At this moment, the phrase “Let’s start over” felt so difficult for me, because I was unwilling to rush into anything again. After experiencing some events, matters of love should return to rationality.
Therefore, I also chose not to message Mi Cai again. My immediate concern was to find some convincing arguments to make Father Ban and Mother understand my decision to run an inn in Xitang.
In reality, I didn’t have any particularly good arguments, because this time even Father Ban had aligned with Mother. Given Father Ban’s temper, how could I possibly convince him otherwise?
Perhaps, just like the last time I left Xuzhou, I would once again disappoint them with my persistence.
The night grew deeper, and finally, carrying many tangled and unresolved thoughts, I drifted into sleep.
…
The next morning, just after I had woken up, the landlord came to the inn again. As usual, I lit a cigarette for him.
He took a leisurely puff and asked me, “Have you prepared the rent money yet?”
I smiled and replied, “Well, there are still four days left, right?”
The landlord’s face darkened as he said sternly, “Let me make this clear—we’ve already stated the terms. If you can’t pay the rent within the deadline, don’t blame me for renting the place to someone else!”
“I understand.”
Only then did the landlord nod slightly before leaving the inn with his teacup.
Tongzi looked at me with confusion and asked, “Brother Yang, haven’t you sorted out the 70,000 yuan rent yet?”
“I have.”
“Then why didn’t you just give it to the landlord?”
“I have my own reasons.”
“Oh, right—this rent money was loaned to you by Leyao, wasn’t it?”
I nodded.
Tongzi grinned proudly and said, “See, I was useful after all! If I hadn’t told Leyao about it, you definitely wouldn’t have dared to ask her for the loan!”
“You really understand me well.”
“Hehe… Well, I’m your partner, of course I understand you.”
I gave Tongzi a sarcastic smile, and he quickly said to me, “Brother Yang, don’t look at me like that—it’s scary!”
“From now on, don’t tell Leyao anything about the inn anymore, understand?”
“She cares about you so much, why can’t I tell her?”
“Do you really think she’s doing well?”
Tongzi nodded firmly and said, “Of course! She’s a big star, she’s not short of money, and she has plenty of fans who love her!”
“All of that is just surface appearance. She’s not doing that well, and we shouldn’t burden her with our problems. Anyway, from now on, remember this—don’t tell her about anything like this again. Otherwise…” I said, patting the belt around my waist.
Tongzi quickly covered his head with both hands and exaggeratedly shouted, “There won’t be a next time! There won’t be a next time!”
I couldn’t help but smile helplessly. This guy still had the heart of a child. Sometimes lecturing him seriously might not work, and even scaring him like this might not necessarily be effective. Therefore, his words “There won’t be a next time” were probably unreliable.
I ignored Tongzi and lit a cigarette, sitting down on the sofa. I was still troubled by the thought of Father Ban and Mother coming to Xitang soon, which was why I hadn’t hurriedly paid the overdue rent to the landlord. I wasn’t sure whether I could withstand the pressure from my family responsibilities. If I couldn’t endure it, I would still have to return to Xuzhou with them.
…
Two more days passed. Finally, the Taobao shop we had opened began to show results. A pair of tourists had purchased our room through Taobao the previous day and checked in that evening. This was good news for us, like rain in a long drought, so my desire to stay in Xitang and properly manage the inn grew stronger.
As night approached, I moved a small stool and sat beneath a willow tree opposite the inn, playing the guitar again. A crowd gathered around once more, and after revealing my identity as the inn owner, some tourists were even willing to stay at our place.
An hour passed like this. During a rare break, I opened my thermos and drank some water, then lit a cigarette and enjoyed the gentle evening breeze. Perhaps this was the charm of staying in Xitang—it had already been commercialized, but you could still enjoy a unique sense of tranquility.
Just as I finished my cigarette, the smell of various fried snacks drifted from the alley’s end. Feeling hungry, I asked Tongzi to go buy me some snacks while I leaned against the willow tree and closed my eyes to conserve energy for the upcoming performance.
Suddenly, my nose twitched. Amid the smell of fried snacks, I detected a faint feminine fragrance. I opened my eyes and saw Mi Cai bending over to look at me, holding a willow leaf teasingly in her hand.
Startled, I blinked several times, confirming it wasn’t an illusion, and asked her, “Didn’t you say you’d be staying in the U.S. for two months? Why did you come back so suddenly?”
“Life always brings unexpected events that require changing original plans.”
I looked at Mi Cai, at a loss for words for a while.
Mi Cai, however, examined me carefully and then looked around, sighing, “The environment here is so nice, so why do you seem so pitiful?”
I looked around and finally smiled, saying, “The evening wind is bleak, and the man feels lonely!” I added, “And hungry too!”
“I haven’t had dinner yet either.”
I stood up and offered my stool to Mi Cai, saying, “You sit here for a while. You’ll have something to eat soon.”
No sooner had I finished speaking than Tongzi arrived with a bag of snacks, looking at Mi Cai in surprise and saying after a while, “Beautiful older sister, you’ve come to Xitang to visit Brother Yang again!”
Mi Cai nodded and smiled at him. I gestured for him to hurry and hand over the food.
Tongzi gave the bag to me, looked at Mi Cai, and winked at me before heading into the inn with his own dinner.
I sat beside Mi Cai and opened the bag, saying to her, “These are some famous and hygienic snacks from Xitang. Take whatever you like.”
Mi Cai happily picked up several skewers of snacks and started eating before me.
I asked her, “How did you get here?”
“By car.”
“Did you fix your old Q7 already?”
“It’s fixed, but I’ve given it to the company as a company car.”
“So what car are you driving now?”
Mi Cai pointed toward an empty space not far away, indicating that I should look.
Following her gesture, I saw a white Volkswagen CC parked there, worth about 300,000 yuan on the market.
I asked in confusion, “You’re driving a CC?”
Mi Cai nodded and said, “Yes, I asked CC about it. She said she had driven this model for years and found it quite satisfying in all aspects, so I bought one too.”
I knew CC really liked this car model, which was why we always called her CC. However, Mi Cai driving a car of this class was somewhat inconsistent with her identity.
Mi Cai seemed to see through my thoughts and smiled, saying, “It’s fine as long as I like the car I’m driving. Besides, isn’t the point of living to enjoy freedom? Why must everything be confined within a rigid framework?”
This was once what I pursued, and hearing it from Mi Cai still gave me a sense of shock. However, I was unsure whether it was my own ideas that had influenced her.
In my silence, Mi Cai had already finished the snacks in her hand and reached out to me again. I handed the bag back to her, but she suddenly stopped and asked, “Zhao Yang, do you have any beer? Let’s have some beer.”
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