leaned back and sighed as well. “I originally wanted to subtly inquire, but his narcissistic appearance was so irritating that I couldn’t help but burst his little bubble. I’ve been trying to find an opportunity to apologize to him these past couple of days, but I didn’t expect him to avoid me.”
“Why do you always think he’s narcissistic? I think he’s just a bit cold, where’s the narcissism?”
“To me, coldness is narcissism. Chubby is the real angel.”
“You’ve been pampered since childhood, so when you meet someone who doesn’t pay attention to you, you call them narcissistic,” Method Yan fell back, no longer bothering with her. “You should just go with your Chubby.”
As evening approached, the hospital room grew dim. Method Yan was on the verge of falling asleep when she suddenly heard Ye Meng ask: “Which bar did Chubby say he sings at?”
“Jiu Bao Shi,” Method Yan poked her head out from under the covers. “Are you going to crash the place?”
“I’m going to support him. Although he said he’s garbage, and although I’m not a good person either, I still need to apologize for my rashness.”
Jiu Bao Shi was located on a hillside farthest from town, surrounded by a serene environment and lush greenery. At its center stood a stone-built cabin with octagonal sides, all emitting some brilliant light. Around it was a swath of colorful lights, softly laid between the trees, exceptionally peaceful—not like a bar, but more like a quiet bar.
The operating hours of bars in the small town typically ran from 6 PM to 3 AM.
There were hardly any customers before 9 PM, so when Ye Meng appeared at Jiu Bao Shi at 6 PM, the staff around thought it was strange that someone would come so early to queue for this small bar.
When Ye Meng called to inquire, the staff said she needed to queue for a number to enter.
Fine. Ye Meng drove all the way, speeding along, and now stood alone at the entrance with number 1.
Beside her was a mongrel dog wearing number 2, panting with its tongue out, smiling at her.
“What would you like to drink?”
A waiter came over with a menu, warmly greeting her.
Ye Meng said directly: “I’m looking for Li Jinyu.”
“Brother Yu hasn’t arrived yet. What would you like to drink?” The waiter explained with a smile, “He’s usually still sleeping at home at this time.”
Ye Meng casually ordered a Long Island Iced Tea and closed the menu: “What time does he come?”
“His show is at 8:30, so he’ll probably come at 7 for rehearsal.”
“Oh! Brother Yu, you’re here!” The waiter’s eyes bubbled with confusion.
Ye Meng turned her head to see a tall figure walking in through the door, a large black guitar case slung over his back. The mongrel dog with the number 2 tag was pawing at his leg.
Li Jinyu crouched down to let it lick his hand, his face showing no trace of coldness. The bright and open youthfulness, even in an ordinary sports outfit, was vibrantly touching. The clear and distinct collarbone lines beneath his slender neck were visible, and Ye Meng noticed the faint scar on his Adam’s apple, which from a distance looked like a freshly planted kiss mark, casual and unrestrained.
Ye Meng didn’t know why she suddenly thought of what Gou Kai had said—
The youth grows unbridled, thus possessing infinite possibilities.