The rain had not stopped at all. I held an umbrella and opened the back door of the car for Mi Cai, but she still rejected Yan Zhuomei and directly opened the passenger door instead, saying to me, “I’m afraid you might feel sleepy while driving. I can chat with you along the way.”
I nodded, closed the back door again, got into the car myself, started the engine, and followed the car driven by Mi Zhongde and Mi Lan onto the expressway heading toward Suzhou.
I guessed Yan Zhuomei might say something during the journey, but she remained silent the entire time, merely gazing at the rain-soaked industrial parks outside the window—symbols of technological civilization. Mi Cai also refused to communicate with her. She turned on the car’s audio system, and thus, Luo Ben’s wild and defiant voice kept challenging the authoritative Yan Zhuomei… repeatedly chanting in the song: “Empty road leading home, reciting scriptures at the end of the world!”
Finally, I couldn’t help but glanced at Mi Cai beside me. She was listening with great delight, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the seat next to her. Her actions made me want to laugh, yet I also felt a sense of heaviness… because she was using this to mock and remind Yan Zhuomei not to block the way back home, and not to wait until familial love had truly died before thinking of reciting scriptures.
After the song ended, Mi Cai turned the volume down and asked me, “Zhaoyang, what style are you planning for our wedding venue?”
I understood her intentions, yet worried that her refusal to accommodate Yan Zhuomei and continued provocation might backfire. Caught in a dilemma, Mi Cai, however, showed no hesitation and kept looking at me…
I finally replied, “How about a European countryside style?”
Mi Cai’s face lit up with anticipation as she continued, “Mm… anything else?”
“Uh… here’s what I was thinking. We’ll use a horse-drawn carriage instead of a car for our wedding. Along the way, there will be blooming flowers everywhere, just like fetching a princess to the wedding venue. On that day, you will definitely be the happiest woman!”
Mi Cai seemed to have already envisioned the scene. At that moment, she already looked blissful. Then, finally breaking her silence, Yan Zhuomei said, “That sounds nice… but have you calculated the cost? I don’t think you have the ability to realize it right now! In my opinion, this is just a childish fantasy.”
It felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over my head. I recalled that back then, for the wedding of Leyao and Cao Jinfan to achieve the desired effect, the Lukou Company had spent nearly one million yuan. The wedding I had promised Mi Cai was even more extravagant than that… I seemed to have overpromised, and Mi Cai had placed too much blind faith in me… Thus, the thought of poverty-stricken couples facing endless troubles floated in my mind, and I could no longer utter a word…
Mi Cai, however, had no such thoughts. She replied, “As for whether we can realize it or not, it doesn’t need Executive Yan’s concern. Actually, I also want to tell you this: as long as you understand clearly what responsibilities you have toward your partner, whether the wedding is luxurious or simple is fundamentally unimportant… I hope Executive Yan won’t turn me into another version of yourself!”
Mi Cai’s words struck Yan Zhuomei deeply. In the rearview mirror, I saw Yan Zhuomei’s face darken. She sternly said to Mi Cai, “I don’t need you to criticize me. You didn’t live in my era, so you wouldn’t understand. back then, going abroad was my only way out…”
“Yes, going abroad was your only way out, but did you ever think it was the dead end for dad and me… If you had stayed by his side and taken care of him, would he have developed cancer from overwork… If he hadn’t been so overburdened, maybe that car accident wouldn’t have happened… You destroyed this family yourself, yet now you want me to come back to you. Don’t you think it’s ridiculous… What gives you the right to ask this of me?”
A flicker of guilt crossed Yan Zhuomei’s face, and she finally softened her tone slightly, saying, “No matter how you see it, you are still my flesh and blood. I don’t want to argue with you about whether my past was right or wrong. You must accept the arrangements I’ve made for you. The paths I’ve planned for you are all things I’ve worked hard for over the years… Xiaocai, you can’t disappoint your mother like this. Otherwise, all my efforts over these years would have been meaningless!”
“It’s me who should ask you not to interfere in my life… I think the way I’m living now is just fine. I just want a simple life.”
Yan Zhuomei laughed, “A simple life? A simple life is only for the weak who have been eliminated by society. You need to understand, they don’t want to stay in the lower strata of society—they just lack the ability and connections. In China, a so-called simple life offers no security. One serious illness could send a family into chaos… Also, you keep saying how much you love your father, but why are you indifferent to the fact that the business he worked so hard to build, Zhuomei, is now controlled by outsiders? In my opinion, you’re contradictory, even hypocritical and selfish!”
This time, it was Mi Cai’s turn to be deeply hurt. Her face darkened, and after a long pause, she finally said, “Besides being Dad’s hard work, Zhuomei is also Uncle’s hard work. Now that Uncle is in charge of Zhuomei, I think there’s no need to fight over it anymore. As long as Zhuomei can continue to grow and develop, it will fulfill Dad’s last wish… Saying that Zhuomei is now controlled by outsiders is simply absurd!”
Yan Zhuomei replied as if she had everything under control, “I know more about Zhuomei than you do… If things continue like this, sooner or later it will bear the surname Fang instead of Mi. Fang Yuan’s ambition is far greater than you imagine. And his ally, Xiang Chen, is no simple person either… Do you really think giving up Zhuomei will solve everything? Hmph, maybe it’s not that simple!”
Mi Cai’s face showed pain, and then she fell silent… Her silence revealed to me how formidable Yan Zhuomei was. She had easily exploited Mi Cai’s weaknesses. Perhaps this time, coming back, Zhuomei would be the most important leverage she used to persuade Mi Cai… I felt a deep sense of uncontrollable crisis!
Yan Zhuomei continued, “Xiaocai, you must believe your mother. Going to America will be the wisest decision of your life… Love isn’t everything in life. It’s actually the easiest kind of emotion to replace. It’s not reliable. The only truly reliable things in this world are wealth and the bond of blood… So, after all these years, the person I still can’t let go of is you. I hope you will come back to your mother, and take over the achievements I’ve worked so hard for!”
I couldn’t agree with Yan Zhuomei’s words, yet I couldn’t find any words to refute them either, because in this real society where the divorce rate in some areas has already reached thirty percent, who can still regard love as the foundation for existence in this world?
At that moment, I didn’t know whether it was Mi Cai and I who were too stubborn, or if this world was simply too distorted… I felt as if I had become a helpless spectator, filled with confusion!
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