Chapter 657
"Daytime Darkness"
"Haven't you already confessed everything? Why are you still so afraid of her?"
Mo Yixia said calmly, "Instead of continuing to hide things, it's better to make things clear all at once while the three of us are here."
“I don’t intend to hide it, but letting you meet now will only backfire. Let me talk to her first.”
Han Zhou looked at the monitor screen. Gu Zheng was heading to the stage, probably for her final rehearsal. "Besides, she has a performance tonight, so we'll talk about everything after the performance."
"Have you ever considered that 'backfiring' is exactly the result I wanted?"
“I’ve thought about it, but you haven’t done it, which means you also believe there’s a better outcome.”
"Han Zhou".
Mo Yixia sighed softly, "I don't hate your greed, but a perfect ending doesn't exist, especially since you started down the wrong path from the very beginning."
"Then let's try to find an ending that's close to perfect."
Han Zhou looked at Wang Lengqiu beside him, then at Mo Yixia in front of the monitor screen, and let out a long sigh, "If I hadn't taken this path, I wouldn't have met you."
Undeniably, his encounter with Mo Yixia and others stemmed from impure motives, but the course of a story is never determined by its starting point, but by its destination. Dwelling on those things now is pointless.
Mo Yixia glanced at Wang Lengqiu with a half-smile, then raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear: "It seems that in his eyes, you are also a latecomer."
"That's not what I meant!" Han Zhou quickly denied.
"So what do you mean?"
"..."
"Fine, you can try to convince me one last time."
Mo Yixia seemed to sigh, leaning back lazily in her chair, resting her chin on her hand, and looking at the guzheng player standing in the center of the stage on the screen: "You must be looking forward to tonight's performance, right?"
Han Zhou carefully observed her expression, and only after confirming that she was not angry did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief, smile and say, "If it were you, I would look forward to it too."
"You know perfectly well that these two words are what I hate the most."
"But people change, don't they?"
Mo Yixia did not answer.
The only response he received was the clear, melodious tune flowing from the surveillance loudspeaker.
“It’s this piece of music…” Wang Lengqiu suddenly said.
"You've heard of it?"
Mo Yixia didn't even look at her, and said with interest, "As far as I know, this is not a famous piece of music, on the contrary, it is quite obscure."
The music playing from the surveillance loudspeaker was the background music for a Han and Tang dynasty dance piece called "Daylight Obscurity".
The melody is set up by a set of chime bells, with the pipa's sweeping strokes as sharp as tearing silk, interspersed with the mournful sounds of the sheng. The melody is not complicated, but it exudes an undeniable uprightness and aloofness, like moonlight sealed in old Xuan paper, cold, solitary, and unappealing, yet it is precisely the kind of music that the guzheng would choose.
Of course, this was a group dance, and the choice of background music was not up to the guzheng, but Han Zhou just felt that this piece suited her very well.
Both the sun and the moon are unique entities.
However... "daytime darkness" doesn't sound very auspicious.
After listening to Mo Yixia's introduction, Han Zhou couldn't help but ask curiously, "You even know such an obscure piece of music?"
He knew that Mo Yixia had some interest in music, but he didn't expect her to have such a broad range of knowledge.
Mo Yixia glanced at him: "This is the only piano piece I know how to play."
"You can play the piano? But using a piano to play this... isn't that a bit too incongruous?"
"How could someone like me not have taken any extracurricular classes?"
Mo Yixia said calmly, "But that was a long time ago. If you want to hear it, I can play it for you sometime."
Han Zhou guessed that the so-called "a long time ago" probably referred to the period before Mo Yixia's parents completely separated, so he didn't ask any further questions and instead looked at Wang Lengqiu:
"Senior, how did you know this piece of music?"
"Xiaoxiao told me."
Wang Lengqiu answered softly, "She said she hates this piece of music."
……
Today's rehearsal went smoothly. Guzheng finished her rehearsal early. She wanted to practice a little longer, but since it was a group dance, practicing alone wouldn't be very meaningful, so she left first.
Pushing open the door to the dressing room, the wind from the corridor rushed in, making her eyes sting. She pulled her coat tighter and looked down at the clean floor beneath her feet, where the blurry reflection of the overhead light shone. People came and went, rushing about, but none of them were the ones she wanted to see at that moment.
"Guzheng, my classmate!"
Someone called her from behind. She was momentarily dazed, stopped and turned around, only to find that it was Senior Xia Qing.
"This is a role script that was added at the last minute."
Xia Qing, with her hands on her knees, handed over a piece of paper. Despite being out of breath, her tone was still light and cheerful. "Han Zhou should have told you the specific details. Although there's no formal rehearsal, you still need to familiarize yourself with the script beforehand. If you have time, I'll trouble you to come over for a rehearsal later."
Gu Zheng took the paper, her gaze falling on it, but she couldn't concentrate on a single word.
"I understand," she said softly, folding the paper in half and stuffing it into her coat pocket.
These two really did have a conflict... Xia Qing thought to herself, but when she thought about the scene in the broadcasting room, it would be strange if they didn't have a conflict.
She sighed inwardly. Although she hated scumbags the most, she decided to help him out since this scumbag classmate had brought her two good-looking guests.
"Han Zhou really values your performance tonight."
She was slightly out of breath and said in a teasing tone, "He practically knelt down and begged me to let him have a front-row ticket."
Although it was a joke, Han Zhou had indeed been asking her for a long time about the tickets, and in the past few days he had been extremely attentive, making her almost think that he wanted to pursue her.
Upon hearing this, Gu Zheng's fingers, which were adjusting her sleeves, trembled slightly.
"Just wait, I'll be performing at the year-end party. I'm sure I'll beat all the senior students and become the absolute star of the show!"
"Then I must sit in the first row to watch it."
—The conversation from that time still echoed in her ears. Just half a month ago, she was thinking that if Han Zhou didn't keep his promise to sit in the front row today, she would definitely beat him up.
But now, it seems there's no need for that anymore.
Rather, it would be better if there were no such agreement at all.
If I really see him in the front row, will I still be able to dance properly?
But if I can't see him, is there any point in me dancing properly?
"Thank you, senior. I have something to do, so I'll be going now."
Her voice was so calm that even she herself felt a sense of unfamiliarity.
After saying that, she nodded to Xia Qing and turned to walk towards the tea room.
The girl's slender shadow was reflected in the glass window. People came and went behind her, and the lights were bright, but she felt as if she were isolated in a transparent dome, and the noise outside had nothing to do with her.
She slowly turned on the tap and filled a glass with warm water.
The rising steam blurred the view.
She held her water glass but didn't drink it; she just looked out the window.
The sky was gradually darkening, the sunlight turned orange, and spread warm yellow light in the fine snow. The stadium was brightly lit, and there would be music, dance, applause, and countless eyes watching the stage tonight.
She had really been looking forward to this day.
But now, she only feels tired. So tired that she doesn't even want to say a word.
Perhaps in the eyes of those around her, she has once again become that proud, arrogant, and disdainful guzheng player.
But she doesn't care.
Even after losing the person who treated her like the sun, she is still herself, the guzheng player who always wanted to be number one in everything.
She took out her phone, the screen lit up, and it showed her chat with Han Zhou. The last message he sent was from two hours ago:
"Senior Wang Lengqiu will also be in the show, as will I."
She didn't reply then.
At that moment, she slowly typed, then deleted each word, and finally sent only one word.
"it is good."
send.
Immediately afterwards, she quickly turned off the phone screen, gripped it tightly in her hand, as if trying to grasp the last bit of something, or as if she wanted to crush it completely.
It was still snowing when I left the stadium.
The fine snowflakes were swept up by the wind and hit my face, carrying a needle-like chill. The warm light flowing from inside the building appeared particularly murky in the snow curtain, like ink splashed into cold water, spreading out and leaving only an endless gray-white.
"Guzheng!"
Gu Zheng had lost count of how many times someone had called her name today, but she was certain that the person behind her wasn't the one she wanted to see.
Turning around, she saw Xiao Xiaoxiao standing not far away.
Perhaps because of her height and appearance, Xiao Xiaoxiao always looks like a middle school student who skipped class, no matter when you look at her.
Today she was wearing a cream-colored short down jacket, making her look puffy like a small penguin. Around her neck was a thick white knitted scarf, the knitting of which was really not flattering, and even the way it was wrapped was very casual. It would look ridiculous on anyone, but on her it looked cute.
The scarf buried half of the girl's face, revealing only her bright eyes and her pink nose, which only added to her childlike innocence.
The small lotus earring on her right ear glittered briefly in the snow.
The metal petals were delicate, yet meticulously sculpted, like summer sneaking into winter, quietly nestled behind her ear.
Gu Zheng forced a smile: "Xiao Xiao, how clever."
"It's not a coincidence at all."
Xiao Xiaoxiao walked to her side, a faint smile on her face, "I came here specifically to find you."
"Find me?"
"You've been avoiding us lately, haven't you?"
She pulled her scarf up a little. "I don't even need to guess to know, it must be because Han Zhou's affair was exposed, and you're angry, right?"
Gu Zheng was surprised by her bluntness and fell silent for a while before finally speaking: "I'm not angry."
“Even if you weren’t angry,” Xiao Xiaoxiao looked up at her, “you must have been unhappy.”
Gu Zheng was stunned. She wondered if it was just her imagination, but the girl who looked like a middle school student and always seemed childish suddenly seemed to have matured a lot.
After a long silence, she still shook her head: "No."
Not even a little?
Not at all.
"Why?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled. "Everyone thinks you'll be very angry."
Gu Zheng didn't explain, but simply asked, "Does Han Zhou think the same way?"
The outline of the stadium in the distance blurred little by little in the snow and fog. The rows of lights looked like strings of frozen stars, shining brightly, but never reaching her feet.
How should I put it?
Xiao Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, "He also thought you would be angry, but he would only be angry at him. In fact, before he confessed to you, he had already prepared to die."
"Going to your death... How could I be that scary?"
Guzheng hummed, then fell silent again.
Seeing her awkward expression, Xiao Xiaoxiao suddenly laughed: "You probably haven't opened the Christmas present he gave you yet, have you?"
On Christmas Day, Han Zhou gave gifts to everyone around him. No one knew how he did it. All they knew was that when they woke up the next day, there was a gift box in the stocking hanging by their bed.
The guzheng is no exception.
"Just like Han Zhou always said, he really did play Santa Claus for once."
Xiao Xiaoxiao continued, "Didn't you notice I changed my earrings? This is the Christmas present Han Zhou gave me."
She touched the lotus earring on her earring. "Peach blossoms represent spring, lotus flowers represent summer. Do you think I'll have the chance to receive earrings that represent autumn in the future?"
She pulled her scarf down, her breath quickly dissipating in the wind. Her smiling gaze passed over the tall buildings, landing on the distant, hazy snow curtain, as if there were some unseen answer there.
"If I had to choose, I'd want a maple leaf."
After saying that, she pulled her scarf up again to cover her expression.
"It seems you really like this gift," Guzheng said calmly.
"Yes, after all, it's a very thoughtful gift."
Xiao Xiaoxiao did not deny it, and said with a smile, "Teacher Ouyang's gift is gold-rimmed glasses, Senior Sister Zhong Ling's gift is a very interesting string of pure silver wind chimes, Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu's gift is a strangely shaped glass dove, and Sister Zhong Yin's gift is... well, I don't know what it is."
Gu Zheng seemed nonchalant, but she was actually listening very attentively. When she noticed that Mo Yixia's name wasn't mentioned, she couldn't help but ask, "Then where is that guy?"
"You mean Mo Yixia?"
After a moment of recollection, Xiao Xiaoxiao said in a somewhat uncertain tone, "It seems to be a set of thermal underwear."
Gu Zheng didn't speak. Her heart felt as if it had been suddenly clenched by an invisible hand, then abruptly released, leaving behind a dull, empty pain that was far more suffocating than a sharp, stabbing pain.
The fact that he even gave her underwear shows that their relationship was closer than she imagined.
Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it.
I was here first...
A strong sense of resentment surged within her, almost bursting from her throat, but she suppressed it firmly on the tip of her tongue, turning it into a cold silence.
Just then, Xiao Xiaoxiao's voice suddenly came from beside him:
"Guzheng, aren't you curious about what gift Han Zhou gave you?"
Gu Zheng took a deep breath, the cold air rushing into her lungs, making them ache.
"Not curious."
"If you're not curious, then you're not curious."
Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't mind and instead said, "But there's a question I'm really curious about, but I can't figure out the answer. After thinking about it, I'm afraid only you can answer it. Can you answer me?"
"What's the problem?"
"Do you know... what Han Zhou's wish is?" (End of Chapter)