Chapter 1: Once a moth to a flame 2
"Do one last thing for him." I said lightly.
Since I left here last night, Qiao Xinyu has not contacted me, not even a single text message. I don't know whether it's funny or sad that this relationship is about to end, but no one comes out to keep it.
After cleaning the room, Sunai and Xiao Anning helped me move my things into the car, and Sunai drove me to the newly rented house.
After more than two hours of struggling in the new room, I finally got everything done.
At nine o'clock in the evening, after seeing off Sunai and Xiao Anning, I lay on the bed, holding my phone in a daze.
On the phone screen was a photo of Qiao Xinyu when he was a senior in high school. He was sitting cross-legged at the back of the piano room, with white Bluetooth headphones in his ears, and looking out the window, as if he was telling a story.
This was something Qiao Xinyu forcibly set in my phone. He was very overbearing and said that this way I could see him every day and wouldn't forget him.
But now, the person who told me not to forget him seems to have forgotten me.
I slid the screen of my phone and changed the wallpaper to a photo of me, Sunai and Xiao Anning.
I buried my head in my arms, my thoughts flooded, and I fell asleep in a daze.
When I woke up the next day, I was wrapped up in the quilt.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes, got up in a daze, put my shoes on the wrong way, and groped my way to the bathroom.
In the past, I was always woken up by Qiao Xinyu, but now I am woken up by the urge to pee. The difference between heaven and earth is really too big.
I half-closed my eyes and opened the bathroom door, but the figure in front of me made my sleepiness disappear in an instant.
My eyes widened, embarrassment spreading from the bottom of my heart to my face.
A tall figure was standing in the bathroom with his back to me, his upper body naked, his strong muscles fully revealed.
My eyes gradually moved downwards, and I could still hear the clear sound coming from the urinal. Yes, he was using the urinal, and it was a strange man.
"Ah!" I quickly covered my eyes and prepared to turn around and escape, but on my way out, I hit the door frame with a "bang".
"Sorry!" I hurriedly lowered my head, closed the bathroom door, and then paced around the living room in panic.
A man? How could a man come out? Didn't they say that the person living with me was a girl?
I heard the sound of a door opening and closing behind me, and I was immediately stunned. I stood there stiffly, at a loss as to what to do.
I didn't dare to breathe, waiting to see how the man behind me would react, but after waiting for a long time, there was no sound behind me, not even footsteps.
I turned my head in surprise and glanced. The man was standing behind me, looking at me with a gloomy face, and his eyes flashed with a heart-pounding cold light.
My eyes rolled and I greeted him with an awkward smile: "Sorry, I didn't see anything just now."
He remained silent.
I turned around, pointed to the house on the right, and asked, "Are you our landlady's son-in-law? Um... I'm the new tenant, my name is Shen Muxi."
What am I talking about?
I raised my head and stole a glance at him. His face became increasingly gloomy, as if he was about to turn into an enraged lion.
I lowered my head, stuck out my tongue, and said, "If everything is fine, I'll go in first." After that, I hurriedly took a step and ran into the room.
"stop."
The other party's voice was very cold. I stopped reflexively, as if facing the end of the world.
"Who asked you to move in?" It was not a question, but an affirmative sentence. Did he think that my moving in would disturb him and his girlfriend? But the landlady didn't say that her daughter had a boyfriend.
I turned away timidly, and with my eyes lowered, I could only glimpse his chest.
"Look up," he said.
I pursed my lips, took a deep breath, and then raised my head. The man's face came into my sight clearly—his eyes were deep, his features were clear, and his facial features were three-dimensional. It was really...
I woke up suddenly, took a step back in shock, covered my mouth, and pointed at him with my other hand: "He... He Yue?"
Yes, it was He Yue. I first saw him in the celebrity column of the school. He was a senior four years older than me. He is now a director and model for Me Media and has filmed many short plays and music videos.
"Senior..." I looked at him with a smile, like a little lamb.
Since he is my senior, he probably won’t blame me based on this relationship.
He Yue's expression became even more gloomy. He took a step forward, leaned down, and even his breath was cold: "Hey, it seems that you not only like to jostle on the road, but also like to jostle in other people's rooms."
I was startled and a picture suddenly flashed through my mind .
Yes, that night, I was walking in the middle of the road in a panic and was almost hit by a car. At that time, I was so scared that I didn't pay attention to the driver's face at all, and naturally I didn't recognize who he was.
"Are you the man that night?" I asked.
He Yue didn't answer me. He walked past me, opened the bedroom door, and left me a word before closing the door.
"Move out within one day."
Move out? How is that possible! After all, I was personally rented here by the landlady.
"Senior, it was the landlady who asked me to live here to accompany her daughter. Besides, I paid the rent..."
Before he finished speaking, He Yue opened the door and confirmed, "Daughter?"
I nodded and said, "She didn't tell me that her daughter had a boyfriend like you. I have paid three months' rent now and have nowhere to go. I won't leave."
"You just said your name is Shen Muxi?" He Yue asked again, as if to confirm.
I scratched my messy hair and nodded.
He Yue didn't say anything else, and there was no movement after he closed the door.
I stood in the living room for a few minutes, and then took advantage of the fact that no one was in the bathroom to take care of my "three urgent matters". Then, after washing up, I went to school.
I just hope that when I go back home at night, He Yue doesn’t throw out all my things.
The whole morning class was full of annoying theories, and I couldn't concentrate. After class, I called Sunai and Xiao Anning, and the three of us lay on the balcony and talked about life and dreams.
When we were young, we used to stand under the tall electronic screen tower, watching the female singers singing and dancing on the screen with envy in our eyes. So, despite our parents' opposition, we climbed out of the brick wall in the middle of the night, with a scar on our arms, ran to the beach, and wrote down our dreams.
At that time, our lives were filled with unremitting study and the confidence to grow stronger with more setbacks. There was no ignorant ambiguity or immature feelings.
At that time, we had no idea what would happen in the future.
"I've accepted a commercial performance this Saturday. I'll ask my friends in the photography class to take some photos for us and then upload them online. Maybe it will have some impact." Sunai leaned his arms on the railing and looked at us with his head tilted.
Xiao Anning looked up at the sky with an expectant look on his face, and said, "I am just waiting for the day when I can become famous and realize my ambitions."
I smiled without saying anything, closing my eyes and basking in the sunshine.
"Muxi." Sunai suddenly called me and asked, "Are you used to living there?"
I opened my eyes and thought of He Yue, and my face immediately fell: "Habit is habit, it's just that I met someone who is very difficult to get along with."
"A difficult person?" Sunai asked, "What happened?"
I shook my head, not wanting to mention it, and said, "Nothing."
"Then...what about Qiao Xinyu?" Su Nai asked again.
Qiao Xinyu? There had been no news from him for several days, as if he had disappeared. He didn't even give a single explanation for what happened that night.
I propped my forehead with my hands and said, "I don't want to mention him."
Xiao Anning came over, bumped my arm, and asked, "So what is your relationship like now? It can't be so unclear. Mu Xi, if you want to break up with him, then break up and find someone better."
I shook my head, my hand slid down from my forehead, covering half of my face, and remained silent.
Xiao Anning and Sunai also tacitly agreed not to speak anymore.
After a while, Xiao Anning suddenly bumped into me a few times and shouted, "Muximuxi, Qiao Xinyu! Qiao Xinyu is here."
I quickly put down my hand and turned to look over.
Qiao Xinyu walked up from the corner of the stairs. His white shirt was wrinkled, his dark circles were particularly obvious, and he looked haggard.
"Mu Xi..." He looked at me, his lifeless eyes slowly brightened up, he slightly opened his lips, called me, and walked towards me.
I dodged reflexively and ran in the opposite direction. Qiao Xinyu followed me, shouting my name and chasing me.
But I don’t want to face him now, in school, with so many people around. Is he going to grab my shoulders and apologize to me, and ask where he has been these days?
I don't want to and I don't have the courage to face him, I don't even know how to blame him.
I ran from the fifth floor to the first floor as if the wind was blowing under my feet. When I jumped off the last step, I bumped into a strong embrace.
I stood up with my hand covering my forehead, and was about to apologize, but when I saw the other person clearly, I froze in place.
"Mu Xi, wait for me." Qiao Xinyu's voice came from the stairs. I glanced at He Yue in front of me and ran out of the teaching building without saying a word.
Qiao Xinyu caught up with me from behind, grabbed me and said, "Muxi, please stop ignoring me, okay?"
I turned my head away from him and said, "Don't come to me. I don't know how to listen to your explanation now."
After hearing what I said, Qiao Xinyu simply stopped talking and just kept holding my wrist, refusing to let go.
In public, everyone looked at us and some even pointed.
Qiao Xinyu held me tightly and refused to let go. He was wearing a wrinkled white shirt, and I felt like I was holding onto a homeless kid. I had no choice but to say, "Stop holding me, and come back with me."
Qiao Xinyu was stunned, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Okay."
I took Qiao Xinyu back to the rental house, found him some clean clothes, pushed him into the bathroom, and said, "Go in and take a shower and change into clean clothes."
"Okay." Qiao Xinyu simply said this one word, like a child who did something wrong and just wanted to make up for it by being obedient.
I listened and felt pain in my heart, afraid that I would be soft-hearted and forgive him.
But I really want to forgive him, but I can't get over it. You can call me stupid or foolish, after all, I really loved him seriously.
While Qiao Xinyu was taking a shower, I looked at all the furnishings in the house. The things were the same, the house was the same, but the people were no longer the same.
Half an hour later, Qiao Xinyu came out of the bathroom wearing a shirt and shorts, with water dripping from his hair.
"Come here," I said.
Qiao Xinyu came over obediently and sat in front of me, and I dried his hair with a hair dryer.
Qiao Xinyu held my hand that was lifting his hair without saying a word. The anger in my heart instantly emerged, and I said in a calm voice: "Let go."
Qiao Xinyu obediently let go of his hand.
After I finished blowing his hair, I stood in front of him and mustered up the courage to say to him, "Tell me clearly about your relationship with that girl and us. I can listen to your explanation now."
Qiao Xinyu stood up and said hurriedly, "I... it was a buddy's birthday. The girl and I were both his friends. The girl drank too much, and he wanted me to take her home. But I was also drunk, so I took a taxi home, and then, then..."
"That night..." I looked at Qiao Xinyu with my eyes wide open, and asked with a last glimmer of hope, "Did anything really happen?"
Qiao Xinyu lowered his head, and after a while he slowly nodded.
I suddenly laughed out loud, and tears slid down my cheeks and flowed through the corners of my mouth.
I actually still thought there was a slight possibility that they were innocent. I don't understand why I was deceiving myself.
I turned my head and said forbearingly: "Qiao Xinyu, let's break up."
"Mu Xi." Qiao Xinyu looked at me blankly, trying to keep me.
I laughed loudly, regardless of my tears, and said, "You don't have to be responsible for me, right? You had sex with that girl, you should be responsible for her, and I didn't lose anything. I just lost someone I once loved, Qiao Xinyu." I looked up at him and said, "Thanks to you, my first love ended so embarrassingly."
There was a strange light in Qiao Xinyu's eyes. After I said the last sentence, I reached out and wiped my face, then turned around and left resolutely.
I didn't want to explore Qiao Xinyu's decision and thoughts. I ran all the way to the riverside, letting the wind dry my tears and worries. I took out my phone and went to the WeChat group, and sent a voice message to Sunai and the others: "Sisters, I'm single. You don't have to worry about me. I was the one who proposed the breakup, and I won't be sad. I won't be sad for such a scumbag!"
I pretended to speak the last sentence in a powerful and forceful manner.
After a while, Xiao Anning sent a voice message: "Miss Shen, congratulations on regaining your single status. Come with me for a blind date tomorrow." Then, she kept sending "salute" emoticons.
I couldn't help but smile, even though my eyes were a little dry from the wind. Sunai sent me a WeChat message and said, "We will all be with you."
I stood by the river for a long time, and only after I calmed down did I take a taxi back to Clearwater Bay.
It was very late, and I was afraid of disturbing the landlady's daughter and He Yue, so I didn't even dare to make any loud noise when taking out my keys.
Whenever I think of how He Yue looked this morning, I feel creepy.
After I opened the door, it was pitch black inside. I bent over and gently closed the door. The moment I turned around, a white-faced man covered in moonlight suddenly appeared in front of me.
"Ah——" I screamed subconsciously, hugged my bag, my legs went weak and I knelt down, then started crying.
I didn’t cry so loudly even when I broke up with Qiao Xinyu.
"Can you please stop shouting?" A rather helpless voice came from above my head, and the voice was muffled as if it was hidden in a closet.
I covered my eyes with my hands and looked through the gaps between my fingers. I saw He Yue with a facial mask on his face, looking down at me.
I quickly put my hand down, got up and turned on the light in the living room. He Yue stood in front of me, his arms folded across his chest, occasionally reaching out to smooth out the wrinkles on his mask.
"Why don't you turn on the light when you're applying a facial mask in the middle of the night? Don't you know that scaring others can be fatal?" I was so angry that I scolded him loudly.
He Yue glanced at me, walked into the bathroom, tore off the mask, and said, "I don't like to turn on the light when I'm thinking about something."
I chased him into the bathroom, watched him tear off the mask and spray some spray on his face, and asked curiously: "How come you, a grown man, have so many skin care products like a woman?" I glanced at the sink, which was filled with all kinds of bottles and cans.
"I'm a model, I make a living by my face." He Yue glanced at me indifferently, turned around and leaned against the sink to apply hand cream, and said, "Tomorrow is the weekend, take some time to move your things out, or I will personally send you off."
"This is not your house, why?" I ignored him, stroked my frightened heart, and walked towards the bedroom.
"Stop." He Yue shouted suddenly.
I turned my head and looked at him. He walked out of the bathroom and said, "Shen Muxi, did the landlady you mentioned tell you that she actually doesn't have a daughter? And the real estate certificate of this house is written in He Yue's name. This is my home, do you understand?"
I stood there in a daze, my pupils gradually dilated. I walked around the living room, pointing everywhere, and asked in disbelief: "Is this house yours? But the landlady said it belongs to her daughter, and she was afraid that her daughter would be lonely so she helped her find a companion. Aren't you her son-in-law? That's not right... Since she has a son-in-law, why would her daughter be lonely?" After sorting out the logic, I looked at He Yue innocently and used my trump card, "Senior, can you wait three months before kicking me out? My family is very poor, and I need to make money by live streaming at night. I can't do live streaming when I return to the dormitory."
"That's none of my business. I don't like a noisy environment." He Yue did not compromise and decisively avoided me and went back to the bedroom.
"I promise not to disturb you, senior!" I rushed over and tried to make a final struggle, but bumped into the door he closed.
I rubbed my cheek that was hurt, took a step back and looked at He Yue's closed door. After a while, I complained with grievance in my voice: "You men are all the same!"
After returning from the trip, my boyfriend cheated on me, and we found a house and were kicked out. All the bad luck of the past few days had really come to a head. I swallowed all my anger, turned back to my bedroom, and deliberately closed the door very hard.
You want to drive me away, but I won’t leave!
