Chapter Seven, It Seems Like an Old Friend Has Come

As you wish

Some of those who were originally walking away turned their heads upon hearing the sound, and several members of the band displayed expressions of surprise as they looked towards An Yuan. However, her gaze remained fixed solely on that shadowy spot, where the glowing ember of a cigarette burned faintly red

Behind the bustling crowd, a black Maserati was parked on the outskirts. The window rolled down, revealing a man inside with a chiseled profile. An Yuan caught sight of him at first glance, which nearly caused her to forget her lines. In that moment of distraction, when she looked up again, the car had vanished.

Jing Fuzhou lowered his head, noticing a faint lipstick mark on the white porcelain cup. He had thought she wasn't wearing any makeup today, but it turned out she had applied lipstick. An Yuan was seriously biting into the meat on the skewer, seemingly unaware that the cup bore her trace, yet he knew that she was once again teasing him mischievously.

"I can't. " An Yuan smiled faintly, her gaze ambiguous as she looked at him: "I wouldn't dare to drink in front of you; what if I got drunk? That would be too dangerous"

When flowers bloom, they should be picked without delay

But she refused to speak, and he had no right to ask

These subtle thoughts are naturally beyond his imagination. Her eyes gazed at him as if they could see through the autumn waters. Her lyrics are always full of implications, she sings: "I have a flower, its fragrance fills the branches, who will sincerely seek the blooming cluster. The flower does not bloom for long, it must be picked while it is ripe, a woman is like a flower, a flower is like a dream..."

She also grinned in response to him, but her face was simply too young and unmade up, making her look like a pretentious blonde girl when she teased: "Hmm, quite a coincidence"

She quietly looked at him. He also quietly looked at her. Knowing full well that the ultimate goal was still to get her into bed, An Yuan suddenly realized and exclaimed, "Ah," before laughing and saying, "The women in the Drum Tower are not worth mentioning, right?"

Hmm? He pretended to be surprised and raised his eyebrows, he is quite a good actor

They got out of the car at the recent food stall. A Yang followed in to take a look around, then went to a nearby seat, no longer interrupting. An Yuan found their interaction quite interesting, and while waiting for the barbecue, she propped her chin on her hand and looked at Jing Fuzhou: "Is that your assistant?"

She always maintains a relationship with everyone that is neither too close nor too distant. Although she is just as young, she always appears to be burdened with worries. Xu Jun reached out and patted her shoulder, trying to become more intimate with her: "If you have any difficulties, you can talk to everyone. We are all like family in the band"

Only those willing will take the bait

Today, he wore a light gray shirt, which appeared desolate in this slightly chilly autumn day. Perhaps she has always misunderstood him; this man is assertive and domineering in other aspects, yet he is barren and insecure in matters of the heart. However, his insecurity is deeply concealed, and had it not been for that fleeting moment of eye contact, even An Yuan would not have been able to discover it.

He squinted his eyes, wanting to ask what danger it was, but felt that such a question was too dull. Just as he was pondering how to respond to her, she had already pushed the cup she had drunk from towards him: "Drink some juice, it's good for your health"

"I don't know, I started boarding school in middle school." An Yuan tilted her head back and took a big gulp of juice, still looking so indifferent, but there was already a noticeable impatience in her eyes. Jing Fuzhou knew that a significant part of her past must have been unpleasant, so he nodded and changed the subject: "Do you want to order some beer?"

This remark is too intimate; there should not be such closeness between them. An Yuan did not say anything, but reached out to hand him a skewer. The iron skewer had a sharp tip, coated in oil, yet it still gleamed with sharpness. Jing Fuzhou smiled slightly, as if reproaching his own child, saying: "When handing something to someone, do not present the sharp end towards them; it is impolite"

He stepped out from the shadows, the faint moonlight casting a glow upon his shoulders, making him feel that at this moment, he was perhaps as clean as anyone else. Xu Jun's gaze also fell upon him, filled with scrutiny and deep distrust. The animosity between men can stem from many reasons, but now, there is only one reason, and that is An Yuan

It felt like an illusion. Her heart was lifted high, then floated down with an ethereal sense of detachment. Xu Jun signaled to her with his eyes, and only then did she come to her senses, lowering her gaze to her guitar, suppressing the evident expectations and disappointments in her eyes.

Jing Fuzhou nodded slightly and turned to look at her classmates: "Shall we go together?"

What is the youth of an ordinary girl? It is unrequited love or romance, it is sweetness and bitterness. It is the mistakes of yesterday that can be forgiven and forgotten in the blink of a smile. But he is not like that; he has always lived on thin ice. He is a person from another world. Before being born, God chose for him a path full of thorns. If he does not run towards the other shore, he will see the cliff.

How is the remuneration calculated

Even though he knew, he still came

She and he are people from two different worlds. He has no intention of disturbing the purity of the other world, nor does he expect anyone to lend him a hand. An Yuan is clever; those little provocations can easily tug at the strings of his heart. Yet she is also foolish, having provoked the one person she should not have.

For some reason, Xu Jun felt that An Yuan might not be someone of her age. Behind her flower-like face, which was in full bloom, lay something he could not comprehend. It was not merely a simple secret; every girl of this age has her own secrets. It was clearly something heavier than a secret, weighing down on her to the point where she could hardly breathe, leaving her in a state of unbearable suffering

It is uncertain whether she overestimated herself or underestimated him

"I thought you would say I look like your dad." Jing Fuzhou's gaze fell on her lips, which were bright and enticing.

In fact, there isn't any specific work; it's just that when I need it, you can accompany me to some occasions. " Jing Fuzhou's hand was still resting on the cup, and the juice that had originally been iced was gradually warming up. An Yuan tilted her head to look at him and after a while asked: "Does this occasion include your bed?"

At that moment, her gaze seemed to penetrate into his soul, and then through his soul. As the song ended, people left in twos and threes. An Yuan, rare to smile at him, said playfully, "I sang Anita Mui for you, shouldn't you treat me to a night market meal now?"

Gazes meet in the stillness of the air, wishing for a moment of distraction, presented by the solitude of this unparalleled man. How could he be lonely? He has so many women, so much wealth, and so many brothers who willingly follow him. Yet he is indeed lonely, for he has never loved

"I am sorry, I do not have an accompaniment, I can only sing a cappella." An Yuan was also unaware of the source of the tenderness in her heart at that moment, whether it stemmed from the loneliness he could not conceal and which she had discovered, or from the almost absurd resonance between them. She did not sing a Cantonese song; instead, she sang the well-known "Woman Flower" that everyone was familiar with. Halfway through the night, this toxic, thorny flower of hers remained unpicked.

Amidst such negation and affirmation, Jing Fuzhou arrived at the square. It was only at the moment he stood on the periphery of the crowd that he realized he had already made a choice in his heart. That choice may not necessarily be love, but it could potentially evolve into love in the future. For a man who has danced on the edge of danger, this is indeed a grave matter, and he knew it from the very beginning

Several people waved their hands politely, and Jing Fuzhou also just offered a polite gesture. He turned to An Yuan and said, "Then let's go. After we finish eating, I will take you back to school."

When she said this, her tone was very淡, perhaps because time had passed, it no longer hurt particularly. Jing Fuzhou reached out to take it; the lamb was tender in his mouth, the meat was fresh and delicious. In fact, he had not eaten barbecue for many years, and he had long stopped coming to such open-air stalls. But he knew that a girl of eighteen or nineteen liked places like this, and he was willing to indulge her. With a slight curve of his lips, Jing Fuzhou asked, "Is your aunt and uncle good to you?" But he knew that a girl of eighteen or nineteen liked places like this, and he was willing to indulge her. With a slight curve of his lips, Jing Fuzhou asked, "Is your aunt and uncle good to you?"

He has not fallen in love with her, at least not yet

Her recent melancholy is apparent to anyone with keen insight. However, she used her health as an excuse to evade the issue, and Xu Jun felt it inappropriate to say more. He reminded her to take her medication and then escorted her back to the dormitory, where that slender figure stood at the door, waving goodbye to him.

A family

An was carrying the heavy guitar, following behind Jing Fuzhou, walking towards the black Maserati. Ah Yang had already rolled down the car window, and when he saw her, he grinned and said, "Miss An, we meet again"

You have been following you for many years, haven't you? An Yuan's gaze fell on A Yang; she was also aware of this person, having known for a long time. Jing Fuzhou was clearly unwilling to say too much, and just as things arrived, his topic naturally shifted: "Let go and eat, look at how thin you are."

This day marks the final performance, and men and women alike still gather in the square, passing the time around them. At the beginning of the show, Xu Jun announced that today is the last performance of the year, eliciting a collective sigh of reluctance from the audience

Holding the microphone, at first there was the sound of rustling air, and then a hoarse female voice slowly flowed through the air above the square: "I promised someone that if he comes to listen to me sing next time, I will sing my favorite Anita Mui for him"

Her playful game of feigned indifference ultimately led to her own retribution in the following period. Jing Fuzhou did not come, yet she continued to stand in the square every day singing, though she never sang any songs by Anita Mui

I have a flower, planted in my heart, poised to bloom with a subtle intention. Day after day, I earnestly await, for someone with a kind heart to enter my dreams

This week, she changes her outfit every day, never repeating the same one. She also applies light makeup, and when she sings with her eyes slightly closed, one can see the delicate, elongated eyeliner. On a certain evening after work, Xu Jun walked beside her; the young man had the purest voice in the world, untainted by tobacco and alcohol, clear and bright: "Anyuan, you have become more beautiful these past few days"

That is just right, he has a lot of money, so much that it cannot be spent. Jing Fuzhou pressed his lips together, lifting the cup marked with her lip print to his mouth, the faint imprint intimately touching his lips, a perfect match made in heaven.

... ... temporarily excluded

With a slight smile, Jing Fuzhou slowly walked up to An Yuan. She gazed deeply into his eyes, and with her voice hoarse, she uttered the final line: "Fate does not linger, like the spring breeze that comes and goes. A woman is like a flower, and a flower is like a dream"

At this point, her strategy of feigned indifference had reached its limit; from now on, no matter what he said, she would agree. This was an opportunity she had painstakingly planned for three months, and it could not be missed

Even at this moment, she did not forget to mock him. Jing Fuzhou chuckled, licked his dry lips, and seemed to lose some patience: "If you don't agree, then forget it."

As the last song came to an end, An Yuan turned her gaze towards the crowd, searching in vain. She licked her lips, knowing that this time she had lost; everything had been overturned and started anew, and the stakes had become even higher. She dared not think further, lowering her head to tidy up her guitar when suddenly her arm was bumped by Xu Jun, whose expression bore a hint of peculiarity: "An Yuan, is that the man who came looking for you last time?"

Jing Fuzhou leaned against the back of the chair and nodded casually: "About right"

An Yuan squinted her eyes, a smile reached the corners of her mouth but did not reach her eyes: "Thank you"

It is also unclear when it was, but there was a voice that said the same thing to her, stating that we are a family and that we will become an even closer family in the future. At that time, Anyuan was still young, so young that she took everything others said seriously. That promise was kept in her heart for years, only to collapse one evening.

He knew that she was an orphan, and she was even more aware of his knowledge. Licking her lips, An Yuan willingly cooperated with him: "Not only do I not have a father, but I also don't have a mother. They both died when I was ten years old, and I grew up with my aunt and uncle." As she spoke, she found the lamb skewers at this house to be very delicious, so she took another skewer and handed it to him, still presenting the sharp silver end towards him. Feeling his gaze, An Yuan recalled his lesson from a few minutes ago, turned her wrist, and kept the sharp end for herself: "You can't blame me for being rude, after all, I am an orphan." Then she took another skewer and handed it to him, still presenting the sharp silver end towards him. Feeling his gaze, An Yuan recalled his lesson from a few minutes ago, turned her wrist, and kept the sharp end for herself: "You can't blame me for being rude, after all, I am an orphan."

She was startled and turned to look. The crowd had gradually dispersed, and Jing Fuzhou stood in the shadows, holding a lit cigarette in his hand, yet he did not smoke it, merely pinching it between his fingers

"Your tone is very much like my uncle's." An Yuan bit into a piece of meat, with grease at the corners of her mouth, and that cold, clear face finally took on a touch of warm, lively charm

As the temperature gradually drops and the end of the term approaches, the band begins to discuss when they will stop performing, waiting for the arrival of spring to return here once again. Regarding such a decision, An Yuan has no right to refute it. She did not expect that Jing Fuzhou would really not come back; after all, she is still young and cannot outsmart such a man.

If he were to walk towards her, it would prove that from now on, Jing Fuzhou has developed his own Achilles' heel, no longer the invulnerable person he once was. Yet he deceives himself with arrogance, saying, how could a mere little girl possibly become my Achilles' heel?

"Anyuan, I have a job here, and I am not sure if you are willing to take it. The compensation is quite generous." He slowly rubbed the white porcelain cup with his hand, his sharply defined face facing her, exuding an undeniable powerful aura. Anyuan chewed on something, her brown pupils shifted as she looked at him, showing no fear: "Mr. Jing, if you say something like that to me again, I might just give you another shoulder throw in front of your assistant."

"I agree." An Yuan smiled, with something in her eyes that he could not comprehend: "Mr. Jing, I am actually in great need of money."

Today she wore a long white trench coat, and as she sang, her body swayed slightly, causing her shadow to become hazy. Jing Fuzhou placed a cigarette in his mouth, and with the sharpness that filled his lungs, her shadow wobbled its way into his heart. She is truly young, with abundant good times ahead. He has been contemplating these past few days whether or not to step into her youth.

An Yuan felt his gaze, pulled a tissue to wipe her mouth, and with a nonchalant expression said, "I don't have a dad"

She closed her eyes briefly, willing to break free from her memories. Before her was Xu Jun's handsome face, and she knew she could not approach such a wonderful young man: "It's nothing, perhaps it's just the recent drop in temperature, and I have a bit of a cold."