Chapter 47: Those who love are mocked by those who do not (IIX)

Li Shiyi and the others had come early; the venue hadn’t gotten lively yet, and only a few people in couples or trios were at tables drinking wine; on a round stage half as high as a person, a female singer with a supple waist was crooning a song, in a scarlet qipao with black, curly hair, her arms wrapped in long gloves, and even her operatic gestures at the microphone were incredibly charming and delicate.

The manager brought them to a reserved sofa, fan-shaped and leather-brown, and they crowded around a short, four-sided table; Tu Loayao, head bowed, eyes focused on his nose and his nose focused on his heart, hadn’t even the mind to take a look at the female singer; he was quite dedicated to standing by Wu Qian’s side, hands folded over his abdomen, belly drawn in and chest held straight, looking remarkably like a muscular, well-built bodyguard.

Li Shiyi was the first to sit, her shoulders half relaxed and her legs crossed, one over the other, tilted upwards in a loose posture; A Luo sat at the side, her legs, covered by Western-style pants, crossed and raised in the opposite direction of Li Shiyi’s, and lowered her head to look at the wine list.

Song Shijiu sat at Li Shiyi’s right side; the Western sofa was soft and cushiony, not hard like wooden chairs, and it caused Song Shijiu to sink in in a bare moment; she simply relaxed her neck, her shoulder gently nearing Li Shiyi’s; separated by the material of the shirt touching her smooth skin, a fragrance both faint and enticing enveloped her within, causing her heart to be as excitable as a monkey and her mind to canter like a horse.

Though they hadn’t come to the venue proper, the force of the sound of the music was still not insignificant; it hammered against Song Shijiu’s heart with a drone, and she raised her hand to press against her right ear; in the silence of the moment of covering it up, she heard Li Shiyi’s voice in her left ear. “What will you drink?”

She turned her head; because of the clamour, Li Shiyi was incredibly close to her, her head slightly inclined, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. Song Shijiu thought a moment, and asked, “Is there coffee?”

Li Shiyi drew back, and replied, “There is,” her index finger tapping against the wine list in A Luo’s hand.

Song Shijiu gazed at her inclined form as she whispered into A Luo’s ear, and a subtle feeling of bewitchment arose. Only after did she understand that the time when a person was most filled with allure was not usually when they were nearby, but when they were estranged; when she’d finished inquiring without reluctance when doing things in a strictly businesslike manner, when she carelessly talked cheerfully and wittily with another, when she had already turned her bosom to you, only to once more turn her face in the other direction, seeming neither close nor distant. The feeling of distance grasped the imagination, grasped a displeasure, and also grasped longing. She always longed for Li Shiyi an incredible amount.

Song Shijiu blinked, and held the warm water the waiter had delivered in her hands.

A Yin, seeing she was bored, had Wu Qian and Tu Laoyao accompany her all around on a stroll; the remaining three lazed about on the sofa, Li Shiyi slightly bent over, her arm propped on her thigh, her right hand supporting her jaw, and her gaze cast about the entrance hall, seeming as if to be waiting for something.

Before even the time it took for a cup of tea, Song Shijiu, in dark blue cheongsam, returned from the brilliant lights and vibrant colours, lifting her skirt, swaying too and fro, head lowered and walking incredibly carefully; A Yin, half reclined, raised her hand to tug at her, and she clutched at A Yin’s hand, circumventing the low table and going inwards, walking until she reached the middle; A Luo drew the tips of her feet back, yet saw she didn’t have any intention of passing by her; rather, she sat back down by A Luo’s left side. Unexpectedly, she hadn’t sat at Li Shiyi’s side; A Luo was a bit astonished.

Li Shiyi leaned back, her left hand settling on her knee, her index finger twitching. In the dusky, hazy lamp light, she saw Song Shijiu speaking with A Luo in a quiet voice, her face lowered a bit more than A Luo’s, her pitch-black eyes looking upwards, glistening and bright due to the reflection of the light.

Song Shijiu and A Luo weren’t very well acquainted, and there was a bit of embarrassment, but her actions had a reason, and deliberating a bit, she finally asked, “Don’t you…have an incredible amount of money?” The attire of the group had all been arranged by A Luo; Li Shiyi’s ivory-buckled shirt, the large pearls on A Yin’s neck, and the dazzling diamond ring on A Luo’s finger. Though she didn’t know how much it was, from the reverential and respectful attitude of the manager, she could more or less guess that the cost was considerable.

Li Shiyi, hearing what was said, pressed her lips together, and calmly extended her head, lowering her eyes and gazing at her.

A Luo smiled faintly at Song Shijiu. “What is it?”

Song Shijiu cast a glance at Li Shiyi, and asked her again, “Of you and Shiyi, who has more money?”

Li Shiyi’s heart leaped with a ge-deng, a bit inexplicably; she raised her hand to hold the wine, taking an aloof sip.

A Luo glanced humorously at Li Shiyi, and said cordially, “If compared to Shiyi, it ought to be me.” Ling Heng is another matter, she supplemented in her mind.

Song Shijiu thoughtfully let out an “oh”, drawing back and sitting properly, her hands on her knees, clutching and releasing her skirt. She pondered it for a while, and then finally summoned up her courage and touched A Luo’s arm, turning her face to her, and pressed it to the back of her neck, raising her hand to pull at her hair, exposing her fair ear, and said lowly, “I…”

A Yin drew her gaze back from the stage, and, seeing this scene, was slightly distracted; A Luo was also a bit baffled, raising her gaze to glance at A Yin; she was just about to lower her head and question Song Shijiu, when a pair of slender arms wrapped around her; Li Shiyi pulled at Song Shijiu’s wrist, and said, “Come over here.”

Song Shijiu paused; her body was much more obedient than her mind, and followed Li Shiyi’s actions to rise and return to sit once more, once again at Li Shiyi’s right side. Li Shiyi didn’t look at her, and put the wine list in her other hand back. “Your coffee is over here,” she said in a quiet voice.

Song Shijiu nodded, only glancing once, not having much interest. Only after listening to another half a song did Song Shijiu call out her name in a low tone. “Shiyi.”

“What is it?” Li Shiyi tilted her head.

Song Shijiu raised her hand once more to tug at the hair at her temple, and said uneasily, “My earrings, the diamond tassels—they’ve disappeared.”

Li Shiyi raised a brow, and Song Shijiu explained, “My ears aren’t pierced; those earrings were hung on, quite unstably; I don’t know where they fell off just now, and I looked for them the whole way; I even after begging for Tu Laoyao’s help, and I still couldn’t find them. I didn’t dare to tell Wu Qian,” she added.

Li Shiyi inclined her face to gaze at her, neither concerned nor worried; even her brows weren’t furrowed, and she even looked over her empty ears at an exasperatingly slow pace. Song Shijiu asked, “I don’t know how much they cost, but it probably isn’t a small amount; if we can’t compensate it, how could that be alright?” Song Shijiu was quite anxious, anxious enough that her eyelashes were trembling, yet Li Shiyi’s heart felt as if it were a bubble that had been burst, a small peng sound, suddenly becoming flat. A Luo’s earrings had to be compensated for, yet Li Shiyi’s money counted as “our”. This way of saying it was incredibly subtle, and it made Li Shiyi press her lips together to faintly hide a bit of a smile.

She leaned forward and picked up the coffee and gave it to Song Shijiu; then she picked up her own wine and tried a sip, which carried a faint chill to her stomach; only then sid she say, “It could be compensated for.”

“Really?” Song Shijiu restrained her breath.

“Really,” Li Shiyi said.

Song Shiiju’s heart fell like a large stone, and the corners of her eyes curved; she raised her coffee cup to her lips.

Only after less than half a shichen did Xianyuesi turn into a genuine paradise; wine goblets and gambling chips mingled, cups going out and cups coming in, the liquid of wine splashing in glass cups, exactly as showy as the bustling, cosmopolitan city; the dancers’ long legs kicked out from within the petals of their skirts, yet another blurring of sound and colour to the heart’s content. The saxophones’ tune urged on passion, only willing to let out their final notes once the amourousness had come to its end.

The person Li Shiyi had been waiting for finally appeared.

She was a young woman with an incredibly graceful bearing, in a finely embroidered, creamy-white qipao, the space between her shoulders a carving an emptiness; her glossy hair was combed into great curls, fastened to the side by a moissanite headband; her face was tapered and her lips the colour of plums, and her charming, fox-like eyes rose upwards, the ends of her brows rising nearly to her temples. This was a young woman familiar with nighttime entertainment venues, and thus knew not to wear gaudy red; white clothes and white ornaments were the most dazzling jewels in the night.

The pearl took one step and swayed thrice, and swayed to the bar; without thinking, she ordered a cocktail, relaxing and appraising the people in the venue; her mist-like gaze swept to and fro, sweeping over the paunchy men, and the young men who harboured ulterior motives, and the young women who kept hatred and jealousy hidden in their mouths, and finally fell to the form of an unhurried Li Shiyi.

Li Shiyi exchanged glances with her, and raised her arm, placing it on the back of the sofa, and nonchalantly raised one of her crossed legs gently upwards.

A Yin had some a sort of feeling for A Luo; as she turned her handkerchief over, she kept watch out of the corner of her eye; Song Shijiu held the coffee, face tilted and silent as she gazed at Li Shiyi; Tu Laoyao and Wu Qian still stood upright, unbothered by the ebb and flow of the matters of life.

When Li Shiyi’s boot moved for the third time, the pearl of a young lady took the wine offered by the waiter, drawing the straw into her mouth and biting it, the tip of her tongue moistening her lip; then she set the glass down, and walked in Li Shiyi’s direction.

The small paper figure hidden on the back of the sofa stretched out half its body, and, hiding its figure by Li Shiyi’s ear, said, “That’s her. In the afternoon, I spoke with the small snake in the mountain god temple nearby; this young woman’s form has the aura of a spiritual beast on her.”

Song Shijiu glanced at it; it leaned forward obediently and got back into Li Shiyi’s pocket, its neck sticking out as it fell limp.

The young woman drew closer and closer; Li Shiyi’s welcoming gaze never left her, and she reached out her hand to adjust her cuffs; then she uncrossed her legs, her hands gently curling at her sides, and she rose to smile beautifully at the arriving person. Song Shijiu held the coffee, which had cooled down, and gazed at Li Shiyi following after that young woman to the dance floor, taking a dance with her. Light and shadow were this passionate; Li Shiyi’s brushstroke-drawn features and figure, her aloof yet loose gathering of the young woman’s waist, her hand grasping emptily; even her posture and movements had a sense of utter propriety.

A Yin, seeing Song Shijiu gazing at Li Shiyi, was baffled, and rose to sit by her side, picking up a sugar cube for her and putting it into her coffee. With coffee this cool, sugar put in wouldn’t dissolve well, but when the young woman was unhappy, sweets were the best relief.

Yet Song Shijiu didn’t show a look of desolation; she put her coffee cup down, covering her hands over her hands on her thighs, above her knees. Just now, before Li Shiyi had risen, her right hand had gently, appeasingly patted there. She didn’t understand what the implication of this action was, but in all, it made her feel much more at ease.

In the flickering light and passing shadows of the dance floor, Li Shiyi inclined her head, and softly asked the young woman in front of her, “What is xiaojie called by?”

“Yunyun,” the young woman replied.

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