The dazzling neon lights of the skyscrapers reflected off the river, creating a brilliant reflection.
This was a holy land for many young people to date and check in.
The river beach was piled into a sandy beach with sand, and at night the glittering waves really gave a sense of the ocean.
Xu Musen arrived at The Bund, where there were plenty of tents and parasols, and at night, vendors would come over to provide chairs and drinks.
Xu Musen walked along the riverside, and after a while, he finally saw the blue parasol.
It was quiet here, with no one around.
And beneath the parasol, that graceful yet slightly lonely figure sat silently.
Her long hair was as dark as ink, blending into the night, and her fair skin was as soft and tender as freshly fallen snow.
She had been sitting there alone for who knows how long, with a few cocktail bottles scattered around.
Xu Musen walked quietly on the sand, but Yao Mingyue still sensed him somehow, her delicate ears acting like the radar of a bat in the night.
She turned her head, her beautiful cheeks flushed with drunkenness, looking less severe than usual, and more naive like a young girl.
The river breeze gently brushed her long hair, which fluttered in the wind and hung by her ears and in front of her eyes, giving her a somewhat shattered beauty.
"You really came, I thought you might keep avoiding me," she said.
Yao Mingyue looked at him, her cheeks flushed, a smile appearing on them, her eyes reflecting the fragmented scenes of the river surface under the night sky.
"You really are something, coming out to drink alone in the dead of night?" Xu Musen walked over and snatched the drink from her hand.
But Yao Mingyue picked up another bottle, apparently having drunk quite a bit already, lacking her usual aloofness and instead laughing somewhat heartlessly.
"Because if I don't drink, I'll keep thinking about you," her gaze intense, she revealed a foolish smile, "but after I drink, I end up thinking about you even more."
Xu Musen looked at her, silently.
Yao Mingyue's feelings for him, though distorted, were definitely genuine.
In their past life, Xu Musen could always endure her temper, because Yao Mingyue truly cared about him and truly loved him.
If it hadn't been for one incident after another, accumulating until the final straw broke the camel's back, perhaps they would have continued on.
But sickly emotions are a disease, and if not cured, will ultimately lead to an incurable end.
Xu Musen didn't want to become enemies with her, after all, they were once husband and wife, but he also had no wish to repeat the same mistakes.
Xu Musen wanted to say something, but Yao Mingyue shushed him.
She extended a fair finger to her flushed lips, the gesture somewhat goofy.
"I don't want to hear you reason with me right now; I don't like it. I called you out to accompany me while I drink," she said.
Yao Mingyue opened another cocktail and clinked it with the bottle Xu Musen had snatched.
Xu Musen looked at her and then at the drink in his hand.
Since she had already drunk half of it, he no longer worried it might be drugged.
Xu Musen knew her temperament; he didn't try to persuade her any further but instead took a sip from the bottle.
The river breeze was gentle, the alcohol slowly stimulating the brain, bringing an extraordinary peace to the moment.
"Xu Musen, do you remember? At the beginning of senior high school, you said, after our college entrance exams, you would take me to see the sea together," Yao Mingyue recounted an old promise.
Xu Musen nodded; people from the Central Plains always yearned for the sea.
"The Bund isn't the sea," Xu Musen spoke, for this was only the Huangpu River.
"Yes, The Bund isn't the sea, but even so, you didn't seem too willing to accompany me here," Yao Mingyue said with a self-deprecating smile, gazing at Xu Musen without her usual dominance in her phoenix eyes.
"It is indeed pretty," Xu Musen said, looking at the shimmering surface of the river.
"It's not the scenery that's beautiful, but being with someone you like," Yao Mingyue moved closer to him, her phoenix eyes burning bright.
"Don't use the word 'like' so casually," Xu Musen moved some distance away again.
"One shouldn't say 'like' lightly, but can confessions be made so casually? Some people were more casual than me when they asked someone to be their girlfriend at lunch today," Yao Mingyue squinted her eyes.
Xu Musen paused, naturally knowing she was talking about the girl named Zhu Yulan.
"Are you stalking me?"
"I just happened to overhear," she replied.
Xu Musen fell silent for a moment, then looking at her composed expression, he said, "You should be able to tell that I said that just to avoid entanglement with her."
"You don't want to entangle with her, but what about that girl?" Yao Mingyue turned the conversation, supporting her wine-flushed cheek with one hand, intently looking at him.
The image of An Nuannuan's silly little face suddenly appeared in Xu Musen's mind.
For some reason, he always felt very relaxed whenever he thought of the name An Nuannuan.
"Xu Musen, do you like her?" Yao Mingyue observed every fleeting detail in his eyes.
The softness that emerged in his eyes was like a little knife stabbing into her heart.
All those tendernesses used to belong exclusively to her...
"The word 'like' can't be said lightly, but I indeed have a good impression of her," Xu Musen didn't conceal it, knowing the weight of the word 'like'.
Before anything further developed between him and An Nuannuan, Xu Musen didn't want to rashly say it out loud, potentially ruining their current atmosphere.