Chapter 12

Through a brightly lit corridor, Xia Li pushed open the door to the private room. Along with the warm air that rushed out from inside, there were several pairs of curious eyes.

Ouyang Jing, who had been sitting on the sofa, suddenly stood up, somewhat awkwardly grabbing Lin Qingxiao’s arm. Surprise was clearly written on her face.

Nie Chuhang approached and asked, “How did you all come up together?”

Xia Li replied, “We were just about to get some fresh air downstairs and happened to run into each other at the entrance.”

She didn’t mention how she almost turned back upon realizing she didn’t know the room number.

Among the friends Nie Chuhang had invited, there were two who had also participated in physics competitions and knew Yanshi from before. They greeted him and invited him to play cards together.

Yanshi gestured for them to go ahead and play while he settled in after just arriving.

Glancing around, he sat down at the far end of the long couch.

Xia Li noticed Ouyang Jing continuously glancing in Yanshi’s direction, hesitating. Eventually, she summoned the courage to sit down with Lin Qingxiao, three or four seats away.

Hearing Lin Qingxiao teasing Ouyang Jing with a smile, “You finally got him to come, and you don’t say a word?”

At this, Ouyang Jing seemed restless.

She adjusted her hair and long skirt, turned to Lin Qingxiao, and asked, “Do I look okay?”

Reaching for a can of cola on the coffee table, she took a deep breath, suddenly stood up, and walked towards Yanshi.

Even though it wasn’t her concern, Xia Li found herself inexplicably nervous, biting her lip as she stared at them intently.

Ouyang Jing handed the cola to Yanshi and asked with a smile, “Would you like something to drink?”

Yanshi just lifted his eyes slightly, glanced at the can of cola, but didn’t take it.

The standoff lingered for too long, and Ouyang Jing’s smile gradually faded.

“Thank you,” his voice was as cool as spring water, neither cold nor emotional.

After taking the can, he simply placed it back on the coffee table.

His demeanor made it clear he would not be opening that can of cola.

She looked visibly embarrassed, on the verge of tears.

However, Ouyang Jing smoothed her hair, smiled again, and asked, “Would you like to request a song?”

“Not right now. Thank you,” in the same tone as before.

As a bystander, Xia Li felt a vague pang of sympathy.

She thought, perhaps no one could withstand such rejection from Yanshi, not even someone as outstanding and confident as Ouyang Jing.

If it weren’t for the small favor she had lent Yanshi earlier with the MP3 player, she might have felt the same way.

Ouyang Jing said nothing more, turned back, and sat down next to Lin Qingxiao.

She buried her face in Lin Qingxiao’s shoulder and didn’t lift it for a long time.

Did she cry?

Xia Li didn’t know.

Yanshi never did engage in the lively atmosphere.

He always seemed detached from the noise.

In the private room, people sang, played cards, someone brought over dice to gamble a bit, harmless little thrills.

And Yanshi remained seated in the far corner of the long couch.

He pulled out an iPod from his down jacket pocket, put on his headphones, lowered his head, pressed a few buttons, then took off his jacket and placed the iPod in the hoodie pocket.

It was like he had constructed an invisible barrier, keeping everyone away.

Disappointed, Ouyang Jing sat there, Lin Qingxiao asked her to sing, but she wasn’t in the mood.

She had come dressed up, with a voice that could easily make it into the campus top ten, but tonight, it seemed useless.

Ouyang Jing’s parents were strict, and there was a curfew at home. By the time it was almost nine o’clock, she had to leave.

“Aren’t you going to sing a bit longer?” Lin Qingxiao stood up to see her off.

Ouyang Jing shook her head, glanced again towards Yanshi, half unwilling and half regretful, “My dad’s car is almost downstairs.”

“Then let me escort you downstairs.”

After seeing Ouyang Jing off, Lin Qingxiao returned to the private room, sat down beside Xia Li, and opened a bag of snacks from her bag.

As if sighing, she said, “It’s a good thing I don’t fancy anyone who’s that much of a big shot, or I’d be miserable too.”

Xia Li didn’t know what to say.

When you like someone who’s liked by many, feeling slighted is just losing, isn’t it?

She never felt slighted because she never expected any response from the other party from beginning to end.

“To be honest…” Lin Qingxiao turned her head to glance at Yanshi, who was actually quite far away, but she still lowered her voice slightly, “In a big city like Beicheng, who knows how many outstanding girls he’s seen? Can our little group really catch his eye?”

“…I don’t think he’s that arrogant of a person. He wouldn’t measure others based on whether he thinks they’re worthy,” Xia Li said earnestly, “I think he’s just genuinely not interested.”

Lin Qingxiao looked at her and laughed, “You sound like you understand him very well?”

Xia Li was so frightened by the sudden movement that she didn’t dare to move for a long time.

When she finally regained her senses, her “thieving heart” arose again.

She had been curious about this question for a long time, and now the opportunity was right in front of her.

After hesitating for a while, she finally tentatively leaned out a bit and looked at the iPod screen.

A English song was playing.

She took out her own phone, opened the message interface, and wrote down the song title and singer in the draft box.

The private room seemed to be divided into two worlds.

One side was lively and noisy, while the other was the corner where she and Yan Shi once sat.

She stared at the screen, recording more diligently than doing an English listening exercise.

One song after another.

She didn’t know how long passed when Lin Qingxiao walked over. Xia Li quickly turned off her phone screen and hid the secret she had peeked at.

“Why are you sitting here alone?” Lin Qingxiao sat down, opened a bottle of water, and gulped down most of it.

“…No, I’m chatting with Xu Ning on QQ.”

Her heart was still pounding, as if she had just gone through a major exam.

The private room was booked until ten o’clock, and it was almost over.

Lin Qingxiao still had a song in the queue. Xia Li couldn’t wait and got up to the jukebox to prioritize it.

Xia Li looked at the person sleeping beside her, hesitated for a moment, and gently touched his arm.

The guy slowly opened his eyes and took off one earphone.

“They seem to be preparing to close.” Xia Li said softly.

Yan Shi nodded and then put away the iPod.

Just before the jukebox system closed, someone queued up “Love Song King” and cut in.

The duration was twelve minutes, one sentence per person, vowing to bankrupt the business.

Several boys left early without joining the fun.

However, shortly afterward, they eagerly returned to the private room, “It’s snowing outside!”

Now no one was singing, everyone picked up their things, leaving behind a mess, and filed out.

Outside, the road and the flower beds were covered with a thin layer of white snow, which seemed to have been falling for a while.

Under the streetlight, the snow fell silently.

Yan Shi stood slightly ahead, hands in the pockets of his black down jacket, tilting his head slightly. The air around him was filled with tiny puffs of his breath.

“Does it often snow in the northern city?” Xia Li looked at his figure and suddenly spoke.

She didn’t know why she asked such a random question.

The concept of the North was so distant to her. Because of family reasons, she had never left the province and didn’t know what the outside world was like.

Yan Shi turned to look at her, as if confirming she was talking to him.

He nodded, “Do you like snow?”

“…Yes.”

“If you have a chance, you should visit the northern city.”

Perhaps Yan Shi was just casually continuing the conversation, but it became her long-standing wish afterwards.

To visit the northern city.

Later, in 2016, there was a very popular song, “My Nun Friend.”

Someone wrote in the comments:

“You unintentionally invite the mountain torrent, yet insist on standing alone.”

Snow fell on Yan Shi’s dark hair, which hadn’t been melted for a long time.

It seemed even the snow favored him more.

Xia Li felt a slight inexplicable pain in her heart.

A bit of white in the mortal world, countless lights.

Only a fragment of 2008 remained.

That day, she watched the snow with the boy she liked.