On this not-yet-deep night, I pulled up the roller shutter door, preparing to send Leyao back to her hotel. Yet she stopped me with a smile, saying, “No need. I want to take a look at the city’s scenery by myself.”
I didn’t force her, just returned a smile and simply said, “Be careful on your way. Send me a message or give me a call when you arrive.”
Leyao nodded and walked forward with that dazzling red handbag. Suddenly, she turned her head. Before she could speak, her jet-black long hair was already blown into a mess by the night wind. She tucked the messy hair behind her ears, still wearing that signature smile, and asked me, “Which way is south?”
“See the most open area over there?”
Leyao looked in the direction I pointed, then nodded.
“That’s the northeast of the city!”
“Got it, thanks.” Leyao waved at me again and didn’t look back. Because she hadn’t chosen the wrong path, this road would continue all the way to the very south of the city, accompanied by the lights!
Moments later, her figure completely dissolved into the night. This time, she left quietly, not even stirring a ripple in my heart. Yet that waterfall-like long hair resting on her shoulders, blown by the cold wind, was deeply etched into my mind!
…
The next day, I got up early. Today, there were as many as six photography studios scheduled to shoot at the coffee shop. Qinyan was still in Suzhou. With fewer hands, I had to help Xiao Nuo with some chores like cleaning.
After arriving at the coffee shop, Xiao Nuo and I were busy from morning until noon and finally got a brief rest. We ordered two takeaways and chatted while eating. First, we talked about the development plan for the coffee shop next year, then moved on to her boyfriend. I just learned she had a boyfriend and they were in the sweet phase of their relationship. They dreamed of buying a house in Xuzhou and building their own small family. Me and Mi Cai were the ones she envied because we already had our own house and our life seemed quite secure.
As we chatted, Xiao Nuo brought up Leyao again. She said, “Brother Zhaoyang, I can tell that you and Leyao are definitely not just ordinary friends. She seems to have mixed feelings for you—love and hate. There must be a deep past between you two.”
Looking out the window, I was a bit dazed and not quite sure what she had just said to me. I turned my head and asked, “What did you say?”
“Uh… nothing!”
I turned my head again, looking at the distant factory chimney that was spewing industrial exhaust. It pierced the clouds, covering that entire area so that even sunlight couldn’t find a gap to shine through. Suddenly, I felt that having such a big chimney far away wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Instinctively, I lit a cigarette!
As the smoke spread, I vaguely saw a figure carrying a large handbag approaching the coffee shop. She looked a bit strained, so she switched from one hand to both… When she came closer, I finally recognized her as Mi Cai. She had said she wouldn’t return until the afternoon, but she was back at lunchtime, which was a big surprise to me! I quickly put out the cigarette butt and rushed out of the coffee shop…
We met near a pile of unused sand. I took the bag from her hand and asked, “What’s in here? It’s pretty heavy!”
“They’re seafood products from the seaside, some for eating, some shells for decoration, and of course, the heaviest part is my camera!”
I gave her a thumbs-up and said, “You really have the spirit of a photographer!”
Mi Cai complained, “You’re making fun of me. I’m almost worn out from the long journey… My head is full of alternating scenes, I feel dizzy!”
I responded with immediate action. I bent down, indicating that I would carry her to the coffee shop. She smiled slightly at me, then hugged my neck and climbed onto my back. I adjusted my breathing, feeling this sweet burden, and walked toward the coffee shop.
On the way, I asked, “How was the seaside shoot? Was it smooth?”
“If it wasn’t smooth, I wouldn’t have come back so early, right? You should believe in my professionalism… Dai Wenshan’s client was already very satisfied with the sample photos!”
“You helped him so much, and he didn’t even thank you properly?”
“Hmph… Why do I hear a strong sense of jealousy from someone?”
I scoffed and took the opportunity to tease Mi Cai, “Come on, do I look like the kind of guy who gets jealous easily? … Well, of course, if being jealous was a contagious disease, maybe I could catch a little bit of it!”
“Brother, are you talking nonsense again?”
“Haha, so you can actually hear the hidden meaning in my words?”
Taking advantage of her position on my back, Mi Cai immediately pinched my ear and replied, “Zhaoyang, are you asking for another scolding?”
I begged, “Gently, my ear is about to be torn!”
“How delicate you are! … Before, when I pulled your hair, you said I would make you bald. Now when I pinch your ear, you say it’s torn. I haven’t even started to use force yet!”
“If I use force, won’t it be terrible! … Besides, this is just my strong sense of self-protection, it’s a survival instinct, okay?” I said, trying to pinch Mi Cai’s ear in an extremely awkward posture.
Mi Cai dodged while pinching my other ear and replied, “Don’t explain, you just like to exaggerate…!”
I cried out in pain, “Gently, this time it really hurts!!”
“You can make me stop, but you have to sincerely say to me: ‘Mi Cai Sister, I’m wrong. I won’t dare to offend you, a beautiful, smart woman, with a petty attitude anymore!’”
I couldn’t help laughing, “I can say that, but you also need to have the face to listen! … I’ve never seen someone force others to flatter themselves like this.”
“Why shouldn’t I have the face to listen? As long as it’s you complimenting me, I will definitely become thick-skinned and gladly accept it… After all, my man is so thick-skinned, I just have to follow him wherever he goes!”
Hearing her cheerful laughter, I suddenly fell silent… I realized that this woman had already changed along with my life. She had changed not only her past lifestyle but also her worldview for me. She was striving to blend with me, and this deep integration made me feel more and more that I needed this woman by my side. If one day I couldn’t feel her joys and sorrows, I would surely become the loneliest person in this world, and would never again have the heart to speak of “perfection.”
…
In the coffee shop, Mi Cai had yesterday’s unsold pastries with plain water for lunch. We talked about the wedding. I said to her, “The post-Lunar New Year period is the peak season for weddings. We need to choose a wedding planning company in advance!”
Mi Cai replied calmly, “Let’s keep our wedding simple.”
I asked in surprise, “Don’t women usually want a dreamy wedding?”
“Most women do. But once you see through the essence of life, a wedding is just a formality. You and I are not people who like formalities. We definitely don’t need to make the form of marriage bigger than its content… We can just ask our friends to help out as the wedding hosts. As for the decoration of the wedding venue, let’s leave it to our company. Don’t you remember our advertising company also provides wedding services!”
I suddenly remembered that Mi Cai’s current advertising company does provide wedding services, but because the company is quite large, it usually doesn’t take small wedding planning jobs. I clearly remembered that when I worked there, we did once take a wedding planning job that cost 2 million yuan!
I smiled and said, “It seems you have planned our wedding more carefully than me… Are you dreaming of becoming my wife, Zhaoyang?”
“Stop being so conceited!”
I kept smiling because I was really in a good mood. After being together for so long, I could always continuously feel happiness from her. Then she suddenly remembered something and said to me, “Oh, Zhaoyang, when I came back today, Dai Wenshan gave me 2000 yuan as payment for the shoot, but I didn’t take it… He felt awkward and said he would invite us to dinner tonight. Do you have time to come with me?”
“I’m afraid I don’t. It depends on whether Qinyan can come back tonight. If he doesn’t come back and I leave too, Xiao Nuo will definitely be overwhelmed by herself!”
“Then I won’t go either. Let’s stay at the coffee shop and help together.”
“No, you should go. It’s fine. After all, he has already invited us. Besides, it’s not just you he’s inviting.”
“I haven’t given him a definite answer either. I just wanted to see if you have time. If you don’t have time, I really don’t want to go…”
While I was talking with Mi Cai, Xiao Nuo, who was playing with her phone at the bar counter, suddenly said to me, “Brother Zhaoyang, Leyao has new news!”
I asked with concern, “What news?”
“She returned to Beijing this morning, and Cao Jinfei went to the airport to pick her up personally… The news also said that her company will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. today to explain this incident!”
I nodded and said, “That’s good!”
“Yeah… I’ve been worried about her. But judging from the photos taken at the scene, her mood doesn’t seem bad, and she didn’t embarrass Cao Jinfei. They should have resolved their conflict!”
“Conflicts between couples can’t really be called conflicts. Maybe she really misunderstood Cao Jinfei this time. Let’s see what they say at the press conference.” After saying this, I looked at Mi Cai beside me. She showed a very calm attitude toward this matter, never asking anything throughout. I didn’t regard this as abnormal either, because my heart had never been so open and peaceful before… Yesterday, I had only said some comforting words to Leyao in the simplest way as a friend. None of us had lingered in each other’s time. Everything that happened was so smooth and natural, leaving nothing but that!
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