After the people in the box finished their meal, they waited for a long time for Zong Ye, so they had to move on to 23 Epoch.
Wang Tan sent a message to Zong Ye on WeChat, and around eleven o'clock, the two finally arrived.
23Epoch is the underground club that Jiang Chuyi had been to before. It has a large space with two floors. There were only a few people practicing singing on the stage in the performance area.
Jiang Chuyi followed Zong Ye up to the second floor.
The restaurant was not open to the public today, and there was no one in the standing area. The whole place was very quiet, except for two tables of people, both men and women, sitting on the sofas and round tables in the seating area.
Seeing them coming from afar, someone shouted, "Who is this, Zong Ye? You finally decided to come? Come on, move in, make room for them."
Under everyone's gaze, Zong Ye walked closer holding Jiang Chuyi's hand and said with a smile: "Let me introduce you to my girlfriend."
"Oh, girlfriend."
A group of people deliberately made a fuss.
Although in the adult world, falling in love is not uncommon, especially in your social circle, there are some guys here who have had multiple relationships at their peak, but Zong has always been famous for being chaste, having been a widower for so many years, he has never been close to women. Who would have thought that he would make a big splash and have a love affair that is so earth-shattering that even his friends were shocked.
Ji Kai couldn't help but sneer: "Do I need you to introduce her? Who doesn't know that Teacher Jiang is your girlfriend?"
Apart from Xibao and Xinhe, this was the first time Jiang Chuyi officially met Zongye's friends. She sat next to Zongye and greeted the group politely.
"Hello, Romeo, just call me Xiaoou."
The person who spoke was a man with tattoos on his arms.
Jiang Chuyi: "Hello, my name is Jiang Chuyi, you can call me Xiao Jiang."
Xiaoou couldn't help laughing: "I've known you for a long time. We met here."
Jiang Chuyi was surprised: "Really?"
She looked at Xiaoou in the dim light and found that she did have some impression of this person.
She was watching a performance in the audience at the time and was splashed with water on the head by this person.
Xiaoou: "You remember now, right?"
When Zong Ye was still a trainee at IM, Xiao Ou had just started doing underground rap and met him at 23 Epoch. They would occasionally perform together on the same stage on weekends.
Souya was quite popular at the time, and after every performance, people would come to ask for his contact information. However, he always looked pure and had no desire for the opposite sex, which made several girls discouraged and they asked Xiaoou about Souya's sexual orientation in a roundabout way.
The longer they knew each other, the more Xiaoou found that Zongye had strange tastes, except that he was extremely averse to women. Every time they gathered together to be happy and indulgent, while others were singing karaoke and hugging each other, Zongye sat alone in a corner, wearing headphones and watching movies as if no one was around. Xiaoou once strongly suspected that he was secretly watching porn, so she approached him when he was not paying attention, and found that he was watching the kind of art film that was extremely hypnotic.
It was at that time that he first learned about Jiang Chuyi.
Although Zong Ye rarely mentioned Jiang Chuyi and never took the initiative to share his private affairs, he couldn't drink much, and every time he drank too much, people would always say something about him.
Over time, everyone knew that Zong also had a white moonlight, the kind that one could only watch from afar and not approach.
In the summer of 20, as soon as Jiang Chuyi stepped into 23 Epoch, someone recognized her and the news spread immediately.
A few people ran out to watch the fun, and even caused the ticket checking line to be suspended for a while.
There were several singers from domestic niche circles sitting here, ranging from folk to rock and rap. Jiang Chuyi didn't pay much attention to the music circle and could only barely recognize two of them.
However, after Jing Lianbei introduced himself, she was very familiar with the name. He was a very famous lyricist in the industry.
Xiaoou went to the bar and personally mixed two drinks for them and brought them over.
Zongye asked her, "Have you not eaten yet?"
Jiang Chuyi hummed.
Jing Lianbei had just played the demo of the new song and was about to hand it to Zongye, but he suddenly stood up and said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to get something to eat for my girlfriend."
Jing Lianbei: “…”
Jiang Chuyi quickly grabbed the corner of his clothes and said, "It's okay. You can talk to your friend about work first. I'm not very hungry yet."
"It won't take long." Zongye chuckled.
*
Soon, everyone witnessed how accurate and vivid Wang Tan’s words “Zong Ye works as a dog for women” were.
Everyone gathered together to chat about the development prospects of physical albums, the huge market for electronic music culture, the level and characteristics of Asian electronic music, and the sponsors of 23Epoch's weekly live house... Zong, one of the bosses, did not participate in the topic at all. He focused on taking care of his girlfriend's food, serving her tea, water, and tissues, and occasionally taking a small tomato from the fruit plate and feeding her.
Xin He couldn't stand it anymore and pushed the person away, "Go sit over there for a while, I want to talk to Chu Yi."
While Zong Ye was chatting with Jing Lianbei, his eyes were still absent-mindedly looking at Jiang Chuyi.
Jing Lianbei coughed heavily.
Xin He deliberately moved her body to block that line of sight.
Jiang Chuyi ate her noodles in small bites and whispered to Xin He, "I just saw you holding hands with Fu Cheng, are you two together?"
Xin He still had that arrogant expression, "I'm still in the probation period."
"So are you going to make it public?"
Xin He: "Let's talk about it after things are stable. Fu Cheng is not like Zong Ye who has retired from the entertainment industry. If our affairs are exposed, I guess we won't have a peaceful life for half a year."
After hearing this, Jiang Chuyi lost his appetite and even his chewing movements slowed down.
Xin He quickly said, "You don't have to be too sad."
Jiang Chuyi forced a smile: "I'm not sad, but it's a pity for Zong."
Xin He comforted her: "What's so sad about this? It's good for him to concentrate on making music and working behind the scenes in the future."
Musicians can be classified as those who play art. Jiang Chuyi found that the images of Zong Ye's friends were all very unconventional. Some had tattoos on their arms, dreadlocks and mops of hair. Some wore fashionable clothes and wore woolen hats, which are a must for rappers in the summer. Some had long hair, clothes of different lengths, Buddhist beads on their arms, beards, and even a bald man. Not to mention Wang Tan, he was cyberpunk wherever he went.
Zong Ye refused several cigarettes that were handed to him and drank intermittently. Among this group of people, he was reserved and introverted, like a college student who had not yet entered society, and seemed particularly well-behaved.
Jiang Chuyi whispered to him quietly: "Zong Ye, has anyone ever told you that you are very pure sometimes?"
Zongye laughed, "Am I pure? Where am I pure?"
“I can’t really explain it, it’s just a feeling.”
Xiaoou, who was sitting nearby, heard their conversation and found it funny: "Zong Ye is pure? You haven't seen him when he was dirty."
Jiang Chuyi asked hesitantly: "What... when it's dirty?"
Xiaoou said with a hint of amusement: "For example, when he talks dirty in bed, don't you think it's dirty?"
Jiang Chuyi: “…”
Zongye warned calmly: "Don't make dirty jokes to my girlfriend."
"Okay, okay." Xiaoou clicked his tongue. "Have you heard this saying? Don't be shy. This is a live house. Isn't it good to be real? Be yourself."
This self-mixed cocktail tasted pretty good, and Jiang Chuyi finished it quickly.
Zong Ye: "Do you want to drink more?"
"Then I'll have another drink?"
Zong Ye smiled and handed her his drink: "This drink is quite strong, drink slowly or you will feel dizzy."
Jiang Chuyi didn't feel dizzy, she felt like she was still tipsy, "It's okay."
She took another sip of her wine, looked around, and asked, "Do you come here often?"
"The original owner of 23 Epoch had family problems, so he transferred the store to us two years ago. I occasionally come here to hang out with friends."
She continued to ask: "I just heard from Xin He that there is a small performance here every week. Will you sing on stage in the future?"
"You want to hear me sing?"
Jiang Chuyi hummed.
"I probably won't be performing on stage anymore." Zongye looked at her, "If you want to hear me sing, I can sing for you alone."
The two of them were in the booth, under the hourglass-like light, their legs pressed together as they whispered to each other, their hands secretly crossed.
That clingy energy that ignored everyone was too much to bear. Xiaoou smiled and called out to Zongye, "Brother, can you please stop isolating us? You finally brought your girlfriend to see us, can you please let us talk more with Teacher Jiang?"
Ji Kai squinted and agreed: "That's right."
Zong Ye was patient and asked, "Why don't you go and take care of Fucheng?"
"Aren't you the protagonist today?"
Most of the wine bottles on the table were empty, so Xiaoou asked someone to bring some more wine.
Souya: "When are you going back to the crew?"
Jiang Chuyi replied: "I can still have a day off tomorrow."
"Are you tired now?" Zongye thought, "There is a room here where you can rest."
"It's okay." Jiang Chuyi squeezed his hand, "Your friends are all here. It would be rude for me to go to sleep."
"They're fine. Just tell me when you're tired."
Jiang Chuyi: "Okay."
According to the previous rules, whoever is the "protagonist" will be forced to drink when they meet for the first time. But seeing how cautious Souya was, even keeping an eye on others when they talked to his girlfriend, the group of men did not go out of their way to embarrass a young girl.
Although Zong Ye's friends all looked "difficult to approach", they were actually very easy-going and had no airs. They were not the kind of lonely artists who played music that Jiang Chuyi had imagined. They talked about very profound and profound topics. On the contrary, they spoke very humorously and had a lot of conversations, which didn't make her feel awkward or embarrassed at all.
They drank with an attitude of "I'll drink, then you can do whatever you want". Jiang Chuyi quite liked Zong Ye and his group of friends. As they chatted, she spontaneously joined them for a few drinks.
A bald man said, "By the way, Mr. Jiang, can I ask you something out of curiosity?"
The alcohol slowly took effect, and Jiang Chuyi was confused: "What?"
"Haven't you been to 23 Epoch before? Did you meet Souya that day?"
"You mean the year before last?"
"right."
"seen."
Bald Brother: "Do you still remember him then?"
Jiang Chuyi: “I didn’t recognize it at first.”
Jiang Chuyi told them roughly what happened in the stairwell that day, and then said, "My phone fell, and he gave me a contact number."
Xiaoou almost burst out laughing: "Zong Ye is quite good at this, have you joined?"
Jiang Chuyi shook her head.
"Why not add it?"
"Um... because..." Jiang Chuyi glanced at Zong Ye uncomfortably, hesitating, "My first impression of him was not very good..."
Zongye, who had been listening, raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong with me?"
The honest Jiang Chuyi replied: "At that time, I felt that you must be a very playful person, and I should keep some distance."
Xiaoou joked casually: "Teacher Jiang is quite determined. He is not fooled by Zongye's appearance."
Jiang Chuyi continued: "Really? He looks like that..."
The sound became smaller and smaller.
Zong said calmly, "Which one?"
The two looked at each other, and Jiang Chuyi told the truth: "The kind that plays with others without taking responsibility."
Zongye smiled silently and looked at his watch, "You are drunk, Chuyi."
She tilted her head: "Not yet..."
Zongye slowly opened a box of mints and put one into her mouth, "Have some candy."
The others knew what was going on, so they pretended not to notice what was happening and continued drinking and chatting, ignoring them.
*
Jiang Chuyi was led by Zong Ye, staggering around several bar counters, through the corridor, and walking all the way inside.
The noise in my ears gradually faded away.
After entering the room, Zong Ye turned on the light and took the person to sit down beside the bed.
He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, unscrewed it, and handed it to her mouth, "Drink some water?"
Jiang Chuyi: "Why don't you drink with them?"
"You'll feel bad tomorrow if you drink too much."
Jiang Chuyi said "oh", finished drinking the water, and then grabbed his hand to play with it, pinching each finger one by one, repeating this action over and over again without getting tired of it.
The room was very quiet, and Zongye squatted beside the bed, watching her movements.
After playing for a while, Jiang Chuyi asked in confusion: "What are you doing?"
"Wait until you sober up."
"I'm not drunk."
"Then who am I? Do you recognize me?"
"You are, Muneya."
Speaking of this name, Jiang Chuyi's mood became depressed again, "Zong Ye, I'm a little sad."
"What are you sad about?"
She pinched his fingers, not wanting to use her brain, "I don't know, I just feel bad."
"Because of me?"
"Seems to be."
"Then I'll make you happy?"
Jiang Chuyi had no sense of crisis and poked his shoulder: "How can you make me happy?"
Zongye slowly stopped her movements and sighed, "You are really drunk, Chuyi."
After hearing this, Jiang Chuyi was not very convinced and argued: "I am still conscious. If I am drunk, how can I chat with you?"
Whether she was drunk or not seemed to be the focus of discussion at this moment.
Zong Ye paused for a moment, took out the box of mints, and stuffed two into his mouth. He threw them on the small sofa next to him, got up, turned off the lights in the room, sat next to her, and waited quietly in the dark for the coolness of the mint to melt on his tongue.
Jiang Chuyi groped and tugged at the corner of his clothes, "Zongye, I know you want to kiss me."
"Um."
She continued, "You've been wanting to kiss me since just now."
Zongye laughed: "You figured this out, Chuyi is amazing."
Jiang Chuyi also laughed happily with him: "Isn't this obvious?"
He was very interested: "So what else do you know?"
"I also know that you like me very much."
As soon as he finished speaking, the naive fool was pushed down on the bed.
Zongye raised his arm and turned on the floor lamp beside the bed. He placed his other hand on her ear and looked her over carefully. "There's more."
Being suppressed, Jiang Chuyi's eyes were still clear, and she said calmly, "Also, I know that you are planning to kiss me now."
Zongye lowered his head, his pupils as dark as an invisible pool of water.
While he was lowering his head, Jiang Chuyi turned her face away and deliberately hid to the side.
He bit her ear, stopped other actions, and cooperated with her patiently, asking knowingly: "Don't you want to kiss me?"
Jiang Chuyi shook her head, "I was just teasing you."
Zongye slightly arched his back, placed her limp hands behind his waist, and said in a low voice, "Chu Yi, hold me."
The door was locked, the curtains were tightly closed, and the bright orange light was right next to it, as if to clearly illuminate all the unbearable and charming affairs on this wrinkled bed.
Jiang Chuyi knew that she was not completely drunk, and at least she was still half conscious. However, she was timid and curious. She responded to Zong Ye's actions tremblingly, but she did not dare to open her eyes. She did not dare to see what Zong Ye looked like or what she looked like.
Jiang Chuyi originally thought that Zong Ye would behave the same as he did in the hotel that day. She only needed to be "forced to endure" and willingly sink with him.
But today he didn't know whether he was really not sure whether she was drunk, or whether he knew very well that she was not drunk and was teasing her on purpose.
Even though her ankle was held, the instigator still asked politely and casually, "Chu Yi, can I touch you here?"
"Can I kiss here?"
Trapped in this unknown wave of emotions, Jiang Chuyi was speechless and felt soaked. She hummed a few times, with rapid, scattered and disordered syllables coming out of her throat.
"Chu Yi, why are you crying?"
Jiang Chuyi clutched the bed sheet tightly, opened her eyes dazedly, and when she saw him, she closed them tightly again, speaking incoherently: "No, Zong Ye, we can't kiss each other, it's so weird."
He suppressed his voice: "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"no… "
"Then why don't you kiss me?"
In fact, there was no need for her to answer. Her uncontrollable trembling body gave him the answer.
"Open your eyes, baby."
Jiang Chuyi's eardrums were bulging and he refused to obey.
"So, do you like me like this?"
A few minutes later, Jiang Chuyi was finally forced to open her eyes.
She turned sideways, her toes curled up, and her legs kicked around in confusion. She wanted to shrink into the quilt, but Souya held her in his arms.
Her earlobe was sucked and bitten, but Souya didn't stop. His grip became stronger and stronger, and he asked her ridiculous questions one after another, teaching her to explore the unclear secrets of the adult world little by little.
Jiang Chuyi was so embarrassed that she wanted to cover her ears.
She didn't understand why Zong Ye looked so gentle and not frivolous at all, but spoke like a bad guy, very dirty.
After that wave of excitement subsided, Jiang Chuyi took a long time to calm down and accused him intermittently: "Zong Ye, you are so pornographic."
Zongye chuckled and replied naturally: "You are also very erotic, Chuyi."
"How can I have that?"
Zong did not respond to this because he did not know how to answer.
Jiang Chuyi probably didn't know how obsessed he was with her. Many things she did, many ordinary things, such as when she pursed her lips while talking to Xin He, when she frowned after drinking, when she swallowed food, when she played with his fingers, and any time she looked at him with a smile in her eyes, Zong Ye found it very erotic.
"You, you are very erotic, and you still make excuses..."
Her physical strength was over-consumed, and Jiang Chuyi bit him weakly, "Just now you didn't let me continue drinking with your friends, just to bring me here..."
She was too embarrassed to say it out loud, so she could only mumble out three words, "Doing bad things."
He kissed away the tears from her eyes: "I'm afraid you're tired, I want you to rest early."
"You are lying."
"Yeah, I was lying." Zongye laughed softly.
She is so cute.
It's so cute that the most outrageous word she says is "do bad things", blurring out all sexual behaviors related to prostitution.
"I did want to bring you here to do... something bad, but not while drinking with them."
"When was that?"
"August 3, 2020." Zong Ye turned Jiang Chuyi's chin over, "In 23 Epoch, I saw you, that second."
(End of this chapter)