The next morning, I woke up before Mi Cai and kissed her before heading to the bathroom to freshen up. Although I hadn’t slept enough, I felt full of energy. I wanted to prepare a sumptuous breakfast to tell Mi Cai that, starting today, I would take good care of her daily life and give her a warm and real family.
At 8 o’clock, I finished making breakfast, prepared her toiletries, and squeezed toothpaste onto her brush before going to wake her up.
At 8:30, we sat together to eat breakfast. Although we only talked about trivial matters, her expression remained serious. I naturally understood this was related to the success or failure of Zhuo Mei’s IPO. Her mental pressure had been too great recently. However, despite this, after returning from the U.S., she still put aside heavy responsibilities and went to Xuzhou to find me immediately. Therefore, I firmly believed that her feelings and reliance on me were sincere. Although Zhuo Mei’s existence had always been an obstacle on our emotional path, I believed it was something we could overcome.
I poured her another bowl of porridge and asked, “Have you contacted An, the president of Tianyang Group since you came back this time?”
“We’ve kept in touch. This afternoon, I will go to Yangzhou to meet her and probably won’t come back tonight.”
“Let me go with you.”
“You have a lot on your plate at work. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself. I’m only staying for one night to discuss some things with her.”
After Mi Cai said that, I really felt that I was being too clingy. Besides, I had many things to deal with at work, so I nodded and replied, “Then be careful on your way. Keep your phone on so I can reach you anytime.”
“Okay.”
…
After breakfast, I drove Mi Cai to Zhuo Mei. When we arrived, we happened to meet Fang Yuan. Our cars parked together, and Mi Cai and Fang Yuan almost got out simultaneously. Fang Yuan greeted Mi Cai first: “Good morning, President Mi.”
“Good morning.”
I rolled down the window and said to Fang Yuan, “If you’re free tomorrow night, bring Yan Yan and let’s get together. I heard a new seafood restaurant has opened on the food street. Their cooking methods are quite unique. Let’s go check it out.”
“I’m busy tomorrow night. Maybe next time.”
My intention was that since Mi Cai had finally returned from the U.S. after so long, I definitely wanted to get together with him and Yan Yan, but I didn’t mention it in the end. If he couldn’t get out of his other appointment, it would be awkward to bring it up, so I smiled and replied, “Then forget it if you’re busy.”
“Okay.” Fang Yuan responded and walked into the mall ahead of Mi Cai. Mi Cai waved goodbye to me before walking into the mall.
Instinctively, I furrowed my brows, feeling that Fang Yuan’s attitude was somewhat cold. Was he still a bit upset with Mi Cai after the Christmas event? Or was it, like Mi Cai, due to recent work stress causing this coldness?
I am not someone who tends to overcomplicate things. I thought about it briefly, then forgot about Fang Yuan’s possibly unintentional coldness and drove away from Zhuo Mei.
…
After arriving at my company, I took some of the revised proposals I had organized the previous night to the meeting room for a meeting with senior executives from various departments. After the meeting, I went to the finance department to get the financial report for last month to follow up on the company’s financial status. Then I kept working until evening, when I instinctively wanted to call Mi Cai to ask what she wanted for dinner. But I quickly remembered that she had already gone to Yangzhou in the afternoon to meet that woman in red to discuss business cooperation.
I sent Mi Cai a message asking her to call me when she had free time, and then continued working until the sky gradually darkened.
After leaving the company, I went alone to a nearby snack shop to prepare to have a bowl of rice noodles for dinner when I coincidentally met Jian Wei, who was also having dinner there. Although our companies were very close, meeting in a small snack shop was a low-probability event, so I felt this chance encounter seemed as if it had been deliberately arranged by fate.
I didn’t avoid her. After ordering a bowl of rice noodles and two soy eggs, I sat opposite Jian Wei and said, “It’s quite a coincidence running into you here.”
“Is it really that coincidental? There’s only one decent rice noodle shop around here, and we finish work around the same time. It’s been nearly half a year, and we’ve only met once. I actually think it’s a necessary coincidence.”
“You have a point.”
Jian Wei nodded and asked, “By the way, did what happened last night cause any trouble between you and Mi Cai?”
“No.”
“But I could tell she seemed to care a lot about it.”
I smiled, “That’s my luck. If she didn’t care at all, that would be my tragedy… Anyway, once couples talk things through, it’s fine. We didn’t waste your midnight snack last night—we ate it together.”
“You’re cohabiting already?”
Jian Wei’s sudden question startled me for a moment, but since I myself am not a very conservative person, I nodded and replied, “Yes, we’re cohabiting.”
Jian Wei bit her lip and remained silent…
“Why do you look like that?”
“Zhaoyang, can you tell me how many women you’ve slept with in your life?”
Jian Wei’s voice wasn’t loud, but the rice noodle shop wasn’t big either, and the seats were very close together. Soon, people at neighboring tables turned their eyes to me, seemingly waiting together for my answer.
I felt somewhat embarrassed and pointed to the bowls and chopsticks in front of her, saying, “Your rice noodles are getting cold. Hurry up and eat.”
“If they get cold, I can order another bowl.”
Her persistence made me even more uncomfortable, and I finally said unhappily, “How do you expect me to answer this? What’s the point of you asking like this? Isn’t this just being unreasonable in public?”
Jian Wei lowered her head and began eating her rice noodles in big mouthfuls, as if it were some kind of emotional release… Meanwhile, the people around us looked at the two of us even more strangely, making me completely lose my appetite. I left the money for the meal and got up to leave the rice noodle shop.
…
Walking alone on the street, I was looking for another place to eat when a black Mercedes SUV followed me at a distance. Naturally, I knew it was Jian Wei’s car. I turned and walked into a narrow alley, trying to shake her off… A sense of unease filled my heart.
I felt that if we continued to stay together like this tonight, we might impulsively say something that would make things difficult for me to face.
A car horn sounded behind me. Jian Wei rolled down her window and called out to my back, “The rice noodles and soy eggs you left behind, the owner already packed for you. He asked me to give them to you… Do you still want them?”
Finally, I turned around, looked around, and answered, “See the bench next to your car? Just leave the food there. I’ll go get it myself…”
Jian Wei’s expression turned furious. She angrily threw the bag of rice noodles in her hand toward me, shouting, “Zhaoyang, you bastard… If you don’t pretend, will you die? Will you die if you stop being such a scumbag?”
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