When I woke up from my dream, the clock had just struck three.
Shiyu patted his face in the rain, turned on the desk lamp, and lit a cigarette for himself. Perhaps it had been a while since he last smoked, as he was suddenly choked by the smoke. The warm yellow light shone on the side of his body, where a few snake-like bloodstains coiled around his waist. Shiyu switched the cigarette to his other hand and gently touched these marks, lost in thought. They were swollen, even carrying a faint warmth. Shiyu took a deep drag of his cigarette, his thoughts drifting back to Shanghai, over a thousand kilometers away.
......
In Shanghai during 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, and Shiyu naturally attached great importance to it. The success of this project directly affected his career advancement, so he had been working tirelessly, even to the point of exhaustion.
"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 a lot of young people like you every day. Work hard, young man. Men should strive while they're young, marry a beautiful wife, and enjoy a lifetime of happiness."
Shiyu didn't respond, a hint of loneliness flashing in his eyes. He always had some reservations about marriage, even love. The unsuccessful relationships he had experienced before had left him weary, and the family troubles 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, and 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 tidying up his appearance. He sprayed perfume on his wrists and neck, and then he thought for a moment. He took out his usual phone card and replaced it with another one, a number that not even his ex-girlfriend knew. 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 only heard of it by chance, 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% alcohol, 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 and took one out, placing it between her lips. The white filter tip was 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, there was silence.
......
The drink in Shiyu's glass was getting less and less, and he was getting a bit tipsy. He turned to the woman and asked persistently, "Why did you say it's rare to see a guy drinking Long Island Iced Tea?"
"Do you smoke?" the woman shook the cigarette case at Shiyu.
"No, I don't like the smell of smoke."
"I see..." The woman extinguished her cigarette and exhaled a puff of 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 towards a table in the distance, wearing high heels. Shiyu patted his face, grabbed his jacket, 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 for a few minutes before straightening up.
"You're either really naive or pretending to be. I'm asking why you came to this bar?"
"I was feeling lonely and came here to have a drink."
"But this place is different, you know that."
"I know."
The woman swirled the drink in her glass, finished it in one gulp, leaned over the table, and whispered in Shiyu's ear:
"Do you know how to play with ropes?"
Shiyu's ears tingled, and his heart trembled along with it, 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 left her seat and walked towards the small corner designated for rope bondage performances. She elegantly sat on the high stool, and the light reflected off her skin, making her look like a sculpture of an ancient Greek goddess. The woman picked up the rope and placed it on her legs, then beckoned to Shiyu. This caught the attention of everyone in the bar, and they all looked at Shiyu with a mix of ambiguity and anticipation. 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, so I'm a bit rusty," Shiyu said self-deprecatingly.
"Come here," the woman exhaled softly, her voice barely audible.
Shiyu leaned down, getting closer to the woman's mouth.
"Take me home, right now."
......
Shiyu was pushed down onto the bed by the woman. She took off her hairband, 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 look even more charming and alluring. 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.
She 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 in front of Shiyu and opened it. Shiyu exclaimed softly because he had never seen such a complete and professional set of tools before. Shiyu's breathing became more rapid, and he knew what was going to happen next. He had never been the submissive one, but in front of this woman he had just met, he felt completely powerless.
"It might be a bit painful, let me know if you can't handle it," 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 hint of anticipation.
......
"What time is it?" the woman asked in a slurred voice.
"Three o'clock," Shiyu looked at the time on his phone, the light illuminating his face.
"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 unreality yet 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 her 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 until bedtime, his other phone number had not received any 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 abandon 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 that Shiyu stayed in Shanghai, the two of them met more than a dozen times, and Shiyu found himself unable to break free, deeply attracted to this mysterious and deadly woman.
On the last night before leaving, 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 overstep your boundaries."
Shiyu's lips moved, his voice hoarse:
"Can I know your name?"
"Shiyu."
"Can I smoke a cigarette?"
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 overstep my boundaries."
"Then let's say goodbye," Shiyu thought to himself.
......
Shiyu bought the earliest flight back to Beijing. He just wanted 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 bit too much and absentmindedly lit a cigarette. His colleagues were surprised and asked in astonishment, "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 this.