Dew and frost, moistening hearts—under the heavy night curtain, stars like sparse lamps flickered with faint light, layering at the edge of the sky. The night was like an enormous slippery Black Forest cake, each layer wrapped in sweet surprises.
Ye Meng didn’t reply to his message, but instead meticulously examined Liu Yi Yi’s social media posts. Although they were high school classmates, Ye Meng wasn’t very familiar with her, and their interactions were pitifully few. Liu Yi Yi was a typical small-town petite bourgeoisie—from a well-off family, working at a bank, and cute-looking. In the matchmaking market, she was indeed a hot commodity. Unlike Jiang Lu Zhi, who was meticulously put together from head to toe but could easily create a sense of pressure as a high-level white-collar worker, Liu Yi Yi was the perfect candidate for a wife.
Liu Yi Yi’s social media was quite ordinary, posting five or six times a day about cats and dogs, work, afternoon tea with girlfriends, and whatnot. With no mortgage or car loans to worry about, all the money she earned was hers to spend as she pleased, making her a carefree girl. If Li Jin Yu were with her, he might be happier than with herself. After all, both of Liu Yi Yi’s parents were doctors, which would be beneficial for the old lady’s health issues.
Ye Meng huddled with her blanket at the head of the bed, diligently scrolling for quite some time, but didn’t see any comments or likes from Li Jin Yu. He seemed to rarely browse social media and had rarely left comments or likes for anyone. Including for her—forget comments, he hadn’t even liked her posts. At this moment, Ye Meng wanted to go through Li Jin Yu’s phone to see who the lucky person was who received his likes or comments.
Ye Meng scrolled back to May of last year and finally saw a post from Liu Yi Yi related to Li Jin Yu. [Saw the most handsome guy in town for the first time, and I even got his WeChat, haha.] A classmate replied: [Maybe he likes you too.] Liu Yi Yi responded with a “bashful” emoji.
Seeing this, Ye Meng leaned against the headboard and made a call. After several rings, it was unhurriedly answered: “Hmm?”
Ye Meng threw back the covers, rolled out of bed in one motion, walked into her dressing room, opened the wardrobe, and while her eyes searched through the rows of neatly arranged clothes organized by fabric and color, she calmly said into the phone: “Why do I feel like you’re showing off that someone’s pursuing you? Want to make me jealous, Li Jin Yu?”
The phone went silent for a moment, and then Ye Meng vaguely heard the sound of rushing water from the other end. She thought it had started raining again outside and unconsciously looked up through the window, only to hear Li Jin Yu’s casual voice from the speaker: “So, are you jealous?”
Ye Meng’s heart suddenly warmed, as if hot water had rolled over it, scalding her with a jolt. She never liked being at a disadvantage in relationships. So, composedly, she selected a dark green, tight-fitting skirt with slits in the front and back from the dense, varied array of clothes, and held it against herself to see how it looked. Under the bright lights of the dressing room, her entire body emanated a delicate whiteness, her thin collarbones deeply indented, exquisitely graceful. With calm eyes, she spoke into the phone: “No.”
“Oh.” The other end went silent.
She immediately hung the skirt back up and continued to let her gaze wander, beginning to select a top. Languidly, she said: “But I’m not very happy right now, so I’m planning to come over and sleep with you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the phone suddenly transmitted violent coughing. Li Jin Yu cleared his hoarse throat and conceded: “I give up, Ye Meng, I’m not teasing you anymore.”
“Say ‘Big sister, I was wrong.'”
“…”
“…”
Ye Meng removed her spaghetti-strap nightgown and changed into a low-cut shirt and the dark green skirt with slits in front and back, exposing her slender, fair ankles. The curves of her body were graceful, and below her collarbone was an audaciously insolent tattoo, like a proud butterfly fluttering in endless night, following the spring light—a kind of ascetic sensuality. She casually tousled her hair, prepared to put on earrings in front of the mirror, and said flippantly: “Won’t say it? Then I’m coming over. Open the door for me later.”
“Big sister, I was wrong.” Li Jin Yu’s deep, hoarse voice came through the phone as if he was stretching his neck, gritting his teeth, enunciating each word through clenched teeth, seemingly unwilling.
“You don’t sound very convinced,” Ye Meng persisted, already crouching by the shoe cabinet, determined to teach him a lesson. “I’m choosing high heels now… pointed toe or peep toe? Which pair is easier to take off?”
Li Jin Yu completely surrendered. He stood completely naked in the misty bathroom. The bathroom door had been reinstalled, and the water vapor rippled lightly in the air, circling like the golden edges of butterfly wings, refracting some unusual light. He felt that if he didn’t get out of there soon, he would suffocate.
Li Jin Yu held the phone with one hand and placed the other on the foggy glass, bowing his head with a helpless smile. His voice was muffled: “What will it take for you to stop teasing?”
He sounded truly aggrieved, so frightened—was he really that frigid? Ye Meng felt like a female boss forcing herself on the neighbor’s little brother, so she decided to be even more ridiculous: “Then when we meet tomorrow, you forcefully kiss me. And make it long, not perfunctory, be passionate.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Li Jin Yu felt like a million alpacas were kneeling before her in his mind. What a childish request to make.
“Boring.”
Ye Meng started again, saying deliberately: “These strappy ones seem nice, just bought them, haven’t worn them yet.”
“Fine, I’ll forcefully kiss you tomorrow.”
Ye Meng finally couldn’t hold back, bursting into laughter and falling backward onto the floor, rolling around, unable to stop for a long time.
Li Jin Yu, either truly anxious or embarrassed, said irritably: “Hanging up.”
“Wait,” Ye Meng, having gained the upper hand completely, felt extremely satisfied. In high spirits, she put the shoes back and closed the cabinet, saying, “Actually, about Liu Yi Yi, she’s my classmate. I was just calling to tell you to be gentle when rejecting her and leave her some dignity. After all, both her parents are doctors at the People’s Hospital, and we might need their help with your grandmother’s illness in the future.”
Li Jin Yu asked: “Anything else?”
“No, that’s it.”
“Okay, hanging up.”
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
“Because your boyfriend is taking a shower, and the water’s about to run out.”
Ye Meng lay back on the bed: “Can I have a live broadcast?”
“…”
“No video is fine too, let’s chat while you shower. I want to hear your voice.”
“Mmm.”
“Do you add every girl who shows interest in you on WeChat?”
Li Jin Yu simply turned on the speakerphone, placed the phone on the sink, quickly turned on the water to rinse off the soap that was almost dry on his body, then casually wrapped a towel around his waist, walked out, and said: “That was my boss’s requirement. My boss said they don’t come to hear me sing; if I don’t add them on WeChat, they won’t come back, business will suffer, and he’ll have no reason to hire me anymore. Outside the bar, I’ve never added girls on WeChat.”
“That’s a bit general,” Ye Meng said. “You added Fang Ya’en at the hospital that day.”
Li Jin Yu didn’t respond; he was probably blow-drying his hair, as the phone transmitted the thunderous sound of a hair dryer. Ye Meng thought he hadn’t heard, so she stayed on the line, waiting. She quite enjoyed listening to him doing his things on the other end of the phone, as if in the profoundly lonely night, she had somehow drawn closer to a warmth that couldn’t be spoken of.
In her room, only a small orange wall lamp was lit, with the hair dryer roaring through the speaker. Ye Meng glanced around her room once more—considered elegant and luxuriously low-key by the town’s standards. His narrow, cramped room made her feel he was somewhat wronged every time she entered, living a constricted life. The old lady’s memory wasn’t good; she often forgot where she hid things, so Li Jin Yu hung her frequently used medications and items in baskets in the living room, making them easier for her to find. But it inconvenienced him—as the items increased, so did the baskets, and his imposing height meant he was constantly bumping into them. However, his memory was good, and he knew the basket layout by heart, able to accurately bend his head to avoid them even in pitch darkness.
Through the speaker, the hair dryer stopped.
“If you count it that way, it gets complicated. I meant those who wanted to pursue me,” Li Jin Yu said after finishing drying his hair, and picking up his phone as he walked out.
Ye Meng came back to her senses and, as if possessed, asked: “If I had asked for your WeChat that day by the lake, would you have given it to me?”
He had changed into clean home clothes, bent down to pick up a bottle of Budweiser from the floor, sat down on the sofa, pulled the tab, thought for a moment, and truthfully said, “No.”
“Was it lack of interest or fear of giving it?”