It was on the evening when Anqi and Zhang Yixi traveled from Japan to the United States that the sky over Suzhou, after a period of gloom, began to flash with lightning and roar with thunder. The wind, in a savage manner, swept through the city, and soon torrential rain soaked the entire world. The streetlights switched on prematurely in urgent response, all cars slowed down, and pedestrians without umbrellas ran to find shelter. Thus, I witnessed in the rain a world of contrasting speeds. Life itself seemed condensed into a black-and-white movie by this storm—some people struggled desperately, while others enjoyed the fruits without effort.
The windshield wipers could no longer keep up with the rain. I drove my car into a nearby open-air parking lot, lit a cigarette, and sat inside waiting for the weather to improve. If I was lucky enough, perhaps I would see the long-missed rainbow after this downpour.
The storm lasted for more than twenty minutes before it finally subsided. The wind, having blown away the dark clouds, also disappeared into the horizon. The evening sun once again clearly hung between two tall buildings, gently caressing the rain-washed city with its afterglow. I finally rolled down the car window, grabbed the camera left by Mi Cai, leaned out of the window, and gazed up at the sky.
Suddenly, people on the street slowed their pace and pointed toward the sky above the city. At that moment, a real rainbow had indeed appeared at the farthest edge of the city, as if telling the most beautiful belief in this world. I hurriedly got out of the car, raised the camera, and captured this scene in the lens. When I saw how beautiful the rainbow looked in the photo, I smiled and immediately sent it to my phone. Then I combined it digitally with a photo of Mi Cai. I wanted to print this photo created by my own hands and frame it, placing it inside my car. Recently, I had increasingly needed such objects to anchor my longing for her…
The rainbow might have been even more fleeting than a night-blooming cereus, soon vanishing from the reluctant gazes of the crowd. And the most disappointed among them was me—I felt lonely again. My loneliness came not only from Mi Cai having been gone for far too long, but also from the family of three standing beside me, joyfully chatting together. Without their cheerful presence, I wouldn’t have felt so utterly alone… Suddenly, I thought about how, if my life hadn’t been so turbulent, at age twenty-eight, I should already have had a family with a wife and child. But in reality, I remained endlessly waiting and suffering…
On my way home, I received a call from Mo Zishi. He said he was returning to the United States because Jian Wei’s condition had stabilized and she only required rehabilitation therapy, in which he could no longer play a significant role. Before leaving, he planned to treat everyone to a farewell dinner.
I had been getting along with this man, who always tried to set me up on blind dates, for more than four months. Although I sometimes resented his actions, I was deeply grateful because, to some extent, he had given Jian Wei a second life.
After receiving the invitation, I drove straight to Shanghai, where we met at a restaurant specializing in Cantonese cuisine. Quite a few people came to see Mo Zishi off—colleagues from the hospital where he had been exchanging knowledge, and friends like us who had met later through Jian Wei. However, the main guest, Jian Wei herself, did not attend, as her current physical condition wasn’t suitable for such gatherings.
During the dinner, Mo Zishi and I sat together. After a few drinks, he leaned closer and whispered only for me to hear, “Sigh! Brother, I’m leaving tomorrow and still haven’t managed to help you settle down. I feel so guilty about it!”
“Can we not talk about this?”
“Zhaoyang, you still don’t understand my good intentions… I truly foresee that you and Xiaocai won’t end up together, so I don’t want you to waste the last bit of your youth like this. But you keep insisting on your delusion, not even realizing how painful it is for me to see your foreseeable future!”
Mo Zishi patted his chest dramatically as he spoke, pretending to be genuinely heartbroken.
I smiled helplessly, then raised the glass in front of me and downed the baijiu in one gulp. At this point, I had come to regard Mo Zishi’s matchmaking efforts as a prank. And after tomorrow, this prank would finally end along with his departure. I changed the subject and asked him, “Dr. Mo, I’m actually curious, which city in the United States do you live in?”
Mo Zishi waved his hand and replied, “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“You cared about me for over four months, and I can’t even care about you once before you leave?”
Mo Zishi suddenly turned serious and spoke earnestly, “Our situations are different. At least I know how to make choices, so no matter whether others care about me or not, I can always find the right path in life. But you’re different—you’re living dangerously on the edge without even realizing it. And you treat me, the one person who truly cares about you, like an enemy. I really feel heartbroken!”
Unable to endure his long-windedness any longer, I simply took my glass and changed seats with Qin Yan. I sat silently, thinking about Mi Cai. Perhaps tomorrow, or at the latest the day after, Zhang Yixi and Anqi should be able to find her.
After this farewell dinner, Mo Zishi and I shared a taxi to the hospital, both intending to visit Jian Wei. However, for him, it was a farewell; for me, it was a welcome—welcoming Jian Wei back to Suzhou. By now, I had already asked my assistant to find the best convalescent home in Suzhou for her to rest and recover.
Pushing open the door to the ward, Yan Yan was helping Jian Wei pack some clothes and medications. Jian Wei, leaning silently against the bed, looked emotionally downcast.
Mo Zishi stood beside her, his expression serious, completely unlike the casual, talkative person he was when he spoke with me. He softly said to her, “I’ve stayed here in China for far too long… Now that your condition has basically stabilized, I need to return to the United States. That’s where my life is.”
Jian Wei turned her head to look out the window. After a long silence, she simply said, “I know.”
“Don’t you have any parting words for me?” Mo Zishi asked, only then allowing a faint smile to appear on his face.
Jian Wei finally looked at him and smiled slightly in reply, “I hope you will continue to excel in your beloved medical career. I will follow your every achievement.”
Mo Zishi lowered his head, and after a long pause, he looked up and smiled gratefully at her expectations. Then he handed her a business card, saying, “This is my contact information in the U.S. If you have any health concerns, feel free to call me. This phone will be on for you 24 hours a day.”
Jian Wei took the card from his hand and carefully inserted it into the book she was reading. Then the two fell into a long silence…
At this point, I finally stood beside Jian Wei as well. I took out from my handbag a small ladies’ handbag that Yan Yan had stored for Jian Wei. Since it originally belonged to her, I naturally should return it.
I handed the bag to her and asked, “This is your bag, stored with me by Yan Yan. Do you remember it?”
Jian Wei merely glanced at it and shook her head. I hadn’t expected her to remember her own bag, so I placed it on the cabinet beside the bed and added, “Keep this bag. Inside there’s a tablet computer and quite a few cosmetics you used before. Most of them are still usable.”
“Mm.” Jian Wei responded briefly and said nothing more. Everyone present could sense that her silence was due to Mo Zishi’s impending departure. Yet Mo Zishi’s return to the United States was inevitable—it was only a matter of time, something no one could change.
Mo Zishi left first, claiming he needed to pack. In the ward remained only me and Yan Yan, keeping Jian Wei company. But clearly, none of us could lift her mood. After Mo Zishi left, she lay back down on the bed and did not speak another word.
After leaving the hospital, Yan Yan and I walked along the road, discussing Jian Wei’s future. We still decided to follow the doctor’s advice, letting her stay in China for a while to rest and recover. As for the future, it would depend on her rehabilitation. In her current condition, no one would feel comfortable letting her live alone in a foreign country.
Yan Yan gradually slowed her pace and softly asked me, “Zhaoyang, do you hope that Jian Wei regains all her memories, or do you prefer she remains as she is now?”
Although I had asked myself this question countless times, I still had no clear answer. Thus, I replied with an indescribable emotion, “I don’t know… If she can live more easily like this, maybe it’s not bad to remain this way.”
“I think so too… So much of the past was a nightmare for her. Perhaps this selective amnesia is a mercy from heaven, the greatest blessing she could receive!”
“Perhaps.”
Yan Yan nodded. We walked silently for a while before she asked me again, “Have you noticed how dependent Weiwei seems to be on Dr. Mo?”
“Mm… During her coma, Dr. Mo was probably the only one who could communicate with her. I think her emotional attachment is quite natural.”
“Don’t you feel even a little sense of loss?… You are no longer the irreplaceable person in her heart!”
I stopped walking. Amid the complexity of my emotions, I instinctively lit a cigarette. After a long pause, I softly replied, “Yan Yan, after all that’s happened, whether or not I’m still that irreplaceable person in her heart no longer matters. We should both wish her happiness in this new beginning in her life…”
“Yeah… It’s just unimaginable how your story with her would end like this. It’s a little heartbreaking.”
“Isn’t that always how fate plays with people?”
Back at the hotel, I logged onto the online game “Dragon Soaring Across the World” before going to sleep. During this time, I had privately messaged the top-paying player named “Tianya Commander,” but he only politely replied a few sentences. I could never engage in deeper conversation with him, which made me anxious. I was worried that my plan wouldn’t be fully realized. Our game, which was about to launch, really needed a player with his influence to cooperate with us for an event-based marketing campaign.
Helplessly, I placed my phone on the nightstand beside the bed and turned my thoughts to Zhang Yixi and his wife, whom I had entrusted with an important mission. By now, they should have arrived in Los Angeles. I wondered whether they were adjusting to the time difference or had already met Mi Cai. But selfishly, I hoped it was the latter!
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