I finally found a box of instant noodles in the kitchen cabinet and carried it to the living room, where Mi Cai had already plugged in the electric kettle to boil water. Her cooperative behavior made me suspect that she probably hadn’t had dinner either.
I asked, “Do you want to eat some instant noodles?”
She nodded.
So I tore open two cups of instant noodles and asked her again, “Forget about just soaking them in hot water. Let’s cook them in a pot. Do we have any eggs left at home?”
“I’ll go check…”
While Mi Cai went to look for eggs, I poured water into the rice cooker. When the water was nearly boiling, Mi Cai finally found one egg in the fridge and came to me asking, “Is this enough?”
I doubted whether this egg was still edible. I took it from her hand, shook it near my ear, and felt that the yolk hadn’t dispersed. Then I said, “For two people, this one egg definitely isn’t enough.”
“Then I’ll go buy some from the convenience store downstairs.”
“It’s raining heavily outside. Don’t go. Anyway, I don’t really like eating eggs.”
“Okay.”
…
Instant noodles are indeed convenient. In just a short while, they were cooked. I served a bowl to Mi Cai and one to myself. We were too lazy to sit at the table and just sat on the sofa and began eating.
She asked me, “Zhaoyang, do you really like eating instant noodles?”
“Before you bought this house, I often did just like this—sitting on the sofa eating instant noodles.”
Mi Cai nodded. Then she picked out the yolk from her bowl and gave it to me, saying, “I like the egg white. You can have the yolk.”
I looked at her and suddenly felt that the distance between us had become closer. In fact, even when we were dating, we had never sat together eating instant noodles or shared a single egg like this.
I asked her again, “Then, do you like eating instant noodles?”
“I rarely eat them. By the way, what flavor is this? It’s pretty good!”
“It’s pickled cabbage in an old-style jar—so sour and refreshing!”
Mi Cai smiled and then bent her head again, eating at the same pace as me. Soon, we were both sweating from the sour and spicy taste, but we still drank all the soup clean.
After finishing the meal, she patted her chest while I patted my stomach. At the same time, we put down our bowls. Looking at me, she burst into laughter: “Zhaoyang, there’s oil all around your mouth…”
I looked at her and handed her a tissue, replying, “As if you didn’t eat anything yourself.”
Mi Cai took the tissue from me but didn’t hurry to wipe the oil from her mouth. Instead, she took out her makeup mirror and looked at herself. Watching her trying hard not to laugh, I felt a bit dazed again. However, the sound of rain outside became even clearer. On such a rainy night, my restless heart had calmed down a lot recently. Then I felt a bit nostalgic, but I didn’t know whether I was missing the person beside me or the weather itself.
Mi Cai took the bowls into the kitchen. As usual, I lit a cigarette after dinner and leaned back on the sofa, enjoying it leisurely. In fact, I didn’t need a complicated life. It was fine just being like this now.
After finishing the cigarette, Mi Cai had already washed the dishes. I put out the cigarette in the ashtray, put on my coat, and said to her, “It’s getting late. I’ll go back now.”
“I’ll walk down with you.”
I nodded and helped her carry the bag containing the guitar and racing gear. Although I was curious in my heart about how she would deal with these two items, I ultimately didn’t ask. Instead, I walked behind her and together we stepped into the rainy outdoors. She held an umbrella for me, and I put the bag into the trunk of her car. Repeating yesterday’s words, I said to her, “Drive slowly on your way home.”
“You too…”
“Yeah… then I’ll leave first.”
After turning around, Mi Cai didn’t immediately get into her car. Her figure was reflected in my car window, but not very clearly, because the rain was also flowing down the window…
I stood beside the car without immediately opening the door. I was struggling, wanting very much to turn around and ask her whether she still loved me. If not, why had she taken away those things I had once given her? Why did she leave me with this memory of eating instant noodles on this rainy night?
And if she still loved me, could she give up that marriage and return to my side? Could we repair that broken path and continue walking on it together?
In the rain, she said to me from behind, “Zhaoyang, quickly get into the car. It’s raining so hard!”
Suddenly I calmed down. Even if I got an answer now, what difference would it make? After all the repeated torment, I myself no longer had the confidence to face that fragile love that always needed careful nurturing. Finally, I nodded to her, swallowing back all the questions I wanted to ask. I opened the car door, got in, and without any hesitation, started the car and left the community before her. From then on, I no longer believed there would be another chance to come back here because all those things hidden under the bed had already been discovered by her!
…
The next day, after two consecutive days of rain, the sky finally cleared. This morning, the sun was rarely visible, but the temperature was much lower compared to previous days. The autumn chill was getting stronger. This kind of autumn feeling always unconsciously reminded me of this time last year, which seemed to be a new beginning in my life.
A gust of wind swept by, and the yellowed leaves fell one after another from the trees lining the street. Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window in my office, I held a cup of strong tea, leaning forward slightly as I watched those tiny specks of fallen leaves in the vast city. It felt as though I were experiencing a certain melancholy of parting.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the office door. After I responded, the woman in red appeared unexpectedly in front of me. I asked in surprise, “How come you’re here?”
“There’s a development summit for the catering industry in Suzhou today. I received an invitation and thought I’d conveniently deliver the tourism agency contract from our group to you.”
I smiled and said, “Thank you for the trouble, General Manager An! It’s really considerate of you to come in person.”
The woman in red handed me the contract and said, “Check the details of this contract. If there’s no problem, we can sign it now. The first installment of payment will be transferred to your company’s account by our finance department within a month.”
I thanked her again and carefully read through the contract. About ten minutes later, I had gone through all the content and genuinely felt the sincerity of this contract. Standing up, I told her, “This contract from Tianyang Group will bring substantial help to our company. Thank you again, General Manager An!”
The woman in red smiled, then shook hands with me, and we both signed the contract on the spot, each keeping one copy.
…
After signing the contract, I accompanied the woman in red all the way downstairs to the company lobby. As she was about to leave, she suddenly smiled and asked me, “Zhaoyang, are you free tonight? Let me treat you to dinner.”
I was a bit puzzled but still responded with a smile, “You’ve done such a huge favor for our company. No matter how busy I am, I definitely should treat you to dinner!”
“Hehe, I’m not asking you to treat me to dinner because of that help… I just want to tell you a secret.”
“What secret?”
“Don’t you want to know who leaked those photos of your messy private life to the reporters?”
“Is that even a secret?… Everyone knows it was the young master of Blueprint Group. To be honest, I’ve already stopped caring about these things!” I paused, then added with some sadness and apology, “It’s just that Leyao had to leave the entertainment industry because of me.”
The woman in red opened her car door and said to me before getting in, “This matter, Weiran couldn’t have done alone. He was only one of the participants… Tonight, meet me at Seaview Café in the city center, and I’ll tell you who the other person is!”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage