She couldn't stop her mind from kept thinking about the past. All of her regrets, her sorrows and her sadness, all came together at once.
She gave up trying to hold it in. She walked to the platform and grabbed the pad from Li Na, and quickly find her song. She needed to let loose!
.....
After searching for a while, she finally found it. 'I will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor. Really classic.
After living in country U for so long, her English was spoken really well. She jumped the queue and without apologizing to anyone, she quickly stood at the front and started singing he heart out.
This was the first time the team saw Shao Yan sang. They went to karaoke many times before but Shao Yan would never touch the mic, let alone sing.
So they were very surprised. She nailed all the lyrics perfectly, she's not a singer so her tone was sometimes off here and there. She couldn't reached the high notes either, but she didn't care. She just kept screaming her lungs out
She needed to survive!
When she reached the final refrain, instead of a long drawl, she changed it to whisper, "I will survive" and big fat tears fell from her right eye.
Only Fan jie and Li Na saw this and both of them were stupefied. Li Na quickly tried to distract the others while Fan jie slowly stood up, shoved Huo ge to take over the mic and sang the next song.
Huo ge, sensing something was off, didn't say anything. He instead quick to drag Wenhai to sing a song by the currently famous Korean group.
.....
Fan jie approached Shao Yan who seemed to have lost all her energy after only one song. They listlessly stepped outside to take a breather. Neither of them spoke a single word.
Fan jie dragged Shao Yan outside. Shao Yan just sat on the road side, staring into the dark night. Fan jie took out a cigarette and started to light it. She blew a smoke ring while kept looking at Shao Yan to make sure she wouldn't abruptly did something stupid.
After smoking two cigarettes, while taking out the third one and lighted it, Fan jie started to say,
"There are a lot of rumors in the company about you." She paused to inhale the third cigarette. "I'm sure you've heard about them too."
Fan jie narrowed her eyes while inhaling the cigarette.
Shao Yan looked at her and slowly chuckled, "You mean the stories about the groom left the bride on the altar, and then the bride ran back home heartbroken?" She paused and looked back deeply into the night.
She took a deep breath and continued, "Or about how I was having an affair with a big boss in country U, pampered and spoiled rotten, and then the legitimate wife found out about us and chased me back home?".
She peeked a look at Fan jie and then said, "Or about how I got married so young without my parent's blessing, eloped and then karma came. My parents passed away on an accident, and cursed me to not having a good marital life? And then he cheated on me with a big customer's daughter after signing on a $10 billion dollar deal?"
Shao Yan stood up from the pavement and walked slowly to Fan jie, "What about you, Fan jie? Which one do you believe in?" Shao Yan looked at her intently, waiting for her answer
Her shoulder length hair was moving along with the wind slowly. Her heart chilled while facing Fan jie's challenging eyes. Fan jie just slowly stubbed out her cigarette, "Girl, no matter what I think, you just have to keep believing in yourself. All the male characters in those rumors are assholes. I'm sure you deserved someone better." she paused and then stood up and patted the dust off her posterior.
She walked slowly to Shao Yan's side and put on a very stern serious look. She took a deep breath before putting both hands on Shao Yan's shoulder while saying,
"Hey! Should I matchmake you with Wenhai? He got a house, a stable job, and he won't cheat on you with other girls! This is already a very good deal" she raised her eyebrows up and down, trying to convince Shao Yan of her 'brilliant' idea. Her attitude right now was very similar to vegetable auntie in the market trying to negotiate on a price.
Shao Yan stunned before suddenly bursted out a giggle.
She then gave a long deep sigh, "Fan jie, your taste is surely uh.. one of a kind! Of course Wenhai won't cheat on me with girls! He likes men! Men!! How to compete with those balls~"
Shao Yan sulked at her idea.
Fan jie laughed and they laughed together for a while. The night wind blew slowly and only a distant noise of car horns accompanying them tonight.
After a while, they were both tired of laughing, and leaned on the wall, still standing next to each other. Fan jie circled her on the shoulder, "Are you feeling better now? Let's drink more tonight and forget all yesterday's sorrow."
"He had lost you, it's really his lost. Now you, my girl, don't you ever look at the past anymore and be hurt with it. Move on with your head high. You have beaten everyone at the Anniversary proposal. I'm sure you can beat this one too!"
Fan jie showed off her biceps like some weight lifting athlete. Shao Yan looked at this gangster auntie attitude from her and felt warmth spreading slowly in her cold heart.
Shao Yan smiled and nodded her head. They walked back to the karaoke room together with packs of beers.
.....
Fan jie entered the room while yelling, "Not drunk, not going home tonight! Comrades, let's begin the night!
Wenhai and Lee Ying were singing on Gangnam Style when Fan jie just walked in. Hearing what Fan jie just said, both of them just gave a blank look at her, while Psy was dancing happily in the background.
Everyone started cheering after few seconds, agreeing to her motion and they resumed singing like nothing had happened before.
Ah~ the night is indeed still young.