She wore a wine-red evening gown, sitting poised at the piano.
Before her fingertips even fell, the audience was as silent as a cathedral.
The gaze with which the audience looked up at her was so devout it was nearly absurd, as if she were not an ordinary girl but a saint chosen by the light.
As long as she willed it, everything could be forgiven, and everything could be judged.
The first note rang out, and everyone held their breath.
The piano’s tone was not sharp; it was as soft as a ribbon, gently brushing against the neck and ears, making one mistake it for a comfort.
But then, that ribbon began to tighten, bit by bit — slowly and elegantly tightening.
The audience wept in unison on the same beat.
Those were not tears of sadness, but the tears of a lost lamb who had found the light and the way home in the ultimate darkness.
The crowd’s physical bodies remained in place, but their spirits were forcefully dragged by the melody into a more holy, more beautiful, and sacred world — a world no one should refuse.
At this moment, Gu Yebai finally noticed something was wrong.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Above the crowd’s heads, it was as if an invisible red line existed.
The one manipulating that red line was her, the girl playing the piano.
Those red lines expanded and extended through the notes, passing through everyone’s consciousness, pulling at their thoughts, and manipulating their standards.
They turned in unison and looked toward Gu Yebai.
The applause was deafening.
They looked at Gu Yebai, who was also sitting in a corner of the audience, and clapped together.
Their eyes were terrifyingly calm.
In their pupils, one could not find a single highlight nor capture any emotion.
It was as if they were simply doing what they believed was right, just as the sun must rise in the east and set in the west.
In the crowd were both his and her parents.
In the crowd was his best friend, with whom he shared everything.
In the crowd was also the senior who had gently explained all sorts of interesting sights and stories to him.
At this moment, they all stood on the side of the melody, surging toward Gu Yebai like a tide.
They had all become her soldiers; even if she told them all to die in the next second, there would be no refusal.
The “world” where Gu Yebai was located had been completely replaced during the performance.
The social web had transformed into a cage to capture him.
The “world” belonging to Gu Yebai no longer existed.
The gentleness from all directions felt like a noose.
“You shouldn’t refuse her.”
“Accept her love for you.”
“She clearly loves you so much; what are you still waiting for?”
“Marry her. This is your only salvation; otherwise, you will achieve nothing.”
“Don’t make her sad anymore, okay?”
“Hurry to the stage, hug her, and kiss her. Come on.”
The voices coming from the crowd lacked even a hint of emotional fluctuation, like robots reading from a script of pre-written lines.
She still sat in the center of the stage playing the piano, without saying a word.
Her gaze did not even fall on Gu Yebai for a moment.
In a single instant, all the stage lights went out.
A beam of cold, straight, white light shone on Gu Yebai.
Her performance was only for Gu Yebai.
Gu Yebai became the only audience member, the only one being judged, the only one who could understand her, and the only one who needed to be “corrected.”
She didn’t need to look at him anymore.
Because under the sound of this piano, tonight, he had no way to escape.
Within 1 hour after the performance ended, he would certainly appear punctually on the bed in her room, tied up and unable to move.
There was no room for negotiation.
No, after tonight, it would no longer be her room.
More accurately, after tonight, it would be “their” room.
The door would close.
The lock would engage.
He would never have the opportunity to take even half a step out.
Time would slowly domesticate him and shape him.
Like a piece she had practiced repeatedly, she would slowly smooth out his sharp edges until his breathing, his habits, and even the look in his eyes when he resisted were dyed in her unique color.
Gu Yebai was a piano worthy of her playing for a lifetime.
Tonight was worth memorializing.
Because tonight, she would play this piano for the first time.
She would use her fingers to touch every corner of this piano, making him produce the most beautiful and heart-pounding tones.
Finally, the piano solo ended.
She stood up and bowed to the crowd.
…
Exiting the theater, the limousine to take them home had long been waiting.
It truly was a wondrous night.
It was as if the puzzle had finally found its last piece.
As if stuck gears had finally meshed together.
Tightly, tightly, entangling, overlapping, and rebounding.
She used him to play an almost perfect piano piece.
Even if he begged for mercy, he could not gain any sympathy.
Even his look of disappointment was like a delicacy at this moment, bringing her joy.
“We are finally together.”
“From now on, no one can separate us…”
“If you can’t bear to watch me die, then become mine alone.”
Gu Yebai’s vision was gradually covered by her long red hair.
Under the gaps in the strands, the stains on the ceiling became particularly conspicuous.
Her stunning face, as beautiful as a celebrity’s, shifted between a red-haired goddess and a red-haired devil, making it overwhelming.
Although her gaze was so gentle, her actions were so crude.
The embrace was a shackle.
Night was something one could not wake from.
The lamb had to take the initiative to surrender his body to the devil.
Otherwise, everything would eventually repeat itself.
“If…”
His Adam’s apple rolled slightly.
“If?”
In her cunning gaze, there was a hint of teasing.
“If I had never written novels, would this have happened?”
“Our meeting is destiny, darling… Uncle Bai. So there are no ‘ifs’ for us. My yearning for you is like a light rain; by the time I notice the rain, my body is already soaked…”
She moved her body slightly.
“What are you doing?”
Gu Yebai shrank back warily.
“I never play only one piece in a performance. That would be too monotonous, and it wouldn’t satisfy my desire to play. I like Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, but I also like Brahms’s Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2. So, let me perform Prelude Op. 28 No. 4. Please don’t be nervous, Uncle Bai. I’ll be very gentle.”
“I’ll gently devour Uncle Bai.”
Cruel lines spilled from her red lips and snow-white teeth.
After that night, Gu Yebai had been thinking about an important matter.
Where should he go?
How should he leave this already locked room?
In what way could he make her willing to let him go?
Gu Yebai hoped to be a person walking alone in the white night, and he hoped it would be forever.