It was a beautiful sunny morning, and being a weekend meant that many photography studios would come to the coffee shop for photo shoots. So I got up early, being very careful not to disturb Mi Cai’s sleep. She had been exhausted from the previous day’s work and deserved a peaceful morning of rest on the weekend.
After a light breakfast, I went to the parking lot in our neighborhood. Coincidentally, Li Xiaoyun was driving her car into a parking space from the opposite direction. She rolled down her window and asked me, “Zhaoyang, where’s Mi Cai?”
“She’s still asleep!”
“How come you’re here so early? It’s only 8:30!”
“Please, I’m a married woman who’s bought home appliances before. Do you have any idea how much time it takes to get all the appliances sorted out? Seeing how inexperienced you two are, I really feel worried for you!”
“If you can’t finish today, there’s always tomorrow!”
“You think I have time every day? I have a family and a husband to take care of. Making time today is me going out of my way for my friends!”
I chuckled awkwardly and replied, “You’re exaggerating! Besides, she worked until nearly ten o’clock last night taking photos for a client at the coffee shop. She was really worn out, so let her rest a bit longer.” I took out a restaurant membership card from my wallet and handed it to Li Xiaoyun, adding, “This is a membership card for Zhou Ding Ji. Go have breakfast there and bring back some sesame chestnut congee and steamed dumplings for Mi Cai. That way, she can sleep a little longer.”
Li Xiaoyun gave me a look and took the card from me, saying, “You’d probably prefer it if I went to play a few rounds of mahjong and let Mi Cai sleep until noon!”
I sighed, “Look at you—you’ve really been influenced by your mom. At your age, talking about mahjong all the time! If you keep this up, you’ll be going to the square at night to dance with your mom and jump into old age early.”
“Zhaoyang, why are you so annoying… Let me tell you, I didn’t even learn to play mahjong from my mom. I learned from your mom!”
“It was definitely your mom, okay?”
“Your mom…”
“Your mom.”
Li Xiaoyun stopped paying attention to me, gave me a glare, backed her car out of the parking space, stepped on the gas, and drove off eastward. I smiled. Regardless of what had happened between us in the past, being able to get along like siblings now was truly a source of happiness. At that moment, I felt that I was gradually adapting to life in Xuzhou and hoped to continue living like this. Although life wasn’t without its troubles, simple joys always seemed to follow me.
After Li Xiaoyun left, I drove toward the coffee shop. On the way, I sent a text message to Zhou Zhaokun, asking him to call me before heading to Xuzhou. He quickly replied, letting me know he had been in Nanjing recently and that the few hundred kilometers would be no problem for him to cover quickly.
When I arrived at the coffee shop, Qin Yan was making pastries in the kitchen, and Xiao Nuo was still meticulously cleaning the large glass window, wiping it over and over again with a wet towel. Morning sunlight poured through the sparkling glass, freely falling onto the tablecloth and highlighting the artificial flower arrangement in the glass vase. This was definitely the best time of the day for individual photo shoots.
Sure enough, just after 9 a.m., two photography studios arrived almost simultaneously with their customers for photo sessions. As a result, Qin Yan became very busy, making coffee while also keeping an eye on the pastries being prepared in the kitchen. I wasn’t affected and continued with my own work, waiting for Zhou Zhaokun’s arrival. By then, he was already on his way to Xuzhou.
At half past ten, the two photography studios finished their sessions in our shop one after the other. Finally, Qin Yan could catch his breath. He brought a cup of coffee he had brewed and sat down opposite me. Before he had even settled in, he pulled out his phone, looked at it anxiously, then smiled, followed by a furrowed brow and deep thought. Finally, a smile returned to his face as if he had sent a reply message.
I asked him curiously, “Who are you texting?”
Still holding his phone and not even looking up, he replied, “Yanyan.”
No wonder he was so excited. I asked in surprise, “Did she accept your friend request?”
“Yeah. In my friend request message, I mentioned that I’m your best buddy. If she didn’t accept, you’d lose face, right, Brother Yang?”
“You actually dragged my name into this without my permission? Who the hell gave you the right to do that?” I was somewhat angry.
Qin Yan smiled apologetically and said, “Brother Yang, don’t you consider me your brother? I’ve considered you my brother since the moment I saw you!”
Since I don’t hit someone who smiles at me, I felt helpless and, after a while, replied, “You look decent on the outside, but deep down you’re nothing but a rascal… I can’t reason with you!”
“Using a bit of harmless trickery for love can be defined as a noble kind of trickery. I bet you’ve pulled a few tricks on your wife too, haven’t you, Brother Yang? I could tell your greatness the moment I saw you… You’re my idol, really!”
I didn’t bother arguing with him further and grabbed his phone from his hand to see what he had been chatting about with Yanyan…
I didn’t realize how serious it was until I looked. At first, Yanyan had barely responded to him, but he had carefully crafted each message into either a heartwarming piece of advice or a humorous anecdote. Eventually, I saw Yanyan reply with a smiley emoji. I couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: this kid really knows how to tailor his approach. He knows exactly what Yanyan needs right now is some emotional encouragement. Sure enough, in the end, Yanyan opened up and shared some of her thoughts on life with him. He seized the opportunity and asked to be friends with her. Although Yanyan hadn’t replied directly, the conversation was still ongoing.
I tossed the phone back to him. He nervously grabbed it, and I said discontentedly, “What’s the point of sending Yanyan all that emotional nonsense? It makes me sick with disgust!”
“You may not live a motivational life, but others might need this emotional encouragement. Some of the things I said are actually quite inspiring. For example: ‘God gave me a pair of wings, so I should spread them and soar. What can dark clouds do? After crossing through them comes sunlight…’ This is tailor-made for Yanyan. In my eyes, she’s a fallen angel!”
“I don’t see any angels, just a plucked turkey!”
“Brother Yang, we’re not on the same wavelength. I can’t have a serious conversation with you. You should focus on running the coffee shop. Don’t meddle in my relationship with Yanyan!”
“Do you really think sending all that emotional nonsense will make Yanyan become your friend? Give it a rest!”
Qin Yan looked at me, his expression serious, as if he were delivering a speech at an international event. He said, “Brother Yang, the man Yanyan will eventually fall in love with will be me, not someone like you, because you don’t understand what she needs the most right now… And besides emotional encouragement, I have even more valuable things to offer her!”
At that moment, I saw Fang Yuan’s calmness, composure, and perseverance reflected in Qin Yan. I wasn’t sure if this was a dangerous sign, but I believed that the fundamental nature of Qin Yan’s soul must be different from Fang Yuan’s. This was because Qin Yan came from a wealthy background, while Fang Yuan had experienced the hardships of life during his teenage years. Therefore, their pursuit of material things would be fundamentally different.
More customers came into the coffee shop, and reluctantly, Qin Yan put his phone back into his pocket and started making coffee for the customers. I sat in my place, seemingly gazing blankly at the perfect sunlight of noon, yet in my heart, I kept comparing Qin Yan and Fang Yuan over and over again.
A short while later, the roar of an engine approached, and I saw Zhou Zhaokun’s Lamborghini. After such a long time apart, he had finally arrived!
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