Liang Ruixi didn’t go to Zhou Yan’s law firm. He sent Zhou Yan a message and went straight to the bar.
The subway on a weekend day wasn’t as crowded as during peak weekdays, and there were a few empty seats on the benches, but Liang Ruixi still habitually stood, holding onto the pole. Outside the train, a series of advertisements flashed by, blurring into a dynamic slideshow due to the high speed. One segment was a large women’s clothing advertisement.
Looking at the shoes worn by the female model, Liang Ruixi remembered a pair of fur-trimmed shoes he had bought for Xie Wenmu. They were from a department store counter, not a particularly famous brand, and cost over five hundred yuan, yet Xie Wenmu only wore them for half a winter.
It wasn’t that he wanted to compare who was superior between Zhou Yan and Xie Wenmu; Xie Wenmu came from a wealthy family, so it was understandable for her to be particular about material things. The strange one was Zhou Yan, after all, he wasn’t a pauper.
A worn-out pair of slippers, kept for seven years…
An indescribable, subtle feeling welled up in Liang Ruixi’s heart again.
The sun, around four or five in the afternoon, was a bit dazzling. Liang Ruixi pushed open the bar door and saw Jiang Cheng wiping bottles on the liquor cabinet.
“Need help?” Liang Ruixi asked.
“No!” Jiang Cheng saw him and was as nervous as if he’d seen a robber, hugging an expensive bottle of plum wine in his arms. “Last time I let you help, you dropped a bottle of my ‘Crushed Gold Plum Wine’. I haven’t forgotten that!”
Liang Ruixi poured himself a soda and no longer meddled. Jiang Cheng finished wiping and came down, asking, “Aren’t you working tomorrow? Why are you here?”
“Just chilling,” Liang Ruixi replied. Normally, he wouldn’t go to the bar on a weekend. Singing two nights in a row and then working on Monday might be too much for him.
He asked Jiang Cheng to mix him a drink, then leaned on the bar, sipping slowly and zoning out. A moment later, he couldn’t help but say, “Hey, let me ask you something.”
“What?”
“If you had a friend who kept something you gave him for many, many years, would you find that strange?”
“It depends on what it is,” Jiang Sheng replied, pondering. “If you gave me a box of gold bars, and I wasn’t dirt poor, I’d probably keep it forever.”
“No,” Liang Ruixi gave him an example, “Let’s say, seven years ago you gave me a pair of socks, and I haven’t thrown them away to this day, wearing them every year. Then you come to my house and see them…”
Jiang Cheng’s face contorted: “You’re probably a pervert, aren’t you?”
Liang Ruixi: “Who are you calling a pervert?!”
Jiang Cheng said with disgust, “Can that even still be worn…?”
Liang Ruixi took a sip of his drink, then after a moment, said, “What if it was a pair of shoes?”
Jiang Cheng rubbed his chin: “If the quality was good, then maybe. Like limited-edition sneakers, even if they got old, I might not throw them away.”
Liang Ruixi: “Just slippers, the kind you can buy for twenty or thirty yuan.”
“Ah, this,” Jiang Cheng really wanted to complain but was afraid Liang Ruixi would explode, so he could only comment from his perspective, “Maybe they’re just really comfortable to wear?”
“Right…” Liang Ruixi’s tone softened, as if he had found a reason to convince himself.
“But if the shoes only cost twenty or thirty yuan, I’d probably choose to buy a new pair.” Jiang Cheng added.
Liang Ruixi sighed. That’s right, that’s what he thought too! A keychain is one thing, but who the hell wears a pair of slippers for seven years? Liang Ruixi couldn’t help but want to buy four or five new pairs and send them to Zhou Yan… Seriously, being nostalgic is one thing, but a buddy doesn’t need to be that shabby.
Jiang Cheng quietly leaned in, asking with a gossipy tone, “Don’t tell me Zhou Yan kept a pair of your slippers for seven years?”
Liang Ruixi almost choked, instantly raising his hand to hit him. “Who told you it was Zhou Yan? Why are you guessing blindly?!”
Jiang Sheng: “…Damn it, I was just asking, why’d you hit me!”
Because it was Sunday, Liang Ruixi didn’t stick to his usual opening hours. When it was time, he just went up and sang two songs, not rushing to leave.
After getting off stage, he was about to grab another drink when he overheard a man at a nearby table by the bar bragging, “Do you know why that rich lady I’m dating now broke up with her ex-boyfriend? I heard it’s because he couldn’t perform in that area… I nearly died laughing! She even said she was a bit reluctant to let him go because her ex was really handsome and treated her well. Actually, I saw him from a distance when I drove her that day; he looked pretty good, he could even be compared to the guy who just sang on stage. But so what? She still prefers someone like me, right?”
“Hahaha, you’re really something.” His male friend across from him chuckled obscenely.
Liang Ruixi’s body tensed up at those words. He squinted for a moment, vaguely recognizing the bragging man as the driver who waited for Xie Wenmu the night she broke up with him.
He then heard the man utter a few more vulgar comments, implying that his girlfriend had already been tricked into bed by him before their breakup, his words full of boastfulness and triumph.
Liang Ruixi felt the veins throb on his forehead as he listened. Before he knew it, he had grabbed a bottle of sparkling water and was walking toward that table. A few seconds later, with a crash, glasses on the table shattered, splashing both men with drinks.
The man who had just been bragging enthusiastically immediately jumped up from his chair, enraged. “F*ck! What are you doing!”
“My hand slipped, my bad.” Liang Ruixi said, smiling sinisterly from the side.
The man caught the provocation in Liang Ruixi’s eyes, stared at his face for a couple of seconds, quickly recognized him, and laughed. “So it’s you!”
Liang Ruixi glanced at the man’s crotch and retorted with the same vulgarity the man had used earlier: “You’re all wet. Want to take it off so this young master can see how impressive you are down there?”
“You!” The man clearly couldn’t stand such an insult, and he swung his fist at Liang Ruixi.
Liang Ruixi swiftly seized the man’s wrist, then yanked hard, bringing his knee up to heavily strike the man’s “pride and joy.”
“Ah—!” The man screamed, clutching the spot and collapsing like a rag doll.
His friend tried to help, but Liang Ruixi kicked him in the abdomen, sending him staggering back, clutching his stomach.
The bar wasn’t big, and the commotion caused some panic among the customers. Fortunately, Jiang Cheng spoke up in time: “What’s all this ruckus?!” He was solidly built, over 1.8 meters tall, and his voice was loud and rough. His roar was truly imposing.
Xiao Ding also heard the commotion and immediately grabbed two iron rods from the storage room, handing one to Jiang Cheng and intending to give the other to Liang Ruixi.
Liang Ruixi waved his hand, raising his voice: “It’s nothing. My hand slipped, and I accidentally bumped this guy’s table, and these two tried to lay hands on me. Guests are guests, but I won’t stoop to your level. If you know what’s good for you, get lost right now. Otherwise…”
Without him needing to say more, Jiang Cheng and Xiao Ding grabbed their iron rods and came around from behind the bar, standing one on each side behind him, like two guardian bodyguards.
The two men saw the situation was unfavorable to them, their expressions and movements filled with caution. In truth, if they thought about it carefully, they were the ones who had said such things in front of the rightful owner first, so they weren’t in the right. But the man still couldn’t swallow his anger. He cursed and grumbled as he got up, and before leaving, he spat at Liang Ruixi, scoffing, “What the hell are you pretending for! You are incapable, that’s just how it is!” After cursing, as if afraid that Jiang Cheng and Xiao Ding would swing their iron rods and beat him, he quickly ran off.
Jiang Cheng told Xiao Ding to clean up the table, then publicly announced an 80% discount on all drinks for the night, quickly calming the other customers present.
Once the commotion died down, Jiang Cheng asked Liang Ruixi, “Why did you suddenly get violent? Do you have a personal grudge against those two?”
“Nothing, I just couldn’t stand them.” Liang Ruixi naturally didn’t feel comfortable telling the truth.
His temples throbbed. Although he had vented some anger, he still felt stifled, so he picked up his glass and took another gulp of his drink.
Jiang Cheng mused beside him, puzzled, “Ai, I haven’t seen you fight in years. I thought you’d changed, but it looks like our Rui Ge still has his old wild streak.”
Liang Ruixi frowned slightly. He had just broken two glasses and a bottle of sparkling water and caused the bar’s revenue to drop for the night. He didn’t think his actions were very rational.
But he just couldn’t help himself.
Following the commotion, Liang Ruixi had no further desire to linger at the bar. He said goodbye to Jiang Cheng and headed home.
On the subway, he pulled out his phone, found Xie Wenmu’s profile, typed a few sentences in the chat box, and then deleted them all. They had already broken up; there was truly nothing left to say. Still, he found it quite laughable. He had previously sympathized with Zhou Yan for being cheated on, but he never expected that he himself was the one who had been wronged…
“We have arrived at Baichuan Road, the left door is open. Please watch your step when exiting the train…”
Following the late-returning crowd out of the subway station, Liang Ruixi’s first action upon arriving home was to throw all the items associated with Xie Wenmu into the downstairs recycling bin. This included the shower gel and shampoo Xie Wenmu had bought and all the unopened cosmetics and lipsticks, as if he wanted to make a complete break with the past.
After discarding the items, Liang Ruixi went to the supermarket to buy some new daily necessities. When choosing detergent, his hand paused, and he subconsciously picked the jasmine-scented one, also grabbing a bar of jasmine soap. Back home, he tossed a week’s worth of clothes into the washing machine and opened the new laundry detergent, but then he frowned. This scent was completely different from what he smelled at Zhou Yan’s place, and the soap also had a very unnatural, artificial fragrance.
Liang Ruixi forlornly shook the water from his hands, exited the bathroom, and slumped onto the sofa.
Perhaps it was the few extra gulps of hard liquor at the bar, but he felt his stomach begin to ache faintly again.
Liang Ruixi endured for a moment before getting up to find his stomach medicine. After taking it, his phone vibrated, and Zhou Yan’s chat popped up.
Zhou Yan: “Was the bubble tea left for me?”
Liang Ruixi had left one cup of bubble tea on the coffee table when he left that afternoon. It was now 10:30 PM, so Liang Ruixi wondered, “Are you just finishing up?”
Zhou Yan: “You said you left, so I just kept working at the law firm.”
Liang Ruixi was speechless: “You don’t do this when Xiao Zhi comes to find you, do you?”
The ‘typing’ indicator kept showing above the chat box. A moment later, Zhou Yan sent four words: “She never came.”
Liang Ruixi naturally assumed Xiao Zhi hadn’t visited Zhou Yan since he moved there. Thinking back to when Zhou Yan was at Yintian, where he was probably just as busy, Liang Ruixi added another reasonable reason for him being dumped in his mind.
Liang Ruixi: “Honestly, what kind of girl can put up with a boyfriend working overtime day and night…”
He was a little glad he left early. Zhou Yan was so busy with work; he might have disturbed Zhou Yan if he had stayed.
Just as he was about to put down his phone, Zhou Yan replied again: “It’s my problem. Next time you come, I’ll clear my schedule to spend time with you.”
Liang Ruixi: “……” ???
Liang Ruixi placed his phone face down on the sofa and stared blankly for a while. Images of being with Zhou Yan reappeared in his mind.
Zhou Yan picking him up from the bar, the two of them eating old duck vermicelli soup together, roughhousing in bed, going out for food after waking up…
Being with Zhou Yan felt truly warm and comforting.
He couldn’t help but wonder, if he had passed the judicial exam three years ago, would he be working with Zhou Yan now? Maybe they’d even be renting a place together, living together. That way, he wouldn’t have wanted to find a girlfriend, and he wouldn’t have suffered this kind of pain today either.
……
Liang Ruixi vigorously shook his head, casting aside his absurd thoughts.
They were both men, so how could they not look for girlfriends?
Besides, Zhou Yan had only broken up with Xiao Zhi; he hadn’t said he wouldn’t date girls again in the future.
Although, after what happened today, he himself probably had PTSD about finding a girlfriend…
The author has something to say:
[Little Interlude]
Zhou Yan: Ai, he’s been cheated on this badly and still hasn’t wised up.
