After ending the call with CC, I didn’t even have time for breakfast before driving to Jian Wei’s advertising company. Since the inn in Suzhou was about to open, some promotional materials had already been produced, and I needed to inspect their quality. If everything was satisfactory, they could be put into use immediately.
At Jian Wei’s company, I was received by a staff member from the production department. Jian Wei herself never dealt with small production orders, so there was a saying circulating in the industry: her advertising company offered first-rate designs, second-rate planning, and third-rate production—something directly related to her lack of emphasis on production quality.
After inspecting the promotional materials, I was preparing to leave when, unexpectedly, Jian Wei showed up in the production department and met with me. She asked, “Are you satisfied with the production quality of these promotional materials this time?”
“It’s okay. I think your company’s production standards really need improvement. Many details are too roughly made. We won’t be using your company for the inn’s signboard anymore!”
Jian Wei took the promotional materials from my hand, looked at them, immediately summoned the head of the production department, and scolded him harshly. She then ordered him to redo the materials and apologized to me, saying, “Sorry, the production quality was indeed too poor, and I bear some responsibility. We will definitely improve our production standards in the future. I hope you can forgive us…”
“I’m just a small client; you don’t have to take it so seriously!”
“Customers are not divided by size. We will humbly accept any suggestions they make.”
I smiled and said, “Alright then, I’ll leave these promotional materials in your capable hands, Jian. They must be completed before next week.”
Jian Wei nodded solemnly and then invited me to her office, saying a client had given her a box of good tea to brew for me to taste.
…
In Jian Wei’s office, she carefully brewed a cup of hot tea for me, and we exchanged views on the project positioning of the “Artistic Path.”
As I was almost finishing my cup of tea, she suddenly changed the topic and asked, “Zhao Yang, today Le Yao issued a statement announcing her retirement from the entertainment industry. The man mentioned in the statement is you, right?”
I hesitated for a moment before replying, “Probably.”
“Then is it true that she was once pregnant with your child?”
I looked up at Jian Wei, who was staring at me sharply, but I calmly replied, “Whether she was pregnant with my child, I’m not sure, but we did sleep together!”
Jian Wei immediately frowned, her expression full of anger. She grabbed the teacup from the table and threw it at me. Taken by surprise, I was hit directly in the chest. I felt a dull pain and had difficulty breathing…
“Zhao Yang, you really betrayed me and got involved with another woman!”
I was somewhat startled, unsure what she meant…
Jian Wei’s voice became choked up: “Do you know what kind of life I had in America? Without any income, I worked three part-time jobs every day, living on the edge of breakdown, while you were back home enjoying yourself, betraying me and getting involved with another woman. Now you can sit here so calmly and tell me all this—do you even have a conscience?”
The pain in my chest gradually eased, and I finally said to Jian Wei, “When I met Le Yao, we had already broken up for nearly half a year. Where are you getting this from?”
“Liar…”
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask CC or Luo Ben. Besides, we’ve been broken up for so long, what’s the point of bringing it up now?”
Jian Wei slowly calmed down, just looking at me without any further aggressive actions. I sensed something was off and asked, “Did you hear some rumors about me while you were in America?”
“Sorry, my behavior was a bit excessive just now…”
“You should answer my question!”
“No… You’re thinking too much. We broke up peacefully back then, right?”
After Jian Wei firmly denied it, I didn’t press further, because my current life was already complicated and chaotic enough—I couldn’t afford any more turmoil.
…
After leaving Jian Wei’s company, I went to the “Empty City” music restaurant, had lunch, and stayed there to handle the backlog of work I had recently.
As evening approached, Luo Ben arrived with his band to practice singing. After about an hour, he brought two mugs of draft beer, handing one to me and saying, “Have a drink with your buddy.”
“I’m not drinking. I have something important to do later.”
“What important thing could you possibly have!”
“To meet Mi Cai.”
Luo Ben sighed, “That’s not just important—it’s a huge deal!”
“Please stop teasing me, okay?”
“I’m not teasing you. Now, besides Mi Cai, do you even have room for anyone else in your eyes?”
I replied angrily, “I don’t feel like listening to your nonsense right now!”
“That’s exactly why I say you only have Mi Cai in your eyes. Did I get that wrong? Look at you now, so important that you don’t even have the mood to chat with your brother anymore!”
“I’m not going to argue with you. We’re not seeing eye to eye today!”
Luo Ben angrily tapped his fingers on the table and said, “If you keep ignoring Le Yao like this, we’ll never see eye to eye for the rest of our lives!”
When Luo Ben mentioned Le Yao’s name again, I felt a sudden pain in my heart. I wanted to figure out where it came from, so I fell into a brief silence…
“Zhao Yang, if you still consider me your brother, I’ll dare to ask you one question: If Le Yao was really pregnant with your child back then, could you really act as if nothing had ever happened, just like now?”
“What you’re saying is an ‘if.’ I can’t give you an answer based on an ‘if.'”
Luo Ben nodded and said, “Fine, fine… This is your sense of responsibility! Today, you’ve really opened my eyes…”
I had no words to reply, and my heart grew even more troubled. It felt like everything I did now was wrong. I really hated this state and even missed those decadent days when at least I could act recklessly. Now, I was completely lost in the anxiety and uncertainty of life.
In silence, I put the documents on the table into my briefcase, preparing to leave. It was time to find Mi Cai. No matter what, tonight I had to confront her and demand an explanation. I wanted to ask her why, when everyone thought I only had eyes for her, she still doubted my sincerity toward her.
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