41 Chapter 40 – Salt and Pepper Mushrooms 3 (2/2)

[2:08] ”Under the eaves, the twigs slant across the lattice window

We sit on the ground sipping tea

I use Gongbi painting to etch you in my heart

I put pen to paper, but not for literary pursuits…[1]”

The imposing boldness and emperor's aura of ”Drunken Dream in Divine Rain” and ”Overturn the World” had been put away. His voice had completely changed. Regardless of whether one was considering vocal quality or emotional interpretation, he had completely integrated himself into the song.

The majestic feeling was gone. It was a completely clean, simple voice.

Far from the tumult of the world of men …

So beautiful. She thought of the saying ”turn the world upside down in fervor[2].”

He was singing, she was listening. The rest of the people were merely sideline spectators.

Every person who heard him was captivated, but nobody could tell he was Qiang Qing Ci.

In fact, even when he had finished singing, all those voice lovers present did not forget to follow up and ask if he wanted to be a CV or a cover singer. They were as excited as if they had just dug up the most valuable treasure on the earth. Mo Bai, who was watching this from the side, nearly gave himself an internal injury from laughing so hard and hurriedly stuffed him back to Gu Sheng. Mo Qingcheng took a look at his watch. ”The air in here feels stuffy. Want to go out for a walk?”

The fun was at its peak in this place, so if two people left, it should be fine, right?

She quietly set her milk tea on the table and answered softly, ”Okay. I'm just going to go to the restroom. Wait for me at the main entrance.”

When she finished saying this, she picked up her bag and ran out of the room first.

She had to say, the décor of the KTV was very European in style. The restrooms were facing a wall of mirrors, and walking along, there were different doors that lead into different hallways. Through various doors, voices could be heard as they sang, and no sooner had the sound of one subsided, another would arise. She quickly washed her face and hands, fixed her hair, and walked back outside, where she glanced at herself in the mirror.

She blinked her eyes a few times.

Mm-hmm. Looking pretty good…

She was just about to turn around when in the mirror, she saw Mo Qingcheng standing in the hallway leading towards the exit, his hands in his pockets, watching her with a smile on his lips… It was apparent he had discovered the girly thought she had had as she looked in the mirror.

How long had he been watching?

No idea…

Really, she hadn't been looking in the mirror that long, right?

...

The two of them took the elevator downstairs. Out of habit, he popped a throat lozenge into his mouth. It seemed that many CVs and singers had this same habit. Actually… she wanted to say, it was not that good to always take them, right?   You could become dependent on them…

Even though they were in the downtown, the KTV was actually in a quiet location amongst the busyness, situated on the top floor of a business high-rise building, and as a result, there were not many people when they exited the building.

Not many people and not many cars, but still very brightly lit.

When she stepped outside, she happened to be in a particularly windy spot. Very chilly.

While she was looking around trying to determine where the nearest bus station was, two young women pushed open the glass doors of the building. He quickly pulled her out of the way to avoid that transparent glass door. His warm hands were enclosed around her wrists while her back was against the outer glass wall of the building.

Behind her, the lights shone brilliantly, tracing out the outline of her face while illuminating his.

Because it was cold or something like that, she felt that she was much warmer here, leaning like this against the wall with him in front shielding her.

But this position they were in…

She cast a quick look at the security guard who was inside the glass doors on the other side of her … Feeling a little awkward and timid, she turned back and asked a random, irrelevant question. ”Do you know… is there any bus route around here that will take me back to my school? …” Or… the metro would do, too…

She was still searching around with her eyes for a bus stop when, without any warning, he lowered his head. ”Yes, I do.”

The tip of his nose brushed against the tip of hers. And then, very naturally, he found her lips. The tip of his tongue slipped in, then tentatively gave her some time to grow accustomed to what was happening. One second, two seconds.

How in the world could she get accustomed to this?

His breath felt scorching. Her head was spinning. This time, it really was… for real.

There she was, pressed by him like this against the glass wall with no choice but to tilt her head upward.

The taste of the lozenge. The crisp scent of mint. Did… he do it on purpose…?

Scattered fragments of thoughts were trying with all their might to come together, but his enticing would break them apart so that they could not form a complete sentence. What technique? Her tongue was being tantalized and lightly sucked and even brought into his mouth where he gently held it.

Such an intimate form of interaction, but it had unexpectedly happened here.

Everything intermingled with the sound of cars driving by and the smell of the trees beside the road…

”Where, where? …” From far away, someone was crying with such excitement it sounded as if she was watching an idol drama.

Gu Sheng clearly heard that voice speaking, and she abruptly pushed against his chest.

Her push did separate them, but using that momentum, he pulled her head in to rest against his shoulder and embraced her in that position… Those bright eyes were clearly tilted up in a smile. ”What did you just ask me?”

Her heart was still floating around in her chest, rocking and swaying.

She buried her face into his shoulder like an ostrich, hiding her mouth and nose from view and barely peeking her eyes out to watch the two passersby gradually walk away into the distance. She mumbled quietly, ”Didn't you say that you know? …”

Her first kiss, ah… And it was out in an open, public place and even had spectators…

”I know?” He pondered briefly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out another throat lozenge. Tossing it into his mouth, he said in a voice made unclear by the candy, ”Oh right, we were talking about busses… There are no direct bus routes around here. You can only take the metro.”

...

...

Then why did you say you knew?

Don't tell me, you weren't really thinking and just said whatever came to mind? …

After a little while, he patted her lightly on her back, indicating that it was okay for them to leave now.

Gu Sheng immediately recovered her ability to think and process properly again. She slipped herself out of his arms, wanting only to hurry up and leave this place. Who cared whether it was by bus or metro or plane? … If he suddenly felt like he wanted to have another go at it and at the same time, the people upstairs happened to get bored and want to leave early, she absolutely would not ever dare face his two friends again…

[1] Credit to  Check out the site for a full translation of the song.

[2]颠倒红尘. Literally, to turn the ”red dust” upside down. 红尘 or ”red dust” means the human/mundane/mortal world. 颠倒 means ”to turn upside down” literally, but it can mean to bring confusion and chaos to something. At times, it is used to describe when someone is losing their mind. In this case, Gu Sheng is thinking, Toupai's singing is so beautiful that it can cause people to lose their minds (go crazy with love for it).  Apologies for the terribly unpoetic translation in the main text of the translation.