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墨書 Inktalez
"This story starts a year and a half ago, when Tang Wenshan hadn't come to PINK yet. There was a regular customer at the bar who kept pursuing me. I was pretty bored anyway, so on a day off, I agreed to go out for dinner with him. We had street barbecue, with about two hundred people around, it was lively. Can someone who hangs out in bars not drink? Besides, it was just beer. We ate, drank, and chatted until around one or two in the morning. I felt a bit dizzy but knew what would happen next. The environment is a mold, and people are like clay; after spending so long in bars, you become indifferent to sex. Back home, I was still that village girl in pajamas for winter, going out looking disheveled. But when I got to school, I naturally cleaned myself up nicely. I digress; anyway, that night I knew I was going to the hotel with him. I linked my arm with his and walked towards his car. It was an alley without an end in sight, dark and lacking streetlights. I urged him to turn on the headlights when suddenly someone jumped out from the back seat and pushed me against the car door. As two men stepped out, I realized this bastard was playing me. At that moment, I resigned myself to it, thinking it was just that kind of thing. Then, a voice floated down from above, soft yet firm: 'Let her go! I've already called the police! The station is very close!' I turned my head back with all my might and saw her standing by a bright window, like heaven had suddenly opened a window for me; an angel stood there protecting me. 'Help! Police! Someone is robbing me!' she shouted loudly. The two brutes were indeed scared off by her shout; they jumped into the car and sped away. I ran across the street to her building where she told me, 'Please wait a moment.' I obediently waited there with my head tilted back; it felt like just a few seconds but also like a long time. I was afraid she would disappear, but she reappeared, holding folded square clothes and threw them down to me. 'Change into these and go home quickly,' she said warmly. I had never seen such a warm person before. Do you know what clothes she gave me? It was a university uniform! She gave her fragrant white uniform with blue trim to such a stranger! A prostitute! A worthless nobody!"
Du Zao's eyes were filled with tears.
"Was she Song Zheng?"
"Yes." Du Zao tilted her head and wiped her tears and snot on her sleeve. "The daughter of Song Daoquan. He doesn't deserve such a good daughter, really."
"Why?"
"You'll know as you listen further."
Since working night shifts, Du Zao rarely felt the changes of the seasons clearly; her days and nights were reversed as she took taxis to get to the bar, stepping out of the car and into the bar within moments, constantly being blown by the cold air from the air conditioning.
On a sunny day with spring winds still chilly and flowers fragrant, Du Zao held a brown paper bag containing folded university uniforms outside the gate of Canyang Community, palms sweaty and afraid to wipe them on her clothes. Before coming here, she had put on light makeup and bought the most pure and conservative white long dress from the nearest mall, topped with a light brown blazer and wearing deep brown ankle boots to shake off any dust before meeting the girl of her dreams.
In fact, that night the other person was surrounded by bright lights that illuminated her completely while making her own figure appear especially dim; she hadn’t even seen what she looked like!
But she never doubted that at this moment when the other person walked towards her, even without speaking, just making eye contact would allow her to recognize her immediately. Canyang Community had been built for over ten years; it wasn't an old neighborhood per se but its facade was too shabby with loose security and chaotic ground-floor businesses; the exterior of residential buildings looked weathered as if they had endured at least twenty years of wear.
The security guard in his fifties saw her loitering at the gate for over two hours and kindly opened the window to wave at her. "Young lady, are you looking for someone? You can go in without registering; it's free entry."
"Ah... no thanks, I'm waiting for my... friend." She smiled sincerely as she said the last two words.
This friend made her wait for three days—not three consecutive days—since bars have their own rules allowing them to choose one day off each week based on circumstances; of course, not taking a day off is also fine if one wishes so. So she came about once every week dressed like this.
On the fourth week, she arrived early while munching on tofu-filled buns when she received a call. After locking her screen and about to put her phone away in her pocket, her gaze flickered back to it—Wednesday—"Ah!" She hit her forehead in realization. "They might be in class!"
Having come here for nothing, she turned around and hailed a taxi. Sitting in the back seat, the driver asked through the transparent partition, "Where are you headed, beautiful?"
"To... Shandong University of International Business and Economics!"
"Got it!" The taxi turned around but after less than five meters she hurriedly corrected herself: "No no no! Driver, let’s go back to Shangdu Community first on Ping'an Road; I need to go home and change clothes."
"No problem." The driver responded cheerfully. "What year are you in college? You don't sound local; your Mandarin is so standard—third year? Fourth year?"
Her face flushed hotly as if on fire; feeling embarrassed she mumbled back indistinctly: "About that."
She specifically went home to change into ordinary yet rarely worn sweatpants and sneakers; washing off her makeup left her bare-faced before standing in front of a full-length mirror—youthful vitality radiated from her! Proud yet shyly covering her face while leaning sideways made her look twisted like twisted dough.
At noon outside the university gate where people came and went constantly, Du Zao stood aside feeling nervous as if drums were pounding inside her chest; afraid that taking even one step would reveal what kind of work she usually did. Yet for some reason even standing there properly attracted frequent glances from others towards her. She opened up selfie mode on her phone—her face wasn’t dirty nor did she have food stuck between her teeth—what were they looking at? She grew increasingly anxious as her gaze darted around avoiding eye contact fearing someone would see through her unease until there was this girl wearing a turtleneck sweater whose gaze landed on her before quickly flitting away as if trying hard not to make it obvious that she noticed anything wrong; this made Du Zao's heart skip a beat as she chased after that girl gently tugging at her sleeve.
The girl turned back looking quite surprised.
"Why were you looking at me?"
"Uh... I'm sorry." Caught red-handed like a thief, Du Zao's face flushed bright red instantly.
"I didn't mean it like that! Don't be scared; it's just that people keep staring at me while I'm standing there making me feel uncomfortable all over. Is there something wrong with how I look?"
The girl lowered her head and smiled, "Because you're good-looking. When I see someone attractive, whether it's a guy or a girl, I can't help but take a few more glances."
"Really? You're good-looking too," she teased with a tilt of her head.
"Song Zheng—" A group of girls walked out from the school gate, and the girl turned her head, squinting to listen to them. "Can you help us with the attendance for Classical Literature this afternoon?"
"Uh, sure. Just send me your names on WeChat; I'm afraid I won't remember clearly."
The girls waved their hands and laughed as they left. Du Zao leaned closer to the girl's face, "Are you nearsighted?"
"Uh, yeah."
"How many degrees?"
"Um... about 700 degrees."
"Can you not tell the difference between people three meters away?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Du Zao burst out laughing, "Then you need to be careful when walking; make sure you don't fall."
"Yeah, thanks."
She secretly kept that set of school uniform as a memento.
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