Fu Shitian's hand finally rested on Shi Yi's shoulder. The skin under his palm was so delicate that Fu Shitian didn't even dare to put his hand down completely, but only rested it lightly.
"Relax." Shi Yi guided her, "Let's start with the simplest one. I'll take a step forward with my left foot, and you'll take a step back with your left foot. Then I'll take a step forward with my right foot, and you'll take another step back. Then, put your feet together and pause for a while."
Fu Shitian lowered her head and paid attention to Shi Yi's footsteps. Shi Yi's feet were also very beautiful. When Shi Yi took a step forward, she quickly took a step back, concentrating her mind and keeping up with Shi Yi's pace.
After going back and forth like this for a few times, Shi Yi reminded her: "Si Tian."
"look at me."
Fu Shitian raised her head and met Shi Yi's eyes. There was a swaying figure behind her, the light was ambiguous, and Shi Yi looked at her eyes as if there was a lake rippling.
So focused, so gentle.
Fu Shitian's heart skipped a beat and his brain wasn't responding.
Shi Yi let out a soft “hiss” and Fu Shitian came back to his senses and quickly jumped away, “Ah, sorry, sorry…”
There was a black footprint on Shi Yi's white and tender toes, and Fu Shitian's whole face was burning.
"It's okay." Shi Yi didn't care. He tapped Fu Shitian's waist twice with his fingertips, signaling Fu Shitian to continue.
Fu Shitian ignored the trembling in his waist and stepped more carefully. The music changed to a French female voice, with a hoarse voice, soothing and seductive. The two gradually got into the mood.
In the world that she perceived between the steps, it seemed as if there were only the two of them.
"Is it simple?" Shi Yi asked in a calm voice.
Fu Shitian looked up at her and said softly and shyly, "I stepped on you many times."
Shi Yi laughed from her nose. She cruised with Fu Shitian, getting close to Fu Shitian's cheek while changing dance steps. "Your body can be more flexible. Imagine that you are a ship, swaying with the waves."
The warm breath sprinkled on Fu Shitian's ears, and the clear and cold voice penetrated into his heart, turning into a tingling sensation.
Fu Shitian shuddered sensitively and stepped on Shi Yi's instep again.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Fu Shitian bent down nervously and looked at her, his voice sounding like he was about to cry.
It didn't really hurt. Shi Yi moved his feet and held up Fu Shitian's chin with his hand, wanting her not to worry about it.
Fu Shitian raised his head following her force, his wet eyes shining under the colorful lights.
Shi Yi was stunned for a moment.
"Shi Yi... does it hurt?" She bit her lower lip lightly.
Shi Yi's thumb touched her lower lip. Fu Shitian was stunned. She loosened the grip of her teeth and slightly opened her lips.
"The lipstick is smudged." She said in a normal tone.
The music stopped, bright lights came on, and the host invited everyone to play a little game.
"Let's go and take a look." Shi Yi took back his hand and said nonchalantly, "The lipstick really suits your skin tone."
Fu Shitian stood there in a daze, looking at Shi Yi's back, restraining the urge to touch her lips. She noticed it. The lipstick she used today was the one she gave her.
Fu Shitian's eyes rippled and he quickly caught up with Shi Yi.
After two small games and a lucky draw, there was a show performance, followed by large-scale group interactions such as the rabbit dance, and finally another lucky draw. The party was coming to an end.
Fu Shitian said goodbye to Shi Yi and left during the lucky draw session. She said that the finale was their office's show and she had to change her clothes.
The host read the script with great emotion on the stage: "Tonight's dance party is about to end here. Finally, the juniors in the office will perform a song "Farewell" for our seniors who are about to embark on a new journey in life. I wish the seniors, from this new starting point, from now on, the sky is high and the birds fly, the sea is wide and the fish jump, and the future is bright!"
The bright lights dimmed, and the clear and sad sound of the piano rang out amid the applause, calming all the restlessness in the audience. The cello hummed slowly, followed by the melodious and mournful sound of the harmonica, pulling everyone's emotions into the season of blooming phoenix flowers.
Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the grass is green and endless.
On the stage, the silent projection emits a soft light, and young smiling faces flicker on it. Several boys and girls wearing retro new-style school uniforms from the Republic of China stand or sit in front of this precious memory, playing the piano affectionately.
No one left early. Shi Yi, like everyone else, stared at the stage in the darkness, but she was different from everyone else—she only stared at Fu Shitian.
Fu Shitian changed into a blue jacket and a black skirt, her long straight hair was braided into two braids, her long eyelashes drooped, and she was concentrating on playing the harmonica between her ten fingers. As her white wrists moved slightly, one sad and pleasant note after another flowed out from her red lips.
Pure and classical, she is like a woman who walked out of a poem by Dai Wangshu.
There were whispers of inquiry around him, but Shi Yi could no longer hear them. Everything seemed to have lost its light, except for the place where Fu Shitian was, which left a cluster of light and a beautiful silhouette, like a small window opened in the darkness.
Shi Yi never knew that she could play the harmonica, and never knew that she had such charm—cold and calm, melancholy but not fragile, and full of stories.
This was Fu Shitian whom she had never seen before.
Shi Yi felt as if he had seen something through this window, but it was all an illusion. When the music faded away, the girl stood up and bowed to the audience, smiling and standing in the light, she was the shy girl again.
The lights in the venue were all on, and the host announced that the party was officially over. Some people rushed to the door, while others stayed where they were, still wanting more, and occasionally some pushed their way to the stage.
Shi Yi did not leave. She declined several men and women who invited her to join them and stood by a pillar beside her, watching Fu Shitian.
Fu Shitian stood in the open space on the right side of the stage, and was stopped by boys one after another. One boy stood and talked to her for a few words. Fu Shitian raised her head and looked around the audience, and soon caught sight of her.
Shi Yi could feel her happiness from afar.
She said something to the boy again, and then ran back to her side.
"Shi Yi, are you... waiting for me?" Fu Shitian asked softly.
Shi Yi did not answer, but asked back: "Are you leaving?" Looking closely, the lipstick she wore tonight really suits her skin tone and her outfit even better.
Fu Shitian nodded, "But I need to go backstage to change my clothes, can you wait for me?"
Shi Yi nodded, and the two walked to the backstage side by side. Fu Shitian went in to change clothes, while Shi Yi greeted his acquaintances from the Student Union at the door.
Fu Shitian changed her clothes as quickly as possible. Before going out, she paused, turned on the front camera of her mobile phone, and reapplied her lipstick.
She returned the clothes to the student in the planning group who was responsible for renting clothes, said goodbye to everyone, and went back to the dormitory with Shi Yi.
Outside the small dance hall, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and a cool breeze was blowing. The sound of high heels was mixed with the friction of skateboards and laughter of groups of passers-by, like a special sonata on campus on a summer night.
Fu Shitian was concerned about Shi Yi: "Will it be a bit cold?"
Shi Yi shook his head, "Are you cold?"
Fu Shitian also said no. She was even a little hot-headed, maybe because she was too emotional. "Shi Yi... just after I got off the stage, several people asked me for my contact information."
"Um?"
"I didn't want to give it, so I rejected them all."
"Yeah." Why tell her this
Fu Shitian glanced at Shi Yi sideways, then looked away, and after a while looked at him again, looking a little hesitant.
Shi Yi was puzzled. He took several steps and then realized something belatedly.
"You rejected them?"
"Um."
"Won't you be embarrassed?"
"Yes... But, I refused."
"Well, that's good." Shi Yi affirmed in a calm voice.
Fu Shitian looked at her and her dimples instantly rippled. Shi Yi found it funny, he was really waiting for her to praise her.
"Can you also play the harmonica?" Shi Yi asked casually.
"Yeah." Fu Shitian said honestly, "I'm not very good at playing the flute. I don't know if I can be considered a proficient flute player. I was forced to learn it this time. I'm learning it right away."
"That's pretty good. Have you learned it specifically?"
“Not really…” After a moment’s hesitation, she said softly, “When I was very young, my mother taught me a little bit, so that was my enlightenment. Later, my music teacher at school also taught me a little bit, and after that, I learned by myself.”
"Then you are amazing." Shi Yi paused and asked, "Is it because you like it?"
Fu Shitian looked up at the sky, laughed, and said very softly: "Because when I hear the sound of the harmonica, I feel a sense of nostalgia." She lowered her head, with a faint smile on her cheek.
But Shi Yi felt that was not happiness.
For a moment, she wanted to ask about her mother, but she calmed down immediately. The past that she didn't want to be mentioned didn't need to be remembered by anyone.
"Shi Yi, does your foot still hurt?" Fu Shitian changed the subject.
Shi Yi replied: "It never really hurt."
Fu Shitian breathed a sigh of relief and apologized, "I stepped on you so many times. I think I was the worst dancer in the whole show."
"Then you must not have really watched the whole thing."
Fu Shitian was stunned for a moment, then he pursed his lips and smiled.
They arrived at the dormitory building and got out of the elevator on the 13th floor. The two said goodbye to each other. Shi Yi put his hand on the door of dormitory 1315 and was about to push it open. Fu Shitian mustered up the courage to say, "Shi Yi, I kept forgetting to talk to you tonight."
Shi Yi glanced sideways and waited for her next words.
Fu Shitian clenched her fingers slightly, and said while holding back her breath, "You are so beautiful tonight." After that, she lowered her head and turned away.
Shi Yi called her, "Si Tian."
Fu Shitian turned around, and Shi Yi said, "I watched the whole show carefully."
"You should be the most beautiful one." She curled her lips vaguely, her beautiful eyebrows relaxed, and pushed the door into the dormitory, "See you tomorrow."
"... See you... tomorrow." Fu Shitian replied subconsciously. She stopped where she was, looking at the empty entrance of Room 1315, wondering if she was hallucinating.
She raised her hand to touch her burning ears and felt like she was floating back to the dormitory.
Even after she took off her makeup, took a shower and lay down in bed, her heart still hadn't cooled down. Chen Xizhu sent a message, eager to know: "How was the dance tonight? Did you hold Shi Yi's hand? Did anything happen?"
"Yes, she taught me to dance." Fu Shitian saw his own smile reflected on the screen.
"Wow! I can't even imagine it." Chen Xizhu asked, "Did he only teach you? Or did he teach others as well?"
"Only taught me."
Chen Xizhu said exaggeratedly: "Tiantian, is she really not teasing you?"
Fu Shitian recalled Shi Yi's cold expression.
"No, she's just a friend to me."
"Does she take care of all her friends like this? Tiantian, are you really sure she is a straight woman?" Chen Xizhu was fantasizing about her again.
Fu Shitian's smile faded a lot, and he said to Chen Xizhu and himself, "Yes, it's true."
Shi Yi is straight, very straight.
But after the chat ended, she couldn't help but look through Shi Yi's Weibo again, looking through all the people she followed and even all the people in the comments under the Weibo posts.
There is no possibility of finding anything.
Fu Shitian couldn't tell whether he was disappointed or relieved. He calmed down and fell asleep happily.
It was enough to be able to be friends like this. She lied to herself.
The author has something to say: A long time later, Chen Xizhu watched Shi Yi rubbing the little rabbit,
My heart was moved, and I stretched out my hand, which was gently opened by Shi Yi.
Chen Xizhu Eats Lemon: Shi Yi is indeed straight.
Fu Xiaotuji suddenly became nervous, his eyes became wet, and his fur became transparent.
Shi Yi picked up Tuji with heartache and glared at Chen Xizhu.
Chen Xizhu hurriedly coaxed: Wait for me to finish! Wait for me to finish.
Shi Yi's straightforwardness is Schrödinger's straightforwardness! Oh, no, it's Fu Shitian's straightforwardness!
Fu Xiaotuji suddenly became solid, and even gradually turned pink.
Shi Yi glanced at Chen Xizhu.
Chen Xizhu:
I understand. I have to go now. See you all in the bottle.
Note: Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the grass is green and endless. From Li Shutong's "Farewell"