Cold raindrops slid down her arm to her fingertips, gathering into a bead of water that clung precariously, on the verge of falling. Her vision blurred as Shang Li strained to keep her eyes wide open, staring unblinkingly at the person before her.
A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, ripping through the night with a ghastly, ferocious glare that vanished as quickly as it appeared. The fleeting illumination also lit up Meng Yuan’s face, which seemed to mirror the terrifying and menacing night.
“What can you do if it’s lost? It’s just a lousy ring. Do you have to be like this?”
“A lousy ring? In your eyes, is this just, a lousy ring?” Shang Li’s voice was strained. She took one last deep look at Meng Yuan before crouching down, plunging her hand into the murky rainwater, and searching inch by inch with stubborn determination. “It can be found. It must be found.”
She had worn that ring for nearly seven years, how could she have lost it?
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.
The wind howled, driving the relentless rain against Shang Li’s body. The chill seeped into her bones, making her tremble uncontrollably.
Koujia offered quiet words of comfort beside her, but Shang Li couldn’t make them out. She was like someone possessed, searching through the ink-black night for that small ring, which might have already been washed away by the rain.
Hope dwindled bit by bit, yet an inexplicable stubbornness held it firmly in place.
Ring-ring-ring!
The sound of an incoming call.
“Where are you? Hurry up and get a move on! Don’t miss your flight! And don’t pull any of your usual stunts tomorrow when the new shoot starts!”
Wen Tang’s urgent voice cut through the rain, piercing Shang Li’s eardrums and snapping her back to clarity.
“Jia Jia, you all go ahead. I’ll keep looking for a while.”
“But it’s so late, and if you really can’t find it.” Koujia spoke cautiously, not daring to finish her sentence. “Let’s just go back for now.”
Shang Li forced a lighthearted smile. “If I can’t find it, then I won’t. You all go ahead, I’ll catch a taxi back later.”
Koujia hesitated, her gaze drifting subtly toward Meng Yuan, waiting for her to speak.
“Got it.” After replying to Wen Tang, Meng Yuan hung up, weariness settling on her face. She leaned over and grabbed Shang Li’s hand. “It’s late and raining, there’s no way you’ll find it. Can you stop making a scene and just leave? If you like it so much, I’ll buy you an identical one.”
Her lips moved, uttering words that seemed considerate but felt cruel, cold, and unyielding.
Shang Li jerked her hand away, a bitter, mocking smile curling at the corners of her mouth as she drew an invisible line between them. “Do you even remember what that ring looked like?”
There was no response from Meng Yuan.
Silence hung between them, thick and oppressive, like a tightly woven, suffocating net.
Gradually, anger surfaced on Meng Yuan’s face. She tilted her chin slightly, a faint, mocking smile playing on her lips. “Fine. Do as you please. Koujia, let’s go.”
“Huh?” Koujia was taken aback, caught in the middle and torn. After a moment, she gently tugged at Shang Li’s sleeve. “Sis Shang Li, let’s come back and look tomorrow. Maybe once the rain stops and the ground dries.”
“It’s fine. You go ahead.” Shang Li pulled her hand back and nudged Koujia into the car.
The car door slowly closed before her eyes. Shang Li took two steps back as the engine started. The car brushed past her, and the muddy water churned up by the tires inevitably splashed onto her clothes.
Compared to the filth covering her body, this was but a drop in the ocean.
As the car gradually drove away, Shang Li stood motionless for a long time, confining herself in place as if drawing a prison around her.
After a dazed moment, she silently crouched down, raised her phone, and turned on the flashlight, illuminating every possible spot where the ring might have fallen.
The wind howled, rain poured, and thunder roared, yet all sounds were shut out. Her mind was clear and tranquil, focused and earnest, as if she were fulfilling a solemn mission.
Staring at the overly bright light for too long made her eyes sting unbearably. Her vision blurred, making it impossible to see the ground clearly. Shang Li had to lower herself further, almost prostrating on the ground, inching forward bit by bit.
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind swept through, and the umbrella slipped from her grasp, carried away by the storm. Shang Li hurriedly stood up to chase after it, but the wind immediately lifted her skirt, blowing it to one side. The soaked fabric clung tightly to her skin, hindering her steps.
After finally retrieving the umbrella, she looked up and realized that streams of rainwater were cascading down her face. The torrential downpour had drenched her to the bone long before she even noticed.
She decided to let the umbrella go, allowing it to be swept away by the gale, tumbling through the mud toward freedom.
The world felt desolate, with only her still trapped in this rainy night.
A flash of lightning struck without warning. Her gaze wavered for a moment, and when it steadied, the small ring miraculously came into view.
Found! Finally found!
Shang Li staggered toward it, her eyes fixed intently on the spot, not daring to relax for even a second, afraid it might vanish again in the blink of an eye.
At some unnoticed moment, the ring had been carried along by the rainwater, drifting until it became embedded in the mud at the corner, mere millimeters away from the sewer grate.
Her heart clenched suddenly. Carefully retrieving the ring, she held it tightly in her palm, feeling its smooth, rounded contours. Only then did her heart ease and relax.
But strangely, after this narrow escape, there was no sense of overwhelming joy or fulfillment within her.
It was like a balloon that had just been filled with air, only to deflate moments later, lifeless and flat.
The rain began to ease, and the roaring night gradually returned to its original silence. The downpour had corroded her phone’s motherboard, and no matter how she fiddled with it, the screen remained pitch black.
In the deep of the night, on the empty, silent streets, with no one to turn to for help, she could only drag her drenched, heavy body forward, step by step.
The lingering drizzle gently caressed every inch of her skin. Her thoughts scattered, spreading through the misty rain, drifting to distant memories.