Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

"Not bad," Zhang Ruiyi said.

Han Fei looked around. He recalled their last dance, how tightly they had embraced, drawing applause and cheers. Now they had retreated to a table at the back of the bar and sat down.

"I can tell you're very professional. Have you ever studied dance?" Han Fei asked.

"Of course!" Zhang Ruiyi said. "I started learning dance when I was five years old and have been learning for twelve years. I've danced ballet, ballroom dance, and modern dance, and I even won the runner-up prize in the city's youth ballroom dance competition."

"Runner-up? That's impressive."

"It's a shame my dad never comes to watch my matches. Once, I made it to the finals, and I told him a month in advance, and he agreed. But on the day of the match, I waited backstage for ages and called him. Guess what he was doing?"

"A meeting?"

"He was having dinner with a bunch of old men. And he was saying something like... Ruiyi, Dad really can't get away, he'll definitely go next time." Zhang Ruiyi imitated Zhang Qiming's tone, "His next time is always next time."

Han Fei got up and got Zhang Ruiyi a Coke, while he got himself a glass of orange juice.

"Then I'll toast you on behalf of Uncle Zhang," Han Fei raised his glass, "to that little dancer who spent twelve years in school."

"Your reason for toasting is quite unique," Zhang Ruiyi said with a smile, raising her glass to clink.

"Then why did you stop jumping later?" Han Fei asked.

"I had to stop dancing in my senior year of high school to prepare for the college entrance exam. I originally planned to continue after I got into university, but when I got there, I found that the people in the dance club were either just playing around or just trying to win awards and credits. I couldn't even find an opportunity to seriously practice dancing. After that, I basically gave up."

"Wasteland? What about tonight?"

"What's wrong tonight?"

"You danced very well just now, didn't you?"

Zhang Ruiyi stared intently at Han Fei for a long while before speaking, "Han Fei, you know what? You're quite... split-off."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed? Sometimes you're very good at talking, but other times..." Zhang Ruiyi made a face.

Han Fei laughed heartily: "Aren't you being too calculating? Just because I couldn't think of a better way to praise you when you first came in?"

Zhang Ruiyi lowered her eyes, her cheeks flushed, and a smile appeared on her lips.

"Hmph, who cares?" Her tone was playful and coquettish. "Your turn. What were you like when you were in school? Were you as...serious as you are now?"

Han Fei thought for a moment: "When I was in school, I was actually quite ordinary. I attended classes and took exams as usual. There was nothing special about me."

"You're lying," Zhang Ruiyi said. "I think you're either the type who sits in a corner reading a book and ignores everyone, or the type who seems obedient on the surface but does bad things behind people's backs."

"Oh? Then guess what kind of person I am?"

"The first one. But the second one lives in your heart."

"Your assessment... is quite interesting. But you're only half right."

Which half?

"The first one," Han Fei said, "When I was in school, I was indeed quite bored. It wasn't that I didn't want to play with others, it was that I didn't have the time."

"No time? What are you busy doing, saving the world?"

"I was busy helping my dad proofread. Starting from the second year of junior high school, every weekend, during winter and summer vacations, whenever the publishing house was too busy, my dad would drag me out to volunteer. It wasn't just reading; it was actually using a red pen to check for typos, punctuation marks, and paragraph formatting word by word. My dad was extremely strict; if even a single '的' or '地' was used incorrectly, it had to be corrected."

"Oh my god," Zhang Ruiyi exclaimed, her eyes widening, "Isn't that incredibly boring?"

"It's boring. But my dad keeps saying if I just persevere for two more chapters, he'll buy me an ice cream."

Han Fei could tell that Zhang Ruiyi wanted to laugh, but she forced herself to hold it in.

"You don't actually believe that, do you?"

Han Fei coughed and said, "I was very naive back then."

The two burst into laughter, then discussed some good and bad movies, and some good and bad concerts. Until a commotion broke out on the dance floor.

Han Fei got up and went to check, only to see a person lying face down on the ground at the bathroom door, obviously having fallen flat on their face due to the effects of alcohol. Several other people were struggling to walk over and help them up.

"What's wrong?"

Han Fei pushed through the crowd, went to the man's side, squatted down, and helped him up. It was Wen Jie. He had his eyes half-open, his chest and mouth were covered in yellow vomit, and two streams of blood were flowing from his nostrils.

"How much did he drink?" Han Fei asked, glancing up at the crowd.

"No... I didn't drink much," Lu Hai said, his breath reeking of alcohol.

"Alright," Han Fei said, "Someone come and help take him to the hospital. Ruiyi, go and flag down a taxi at the entrance."

"Okay," Zhang Ruiyi said, turning to leave.

Han Fei glanced at his watch. 11:30. Wen Jie's family should be asleep by now, right? Wait, Han Fei only just realized that after knowing Wen Jie for so many days, he didn't even know who was in his family, only that he had an older sister. Han Fei reached into Wen Jie's pockets, wanting to make a call to inform his family, but he couldn't find his phone anywhere.

Han Fei and Lu Hai helped Wen Jie to the door, where a taxi was already waiting. Zhang Ruiyi helped open the back door and let the two of them push Wen Jie into the car.

Han Fei turned around and looked at Zhang Ruiyi's face: "Lu Hai and I will go."

Zhang Ruiyi took a breath, seemingly intending to say something, but then stopped herself, staring blankly at Han Fei for a while before taking another breath.

"Okay," she said with a smile, "goodnight then. See you tomorrow!"

Han Fei smiled slightly and nodded: "See you tomorrow."

......

Wen Shuyan sat in the car, staring at the gray metal roller shutter of Qingniao Publishing House. The windows on the second and third floors were also dark.

She glanced at her watch. 12:15.

"Really, it's so late, how could a publishing house possibly be open?" she thought to herself.

She pulled a flashlight from the back seat, opened the door, and got out of the car.

The beam of the flashlight swept across the gray iron roller door, which was covered with various GG and rental information, as well as several A4 sheets.

She moved closer, her gaze sweeping over the sheets of paper, and then found what she was looking for on the wall by the door.

That was a content cooperation notice posted by Qingniao Publishing House, which included several numbers, one of which was:

President Han Fei: 139****5017.

Wen Shuyan took out her phone, entered the number, thought about how to apologize for disturbing the other person's sleep, and dialed it.

The phone was answered.

"Hello, I'm Wenjie's sister. Sorry it's so late... What did you say? The hospital?"

Wen Shuyan hung up the phone, got back into her car, and started the engine.