Chapter 9

Interesting.

This was the first time Xi Yu had ever taken the initiative to ask her out.

Yu Nianyi curved her lips faintly, keeping her expression perfectly composed. Her eyes shone as she smiled sweetly. “I do. Is Sister Xi asking me out on a date?”

Xi Yu’s expression didn’t change. She ignored Yu Nianyi’s casual flirtation and said evenly, “Where do university students usually go?”

Yu Nianyi smiled without answering, studying Xi Yu’s face. It seemed the blind date her parents had gone to such lengths to arrange had fallen through, and she needed somewhere to kill time.

At a time like this, if it were Yu Nianyi’s usual style, she’d definitely take someone somewhere that could set a flirtatious mood. Dim lighting, mellow music, a slightly tipsy drink, bodies brushing without quite touching, and a show of heart-to-heart talk after drinking could all move a relationship forward by leaps and bounds.

“At this hour, my friends and I usually go have a drink,” Yu Nianyi said, staring at Xi Yu’s properly seated posture. The back seat wasn’t very spacious; Xi Yu had her legs together, and the expensive-looking coat draped all the way down to the floor mat, yet she seemed completely unconcerned.

Xi Yu gave a quiet acknowledgment and said offhandedly, “Then let’s do as you said; take me where you want to go.”

She seemed unwilling to say anything more. As soon as the words fell, she turned to look out the window, still as a statue.

Yu Nianyi couldn’t see her expression, only the graceful bun at the back of her head. A few strands had slipped free from the updo and rested lightly against the white collar.

That faint, elusive fragrance lingered around her, mixed with a deliberately chosen perfume that didn’t quite match Yu Nianyi’s impression of her, as if it had been sprayed on before she came out.

So she really did take this meeting seriously.

Yu Nianyi leaned back against the seat, crossed her legs in open disregard for anyone else in the car, and the smile at her lips faded a little. A trace of weariness crept into her expression; even the bar they were headed to no longer seemed very interesting.

The car went up onto the overpass. Through the window, the brilliantly lit high-rises stood facing one another in the distance; the tall streetlights slid backward one after another, and the snow that had just been drifting gently through the air now seemed to come down more urgently. It was getting heavier and heavier.

Neither of them spoke in the car. Yu Nianyi fiddled with her phone for a while, and after the car had been moving for some time, it finally pulled over.

She tucked her phone back into her pocket, shook off the slightly listless mood she’d been in, and got out.

Xi Yu looked around, hands in her coat pockets, and stepped up the stairs in elegant high heels.

Yu Nianyi hurried over and carefully took hold of Xi Yu’s sleeve, smiling. “Sister Xi, it’s not easy to walk in high heels, and it’s snowing too; the road’s slippery. Since I brought you here, I should make sure you’re safe.”

Xi Yu nodded and didn’t pull her hand away. “Thank you.”

The two of them exchanged polite words as they walked toward a bar called Entropy Realm. They stopped at the entrance; Xi Yu glanced at the sign overhead and followed Yu Nianyi inside.

The interior was dim and quiet. They passed through a silent corridor. At the far end, there was a light installation in red, yellow, blue, and white; the glaring colors stretched and pulled toward the dark sides, carrying a secret kind of beauty.

Yu Nianyi turned right along the light and passed the tightly closed private rooms on both sides, heading straight into the softly flickering main hall.

This place was larger and more expansive than the outside suggested. Under staggered crystal lamps, the bar sat in the center; a pale blue cold light shone precisely over the countless delicacies and hard liquor, and a bartender in a sharp suit stood before it, with a few well-proportioned women seated there.

Below the bar were scattered tables, with semi-transparent glass panels intersecting among them; dark red light traced their lines, subtly separating the seats.

Yu Nianyi looked at the tables and asked whether Xi Yu would be all right sitting there.

Xi Yu didn’t answer, only swept her gaze around the room.

Beyond the scattered tables, to the right of the bar, was a semi-enclosed booth. The edge of the high-end black sofa was outlined by warm yellow light, illuminating the few silhouettes seated there.

Reading Xi Yu’s expression, Yu Nianyi vaguely felt that someone like Xi Yu, used to fine food and luxury, probably wouldn’t like a cramped seat. She asked the staff, only to learn that all the private rooms had already been reserved. In the end, the two of them came to the booth.

Xi Yu ordered a very light drink; according to the bartender, it was called Experience. Yu Nianyi had only been here a second time and didn’t really understand these things, so she ordered something that looked nice as well. Its alcohol content was much higher than Xi Yu’s.

Xi Yu took off her white coat and leaned back on the sofa, checking her phone from time to time before turning the screen off again.

The music that had been mellow a moment ago suddenly picked up. Under the fierce, driving rhythm, the melody was like violent snow whirling through the air—sharp, hidden, and impassioned.

Yu Nianyi sat in the darkness, openly staring at Xi Yu’s face without the slightest restraint.

The overhead lights in the corridor cast some cold white light this way; Xi Yu sat straight with perfect posture. The light made her expressionless face even clearer, and the shadow of her glasses fell across her pale, translucent cheek, making the temperature around them seem to drop a little more.

The only thing that gave her any warmth was the few strands of black hair at her neck. The wisps curved down, sliding along Xi Yu’s collarbone and sinking into the hollow there, making it impossible to look away.

That pungent perfume had also gradually faded, and Yu Nianyi could smell the familiar clean scent again. The interest that had just settled down rose once more with the music; she narrowed her eyes, the amusement in them growing stronger.

Yu Nianyi stood and moved to Xi Yu’s right side. “Sister Xi, did you see the light painting at the end of the corridor when we first came in?”

Xi Yu lifted her eyelids and looked at Yu Nianyi, who was smiling brightly under the cold light, foxlike in her expression. “Mm. What about it?”

Yu Nianyi picked up the drink on the table and, under Xi Yu’s gaze, slowly took a big sip. Then she leaned back again, her thigh pressing precisely between Xi Yu’s gray suit pant legs. “Its style is based on Mondrian’s Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue. Put into a somewhat dim environment, it’s unexpectedly eye-catching.”

“Yes. The geometric divisions make the visual balance very stable. The primary colors of red, yellow, and blue use only a small amount of yellow to achieve the ideal focal point, and the white space also fits the name of the shop.”

She seemed much easier to understand than at the restaurant earlier.

Yu Nianyi widened her eyes in obvious surprise. Under the light, her long golden hair shone dazzlingly; the smile on her face was lively and seductive. “Sister Xi is amazing! I didn’t expect you to know all that specialized knowledge. Looks like you really do study art works a lot; suddenly it feels like we’ve gotten much closer!”

Xi Yu turned her head slightly and, without a trace, glanced at Yu Nianyi’s increasingly close thigh. The slightly stiff fabric brushed lightly against hers, even carrying a faint heat.

“Recently I’ve been painting a very interesting piece. If Sister Xi has time, or when we head back later, you can come to my place and take a look.” Yu Nianyi’s eyes and brows shifted subtly; every look and smile was full of inexplicable affection. Her gaze was drawn out with threadlike softness, hooking at people, sticky and lingering. “This painting has something to do with Sister Xi too, so you absolutely have to see it.”

Xi Yu lowered her eyes slightly. Her calm gaze landed on Yu Nianyi’s face, which was full of little winks and expressions. “Is that so?”

Yu Nianyi nodded solemnly and took another hard gulp of her drink, answering in a cheerful mood, “Yes.”

At ten o’clock that night, the overhead lights in the corridor suddenly went out. The surging, urgent music abruptly slowed; the melody became gentle and delicate, while the mingled scents of perfume and alcohol in the air gradually turned the atmosphere ambiguous.

The two of them sat in the dark. Xi Yu lifted one leg to rest over the other, naturally picked up the drink on the table for a sip, then set it back down in a relaxed manner.

Yu Nianyi kept her posture unchanged; her left palm pressed firmly into the gap between the two of them on the sofa. The upholstery beneath her hand was a little warm, quietly seeping into her palm. She drained the drink on the table in one go, then suddenly sighed, tilted her head, and collapsed hard onto Xi Yu’s right shoulder.

“...Ah... I feel so dizzy...”

Xi Yu didn’t move at all; her shoulder steadily supported Yu Nianyi’s head. Her fingers, resting on her lap, tapped rhythmically one beat at a time. Her eyes, hidden in the dark, swept over Yu Nianyi’s endlessly speaking pale pink lips before naturally looking away. “Uncomfortable?”

Yu Nianyi closed her eyes, gripping Xi Yu’s sleeve tightly, and deliberately furrowed her brow, her voice hoarse. “Mm... just dizzy... I didn’t expect it to be this strong. Actually, I don’t hold my liquor that well...”

“I drank a little too fast just now; it hit me all at once...”

“Then should I send you home now?”

Xi Yu’s steady voice came from beside her, carrying a faint note of inquiry.

Yu Nianyi placed a hand over her brows and eyes, trying to hide the slowly curling corners of her mouth. Her voice was light and coy, her words slurred with feigned confusion. “Mm... then I’ll trouble Sister Xi...”

“You know where I live. Fifth floor, 503...”

A server came over to ask the two of them to settle the bill.

Yu Nianyi was helped up by Xi Yu with one hand and suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to pay before pretending to be drunk. Looking at it this way, she really did seem like she’d deliberately tried to skip out on the bill and was just faking the drunkenness.

She squeezed her eyes shut and imagined that she really was drunk, turning a deaf ear to the conversation between the two of them.

“Wait a moment.” Xi Yu’s flat voice sounded beside her. Then Yu Nianyi felt a hand suddenly wrap around her waist and settle there securely; the support from her arm vanished all at once, and she was forced into Xi Yu’s embrace. That familiar, refreshing scent grew even stronger.

Footsteps approached. The server asked, “Ma’am, would you like some help?”

Even with her eyes closed, Yu Nianyi could still sense the unfamiliar gaze landing on her.

A few seconds of silence passed around them; the melodious music continued unabated, and the night had only just begun.

“No, thank you.” It took a long while before Xi Yu’s voice came.

Then the touch at Yu Nianyi’s lower back disappeared and returned once more to her arm.

Yu Nianyi opened her eyes to a narrow slit at the right moment, secretly observing through the gap. Xi Yu was walking on her left, one arm carrying the white coat while the other supported Yu Nianyi by the arm.

On the right, at some point, a female server in a suit had come over and was carefully supporting her right arm.

“Sober now?”

The familiar, utterly flat voice suddenly sounded from the upper left.