She remembered that when she was a child, an elderly neighbor said that boys who looked like women were destined for misfortune and short life, and that beautiful women were the most short-lived.
She remembered that before Grandpa Yan passed away, tears streamed down his face, and he told her that she must protect Yan hope no matter what.
She didn't understand anything, she just chose to believe all the rumors, but because of Yan hope's desire, she hesitated to move forward.
Suddenly, the lights went out, and the whole place erupted in uproar.
When the lights came on again, they only illuminated the center of the stage, leaving the surrounding area in darkness.
There stood another young man, with smoky eye makeup, and captivatingly beautiful.
It's rosemary!
He snapped his fingers, and music started playing. It was ICE's signature song, "Fleeting Time," which Yan hope had practiced countless times.
fleeting time.
When the boy's magnetic and powerful voice rang out on the stage, the shock throughout the audience was indescribable.
Chen Juan held the microphone, his voice magnificent and flamboyant, the epitome of true rock and roll.
He chuckled, glancing at the boy standing in the shadows in the corner of the stage.
Aheng stared at the corner where Yanxi stood, at the dark figure in the darkness, and at the pair of large eyes in the darkness, which slowly dimmed and lost their light.
Even though everyone's eyes were on Chen Juan, and everyone had forgotten the presence of that figure in the darkness, Aheng saw his panicked, helpless, and even sorrowful and angry soul.
He stood so straight, so beautiful, but no one looked at him again, never again.
Aheng felt her blood rushing backward. She stood up with some difficulty, gripping the plastic seat tightly. Her ears were ringing as she walked forward step by step.
What a strange illusion! In such a vast world, amidst such a bustling crowd, I can only hear the sound of my own footsteps.
"Aheng, where are you going?" Siwan's worried voice was drowned out by the crowd.
She walked onto the stage from one side and, with all her might, smashed the chair in her hand at Chen Juan.
She felt that she wanted to kill him.
When the music stopped and everyone fell silent, she reached out and grabbed the boy in the corner of the stage.
"Yan hope, let's go home."
The boy stood in the darkness, looking at her, his eyes filled with a blurred sense of detachment and a pale, cool pink hue.
Suddenly, he smiled, gently taking her hand, but when he looked up, his eyes were filled with a cautious indifference and sharpness.
She looked back at him, her sadness and anger rising little by little. Something precious was clutched in her chest, and she staggered, unable to find a way to breathe.
She grabbed Yan hope's hand, stopped looking at him, and just kept running forward.
At that moment, only one thought was swirling in my mind.
Go home, hurry home, she wants to take Yan hope home.
However, when they got home, Ah Heng's movements became nothing more than mechanical.
He took Yan hope directly to the bathroom, turned on the shower, picked up the showerhead, and tested the temperature with his palm.
Cold, hot, warm.
"Aheng, what are you doing?" Yan hope smiled, her face even more radiant and beautiful than usual.
"Close your eyes." Ah Heng said expressionlessly.
Okay. Yan hope obediently closed her eyes.
She took a towel, gently dampened it, and wiped away the carefully applied makeup from his face.
"It hurts," Yan hope said, pouting.
"Bear with it." Ah Heng said coldly, her face filled with anger, but her movements became even gentler.
The eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth gradually reveal their true nature.
She wiped the boy's forehead until she saw that familiar tuft of slightly childish downy hair, and only then did her disordered breathing ease slightly.
After a long while, Ah Heng spoke again—"Lower your head."
Yan hope obediently lowered his head. Aheng frowned and slowly untied the fiery red ribbon from the boy's head.
"Isn't it pretty?" Yan hope asked, in a joking tone.
Ah Heng remained silent, staring at her hands covered in hairspray and hair clips. Quietly, she wet the boy's black hair, took out shampoo, and gently...
I rubbed it in my palms for a long time, then rinsed it clean. The soft black hair still smelled of hairspray.
It smelled terrible, like a suffocating odor.
The second and third times, the smell was still indelible, seemingly carrying a mark.
In the bathroom, only the gentle sound of flowing water could be heard.
Suddenly, with a loud bang, the girl threw down the showerhead.
"What's so good about you?! A boy shouldn't be a proper man. Why are you acting like a little girl, wearing braids? You're so ugly, so ugly! I've never seen anyone as ugly as you!" Ah Heng roared, his voice trembling, so loud it was almost out of control, completely unlike his usual gentle and strained tone.
"I understand." Yan hope looked at her, lowered his head, looked down, and fell silent.
After a long pause, she asked clearly in a hoarse voice, "What do you know?!"
He looked up, flustered, wanting to speak, but found that the girl was already frowning, her eyes red and glistening with tears.
He looked at her, gently resting his head against her neck, his quiet, dependent posture like that of a child, tinged with helplessness—"I'm sorry."
Her hair was wet, and water droplets fell silently.
Ah Heng gently pushed him away, turned her back, took a deep breath, but due to the immense pressure, hot tears fell.
"Yan hope, don't say sorry until you learn not to doubt Wen Heng."
**********************************Divider************************
"Hello." It's six o'clock in the morning.
Who would it be at this moment?
Ah Heng picked up the phone and asked, "Who is this?"
The other person smiled—"I am Chen Juan."
Ah Heng's tone turned cold—"What is it?"
"I thought you would thank me. I didn't expect... it's really hurtful to our friendship as deskmates." Chen Juan's voice was magnetic and teasing.
"Where did you come from, so self-righteous?" Ah Heng's voice was icy cold.
"Isn't that right? I replaced Yan hope's singing and didn't push him down the same path as ICE. I think you can see how similar the dark and rebellious parts of Yan hope and ICE's personalities are." Chen Juan's tone was firm.
"You've always hated Yan hope, haven't you?" Aheng took a deep breath and spoke calmly.
"If you were me, if you were hopelessly infatuated with Yan hope, what would you do?" The other person still smiled, as if chatting with an old friend.
"So, you're going to take revenge on Yan hope?" Her tone grew increasingly cold and hard.
The other person chuckled softly—"That was what I initially thought, but suddenly I felt tired and realized that things weren't as I imagined, so I wanted to stop."
"You've seen what happened later. Although Yan hope didn't get what he wanted, I didn't do anything heinous." He felt he couldn't be more righteous.
"After all, I didn't cause any real harm to Yan hope, right?"
However, the fact that she was almost disfigured was truly frustrating.
Ah Heng's impulsiveness that day completely exceeded his expectations. This girl was always rational, although she was not as cold and wise as that man.
However, she is at least as intelligent and insightful as Siwan.
To this day, he still doesn't know why Ah Heng was so angry that day, and why his expression seemed to want to kill him.
Even Wen Siwan didn't do this. Was it because he guessed too shallowly, or because she hid it too well?
The other end of the phone remained silent and cold. Chen Juan could hear the person's breathing on the other end, a suppressed, surging sound that was clearly... a dark, hidden anger that could not be brought to light.
After a long while, she spoke, her words like a thunderclap, striking the young man who was frozen in shock, unable to move or speak.
This was the first time in his life he had ever heard Ah Heng swear.
"Do you fucking know that what Yan hope fears most isn't being buried underground like that piece of crap ICE, but being abandoned by the whole world!"
Chapter 32
Chapter 32
That day, a young boy rushed to the Yan family home in a great hurry.
"My beauty, don't be angry! I've already beaten up Chen Juan for you, that damned bastard who's trying to steal your partner!" The handsome young man in a black T-shirt spoke sternly to the silent person on the sofa.
Yan hope looked up, and with a spit, spat out his drink—"Did you hit someone, or did someone hit you?"
The silly child's face was covered in bruises, his mouth was swollen, and there were many clear bloodstains on his neck, like a palette of colors.
Da Yi grabbed his black hair and grinned foolishly—"Hehe, don't worry about that, just know that I helped you get revenge, that's enough!"
Yan hope gazed at the boy's face, clean and upright, revealing his inner self. After a moment, he pondered and smiled.
"Dayi, tell me, in this world, are there more people like you or more like me?"
The boy was stunned, frowned, pondered, and then said frankly, "If we're talking about looks, it's really hard to find someone who looks like you; and if we're talking about personality, there are even fewer people like you who are perverted, domineering, and love to bully others."
"Damn it!" Yan hope laughed, throwing the cushion in her hand at the target.
*****************************Divider**************************
There's a banyan tree in front of the Yan family's house, planted by Old Master Yan himself for his grandson Yan hope's second birthday. It's grown for over a decade, always lush and verdant. In recent years, the old man has gradually relinquished control of his military affairs. With nothing to do at home, he'd have a stone chessboard built under the banyan tree, and at dusk, he'd often play a fierce game with a group of old buddies and comrades-in-arms. Ah Heng had encountered this many times on his way home from school.
She loved the look in the eyes of the old men playing chess—a look of wisdom, arrogance, and open-mindedness, a bright nobility imbued with the marks of their achievements. Such souls, she could only describe as objects of deep admiration. So, whenever she encountered one, she would gaze at it quietly for a long time. Old Man Yan teased her—"I see you really love this blue stone chessboard. Why don't you become Xiaoxi's wife and marry into my family? You can hold it and look at it to your heart's content every day!"
Ah Heng blushed and remained silent, glancing around anxiously, afraid that Yan hope might accidentally appear and overhear her. If he did, she would be doomed.
Old Xin chuckled and said, "When did Xiao hope become unsellable? Why would you go to all this trouble to make connections? Aren't you afraid Old Wen will scold you for belittling someone else's granddaughter?"
Old Yan glared at him – “What do you know! This child is honest and kind. Even if you searched the entire cultural troupe of our army, there are many pretty girls, but none are as rare as this one.”
Old Xin laughed and scolded, "Pah! What good intentions do you think I have? You only bully other people's gentle girls so that I can indulge your little tyrant."