The woman brought a pair of uniquely designed cotton shoes and socks from the attic. I bent down to help Mi Cai take off her damp shoes and placed them near the heater to dry. As Mi Cai put on the shoes, she said to the woman, “Thank you… Oh, by the way, may I know your name?”
“Of course! I’m Jing Xiaosi… Oh, Aye has few friends. May I ask which of his friends you are?”
I smiled and replied, “You can guess first.”
After a brief pause, Jing Xiaosi said, “Luoben is a rock singer, usually dressed quite punk, so you definitely aren’t Luoben. Therefore, you must be Zhaoyang, and this elegant beauty must be your girlfriend Mi Cai… If I guessed correctly, then I really should thank you two, because Aye’s achievements today would not have been possible without your selfless help!”
I smiled and replied, “Your eyesight is great—you guessed right. But there’s no need to thank us. Aye is a close friend, and it’s our duty to support his career. Most importantly, it’s his own hard work. Without excellent works, no help would be effective for him!”
Jing Xiaosi nodded and looked at Xia Fanye again for a long time before saying, “His talent fascinates me. For me, not being able to accompany him during his most difficult days is the biggest regret of my life… Unfortunately, we met at his art exhibition! By then, he was already a painter with a certain reputation!”
Mi Cai comforted her, saying, “It’s just that fate came a bit late. You don’t need to dwell on it.”
“I just feel sorry for his ex-girlfriend. She accompanied Aye through his most difficult times, and even because of that hardship, she had an accident indirectly. And I benefited from it, getting to know the current Aye…”
I comforted her again, saying, “Xiaosi, this should be Aye’s emotional burden, not yours… Perhaps even Aye himself no longer cares about these things. Why should you hold on? Remember, everyone has their own karmic connections. Her cause became Aye’s effect, and Aye’s effect became your cause. All of this is destined…”
“Perhaps it is so… Such a karmic relationship makes me love Aye even more, making up for my regret of not being with him during those days!”
I nodded, yet at the same time reflected inwardly. In the love story between Xia Fanye and Jing Xiaosi, I saw a kind of grand finale—a conclusion. Indeed, no matter how passionate and heartbreaking the past might have been, there will inevitably come a day when the curtain falls. And standing within the law of continuous development and change, forgetting is our destiny, because new people and new things constantly take root and grow in our senses, leaving less and less space in our hearts to preserve the past.
After reflecting on all this, I looked at Mi Cai beside me again. Her calmness made me no longer want to be the man who feels everything is fine yet remains troubled. I shouldn’t keep looking back at those already faded memories… These realizations seemed to be another gain I obtained in this now-relocated “West of the Old City.”
…
When a glass of milk was almost finished, Xia Fanye finally took off his headphones. He turned around and suddenly saw us chatting with Jing Xiaosi. His expression was full of surprise as he almost instinctively asked, “Zhaoyang, Mi Cai… How come you’re here?”
I replied, “We came to Suzhou to handle some matters.”
Mi Cai replied, “Brother Xia, please don’t call me ‘President Mi’ anymore, or else I’ll feel confused between past and present!”
Xia Fanye smiled and said, “Then I’ll respectfully call you Cai Jie. But somehow I feel this remark is meant for Zhaoyang. In my eyes, he’s always been someone who doesn’t clearly distinguish between past and present!”
Mi Cai looked at me, as if eager to hear how I would respond. I was surprised by Xia Fanye’s description of me and, after a pause, changed the subject, saying, “I think it’s not quite appropriate for you to call Mi Cai ‘Cai Jie’—after all, you’re several years older than her!” Then, pretending to be serious, I said to Mi Cai, “How could you let someone call you ‘older’ so easily? It makes me feel older too!”
Xia Fanye smiled again and explained, “I think it’s fine. In the world, one should rank by status. If it weren’t for Cai Jie’s strong support, introducing so many art dealers to me and funding my exhibitions, there wouldn’t be today’s Xia Fanye!”
“Xia Fanye, the moment you start caring about status, it proves you’re already on the edge of decline… Tell me, don’t you have the awareness to forget about status and call her ‘sister-in-law’?”
Xia Fanye just smiled, but Jing Xiaosi thought “sister-in-law” was a great term. She took Mi Cai’s hand and called her “sister-in-law.” The two women looked at each other and laughed… At that moment, the wind outside continued to blow raindrops against the glass window, making a pitter-patter sound… The four of us chatted while sipping the hot milk tea Xia Fanye had made.
Perhaps because of the rainy weather, there were no customers in the coffee shop. Jing Xiaosi prepared a hotpot for dinner and invited us to stay. Naturally, we didn’t refuse. The four of us sat together in the rising steam, enjoying dinner while chatting, as if the world outside the window was one realm, and the world inside another…
Within that inner world, Xia Fanye finally became someone who opened his heart, chatting and laughing with us. But I kept looking at the outside world, wanting to lock part of my emotions into that storm. I really didn’t want to touch the past anymore because my past was the source of Mi Cai’s sorrow…
We raised our glasses, drank the beer in one go, and thus became more talkative. Mi Cai enthusiastically invited Xia Fanye and Jing Xiaosi to visit our coffee shop in Xuzhou when they had time. Jing Xiaosi said it would be an honor but not something to be taken too seriously. However, she promised to come to Xuzhou with Xia Fanye on our wedding day to offer their congratulations. We expressed our gratitude and felt even happier because, after the breakup of our good friends Luoben and CC, Xia Fanye and Jing Xiaosi gave us new hope… I believe that one day, all my friends will find fulfillment in my story.
So, we talked about CC and Luoben again. Regarding them, our thoughts were aligned—we hoped they could reunite at my wedding to Mi Cai and rekindle their romance. That way, when we next gather at “West of the Old City,” there would be more people to chat with. We would drink, make music, and talk about paintings… Years later, maybe we’d chat about the trivialities of family life—today, his child needs an English tutoring class; tomorrow, your child needs to learn dancing…
I think if there’s a pattern to the future, it must be set like this… Because more than two-thirds of the year are sunny days, why should we always experience so many twists and turns?
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage