The streetlights by the riverside seemed to have exhausted all their strength, squeezing through the endless darkness to cast a redemptive glow onto the withered grass. Yet even with this light, I couldn’t clearly see Ji Wei’s face, so I turned instead to gaze at the clusters of buildings across the river, which appeared to huddle together in despair.
Finally, I said to her, “The Literary Path project is something you invested in and should be integrated with Lukou. If I leave Lukou, I won’t take anything with me. But right now, I’m not ready to give up on Lukou yet…”
Ji Wei interrupted me, saying, “Zhaoyang, I really don’t need you to be loyal to me. If you still want to keep a sliver of hope for your dream, then you should take the Literary Path project and leave immediately… Since the founding of Lukou, I’ve always constrained you with my subjective views, dimming much of your brilliance. Actually, you could have achieved much more…”
Enough! Back when you initially invested in Lukou, you had plenty of reasons, and now you’re asking me to leave with even more eloquent justifications, claiming it’s to let your brilliance shine? Do you realize how cliché and hollow that sounds? Do you really think I’m just a pawn for you to move around? As long as you come up with some reasoning, I should follow your will and fulfill your prearranged routine?
Ji Wei turned her back to me. Her shoulders trembled, and she didn’t want to cry in front of me. Yet some things don’t need to be seen to be understood. At this moment, I could sense her inner bitterness and helplessness, and I understood her intentions even better. It seemed that our spiritual connection had not yet been completely severed.
A wave of uncontrollable sadness washed over me. I had never imagined she would stand by this moat in such helplessness today… I only remembered how, back in college, she was a princess adored by everyone. The men and women around her envied her family background and beauty, believing she was destined to live the best life possible. She was the favorite child of creation!
But now…
Perhaps I was even more distressed than she was. We had been in love for many years, and I had accompanied her through every detail of life. I had believed more than anyone that she would continue living the best life possible. That’s why, when she first proposed breaking up, I didn’t fight for us even a little—I didn’t want my pitiful life to affect her. So I let go, without questioning the reasons.
But today, I witnessed her halo gradually fading, leaving her helpless and lonely. She was left only with her beauty, but her soul had been hollowed out. What use was beauty then? What could it possibly embellish?
Finally, I said to her, “Perhaps things aren’t as bad as you imagine. After this crisis passes, you’ll still be the same Ji Wei.”
She laughed bitterly, “Haha… Do you still remember what the original Ji Wei was like?”
“I…”
Ji Wei looked at me, waiting for me to continue…
But when I recalled the old her, I seemed to fall again into that imagined river where we had promised to swim to the end together, to see if there was something called eternal love… But these existed only in imagination. In reality, we didn’t make it to the end. So I remained silent, standing there for a long time under the lights and cold wind…
Finally, Ji Wei, realizing she would get no response, said to me, “Zhaoyang, I don’t need your comfort. Please leave… I’m going back too. I need some peace and a good night’s sleep. Then I’ll see what the future holds and what kind of person Ji Wei will become.”
After saying these words, she lost all desire to stay and turned to walk up the riverside path. Only then did I light a cigarette, leaning against the railing, thinking about the ups and downs of these years. Suddenly, I felt exhausted… I didn’t even know why I had refused Ji Wei’s request for me to leave Lukou. Perhaps on the day everything comes crashing down, not only would the Literary Path project be affected, but I myself might also be implicated. Yet I wasn’t particularly afraid… I didn’t know where this fearlessness came from.
…
I couldn’t sleep all night. It wasn’t until nearly morning that I finally fell asleep. But I hadn’t slept long when I was startled awake by the faint sound of the door opening. I sat up on the bed… After a brief moment of confusion, I realized it was Mi Cai returning.
She opened the door, saw me sitting on the bed, and asked, “Why aren’t you up yet?”
“I’m getting up right away. How come you’re back?”
“I came back to get a document… Hurry up and get dressed. I bought breakfast; it’ll get cold soon.”
Her words suddenly relaxed my mood. It felt like a normal morning, just like any other day. We would have breakfast together and then go to work. Perhaps after work, we’d even have time to watch a movie or have dinner to celebrate Tianyang Group’s successful investment in Zhuomei.
While getting dressed, I asked her, “Will there be an official celebration tonight at Zhuomei? If there is, remember to let me know. I want to present you with a big gift in front of everyone!”
“Well, any official celebration would be after tomorrow…” She said this, then curiously asked, “What big gift are you planning to give me?”
“To be honest, I haven’t decided yet!”
“Oh…”
Mi Cai responded calmly, but I could sense the hidden anticipation in her voice. So I continued, “Then let’s celebrate privately tonight. We can have a romantic evening together. It’s been a while since I last cooked, so today I’ll cook for you. Let’s have champagne and beer!”
“That sounds great!”
“Then I’ll wait for your call tonight, and I’ll pick you up from Zhuomei.”
“Okay, but I might be a bit late.”
“No problem. I’ll wait however late it takes… as long as I can wait for you.”
…
It was 8:30 a.m. Mi Cai and I sat facing each other, eating the breakfast she had bought. We didn’t talk much, but I wasn’t idle either. During her silence, my mind wandered back to the past. I recalled the speech Mi Lan gave at the Christmas celebration after Zhuomei’s event, where he arrogantly claimed all the credit for himself. Compared to Mi Cai, I thought he was truly unworthy. I was even more excited about the upcoming celebration for Tianyang Group’s investment in Zhuomei, where Mi Cai would deliver a powerful and inspiring speech. I didn’t mind if her brilliance overshadowed me that day—I would be content as the man standing behind her, quietly admiring her.
“Zhaoyang, why are you smiling?”
“Nothing in particular. I just remembered something funny… Eat, eat!”
…
After breakfast, Mi Cai and I each went to our respective companies. As I walked into the office, the pleasant mood I had felt with Mi Cai in the morning instantly vanished. I was reminded again of Ji Wei’s request last night for me to take the Literary Path project and leave Lukou.
In fact, no one in the entire company, aside from me, knew anything about the rumors related to Ji Wei, and the office hadn’t descended into chaos yet. But there were underlying dangers. If even Blue Map, a well-established company, could collapse so quickly in the face of an unexpected crisis, what could I, as the leader of Lukou, possibly do to protect this fledgling company?
Perhaps all I could do was pray—pray that Ji Wei’s company wouldn’t be affected by this political incident, and pray that her mother was actually a misunderstood official. That would be the best possible outcome.
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