Still, having come all this way, was she just supposed to turn back like this? Song Feng felt somewhat reluctant not to give her a little scare.
Wearing a black baseball cap that concealed most of his face, and dressed entirely in black with a furtive air, Song Feng looked the absolute picture of a criminal suspect on a surveillance monitor.
Should he call out?
Otherwise, Song Feng truly couldn't think of any way to lure Shu Dong out. But would Shu Dong even open the door if she saw it was him?
The answer was self-evident. Song Feng dismissed the thought, growing steadily more irritated.
Weren't there only four doors? Surely he could just knock on them one by one. Once Shu Dong opened the door, he would cover her mouth and force his way in!
Right then, the first door.
Following his intuition, Song Feng walked to the leftmost door, stopped in front of it for a few seconds, and then pressed his ear against the panel to listen for any movement inside, but heard nothing at all. Then, Song Feng gave two light knocks and waited quietly.
Why was he suddenly feeling a bit nervous?
Song Feng genuinely wanted to slap himself across the head. Had he been possessed by Chen Hui today? Why was he acting so foolishly no matter what he did?
Yet after waiting a full minute, there was still no movement inside. Could it be that his knock had been too soft?
Song Feng knocked twice more, with plenty of authority.
Another minute passed, and still no sound. This time Song Feng was certain—fine, there really was nobody inside.
Right then, the second door.
Perhaps having gained some experience, Song Feng knocked decisively this time, and movement from within quickly followed.
"Who is it?" Before the door even opened, a middle-aged woman's voice came from inside.
Remembering that she had said she lived alone, Song Feng instantly felt something was amiss, but the door was already swinging open.
"Who are you looking for?" the middle-aged woman asked with a smile.
Boss Song remained calm and collected: "I'm looking for a classmate, I must have the wrong door."
The woman chuckled: "Then you've probably made a mistake. Our child is still in elementary school, doing homework right inside."
"..." Song Feng froze for two seconds, then suddenly laughed at himself in exasperation: "Sorry, Auntie, let me ask around again."
.
Calming his easily triggered temper, Song Feng slowly walked over to the right, approaching the third door...
What was he even doing?
Why was he doing something so stupid?
Once he saw her in a moment, he was going to give her a thorough scolding.
At the third door, Song Feng knocked twice.
After waiting a moment with no response, there seemed to be faint sounds coming from within. Boss Song slowly pressed his ear against the door, and then froze instantly...
Mm-ah-oh, lighter, faster.
"?"
Song Feng was somewhat dumbfounded. Was it really okay for him to be listening to this? A pure-hearted boy whose first love was still intact, and moreover, a pure-hearted boy who was currently on his way to find a girl who always made his heart race...
Damn it!
What kind of crazy thoughts was he having?
Song Feng raised his head impatiently, gazing at this very last door. It suddenly occurred to him that when taking a test at school or searching for something normally, when you weren't sure which one it was and tried them one by one, the right answer was always the last one.
Song Feng raised his hand, paused for two seconds, and knocked on the final answer.
The door opened.
The two of them froze simultaneously.
Song Feng hadn't expected her to open the door so quickly, and Shu Dong hadn't expected the person outside to be him.
Regaining her wits, Shu Dong immediately moved to close the door, but Song Feng intercepted it with lightning speed. With one hand braced against the doorframe and the other pushing the door wide open, he looked at her slightly panicked expression and flashed a triumphant, roguish smile.
How had the plan gone again? Cover her mouth, right?
Song Feng slipped in sideways, shut the door, pulled Shu Dong toward him, and clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Don't make a sound."
"..." Shu Dong frowned. Had she even made a sound?
Every emotion today was out of alignment. Apart from the initial shock of seeing him and the instinctive urge not to let him in, after these few fleeting seconds, Shu Dong had already accepted reality and offered no struggle whatsoever in his embrace.
Just how much worse could things possibly get?
Song Feng stared into her gradually calming face. Why was this turning out rather differently than he had imagined?
Boss Song clamped his hand down even tighter: "Have you no common sense? Just opening the door for anyone like that?"
A bad guy breaking into your home was teaching you safety basics?
Shu Dong suddenly laughed, struggling forcefully to break free. However, the moment she moved, it played right into Song Feng's hands. Song Feng locked down her body even tighter, which finally fit the script of the story.
One had to admit that Boss Song possessed serious potential as a creep.
Since Song Feng's hand was busy subduing Shu Dong's struggling arms, he lost his grip elsewhere, and Shu Dong's mouth was freed.
"Song Feng," Shu Dong suddenly spoke up.
Song Feng froze momentarily. He rarely heard her call him by his name: "Hmm?"
"You've been following me the whole way, haven't you?" The corners of Shu Dong's lips suddenly curled upward.
"..." All of Song Feng's movements came to a dead halt.
Predictably, the person behind her offered no reaction. Shu Dong effortlessly pushed him away, turned to study his expression, and then returned to the sofa with a satisfied air.
Shu Dong had known he was trailing behind her the entire time, and even felt a touch of touched warmth in her heart, though she had assumed that like last time, he would leave once he saw her enter the residential compound.
He was such a contradictory person. While he could be remarkably nice at times, when he went too far, it made one completely forget his good traits.
After freezing long enough, Song Feng tried to adapt to the sudden display of... dark-bellied cunning on her part?
Or perhaps... flirtatiousness?
Saying not a single word about whether he had followed her for one block or two, Song Feng sat down on the sofa right beside her. His gaze lingered on the empty beer cans on the coffee table for a few seconds before he resorted to raspy charm: "I'm hungry."
Shu Dong watched the television: "Mhm."
Song Feng turned his head, somewhat incredulous. Had this girl tasted the bitter fruit of love today and actually changed her personality along with it?
"Mhm? What mhm? Go make dinner." Boss Song put on a fierce front.
Shu Dong turned to look at Song Feng, and after a moment, she actually stood up and headed toward the kitchen.
"..." So obedient?
Song Feng suddenly felt a slight loss of confidence. He hadn't intended to make her actually cook; he had just wanted to tease her, or more accurately, to bully her...
A slight unease crept in—would she poison the food?
Never mind, he'd make her eat first.
Song Feng covertly surveyed the apartment. It was a one-bedroom layout, not particularly large, with an open kitchen. By turning his head to the right, he could see her cooking.
It was very clean, brimming with the atmosphere of daily life, yet completely devoid of it.
Or rather, it was filled only with the lonely atmosphere of her solitude alone.
There was only a single glass tumbler on the coffee table. Song Feng gazed at it in a slight daze, three empty beer cans lying haphazardly, with two more empty bottles sitting in the trash can beside them.
He had no idea how much she had drunk, but the indoor air was thick with the scent of alcohol.
Song Feng tilted his head to watch her back. She wore a black camisole and black pajama shorts—very short, barely covering the tops of her thighs, leaving her slender legs exposed. Perhaps from a lack of exposure to sunlight, they appeared remarkably pale...
Song Feng abruptly halted his wandering gaze. He licked his lips and went back to watching TV, coughing twice as a cover-up: "Do you have slippers?"
Shu Dong was at the sink filling a bowl with water: "No."
Song Feng: "The floor is getting dirty from my feet."
Shu Dong: "Mhm."
The conversation terminator of all people had finally met her match.
After a few minutes, Shu Dong carried a bowl of noodles over to the coffee table and was about to go back for more when the door suddenly knocked.
Song Feng glanced at Shu Dong, unsure whether he should answer it.
"My aunt is here. Go inside." Shu Dong pointed toward her bedroom.
"We haven't done anything wrong, what are we hiding for?" Song Feng couldn't help teasing Shu Dong.
Instead of paying him any mind, Shu Dong went straight to open the door. Song Feng scrambled up from the sofa and slipped into the adjacent bedroom the second before the door opened. This girl certainly had nerve.
"Why are you only eating now? It's almost nine o'clock." Zhang Yueling walked in, sat down on the sofa, and caught sight of the steaming bowl of noodles on the coffee table.
"I was a bit tired when I got back." Shu Dong's voice was flat; she had no mood to entertain her today.
Song Feng had accused her of lacking common sense for opening the door to anyone, but that was because nobody usually knocked. Yet just before Song Feng arrived, Aunt Zhang had mentioned she would drop by later, and Shu Dong had assumed it was her.
"Did Xiao Lin make you work overtime again? This won't do at all. How can you always be working overtime? Auntie will talk to him about giving you a raise another day." Zhang Yueling's words inevitably revolved around money.
Shu Dong suddenly felt a headache coming on. She leaned back against the sofa and massaged her brow: "Auntie, what was it you said you needed on the phone earlier?"
Hearing Shu Dong's words, Zhang Yueling's displeased expression instantly broke into a smile. Just like every time before, she took Shu Dong's hand: "Dongdong, Auntie won't beat around the bush with you either. Here's the thing—Zhengyu's grandfather has been recovering quite well after his surgery, but just as he was about to be discharged, his condition suddenly worsened. The doctor says we have to keep him hospitalized for observation a bit longer..."
The rest of the words blurred out for Shu Dong. Her head felt terribly heavy, whether from too much alcohol or sheer emotional exhaustion, she couldn't tell.
Zhang Yueling's face seemed like a precise instrument; she knew perfectly well when to look angry, when to smile, and when to cry.
Now, it was time to cry.
Zhang Yueling wiped a tear from the corner of her eye: "Dongdong, could Auntie borrow some more money from you?"
The adjacent bedroom was unlit, pitch black save for the moonlight spilling through the window, illuminating the slightly blurred contours of Song Feng.
Dressed all in black, Song Feng melted into the darkness, his breathing so light it was imperceptible. He sat on the edge of the bed, his nose filled with her faint fragrance, yet outside the room, things were so foul.
Supporting her head with one hand, Shu Dong stared expressionless at the television: "Didn't you already withdraw all the money in that account last time?"
Zhang Yueling froze...
Shu Dong had never spoken to her in this tone before. Maintaining her composure, Zhang Yueling appraised her: "Auntie knows you don't have cash on hand right now. Do you think you could ask Xiao Lin to advance your salary for the next few months? We can slowly pay back..."
"Aunt."
Shu Dong suddenly cut her off. In this lifetime, this must have been the first time she had ever interrupted someone speaking. Taking a deep breath, Shu Dong turned her head to look at Zhang Yueling: "Will you and Uncle be preparing a dowry for me in the future?"
Zhang Yueling had been in a state of shock since a moment ago, caught off guard by Shu Dong's uncharacteristic behavior and even more so by the abrupt shift in topic. She suddenly found herself unable to recognize the coldly composed girl sitting before her.
"Girls in small towns get married pretty early. When are you and Uncle planning to marry me off?" Shu Dong continued.
"This..." Zhang Yueling stammered, words caught in her throat. "Dongdong, your uncle and I won't force you on this. Once you find a boy you like, your uncle and I can finally rest easy."
She had never expected Shu Dong to bring this up of her own accord. Zhang Yueling recalled the dowry Shu Dong had just mentioned. In her own mind, there was only ever talk of the groom's bride price, and she had never once considered providing a dowry for Shu Dong. She needed to save that money to buy an apartment for Zhengyu's future marriage.
When two people married, no rule dictated how large the bride's dowry must be, but if it was too meager, the bride would be looked down upon by the groom's family. How could Zhang Yueling not understand these customary unwritten rules? It was simply that Shu Dong's happiness was never part of her considerations.
Thinking of Shu Dong's unusual behavior today, Zhang Yueling probed cautiously: "Dongdong, are you upset because Auntie used your money the other day? Don't worry, I'll pay all of that back to you."
"No need." Shu Dong suddenly smiled. Letting out a long breath, the corners of her eyes flushed red: "You don't need to pay that money back. But from now on, I want to save up a dowry for myself."
Save up a dowry for herself?
Song Feng's heart gave a sudden, sharp twinge.
Zhang Yueling sat frozen, unable to utter a single syllable. Had she not witnessed it with her own eyes, she would never have believed these words could come from Shu Dong.
"Dongdong, your uncle and I will take care of all that. Don't let your mind wander; I'll figure something out about the money." Zhang Yueling knew she wasn't getting any funds today.
"Alright." Shu Dong didn't even have the energy to spare another word.
"Then I'll be heading off. Go eat your food, it's getting cold." Zhang Yueling didn't want to linger a single second longer; she needed to go home and sort out what had just happened.
"Watch your step on the way."
Shu Dong walked her only as far as the door, returning instantly without a moment's pause. She closed the door and collapsed onto the sofa, drained of all strength as if dehydrated.
It wasn't that she didn't want that money back, but rather that she knew it was unrecoverable.
As for a dowry, Shu Dong had no idea when she might ever marry, but she desperately longed for a home.
Yet through today's events, Shu Dong finally understood that those so-called "family members" and "loved ones" were merely scheming by every possible means to suck her dry. Her silence would only invite them to escalate their demands.
Therefore, no one could be relied upon; a person lived this life solely for themselves.
.
Sitting on the bed, Song Feng listened as the door outside opened and closed, followed by absolute silence.
Was she crying?
Rising from the bed, Song Feng opened the bedroom door and paused at the threshold, but the back of the sofa completely blocked her from view, leaving him unable to see a thing.
"Get up and eat." Song Feng walked slowly toward the sofa.
Completely forgetting that there was still someone else in the room, Shu Dong rubbed her brow and pushed herself up from the couch. But the moment she stood, her body swayed unsteadily, nearly crashing into the coffee table before Song Feng caught her securely with lightning reflexes!
The two-person room was dead silent, bathed in warm, yellowish light. Song Feng's hand rested on her waist, closing the distance between them until it was terrifyingly close...
Unlike the brute force from the shop last time, Shu Dong felt the warmth of his hand against her waist and actually forgot to struggle.
Her eyes were slightly red. Lowering his gaze to look at her, Song Feng suddenly opened his arms: "Want a hug?"
"..."
Shu Dong felt as though some corner of her heart had been plucked, and the entire apartment began to sway and slowly collapse. She gazed up at Song Feng's face, wanting to see clearly if he was just toying with her, but her vision was already completely blurred...
Her nose stung so badly...
Her eyes burned so fiercely...
Burying her face in Song Feng's chest, Shu Dong wept uncontrollably.
For a moment, Song Feng's body stiffened; he hadn't actually expected her to embrace him. But with one thing piling on top of another today, given her usual habit of swallowing everything in silence, she must have been wronged beyond endurance.
Slowly closing his arms around her, Song Feng awkwardly patted her head.
Shu Dong clung to him tightly, as if trying to cry out every bit of accumulated sorrow in her heart. Why were educated people so foul? Why were they never satisfied?
Perhaps she had cried for so long that she gradually grew exhausted, until tears gave way entirely to shallow sobs, one after another, unstoppable.
Song Feng felt as though his waist was about to snap; she was holding on with such force... How could someone with such a slender frame possess this much strength?
The warm yellow light spilled over the two of them in the quiet room, with nothing left save her soft crying and the sound of their breathing...
Yet, why did it seem like other sounds were suddenly mingling in?
Growing louder and louder.
Mm-ah-oh, lighter, slower.
Damn it! Another round?
Song Feng was thoroughly exasperated. He knew it was coming from next door, but he had no clue which direction the sound was actually traveling through.
The sudden intrusion of noise pulled Shu Dong back to her senses. She abruptly realized she had been hugging him for quite a long time, and coupled with the sounds in the background... their current posture was somewhat awkward. Slowly, Shu Dong loosened her grip.
And so, even Shu Dong's muffled sobs vanished from the room, leaving only the soundtrack from next door.
Growing ever clearer.
Standing face-to-face, the two of them were at a loss for what to do.
"Um..." Her throat was hoarse from crying. Clearing her throat, Shu Dong said, "There's still food. Go heat it up."
The pure-hearted big boy Song Feng was also in a dazed state of mind, and obediently went to reheat the meal.
A few minutes later, he brought the bowl over and placed it on the coffee table: "Eat."
Shu Dong shook her head: "You eat, I'm not hungry."
Having consumed a great deal of alcohol earlier in the evening, Shu Dong had no appetite, while Song Feng's claim of hunger had merely been an offhand excuse—he had already eaten with Chen Hui back at the shop.
In the end, Song Feng didn't force her and began eating by himself. The girl's culinary skills were actually quite decent.
Flipping through the sofa cushions to find the remote control, Shu Dong turned on the television and randomly switched channels.
The noises from next door were drowned out.
Though only temporarily; they stubbornly survived in the gaps of the brainless idol drama, growing increasingly intense with no intention of ending whatsoever. To top it off, someone actually started banging against the wall every now and then.
Damn it!
This time, Song Feng finally pinpointed the source of the noise. Rising from the sofa, he prepared to head over to the wall and give them a response to liven things up.
"Don't go." The moment he stood up, Shu Dong anticipated what he was about to do. Smiling, she caught the hem of his shirt. Why hadn't she realized before how short-tempered and childish he could be?
Song Feng turned his head. Her hand was still clutching his shirt hem without letting go. After a silent two seconds, Song Feng sat back down: "The soundproofing in this building is terrible."
Shu Dong: "Mhm, it's connected right to the next apartment."
Continuing his noodles, Song Feng asked: "Was it always like this before?"
Shu Dong watched the television, her gaze flickering slightly: "Mhm."
Setting down his chopsticks, Song Feng shifted close to Shu Dong's side and suddenly flashed a roguish grin: "Then next time you can just call me. I guarantee I'll make you call out much better than the people next door."
Shu Dong froze for two seconds, then lashed out and kicked Song Feng.
The very next instant, however, Song Feng instinctively caught her leg.
Shu Dong was wearing loungewear shorts, leaving her slender legs exposed, while her black camisole revealed her sexy, delicate collarbones... She hadn't expected him to break in, so she had dressed far too casually at home.
Yet at this exact moment, his hand had suddenly grabbed her leg, his dry, warm fingertips gradually growing hot. Shu Dong struggled with all her might, but failed to break free.
The posture of the two of them was intensely ambiguous.
"Want to cry out?" Song Feng's eyes darkened suddenly, his thumb gently stroking her ankle.
It tickled unbearably... Shu Dong couldn't help curling her toes.
"Want to go out?" Shu Dong's voice was hoarse, whether from crying too hard or from the dizzying infatuation of the present moment.
Half-reclining on the sofa, her legs were smooth and straight, the spot where he gripped her flushed red.
Song Feng smiled and released her leg: "Nope."
Shu Dong glared at him coldly: "Go wash the dishes."
"Whatever you say, babe." Song Feng rose with a rakish expression.
Shu Dong picked up a cushion from beside her, intending to hurl it at him, but sanity returned the moment she lifted her arm. He really had a special talent for frequently driving her to the brink of physical violence.
That embrace... clearly she had felt deeply touched just moments ago, but now Shu Dong simply wanted to throw him out.
.
As Song Feng washed the dishes, he reflected upon his own behavior.
Had he developed a penchant for playing with fire lately?
And ended up getting burned every single time?
After cleaning up, his restless urges subsided. Song Feng dried the water droplets off with a paper towel when a sudden "click" sounded from behind him.