Chapter 22 Monet's Water Lilies
The sun sets near dusk, and there is drizzle on the parasol trees.
In the KTV lounge, there was a sea of young girls wearing sexy and revealing clothes, heavy makeup, and high heels.
Some people chatted in their hometown dialect, some imitated the local accent, and most people communicated in Mandarin. The content of the chat was nothing more than: which clothes are good-looking; which brand of skin care products is good; how much money a man spent to make a beauty smile; someone was clever and used himself to trick men into buying cars and houses...
There was a long line next to the sofa in front of the dressing table, and several makeup artists were busy doing makeup for the girls.
The gray powder puff is used to apply foundation to hundreds of faces every day. You can smell the sweat on the powder puff from a distance. The eyeshadow palette and blush box are empty, revealing the silver base, and the loose powder is all over the box. The lipstick brush has a bald head, and it gently sweeps across the young and plump lips.
The sofa near the door was full of people. Ye Zhenzhen squeezed in and yawned. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve her sleepiness.
"Zhenzhen, thank you!"
Li Ling moved closer to Ye Zhenzhen and tried to squeeze into the sofa. The person next to her was a little annoyed, "There's no room here, why are you squeezing in!"
Li Ling smiled widely, "Sorry, I'll just say a few words and then leave."
Ye Zhenzhen was stuck in the sofa and smiled at Li Ling, "Sister Li Ling, don't be so polite. That customer will look at the bill when paying. Last time, there was an extra 400 on the bill. I explained to the customer for a long time. From now on, I can't help you."
The smile on Li Ling's face froze for a moment, then she chuckled, "It's okay. Zhenzhen, there's no room here, I'll go to the sofa next to you."
Ye Zhenzhen hates being taken advantage of. There is no love or friendship in KTV. There is only gambling with guests, competition with colleagues, and mutual exploitation. It is magnificent here, and everyone looks glamorous on the surface, but in fact, it is filthy. The ugliness of human nature is magnified and distorted here.
Several middle-aged women rushed into the lounge, looking around. The young girls in the lounge were confused and looked at the women in silence.
A beauty was running towards the back door of the lounge, holding up her skirt. She was like a fox running away, her towering breasts heaving and her high heels making a harsh noise as they rubbed against the floor.
She stumbled to the back door, then suddenly stopped and slowly backed away.
Two short and fat women were blocking the back door, looking ferocious.
"Run! Lily you bitch! Just run!"
"You're pretty good at defrauding men of their money! Don't be a coward!"
The front and back doors of the lounge were blocked, and several women walked towards the girl named Lily.
The woman in the lead had a face full of anger. She had thick black eyebrows and big red lips, and her flesh shook when she walked.
Lily shouted at the top of her voice:
"Security! Security..."
Several women slowly surrounded Lily, spitting dirty words, and the girls around her all moved aside tactfully.
The leading woman grabbed Lily's wavy hair and dragged her to the ground. She screamed:
"Help…"
Lily's voice was horrifying and shrill, terrified and pitiful.
Some of the women slapped her in the face, while others stripped her clothes. She kept shouting and screaming, like a trapped beast at the mercy of others.
The young girls screamed and stepped back in fear.
The sound of the intercom was getting closer and closer. In less than a minute, the security guard rushed in and pulled the women apart. He desperately pushed the woman out of the lounge. The woman screamed:
"Lily, you bitch, I won't let you have an easy time..."
The woman was pulled away by security, and her heart-wrenching roar kept echoing in the lounge.
Lily's face was covered with red palm prints, her upper body was naked, and she held her chest tightly with both hands. Someone threw a piece of clothing to her, and Lily pulled it over and wrapped it around herself. The security guard helped Lily, who was limp on the ground, up and helped her out of the lounge.
After the shocking moment, the lounge returned to normal.
The voices of the females filled the lounge. They needed to keep talking to fill the emptiness in their hearts. A moment of silence would activate their brains. Thinking was too painful and profound for them.
Everyone was talking about the scene just now. Lily's lover bought her a BMW, and the woman who beat Lily was her original wife. Some people felt sorry for Lily being beaten, and some people envied Lily's BMW.
Ye Zhenzhen hugged her arms tightly, frowned, and sadness surged in her heart. There is no moral values here. Whoever makes money is the role model. Propriety, righteousness, and integrity are not as good as a bowl of porridge. No one cares what others think, and no one cares about what will happen in the future. This group of people live a life of luxury and drunkenness. Just as Bai Juyi wrote in his poem - this year's laughter will be repeated next year, and the autumn moon and spring breeze will pass by casually.
She was like an outsider, watching everything that happened here with cold eyes. Suddenly, her brows knitted, and her stomach churned. She covered her mouth and rushed to the bathroom, lying on the sink and retching non-stop. After retching for a long time, she only vomited some gastric juice.
The ugliness and greed of human nature are exposed here, and everyone here is used to it. The more Ye Zhenzhen sees, the harder it is for her to become numb. The air here is too turbid and too depressing.
There was new gossip in the lounge every day, but after more than ten days, Ye Zhenzhen was no longer the focus of everyone. Only occasionally someone mentioned that Ye Zhenzhen's guests came every day, and who knows when they would stop coming.
The implication is, how long can she remain popular?
At 7:30 p.m., Yuncheng was brightly lit and the KTV was ablaze with lights.
The lights in the lobby are as bright as day, the music is still playing, and the water curtains and fountains are still there.
Ye Zhenzhen stood in the princess line in the lobby, her heart unable to calm down for a long time. Everyone here was smiling, a smile that was both sincere and hypocritical.
"Ye Zhenzhen, the guests in the box have arrived! Why are you still standing here in a daze?"
The manager's serious voice was like thunder, waking up Ye Zhenzhen who was wandering in the void.
She patted her cheeks, shook her head, and tried to cheer herself up.
With a smile on her face, she walked towards the box in a straight line step by step.
Standing at the door of the box, I took a deep breath, adjusted my mood and pushed open the door.
She bent down and bowed politely at a 90-degree angle. "Good evening! I am glad to serve you!"
Wen Baijing sat upright on the sofa, put away his phone and looked up at her.
Not a word was uttered.
She stood up and looked at Wen Baijing. He was wearing a black shirt and bathed in the light. His black eyes were filled with water as he stared at Ye Zhenzhen.
At that moment, a ray of light from the sky penetrated the chaos, and the haze in Ye Zhenzhen's heart dissipated, and the world became clear and bright.
She picked up the teacup and gently placed it in front of Wen Baijing, "Please enjoy!"
Wen Baijing looked at him for a long time, "Have you been losing weight recently?"
She suppressed her smile and touched her face with her hand, "Have I lost weight?" The most beautiful words in the world are "You have lost weight!" She was secretly happy that she had lost weight obviously.
"no!"
Wen Baijing looked away and raised his hand to his lips.
Ye Zhenzhen quietly rolled her eyes and puffed up her cheeks. You are the boss! Everything you said is right!
"Are you scolding me?" Wen Baijing frowned and looked her up and down.
It's not okay to criticize in your heart.
"You think too much. You are a guest, my bread and butter. Even if I had ten thousand guts, I wouldn't dare to do that." Ye Zhenzhen explained with a smile, neither humble nor arrogant.
Wen Baijing said faintly:
"You're almost writing it on your face."
With a smile on her face, she folded her hands on her stomach and said, "No, no, you must be overthinking it!" After that, she covered her face with her hands, hurried to the computer desk, and clicked the mouse pretending to be calm.
Wen Baijing picked up the teacup with a smile and sipped the tea calmly.
"Ye Zhenzhen." Wen Baijing glanced at the small stool. She bent down, brought the stool, and sat next to the armrest of the sofa.
"Did something happen to you? Why have you lost so much weight?" Wen Baijing asked softly.
"No." Ye Zhenzhen smiled, her voice still sweet.
Wen Baijing's eyes stopped on her face and he sighed, "If you can't lie, then don't lie. Your work clothes are much looser, don't you know?"
She looked down at her cuffs, which were obviously much looser. "It's okay, it's all over!"
Ye Zhenzhen squeezed out a faint dimple, and stared at Monet's "Water Lilies" on the wall under the dim light. It is not stained by dust, not stained by dirt, and has no branches or vines. It can be viewed from a distance but not played with. It is not stained by mud, and the fragrance is overflowing.
Wen Baijing followed her gaze and saw lotus flowers rippled in the picture frame.
Ye Zhenzhen's innocent face was covered with a veil, and her clear eyes were also covered with a little dust.
"It's not too late. If you want, you can get away with it."
Hearing this, Ye Zhenzhen nodded thoughtfully, "Well, I hope everything is still in time."
There are some money she can't make. She will feel guilty and emotional all the time. Before she gets too deep into the mud, while everything is still possible, she should leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.
Wen Baijing's eyes were filled with relief. He relaxed and slowly leaned back on the sofa. "Ye Zhenzhen, I was not wrong about you."
She stared at Wen Baijing blankly. If there really was redemption, Wen Baijing had indeed redeemed her in a sense. He was like a ray of light in the darkness, allowing her to see the direction in her confusion.
Ye Zhenzhen's eyes were dull and she was slightly dazed, and a picture flashed through her mind.
The south bank of the river is green, the afternoon sun is warm and the breeze is gentle. Kites of various colors are flying in the sky, and the park is full of people strolling and admiring the flowers.
Walking under the rain of apricot blossoms, the fragrance of flowers stained my clothes. Ye Zhenzhen stood alone, picking up a falling petal with her hand.
A couple walked over hand in hand, both of them smiling and affectionate, and the man bent his head to kiss the shy woman.
Ye Zhenzhen threw down the apricot blossoms and rushed over with a red face, "Yu Hui! Who is she?"
"Ye Zhenzhen, I don't love you, I've fallen in love with someone else!" Yu Hui hugged the woman and glanced at her with disgust on his face.
"Why? You said you would love me forever! It's only been two days since we broke up and you're together? So you've been together for a long time?" Ye Zhenzhen asked loudly with tears in her eyes. She could accept the fact that Yu Hui didn't love her, but she couldn't accept cheating.
The people walking around stopped and looked at Ye Zhenzhen and the others.
Apricot blossoms are flying, covering Ye Zhenzhen's tears.
Yu Hui looked at the woman tenderly, then glanced at Ye Zhen Zhen and sneered:
"Ye Zhenzhen! She has money to help me. What do you have?"
That sentence pierced through Ye Zhenzhen's embarrassment, and she was left with only shame. Yes! She had nothing.
She stood under the apricot tree, watching the couple walk away.
It turns out that poor people are really not worthy of love. Infatuation is a sin and a joke. Cheap love words and sincerity cannot buy breakfast. The love of the poor is a mud spot on the trouser legs of a defector, and they deserve to be despised and hated.
"What are you thinking about?" Wen Baijing waved his hand back and forth in front of her eyes.
She lowered her eyelids, quickly regained her composure, raised her hand and poured the wine, "Thank you, I toast to you."
Under the dim lights, with music lingering in the air and wine glasses clinking together, it is the sound of longing and dreams.
"Ye Zhenzhen, if you leave here and encounter any difficulties, you can tell me." Wen Baijing looked sincere.
"Thank you!" Ye Zhenzhen regained her radiance, the look that was supposed to belong to her.
When she smiled, her eyebrows curved, and two dimples formed on her pink cheeks. The sweet dimples and laughter penetrated into Wen Baijing's heart.
Wen Baijing's eyes were full of stars, and the corners of his mouth raised in a perfect arc, "You look so beautiful when you smile!"