Night fell as expected, and our bodies, tired from the day’s work, finally found release. In this vast city, the night brought us endless loneliness, but also allowed us to indulge freely. Perhaps only at night could we reveal our true selves, experiencing pain and pleasure in reality, and helplessly watching our youth gradually being swallowed up by the relentless flow of time…
Because of Le Yao, Chen Jingming’s A4 had become my private car these past few days. After ending my call with Robben, I drove to the hotel to pick up Le Yao, and then headed straight to CC’s “Empty City Music Themed Restaurant”.
By the time we arrived, Robben, carrying my guitar, appeared at the entrance of the alley on his modified racing motorcycle.
After parking the car, Le Yao and I got out, one after the other. Seeing Robben, Le Yao was very happy and greeted him from afar.
As they approached each other, Robben put his arm around Le Yao’s shoulder and joked, “Long time no see, big shot Le!”
Le Yao didn’t mind Robben’s arm around her shoulder. She looked at the guitar behind him and asked, “Big shot Robben, are you planning to sing tonight?”
“This is Zhao Yang’s guitar.”
Le Yao then looked at me and asked, “Are you planning to improvise a few songs later?”
I nodded and said, “Yeah, it’s been a long time since I sang in CC’s restaurant. I miss the days when I used to perform here.”
“Why do I feel sour when I hear the word ‘miss’?” Robben said.
Le Yao echoed, “Because missing is shameful. We both look forward, right, Robben?”
Robben nodded, “Makes sense. Only Zhao Yang still occasionally indulges in the shame of looking back.”
I smiled. At this moment, Robben and Le Yao’s teasing of me seemed more like a cover-up and evasion. But I wouldn’t expose them. No matter how perfect his disguise in front of others, when the night is quiet, all the disguises he painted to cover up will still be torn apart, because the night dislikes pretentious people the most.
The three of us chatted and laughed as we walked through the dark alley towards CC’s restaurant.
As we pushed open the door of the restaurant, the first thing we heard was CC’s familiar singing. This time she was singing a song by Xu Wei called “Time”. She was so engrossed in her singing that she didn’t notice our arrival.
We didn’t disturb CC, but just found a corner to sit down and listen to this song “Time”, which evoked many feelings in us.
When CC sang the line “You are the most beautiful spring in my memory, the yesterday I can never return to”, Robben and I almost simultaneously took out a cigarette and lit it. I didn’t know what Robben was feeling at the moment, but my heart was filled with nostalgia for the past. I wished I could return to that spring, dive into her river, and swim to the end of love…
The applause was intermittent, and it was then that I realized that the song “Time” had ended in the quiet passage of time. I looked up at CC on the small stage. She had already put down her guitar and almost at the same time noticed our arrival. Her eyes were full of surprise, of course, her surprise was due to Robben, not me and Le Yao.
CC walked towards us with a smile, calling the waiter to bring us drinks and menus.
Robben didn’t react much to CC’s arrival. He just continued to smoke and tune his guitar.
CC stood next to Robben for a long time before saying, “Long time no see, Robben.”
“Sit down, let’s have a few drinks.” Robben said, making room for CC, but his tone was flat and emotionless.
CC nodded and sat down next to Robben, also lit a cigarette and asked Robben, “How have you been lately?”
“Pretty good.”
Faced with Robben’s perfunctory answer, CC looked helpless. But Robben had always been like this to her, and she had no way to change it. She then fell silent.
The waiter brought the drinks and beverages first. We each filled our glasses and the three of us started chatting, leaving Robben out.
CC flicked the ash from her cigarette and asked me, “Zhao Yang, why didn’t you bring your girlfriend to hang out today?”
I was taken aback before answering, “She’s pretty busy, always busy.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Le Yao and Robben both asked me at the same time, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
At this point, I kind of regretted telling CC that Mi Cai was my girlfriend. But people tend to think in a certain way. I introduced Mi Cai as my “girlfriend” to Circle and Jian Wei, so I continued to introduce her as such to CC.
“Sort of.” I replied vaguely.
Robben didn’t seem to care much about my having a girlfriend. He took a sip of his drink and didn’t ask any more questions. But Le Yao was very interested and asked, “Who is it, Zhao Yang?”
“You’ve met her.” I said, raising my glass to Le Yao in an attempt to divert her attention.
But Le Yao ignored me, thought for a moment, and said, “Is it that woman who paid your fine at the police station last time?”
“You guess.” I said, picking up the guitar that Robben had tuned and walking towards the small stage on the opposite side, fearing that Le Yao would keep asking.
Just as I sat down on the chair on the stage, Robben also stood on the stage with me. We looked at each other, both helpless. I was afraid of Le Yao’s questioning, and Robben was afraid of facing CC.
Robben asked the sound engineer for a microphone, then told the band behind him, “Let’s do ‘Don’t Break My Heart’ by Black Panther.”
The band found the key and signaled to us. Robben and I gave them an OK gesture, then closed our eyes and lost ourselves in the prelude of the song.
I was so engrossed in the song that I kept my eyes closed until the end. When I opened my eyes and instinctively looked at the seats we had just been sitting in, I was surprised to find that Mi Cai had somehow come to the restaurant. She was sitting with CC, applauding for Robben and me, and the customers’ eyes were also drawn to them.It’s already rare to see a beauty, but at this moment, Mi Cai, Le Yao, and CC sitting together naturally amplified the beauty effect, attracting the eyes of the diners. However, I was feeling anxious under this beauty effect, fearing that CC would introduce Mi Cai to Le Yao as my girlfriend, and then Mi Cai would embarrassingly expose the lie, which would make me lose face big time!
I handed the guitar to Robben, signaling him to continue, and hurriedly walked off the stage to the three women. Just as I was about to speak, Le Yao said to me, “I’ll take your shift, it’s been a long time since I’ve collaborated with big shot Robben.” After saying that, she walked towards the small stage.
I sat down next to Mi Cai, and while CC’s attention was on the stage, I lowered my voice and asked Mi Cai, “How did you find this place? Didn’t I promise you that I would help you get rid of those damn cockroaches when I have time? Why are you in such a hurry?”
Mi Cai looked at me as if I was an idiot, and after a while, she asked, “Do you think I came here to find you?”
Only then did I realize how self-centered I was in my nervousness. I remembered that Mi Cai once told me that she really liked CC’s restaurant, so naturally, she would come to eat, so today was purely a coincidence.
To ease my embarrassment, I thick-skinnedly asked Mi Cai, “The song I just sang, ‘Don’t Break My Heart’, was pretty good, right?”
“The man next to you sang very well, I didn’t pay attention to you.” Mi Cai spoke to me, but her chin was resting on her hand as she watched Robben on the stage, seemingly looking forward to Robben’s next song.
I clutched my chest, twisted my face, and made a painful expression, saying, “Oh, dear, my heart hurts so much. I’m your boyfriend, you can’t treat me like this, my heart is broken!”
“Boring.”
Mi Cai’s attitude made me breathe a sigh of relief. If she had bluntly exposed me, it would definitely not be as simple as just saying “boring.”
I picked up the glass and took a sip of beer, then also turned my attention to the small stage, waiting for Le Yao and Robben’s duet.
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