Now the truth had come to light, so I no longer had any reason to hide things from Leyao. I told her, “The reason I wanted to transfer ownership of Kongcheng was merely to draw out the person who had left the ten thousand yuan there back then…”
Leyao looked surprised and asked, “And what was the result?”
“The plan worked. She showed up. Unfortunately, she turned out to be a woman, someone who couldn’t provide CC with romantic fantasies. It seems I’ve made another mistake!”
Unexpectedly, Leyao replied, “I don’t think you’ve made a mistake. Whether the truth is cruel or beautiful, it will bring CC back to reality. She can’t live forever in fantasy. In fact, it’s those persistent illusions that are the source of her pain. You know better than anyone that she’s the most stubborn woman in the world—always pretending to be strong when she’s not.”
“I don’t know whether you understand her better than I do, but I have no intention of telling her these things or destroying her final fantasy.”
“Pain comes from unrealistic fantasies. If you truly care about her, you need to stop clinging to your so-called kind thoughts.”
I remained silent, gazing into the deep night sky, at the moonlight that seemed to pierce through everything.
Leyao looked at me helplessly. After a long pause, she said, “I’m actually quite curious about what kind of woman she was—someone who made such a noble gesture. Perhaps she must have come from a privileged background, someone who could afford to be so generous?”
I shook my head and said, “From her words and behavior, she seemed quite ordinary, definitely not someone from your social class.”
After I denied her assumption, Leyao looked surprised and said, “Then she must be a woman of high spiritual cultivation, someone who has detached herself from worldly matters and only seeks deeper human values.”
I really couldn’t connect the impatient and even flippant woman I had met with Leyao’s description of a spiritually refined person, so I shook my head again.
Leyao was even more surprised and said, “Then tell me, what exactly was she like? Did she have any distinctive features?”
I recalled the woman’s appearance and mannerisms, and described her in detail to Leyao. As she listened, her brows gradually furrowed. “I can’t imagine such a woman doing something that would require such spiritual depth.”
“But that’s exactly what she was like.”
Leyao fell silent for a moment, then asked, “Don’t you think it’s strange? Aren’t you even a little suspicious of her?”
“She said everything she needed to say, and didn’t do anything she shouldn’t have. It’s hard for me to doubt her. Do you know, when I offered to return the money, she refused outright. And what she said matched the actual situation perfectly. If she wasn’t the one involved, there’s no way she would have known so many details.”
“It does seem flawless.”
I nodded, then opened the car door to say goodbye to Leyao, but she suddenly said, “Zhaoyang, have you ever considered that something that seems flawless might actually have other possibilities?”
I closed the car door again, looking at Leyao in confusion. “What other possibilities? Honestly, I really don’t want to believe that she was the one who left the money.”
“I don’t want to believe it either… That’s why I’m thinking of another possibility.” Leyao paused, then continued, “Maybe the one who left the ten thousand yuan was someone else entirely, and this woman was just acting on his behalf. He might not want to reveal himself to us or CC, which is why she knew so many details about Kongcheng and the money.”
At that moment, my tired brain finally started working again. The seemingly perfect scenario now had flaws. If things were as Leyao suggested, then the entire situation could be explained logically.
“I didn’t expect you to be so insightful. I was disappointed, but I honestly hadn’t thought of this possibility.”
Leyao looked at me with a complex expression, laced with a hint of sarcasm. “Some people always try to dim my light, pretending to be blind even with their eyes wide open. It’s no wonder they can’t see how perceptive I am… Of course, I don’t care. I don’t like dealing with pitiful people who refuse to see the truth. I’ve said enough—let’s leave it at that.”
Instinctively, I rubbed my eyes, but avoided meeting Leyao’s gaze. I stared ahead at the brightly lit city and asked, “Since you’re so perceptive, tell me—how can we prove that what she said wasn’t the truth?”
“That’s easy. First, invite her to meet. If she’s lying, there will definitely be inconsistencies.”
“That makes sense.”
Leyao rolled her eyes at me and said, “Now the key question is, can you still contact her?”
“She did leave me her contact information…” I said, but then my heart sank. I suddenly realized I hadn’t saved the note with her contact details. I quickly got into the car and told Leyao, “I forgot to bring the note with her number. I have to go back to Kongcheng right away—hope the staff hasn’t thrown it away yet!”
“You’re so careless. You’re the one lecturing me about being meticulous? CC is so unlucky to have such an unreliable friend. I’ll go with you!” Leyao said, opening the back door and getting into the car.
…
The car sped through the city, blurring the line between illusion and reality, and soon arrived at the street in front of Kongcheng. After parking, Leyao and I hurried into the restaurant, but what we saw was deeply disappointing. The table where I had sat with that woman was now occupied by other customers, and the note was gone.
With the last glimmer of hope, I approached the service desk and asked the receptionist on duty, “Did you see a small note on table number five when you cleaned up this morning?”
The receptionist looked at me in surprise, then shook her head. “I was the one who cleaned that table, but I don’t remember seeing anything.”
“Maybe the note was too small. By the way, has the garbage from today been taken out yet?”
“It was disposed of this afternoon… Mr. Zhao, was that note really that important?”
I was stunned and didn’t bother answering. I walked toward table five, crouched down, and started searching under the feet of the diners, still hoping the note had fallen somewhere unnoticed. At that moment, that small piece of paper was extremely important to me—it was the answer I owed CC.
As I searched, the receptionist called for other staff members to help look around every corner of the restaurant, but the result was disappointing. I found nothing, and the note had likely already been thrown away with the garbage.
Leyao said to me with resentment, “Because of your carelessness, such an important clue was lost… Do you really think she’ll come back?”
I sat dejectedly on the sofa, hoping silently that the woman might return to Kongcheng again, but deep down, I knew that was becoming increasingly unlikely.
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