Mi Cai and Mi Zhongde sat on opposite sides of a rosewood Go board, each holding black and white stones respectively, while I stood beside them in a composed manner, silently watching.
Although I didn’t understand the game of Go, Mi Cai made each move almost without hesitation, her expression remaining calm throughout. In contrast, Mi Zhongde constantly furrowed his brow in deep thought. It seemed he was at a disadvantage. When it came to intelligence, few could surpass Mi Cai, even someone as cunning and politically savvy as Mi Zhongde.
Half an hour later, Mi Zhongde conceded defeat with a bitter smile and said, “Xiaocai, you’ve always been exceptionally smart. I truly admire you.”
“It was just luck. Perhaps Uncle wasn’t fully focused on the game,” Mi Cai replied.
Mi Zhongde gestured for the maid to bring a pot of hot tea, then motioned for me to sit down. After pouring three cups of tea and taking a sip himself, he said to Mi Cai, “Actually, I wanted to talk with you about Zhuomei.”
Mi Cai’s previously calm expression finally changed slightly. After a pause, she replied, “Then let’s talk.”
Putting down his cup, Mi Zhongde appeared lost in thought. After a long silence, he spoke softly, “Zhuomei was your father’s life work, and mine too. At age 28, I quit my state job and followed your father into the business world. We worked day and night for many years to build what Zhuomei is today…”
Mi Cai seemed to recall her late father, Mi Zhongxin, and replied emotionally, “I know all this already.”
“In recent years, I’ve made strategic mistakes that led Zhuomei astray. I need to apologize to you for that.”
“No one can always make the right decisions. Let the past stay in the past. Actually, I should thank you for working so hard for Zhuomei all these years.”
Sighing deeply, Mi Zhongde looked at Mi Cai and said, “I guess I’ve grown old… Recently, I’ve felt increasingly overwhelmed by business matters. Perhaps it’s time for me to let go of Zhuomei.”
Mi Cai’s face showed a hint of surprise as she asked, “Uncle, what exactly do you mean?”
“I want to hand Zhuomei over to you and Lanlan to manage. Once I’ve helped you both settle down in life, I can finally enjoy some peace and quiet. I plan to travel the world with your aunt and make up for the time I missed while focusing on work.”
“…”
Mi Cai let out a sigh and exchanged glances with me. Neither of us had expected Mi Zhongde to make such a seemingly enlightened decision. However, we both remained skeptical—was this enlightenment genuine?
Under our doubtful gazes, Mi Zhongde continued, “Next week, I plan to hold a shareholders’ meeting. I will transfer my shares to Lanlan, step down as chairman, and propose that you take over.”
At this point, I was starting to believe Mi Zhongde. If he truly handed over his shares to Mi Lan and resigned as chairman, it would essentially mean returning Zhuomei to Mi Cai. While he was in power, he had merely competed with Mi Cai on equal footing. Once he stepped down, could he realistically expect to manipulate Mi Lan from behind the scenes and stage a comeback? That was clearly unrealistic. Given Mi Cai’s capabilities, she would likely gain full control of Zhuomei soon enough.
…
The conversation ended in a surprisingly dramatic way. Throughout the entire discussion, Mi Zhongde never even mentioned the idea of joining forces with Mi Cai to counter Wei Ran’s investment proposal. He simply expressed his wish to step back from Zhuomei, without further elaboration or objection to my relationship with Mi Cai.
On the way back to Suzhou, Mi Cai remained unusually quiet. Her silence suggested she was deep in thought. After a while, she finally asked me, “Zhaoyang, what do you think about Uncle wanting to step down from Zhuomei?”
“He might have had an awakening.”
“I think it’s probably not that simple.”
“Don’t overthink it. In a week, we’ll see if he really resigns as chairman. Then everything will be clear… I don’t think he can cause any more trouble after transferring his shares to Mi Lan.”
Mi Cai finally nodded and said, “Lanlan really doesn’t have much scheming in her heart.”
“Let’s just wait and see. At the very least, I don’t think Mi Zhongde stepping down as chairman is a bad thing.”
“Yeah.”
…
Back at the old house in Suzhou, we rarely had the mood to sit on the couch after washing up and watch TV together. While flipping channels, we accidentally saw entertainment news about Leyao. Today, Leyao finally issued an official statement condemning the second-rate male actor for slandering her with false accusations, and challenged him to reveal which director in the entertainment industry she had supposedly dated after rejecting him years ago.
Actually, Leyao was still too kind. At this point, she should have exposed the truth about that male actor having once dated a female producer, and publicly named the producer. Only with such a strong stance could she gain more credibility and win back public support. But in the end, she didn’t do that.
Late into the night, I turned off the TV, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and finally asked Mi Cai, “Should we really start considering marriage now? Half of this year is already gone. Next year, we’ll both be 28.”
“What do you think would be a good time to bring up marriage?”
“If Mi Zhongde is sincere this time, I think once he steps down as chairman of Zhuomei, even if we don’t bring it up ourselves, he’ll arrange your wedding.”
Mi Cai smiled and said, “Then it won’t be long. According to what Uncle said, the shareholders’ meeting will be held next week.”
“Alright then, let’s patiently wait for your uncle to bring it up. I remember him saying today that he won’t be able to enjoy peace until your marriage is settled.”
Mi Cai nodded. This was not only a wait, but also a test… Unfortunately, it seemed that no matter how hard we tried, our marriage was always tied to Zhuomei.
…
Back in my room, I still had the habit of lighting a cigarette before bed. Thinking about the image of me marrying Mi Cai felt like watching a movie. Although I longed for it deeply, I always felt unable to step into that scene. In this lingering thought, I felt somewhat lost and told myself that it was just my imagination. In reality, we were really about to get married soon.
I thought again of Leyao, who was far away in Beijing. Compared to my current hopes for the future, how was she doing now?
I wanted to send her a message on WeChat like I used to, but suddenly remembered that I had been on her blocked list for several days already. I comforted myself: all this pain came from fragile sensitivity. Leyao, being such a carefree woman, probably wasn’t overly sensitive, so the pain that plagued her would soon pass.
But why hadn’t CC given me any news about coming back yet? A whole day had passed, and soon Roben would leave Beijing. Without anyone to accompany her, would Leyao suddenly succumb to that fragile sensitivity and suffer even more?
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