Chapter 192: Guitar, Guitar

After staying another day in Xuzhou, Mi Cai and I returned to Suzhou. After having dinner together, she went back to her upscale neighborhood, while I returned to my old place.

Exhausted from the long drive, I went to bed early. After sleeping restlessly for about two hours, I woke up and couldn’t fall asleep again.

Bored, I grabbed a magazine and started reading in bed when I suddenly remembered the guitar. Jian Wei had simply taken it away, so I should apologize to Ajie. I immediately called Ajie.

Ajie picked up the phone quickly, and I said to him, “Ajie, Jian Wei told me about the guitar. Sorry about that!”

Ajie laughed, though it sounded helpless, and said, “Your ex-girlfriend is no ordinary person… no way, you owe me a meal to calm me down!”

“What did she do to you?”

“Forget it, forget it, it was a nightmare!”

I smiled bitterly, knowing exactly how fierce Jian Wei could be. After a while, I said to Ajie, “Are you free now? Let me buy you a few drinks.”

“Sure, bar or restaurant?”

“The bar is too noisy. Let’s go to a restaurant.”

…

At a small restaurant, I ordered a lamb hotpot and chatted with Ajie while drinking.

I poured a glass of wine and raised it apologetically, saying, “Ajie, sorry about the guitar. I’ll pay you back as soon as I have the money.”

Ajie raised his glass and clinked it with mine, but his face was gloomy as he said, “Bro, it’s not about the money. I just feel terrible about the guitar. Do you think your ex can even play music? That beautiful guitar is just a decoration in her hands… sigh!”

After saying this, Ajie downed his glass and poured himself another, clearly upset. His expression made me even more curious about how Jian Wei had taken the guitar from him.

After another round, I finally asked, “How did she take the guitar from you?”

Ajie looked shaken, took a sip of wine to calm himself, and said, “That night I was counting inventory at the music shop when suddenly a red Cadillac pulled up outside. Then your ex stepped out of the car, and her presence was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even look at her directly!”

“What happened next?”

“No small talk, she just asked me directly, ‘Where’s the guitar?’ Of course, I didn’t want to give it to her and told her you had already sold it to me.”

“Then what?”

Ajie’s jowls trembled. He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag before continuing, “Then she turned around and walked away. I thought she had given up, but then she came back from her car carrying a black barrel, told me it was full of gasoline, and said if I didn’t give her the guitar, she’d burn down my music shop!”

I broke into a cold sweat and lit a cigarette myself, taking a couple of puffs without knowing what to say.

Wiping sweat from his forehead with a napkin, Ajie continued, “I told her, ‘If you dare to light it, I’ll call the police,’ but she just opened the lid of the barrel and said, ‘Go ahead and call the police. Let’s see who gets here faster—you or my lighter.’ I was so scared I could barely think. I tried to grab the barrel from her, but she suddenly burst into tears, sobbing and begging me to give her back the guitar. She said that guitar was her life, that it must belong to either you or her, and no one else could ever have it!”

Ajie wiped his forehead again, took another sip of wine, and sighed, “I was so scared I practically turned into an idiot and just handed the guitar over. I couldn’t have refused anyway. Even if she wasn’t really going to burn down the shop, considering our relationships, I couldn’t make the situation too awkward.”

After Ajie finished telling the whole story, I felt a strange mix of emotions. I recalled that night when Mi Cai and I had become a couple by the city moat, while Jian Wei was crying her heart out over that guitar. But why had she done that? Was she using the guitar to mourn the unforgettable past we once had?

If so, what was the point? I couldn’t quite figure it out.

“Zhaoyang, I think maybe there’s some misunderstanding between you and your ex. From what she did that day, as an outsider, I really feel like she still has feelings for you.”

I thought deeply, the more I thought, the more uneasy I felt. Perhaps what separated Jian Wei and me wasn’t just the passage of time, but rather a sincere conversation. But even if we had that conversation, what would change?

After all, she was already with Xiang Chen, and I had started a new relationship with Mi Cai. Even if we could ignore the changes time had brought, we must never forget that people and circumstances had changed, or the resulting pain would be doubled.

I drank another glass of wine, lit another cigarette, and avoided Ajie’s question with silence. Ajie didn’t press further, clinked his glass with mine, and changed the subject.

…

That night I got pretty drunk. When I got home, I couldn’t even find the keyhole for several tries. Finally inside, I didn’t even have the strength to boil a kettle of water and fell asleep directly on the couch.

When I woke up the next day, I was surprised to find a blanket covering me, and I heard water boiling in the kitchen. Then I saw Mi Cai coming out with a cup of hot milk.

I rubbed my aching head and sat up. Mi Cai handed me the milk and scolded me slightly, asking, “Did you go out drinking last night?”

“Yeah, with Ajie,” I replied honestly.

“I know. I went to see Ajie this morning. Look at you, you both drank, but Ajie went to work at the music shop as usual today. What about you?”

I focused on the key point and asked, “You went to see Ajie?”

Mi Cai nodded, “I wanted to buy the guitar back for you, but he told me Jian Wei had already taken it.”

Not sure if it was from nervousness or post-drinking weakness, I broke into a cold sweat and cautiously asked, “Then what?”

“Then I wanted to pay him back for the guitar, but he said you had already paid him last night. I mean, where did you get the money? If you had money before, you wouldn’t have had to exchange your guitar for something else!”

I was grateful to Ajie in my heart. At a critical moment, he still knew how to handle things. I definitely couldn’t let Mi Cai pay him back for the guitar, or else the meaning behind the guitar I had given her would be lost.

“I help Leyao manage the bar, and she has to pay me a salary, right? A few days ago she transferred some money to my account,” I gave Mi Cai a somewhat reasonable explanation, though I was forcing it.

Mi Cai didn’t seem as alert as before, just nodding, but she looked a bit unhappy, probably because of my ongoing entanglements with Leyao and Jian Wei.

I pulled her to sit beside me, speaking softly, “The guitar has already been taken by Jian Wei. We won’t have any contact with each other anymore. As for Leyao’s bar, don’t worry either—I’ll hand it back to her soon and won’t have any more dealings with her.”

“Okay, but promise me—you won’t be the gardener who takes care of many flowers.”

I gently hugged her and whispered in her ear, “From now on, I’ll be a gardener who only tends to you—the most sacred flower.”

“This is your promise to me!”

I nodded seriously.

Mi Cai finally smiled and said, “Drink your milk quickly. Since you’re free these days, later I’ll go with you to the mall to buy some new clothes.”

“Why buy clothes?”

“For my uncle’s birthday banquet!”

“Is it really necessary to buy new clothes specifically?”

“There will be a formal dinner that night, so you need to dress more formally!”

Suddenly I understood, realizing I didn’t actually own any formal wear worth over a thousand yuan, clearly unsuitable for attending a high-end event.