Chapter 30: A Solo Performance Played with Full Devotion
Liang Youyun carried the bag into the courtyard and, under the woman’s gaze, placed it on the coffee table.
“Could you please tell Jiang Muhe that this is a Poshui Baba sent to him by an older sister from Manle Village?”
She looked at the woman, remaining relatively calm. “Tell him to eat it while it’s still warm.”
The young woman smiled, tilting her head as she asked, “Which village? And what exactly is Poshui Baba?”
Youyun smiled too, slowing her speech. “Man-Le Village—it’s the neighboring village. Poshui Baba is a type of rice cake made from glutinous rice and brown sugar, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until ready to eat.”
Seeing the woman frown and glance disdainfully at the bag, she explained, “It’s a traditional dish the Dai people eat during important festivals. Many tourists come specifically to buy it. Don’t let the two-yuan price fool you; the taste is truly excellent. You should try some.”
The woman merely said “Oh,” continued sipping her coffee, and remarked to Youyun, “Your things here are really cheap, and the preparation style is quite rustic. Coffee served in plastic bags, rice placed directly on banana leaves! Interesting!”
Youyun lowered her eyes, offered a faint smile, and said nothing more.
In truth, she could have asked the woman who Jiang Muhe was, where he came from, and why he had come.
But for a fleeting moment, she suddenly realized it was pointless and unnecessary.
“Sorry to bother you.” She turned to leave.
Yet the woman said, “Your outfit is so beautiful!”
Youyun stopped in her tracks, glancing down at her Dai Le attire. She figured the compliment stemmed from its uniqueness; after all, few people dressed this way outside of Xishuangbanna.
“Thank you, your outfit looks great too.” The woman’s curvaceous figure was accentuated by her clothes, making Youyun feel a twinge of inferiority.
“Right?” the woman drawled with a hint of pride. “Muhe likes me dressed like this.”
The sunlight was blocked by clouds, dimming the surroundings, yet the woman’s smile remained strikingly bright.
Liang Youyun wasn’t foolish; she could detect the provocation in those words, even if it was just an intuition.
But thinking from another angle, if they were truly a couple or in an ambiguous relationship, and just this single encounter made someone sound the alarm, perceiving my intrusion as a significant threat to their bond, wouldn’t that suggest I possess considerable charm myself?
Liang Youyun smiled, nodded politely, and took her leave.
The wind picked up, rustling the trees in the courtyard and causing the roses in the flowerbed to sway gently.
Clouds gathered increasingly along the horizon, as if wrapping the sun away within mere moments.
This is a sign of an impending thunderstorm.
We must leave immediately!
However, not only is the weather against us, but the electric scooter is also letting us down.
It clearly had power when I arrived, but the moment I got on and rode a short distance, this thing gave up on me!
Youyun propped her right leg against the frame, took off her helmet, and vigorously tapped the display screen: “Useless thing!”
There was no choice; she had to get off and push it along.
This was an old electric scooter, discarded by Village Head Yan Wenkan’s daughter. At the time, Youyun urgently needed transportation and figured she wouldn’t need to spend extra money for just a couple of years, so she pleaded with the village head to pass the scooter on to her.
Village Head Wen Kan stubbornly refused to let her keep the old bike, insisting on buying her a new one. Only after Liang Youyun pleaded earnestly did he finally relent, sparing the battered vehicle from retirement.
With heavy rain imminent, she shoved the bike forward with sheer force, her legs pumping furiously. Her urgency wasn’t just to escape the downpour, but to flee this place as quickly as possible.
Her heart brimmed with resentment, though not directed at anyone else, but squarely at herself. Still, this harsh wake-up call had brought her a measure of clarity.
Just as she walked on, an open-top electric tricycle turned the corner ahead.
Youyun’s eyes widened in surprise; it was Yan Nuo.
Yan Nuo quickly braked right in front of her, immediately recognizing that she was in some kind of trouble.
Although he had little contact with Liang Youyun, once when visiting her uncle’s home, he learned that Jiang Muhe had actually brought this beautiful party secretary home for dinner. He instantly sensed their relationship was far from ordinary. Despite being just a low-level secretary, she still held certain authority and might be involved in major business dealings. Thus, he naturally extended a helping hand.
Youyun and Old Electric climbed into the cargo bed of Yan Nuo’s electric tricycle. Since the bed was quite small, she had to sit on the edge, gripping the metal guardrails tightly with both hands.
Yan Nuo started the engine; the battery hummed as he sped wildly toward Manle Village.
Perhaps afraid of getting caught in the rain, the vehicle raced forward at breakneck speed. The wind whipped against Youyun’s face, tossing her hair into chaos. It felt like plunging off the Immortal-Slaying Platform—strands flying upward so wildly she could barely keep her eyes open.
If there really were a Zhu Xian Tai, jumping off would end everything at once; with luck, one might even ascend to immortality.
Youyun’s heart raced; she told Yan Nuo not to rush and to drive slowly.
Just then, a white BMW sedan approached from the opposite direction, forcing Yan Nuo to slow down and even stop to yield.
The roads within the village are narrow, with steep gradients and rarely any straight stretches; there are no protective barriers on either side, only freely growing trees and mostly shallow ditches—one careless moment and you could tumble right off.
The BMW quickly approached, slowing down as it passed.
In a daze, Youyun caught a glimpse of the driver—a man—with the window half-rolled down, their eyes meeting briefly.
I don’t know them.
Anyway, it wasn’t Jiang Muhe.
Yan Nuo set off once more, singing loudly amidst the rumbling thunder.
You Yun found the noise bothersome but felt too awkward to interrupt him, so she tried to strike up a conversation instead.
“Yan Nuo, did you know that your Brother Mu has guests at his home?”
Yan Nuo turned his head slightly and shouted back, “Huh? Guests? Do you mean Sister Xin?”
“Xin Jie? Who’s that?”
“She’s the woman staying at my brother’s house!”
Staying at his house. They must be very close. Youyun didn’t respond.
But Yan Nuo grew more excited: “She’s from Beijing! Isn’t she beautiful? She says she grew up with my brother—childhood sweethearts!”
Youyun’s heart turned cold; what she despised most in life was the idea of childhood sweethearts, precisely because she had never had one.
“They’re living together? How come Jiang Muhe never mentioned it to me?”
Yan Nuo detected Liang Youyun’s gossipy curiosity, and since he was hardly short on such insider information, he grinned ingratiatingly:
“Secretary Liang, you’re being too reserved! Don’t let my brother’s upright demeanor fool you; deep down, he’s terribly lonely! Not long ago, he was chain-smoking and drinking heavily over some romantic trouble—I knew right away it was because of a woman! Lately, he’s clearly much better, always wearing a smile. Look, he’s even giving a safety lecture for our village! It must be because Sister Xin came to visit him!”
Speaking of this, Yan Nuo suddenly let out a deep sigh: “Alas, it’s just that I can’t bear to see my brother leave and don’t want him to go back. Although he himself says returning to Beijing is impossible, even heroes struggle against the charm of beauty. Now that she has come looking for him, and he is no longer young, it is time for him to consider his marriage. Moreover, Sister Xin said that if he doesn’t go back, she will come here to stay with him…”
Yan Nuo continued rambling on, but Youyun did not utter a single word in response. She simply listened in silence, her gaze stretching farther and farther along with the receding scenery.
Thinking about it carefully, Yan Nuo was right. It was merely her own groundless fantasy. Since getting to know Jiang Muhe, he had never once said he liked her; he only ever referred to them as good friends. His words, though warm and heartening, sounded intimate yet remained sufficiently restrained.
He always considered her feelings and attended to every detail meticulously. But one must not forget that his friends are scattered all across Xishuangbanna. It is precisely this powerful social ability that has earned him such popularity and enabled him to win people’s hearts!
Jiang Muhe had saved her, carried her on his back, held her in his arms; they had shared moments of ambiguity and mutual affection, yet none of this proved anything.
If theirs had truly been a love so fierce it burned like wildfire, an irresistible physical urge, then perhaps after that concert by the Nanla River, when he carried her home and laid her upon the bed, dry wood would have met blazing fire, and raw rice would have been cooked through.
Liang Youyun had lost all reason now, left only with heartache and a tinge of regret.
Stepping back to look at it objectively, even without this Sister Xin, her own anxious, indecisive demeanor made her ill-suited to begin a romantic relationship.
As Zhang He had predicted, the one who ended up hurt was herself.
Foolish as she was, she had directed and performed a solo act, throwing her whole heart into it.
After returning home, Liang Youyun threw herself onto her bed and cried her eyes out, weeping over how fragile she still remained when it came to matters of the heart.
Even after crying, her heart felt no better.
She picked up the photo of herself and her mother from the bedside table, held it close, and speaking to her mother’s delicate face preserved by time, said:
“You see, it’s not that I’m indecisive; things are just changing too fast. I know you’d tell me to stay calm and not jump to conclusions, but this time I won’t listen to you. As far as I’m concerned, he and I are done!”
Arguing with her mother cost nothing, yet after saying these words, Youyun felt even worse inside and burst into tears again with a loud wail!
Outside, a sudden shower pattered against the window like hail. Well, at least no one could hear her crying.
Crying until she was exhausted, Youyun fell asleep immediately. She had no idea how long she slept; by the time she woke up, it was already dark.
Later that evening, Jiang Muhe called.
He thanked her for making the special trip to deliver the items.
Youyun, now much calmer and showing not a hint of displeasure, told him, “Since you weren’t home, I spoke with your friend. This is a specialty dish from that sister; you can share it with your friends to taste.”
“Mm.” Jiang Muhe gave a faint smile. “I’ve already tried them, and I liked them all. Please pass on my thanks to that sister for me.”
“No trouble at all. I already thanked her earlier.”
Jiang Muhe never mentioned the friend, and from his tone, it was clear he was completely at ease. This only reinforced Liang Youyun’s conviction that Yan Nuo had been telling the truth.
“Did you get caught in the rain on your way back?”
A moment later, he asked, just as she was about to hang up.
“No, my e-bike just had a minor breakdown. I happened to run into Yan Nuo, and he gave me a ride back on his tricycle,” Youyun replied honestly.
“That kid,” Jiang Muhe teased. “He comes in handy when it matters most.”
“Yes,” Youyun smiled. “Please thank him for me.”
“No need.”
“Will you come next week?” Youyun asked.
“Of course.”
“Don’t you need to keep your friends company?”
“No need.”
Youyun took a deep breath. “Then… I’ll see you then.”
“Alright, wait for me.”
“Mm, I’ll be waiting.”
Their tones mirrored each other, as if gradually shaped through their time together—learning from one another, complementing each other.
On the other end of the phone, Jiang Muhe showed no sign of anything amiss, yet Liang Youyun’s conviction grew even firmer.
Beijing, the city she had loved for so many years, was where her future hope truly lay.