Before the promotion opportunity related to Fangyuan and myself, I carefully weighed in my heart. Actually, I myself was fine, but for Fangyuan, if he could really be promoted to assistant manager of the planning department, his treatment and status in the company would experience a qualitative leap, with a bright future ahead.
“Zhaoyang, if you can’t handle this matter, I will have Fangyuan come back to take care of it. He can forget about taking his wedding leave!” Chen Jingming said to me with an expression of coercion.
“No, Manager! If I can’t handle him, he definitely can’t either. He isn’t even close to that model.”
Chen Jingming softened his tone and said to me, “Actually, we are about to sign the entry contract. From my guess, CUCCI is just using this model incident as a final test of our company’s sincerity towards cooperation. Even without this incident, they would probably create other unexpected situations… Whether GUCCI will set up a counter in our department store not only concerns the company’s interests but also the interests of our planning department, including yours. So… no matter what method you use, you have to help the company get through this last hurdle.”
After weighing for a while in my heart, I finally nodded and said, “I will do my best.”
“Doing your best isn’t enough. You must accomplish it. You have to guarantee this to me.” Chen Jingming adjusted his glasses, his tone showing no room for negotiation.
Whether this matter succeeds or not, it must be done. Now, I can only hope Leyao has an available schedule. After repeatedly weighing, I nodded and said, “I will definitely accomplish this.”
Chen Jingming finally sighed with relief and said, “That’s great!”
I thought to myself, “Great for you! I have to swallow my pride and ask a woman I least want to ask for help. Do you know how hard that is for me?”
As I was about to leave, Chen Jingming called me back, “Zhaoyang, don’t call the model directly yet. Isn’t she filming in Hengdian? Go there tomorrow and talk to her in person. She won’t refuse easily if you travel such a long distance to meet her!”
“Manager’s plan is thorough, and your wisdom is admirable!” I forced a smile, but in my heart, he seemed more like a shameless old fox. He was so determined to go all-in like this, did he ever think about how others feel when their schedules are tight and it’s hard to refuse?
…
That evening after work, I sat on the bus heading home, feeling increasingly annoyed. The root of my annoyance stemmed from having to go to Hengdian to meet Leyao tomorrow. Tonight, I also had to move out of the place I had lived in for two years. My annoyance gradually turned into frustration. It seemed I had never been able to decide my own life. Often, a few words from others would shatter my love, work, and life into pieces—like Jianwei, like the female representative from GUCCI, like Micai.
Returning to that old house, I instinctively looked towards Micai’s room. Her door was still closed, probably not home yet.
Her coming home or not had nothing to do with me. What I needed to do now was to keep my promise and move out of this house forever.
I returned to my room to pack my belongings. Actually, I had almost finished packing yesterday; I just needed to pack the bedding and then everything was ready.
After packing my things, I turned on the computer and started looking on local websites for a place that was ready to move into. I found several that met the conditions, but all required paying half a year’s rent in advance and depositing three months’ rent. Calculating this, I would need at least ten thousand yuan for rent. I immediately felt troubled. I only had a few thousand yuan left now, and my salary from last month wouldn’t be paid until the day after tomorrow. Even when it was paid, I couldn’t use all of it for rent, I had to leave some for living expenses.
With no choice, I had to lower my standards and start looking for places where I could share a room and pay relatively less rent, while time quietly passed. When I came to my senses, night had already lit up the city with ten thousand lights.
I rubbed my face heavily to relieve the fatigue from staring at the computer for a long time. I still needed to continue looking for a place to live after resting for a while. After all, I couldn’t really end up on the streets, could I? I was already so down and out!
Looking aimlessly out the window, my soul once again felt lonely among the ten thousand lights of the city. At this moment, I truly longed to have my own house in this city where I had lived for more than two years, and a woman who waited for me to come home every day. I wanted to say goodbye to the uncertainty of where I lived, to the loneliness of the night, and to the bitterness of life…
A while later, I heard the sound of the door opening outside. I knew Micai had come back. But at this moment, I could completely face her with a clear conscience because I had finally kept my promise to her. I would move out tonight.
Micai stood at my door holding her handbag and wearing her newly changed slippers. She looked at the packed luggage and asked me, “Have you found a house yet?”
“Don’t worry, whether I find a good one or not, I will move out tonight.” I replied, subconsciously thinking Micai would like this answer.
“Oh.” Micai responded, but didn’t leave.
After a moment, she seemed to remember something and asked me, “You said you would buy some insecticide powder for the bathroom today. Did you buy it?”
Compared to moving and being forced by my leader to go to Hengdian to find Leyao, buying insecticide powder was really trivial, so I really forgot about it.
I apologized to Micai and said, “Sorry, I forgot. You can go buy some yourself. If you don’t want to go out, you can buy it online. It’s very convenient.”
Micai’s expression turned displeased, “This was something you promised me. How can you be so irresponsible?”
I had been frustrated all day, and I still hadn’t found a place to live tonight. How could my mood be good? I replied with a heavy tone, “Can a sense of responsibility be eaten? You keep reminding me about it every day. Isn’t it annoying?”
Micai didn’t expect my reaction to be so intense. She was taken aback, then frowned and nodded to me, saying, “Fine, then pay back the money you owe me. Then I won’t need to be responsible for you anymore.”
I was speechless for a while, once again overwhelmed by the sorrow of having no money. After a long time, I spoke in a much lower voice, “You said that as long as I moved out, the money I borrowed from you didn’t need to be paid back urgently.”
“Who cares about that? Debts must be repaid, it’s only natural.” Micai continued to look coldly at me.
“After living under the same roof for several days, do you have to push me to such an extreme?” I said with my head down, not knowing what taste my heart was feeling.
Micai scoffed and said, “I didn’t push you to the extreme. You’ve been working for several years, right? Why don’t you have any savings at all?… You should understand, the one who pushes you to the extreme is yourself.”
Micai’s words mercilessly tore open the deepest wound in my heart, and in an instant, the feeling of inferiority and shame made me feel utterly humiliated.
In confusion, I saw the guitar I had placed upright in the corner. This guitar was specially made by Jianwei at a music shop for my birthday and given to me as a birthday gift. It was made of very high-quality materials, worth far more than ten thousand yuan.
Looking at this guitar, I once again felt the sorrow of things remaining while people have changed.
I stood up, took the guitar to Micai, and handed it to her, saying, “Take this guitar to settle the debt. You can sell it to someone who knows instruments, and it’s definitely worth more than ten thousand yuan.”
Without waiting for Micai to respond whether she agreed to settle the debt with the guitar, I had already dragged my luggage and couldn’t even bear to look back at this house for a second longer. I lowered my head and walked out.
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