I put my phone back on the table and said to Luo Ben, who was still pondering where Leyao might have gone, “Call Wei Manwen now and have her contact the villagers in that mountain village to see if Leyao has gone there.”
“That seems unlikely. Why would she go there?”
“Just give her a call first. I’m not certain either, but it’s quite possible. Leyao mentioned that mountain village to me more than once before.”
With lingering doubts, Luo Ben took out his phone and dialed Wei Manwen. Then the two of us lit up cigarettes and waited for her response. A while later, Luo Ben turned to me and asked, “Actually, what my agent questioned earlier is also what I’m wondering. The Leyao I know is definitely not a woman with weak psychological endurance. Why did she suddenly break down and neglect her career this time?”
Instinctively, I took a deep drag from my cigarette, unsure how to explain this to Luo Ben.
“Zhaoyang, we’re brothers who’d take a bullet for each other. Is there anything you can’t tell me?”
After a long pause, I finally told Luo Ben, “We broke up two days ago… To be honest, I felt helpless too. But sometimes, certain things just can’t be balanced perfectly. It’s really impossible to have it both ways.”
Although I hadn’t spoken plainly, Luo Ben nodded in understanding and said, “The Big Shot must’ve told you everything she’d kept bottled up for years, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Sigh… Thinking about it, the Big Shot isn’t that bad after all. Being able to live with her is something many men would dream of. The key point is, you’d be free and easy too!”
I just looked at him without responding.
Sensing my mood, Luo Ben added, “Love is hard to explain. Of course, I’m not saying anything bad about Mi Cai. As long as you two genuinely care for each other, any path will eventually be navigable, no matter how difficult it might seem!”
I finally nodded. After another silence, I said, “There’s not much point in discussing our relationship now. Our priority is to find Leyao quickly and resolve this malicious hype incident, or else it will definitely become a stain on her future acting career!”
As I spoke, Wei Manwen’s call finally came through. Luo Ben answered instantly and looked at me in disbelief. After a while, he said, “The Big Shot is indeed in that mountain village! You really know her well.”
It’s not that I know her well, but that place really makes it easy to forget your worries. Otherwise, why would Wei Manwen have stayed there for so long back then!
Luo Ben nodded in agreement and said, “Then shall we go find her now?”
“Yeah, let’s head to the airport now. I remember there’s a flight to Guilin at 3 o’clock. If we leave now, we can see her tomorrow morning.”
“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!”
…
After several hours on the flight, we finally arrived in Guilin as night began to fall. We then rented a car and headed to the county where the mountain village was located. By the time we checked into a hotel and finished dinner, it was already midnight.
In the single room of the hotel, I lay on the bed, lit a cigarette, and tried to relieve the physical and mental fatigue of the day. As I did so, I couldn’t help but think deeply. At that moment, I was also puzzled myself: why hadn’t I ever fallen in love with Leyao all these years, while Mi Cai had only crossed my life once, and I had fallen deeply in love with her? Was it really because she had more feminine charm than Leyao?
I thought that wasn’t necessarily the case. I just personally preferred women like Mi Cai. Even if it meant going through a life full of thorns, I had never considered giving up. I truly longed for this love, which had come by chance, to have a happy ending. I also hoped that all the women who had either wronged me or been wronged by me could find their own happy endings, turning our fates, so intricately intertwined, into a comedy without harm.
Extinguishing the cigarette butt in my hand, I picked up my phone from the dresser, intending to inform Mi Cai about my itinerary for the day. I believed she would want to know. After all, we were both carefully nurturing this relationship, and communication was the best way to prevent misunderstandings.
Sure enough, Mi Cai answered the call the moment it connected, asking me, “How is everything going?”
“Leyao cut off all contact with the outside world and went alone to a small mountainous area in Guizhou. Luo Ben and I have already checked into a small county nearby. We should be able to meet her tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, I’ve been following this incident too. At this moment, she needs to come forward personally to respond. When you see her, try to persuade her well. After all, it hasn’t been easy for her to reach this point in the entertainment industry. She should cherish it.”
“I will.”
After a brief silence, Mi Cai spoke softly to me, “Rest early. You must get up early tomorrow.”
“You too.”
Mi Cai acknowledged and was about to end the call when I called her back, asking, “How have you been lately?”
“Very peaceful. Right now, Uncle and Weiran are both watching and waiting. It should drag on for a while longer.”
I wanted to talk to her again about the possibility of cooperating with Mi Zhongde, but ultimately, I didn’t say it out loud. I thought she would rather let things drag on and place her hopes on Weiran than seek a breakthrough from Mi Zhongde at this point… At this moment, I could understand her even more. Some emotional bonds formed over long periods of time are really not easy to sever. Because deliberately erasing a memory is a painful thing, and I have had a deep understanding of this recently.
…
Early the next morning, I and Luo Ben headed from the county town to that small mountain village. Since we had contacted them beforehand, it was again the same villager who had driven a donkey cart back then who came to pick us up. On the way, I asked him about Leyao. He confirmed that Leyao was indeed in the mountain village and happily told us that this time, Leyao had brought many daily learning supplies for the children. But I couldn’t feel happy. I couldn’t help asking myself, could this place really provide a haven for our weary hearts, tired of complicated urban lives?
At that moment, I couldn’t give myself an answer. But if time allowed, I really longed to live here for a while, with the earth as my bed and the sky as my quilt.
Amidst my complicated thoughts, we finally entered the small mountain village with the local villager. At the foot of the mountain, we saw Leyao playing with a group of children. She seemed completely unaffected by the malicious hype. She was smiling even more brightly than the children, making me reluctant to disturb her.
But the insensitive Luo Ben stood at the foot of the mountain and shouted loudly at her, “Big Shot… Come here, look this way! Luo Ben and Zhaoyang came to find you!”
Hearing his shout, Leyao turned her head and looked back, and our gazes met. My heart was filled with the awkwardness of unexpectedly meeting again after thinking we might never meet again. As for her feelings at that moment, I had no idea! I could only hope she wouldn’t resent my sudden arrival…
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