It was already deep into the night, yet my conversation with Mi Cai continued. We had reached a consensus—we would supervise each other to ensure our lips remained sealed. We respected Wei Manwen’s choice and silently prayed in our hearts that she and Zhou Hang could survive this crisis, becoming a devoted couple who had weathered hardships together, which could still lead to a fulfilling life. However, the hope was so slim, with merely a few percent chance of survival; it was truly hard to come by.
As the night deepened, our conversation became more like whispering. We chatted until midnight and finally fell asleep together. I seemed to have many dreams, but when I woke up the next day, I couldn’t recall any details. I only felt constantly fatigued. Mi Cai, on the other hand, looked quite energetic. She had already prepared breakfast and neatly packed all our clothes that had just dried. All this readying made me feel as if the distance between us and Xuzhou was now only 500 kilometers—we wouldn’t be staying any longer.
After finishing breakfast together, I drove Mi Cai’s Q7, which she had recovered, to a nearby gas station to fill it with gasoline. Then we packed all the luggage we wanted to take back to Xuzhou into the trunk.
I glanced at the time and said to her, “The wedding ceremony for Mi Lan is probably about to start. Let’s go have a look.”
Mi Cai’s mind was heavy. In fact, although she had promised Mi Lan she would attend the wedding, she was reluctant to face such an occasion and those familiar faces. After a moment of silence, she didn’t directly respond but instead said to me, “You look really tired. Let me drive.”
“Okay, today I’ll follow your lead wherever you decide to go,” I said, opening the car door and giving her the driver’s seat while I took the front passenger seat.
The sky was somewhat overcast, and snowflakes were sparsely falling from the sky. However, one couldn’t say the weather was bad because such snowy weather was quite rare for a city like Suzhou—perhaps only once or twice a year. In fact, I had only experienced snowfall a few dozen times in my life.
Mi Cai turned on the windshield wipers, clearing the melted snow from the window, and finally started the car. During the transition between morning and noon, we drove toward the most luxurious hotel in the city.
…
Within a short distance, the snowflakes began to fall more densely. The frequency of the windshield wipers swinging back and forth increased, yet this speed only further highlighted the silence between Mi Cai and me. We both seemed unwilling to speak much at this moment because we were attending a wedding we couldn’t genuinely wish happiness for.
There was some traffic ahead, so I turned on the CD player to pass the time. Coincidentally, it played an unreleased album that I and Rob had once produced. It turned out Mi Cai had been listening to it in the car all along…
The familiar melody seemed to record the pain of that time, and I couldn’t help but get lost in thought until Mi Cai gently tapped my arm. I followed her indication and looked out the window… I saw a wedding procession! Instinctively, I exclaimed, “What a grand spectacle… No wonder the road is jammed up like this!!”
“It’s the wedding procession for Mi Lan…”
I slightly turned my head and indeed saw a red Bentley Mulsanne. Inside sat Mi Lan and Fang Yuan. The cars ahead and behind stretched out in a long line of expensive luxury vehicles, drawing curious glances and whispers from passersby, whose eyes were filled with envy and jealousy. Perhaps this was the value Fang Yuan desired…
The procession slowly moved forward, yet we remained stuck in traffic. Finally, Mi Lan’s wedding car came parallel to ours. Inside, Mi Lan rolled down her window. When Mi Cai also rolled down hers, the cold air mixed with the snowflakes rushed into the car. Instinctively, I clenched my fists, trying to suppress the chill!
“Sis, are you coming to attend our wedding?”
“Congratulations on your marriage… Lanlan.” Mi Cai said, handing a prepared box to Mi Lan from beside her seat.
Mi Lan hadn’t expected Mi Cai to give her a gift in such a setting. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, “Aren’t you coming to the hotel with us? Why are you giving me the gift so urgently?”
“Since we’ve met here, there’s no need to go further. I’ve already seen you in your wedding dress… With such heavy snow, Zhao Yang and I want to return to Xuzhou earlier. Once there’s snow accumulation, it will be hard to travel!”
Mi Lan finally accepted the box from Mi Cai’s hands, while the cars behind repeatedly honked in a hurry. The road ahead of Mi Cai and me had already cleared… Mi Cai closed the window, saying no more words. She started the car and squeezed into another lane where she could turn around. Thus, we attended Mi Lan and Fang Yuan’s wedding in this special way. However, from beginning to end, I never had the chance to exchange even a single word with Fang Yuan. I really wanted to ask him whether he could genuinely enjoy this wedding, which had come at the cost of Yan Yan’s tragedy and the loss of a child.
…
In fact, what Mi Cai told Mi Lan was merely an excuse. She, who had always controlled the car, didn’t turn back at that intersection but instead took another route to the hotel hosting the wedding banquet. She parked far away and stood in the heavy snow, waiting for the arrival of the wedding procession.
Standing beside her, I took off my coat and put it over her shoulders. She looked at me, her eyes already moistened. Choking back tears, she said to me, “Zhao Yang… I never thought I would attend Lanlan’s wedding in such a way. I’m worried about her… She won’t be happy!”
“Fang Yuan only wants Zhuo Mei, not her, right?”
“She has been spoiled by Uncle and Auntie. She always sees only what she wants to see, never realizing what others want from her… Fang Yuan is very dangerous. His attraction to Lanlan’s beauty and wealth is only temporary. Deep down, he has something very similar to you!”
I was shocked by Mi Cai’s words. After looking at her for a long time, I asked, “You think I have something similar to Fang Yuan deep inside?”
Mi Cai looked at me with a complicated expression and nodded, “It’s just my feeling, hard to describe clearly… But I’d rather it were a delusion!”
“It must be your delusion. I don’t want to be compared to someone like Fang Yuan.”
As we were talking, the endless line of cars in the procession gradually occupied the hotel parking lot. Finally, the most eye-catching red Bentley Mulsanne also came to a stop, surrounded by a crowd. I saw Fang Yuan, dressed in white groom’s attire, carrying Mi Lan out of the car and kissing her… Beside him, I also saw two familiar faces: Xiang Chen and the woman named Chu Xinrui. They were embracing and clapping in celebration for Fang Yuan and Mi Lan… On the surface, this wedding wasn’t lacking in the blessings of friends and relatives! Not everyone cared about how many people had been sacrificed behind the scenes or how many schemes had been used to make this powerful couple’s wedding happen. What mattered to them was simply how to attach themselves to this influential couple!
I lowered my head in gloom, instinctively pulling out a cigarette from the pack and putting it to my lips. But as I lifted my head to inhale, I noticed a black Mercedes SUV parked not far away. Inside sat Yan Yan and Jian Wei… At this wedding, it wasn’t only Mi Cai and me who were painfully torn by the nerves. Yan Yan was the one suffering the most. Yet she had come. She looked calm in the car, as if she were merely here to make a final mourning, or perhaps treating this place as the starting point for her new life… And accompanying her, Jian Wei also witnessed Xiang Chen embracing Chu Xinrui. Amidst the heavy snowfall, it was as if this place had been divided into countless paths, leading us toward an unknown future of uncertain fortune.
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