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Chapter 16
10:00 AM (1)
Xu Muzi slept deeply after drinking.
She was awakened by the raspy voice of “K.”
After returning to the country, she hadn’t adjusted her phone’s time zone and language in time.
The alarm clock was still set according to her settings from abroad, with a twelve-hour difference. At 10:40 PM, it was the time she would leave her part-time job at the hotel to take the subway, meaning she would miss it and have to wait for over ten minutes.
Xu Muzi sat up in a daze for a while before remembering to pull her phone out of her bathrobe pocket.
She turned off the alarm and switched on the automatic time zone setting.
The rain was much lighter now, dripping steadily.
Her head felt heavy, and the drowsiness hadn’t faded. Xu Muzi nearly searched for her phone charger with her eyes closed, but she only found a power bank that had already run out of battery.
She turned her head to look at the bedside table, continuing her search for the charger. First, she noticed the hotel’s matching mug, which had remnants of a yellowish hangover remedy at the bottom.
The scene of meeting Deng Yun after drinking returned to her mind.
In an instant, all sleepiness vanished, and her hair stood on end.
It was Deng Yun who had carried her back to the room and even helped her make the hangover remedy.
Xu Muzi stiffened her neck and surveyed her room:
Fortunately, Deng Yun was already gone.
Xu Muzi tried to remain calm while sitting on the bed. After a few seconds, she couldn’t control her emotions and suddenly flung herself back onto the bed, using her arms and legs to bury herself deep under the covers like an ostrich.
Why was it that every time she met Deng Yun, something embarrassing happened?
Why couldn’t her glorious moments of winning awards in competitions be what Deng Yun stumbled upon?
But thinking it over, Deng Yun didn’t seem particularly interested in piano pieces, and she, aside from winning awards in piano competitions, didn’t have many proud moments.
There weren’t enough highlights; her extracurricular life was also lacking.
Did saving a corgi from an electric tricycle in elementary school count?
Probably not.
At that time, she had nearly been scared to death by the electric tricycle, shaking like a vibrating mode; it was too ridiculous to be considered a highlight.
But at least she got to hold that corgi.
Unlike the three stray cats downstairs that resisted her, the corgi licked her and jumped at her, wagging its tail.
Speaking of jumping…
Her wandering thoughts quickly turned back with a sharp turn:
Did she just hug Deng Yun? Who initiated it?
With Deng Yun’s typically calm demeanor, it definitely couldn’t have been him who took the initiative, right?
Most likely, it was something she did while drunk.
Xu Muzi buried her head back into the covers, playing dead.
Later, she thought that it was a relief it didn’t escalate to the level of respiratory alkalosis that would require a trip to the hospital.
He only carried her back to her room; it wasn’t ambiguous.
She just had to pretend it didn’t happen and forget about it.
After this mental pep talk, Xu Muzi finally decided to emerge from the covers.
The room was dim, so she turned on a few lights.
She reached for her slippers by the bed, and in the bright light, she noticed a Band-Aid on her ankle wound.
Looking at the Band-Aid on her ankle, Xu Muzi suddenly blushed.
She thought back to the past.
Deng Yun had sat on her bedroom windowsill, tossing away a cotton swab he used to clean up blood, tearing open a Band-Aid, and placing it on the wound on her hand. Then he looked up at her with a smirk and asked if she wanted to go with him.
Xu Muzi had a gut feeling that Deng Yun must have experienced those lows and rebellions before her, which is why he understood her so well.
Xu Muzi had asked Deng Yun why he felt unhappy.
His reply was, “I’ll tell you next time.”
She scoffed at him, feeling he wasn’t being honest enough with someone who had just scaled walls and drunk with her.
His words felt like a dodge, saying “next time.”
Who knew when “next time” would be? It was uncertain if there would even be a “next time.”
What Xu Muzi didn’t expect was that just over ten hours after returning home, “next time” arrived—
No one at Xu Muzi’s home had noticed her absence. With Deng Yun’s help, she climbed over walls and through windows again, returning to her bedroom, and slept through the entire morning.
At noon, Xu Muzi was called by her mom to have lunch.
She groggily followed her downstairs and heard her mom talking on the phone:
“An aunt sprained her ankle and is having trouble moving; I need to help prepare dinner. Oh, really? That’s wonderful…”
The family was having dumplings.
Xu Muzi, still feeling the effects of the alcohol, stayed up late, and was in a bad mood, so she didn’t have much appetite and only ate a few.
The rebellious night felt like a dream as she absentmindedly chewed her food. Suddenly, her movements froze, like being pricked in the gums by a fine needle, causing her shoulders to hunch for a long time without daring to move.
Xu Muzi’s mom asked, “Muzi, what’s wrong?”
“It seems like I have a sore throat. Mom, I can’t eat anymore; my teeth hurt.”
Last year, she had grown a wisdom tooth, and occasionally when she was worried or had an irregular schedule, it would become inflamed.
This time was no different.
The toothache lasted all day, and when some uncles and aunts came over for a gathering in the evening, her toothache had developed into pain across half her face during the liveliest moments downstairs.
She had to find something to distract herself. Xu Muzi aimlessly scrolled through her phone, looking at social media.
A male classmate from her IELTS class posted a moment on WeChat, showing a group photo from their dinner last night. At that time, Xu Muzi had been upstairs in the private room with the elders, so she obviously wasn’t in the photo.
After drinking, Xu Muzi’s sleep was still deep, and she was woken up by the smoky voice of “K.”
After returning to the country, she hadn’t adjusted her phone’s time zone and language in time.
The alarm clock was set according to the time abroad, with a twelve-hour time difference. At 10:40 PM, it was the time she left the part-time hotel to take the subway, and missing it meant waiting for more than ten minutes.
Xu Muzi sat up dazed for a long time before remembering to pull out her phone from the pocket of her bathrobe.
She turned off the alarm and switched on the automatic time zone setting.
The rain had lessened a lot, dripping steadily.
Her head was heavy, and sleepiness still lingered. Xu Muzi was almost groping for her phone charger with her eyes closed on the other side of the bed but found nothing, only her power bank, which was already out of battery.
She turned to look at the bedside table and continued searching for the charger, first seeing the complimentary mug from the guesthouse, with remnants of a ginger-colored hangover remedy at the bottom.
The scene of meeting Deng Yun while drunk flashed back into her mind.
In an instant, all drowsiness vanished, and her hairs stood on end.
It was Deng Yun who carried her back to the room and even helped her with the hangover remedy.
Xu Muzi stiffly scanned her room:
The room card was next to the mug;
The chair in the room was moved to the floor-to-ceiling window;
There was a can of cold tea on the computer desk, likely empty, with a dented area, probably chilled, and a small puddle of water was collected beneath the can…
Fortunately, Deng Yun had already left.
Xu Muzi struggled to calm herself as she sat on the bed. After a few seconds, she couldn’t control her emotions and threw herself back onto the bed, using her arms and legs to bury herself deep under the blanket like an ostrich.
Why did she always embarrass herself every time she met Deng Yun?
Why couldn’t her glorious moments, like winning competitions, be the ones he witnessed?
But upon reflection, Deng Yun had never shown much interest in piano pieces, and besides her competition wins, she didn’t have many proud moments.
Not enough highlights, and her extracurricular life was lacking.
Did saving a corgi from an electric tricycle in elementary school count?
Probably not.
She had nearly been scared to death by that electric tricycle, shaking like a vibrating mode; it was really too ridiculous to count as a highlight.
But at least that corgi had let her hold it.
Unlike the three stray cats downstairs that resisted her, the corgi was all licks and pounces, wagging its tail.
Speaking of pouncing…
Her scattered thoughts swiftly made a sharp turn back:
Had she just hugged Deng Yun? Who initiated it first?
With Deng Yun’s usual demeanor, it certainly couldn’t have been him who took the initiative, right?
It was most likely something she had done while drunk.
Xu Muzi buried her head in the blanket again, pretending to be dead.
Later, she thought that the situation hadn’t escalated to the point of being hospitalized for respiratory alkalosis, so she felt somewhat relieved.
It was just him carrying her back to the room; it wasn’t ambiguous.
Just pretend it didn’t happen.
After finishing her mental self-reassurance, Xu Muzi finally emerged from the blanket.
The room was dim, so she turned on a few lights.
As she reached down to find her slippers, she noticed a band-aid on her ankle only when the light was bright enough.
Looking at the band-aid on her ankle, Xu Muzi suddenly blushed.
She thought back to the past.
Deng Yun had sat on her bedroom windowsill, tossing away a disinfected cotton swab that had touched her blood, tearing off a band-aid and sticking it on the wound at her hand, then looking up with a mischievous smile, asking her if she wanted to go with him.
In the past, Xu Muzi had a feeling that Deng Yun had experienced those lows and rebellions before her, which made him understand her extraordinarily well.
Xu Muzi had asked Deng Yun why he was unhappy about things.
Deng Yun’s response had been, “I’ll tell you next time.”
She had scoffed at him, feeling he wasn’t being honest enough with a comrade who had just climbed over a wall and drank together.
He had said it so evasively, actually saying “next time.”
Who knew when “next time” would be? There might not even be a “next time.”
What Xu Muzi didn’t expect was that just over ten hours after she returned home, “next time” arrived—
No one in Xu Muzi’s family had noticed her absence. With Deng Yun’s help, she climbed over the wall and through the window again, returning to her bedroom, where she slept through the entire morning.
At noon, Xu Muzi was called up by her mom for lunch.
Dazed, she followed her downstairs and heard her mom on the phone with someone:
“Auntie’s sprained her ankle and is having difficulty moving, so I need to help prepare dinner. Oh, really? That’s great…”
The family had made dumplings.
Xu Muzi, drunk, sleep-deprived, and in a bad mood, had a poor appetite and only ate a few.
The rebellious night felt like a dream. She was absent-mindedly chewing her food when suddenly she froze, as if a needle had pierced her gums, causing her to hunch her shoulders and not dare to move for quite some time.
Xu Muzi’s mom asked, “Muzi, what’s wrong?”
“I think I have a sore throat. Mom, I’m not eating anymore; my tooth really hurts.”
She had developed a wisdom tooth last year, and occasionally, when she was stressed or had an irregular schedule, the wisdom tooth would become inflamed.
This time was the same.
The toothache lasted all day, and in the evening, when some uncles and aunts gathered at home, during the liveliest moments downstairs, her toothache escalated to the point where half her face hurt.
She needed to find something to distract herself, so Xu Muzi aimlessly scrolled through her phone, looking at posts.
A male classmate from her IELTS class had posted on social media a photo taken backstage at a dinner from the night before, and of course, Xu Muzi wasn’t in it since she was upstairs with the elders.
It was as if she had never appeared.
A classmate from university posted a photo holding a bouquet backstage at the concert, and all the comments were full of praise.
Xu Muzi had competed for a chance to attend this concert but ultimately didn’t perform as well as her classmates.
Her bad mood returned.
Just as she was wiping her tears, planning to send her congratulations to her classmate, her phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
But Xu Muzi knew it was Deng Yun.
When she answered the phone, Deng Yun’s voice clearly came through her ear, teasing her slightly: “I heard from my parents that you’re not feeling well, was it respiratory alkalosis again?”
Respiratory alkalosis was definitely a dark chapter in Xu Muzi’s history.
She sniffed, annoyed, and replied, “No!”
Deng Yun was silent for a moment and then asked, “Are you crying?”
“I’m happy for my classmate’s successful performance.”
“Happy to the point of tears? It doesn’t sound like it.”
Xu Muzi held the phone with one hand, silently turning around to grab a tissue, wiping away her tears and snot: “Deng Yun, I need to go practice the piano.”
Deng Yun asked, “Do you need an audience?”
“The phone’s microphone doesn’t work well.”
“I’ll listen live.”
That evening, the gathering of the elders was still noisy, talking and laughing about the previous night’s drunken arguments at the restaurant.
Deng Yun’s parents were at Xu Muzi’s house, and even the aunt from Deng Yun’s family was there, helping Xu Muzi’s aunt, who had sprained her ankle, with preparing dinner.
Deng Yun was extremely bold; he really carried a conversation with more than ten familiar elders and ran to the outside of Xu Muzi’s bedroom window, gentlemanly tapping three times on the glass.
Xu Muzi opened the window and, due to her toothache, spoke unclearly: “How come I didn’t see you climb over the wall?”
“The front door is open; why would I climb over anything?”
Xu Muzi’s eyes widened in disbelief. She wanted to ask if he really wouldn’t be discovered.
Before she could say anything, a voice was heard from the courtyard.
Perhaps it was too noisy in the living room; an uncle had stepped outside to take a phone call.
Xu Muzi and Deng Yun both looked downstairs:
The uncle stood in the middle of the courtyard, hands on his hips, and if he just lifted his head slightly, he could see Deng Yun on the terrace.
Xu Muzi was terrified, her heart pounding.
She pushed the window open and pulled Deng Yun into her bedroom, her heart racing.
Deng Yun laughed, “Why are you so timid?”
Xu Muzi closed the window and turned to glare at Deng Yun: “You’re so bold; do you want to go downstairs and say hello to them?”
Unexpectedly, Deng Yun was completely unflustered and stood up, heading toward the bedroom door.
Naturally, Xu Muzi was anxious.
In a moment of desperation, she grabbed his arm with all her might, pulling him back: “No, you’re really going?!…”
Only the nightlight was on in the bedroom, the light dim, and even shadows were hard to see.
Deng Yun glanced at Xu Muzi. She hurriedly released him, thought for a moment, and then reached out to grab his sleeve.
“I’m just kidding.”
Xu Muzi was suspicious: “You were really going to go out even if I didn’t stop you.”
“The piano room isn’t on the third floor?”
“How did you know?”
“Your mom mentioned it.”
Xu Muzi understood her parents’ character; they probably wouldn’t mention the piano room unless it was necessary. Tentatively, she asked, “She wouldn’t have… mentioned the cost of renovating the piano room, would she?”
“Smart.”
Xu Muzi sighed and opened the bedroom door.
The sound of conversations and laughter from the elders was clear upstairs. She felt like a thief, peeking out several times before tightly pursing her lips and gesturing to Deng Yun.
She pointed at him, then pointed at the stairs, and finally pointed at herself.
Signaling for Deng Yun to go upstairs first while she followed behind.
Deng Yun quietly watched Xu Muzi, and after observing her, he pulled her to walk upstairs.
Strolling leisurely, as if they were returning to his home, Xu Muzi was so scared that she forgot her toothache.
That evening, Deng Yun sat on the floor of the piano room. After Xu Muzi finished playing the piano, he gave her an origami butterfly.
“There are two places where I didn’t play well.”
“Very nice.”
“Did you understand?”
“I can’t say I understand; I only know it’s Tchaikovsky.”
Xu Muzi held the paper butterfly in her palm, somewhat surprised, as it was a piece from the “Four Seasons” piano suite she had played.
If it were the “June – Song of the Boat,” which was often quoted in films and adapted into popular songs, it would be normal to have heard it.
But she played “April – Snowdrop.”
Thinking of the expensive piano at Deng Yun’s house, Xu Muzi asked him, “Did you go for piano lessons?”
He looked at her, as if hinting at something: “No. There was a time when my grandmother was interested in people who could play the piano; she watched piano-related shows on TV. I watched Tchaikovsky’s introduction video with her.”
For some reason, Xu Muzi found it hard to maintain eye contact with Deng Yun.
She averted her gaze and noticed that there was an injury on Deng Yun’s hand, located at the base of his left hand.
“You… got that from climbing over the wall?”
“I broke a frame at home, and the broken glass cut me.”
They returned to the second-floor bedroom.
Xu Muzi went out alone to look for the medicine box. After bending down and walking many steps out, she suddenly remembered that this was her house.
It was perfectly normal for her to go out and find something, and there was no need to be sneaky; if Deng Yun saw her, he would probably laugh at her again.
When she returned, Deng Yun was still sitting on the windowsill.
Xu Muzi handed him a cotton swab and a band-aid, watching him lower his eyelids to treat his wound.
After applying the band-aid, Deng Yun raised his eyes and stared at her for a long time.
So long that Xu Muzi’s face turned hot, and she planned to borrow the excuse of her toothache to touch her face and look away again.
Deng Yun suddenly smiled and asked, “Do you want to come with me?”
The bedroom was still only lit by the nightlight, the door tightly closed and locked.
A car drove past on the road outside, and Deng Yun’s dark silhouette with broad shoulders and a narrow waist flashed across the ground as the headlights swept by.
Xu Muzi suddenly understood Deng Yun’s meaning.
To follow him, but the content of their escape tonight wasn’t about the bar or “I’ll tell you next time.”
It was “something more stimulating than smoke.”
There were over a dozen elders downstairs, but Xu Muzi decided to follow Deng Yun in search of excitement.
The first time is unfamiliar, the second time is familiar.
She skillfully changed into a short down jacket, climbed onto the windowsill, striking a pose as if she were a brave warrior heading to death, and waved to her accomplice: “Let’s go.”
Deng Yun didn’t move: “The side door of your house isn’t locked.”
Xu Muzi didn’t react right away: “What?”
“You don’t need to climb over the wall; just go out through the side door.”
Xu Muzi followed Deng Yun as they swaggered out of her house through the side door, then swaggered into his front yard and through the main entrance.
She knew his house was empty, even the housekeeper had been left at her place to help out.
Still, she felt nervous, nearly tripping on the stairs.
Entering Deng Yun’s bedroom, she saw him take off his down jacket and toss it onto the sofa. With a blank mind, she followed suit, tossing her down jacket onto the sofa as well.
Xu Muzi pretended to be casual as she turned her head, only to see Deng Yun returning with a coat hanger, a teasing smile on his face.
Xu Muzi: “……”
Deng Yun waved the hanger in his hand at Xu Muzi. She responded with an “oh,” went to pick up her down jacket, hung it on the hanger, and handed it to him.
This night was supposed to be filled with exciting anticipation, but Xu Muzi was too nervous and excited, and her toothache was getting worse.
At first, she resolved to endure it.
But when he returned with a glass of water, the pain became unbearable, and she had to seek help: “Deng Yun, my tooth really hurts.”
“Should I take you to the hospital?”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital…”
How could she go to the hospital twice after just going out with someone?
What kind of rebellion was that? It was too dull.
At this rate, Deng Yun would probably block her; with her level of rebellion, she likely wasn’t worthy of being his accomplice.
“Is it your wisdom tooth inflamed?”
“Yeah.”
Deng Yun went out for a moment and returned with a tube of ointment, saying it worked pretty well and suggested she give it a try.
Xu Muzi was still looking up how to use it, while Deng Yun had already washed his hands and returned.
He was wiping his fingers with a disinfectant wipe: “Can I help you?”
She didn’t know why, but she inexplicably nodded.
Deng Yun squeezed the ointment onto his fingertip, lifted Xu Muzi’s chin, locked eyes with her, and inserted his fingertip into her mouth.
The ointment had a minty coolness that rushed into her mouth.
As he pressed it onto her swollen and painful spot, she frowned, and he asked with a serious gaze, “Is it here?”