When Duan Ye and Jiang Yumo came to the karaoke, a few of their friends noticed that Duan Ye had changed his clothes.
Previously, Duan Ye had been wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, now he was also wearing black, but it was clearly a different outfit. What had the two of them been up to just now?
Guo Shichao had been friends with Duan Ye since elementary school, but even so, he didn’t dare make jokes about this kind of thing. When the boys were together, it was common for them to make dirty jokes and talk about topics that were off-limits. Some boys even boasted about their romantic experiences as if they were “medals of honor”. In the eyes of others, these boys had no morals and no boundaries, but they were just following the crowd. However, no matter how close they were to Duan Ye, no matter how lively their conversation was, no one dared to talk about Jiang Yumo using such inappropriate language or vocabulary in front of Duan Ye.
At the age of 17 or 18, when they still didn’t understand the meaning of cherishing someone, but Duan Ye had already done so.
Jiang Yumo’s grades were not good, but she was not in the same category as them who were labeled as troublemakers. Other schools also had students labeled as troublemakers like them. Those troublemakers from other schools frequently changed girlfriends, and would even take a puff of smoke in front of them before passing it on, making their girlfriends cough and onlookers laugh.
Because of this, those few people did not have much respect for their girlfriends.
Even if they used their leader’s girlfriend’s names, the henchmen dared to make dirty jokes.
Duan Ye’s friends were not yet adults, but they knew who they could joke around with and who they couldn’t.
For example, they all knew that Duan Ye had not yet won Jiang Yumo over, but they didn’t dare to cross the line.
Guo Shichao and the others pretended not to have noticed anything.
Yan Qing had a very close relationship with Jiang Yumo, so she didn’t have as many reservations. As soon as Jiang Yumo sat down, Yan Qing leaned in and whispered in her ear, “What did you guys do? Why did Brother Duan change his clothes?”
Duan Ye had reserved a large private room.
All of them loved to sing, so it was quite noisy.
Jiang Yumo didn’t want to shout, so she whispered to Yan Qing, “His clothes were dirty, and I could tell he was uncomfortable. Plus… we spent a lot of money today, you know.”
The couch and the booths were all occupied.
The others wanted to give up their seats, but Duan Ye didn’t want to sit down.
Because unfortunately, Jiang Yumo’s two sides were filled by her two girl friends, so there was no room for Duan Ye to sit next to her.
He stopped Zhao Zheng and the others from giving up their seats and simply sat on a nearby high stool.
The spotlights in the private room were colorful, and they illuminated Jiang Yumo with a dazzling radiance.
He saw her whispering with her friends, and her watery eyes were full of laughter.
Sun Mengting also leaned over, “Did you buy the clothes for Brother Duan?”
Yan Qing felt a little embarrassed, “I shouldn’t have thrown the cream…” She paused, “How much was it? Let me buy it.”
Jiang Yumo pretended to pinch her arm, “You should buy it, what kind of thing is that!”
Yan Qing realized, “Okay okay, only you can buy clothes for your Brother Duan, right right~”
“But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.” Jiang Yumo sat upright, “You promised to make baked potatoes for the first week of school, give it to me.”
“You won’t get fat.” Yan Qing smiled and linked arms with Jiang Yumo, looking very happy, “I promised to make not just baked potatoes, but also ice cream.”
The three girls were making a fuss.
It was Sun Mengting who finally realized and pushed Yan Qing, signaling with her eyes, “Don’t touch and grab Yumo like that,” then she lowered her voice so only the three of them could hear, “Look, Brother Duan has envy and jealousy in his eyes.”
Jiang Yumo instinctively looked towards Duan Ye.
As expected, he was staring at her.
When their gaze met, Duan Ye paused for a moment before getting up and bending down to grab a bottle of mineral water from a corner. After unscrewing the cap, he handed it to her.
Jiang Yumo took it.
Duan Ye didn’t feel like sitting down again, so he leaned against the mirrored wall on the side, like a relaxed bow.
Yan Qing blinked at Sun Mengting, “Let’s go choose some songs and give our seats to Brother Duan.”
She was very self-aware.
Jiang Yumo tried to hold them back, but one person couldn’t compete with two.
As soon as Yan Qing and Sun Mengting got up and headed towards the song selection area, Duan Ye came over and sat down next to Jiang Yumo.
Duan Ye himself was someone with a strong sense of presence.
As soon as he sat down, some of the people around them instinctively squeezed together, giving them more space.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Jiang Yumo suddenly had an illusion of her surroundings suddenly quieted down.
In that year, many outstanding talents emerged in the Chinese music industry.
There were many hit songs, and everyone was eager to request and sing them.
Guo Shichao had a strong sense of music. He was sitting on a high stool, looking at the lyrics on the screen, and singing passionately into the microphone:
—”Her delicate pink appearance, It’s like a juicy peach that everybody wants to bite~1“
Jiang Yumo was at the age of blooming. Her skin was as smooth as white porcelain, with a light mole under the corner of her eye, almost flawless. Girls at this age do not need heavy makeup, as they are already bright and beautiful from within.
As a teenage girl in the early stages of love, she had not yet experienced the setbacks of life or the hardships of society. She had a naïve and carefree aura that radiated from within.
Her eyes were clear, and her smile was innocent.
This was the most beautiful sight that Duan Ye had ever seen.
It was a beauty that he would never forget, even after many years.
Jiang Yumo looked at the music video on the big screen with a flustered gaze, trying to appear calm.
The hands on his knees involuntarily tightened.
The air conditioning in the private room was very low, and his arms felt chilly.
—”The bright lipstick on her lips, There’s a confident pride I can see~”
As if feathers had brushed across his heart, Duan Ye felt a surge of emotion.
Many people liked Jiang Yumo, but only Duan Ye had ever looked at her with such focused attention.
Teenage boys’ infatuation tended to be superficial.
It was as if they simply fell in love with someone when they reached a certain age, but there were more important things than that person, like competing in video games at an internet cafe or secretly trying a puff of a cigarette behind their parents’ backs. They were naïve but not so attentive.
Duan Ye was different.
He was very attentive.
Jiang Yumo was in a daze and seemed to vaguely understand, but ultimately succumbed to his unwavering gaze.
When she still didn’t know what it was like to like someone, and didn’t know what the “love” in TV dramas was like, when she was looked at by Duan Ye, she couldn’t see anyone else, even though she complained that she couldn’t “prove her charm” through receiving “love letters”, she had no regrets.
Duan Ye’s height was there, not only were his legs long, but his arms were also long. He leaned on the booth effortlessly, as if he was holding her.
Jiang Yumo didn’t look at him, but his gaze was too strong, strong enough that she couldn’t ignore it. Her cheeks were a little hot, she turned her head and glared at him, “Don’t look at me.”
Duan Ye’s eyes flashed with a sense of contentment, but also embarrassment. “Um.”
He followed her gaze to the screen.
Guo Shichao sang very well.
Even when he sang Cantonese songs, it was pretty good.
…
These “troublemakers” in the eyes of outsiders all had their own talents and abilities.
“Not singing?” Duan Ye asked again.
After Jiang Yumo recovered from her shyness, she glared at him, “Don’t you know already.”
Indeed, Jiang Yumo is great in every way, with a good personality, many friends, and good looks…but she is tone-deaf.
It’s unbelievable, her voice is actually quite pleasant to listen to, not the soft and gentle style of the Jiangnan water towns2, but the kind that is refreshing even in the summertime. However, she is just tone-deaf.
She has sung before and was ridiculed by Guo Shichao, “Sister Mo, are you reading a text?”…
Jiang Yumo was unhappy, and Duan Ye warned Guo Shichao with his eyes, which made Guo Shichao back off. Since then, Jiang Yumo never sang outside again.
“Why don’t you sing?” Jiang Yumo asked again.
Duan Ye didn’t like to stand out.
He shook his head slightly, leaned in a little, and suddenly Jiang Yumao felt as if she was enveloped by his breath.
He was chewing on the green arrow3 that Zhao Zheng gave him, and when he spoke, there was a cool taste in his mouth. In such a situation, his voice was low and deep, “Shall we go for a walk outside?”
Jiang Yumo hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Then let’s run away,” Duan Ye was clearly very happy too.
Duan Ye got up and pretended to naturally wrap his hand around her slender wrist, leading her towards the door.
Jiang Yumo felt a little embarrassed and lowered her head.
She hoped that no one would notice them.
But how could everyone not notice? After they left, Guo Shichao still held the microphone and said to Zhao Zheng, “Wanna bet?”
Everyone became interested.
“What kind of bet?”
Guo Shichao smirked, “Money, it’s not fun if there’s no money, not stimulating enough.”
Yan Qing agreed, vaguely guessing what Guo Shichao wanted to bet on. She took out fifty yuan from her wallet and slammed it on the table with great bravado, “I’ll bet fifty.”
“Damn, you’re going big, sis?” Guo Shichao laughed, “I’m only ready with twenty.”
“It’s fun, isn’t it!” Yan Qing’s family was pretty well off, not lacking in money, “I’ll bet fifty, you guys do whatever you want.”
Immediately, everyone took out their money.
The minimum bet was twenty. In an instant, there was a pile of crumpled money on the table.
“Let’s bet whether Brother Duan will or will not get rid of his single status tonight,” said Guo Shichao.
Someone said, “Oh come on, why not bet on whether Brother Duan will or will not take his clothes off?”
All the guys understood what he meant.
The guy regretted it as soon as he finished speaking. The atmosphere was too intense, and he didn’t think before he spoke.
If Duan Ye had been there, this matter would not have been so small.
“Brother, sister, my mouth is loose, my mouth is loose.” He slapped himself in the face and pleaded, “Don’t let this get to Brother Duan’s ears, or I’m finished.”
Guo Shichao’s face didn’t look good either.
This person wasn’t that close to them; he had just come temporarily.
Today’s visitors were guests, and it was clear that Duan Ye couldn’t just kick him out.
Zhao Zheng cursed, “You f*cking b*stard.”
Yan Qing lost interest.
She and Sun Mengting, including Jiang Yumo, were not in the same circle of people with Duan Ye. There were too many people around Duan Ye, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they were all mixed. Those who were close to him respected Jiang Yumo, but there were also those who had a more casual relationship with him.
But whether they were familiar with Duan Ye or not, they all knew one thing, which was not to mess with Jiang Yumo.
Liking as well as respecting, and this was what love truly meant.
However, this point was not necessarily understood by many men who considered themselves mature, let alone teenage boys.
Because of his liking for her, he couldn’t bear even the slightest disrespect towards her.
But at this time, Duan Ye didn’t know that because he wasn’t strong enough, all the disrespects that seventeen-year-old Jiang Yumo encountered were actually because of him.
- the song is 她的睫毛 (Her Eyelashes) by Jay Chou released in 2003 ↩︎
- In Chinese culture, the people of Jiangnan are often associated with refinement and elegance, including in their speech and singing. Thus, the phrase “Jiangnan water towns” is often used to describe a soft, gentle, and melodious voice, which is considered attractive in Chinese aesthetics. ↩︎
- Doublemint chewing gum ↩︎
Wow, that last line was ominous… thank you for the chapter!