yournovel Chapter 38, Sister Meng's Unavoidable Love!
Chapter 38, Sister Meng's Unavoidable Love!
Recording the song was much faster than Zhang Ruonan had imagined.
Gao Huan had already prepared the arrangement ideas and demo, and his old partner Wei Wei listened to it once and started tuning immediately. The framework was completed in less than 20 minutes.
Gao Huan sang it in one take, while Huang Xiaoyun sang it in three takes.
Zhang Ruonan doesn't need to be recorded.
She is only the female lead in the music video; her voice will not appear in the audio.
It was almost nine o'clock when we finished recording.
Yangyang Jin booked a barbecue stall near the recording studio, where the Travel Band, Gao Huan, Zhang Ruonan, Shen Meng, and Huang Xiaoyun sat around a table.
The aroma of cumin mingled with the firelight, making for a casual yet lively meal.
Gao Huan and the band chatted about old stories of arranging music. Zhang Ruonan couldn't understand what they were saying, but she found it very interesting.
When these people talk about what they love, their tone is as relaxed as an old violin tuned to its most comfortable pitch.
Halfway through the meal, Gao Huan put down her chopsticks and said that filming would start at 5 pm the next day, and that Yangyang Jin would take them sightseeing in Beijing in the morning and at noon.
Zhang Ruonan felt a little sore.
Before she arrived, she thought she was just a prop, standing in the place she was supposed to stand, smiling the expressions she was supposed to smile, and then leaving after the photos were taken.
But now, sitting in this plastic chair, he is opposite me, my best friend is next to me, and Yangyang Jin and Huang Xiaoyun are next to me.
Most importantly, he was meticulous in arranging her schedule, and he was gentle and kind.
She felt once again that this was a two-way journey.
The person he cared about was her, and the person she cared about also happened to care about her. The line that stretched from Hangzhou to Beijing taut at that moment.
She took a sip of Arctic Ocean soda; it was sweet.
Shen Meng kicked her under the table and winked: See, I told you so!
Zhang Ruonan ignored her.
Tomorrow should be a nice day in Beijing.
Tomorrow's music video shoot will only cover part of the content; we'll be filming more in France, and it might even be a second version.
In addition, on the way back to the apartment, Gao Huan had already made an agreement with Yangyang Jin to sign Zhang Ruonan, planning to let her first take the path of an internet celebrity and then become an actress later.
……
June 5, Huairou.
It was completely dark when Gao Huan finished work.
In December, it gets dark early in Beijing. The sun sets as early as 5:30 p.m. By the time he came out of the studio, the streetlights had already been on for more than half an hour.
When he got on the bus, Yangyang Jin was scrolling through her phone. When she saw him come in, she looked up and said, "It's Meng Ziyi's birthday today."
Gao Huan paused for a moment as he fastened his seatbelt.
"I know."
Yangyang Jin glanced at him but didn't say anything more.
Driver Wang Fugui started the car and drove out of the film and television base. The night wind from Huairou blew in through the car window, carrying the scent of pine trees and earth, and it was so cold it stung my face.
Gao Huan leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed.
He went over today's scenes in his mind. There was one scene that he had to do twice before he finally got it right on the third try.
The first two times they were too lenient, so the third time they let him out, Lu Yang slapped his thigh behind the monitor.
He cleared that thought from his mind, opened his eyes, and took out his phone.
Meng Ziyi's chat window on WeChat was still from yesterday. She sent a message saying, "Tomorrow is my birthday," and he replied with three words: "I remember."
That's all.
Gao Huan locked the screen and put the phone back in his pocket.
When the car entered the city, it encountered the evening rush hour and was stuck on the Second Ring Road for almost half an hour.
By the time he got back to his apartment building, it was almost seven o'clock. He glanced at his phone as the elevator went up; there were no new messages.
When the door was pushed open, the motion-sensor lights in the hallway turned on.
She stood in the entryway.
She wore a white princess dress with a fluffy tulle skirt that reached her calves, and her waist was cinched tightly, outlining an unrealistically thin waistline.
Her hair was loose, draped over her shoulders, with slightly curled ends that shimmered softly under the warm yellow light.
She wore delicate, light makeup, with only inner eyeliner, her eyelashes were brushed to separate each lash, and her lips were painted with a thin layer of mauve.
A song was playing from the stereo.
The melody is very light, with a piano base and a short string section in the interlude. It's a demo he recorded last month, and the name hasn't been decided yet, but it's tentatively called "Irresistible Love".
She got it from somewhere; it might have been stolen from his studio computer, or perhaps Yangyang gave it to her last time—the latter being more likely.
Gao Huan changed his shoes, went inside, and took off his coat, draping it over the sofa.
Meng Ziyi stood still, his hands behind his back, tilting his head slightly as he looked at him.
The princess dress had a low neckline, but her collarbone was still visible, looking like two shallow crescent moons under the light.
"Is it pretty?" she asked.
Gao Huan looked at her for two seconds: "Beautiful."
Meng Ziyi smiled, but the smile was different from her usual one.
Her usual smile is sweet, with a touch of coquettishness, like a soft, fluffy marshmallow.
Today's smile was quiet, the corners of her mouth just slightly upturned, but there was a light in her eyes, like the moment a candle is lit.
"You remember my birthday," she said, her tone not questioning, but confirming.
"Um."
"You remember I liked this demo."
"Um."
Meng Ziyi walked over and stood in front of him.
She was wearing a princess dress and flat shoes, and she had to tilt her head back to see his eyes when she stood in front of him.
When she tilted her head back, the hem of her skirt swayed slightly, and the sheer fabric brushed against his trouser leg, making a soft rustling sound.
"Gao Huan."
She called me by my full name.
It's not "Huan Ge", not "Senior" or "Daddy", it's "Gao Huan".
This is a serious signal between them.
"Um."
"I'm nineteen today."
Gao Huan did not respond.
Nineteen years old, that's not young anymore.
Her voice wasn't loud, but she spoke each word clearly: "My mom called me today and said, 'You should study hard and find a boyfriend. You can't go back to an ex.'"
She paused here, then smiled, a smile that seemed somewhat bitter.
"I didn't tell her I had you."
Gao Huan looked at her without saying a word.
"I don't know how to introduce you," she said. "Say 'my boyfriend'? You're not. Say 'the person I like'? That's too sentimental. Say 'the person I'm waiting for'? That's too artsy."
The demo on the speakers was playing for the second time.
The piano and strings intertwined, and the melody echoed in the living room, like the tolling of some ancient bell, striking again and again in some unseen place.
Gao Huan reached out and tucked a strand of hair that was hanging down beside her face behind her ear.
The movement was very light; his fingertips brushed against her earlobe, and the warmth transferred to her ear, causing it to turn slightly red.
"Happy birthday," he said.
Meng Ziyi looked at him, her eyes a little red, but she didn't cry.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the tears welling up, then reached out and grabbed his sleeve, leading him into the living room.
"I bought a cake," she said. "Let's eat it together."
On the coffee table in the living room was a small white cake, about six inches in size, with light blue cream and a few words written crookedly on it in white chocolate sauce: "Sister Meng will always be eighteen."
Gao Huan glanced at the words, and his lips twitched slightly: "Did you write that?"
How did you know?
"Your handwriting is ugly."
Meng Ziyi couldn't help but laugh and slapped his chest muscle hard. The laugh dispelled some of the previous heaviness, and the air began to flow again.
She crouched down, pulled a candle from under the coffee table, stuck it on the cake, and lit it with a lighter.
As the flames leaped up, her face was illuminated by flickering light, and her eyes seemed to dance with light.
"Make a wish," Gao Huan said.
Meng Ziyi closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and moved his lips slightly, but no sound came out.
Gao Huan neither knew nor cared what she wished for.
When the candle is blown out, the smoke rises and disperses into a cloud of white mist under the lamplight.
"Eat cake," she said, picking up a knife, cutting a piece, placing it on a plate, and handing it to him.
Gao Huan took the plate and took a bite.
The cream was too sweet, almost cloyingly so, but he didn't say anything and finished the whole thing.
Meng Ziyi sat next to him and ate a small piece himself.
She ate very slowly, poking at the cake several times with her fork before putting it in her mouth, as if she was thinking about something.
"Gao Huan."
"Um."
"That demo," she paused, "who did you write it for?"
The living room fell silent for a moment. The music from the stereo was stuck on the interlude; the piano stopped, leaving only the strings playing softly, like someone walking slowly in the twilight.
Gao Huan placed the plate on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa.
"Can't you tell?"
Meng Ziyi looked at him, and after two seconds, suddenly smiled.
This smile was different from before; it was sweet, a kind of "I know, but I won't ask anymore" kind of relief.
Compared to her first love, Gao Huan was far more perfect, which is why she was willing to succumb to his deception.
"I recognized it," she said, "but I'm afraid I misheard."
She put down the plate, stood up, walked to the speaker, and turned the volume up a bit.
The melody surged in from all directions, enveloping her completely.
She stood next to the speaker, closed her eyes, and swayed gently to the melody.
The hem of the princess dress trembled slightly under the light, and the gauze fabric reflected tiny glimmers of light, as if someone had crushed stars and scattered them on it.
She opened her eyes, turned around, and walked towards him.
She didn't stop when she reached him, but kept walking forward until her knees touched his. Then she bent down, leaned forward, and placed her hands on the sofa on either side of him, bringing her face close to his so that he could see his reflection in her pupils.
"Those moments of love are the most beautiful colors..."
She hummed softly, just loud enough for the two of them to hear.
She seemed to hold the lyrics on the tip of her tongue and slowly uttered them: "Like the light of the sunset waves, dazzling and unforgettable."
Gao Huan looked down at her with satisfaction.
"Did you already plan to sing like this?" he asked.
Meng Ziyi's lips curled up slightly: "Of course I'll sing the song you wrote for me in my own way."
She straightened up and took a step back.
"I'm nineteen today," she said. "I want to ask you for a birthday present."
Gao Huan looked at her.
"explain."
Meng Ziyi's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.
She looked up, her lips lightly touching his abs, then straightened up and took a step back.
"Try Pilates," she said. "You said last time that my core was too weak."
Gao Huan looked at her for two seconds, stood up, walked to the wall and spread out the yoga mat.
Meng Ziyi took off her shoes and stepped barefoot on the mat. The hem of her princess dress hung on the ground like a flower that had bloomed out of season.
"Stand still," Gao Huan said. "Let's warm up first."
Mencius stood up straight, raised his hands above his head, and extended his spine upwards segment by segment.
She did the movement very seriously, but her exertion was still wrong—her ribs were turned outwards, her shoulders were too tight, and her core was not engaged.
Gao Huan walked over, stood behind her, placed his right hand on her lower back, and his left hand on her shoulder blade.
"Take the ribs back in," he said.
Meng Ziyi accepted it, but not enough.
"But dawn was breaking, I opened my eyes, and the fog had dissipated..."
She hummed again, her voice lowered, as if talking to herself, "But, but..."
"breathe."
She took a deep breath, her ribs pulled back in, but her shoulders shrugged again.
Gao Huan gently pressed her fingers on her shoulder blade, and she slowly lowered her shoulders.
"But you left and I'm still here, but what about now?"
After she finished reading that sentence, her breathing became a little heavier.
Because his hand was pressed tightly against her lower back, the warmth of his palm was transmitted through the thin gauze skirt.
Gao Huan withdrew his hand and took a step back.
"Next exercise: plank."
Meng Ziyi lay down, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, his body taut in a straight line.
She did this movement a little better than last time, but her core was still not stable enough; her waist slumped down and her buttocks sticked up.
Gao Huan squatted down and tapped her lower back with two fingers: "Push your waist up."
She gave it a push.
"Not enough! Hmm~"
She pushed again, and this time she applied the right force; her body formed a straight line when viewed from the side.
But her arms were shaking, and she couldn't hold on for more than ten seconds before she started to sway.
"Your shadow drifts away, becoming a long river."
She lay face down, her voice muffled as it came from the yoga mat, "The fragmented moonlight reflected in my eyes, that's the moment you loved me..."
"The core is tightening," Gao Huan said.
"I've kept it..." Her voice trembled slightly, not from crying, but from the kind of trembling that she couldn't hold back anymore.
Gao Huan didn't speak. After three seconds, he reached out and supported her abdomen, helping to relieve some of her burden.
Meng Ziyi's body stiffened abruptly because the spot he was supporting was precisely her most sensitive area.
Her hands went limp, and she collapsed onto the yoga mat, burying her face in it, her ears turning a deep red as if they were about to bleed.
Gao Huan withdrew his hand, stood to the side, and looked at her.
"What's wrong?"
"...Nothing much." Her muffled voice came from the yoga mat.
A few seconds later, she rolled over, lay on her back on the mat, and looked at the ceiling.
The skirt of the princess dress spread out on the yoga mat, like a flattened flower.
Her face turned bright red, from her forehead all the way down to her collarbone, as if someone had set her on fire.
"Gao Huan."
"Um."
"You said every sunset is a passing visitor," she said, her lips moving slightly as she looked at the ceiling, "We kissed the moon bright through the shadows of the trees. Let's not think about whether it was a dream or not..."
She turned her head and looked at him.
"That was a time when you loved me. Wasn't it?"
Gao Huan did not answer.
He stood up, walked to the speakers, and turned the volume down a bit. The demo was still playing, the piano and strings intertwined, like someone walking slowly in the twilight.
He walked back to her, quickly squatted down, and looked at her.
Yes, I like you.