The night wore on.

The bar had hit its peak somewhere between nine and ten, then slowly emptied out. The resident singer, Guo Hai, glanced at the time, stood up, and went to say goodnight to Pei Youwei — but she stopped him before he could leave.

“Guo Hai, hold on a sec.”

He paused, puzzled. “Something up?”

Pei Youwei smiled. “This is Xu Ye — he just started here as a summer hire. He mentioned he can sing too. Think you could stick around and back him up on guitar?”

Guo Hai’s expression shifted. “You want me to accompany him?“

Artistic pride. Never far from the surface with that type.

Xu Ye caught the irritation and stepped forward with an easy smile. “Hey, bro — actually, could I just borrow the guitar for a bit?”

Guo Hai looked him up and down, a flicker of skepticism in his eyes. “You play?”

“A little.”

He clearly didn’t believe it. But Pei Youwei was still the boss, and refusing to even lend a guitar would’ve been a bit much. He held it out.

Xu Ye took it, slung the strap over his shoulder with the ease of someone who’d done it a thousand times, and ran his fingers across the strings. The tuning was fine. He walked over to the stool Guo Hai had been sitting on and settled in.

Pei Youwei drifted to the counter and rested her chin in one hand, watching him with a quiet smile.

Zhang Xiaonuan and Zhou Ying were watching too, curious.

A kid who’d taken a summer job to earn extra money didn’t exactly scream “had music lessons growing up.” And high school certainly didn’t leave time for learning guitar. They all wanted to know if he was bluffing.

Xu Ye sat down but didn’t start playing right away.

He was thinking about what to sing.

Most of the songs in his head were from 2015 and beyond. He needed something that fit where he was right now — 2014, eighteen years old, just starting out.

After a moment—

“Boss, I’ll just go with whatever comes to mind.”

Pei Youwei waved a lazy hand. “Whatever you want.”

Xu Ye let out a slow breath, then started tapping a rhythm against the body of the guitar — palm and fingertips alternating, a few string plucks woven in between.

The opening melody took shape almost immediately.

Guo Hai’s eyes went slowly wide.

Xu Ye leaned into the microphone and sang a song he hadn’t touched in years — Anhe Bridge. [TL: 《安和桥》(Ān Hé Qiáo) is a well-known song by the Chinese indie folk artist Zhao Lei (赵雷), released in 2012. It carries a melancholic, nostalgic quality that made it a sleeper hit before going massively mainstream years later.]

“Let me look at you one more time From south to north Like eyes blindfolded by the Fifth Ring Road Tell me once more About that day…”

His singing voice was nothing like his speaking voice. There was a warmth to it, a richness — and underneath that, a kind of weathered weight that had no business being in someone his age.

A few bars in, something flickered in Pei Youwei’s eyes. Surprise, genuine and unguarded.

She hadn’t actually expected him to be able to play and sing. But more than that —

How did he even know this song?

Kids his age were all listening to Xu Song, Wang Sulong, Xu Liang — the breezy campus pop crowd. [TL: These are popular Chinese internet singers from that era, known for melodic, youthful songs that were huge among high school and university students in the early 2010s.]

The few remaining tables had all gone quiet. Nothing moved in the bar except the music — Xu Ye’s voice threading through the dim light, carrying something melancholy that settled over the whole room like a low fog.

“I know This world Has too many regrets every day So — take care Goodbye…”

He held the last note, finished the outro, and looked up.

Every person in the bar was staring at him.

Xu Ye felt heat creep up his neck. “What — why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Xu Ye, that was incredible.” Zhang Xiaonuan couldn’t help herself.

He exhaled and laughed it off. “I was just messing around.”

“Don’t even try to be humble right now.”

Pei Youwei grinned. “Our Xiaonuan looks a little smitten.”

Zhang Xiaonuan’s face went red immediately. “Boss!”

“Look at that, she’s blushing.”

Xu Ye stayed out of it. He brought the guitar back to Guo Hai with a casual thanks — but Guo Hai took it without a word and left, something dark and quiet in his expression.

He knew. The moment Xu Ye finished that song, his own value to this bar had dropped significantly. The new summer hire wasn’t competition he’d expected to have to worry about.

Xu Ye noticed and frowned a little. “Hey boss — is Guo Hai going to be—”

Pei Youwei already knew what he was going to say. She shook her head. “Don’t worry about him. He works for me just like you do.”

She held out her hand. “WeChat?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it.”

Xu Ye had never really taken to QQ, so getting a new phone had been his first excuse to switch to WeChat. He pulled it up.

“Add me. I’ll send your hundred over.”

“What — boss, I was just talking.”

“I said what I said. Stop stalling, show me your QR code.”

Ten past eleven.

Xu Ye’s first shift was done.

In a smaller city, nightlife didn’t run that deep. By this hour, most people were already asleep.

But not Gu Mengyao.

She was lying in bed, phone in hand, waiting. She’d been waiting since yesterday — watching the chat log stay frozen at the last message from two nights ago. Xu Ye hadn’t sent a single thing.

Why.

Why?!

What is he even doing?

He’s not seriously just going to stop reaching out, is he?

She broke first. She typed out a message and hit send.

Rose Girl: are you going to the class reunion tomorrow night?

Twenty minutes passed.

Xu Ye, freshly showered, finally replied. “Depends.”

Rose Girl: are you free tomorrow afternoon? maybe we could go out?

Xu: busy.

Two words. Cold as ever. Gu Mengyao felt something she hadn’t expected — a tightness in her chest, something almost like she might cry.

Xu Ye saw that she’d gone quiet and had a pretty good idea of what she was feeling. He’d watched her pull this exact move in university — she’d spend days ignoring him, and the second he so much as talked to another girl, she’d go on for hours about it. And yet she was the one always hanging around other guys, and when he said anything about it, she’d call him petty.

He wasn’t in a rush to delete her. He wanted her to sit in this feeling for a little while. Just a taste.

Gu Mengyao needed someone to talk to. She opened QQ and found Liu Qian.

Rose Girl: you still up?

Clingy Little Gremlin: yeah, watching a show.

Rose Girl: something’s off with Xu Ye. he’s acting completely different toward me.

Clingy Little Gremlin: did you reach out first?

Rose Girl: yeah.

Clingy Little Gremlin: I told you not to crack.

Rose Girl: I just asked if he was going to the reunion tomorrow, that’s it.

Clingy Little Gremlin: honestly? I think he’s playing hard to get.

Clingy Little Gremlin: want to make him jealous?

Rose Girl: how?

Clingy Little Gremlin: didn’t you say Duan Qingjun has a thing for you too? show up to the reunion with him tomorrow. Xu Ye sees that and he’ll lose it.

Rose Girl: oh that’s actually not bad.

The two of them went back and forth, sorting out the details for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Xu Ye was already asleep.

(End of Chapter)