Lin Qingye expressionlessly turned off his phone, his body radiating the aura of an impending storm. Then he stood up directly and walked out.

"Where are you going?" Fu Xueming, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

Lin Qingye turned back, his gaze lowered, the contours of his features appearing even sharper. "None of your business."

Fu Xueming's voice immediately rose. "What kind of attitude is that!"

"I'll have whatever attitude you have." After saying that, Lin Qingye walked straight out.

As the banquet hall doors closed, he heard the people around him consoling and persuading Fu Xueming, as well as the sharp words spilling from Fu Xueming's mouth—words like "menace" and "bastard."

Just a few steps outside, he saw Gu Congwang leaning against a wall, talking on the phone with a big smile on his face.

Lin Qingye found it ridiculous. He didn't stop walking and let out a soft sneer.

Gu Congwang caught the sneer and turned his head to look, but Lin Qingye didn't spare him another glance and walked away directly. His back quickly disappeared around the corner.

Xu Zhinan noticed he hadn't replied for a long time and thought it was a bad signal, so she said "Hello?" again.

"Yeah," Gu Congwang retracted his gaze. "It's nothing, just ran into an idiot."

Lin Qingye hadn't slept well the previous night. After getting home, he turned off his phone and lay down on the bed.

This time, he fell asleep quickly and even had a dream.

He dreamt of the first time he saw Xu Zhinan.

Not at the bar, and not the time he saw her with Qin Tang at the internet cafe.

It was even earlier.

He had a huge fight with Fu Xueming and slammed the door on his way out of the house.

Back then, he hadn't won any awards yet. He had formed a band just for fun and had no income. Unwilling to ask Lin Guancheng for money to move out, he had nowhere to stay after leaving the Lin Family Main Residence.

It was winter. The night wind howled, and the dry, cold air crept up his ankles, chilling him to the bone.

He had left in a hurry, not even wearing a jacket. The wind outlined his tall, thin figure.

At the very end of the pedestrian street was a convenience store. Several streetlights outside were broken, making it dim and gloomy. He bought a pack of cigarettes, came out, and with a stride of his long legs, sat down casually on a wooden bench outside.

It was then that Xu Zhinan appeared.

She had a companion with her. Both were wearing winter school uniforms, a gray-blue. It was clearly a drab, inconspicuous color, yet Lin Qingye saw her in a single glance.

Her already fair skin was turned pale by the cold wind. She was bundled up tightly from head to toe, her fluffy snow boots creaking on the unmelted snow. Half her chin was buried in her scarf.

"Xiao Jing, where are we?" Xu Zhinan linked arms with the girl beside her, her voice very soft. "It's so dark."

"It should be around here, why is it gone?"

The two of them, who knows what they were looking for, walked down the street with their backs slightly bent.

Suddenly, a faint meow came from the bushes to the side. It was so soft and sticky that you could barely hear it if you weren't paying attention.

The girl's expression brightened. She trotted over, crouched in front of the flower bed, stretched out her arms, and leaned forward. It took her a good while before she managed to carry the small kitten out.

It was a small calico cat, still very young, with a narrow face.

For humans, most prefer melon-seed-shaped faces, but for cats, it's the opposite. Their price is even cheaper than those with big, round faces.

This cat wasn't particularly cute.

But as the girl held it, her eyes lit up as if they held the brilliant Milky Way.

Lin Qingye sat in the darkness, a cigarette dangling from his lips, watching coldly. He saw her struggle to pull a package out of her school uniform pocket. It was wrapped in a plastic bag. When she opened it, it was a handful of cat food.

"Can such a little kitten eat dry cat food?" her companion asked, resting her hands on her knees.

Xu Zhinan paused, then took a light pink thermos from her bag and poured some of its contents onto the cat food. In the dead of winter, the hot water gave off a large cloud of steam.

She waited for the cat food to soften before feeding it to the little kitten.

"Ah Nan, it's so pitiful. It's so cold, why don't we keep it?" her companion said.

Xu Zhinan shook her head. "I can't. My mom is allergic to animal fur, so we can't have pets."

"Oh, I see... Then I'll call my mom and ask if she can keep it."

After saying that, she took out her phone and walked to the side to call her mother.

Xu Zhinan remained squatting there. She took off her gloves and gently stroked the kitten's fur. It wasn't very soft and was a bit prickly.

Stray cats can be a bit fierce. It let out a few growls and then extended its claws to scratch.

Xu Zhinan jumped in fright and quickly pulled her hand back, avoiding the scratch.

Her heart was still pounding. She immediately put her gloves back on, then puffed up her cheeks and slowly let out a breath.

A soft laugh came from the side.

She turned her head to look. Because the streetlight was broken, she couldn't see clearly. She could only make out a person sitting on a bench not far across from her, a cigarette between their lips, their hair a mess in the wind.

Xu Zhinan couldn't see his face clearly, nor could she tell his age.

But he was only wearing a thin shirt, looking like a homeless person.

Yet his back was ramrod straight, like a rising green peak.

She squinted, trying to get a better look, but failed.

Although his figure didn't seem like that of a homeless person, she had just seen news a few days ago about a homeless man freezing to death on the streets. Just in case, she called out softly in his direction, "Um... are you cold?"

The girl's voice was gentle, like a spring breeze.

Lin Qingye didn't move or speak, but at the sound of her voice, he bit down hard on his cigarette filter.

Xu Zhinan noticed the tip of his cigarette flare brightly for an instant. She suddenly felt a little scared. The surroundings were still pitch black. She picked up the cat and didn't linger, starting to walk back.

Just then, her companion finished her call, saying her mom had agreed to keep it. She took the kitten from her arms.

"Who were you talking to just now?"

"There was a person sitting over there." Xu Zhinan glanced back again before turning away. "So pitiful."

She was walking under a lit streetlight, the moon hanging right above her head. But her eyes were clear and bright, cleaner than the moonlight itself.

It was as if a silent dividing line had fallen between them. He was dark, dirty, and chaotic, while she was clean and clear.

She was high above, as if delivering salvation to all living beings, tossing two words at him—so pitiful.

Lin Qingye let out a laugh, his voice sarcastic and disdainful.

Later, Lin Qingye ran into her a few more times. That night, he had seen the words "Yancheng No. 1 High School" on her uniform's chest and knew she studied there. Thus, he wasn't sure if these encounters were coincidental or his own deliberate contrivances.

He never approached, always watching from afar.

It couldn't really be called stalking; his attitude was completely that of an observer.

She was always smiling, and she spoke softly and slowly to the friends around her, as if her life was without a single shadow.

He was a contradiction. On one hand, he was arrogant and unruly, holding a grudge against her "so pitiful" remark that was filled with both sympathy and condescension. He couldn't help but frown when he saw the pride hidden deep within her, wanting to shatter it.

On the other hand, he was like a wild beast in a dark swamp, peeking at her from the depths of its cave, shrinking back at the first sight of light.

Later still, he saw another boy appear by her side.

The two of them seemed to have a very good relationship.

When Xu Zhinan smiled at him, she seemed even more beautiful.

In the nights after that day, Lin Qingye had a dream. His skin was pressed against the person on top of him, their body heat warming each other. He saw the face from that snowy night, and her pink lips that had uttered the two words "so pitiful" were soft and full.

But it was also these same beautiful lips that smiled at someone else.

He leaned over and bit down hard on the side of her neck, tasting blood.

Then he woke with a start.

Lin Qingye lay in bed, his chest heaving, his breathing heavy. He recalled how Xu Zhinan had smiled at that boy during the day, her features gentle, her eyes brimming with mirth.

He was dismissive on one hand, yet mad with jealousy on the other.

It was like how she had merely whispered "so pitiful," yet he had been burned by the light in her eyes. For the first time, he felt a desire to conquer, and for the first time, he clearly felt a certain unspeakable urge.

He couldn't get back to sleep that night, so he wrote the lyrics for 'Black Locust'.

"Between me and the world

You are the chasm, the marsh

The sinking abyss

You are the fence, the rampart

The eternal pattern on the shield

You are the maiden

I am the crawling five-legged monster

A glimpse of spring in the crisscrossing dark night

You pick up the gun, I become your sacrifice

..."

The maiden in the lyrics became his secret.

But the maiden was too beautiful. Qin Tang noticed her too and told him he wanted to pursue her.

Lin Qingye was disdainful. Unflinchingly, he said with contempt, "Then go ahead and pursue her."

After that, Qin Tang gave up in disappointment. Xu Zhinan finished high school and also got into Pingchuan University.