I didn’t let go of Mi Cai until her tears finally stopped. I wiped the tears from her face with my hand and whispered to her, “Go to sleep. I’ll sit here with you and wait until you fall asleep.”
Mi Cai nodded. I adjusted her pillow and helped her lie down, gently stroking her hair to signal her to rest. Obediently, she closed her eyes but then said to me, “Zhaoyang, can you sing for me?”
“What do you want to hear?”
“Wang Fei’s ‘Restraint.'”
I smiled. “This song is about a reserved woman, not a reserved man. Maybe you should sing it to me instead.”
“The woman in the song is no longer reserved.”
I recalled the lyrics. Indeed, the song was about a reserved woman who, for the man she deeply loved, had become unrestrained—not merely out of fear of loneliness, but also because of her unwavering heart.
Finally, I suggested to Mi Cai, “How about we sing it together, taking turns with each verse?”
Mi Cai nodded and began singing first: “I have never resisted your charm, although you have never been captivated by me. I always look at you with a smile, and my affection easily spills into my eyes. I once imagined that in this lonely night, you finally cared about being in my room. You closed your eyes and kissed me, holding me tightly without saying a word. I love you, I love you completely. For the first time in my life, I gave up my restraint, letting myself imagine everything about us. You love me, you love me completely. For the first time in my life, I gave up my restraint, believing that I could truly love you deeply…”
When it was my turn to sing, I changed all the “I” in the lyrics to “you” and all the “you” to “I,” singing it out quite comfortably.
Looking at me, Mi Cai said with some resentment, “How could you be so mean? You changed the lyrics completely!”
“But the meaning is still the same! I sang it this way so you could still be the main character in this song!”
“You’re really going to great lengths!”
I nodded with a smile.
Mi Cai’s tone turned disappointed. “I bet you’re mocking me for not being reserved enough, always trying every means to find you, while you don’t even want to see me.”
“How could that be! Actually, it’s not you I’m afraid to see, but the distance between us. This distance makes people vulnerable.”
“Zhaoyang, I will wait for you, until we are no longer bound by this distance… You must work hard!”
I nodded, then looked out the window. The night was pitch black, but far away, there seemed to be a guiding star shining.
…
After leaving Mi Cai’s room, I checked the day’s accounts and then worked on the promotional strategy for the “Perfect Travel Plan” on the computer. When I came back to my senses, it was already one o’clock in the morning.
I rubbed my temples to relieve the fatigue, but this was only physical. My heart, filled with longing, was not tired at all.
Lighting a cigarette, I took a puff and then exhaled heavily. I knew one day I would have to face this distance between Mi Cai and me, and there were only three possible outcomes.
First, the distance between us would still exist, and the pain it caused would tear at our fragile love day after day, year after year. Second, she would become destitute materially, and the distance would finally disappear, but could she adapt to such a life of frugality after living in luxury? Third, after working hard, I would finally be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with her in the business world.
I definitely wanted to choose the third outcome, because it seemed the best and most beneficial to happiness.
Perhaps there was also a fourth outcome: we would become strangers, only remembering each other in the quiet of night, while the person sleeping beside us would no longer be the other.
…
The next day, I woke up a bit late. As I opened the door, I saw Mi Cai wearing our inn’s uniform, carrying two bottles of hot water toward a guest’s room.
She politely knocked on the door and then delivered the two bottles of water into the room.
After she came out, I stopped her and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Delivering hot water to the guests.”
“What I mean is, why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”
“I went to bed very early last night… Don’t block me anymore. There’s still one room left to clean!”
“You used to like running in the mornings. Let me clean the room. You should go running now.”
But Mi Cai urged me instead, “You should hurry up and wash up. The breakfast I bought for you is almost cold.” Without giving me a chance to stop her, she grabbed a cleaning cart from the corner and pushed it toward another guest room.
I stood there for a moment, watching her back…
Thinking about it, the owner of “Jiangnan Xiaozhu” couldn’t have been much more like her than she was now.
…
After washing up, I ate the breakfast Mi Cai had bought for me while chatting with Tongzi, who was always at the front desk welcoming guests.
As usual, Tongzi spoke with envy, “Brother Yang, you really found us a female owner! She’s the most beautiful owner in all of Xitang, no, in all the scenic areas across the country!”
“She won’t stay here for long.”
“Then is she really the owner of the inn?”
I countered, “What do you think?”
“Of course. Otherwise, why would she clean rooms and deliver hot water to guests!”
I didn’t say anything more but cherished these days all the more, because they were too brief—so brief that I couldn’t even get used to them.
Finally finishing cleaning the room, Mi Cai sat down beside me with a sigh of relief.
I picked up a pan-fried bun and brought it to her mouth: “Try it. It’s pretty good.”
Mi Cai took a small bite, and then I handed her a cup of soybean milk.
Tongzi beside us exclaimed, “You two, can you at least consider my feelings when you’re showing off your affection? I’m all alone here!”
Mi Cai and I exchanged smiles but still ignored his feelings, sharing a cup of soybean milk between us, one sip each, leaving him looking utterly devastated.
We hadn’t even finished breakfast when suddenly a roar of sports car engines came from outside. Then we saw a Ferrari 458 and an Audi R8.
The sudden appearance of these two cars immediately made me feel annoyed because I knew too well who the owners were.
Sure enough, Weiran and Mi Lan got out of the two cars one after another.
Mi Cai looked at me, and I tried my best to stay calm, signaling to her that I was fine.
Weiran and Mi Lan walked into the inn side by side. Mi Lan spoke first, “Sis, why didn’t you call me when you came back from America? If it weren’t for someone from America telling me, I wouldn’t have known you were back!”
Mi Cai simply replied, “I’m only staying for a few days.”
Weiran looked at me and picked up the conversation, addressing Mi Cai, “Back to see him?”
Mi Cai, seemingly very mindful of my feelings, stood up and said to the two of them, “Let’s find a place to have something to drink and talk.”
Mi Lan and Weiran nodded simultaneously and were about to leave when Mi Lan, full of disdain, asked me, “Is this inn yours?”
“It is.”
“What a great achievement!”
Mi Cai frowned and scolded, “Mi Lan, that’s enough!”
Mi Lan was not the least bit afraid and confronted Mi Cai head-on, saying, “I just don’t like him. What’s so good about this trash?”
Once again on the verge of anger, I still tried my best to control myself, smiling slightly as I said, “I also think you’re a very despicable woman, but I won’t put up a sign at the door saying ‘Mi Lan and dogs are not allowed in,’ so you have the opportunity to act so recklessly toward me now.”
Mi Lan was immediately about to explode, but Mi Cai held her back, signaling Weiran to help. Weiran also grabbed her from the other side.
Mi Lan broke free from Mi Cai and Weiran, filled with resentment, pointing at me and saying, “I hope you won’t regret what you said today.” Then she turned and walked out of the inn.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage