Gaokao results weren’t coming out until the twenty-something, still about two weeks away.

The summer job was really just about stacking up some starting capital. At the end of the day, money was the only thing that mattered right now.

As for romance — not a chance in hell.

He slept in until the sun was well up. Since he had work in the evening, he let himself laze in bed a little longer than usual. Not long after he finally got up, a message came in from Qin Zhiwei.

Social Anxiety Patient: did you see the group chat?

Xu: no.

Social Anxiety Patient: Li Nan says there’s a class reunion tomorrow. dinner at a restaurant in the evening, then KTV after.

Xu: I’m busy.

Truth was, most of these classmates would barely keep in touch once university started. Xu Ye had never exactly been the center of attention in class — middling grades thanks to his English dragging everything down, and outside of chatting with Qin Zhiwei, he didn’t have much to say to anyone else.

Social Anxiety Patient: you’re really not going?

Xu: what am I supposed to do, call out sick on my first day?

Social Anxiety Patient: this kind of reunion only happens once. and gu mengyao will definitely be there.

Xu: why would I care if she’s there?

Social Anxiety Patient: bro. what is going on with you. you’ve liked her forever??

Xu: that was before.

Social Anxiety Patient: sure sure. let’s see if you can actually get through tomorrow night without talking to her.

Xu Ye left him on read.

In the afternoon, he spent a few hours going through everything he could find about the stock market. He knew the 2014–2015 bull run was coming, but when it came to actually trading — how to open an account, how to read the market, what to buy — he was starting from zero. Better to get some groundwork in before the time came.

Just past four, Xu Ye headed out early for Encounter Music Bar. Pei Youwei had just arrived herself and was perched at the counter, one ankle crossed over the other on the footrest of the barstool — a red cord bracelet at her ankle, a lollipop tucked in the corner of her mouth — flipping through an accounts ledger with one hand and punching numbers into a calculator with the other.

“Hey boss, I’m here.”

Pei Youwei turned around, lollipop and all, and blinked. “You actually showed up.”

Xu Ye shrugged. “I always follow through.”

She smiled at that. It was a good smile — eyes curving into thin crescents. Up close, you could see a small teardrop mole at the outer corner of her right eye. [TL: A teardrop mole (泪痣) at the corner of the eye is considered a distinctive and attractive feature in Chinese beauty culture. Years later it became trendy for celebrities to draw fake ones on.] A few years from now, half the entertainers in the country would be drawing fake ones on for photoshoots, but it hadn’t become a trend yet.

Pei Youwei slipped her feet into her shoes and handed Xu Ye a staff uniform. “Your job is straightforward — serve drinks when we’re open, wipe down tables and clean up after customers leave, and help out every two weeks when we do a deep clean.”

“Got it.”

“Let me introduce you. This is Zhang Xiaonuan — she handles the register. And this one—” she gestured to the girl Xu Ye had already met, “—is Zhou Ying. You saw her yesterday.”

Xu Ye gave both of them a nod.

It was still light out and there weren’t any customers yet. Zhou Ying walked him through the basics of the workflow, and then there was nothing left to do but wait.

The streetlights blinked on. Night crept across the city.

Customers started trickling in.

Mostly young couples — and from the looks of it, a lot of them were students who’d just finished the gaokao, same as Xu Ye. That age group had a particular way about them. Shy, a little awkward, always gravitating toward the corner tables like they were conducting some kind of secret relationship.

University couples were a different breed — way less inhibited. On any given afternoon you’d catch them making out behind the trees on campus without a care in the world.

Pei Youwei noticed Xu Ye hovering near the counter and strolled over. “So, Xiao Xu — you seeing anyone?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe you.” She smiled. “You’re that good-looking — there must be girls at school who like you. I’ve been around long enough to know. You can’t fool me.”

Honestly, Xu Ye wasn’t sure. He’d spent all three years of high school orbiting Gu Mengyao. If anyone had ever liked him, they’d probably given up and moved on long ago.

“Really, no one. I’m not great at chasing people. And honestly, I think dating is kind of pointless.”

That got Pei Youwei’s attention. High school — that was supposed to be the age when everything felt electric, when you’d get butterflies over someone glancing your way in class.

For someone her age, sure, maybe romance had lost some of its shine. But this kid was what, eighteen?

“Dating is pointless,” she repeated. “So what do you find interesting?”

“Making money.”

“…Making money?”

“Yeah. Money is what matters.”

“You’re awfully mercenary for a high schooler.”

Xu Ye grinned. “Boss, I’m a prospective university student now.”

She laughed again — and was just opening her mouth to fire something back when the front door swung open. She straightened up and called out, “Hey, you made it.”

“Mm.”

The guy who walked in looked to be around twenty-five. Long hair, guitar slung over his back, the full archetypal artsy young musician look. He headed straight for the performance corner without a word and settled in, launching into a song like the rest of the room didn’t exist.

A music bar without a resident singer wouldn’t be much of a music bar.

But the moment he started playing, Zhang Xiaonuan drifted over to Pei Youwei and dropped her voice. “Boss, he was late again today.”

Pei Youwei let out a quiet sigh. “Let it go. Good resident singers aren’t easy to find.”

Xu Ye tilted his head. “How much does he make, boss?”

“He’s paid by the day. One-fifty per session, as long as he puts in two hours.”

“Wait, really?”

“What — jealous?”

Xu Ye kept his voice low. “He’s not even that good.”

Pei Youwei caught it anyway. A small smile crossed her face. “If you think you can do better, get up there after he’s done and sing something. You outperform him, I’ll throw in an extra hundred.”

A day’s shift waiting tables for six hours barely cleared a few dozen yuan. Two hours of singing for a hundred and fifty — and an extra hundred on top if he impressed her. Xu Ye didn’t even have to think about it.

“Fine by me. I’m not easily embarrassed.”

It was true that Xu Ye had always loved music. After starting university, he’d joined the guitar club in his first year — mostly to impress Gu Mengyao, if he was being honest — and had put enough hours into it that he’d actually gotten decent. But after graduation, between the grind of trying to make ends meet and everything else, the hobby had quietly faded out.

He looked at the guitar in the performer’s hands and felt something distant stir in his chest.

“Xu Ye. Xu Ye.”

“Hm?”

“Your phone’s been buzzing.” Zhou Ying nudged him.

He picked it up. It was Li Nan, the class rep, following up again about tomorrow’s reunion.

Xu Ye set it back down without responding.

Pei Youwei raised an eyebrow. “Not going to reply? Is that a girlfriend?”

“No — class rep. More stuff about the reunion tomorrow. I already said I’m not going.”

“A high school reunion is a pretty rare thing. Why are you skipping it?”

“Just don’t feel like it.”

“You’re worried about calling out sick on only your second day, aren’t you?”

“Genuinely just don’t want to go.”

“Oh, come on. I’ll give you the day off tomorrow — you can see for yourself how slow it gets in here.”

Xu Ye hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. Thanks, boss.”

(End of Chapter)