I answered the call from Mi Cai, but instinctively took a couple of steps toward a nearby corner. Jiani, being perceptive, quickly guessed from my body language who was on the phone. She didn’t wait around any longer and, picking up her handbag, walked toward the riverside. As a result, along this long riverside path lit only by the night, it seemed as though I was left completely alone.
Mi Cai asked me over the phone, “Zhaoyang, do you have something urgent to tell me?”
“No, I just really wanted to call you at that moment.”
Mi Cai fell silent at the other end of the line. After a long pause, she spoke with an apologetic tone, “I know my absence has left you feeling very lonely. Love shouldn’t be like this for us—always apart more than together!”
Her words left me feeling down, but I tried to comfort her by saying, “Why bring this up? Let’s just consider this distance between us like an exam. I always believe that if we can pass this exam successfully, there won’t be many obstacles left for us in the future… I just really hope you can come back sooner.”
“I understand how unbearable loneliness can be when you’re alone… because I feel the same. When I’m not working, the thing I think about most is what you once said—that after I return from abroad, we’ll follow the music caravan together, walking along the artistic path and experiencing every beautiful moment in life.”
Imagining that scene, I couldn’t help but smile. Lost in that beautiful vision for quite a while, I finally said, “Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how dull my daily life has become lately. Only you can rescue me from this monotonous routine.”
“Then let’s work hard together.”
…
This conversation with Mi Cai wasn’t particularly long, but it helped me understand her feelings. In fact, she, just like me, was also longing for a life where we could be together. Our hearts had always been connected. Reflecting back on the loneliness each of us had endured separately, it really wasn’t as unshakable as we had imagined.
Night deepened again, and the cold wind kept blowing relentlessly. I zipped my jacket all the way up to my neck and finally prepared to leave this emotionally charged riverside path. But just then, my phone buzzed again busily in my pocket.
This time, it was Yiqing, the manager of Kongchengli (Empty City Inside), calling me. She brought me an exciting piece of news: it turned out that she had kept the note with that woman’s contact information. When I had come looking for it earlier, she happened to be away from the restaurant, causing me to mistakenly think it had been thrown away as garbage. Immediately, I told her to wait for me at Kongchengli and that I would come right away to pick up the note.
That night, I came to “Kongchengli Music Restaurant” for the second time, but my mood was completely different from the previous visit. As I received the note from Yiqing, hope flared up in my heart again. After Leyao’s thorough analysis, I had also come to believe that the person who had left the ten thousand yuan at the restaurant wasn’t actually that woman, but someone else entirely.
Without hesitation, I dialed the number on the note and called the woman. She answered quickly. Before she could ask what was going on, I immediately said, “Hello, I’m the manager of Kongchengli Music Restaurant—we met this morning. I’m calling you so late because I really hope to talk to you again. Would this be a convenient time for you now?”
“Little boss, it’s really late now!!”
“If it’s inconvenient for you to come over, I can drive to pick you up.”
The woman sounded surprised as she asked, “Why the sudden urgency?”
“I can’t explain everything clearly over the phone. I really hope you can come here in person.”
She didn’t make things difficult for me or ask me to pick her up. Instead, she seemed to maintain her interest in taking over the restaurant, saying, “Alright then, I’ll wait at the restaurant. I’ll take a taxi over now.”
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
“Between twenty minutes to half an hour.”
…
After finishing the call with the woman, I immediately dialed Leyao. I needed her help to uncover the truth. Upon hearing that I had contacted the woman, Leyao said she would come right away, seemingly even more eager than me to discover the truth behind that ten thousand yuan. Our differing attitudes toward this situation reflected the contrasting personalities between her and Mi Cai. While Mi Cai had advised me to give up on seeking the truth, Leyao showed a strong desire to explore it.
About twenty minutes later, the woman arrived at “Kongchengli Music Restaurant” before Leyao did. She still wore the same sunglasses from earlier in the day, placed her imitation LV handbag on the table, and sat down across from me with a slightly flirtatious smile, asking, “Little boss, did you change your mind and decide to sell the restaurant?”
Since Leyao hadn’t arrived yet, I wasn’t in a rush to probe her intentions and instead said evasively, “Why don’t we have something to drink first? I’ll talk to you after I organize my thoughts.”
Following my signal, the waiter brought the woman a strong cocktail, which she accepted without hesitation. Clearly, she was a woman accustomed to nightlife, and she elegantly lifted the glass to taste the drink.
After taking a small sip, she put down the glass and, still impatient, said to me, “I can’t help feeling like you’re just messing with me. Transferring a rundown restaurant requires you to organize your thoughts first before discussing anything serious!”
I frowned slightly, “Rundown restaurant?”
Although I couldn’t see her eyes behind the sunglasses, my challenge didn’t seem to fluster her. She continued, “You’re acting so indecisive—it’s really annoying, you know?… Don’t you realize everyone’s time is limited? It’s not very considerate of you to keep dragging me back and forth like this.”
However, I didn’t let her shift the conversation away. I knew that people often revealed their true thoughts unconsciously. Therefore, her attitude toward this “Kongchengli Restaurant” clearly showed she didn’t have the emotional attachment she claimed. This further confirmed Leyao’s earlier judgment—that this woman was merely acting on behalf of someone hidden behind the scenes. But who was the real person who had left the money, and why were they avoiding us?
At that moment, Leyao finally walked through the restaurant door. The mask she wore and the woman’s sunglasses stood out sharply in the dim yet warm lighting of the restaurant. Neither of them removed their face coverings, and instead, they sat facing each other, creating an even more mysterious and concealed atmosphere that drew the attention of some of the diners.
Leyao was always straightforward when handling issues. She looked at the woman and asked directly, “I heard you’re the one who left the money at Kongchengli back then… Do you have any proof?”
Caught slightly off guard by Leyao’s blunt questioning style, the woman asked, “What kind of proof do you want?”
Leyao stared at her and continued, “You claim it was you who left the money. Then can you tell me exactly how much you left behind at Kongchengli? Afterward, we counted more than just ten thousand yuan; there were also some hundred-yuan bills as change. If you can tell me exactly how much that extra change was, I won’t doubt you at all.”
The woman remained silent for a long time, finally saying under Leyao’s piercing gaze, “It’s been so long—how could I possibly remember the exact amount of the change!”
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