"When I woke up from my dream, the clock was pointing to three o'clock.
Shiyu patted his face, turned on the desk lamp, and lit a cigarette for himself. Maybe it had been a while since he last smoked, because he suddenly choked on the smoke. The warm yellow light shone on his body, and a few snake-like bloodstains were wrapped around his waist. Shiyu switched the cigarette to his other hand and gently touched these marks, lost in thought. They were swollen, and even had a faint warmth. Shiyu took a deep breath of smoke and his thoughts drifted back to Shanghai, over a thousand kilometers away.
...
In Shanghai in April and May, there was already a hint of warmth in the air. When Shiyu came out of the airport, he took a deep breath of the moist air and quickly walked towards the taxi parked on the side of the road. This was his first business trip after returning to work, so Shiyu naturally attached great importance to it. The success of this project directly affected his career development, and for this, he had been working tirelessly, feeling exhausted.
"Where are you from, young man?" the driver started a conversation.
"I'm from Beijing," Shiyu replied.
"I see. You must be here on a business trip. I see many young people like you every day. Work hard, young man. Men should strive when they are young, marry a beautiful wife, and enjoy a lifetime of happiness."
Shiyu didn't respond, a touch of loneliness flashed in his eyes. He always had some resistance when it came to marriage, even love. The unsuccessful relationships he had experienced before had left him weary, and family matters had made him fearful of marriage. In addition, he had many deep secrets that he kept hidden, all of which made him avoid intimate relationships. But reality didn't give him any chance to catch his breath, he didn't have time to listen to anyone's demands, not even his own.
...
After finishing work for the day, it was already past eleven o'clock. Shiyu sat on the edge of the bed, poured out two melatonin pills, and tried to fall asleep. But before the pills reached his mouth, he hesitated. He couldn't rely on medication and perseverance to get through every long night. So he stood in front of the mirror again, meticulously tidied up his appearance, sprayed perfume on his wrists and neck, and then thought for a moment. He took out his usual phone card and replaced it with another one, a number that even his ex-girlfriend didn't know. After doing all this, Shiyu left the house and took a taxi to a bar a few kilometers away.
This was a bar that only people in the circle knew about, and Shiyu had accidentally heard about it but had never been there. The bar was dimly lit, and people were scattered around in pairs or groups of three or five. In one corner of the bar, there was a separate area for rope bondage performances, but there was obviously no performance today, so there were only scattered ropes on the floor and a matte high stool.
Shiyu looked around and asked the bartender for a Long Island Iced Tea. As he drank, he played with the lighter on the bar.
"A Zombie, 40 degrees, with a little more passion fruit," a female voice sounded in his ear.
Shiyu turned around and saw a young woman in a red dress walking straight towards the seat next to him. She took out a silver cigarette case from her black square bag, took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth, the white filter between her red lips, like a lotus blooming in a rose garden.
"Can I borrow your lighter?" the woman looked at the lighter in Shiyu's hand.
Shiyu handed the lighter to the woman and subconsciously said, "It's rare to see a girl who smokes."
The woman smiled and replied, "It's also rare to see a guy drinking Long Island Iced Tea."
And so, silence fell between them.
...
As the glass of alcohol in his hand became emptier and emptier, Shiyu became a little tipsy. He turned to the woman and asked persistently, "Why do you say it's rare to see a guy drinking Long Island Iced Tea?"
"Do you smoke?" the woman shook the cigarette case in front of Shiyu.
"No, I don't like the smell of smoke."
"I see..." The woman extinguished her cigarette and exhaled the smoke into the air. "Long Island Iced Tea is too boring, not suitable for you. Shall I get you something else to drink?"
Shiyu hesitated for a moment, nodded, and then quickly shook his head.
The woman didn't pay attention to Shiyu's reaction and asked the bartender for a whole bottle of tequila. She walked to a table in the distance, stepping on high heels. Shiyu patted his face, grabbed his coat, and followed her.
"Why did you come here?" the woman held up her glass and looked straight at Shiyu.
"Just on a business trip," Shiyu replied.
The woman suddenly laughed, leaned on the table, and didn't straighten up for a few minutes.
"Are you really naive or just pretending? I'm asking why you came to this bar."
"Feeling lonely, just came to have a drink."
"But this place is different, you know."
"I know."
The woman swirled the drink in her glass, finished it in one gulp, leaned over from the opposite side of the table, and whispered in Shiyu's ear, "Do you know how to play with ropes?"
Shiyu's ears tingled, his heart trembled, but he quickly calmed down and said to the woman, "I know a little, but I'm not an expert."
"That's enough."
The woman got up from her seat and walked towards the small corner of the bar designated for rope bondage performances. She elegantly sat on a high stool, her skin illuminated by the light, resembling a sculpture of a Greek goddess. The woman picked up the rope and placed it on her legs, then beckoned to Shiyu. This attracted the attention of everyone in the bar, and they all looked at Shiyu with ambiguous and expectant eyes. Shiyu had no choice but to steel himself and walk over.
Under the influence of alcohol, Shiyu's hands were a bit unsteady, and he made several mistakes in tying the knots. But the woman just sat there, watching Shiyu without saying a word. After a busy period, Shiyu finally completed a piece that he was somewhat satisfied with.
"It's been a while since I last did this, I'm a bit rusty," Shiyu said self-deprecatingly.
"Come here," the woman exhaled softly and said in a barely audible voice.
Shiyu bent down, leaning close to the woman's mouth.
"Take me home, right now."
...
Shiyu was pushed down on the bed by the woman. She took off her hairpin, shook her head, and her beautiful curly hair spread out, emitting a pleasant fragrance. Occasionally, a few strands of hair stuck to the corners of her mouth, making her even more charming and enchanting. The woman unbuttoned Shiyu's shirt and lightly kissed his chest, leaving behind a rosy lip print.
"Just lie down and be obedient," the woman said.
The woman got off the bed and walked to another room. When she came back, she had changed out of the red dress and into a short skirt and stockings. She placed the box she was carrying on the bed and opened it in front of Shiyu. Shiyu exclaimed softly because he had never seen such a complete and professional set of tools before. Shiyu's breathing became more rapid, he knew what was going to happen next, he was never the submissive one, but in front of this woman he had just met, he was powerless.
"It might be a bit painful, if you can't handle it, let me know," the woman said gently as she wiped a wooden ruler with a towel.
Shiyu didn't respond, but he looked at the woman in the shadows and felt a sense of anticipation.
...
"What time is it?" the woman asked in a slurred voice.
"It's three o'clock," Shiyu looked at the time on his phone, illuminated by its light.
"Stay with me a little longer," the woman held onto Shiyu's arm tighter.
"But..."
"Just sleep a little longer, it's still early."
Shiyu wanted to say something, but the woman's breathing had already become steady.
In the early morning, Shiyu woke up early. He walked into the bathroom and looked at the marks on his body in the mirror, feeling a sense of both unreality and reality. He returned to the bedroom, and the woman was still asleep, so he wrote down his contact information on a piece of paper and left it next to the woman's phone. Before leaving, he leaned down and kissed the woman's face, her eyelashes twitched, but she didn't open her eyes.
The whole day, Shiyu hoped that the woman would contact him, but it wasn't until bedtime that his other phone number received no calls. He thought about going directly to find the woman, but each time he thought about it, an inexplicable sense of powerlessness would arise, causing him to dismiss the idea.
It wasn't until three days later, in the evening, that Shiyu finally received the message he had been eagerly waiting for. It was short, but enough to make him ecstatic.
"Come to my place, I miss you."
During the month Shiyu stayed in Shanghai, the two of them met more than a dozen times, and Shiyu found himself unable to break free, deeply attracted by this mysterious and deadly woman.
On the night before he left, Shiyu held the woman in his arms and said seriously:
"I love you."
"I know, I love you too."
"I'm serious."
"Serious?"
The woman broke free from Shiyu's embrace, looked down at him, and said coldly:
"Don't cross the line."
Shiyu's lips moved, his voice hoarse:
"Can I know your name?"
"Shiyu."
"Can I smoke?"
The woman threw the cigarette case to Shiyu and lay back on the bed.
Shiyu got up and lit a cigarette, exhaling the smoke out the window. In the midst of the smoke, he saw the moon shining brightly.
"Yes, I shouldn't cross the line."
"Then let's say goodbye," Shiyu thought in his heart.
...
Shiyu bought the earliest flight back to Beijing, wanting to distance himself from everything he had experienced in Shanghai as soon as possible. Work went smoothly, and he was promoted as he had hoped. At the celebration banquet, he drank a little too much and absentmindedly lit a cigarette. His colleagues were surprised and asked, "Didn't you never smoke before?"
Shiyu was stunned for a moment, silently extinguished the cigarette butt, and muttered to himself, "Yeah, I forgot."
...
"This is the situation, Mr. Shiyu. Your alter ego is very secretive, and it's difficult for me to predict when she will appear."
On the other side of the table, the doctor said so.