In the end, Ruan Nianchu agreed to teach Xiaoxing singing.
Xiaoxing’s vocal condition was very good, suitable for singing. What’s even more rare was that although this child was young, she had good patience, coupled with intelligence and eagerness to learn, so teaching her was relatively easy for Ruan Nianchu.
Without pianos or other equipment, for the first class, she only taught the child some basic knowledge of singing.
Despite this, Xiaoxing specially took out a notebook to take notes, drawing and writing diligently, showing great seriousness in her learning.
After an hour and a half of class, it ended in the blink of an eye.
Xiaoxing’s young face finally bloomed with joy, happily saying, “Thank you, Teacher Ruan. When will we have our next class?”
“Don’t mention it. For the next class…” Ruan Nianchu raised an eyebrow, patted her head, glanced at the clock, and said, “Same time next Saturday at 2:30.”
Xiaoxing blinked, “Same time, same place?”
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Swyd Lkydnbw cssrle bla dspl, “Fyxl vkxl, pyxl rzynl.”
“Ekzz usw vlynb xl vs pkdt kd vbl dlmv nzypp?”
“Yx.”
“Eso, R’x zssjkdt qsaoyae vs kv.”
G nbkze’p pxkzkdt qynl oyp vbl xspv blyavoyaxkdt vbkdt. Gqvla zssjkdt yv bla qsa y obkzl, Swyd Lkydnbw yzps pxkzle. Mbld pbl pyke, “Elzz, R’zz cl zlyhkdt dso. Slxlxcla vs alhklo obyv R vywtbv usw. Mblal okzz cl y iwkg dlmv nzypp, yde kq usw nyd’v ydpola, usw’zz cl rwdkpble.”
Dkysmkdt pvwnj swv bla vsdtwl, “R tsv kv, Mlynbla.”
Gqvla tkhkdt bla kdpvawnvksdp, Swyd Lkydnbw tsv wr yde zlqv. Kwpv yp pbl rwpble srld vbl essa sq vbl assx, pbl pyo Nk Mldt yde Dkysmkdt’p taydexsvbla pkvvkdt sd vbl psqy vyzjkdt. Nk Mldt bye y nsze lmralppksd, obkzl Dkysmkdt’p taydexsvbla’p lulp olal pzktbvzu ale. Mbl xsxldv pbl nyxl swv, vblka nsdhlapyvksd pvsrrle.
Nk Mldt tzydnle yv bla, “Rp vbl nzypp shla?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I didn’t know you guys were talking, sorry.”
“We’re done talking.” Li Teng stood up from the sofa, turned to the woman, and said, “Auntie, we won’t disturb your rest. We’ll leave now. I’ll bring Ruan Nianchu over again next Saturday.”
The woman also stood up, wiped her face, and insisted on inviting them to dinner.
Li Teng declined, so the woman had to accompany them to the door.
“Xiaoran, thank you so much for your hard work today. Thank you.” Before leaving, the woman held Ruan Nianchu’s hand again and thanked her, saying, “If Xiaoxing is ever mischievous, remember to tell me.”
She smiled, “Auntie, don’t be so polite. Xiaoxing is very well-behaved and sensible.”
As the two women chatted, Li Teng remained cold-faced and expressionless throughout, never uttering a word. Finally, after Ruan Nianchu picked up her bag and bid farewell to the woman, she turned around and seemed to see something, her eyes flashing slightly.
The woman closed the door.
She pursed her lips, and the old and narrow corridor in front of her seemed incongruous with Li Teng’s tall figure. He went downstairs, his steps fast and steady. When he reached the fifth and a half floor, he suddenly turned back to look at her, his tone cold, “Keep up.”
The sound of footsteps rang out again, but this time, they didn’t stop and quickly receded into the distance.
Ruan Nianchu raised an eyebrow, recalling the scene just now, and muttered to herself.
Men who are different inside and out. Would they die if they didn’t act cool?
*
On the way back to the city, Li Teng drove his car, and Ruan Nianchu, contrary to her usual behavior, didn’t play with her phone. Instead, she stared at him driving intently. Under this scrutiny, in less than five minutes, Li Teng’s brow furrowed into a frown.
He sounded visibly impatient, “What are you looking at me for?”
Ruan Nianchu fell silent for a moment, propping her chin up with one hand, “I saw everything just now.”
“Saw what?”
“When you were talking to Auntie, you put an envelope on her shoe cabinet.” Ruan Nianchu observed his handsome profile and said in a low voice, “If I’m not mistaken, is there money inside?”
Li Teng remained silent this time.
She continued, “You didn’t give it to her face to face because you were afraid she wouldn’t accept it, right?”
Li Teng still ignored her.
But Ruan Nianchu persisted, pressing, “Am I right?”
“…,” he squinted his eyes for a moment, and then responded indifferently, “Mind your own business.”
“Sure enough.” She sat up straight again and remembered something else, “What about Xiaoxing’s mother, since her father sacrificed himself? Where is she?”
Li Teng kept his gaze ahead and said, “In the hospital.”
Ruan Nianchu was stunned, “What illness does she have?”
“Mental illness.”
“…”
“When my comrade sacrificed himself, Xiaoxing hadn’t been born yet.” His tone was very calm, “The day the news came back, that girl’s mental state deteriorated, and it got worse and worse, so she has been in the hospital for treatment.”
Such a heavy past naturally weighed heavily on the conversation. After listening, Ruan Nianchu remained silent for a while before asking, “And Xiaoxing’s leg? Was it an accident or…”
Li Teng interrupted, “Congenital disability.”
Ruan Nianchu frowned, “No wonder she’s been weak and on medication all the time. How pitiful.” At such a young age, having to endure so many setbacks, fate was sometimes truly unfair.
This topic made the atmosphere particularly heavy.
After a moment, she took a deep breath and exhaled, glanced sideways, smiled, and changed the subject, “Xiaoxing asked me to start teaching her to sing in the next class.”
He said, “Oh.”
“…,” she was choked up, suspecting he didn’t understand, so she rubbed her forehead and patiently explained, “Teaching kids to sing requires equipment. Li Teng, I mean I need a piano.”
Li Teng’s gaze finally shifted to her face, “What piano?”
“Either a piano or an electronic keyboard,” Ruan Nianchu said, “But an electronic keyboard would be better.”
He nodded, “Got it.”
“Hmm?” Got it, so?
“I’ll take you to buy one tomorrow.”
Upon hearing this, she couldn’t help but think of the embarrassing incident from this morning. She hesitated for a moment, cleared her throat, and adopted a tone of negotiation, “Of course, tomorrow is the weekend. But can we go shopping in the afternoon instead?”
“Why?”
Of course, because she wanted to sleep in. “Because I don’t really feel like going shopping in the morning.”
Li Teng’s tone was cold, “That reason won’t work.”
She clenched her fists, still smiling, “Then it’s because in the morning, many music stores aren’t open yet.”
“Fine.”
In the end, they agreed to meet at two o’clock in the afternoon, at the usual place, the entrance to Ruan Nianchu’s neighborhood. After that, there was only the sound of the wind on the road.
As dusk approached, Li Teng’s car entered the urban area of Cloud City, right in the midst of the evening rush hour. By the time they reached Ruan Nianchu’s neighborhood, it was nearly eight o’clock in the evening.
She felt a bit dizzy from the ride, slowed down for a moment, and then politely thanked him.
Li Teng responded with a “You’re welcome.” Then she picked up her bag and pushed open the car door. Just as she stepped out, a voice came from behind, without much emotion, “Your phone.”
Ruan Nianchu turned her head and saw her phone lying on the seat, forgotten.
She quickly grabbed her phone, smiled awkwardly, “You always have to remind me to take things.” Then she sighed, relaxed, with a jokingly light tone, “I didn’t expect that after so many years, Li Teng’s mind would still be so meticulous.”
This casual sentiment made Li Teng turn his head to look at her.
The inside of the car was dark, with only the dim yellow streetlights illuminating the view. Ruan Nianchu bent over, holding her phone, with half of her body still leaning into the car. From his perspective, he could just see her slightly open neckline, her snow-white collarbone, and the faint groove below.
That scene was not unfamiliar to him.
Ironically, the image of the beautiful woman bathing had lingered in his mind for seven years, never fading in the slightest.
Li Teng’s gaze moved up, away from her neckline, and instead focused on her fair face. Whether it was because the light was too dim or not, at this moment, his eyes looked terrifyingly deep.
Ruan Nianchu didn’t notice anything unusual and continued, “Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for?” Li Teng asked.
Ruan Nianchu raised the corner of her lips, her voice soft, “The rice flowers from seven years ago.” She didn’t dwell on it further, just smiled and waved at him, “I’m going home. Goodbye.”
But she had barely taken a few steps when Li Teng’s voice came from behind, “Ruan Nianchu.”
She paused, turning back to him with a puzzled expression.
He stared at her silently. After a long while, he said, “Don’t be late again tomorrow.” He emphasized the word “again.”
Ruan Nianchu put on a smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t be.”
She walked away. Her figure disappeared into the entrance of the residential area, quickly vanishing from sight.
Li Teng lit a cigarette, then started the engine. At that moment, his phone showed a new WeChat message. Initially not intending to respond, he paused when he saw the sender’s name, then briefly glanced at the screen before locking it again.
It’s the first year of my life, not the fifteenth1Nianchu’s wechat name: “Friendly reminder, although it’s not far out of the way, driving at night still requires caution for safety.”
After reading the message for a moment, he locked his phone again without replying.
Back in Cambodia, her reaction to hearing about Zhangbei2his hometown had already indicated that her sense of geography wasn’t great. But Li Teng hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
Her residential area and his dormitory were at opposite ends of Yuncheng. Every time he dropped her off and went back, he had to cross the city.
The black Jeep drove straight ahead, disappearing into the night.
Li Teng lived in a newly built military compound, a two-bedroom apartment in a high-rise building. He had only been transferred to Yuncheng for two months, and all the old housing had been allocated, so he could only get a new one. It was a bit of a bargain.
As the night grew cooler, the entire compound was quiet. Looking at the whole building, only a few windows still had lights on.
Li Teng parked his car and headed home alone.
As soon as he entered, he received a text message on his phone. In this day and age, with advanced technology and various chat apps available, few people communicated via text messages anymore. Yang Zhengfeng3his military boss was one of them.
He closed the door and checked his messages in the darkness.
—Bro, my son’s high school enrollment banquet is on the first day of next month, it’s at Man Jiang Hong. Remember to show up.
Li Teng replied: Alright. Congratulations.
—Have you solved your personal problems? Speaking of which, after all these years, you wouldn’t still be thinking about that girl, would you?
Li Teng remained silent for a few seconds, then didn’t respond and went straight into the bathroom to take a shower.
The warm water flowed down, tracing over his tense and sturdy muscles. The sound of water splashing was in his ears. Li Teng closed his eyes, recalling Ruan Nianchu bending over, the exposed skin of her fair neck, her delicate collarbone, and the alluring groove below.
And there was the sensual scene he witnessed in Cambodia all those years ago.
He furrowed his brow, turning the shower handle to the cold side. The temperature dropped suddenly, becoming icy cold.
Over two months ago, he had come to Yuncheng on a mission. Several old friends had arranged to meet at a French restaurant.
Perhaps it was fate, he witnessed the entire process of Ruan Nianchu being dumped.
Since then, a thought had emerged from his mind, spreading like wild grass, wildly and absurdly. Thus came the reunion with her at the party that day.
Most of what people call fate is just someone else’s deliberate manipulation. Chance encounters, blind dates, including Li Xiaoyan, who was also at the party, were just means to meet her again. Seamless and impeccable.
That woman was an accident seven years ago. He buried her deep in his memory, thinking that everything from back then would fade with time. But the more he resisted, the more attracted he was, the more calm and composed he pretended to be, the more his emotions were in turmoil.
He thought he could deceive himself with his cunning, but he couldn’t.
He found that he was extremely prone to losing control when facing Ruan Nianchu. This kind of bittersweet indulgence was nothing like what he was capable of. It was like drinking poison to quench his thirst and enjoying it as sweet wine.
Those plagued by inner demons fear the backlash the most.
Li Teng tilted his head slightly in the cold water. For a moment, he saw the steam rising from her snow-white back, her soft waist, and the slightly seductive crimson when she turned sideways…
After the heat in his body subsided, Li Teng turned off the water, put on his pants, and walked out of the bathroom. There was a box of cigarettes on the table in the living room. He lit one, sat on the sofa, and smoked. Not long after, he lit up his phone screen again and opened WeChat.
He didn’t use these apps much. After registering his account, he just left it there. He started using it formally on the day when the WeChat account named “It’s the first year of my life, not the fifteenth” sent a friend verification request.
His fingers scrolled on the screen.
In Ruan Nianchu’s Moments, the latest post was ten minutes ago, saying: “Oh my, Bai Qi and Li Zeyan, which one should I choose? I’m so troubled.”
Li Teng took a drag from his cigarette, his face expressionless as he looked at it for a moment, then stubbed out the cigarette and locked the screen, going back to bed.
Damn, she’s so fickle.
Sansukini: She’s not the only who can’t forget. But with all the things he can remember, the side b00bs is the one he can’t forget. Lol.
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