When Gu Wenxi returned to the hotel that day, he placed the book “Border Town” he bought from the bookstore on the bedside table and occasionally flipped through a few pages. The plot of the novel was a bit sparse, and he occasionally found it boring, but there was a part he really liked, where the younger brother sang to the girl across the stream for most of the night, and the girl picked a handful of tiger lilies in her dream.

Under the moonlight, by the clear stream, accompanied by the chirping of insects, the singing still entered the dream… It must have been a very romantic scene.

Maybe because he read this part, Gu Wenxi dreamed of water that night, a clear river where he could see the pebbles at the bottom. He remembered it was a place he used to walk by, where Du Yunyan once picked wild fruits from the trees by the water.

In the dream, it was daytime. The sun was high, and he walked to the riverside and saw that blurry figure again, facing the water with their back towards him, gazing at something in the water.

Gu Wenxi continued walking towards the water, wanting to confirm if it was Du Yunyan. Just as he was less than a meter away from the person, the figure suddenly disappeared, leaving the water still clear, shimmering with a myriad of broken lights.

Gu Wenxi immediately opened his eyes. It was just dawn, everything was dim and gray.

In the afternoon, he had plans to meet with some friends. It was Zeng Bo Nian who invited him out, but halfway there, he received a call saying Zeng Bo Nian’s girlfriend wasn’t feeling well, so they went to the hospital together.

“Wenxi, I won’t be able to make it today,” Zeng Bo Nian said on the phone, “Let’s meet in a couple of days.”

“Should I still go then?”

“Sure, Yu Luo and the others still want to see you.”

Zeng Bo Nian didn’t mention Jiang Chen, so he probably wasn’t involved. Gu Wenxi hadn’t told anyone about the situation with Jiang Chen, including Zeng Bo Nian. It wasn’t something he wanted to bring up himself; there was no reason to burden other friends with his embarrassment.

As for Yu Luo and the others, although they weren’t as close, they were still pleasant to be around, so there was no harm in paying them a visit.

“Oh, okay,” Gu Wenxi agreed.

The agreed-upon bar wasn’t the one owned by Jiang Chen, otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone.

The bar was located in the city center, with even more people passing by compared to the hotel where the birthday party was held a few days ago. Gu Wenxi didn’t drive that day; he got out of a taxi and saw towering buildings with steel-cold colors everywhere. Directly ahead was a peculiarly shaped building with a protruding structure on the upper floors, extremely asymmetrical, resembling a giant opening its mouth, revealing sharp fangs.

He used to come to this area often, so he was familiar with the surroundings, but for some reason, today it all felt unusually unfamiliar, as if he had entered a different world where everything around could swallow him at any moment.

The narrow sky above the tall buildings was shrouded in layers of dark clouds.

Next to the bar was a regular cake shop with floor-to-ceiling windows. As Gu Wenxi turned to enter the bar, he glanced lightly.

A figure by the window caught his eye, as if the stage curtain had been drawn, and the only spotlight was on the protagonist.

It was just a back view, but he knew who it was. Perhaps because the heating inside the shop was sufficient, the man’s coat was draped over the back of the chair, wearing only a thin gray sweater, an attire Gu Wenxi had seen many times before.

Du Yunyan, why would he be here?

In less than half a minute, another figure approached gracefully and sat opposite him.

Gu Wenxi recognized him at a glance. The young man who had just sat down was Yun Han.

Since he was facing away, Gu Wenxi couldn’t see Du Yunyan’s expression, but he could make out Yun Han’s appearance fairly well; he was smiling and talking incessantly.

Was Du Yunyan here in S City to see him?

Gu Wenxi didn’t believe Du Yunyan would completely leave Pingliang Village. The most likely scenario was that he was simply visiting him. Even so, Gu Wenxi still felt a little disappointed. Du Yunyan hadn’t replied to his WeChat messages, let alone informed him of his whereabouts.

Didn’t he even think about seeing him while visiting Yun Han?

He stood there dazed for a moment, feeling a slight chill on his forehead. Looking up, he saw a fine rain weaving into a dense net, gently covering everything.

The rain wasn’t heavy, and it didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable on his skin.

“Gu ge, why aren’t you going in?”

Yu Luo held an umbrella over Gu Wenxi’s head. He had seen Gu Wenxi from across the street who had kept staring in a certain direction, but when he followed his gaze, he didn’t see anything special.”

Gu Wenxi shook his head. “Nothing, let’s go.”

The bar was large, with a raised stage in the middle. Unlike most establishments that only opened in the evening, this one opened in the afternoon, though the atmosphere was more like a café, far less lively than at night, and the stage was only open to guests in the evening.

Gu Wenxi followed You Luo to a booth not far from the stage.

“Hey, isn’t that Gu ge?”

The young man speaking had one hand propped on his knee and the other casually resting on the back of the sofa.

Gu Wenxi’s eyebrows twitched slightly, instinctively repulsed by his sarcastic tone.

This person was called Geng Ran, also a rich kid, but unlike the well-mannered children of the Gu family, he was ostentatious and rude, exuding an air of nouveau riche from his attire and manner of speaking.

Gu Wenxi didn’t have much contact with him and didn’t know he would be here. Not wanting to offend You Luo and a few other friends, he didn’t immediately leave, but he completely ignored Geng Ran, sitting down in the farthest position from him with a small “hmm”.

“Come on, Gu ge, what do you want to drink? Shouldn’t you have a driver picking you up?”

“No need,” Gu Wenxi took the drinks menu. “I can take a cab.”

Geng Ran rubbed his chin, not saying anything further.

The group took turns ordering, and soon the bartender brought everyone’s drinks. Gu Wenxi ordered a cocktail with a moderate alcohol content.

“Sorry, Gu ge,” You Luo noticed his dislike for Geng Ran and whispered to him, “I just mentioned it casually to him, didn’t expect him to insist on coming over to see you.”

“It’s fine.”

Gu Wenxi completely ignored people he didn’t like, without causing much trouble.

It was still early, and since the stage wasn’t open, the background music in the bar was relaxed and gentle folk tunes.

Gu Wenxi chatted with a few acquaintances while Geng Ran kept chatting with the young man next to him. You Luo said they were Geng Ran’s henchmen, and they had a pile of pistachio shells in front of them and empty glasses.

“Daytime is no good, too few people…” Geng Ran became more talkative after drinking a bit too much, the music was low, so his words were clearly audible. “I prefer the dancers at night… last time I met a girl, the way she moved her waist… and those legs…”

“Hey, Geng Ran, didn’t you get her phone number?”

The two of them huddled together, talking dirty, spouting vulgar words endlessly, falling into the ears of others.

“Phone number… that’s a matter of time. Let me tell you, these little girls nowadays like it a bit naughty. The less serious you are, the more they can’t forget—”

“That’s enough!”

A crisp “bang” sounded as Gu Wenxi forcefully placed his glass on the square table. The table fell silent as everyone looked at him, You Luo nervously pulling his sleeve, “Gu ge—”

Gu Wenxi’s gaze swept over Geng Ran and his henchmen like knives. “Are you done? Is there nothing else in your head?”

Geng Ran stared at him, then rubbed his chin, smacking his lips twice, laughing, “Gu ge, are you kidding? Are you starting to play the innocent card now? I heard that the young master of the Gu family changes women like he changes clothes—oh no, it wasn’t you who dumped her, it was your own best friend who betrayed you? Hahaha…”

You Luo desperately signaled to Geng Ran, who completely ignored him, continuing to provoke Gu Wenxi, “Gu ge, are you getting angry? Do you need to learn more from me?”

The people around them changed their expressions when they heard this. Gu Wenxi stood up from the sofa with a “huh”, strode over to Geng Ran’s side, and looked down at him.

“Do you want to fight?” Geng Ran tilted his neck, “I don’t mind. I’m used to fighting. What does it feel like for Mr. Gu, who is so refined, to know that his son is brawling outside?”

“You’re overthinking it,” Gu Wenxi also smiled, “I find it beneath me to fight with you.”

That Day’s gathering was a Dutch treat. He called the bartender, paid for his share, and said to a few friends he knew well, “Sorry, the atmosphere is too noisy. Let’s meet another day.”

After saying this, he ignored Geng Ran’s darkening face and walked out without looking back.

“Gu ge,” Yu Luo called out to him from behind, “I’m really sorry—”

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” after all, Yu Luo’s dad worked under Geng Ran’s dad, and Gu Wenxi didn’t want to make things difficult for him. “Can you handle him? If he causes trouble for your family, I can help you.”

“It’s okay, Gu ge, he won’t do anything to me, he’s just jealous of your popularity. Don’t worry about him.”

Gu Wenxi chuckled lightly, “I don’t need to compete with someone like him.”

“That’s good, oh by the way,” Yu Luo handed Gu Wenxi an umbrella, “the weather isn’t great, take this.”

“What about you?”

“I’m walking with the others anyway, I’ll use theirs.”

Gu Wenxi didn’t refuse much after hearing this, “Thanks.”

Actually, the rain had stopped already, and Gu Wenxi didn’t bother opening the umbrella. The slight discomfort with Geng Ran was insignificant to him. He planned to hail a cab across the street.

Before crossing the zebra crossing, he subconsciously glanced back at the cake shop. Du Yunyan and Yun Han were nowhere to be seen, the chairs by the window were empty, and the coats were taken away, as if no one had ever sat there.

He crossed the street with the crowd.

A small shop by the roadside had a speaker placed outside the door, and a few lines of a song drifted out, familiar but he couldn’t recall it immediately.

“Beyond the curtain of the willows stirs a sudden rain, the doorknob stirs a copper green.

And as I passed by that Jiangnan town, I stirred you.

In the ink-splashed landscape painting,

You were hidden away in the depths of the ink.

The sky’s blue awaits the rain, and I await you.

Smoke rises from the kitchen, a thousand miles across the river.

…”

He entered his location into the ride-hailing app on his phone, humming along with the tune in his heart. After repeating the climax of the melody twice, he finally remembered it was an old song with a classical flavor—probably “Blue and White Porcelain” from about ten years ago.

Back when he listened to it, he didn’t feel much, just found the lyrics strange, and never delved into what “sky’s blue” meant or why it had to wait for the rain.

Listening to the melody now, he unconsciously looked up, gazing at the clear sky that had just emerged above the tall buildings.

The rain had passed, and the sky was blue.

His eyes suddenly became warm and moist.