Chapter Ninety-Two: Light and Dark

She made it through the final audition without incident, and Cheng Xiaoyu did not feel especially elated; the only thing that still left a faint gloom in his heart was playing Nocturne No. 2.

The memories he had deliberately avoided kept replaying in his mind like a film while he sat at the piano, and he completed the performance entirely on bodily instinct.

With a dazed expression, Cheng Xiaoyu stood among the crowd making its way out. Though he had won his battle against the formidable academy, he still had not won over the students.

Most people had already branded him with labels: rich kid, defiant, a show-off. They had completely forgotten that it was their own pressure that had turned the exam into a public one. In short, he had successfully earned the students’ resentment and, with little effort, become their common enemy.

He did not mind the complicated looks people cast his way. Thinking of the girl who, at the final critical moment, had stood up to help him turn the pages, and who resembled Yui Aragaki, he very much wanted to say thank you.

Onstage, the surging negativity stirred up by the piece had nearly shattered his will. In truth, he had reached his limit; both physically and mentally, his hands were trembling after he finished.

He searched the crowd for her back, but never found the image that had seemed so warmly familiar. As he hurriedly looked around without purpose, a hand patted his shoulder.

Duanmu Linsha stood beside him with a charming smile, her hands folded behind her back. That sweet and relieved little smile moved Cheng Xiaoyu.

“Congratulations, genius,” Duanmu Linsha said, lowering her head a little as the tips of her shoes idly rubbed at the carpet on the steps.

Cheng Xiaoyu smiled back. “And congratulations to you. Your piano playing was better than I expected.”

At his praise, a flush rose into Duanmu Linsha’s cheeks, and she seemed even happier than if a teacher had complimented her. Thinking of her teacher, she hesitated, then said, “Don’t blame my teacher. She’s rather old-fashioned, but she never means any harm.”

Cheng Xiaoyu did not take the old witch seriously at all. He was only surprised that Duanmu Linsha was her student. Realizing how small the world could be, the words escaped him before he could stop them. “That old witch is your teacher?”

Duanmu Linsha lightly swatted his arm. “Don’t say things like that! Teacher Li is not some..." Then she remembered how afraid she had been of Li Yunling as a child. When the teacher was stern and wore that severe expression, she really did resemble the witch from a fairy tale. She could not help laughing.

Cheng Xiaoyu gave an awkward smile. “A slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue. Just don’t go reporting me to the department head!”

Duanmu Linsha gave him a sly smile. “Then how do you plan to bribe me?”

Cheng Xiaoyu scratched the back of his head and grinned foolishly. “How about payment in kind?”

Duanmu Linsha swatted him again and said coquettishly, “You’re awful.” Blushing, she turned toward the exit of the concert hall. By then, most of the audience had already left.

Of course, Cheng Xiaoyu knew that when a girl said she was annoyed, it often meant she liked you. But for Duanmu Linsha, who had only recently appeared in his life, he still saw her only as a very pretty girl, with a great figure and a talent for the piano. He did not yet feel that kind of stirring in his heart.

He caught up to her and said with a smile, “All right then. To show my gratitude, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“It has to be something expensive!” Duanmu Linsha said, pouting. She looked adorable.

She tugged at Cheng Xiaoyu’s sleeve, and they were both wearing school uniforms. The weather in May was perfect, neither cold nor hot.

The rainy season had not yet arrived; the sky was clear, and in the sunlight a playful breeze drifted by, lifting Duanmu Linsha’s smooth long hair so that the ends danced in the air.

Cheng Xiaoyu caught the faint scent of mint on her, and the two of them threaded through a mass of university students like childhood playmates.

Many people recognized him, the academy’s common enemy, and seeing him led by such a beautiful girl, the lonely bachelors let out miserable cries of envy.

It reminded Cheng Xiaoyu of his own high school romance. Back then, simply holding hands had made his soul feel as light as if it were floating. He still remembered the afternoons after school, when the river embankment outside the school was the place for dates; across the water, a tower stood against the sunset. The two of them sat on the grassy slope of the embankment, watching the evening wind rustle through the pale reeds with a whispering sound. The happiness of those days had been so pure it was heartbreaking.

He could not refuse Duanmu Linsha’s gentleness, and thought perhaps she only regarded him as a good friend.

Duanmu Linsha did not know that Cheng Xiaoyu had brought a car, and he did not mention it. Even this walk, scented with youth, made him feel a little nostalgic.

To the left of the academy concert hall stood Huajing Tower, where the school gym was located.

The alley between the tower and the concert hall was a feast for students, lined with all kinds of snacks from every corner of the country.

Red signs for duck blood vermicelli, small noodles, and rice bowls with toppings stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides.

By the roadside, tricycle stalls propped up iron griddles where potatoes and tofu were being roasted.

Middle-aged men in plain clothes and arm sleeves expertly worked two metal spatulas, slicing the tofu crosswise and lengthwise. Once it was fried until lightly charred on the surface, they drizzled it with a special sauce, waited a moment longer, then scattered on a green layer of chopped scallions. Just looking at it made one’s mouth water.

The stall next door sold steamed rice rolls. A half-man-high tin box sat in the tricycle, and from it they pulled out a narrow metal drawer holding translucent white rice sheets, wrapped around shrimp and chives. Two rolls were lifted out at a time and placed on a white porcelain plate; with a little soy sauce and vinegar, it became a dish of crisp, refreshing flavor.

Duanmu Linsha was like a child discovering a new continent—she wanted to eat this, then that. For someone who struggled with decision-making, choosing was truly difficult.

Cheng Xiaoyu had not been to the snack stalls in the university district for years, and he found everything fresh and novel too.

The two of them stood before a huge brass kettle shaped like a dragon’s mouth, carried on a shoulder pole by an old man, and bought two bowls of sweet tea soup.

At one end of the pole was a wooden box holding the powder and utensils; at the other was a gleaming brass kettle. Around the upper and lower portions of the kettle ran rings of decorative bronze patterns. A bronze dragon adorned the top of the spout and the handle. The spout was topped with a dragon’s head, while the handle itself was formed by a dragon. Its whiskers, claws, and scales were all clearly visible.

From the dragon mouth extended two whiskers, each tipped with a red silk pom-pom, trembling constantly as the master poured boiling water into the bowls, making them seem even more like two flood dragons clinging to the great kettle.

The tea soup seller held a bowl in one hand and tilted the brass kettle with the other. The spout angled downward, and a stream of boiling water crashed straight into the bowl; once the water filled it, the tea soup was done. When the old master made tea soup, his movements were relaxed yet crisp, supple and beautifully timed, every motion from scooping flour to adding ingredients to pouring water precise to the last fraction.

The main ingredients of tea soup were sorghum flour and millet flour, and the toppings included brown sugar, white sugar, shredded candied fruit, sesame, walnut kernels, mixed preserved fruits, raisins, strips of jujube cake, and pine nuts. The sorghum flour was stirred with boiling water into a thin paste, then mixed with the various toppings and eaten. It was fragrant, sweet, smooth, and delicious.

The two of them walked along, each holding a bowl of steaming tea soup. Cheng Xiaoyu could not resist the urge to eat, scooped up a spoonful, and shoved it into his mouth only to hiss in pain from the heat.

Amid Duanmu Linsha’s cry of alarm, he burned himself so badly that he dropped the entire bowl onto the ground.

Cheng Xiaoyu muttered that what a pity it was, and picked up the plastic bowl from the ground before throwing it into a trash can.

Seeing his pained expression, Duanmu Linsha laughed softly and sweetly.

She blew on a small clump of tea soup until it cooled, then held it to Cheng Xiaoyu’s lips. He hesitated, thought that after all it was not the first time, and shamelessly took it in one bite.

Last time, Duanmu Linsha had fed him by accident. This time, she had done it on purpose, her face red as if brushed with rouge, her shyness written all over it.

That brief, tentative intimacy was like sweet malt candy, silently melting into the hearts of both of them.

The gorgeous dividing line

Pei Yuchen and Jiang Muhan followed the crowd out of the concert hall.

Jiang Muhan still could not understand Pei Yuchen’s decision to go onstage and help Cheng Xiaoyu turn the pages. Holding on to her arm, she said irritably, “Hey, hey, are you really that kind? That fat guy caused you so much trouble, and you still went up to help him turn the pages?”

Pei Yuchen forced a smile. “It was just an accident. He didn’t do it on purpose. Besides, Zhang Shaofeng and the others went too far this time!”

“Ah, Zhang Shaofeng has good conditions, and he likes you so much. Aren’t you even going to consider him?” Jiang Muhan asked with a sly smile.

Pei Yuchen knew that Zhang Shaofeng had put in considerable effort with her roommates to get closer to her, but she had never planned to date in college. “What plot are you hatching now? And let me say this first: I’m not going to any dinner you invite me to.”

Jiang Muhan shook her arm and acted spoiled. “Come on, little Chen, if you won’t think about yourself, at least think about our dorm full of hungry, thirsty girls! Zhang Shaofeng said he wants our dorm to join with theirs for a mixer. Their dorm is the famous handsome-guys dorm, you know! They even want to take us to the buffet at King of the Leopard!”

Pei Yuchen said serenely, “Then you can go. I’m not stopping you.” Not the slightest bit swayed by Jiang Muhan’s enticement.

Jiang Muhan bared her teeth and claws in mock threat. “You’re really not a loyal sister. Careful, or I’ll wake you up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.”

Pei Yuchen smiled. “You sleep like a little pig at night. I’d better be the one to wake you.”

Jiang Muhan turned away in mock frustration, as though she did not want to speak to Pei Yuchen anymore.

Pei Yuchen did not mind. She took Jiang Muhan’s arm instead and said, “I’ll go if it’s a food stall outside campus, and it has to be split evenly.”

Jiang Muhan sighed in defeat. “I’m really afraid of you. I don’t know why you insist on principles so much!”

Pei Yuchen smiled and said softly, “This is my life. It cannot be handed to anyone, and it will not be taken away by anyone. Forcing it on others, forgetting it, destroying it, trampling it, laughing it off, beautifying it—I can do none of those things. I only want to be myself, unshaped by anyone, unburdened by anything. Even if that is harder, I still want to hold on to it, just a little.”

Jiang Muhan shook her head, unable to understand, and could only exclaim in amazement, “Wow! You’re so favored by heaven, and you’re still brooding over life. How are the rest of us, with our less-than-stunning looks, supposed to survive? I really don’t know why you’re so harsh on yourself. Relax and enjoy college life—sunshine, music, handsome guys, what could be better?”

Pei Yuchen did not want to explain. The real world was never all sunshine and happiness; it also had darkness and cruelty.

And her life belonged to the latter.