When Luo Ben spoke about Leyao being unable to bear seeing me in hardship, a complex emotion welled up inside me. I remained silent for a long time, eventually walking to the bar to refill my cup with another coffee called “West of the Old Town.” But coffee, after all, is not liquor, and it couldn’t help me release the pent-up emotions inside me.
Luo Ben then said to me, “Let’s not contact her today. Let her calm down first. I’ll arrange a meeting with her tomorrow night… I just hope she hasn’t returned to Beijing yet. If she really has, then the micro-film project might really be in jeopardy!”
I nodded anxiously and replied, “I understand.”
Luo Ben checked the time and said, “It’s getting late. I need to go back and accompany Manwen…” Just as he was leaving, he suddenly remembered something and said to me, “Oh, by the way, Manwen and I have already decided. We’re getting married on New Year’s Day this year—just a few days after Leyao and Cao Jinfei’s wedding.”
I was taken aback. I knew Luo Ben and Wei Manwen would eventually marry, but I hadn’t expected their wedding date to clash with Li Xiaoyun’s. I had already promised Li Xiaoyun that I would definitely attend her wedding, meaning I would miss Luo Ben and Wei Manwen’s ceremony.
Luo Ben patted my shoulder and said, “You’re definitely my best man. You’ll make time, right? It’s right around the holiday, and it’s an auspicious day!”
It turned out that New Year’s Day was considered an auspicious day. That explained why Luo Ben, Wei Manwen, and Li Xiaoyun all chose the same day for their weddings. But I was the one caught in the middle. Years ago, I had made a promise with Luo Ben that no matter how near or far apart we were, I would always attend each other’s wedding. Yet I couldn’t break my promise to Li Xiaoyun either. After a pause, I replied to Luo Ben, “I’m afraid I’ll be busy that day. There’s another wedding waiting for me in Xuzhou!”
“You won’t make it even if you take a rocket! Suzhou to Xuzhou is over 500 kilometers away!”
“But I still have to try…”
“Who is so important that you absolutely must go?”
I didn’t hide it and answered, “Li Xiaoyun.”
Luo Ben seemed to remember her and asked, “Is that the girl you used to date in Xuzhou?”
“Yeah, she’s getting married.”
“All the good girls around you are rushing to get married. Anyone who hasn’t tied the knot by now must be unreliable.”
“You’re talking about CC?”
Luo Ben looked at me expressionlessly for a moment before replying, “Mi Cai…”
…
After Luo Ben left, I stayed in “West of the Old Town” for quite a while, until Xia Fanye put down his brush and the coffee in my cup had long gone cold. I began to think about my recent life, which seemed to lack warmth. Or maybe it wasn’t that my life lacked warmth, but that my friends were living so vibrantly—getting married one after another.
Finally, Xia Fanye stopped painting. He wiped the paint off his hands with a towel, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and offered me one. I glanced at the night outside the window, realizing I no longer had the time to chat with him. I lit the cigarette and said goodbye. As I was leaving, I caught a glimpse of his unfinished painting. I thought his mood must have improved a lot, because for the first time, his painting showed sunlight covering the ground. The autumn plane trees shimmered brightly, and the light filtering through the gaps made the woman beneath them seem filled with joy, as if she were no longer confined to the canvas.
Back at my place, I washed up briefly and lay down on the bed. I couldn’t remember how many dry, cold nights I had experienced in my life, nor could I recall how many secrets—my own and others’—I had thought about during such nights. Perhaps the only thing I could clearly remember was the smell of tobacco that accompanied my wandering thoughts, and treating loneliness as a kind of enjoyment, without imagining how far away tomorrow might be.
Eventually, I turned off all the lights in the room, leaving only the glowing tip of my cigarette flickering in the darkness, as if trying to tell me that this world must have an end. I had heard that even the sun would eventually die out in five billion years. Human willpower seemed so insignificant in the face of such natural laws. My thoughts drifted into an irreversible vastness, gradually forgetting my worries and finally feeling some rare drowsiness that night.
However, the sound of a text message notification unexpectedly broke the peace of the night. I picked up my phone and saw it was a message from Jian Wei. She asked, “Fangyuan told me you went to meet Leyao today to sign the contract. Did you manage to get it signed?”
I felt troubled and rubbed my tired eyes before replying, “No…”
Concerned about the importance of the matter, Jian Wei immediately called me. I reluctantly answered, and her anxious voice asked again, “What happened? Why didn’t she sign?”
I couldn’t directly tell Jian Wei that Leyao had decided to withdraw from the micro-film project. I still believed there was a chance to change things and vaguely replied, “She just had some issues with the contract terms… I can handle it!”
“Is she unhappy with the offered salary? But 3 million yuan is really the highest offer our company can make!”
“Don’t ask too much. I’ll talk to her again tomorrow and let you know the result.”
After a moment of silence, Jian Wei replied, “Alright. If it’s really about the salary, we can increase it a bit more. After all, the press conference has already been held. There’s no turning back now. Don’t let the company’s reputation suffer any damage—we can’t afford it!”
I simply said “Hmm” and then wished Jian Wei a good night before hanging up. My previously calmer mood became agitated again. I could only place my hope on Luo Ben. I knew that if I went to talk to Leyao myself, it would only make things worse.
Fortunately, in the midst of my frustration, Luo Ben sent me a message, letting me know that Leyao had not returned to Beijing and asking me to prepare my guitar and wait for him tomorrow evening in a newly built underground passage in the old district.
I had no idea what he was planning, but at this moment, I could only follow his suggestion and wait for tomorrow to see if things would take a turn for the better. If Leyao had really made up her mind to withdraw from the micro-film project, I truly wouldn’t know how to handle the aftermath!
…
The night grew deeper. Eventually, I realized I couldn’t fall asleep. I couldn’t find any way to entertain myself, so I simply stared at the ceiling in the dim light coming from outside, continuously thinking about my friends who were all getting married one after another. I felt not only a little envy but also admiration for their luck—doing the right thing at the right time. As for me, I still hadn’t figured out who the woman was in the city I longed for, although for a long time I firmly believed it was Mi Cai!!
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