Chapter 6

5:00 AM (1)

The mothers were quite interested in the topic and kept asking, curious about what Deng Yun’s girlfriend was like.

“Where is she from? A local girl?”
“What does she look like? Do you have a photo for us to see?”
“How long have they been dating?”

Xu Muzi’s mother put down a plate of fruits for the guests and also asked, “Oh, is she a classmate Deng Yun met in college?”

Based on what she knew, Xu Muzi could sense her mother’s underlying meaning.

Her mother might be silently criticizing: Given Deng Yun’s studious and awkward personality, how could he possibly have a girlfriend?

Her parents didn’t like Deng Yun’s personality, thinking he was too introverted and reclusive.

When they were upset about something from Deng Yun’s family, they had even made some sarcastic comments, saying Deng Yun was indeed excellent, but it felt like he had wasted his youth, knowing nothing outside of textbooks.

The mothers threw questions one after another, while Deng Yun’s mother always maintained a smiling demeanor, shaking her head, her earrings adorned with a classic logo swaying with her movements: “Actually, I don’t really know; it’s just a guess…”

“How did you guess? There must be some basis for it, right?”

According to Deng Yun’s mother, every time Deng Yun went out for competitions or study activities in other cities, whether domestically or internationally, he would buy some local specialties or souvenirs for his family.

“He has his own money—scholarships, prize money from competitions; he’s saved quite a bit. Sometimes, when I receive gifts from my son, I feel like he’s really grown up.”

After showing off Deng Yun’s filial piety, she kept the mothers on edge before finally getting to the main point—

“A while ago, Deng Yun went to Mocalos and brought back gifts for me and his dad. When distributing the gifts, I noticed that besides the two for us, there was an extra one.”

When Mocalos was mentioned, Xu Muzi leaned over to look downstairs and indeed saw her mother’s unnatural expression.

Not being able to compete this time made her parents lose their bragging rights, and afterward, no one at home talked about Mocalos anymore. If someone asked, they would just laugh awkwardly and say that their child wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t compete.

Did her parents still hope she was a genius who won every competition?

Right now, no one noticed Xu Muzi’s mother suddenly picking up her teacup as a cover; everyone’s attention was on Deng Yun’s gossip.

The discussion seemed a bit bland, and the mothers expressed their dissatisfaction, saying, “It’s just an extra gift; what’s the big deal? Maybe it was a gift for Deng Yun’s friend.”

Deng Yun’s mother mysteriously shook her head: “How could I not understand my own child? Our Deng Yun is a lone wolf; he’s not particularly close to anyone.”

Xu Muzi shook her head in disbelief.

On the car ride in Mocalos, besides her, the other big boys were all Deng Yun’s friends. They were joking around and seemed to have a great relationship.

How could that be anything like a lone wolf?

His friends had even teamed up to scare her once.

They said she shouldn’t go play with live ammunition alone and should at least bring someone with her—what if she got disfigured?

They probably heard Deng Yun say she was playing because she skipped the piano competition, and they wanted to pull her back to reality.

Xu Muzi’s face hurt, and she remained silent.

Deng Yun didn’t put on an older brother’s demeanor to educate her; he hardly spoke at all.

He only helped her pick up her dropped wool hat before getting out of the car, placing it on her head: “The shooting range is loud; it hurts your hearing. If you want to play the piano, you should go less often.”

The conversation downstairs was still ongoing.

Deng Yun’s mother analyzed that the local specialty Deng Yun had left behind was a refrigerator magnet, a cute one that obviously a girl would like.

Moreover, the wrapping paper had a light pink velvet bow, indicating that he might really have secretly started dating.

Xu Muzi had seen refrigerator magnets from Mocalos at the airport; some were indeed very cute. However, she spent the local currency on shooting and didn’t have enough left to buy one.

Xu Muzi left before finishing listening to the elders’ conversation downstairs.

She was still the same—didn’t participate in the elders’ gatherings and didn’t eat with them. She avoided the hustle and bustle and went to the piano room to practice alone.

She still had a pile of psychological issues to resolve and wasn’t very interested in others’ romantic gossip.

That rebellious trip to Mocalos did yield some gains.

She began to understand that losing a competition or skipping a practice didn’t have as serious consequences as she had worried. These events wouldn’t ruin her piano career.

As Xu Muzi tried to accept the gap between her dream of being a genius and reality, she occasionally found herself recalling the news about Deng Yun’s romantic relationship.

Just like a cow ruminating after eating, she would take this news out and mull over it again.

The only conclusion was:

When they met at the shooting range abroad, Deng Yun clearly had a carefree, solitary demeanor…

So, he actually had a girlfriend?

He was truly an enigmatic guy.

Throughout the winter break, Xu Muzi worked hard to adjust herself, but her state wasn’t very stable.

Sometimes she would read a few motivational stories before bed, giving herself a little pep talk, comforting herself with thoughts like:

“It’s okay; even if I’m not that talented and can’t become a piano master, I can still love the piano.”

“Xu Muzi, you need to learn to relax. Even a rubber band that’s always stretched too tight will eventually snap…”

Having figured this out, she managed to sleep well that night.

But the next day was gloomy and rainy, and she spent several hours in the piano room unable to capture the emotion of a particular piece. She hit wrong notes and, after a few attempts to press the correct keys, started to feel anxious again…

These feelings of “the sky is falling” and “the goddess Nüwa mending the sky” played out silently in Xu Muzi’s mind, unnoticed by others.

Her parents didn’t think it was a big deal.

They consistently believed that occasional insomnia and low moods wouldn’t kill her. Thinking back to the tough days before they became successful, they remarked on how bad things used to be, and nobody ever broke down; a child’s emotions were nothing to fuss over.

Her parents were busy with their business, socializing, and vain gatherings.

Most of the time, the house only had Xu Muzi and the housekeeper responsible for chores.

One day, the housekeeper received a call from Xu Muzi’s mother and was about to leave to deliver something.

However, while cleaning high cabinets, she stood on a chair and accidentally twisted her ankle when she came down. Now, she was sitting on a shoe-changing bench in the hallway, finding it very difficult to change into her fur-lined boots.

Just then, Xu Muzi was about to go visit her former piano teacher and asked the housekeeper where she was delivering things.

The housekeeper said, “It’s to Mr. Deng’s house.”

To Deng Yun’s house?

Looking at the outline of the items in the package, they seemed to be the ceramic dishes used by Deng Yun’s mother for the hometown food she brought during the New Year. It had indeed been a long time since they were returned.

The two families didn’t live far from each other; it would only take a few extra minutes to get there.

Xu Muzi decided to replace the housekeeper and carried the bag toward Deng Yun’s house.

She stood in front of the door and rang the doorbell several times. After not getting a response, she thought maybe his family was busy with their business as well.

Just as she was about to leave the items by the door in a non-intrusive spot, the door opened.

The indoor heating was quite strong, and Deng Yun appeared in loose cotton-linen home clothes, as if he had just taken a shower. The fresh scent of herbal body wash wafted gently through the warm air.

His hair was half-dry, slightly messy at the top, with a few damp strands still clinging to his forehead.

Seeing her, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

After all, she was an adult female—not a little brother or sister running around their aunt’s house. It felt a bit embarrassing to suddenly see such a private image of Deng Yun.

She handed the large bag in her hands to him: “I came to help deliver something.”

Deng Yun accepted the bag and placed it on the entryway cabinet.

He didn’t immediately say goodbye to her; instead, he leaned against the doorframe and joked, “I thought you were here to thank me and bring me a gift.”

Xu Muzi rummaged through her down jacket pocket but found nothing.

Deng Yun chuckled: “Just kidding. All good?”

She nodded, “All good.”

Her face had quickly de-puffed, but the bruises on her shoulders from the impact still hurt for several days.

“I didn’t ask you that. I meant your rebellious phase—has it ended?”

…

When Xu Muzi opened her eyes, she felt a bit disoriented, unable to tell where she was.

In the dim light, she stared blankly for a while before remembering this was the movie room in the inn.

Maybe it was the soreness in her shoulders and finger joints that disturbed her; she dreamed about the scene from the trip to Mocalos, where they played with live ammunition, and…

Deng Yun in his home clothes.

These scenes from her dream had really happened.

Thinking back seriously, something special did happen that day at Deng Yun’s door.

However, it was better not to reminisce.

Xu Muzi struggled out of her half-awake state, rubbing her neck as she sat up.

The movie she had been watching earlier was a war film, chosen from a high-rated list. The camera work and atmosphere of the plot were quite captivating. She had stayed up all night and was finally starting to feel tired.

At first, she only felt a little sleepy. After closing her eyes twice, she hadn’t expected to actually fall asleep.

She had slept until after five, the movie had been muted, and it was already halfway through. The only sound was the gentle patter of rain outside the window.

A thin blanket had been added over her.

Looking over at the sofa, Deng Yun was not there; only the remote control was left in the spot where he had sat.

She had slept so deeply that she hadn’t even noticed he had been next to her.

She guessed Deng Yun had probably felt bored and left first.

With the movie jumping too many scenes while she was asleep, she couldn’t piece it together, and she was too lazy to start over, thinking it would be better to return to her room.

Xu Muzi studied how to properly turn off the projector, folding the thin blanket and placing it beside the sofa.

As she walked to the door, she remembered she had forgotten her phone and turned back to grab it from the coffee table.

During this time frame, she surprisingly had more than a dozen unread messages on her phone. Without even thinking, she knew they must be from her cousin living abroad.

Unlocking her phone and opening the app, it indeed was her cousin.

Her cousin was still fixated on discussing her relationship issues. She might have spoken with some relatives on the phone and received some new information, saying her parents planned to set her up with a new guy who was supposedly very handsome, trying to matchmake them, saying meeting him wouldn’t be a loss.

Xu Muzi felt that this kind of news had no credibility at all. The “handsome” men in the eyes of the elders always seemed to have some strange filters.

The previous guy who played the violin was described by them as extremely handsome, when in reality, he was just above average looking.

Those guys in finance, they even said he looked like some foreign superstar. They should just screenshot those comments and send them to the superstar so he can sue them for defamation.

If those people could be called handsome, what would their reaction be when they saw Deng Yun when he wasn’t pretending to be socially anxious?

Xu Muzi looked at the message from her cousin, pushed the door open, raised her eyes, and froze.

At a little past five, the sky was overcast and rainy, blocking the light before sunrise. A small patch of grayish crimson appeared at the horizon, and looking through the rain-streaked window, it resembled a classical oil painting.

Deng Yun hadn’t left; he was leaning against the window, facing the door of the screening room.

As he said, he had arrived at this inn earlier than her—already a week ago. He should know all the good food, fun things, and beautiful sights in this place.

Unlike her, she hadn’t even finished reading the carefully prepared comic guide by the innkeeper.

If it were just about not being able to sleep, Deng Yun must have many things he could do, yet he chose to stand here with a can of cold tea.

Was it because he had said to her, “I’m not leaving”?

“Awake?”

The cold tea in Deng Yun’s hand was chilled and had a layer of frost on it. Where his fingertips touched, the frost had condensed into droplets that slid down the side of the can.

Xu Muzi initially wanted to say that it was brightening up, and even ghosts fear the light, so he didn’t need to keep watching over her like this.

But seeing the damp frost on his fingertips and the can, she momentarily lost her train of thought.
—-
In this continuous rainy weather, the temperature had dropped sharply, and even the inn had only prepared warm drinks like sweetened soup to ward off the cold.

Why was Deng Yun always drinking either cooling chrysanthemum tea or tea that helps reduce heat?

Did Deng Yun really have that much anger?