Roben finally stood up after I also kicked him once, and said to me and Leyao, “You two each kicked me once, perfectly symmetrical! What great chemistry you’ve got!” Then he turned only to Leyao and asked, “Miss Big Shot, does listening to us sing really bother you so much? Actually, a few years ago, Zhaoyang and I often couldn’t get gigs at bars, so we’d come to this underground passage to sing. Looking back, we didn’t earn much money, but we got plenty of scornful looks from passersby!”
Leyao glared at Roben and said, “What kind of life you two deep-fried dough sticks used to live has nothing to do with me.”
“Yeah, I know it’s got nothing to do with you.” Pausing briefly, Roben asked her, “Do you still remember the first time we met at the bar?”
Leyao seemed to recall that day, her expression becoming complicated. After a while, she said, “So what if I remember?”
“That night, Zhaoyang and I sang songs in an underground passage just like this one. Funny coincidence, actually—it was the last time we ever sang in an underground passage, because Zhaoyang felt we couldn’t keep going like that, so he decided to get a real job. But that night, even though we didn’t earn much money, we still decided to go to the bar and drink ourselves into oblivion to forget our desperate lives… Speaking of which, Zhaoyang, how much money did we have saved up back then?”
I replied, “Not much at all, just over 600 yuan.”
Roben nodded, “That’s right. At the time, we wanted to save up to buy some MIDI equipment, but after six months, after covering our daily expenses, we’d only saved about 600 yuan. So we decided to just give up and spend it all that night at the bar.”
After a long silence, Leyao responded, “But you didn’t expect it would end up being used to pay for a complete stranger like me.”
I jumped in, “It wasn’t all spent on you either—we drank quite a bit that night ourselves.”
Leyao, with a cold expression, said, “So, you two deep-fried dough sticks are here to collect old debts now? Fine then, just name the amount—I can afford it!”
Roben and I exchanged glances, neither of us speaking further, because Leyao’s attitude was clear—she didn’t want us bringing up the past. Thinking further, she might have already seen through Roben’s trick and was trying to stop him from playing the nostalgia and emotional debt card with her.
Seeing that neither of us spoke, Leyao impatiently took her wallet out of her handbag, pulled out all the cash inside, grabbed my hand, and slapped the money into my palm, coldly asking, “Is this enough?”
I looked at her in surprise… but she turned her head away, staring at the half-melted snow piles across the street. The relentless cold wind blew her fur collar and strands of hair into disarray, and suddenly my heart tightened. I didn’t like seeing her standing there so fragile in the cold wind.
Perhaps Roben felt the same way I did, but he acted—he took off his thick motorcycle jacket and draped it over her shoulders. He gently tucked her disheveled hair behind her ears, finally revealing her delicate face to our view. Even with her face still covered by a mask, it didn’t diminish her beauty in the slightest.
Roben spoke softly to her, “Please, don’t be so stubborn… You know, we’ve all gone our separate ways now. Roben and I really won’t have another chance to come back to this underground passage like this, to sing a song earnestly while reminiscing about the past… But the truth is, those days left deep marks on us. We’ve shared hardships together, including you…”
This time, Leyao stayed silent for a long time before replying, “I beg you, please don’t try to get emotional with me anymore… My heart feels so heavy and I’m so annoyed right now!”
Roben led Leyao to sit down on a bench and said, “I’ve always believed music is the best therapy in this complicated world, so if you’re feeling upset, just listen to us sing a song… A song written for you.”
Leyao kept her head down, seemingly indifferent, yet clearly ready to listen. Otherwise, with her personality, she would have already stormed off, not staying here to listen to us two deep-fried dough sticks.
Roben opened his guitar case, took out the expensive guitar inside, played a brief intro, lit a cigarette, and smilingly asked me softly, “Zhaoyang, do you believe in fate? The last time we sang in an underground passage, we met this woman right here. These years later, we’ve both gone so far in our respective paths, yet when we come back here to reminisce, she’s still the woman right in front of us… I always feel her appearance is some kind of sign. Maybe someday we’ll understand what that sign means, but I still haven’t figured it out yet…”
Roben’s words seemed to awaken something in me—her appearance indeed felt like a sign. What exactly it signified, I couldn’t yet grasp through the limited experiences of our years. But I firmly believed that time would eventually clear up all confusion and reveal the truth to us…
After a long period of silent contemplation, I ultimately didn’t answer Roben’s question about whether I believed in fate. Instead, I simply said to him, “Let’s sing… Wait, let me look at the guitar chart again.”
Roben handed me the already crumpled sheet of paper again, and I quickly memorized it. Throughout this process, Leyao didn’t show any impatience, just absentmindedly staring at the guitar lying on the ground, and no one could know what was going through her mind at that moment.
Finally, I placed the sheet with the guitar chart into my pocket, nodded at Roben, signaling that I was ready…
Roben extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand and started playing the rhythm before me, and I followed shortly after. Instinctively, I sang with a warm voice: “This song is only for you, sung with my most beautiful heart… You’re as beautiful as a flower, yet never afraid of wind and rain. In my black eyes, your image will always remain. Whenever the sky is gloomy and raining, I always think back to that time. I don’t know how many sleepless nights were caused simply by your appearance…”
As Roben and I sang, we both became emotional. Our voices carried too many feelings from our time together with her, transforming the song into something more like a touching story. Instantly, it captured the attention of passersby, who gradually gathered around to listen… And when the song ended, I finally managed to spot Leyao through the crowd, her hands covering her face.
Some passersby had already thrown money toward us, and eventually someone recognized Roben. Excitedly, they approached him for an autograph, which Roben handled… I, unnoticed by anyone, finally pushed my way through the crowd and stood in front of Leyao. After a long, extremely quiet moment, her emotions finally broke. She crouched on the ground and started crying, hitting me with her fists, but unable to utter a single word through her sobs. And I just stood there silently, letting her hit me without saying a word…
Although Roben was hailed as the new father of rock and enjoyed a high reputation in the industry, for the general public, rock was still a niche music genre. Compared to a popular actress like Leyao, Roben was merely a newly famous newcomer whose influence couldn’t match hers. Soon enough, as we stopped singing and the weather grew increasingly cold, the crowd gradually dispersed, restoring some quiet to the scene. Yet Leyao’s sobs became even more distinct, piercing straight into the softest part of my heart…
Coming to where Leyao and I were, Roben said, “This song was written for you, called ‘Being With You’… Actually, we both really like you, like the feeling of being with you, and we won’t forget those gray days we walked through together!”
Leyao stood up and grabbed at Roben’s collar, crying out, “Why are you guys doing this… Why do you always make me cry so painfully… And why do I always cry so pathetically like this… Because I hate Zhaoyang, hate him for singing this… this stupid song with you! I don’t like either of you at all… you two stinky deep-fried dough sticks!”
Leyao couldn’t stop crying, but suddenly she tightly embraced Roben, burying her face on his shoulder as if finding support, crying even more heart-wrenchingly… And my heart, amidst her sobs, shattered!… Even questioning whether Roben’s tender approach to moving this seemingly pitiful woman at this moment was actually a despicable mistake!
Or perhaps it wasn’t a mistake at all, but rather the complex emotions long suppressed among the three of us, just happened to be released through Roben’s approach. Regardless of the complicated feelings between me and Leyao, even just the pure friendship between Roben and her was a beautiful tale in the entertainment industry… There was genuine emotion among us, only lacking a way to express it like the one we had now.
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