Li Jinyu glanced at it, gave an affirmative sound, and said, either jokingly or seriously: “Want to take a look? There’s nothing much to see, just a bed and a few cabinets. Feel free to sit anywhere.”
“I see an electronic keyboard,” Ye Meng looked and said, “You play quite a few instruments?”
He took a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator, handed it to her, closed the refrigerator door, and said, “I learned a bit of everything when I was young, but never mastered anything. Didn’t you say my singing is terrible? I don’t play that well either.”
Just as he finished speaking, he pulled the water back and asked: “Can you drink this?”
Ye Meng felt her face inexplicably warm but didn’t answer. She grabbed it back, proving her point with action.
Li Jinyu hooked the corner of his mouth in a slight smile.
The two sat for a while, and Cheng Kairan soon arrived, dusty and travel-worn as he entered. With a wave of his hand, he left his two subordinates guarding outside the door. Cheng Kairan glanced at the two of them and sat down on the sofa opposite. Li Jinyu and Ye Meng were sitting side by side, a sight so damn pleasing to the eye that it made Cheng Kairan uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he got straight to the point: “How did you find me today?”
Ye Meng said: “The town is just this big. He guessed.”
Cheng Kairan looked at Li Jinyu, pondered for a moment, and then said to Ye Meng, “Did you recognize that jade-inlaid gold thumb ring?”
Ye Meng nodded, “You recognized it too?”
“During those years you were in Beijing, your mother often helped me to atone for your sins. She would occasionally bring me home to cook for me. Later, a man with a thumb ring visited her several times. It was just before your mother’s death, during National Day week, the thumb ring man you encountered. I’ve been investigating this man’s whereabouts but have found nothing so far. Later, someone gave me information that they had found the owner of the thumb ring, but this ring had been passed on to today’s fat man several years ago.”
“What does this fat man do?”
“He deals in antiques. So, I found a way to contact him, hoping to find some clues from him,” saying this, Cheng Kairan added, “I’m not doing this for you but for your mother.”
Ye Meng smiled, “I didn’t think otherwise.”
As they spoke, Li Jinyu’s phone on the table rang. He leaned over to pick it up, “I’m going to take a call.”
After saying this, he closed the dividing door and turned to enter the small courtyard.
Ye Meng kept her eyes on his back, but her words were directed at Cheng Kairan, “Has that Beijing man left?”
“He’s gone. I said what you taught me to,” Cheng Kairan lit a cigarette, “I told him that it’s my mother’s birthday next week, and if I can’t see that antique ring, I don’t want it anymore. I had no intention of actually buying it; I just wanted to see what kinds of antique goods he had access to, hoping to find that man from years ago. He didn’t say much and didn’t seem to suspect me anymore.”
Given Cheng Kairan’s intelligence level, Ye Meng felt it was quite impressive that he had managed to get this far. Li Jinyu finished his call and returned, and she said to Cheng Kairan: “Kaikai, thank you.”
Cheng Kairan grunted, ignoring her.
The atmosphere became awkward in an instant. Looking at this pair before him, skilled actors with inexplicable chemistry, he felt angry from every angle and couldn’t stay for even a minute longer. “Forget it, I’m leaving. Are you coming?”
Ye Meng glanced at Li Jinyu, wanting to ask if she could stay a bit longer.
Li Jinyu directly gave his marching orders, lazily leaning back on the sofa and saying to Cheng Kairan: “Take your girl with you.”
Li Jinyu turned on some music and sat alone in the room for a while. The curtains were drawn even tighter than when Ye Meng and the others were there. He had never been comfortable in very bright environments.
Low-tempo rock music pounded in the room. He quite liked this kind of depressing heavy metal with its strong rhythm and high release of emotions. But afraid of disturbing the neighbors, he kept the volume low, making it sound somewhat dull and oppressive. Yet it truly filled every corner of the room, and the emptiness in his heart finally seemed to be filled a little.
He sat behind the electronic keyboard in the room, headphones around his neck, head leaning back against the wall, one leg bent on the stool, hand resting on it, his pose even more lazy.
The hospital had just called him, asking if he had made a decision.
He barely needed to think; he immediately said they definitely would pursue treatment. The doctor replied that if they were to treat her, his grandmother would need to be transferred to a different ward, requiring an advance payment to change departments. His grandmother insisted on seeing him and adamantly refused to be transferred.
He smiled bitterly. He could only be depressed for this short while; later he would have to go to the hospital to coax the old lady. After coaxing the old lady, he would still need to earn money for medical bills. Once upon a time, money had been his least concern, but how had he managed to mess up his life like this?
Had he known, he would have gritted his teeth and completed university, at least obtaining A University diploma first. He’d heard that with a 985 university diploma, you could get a civil service job in town without taking exams or interviews.
But at that time, he would tremble at the sight of Li Lingbai and had no way to live with her. He couldn’t even stay in Beijing.
His life seemed to have become like this, and what change could occur?
He laughed weakly. Thinking of this, he lowered his head and ran his hand haphazardly through the hair that was resting on his knee.
A thought emerged in his mind that made him sneer at himself.
—Maybe he should sleep with Ye Meng and blackmail her for a hundred or two hundred thousand.
You are a bastard deep down, Li Jinyu.
He smiled self-mockingly, hooking the corner of his mouth.
Suddenly, there came two heavy knocks on the door.
“Bang bang! Bang bang!”
He went to open the door and was stunned—the little lamb had delivered herself to his doorstep. He frowned impatiently, “Why did you come back?”
“I forgot my bag.”
Ye Meng pointed to the sofa. Li Jinyu looked back, slightly stepping aside to let her in.
At this moment, without Cheng Kairan, there were only the two of them, plus the heavy, deep heavy metal music. The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat decadent. Li Jinyu had headphones around his neck, arms crossed, leaning obliquely against the doorframe, saying nothing, seemingly waiting for her to take her bag and leave.
The music was low and slow. Ye Meng pointed at the bathroom: “May I use the bathroom?”
Li Jinyu leaned against the door, took his hand out of his arms, and vaguely pointed in that direction with four fingers, inviting her to go ahead.
“Whoosh—” Soon, the sound of flushing came from the bathroom.
Ye Meng came out. Li Jinyu had his hands in his pockets, still leaning obliquely against the doorframe. This house was low and cramped, and he was tall and broad, yet with the slenderness of youth, creating a contrasting cuteness. Ye Meng felt that his head was almost touching the ceiling, and he looked dejected and pitiful.
Ye Meng walked over and stood in front of him, looking up at him steadily, wanting to ask if he had encountered some problem again, and why he looked so sad. She had noticed his abnormal state earlier, but her mother’s matter had distracted her, and she didn’t have the energy to take care of this younger brother.
Li Jinyu became irritated by her gaze. From his position, he could see outside the courtyard on the first floor where Cheng Kairan was standing under the old phoenix tree, smoking a cigarette and waiting for her. Two subordinates stood beside him. The three men’s gazes were fixed directly in this direction.
“Aren’t you leaving yet?” He slightly hunched his back, pointed his chin toward the door, and said mockingly: “Your ‘brother’ Cheng Kairan is still waiting for you outside—”
Is it appropriate for you to stare at me like this?
Before he could finish his sentence, his lips were captured by hers.
Li Jinyu’s mind exploded, and musical notes danced vividly. The low, roaring, depressing music around him seemed to gradually disappear from his world. Those experiences he had never had before seemed to break through the soil. In his barren heart, new sprouts seemed to emerge, something growing frantically. The dying little deer finally stopped licking its wounds alone.
That desolate world, in this moment, everything stopped, in silence.
Ye Meng picked up her bag that had been accidentally dropped when she lunged forward, patted it, and said expressionlessly—
“If you say I’m his girl again, big sister will take you.”