Chapter 6 Some pain must be returned tenfold 02
Fang Xuyu drove me to the downstairs of the old house.
Returning to this place, everything has changed and I feel filled with emotion.
In the evening, Qiyue had a performance at Sister Hong 's place, which didn't start until 10:30. I called Fang Xuyu while I was in her car and told her I would go find her when the time came.
July's ecstatic tone on the other end of the phone made me feel somewhat comforted. At least, there were still people in this city who cared about me.
In order to change my mood and with plenty of time, I decided to go to the barber shop to get my hair done. My hair was almost to my waist, so I accepted the advice of the hairdresser and had it permed into big waves and dyed chestnut color. After leaving the barber shop, I went to the mall and bought a lake blue pleated long skirt, paired with a denim vest, and went home to put on a pair of white high heels and put on some light makeup to make my face look a little more natural.
Then, I took a taxi to find July. I wanted her to see my new look.
The furnishings in Sister Hong's store are still exquisite and gorgeous, with sparkling light balls inlaid with rhinestones hanging from the ceiling, and a lavender incense burner warmed at the door, with a rich and mellow aroma filling the room. In the dim light, the crowd danced closely to the rhythm of the music.
It’s hard to imagine that this is the place I visited last winter night.
"Little August!" As I opened the door, I bumped into a group of strangers. Just as I was about to look for someone, I heard July calling me at the front desk through the crowd and the broken layers of light and shadow.
"Wow! What a beautiful girl! My little August is so charming after dressing up." July squeezed through the crowd to hold my hand, laughing exaggeratedly.
I saw Sister Hong's gaze move towards me as I appeared.
"You've lost a lot of weight. Are you tired recently?" I looked at her. She was wearing a performance costume, a black leather skirt and a vest, all covered with rivets. Her gestures revealed a neutral handsomeness and chicness. Half of her short hair was fixed with hairspray, and the rest hung behind her ears. Her makeup was very charming, and there was fine gold powder on the corners of her eyes. She had a wild and uninhibited beauty.
"Missing someone makes you thin!" July smiled wickedly and deliberately stretched out her slender fingers to pinch my chin. I smiled and dodged.
"Come, I'll take you to say hello to Sister Hong." July retracted her fingers and hugged me as we walked towards Sister Hong.
"Yeah." I followed her obediently.
Sister Hong was wearing a seductive red hip-hugging miniskirt, showing off her sexy and charming figure. She put on heavy makeup, but it was not gaudy at all.
At this moment, she was sitting with her legs crossed, not drinking, but gently turning her high chair, chatting and laughing with a new bartender at the front desk.
"Sister Hong, thank you for the coat you gave me last time." I remembered the last time she put a white flannel coat on me, and I had forgotten to thank her in person.
"You're so polite. It gives me a headache." Sister Hong half-supported her head and looked at me with a smile. She pointed at the bartender and introduced him, "Azhe, we have a new bartender here. Do you want to drink?"
"She drinks." July seemed to know what I was thinking. She lay on the front desk and smiled charmingly at Azhe. "Handsome guy, don't ask for a high number. This is my friend's first time drinking."
The man named Azhe made an "OK" gesture and turned his back to us to get the bottle of wine from the wine cabinet.
Sister Hong smiled but said nothing. She turned around and took out a blue short skirt neatly placed in a beige bag from under the counter and handed it to me: "I think blue suits you. This was originally a gift from a friend and I've never worn it before. I'll give it to you!"
After saying that, she saw a bunch of bright red roses in the vase next to her, and she picked one out at random, peeled off the leaves, broke off a branch, pinned the flower to my ear, and said, "You've grown up, and you're so beautiful..."
I stared at her actions in a daze and took her gift: "Thank you..." Thinking that she didn't like others saying thank you to her, I didn't say anything for a long time.
"Sister Hong." July called her, then pointed in the direction of the door with an ambiguous smile on her face.
I looked over and saw a refined man in a suit and tie. Sister Hong smiled at me, swung the flower branch between her fingertips, and walked towards the door, humming a song in a happy mood .
"Who is knocking on my window? Who is plucking the strings of the piano? That forgotten time gradually came back to my heart..."
"Is he Sister Hong's boyfriend?" I asked July as I watched them walking away chatting and laughing intimately.
I think a woman like Sister Hong will have no shortage of fans.
"Husband." July replied.
"husband?"
"We got the certificate the day before yesterday. We were lovers before, and now he's my husband." July shrugged.
"Congratulations to her then."
"What are you congratulating me for? She just got divorced last month and now she's getting married again. She changes husbands more often than the weather. I get paid more often than I contribute to the wedding."
"Why?"
"Who knows?"
Qiyue held her face in her hands and looked at me with resentment. After she finished speaking, she stood up and patted my shoulder: "I have to go get ready. I will go on stage in half an hour. Is it okay for you to be here alone?"
"No problem for me, I can do it." I smiled at her.
"Be good. If a man comes to chat with you, just throw wine at him. Throw it at him until he dies. If you get into trouble, I'll take responsibility for it. Do you understand?" July made a fist at me.
"Okay, okay, I get it." I pushed her out.
Qiyue worriedly instructed the bartender at the front desk: "Azhe, please keep an eye on my sister for me. If she is kidnapped, I will hold you accountable and tie you up to me..." She blew a kiss to the bartender and mouthed "bed".
I was speechless at her impropriety.
There were still ten minutes left in the performance and the audience was getting bigger and bigger.
Suddenly, I saw a familiar face. Lin Jiaxuan had a shaved head, wore jeans and a black vest, and was sitting in a corner two meters away from me with a little girl with a permed hairdo. Several tall potted plants blocked his view of me, but made it easier for me to observe him.
He looked like he had been in fights often, with a Band-Aid on his temple and thick gauze wrapped around his hands.
There were several young men who looked like gangsters around him, calling him brother. Lin Jiaxuan smoked a cigarette expressionlessly, staring at the stage blankly. I never thought he would become like this now.
When July came out, his eyes flashed with a gentle light .
The little girl saw him looking at another woman, and she hugged him anxiously, pouted, and asked unhappily: "Do you like her?"
He rubbed the little girl's breasts and said ambiguously: "Have you forgotten that I only like to...eat you."
My eyeballs are about to pop out.
Was this really what he said? This was the only thought that crossed my mind.
There is a mixed crowd here, with people from all walks of life, but they are all other people. Seeing with my own eyes that Lin Jiaxuan has become such a person, and thinking about how the once innocent boy has become a vulgar and second-rate person today, I can't .
The little girl was held tightly by him, and she fell into his arms, heavy breathing and sucking sounds were heard, and they were kissing as if no one was around. I felt that the scene in front of me was extremely dazzling.
I subconsciously clenched my hands into fists, my nails digging into my flesh. I was extremely disappointed in him.
For a full half hour, July sang and danced on the stage, and in my eyes, the only scene was Lin Jiaxuan and the little gangster girl kissing and flirting.
How could he do this?
He openly got intimate with another woman in front of the girl he liked.
After the performance, July walked off the stage and was greeted by a man holding a bouquet of flowers. It was an old man whom she had met several times before - "Toad".
July forced a smile, and the old man naturally put his arm around her shoulders, and his hand slowly moved towards her back, taking advantage of her. I was about to get up and go over, but someone rushed out before me.
"Qiqi, when will you agree to..." The old man smiled obscenely.
"I'm going to kill you, you beast!"
It happened in a flash. Lin Jiaxuan rushed over like a furious cheetah and punched the old man on the nose.
Time stood still for a moment.
