The heavy snow was still swirling above Leyao and me, and the entire world had become so transparent that it seemed as though one could see from one end of the street to the other. Yet our eyes could no longer spot the taxi carrying CC. Finally, snowflakes settled on our hair, dyeing it white, and we were still catching our breath.
I cupped my hands over my chest, my throat feeling as if it were on fire, and painfully said to Leyao, “Damn it, we really can’t catch up with her now!”
Leyao wasn’t much better off. He was panting too, but his expression was blank. He stared numbly at the bleak white world before him. Suddenly, he collapsed onto the ground, as if the heavy snowfall had become a burden on his shoulders. A few snowflakes landed on his recently grown beard, as if they had crushed him completely.
Just then, a taxi finally drove past us. I raised my hand to stop it and said to Leyao, “Let’s try to find her. Maybe we can still meet her.”
“Forget it… If she really wanted to see us, since she’s already come back, she should at least have contacted you, Zhaoyang. I almost forgot—she’s already married!” Leyao said while laughing, but his laughter soon turned into sadness.
He brushed the snowflakes off his beard and eyebrows.
I finally replied, “Well then, let her be married. Anyway, the woman you’ve loved most in your life has always been Weimanwen, not her.”
Leyao looked up at me.
I pulled him up from the ground and pushed him into the taxi, then said to the driver, “Driver, please drive forward. We’ll tell you when to stop.”
The driver nodded and turned to look at Leyao, asking, “What’s wrong with this young man? His face looks kind of scary!”
“He’s just a mule with some sadness. Driver, please hurry up—we’re looking for someone.”
…
The car drove uncertainly along the snowy white road. The road became increasingly wide, and the entire world grew lonelier within the endless expanse of pure white. I even doubted whether Leyao had mistaken the scene, for in such a monotonous city at this moment, where could there be a woman as colorful and vibrant as CC?
Leyao, this sorrowful mule, finally spoke, but it was to the driver: “Driver, please take us to Tongjing North Road.”
I suddenly turned to Leyao and asked, “Do you mean CC has gone to the Empty City Restaurant?”
“She’s back in Suzhou, and she must have gone there—it’s where half her youth is.”
I nodded. In my heart, I thought how CC had used the most beautiful half of her youth to love this man named Leyao, only to miss out in the end. However, I didn’t feel too sorry for CC, because she had already done her best, and Leyao shouldn’t be blamed either—it was simply fate that had played tricks on people.
Soon, the car carried me and Leyao to Tongjing North Road. We got off near the street leading to the “Empty City Restaurant,” then walked through the unlit alley to the restaurant’s entrance. Surprisingly, even though it was past mealtime, the restaurant was packed with people. Therefore, we couldn’t see who was standing on the performance stage surrounded by the crowd, but we already knew in our hearts—she was the soul of this restaurant, no matter how long she had been away!
Leyao and I pushed open the door and entered the restaurant. We stood among the crowd, watching the woman singing on the stage. Without a guitar, she snapped her fingers and sang the song “Wanderer of the Horizon,” written by Leyao…
“Wandering to the ends of the earth, turning into sorrow… Tonight, where is home?… I once had a home, called talking to myself. I once had a room, filled with her sadness…”
CC’s magnetic voice carried a faint sadness. Her eyes were somewhat moist, but she finally ended the song with a smile, then clasped her hands together to thank everyone present. Many of them were longtime regulars of the Empty City Restaurant, just like us, who hadn’t seen CC—the sometimes smiling, sometimes sorrowful, often silent owner—for almost a year.
“CC, our dear boss, please sing another song for us. It’s really been too, too long since we last heard your voice… Seeing you again today feels like going back to those old days… This feeling is indescribably good—it’s just so great!”
CC smiled, wanting to satisfy everyone’s request, but the manager, who had been trained by CC herself, refused to let her sing again. The manager said, “Sis CC, please don’t sing anymore. You’re already seven months pregnant—be careful about disturbing the fetus!”
CC looked apologetically at the waiting crowd. After being reminded by the manager, the crowd showed full understanding. They surrounded CC, chatting with her, asking about her whereabouts and life after leaving, and congratulating her on her marriage and becoming a soon-to-be mother.
This scene made Leyao lower his head. I saw in him the meaning of “meeting is worse than missing.” Soon, he indeed silently turned around and left the “Empty City Restaurant” without anyone noticing. I didn’t follow him, because between CC and me, there was only a brother-sister relationship, and besides, I really missed her. Of course, I didn’t stop Leyao from leaving—it was his right!
Finally, I pushed through the crowd and stood in front of CC, finally getting a clear look at her. Although she wore a very loose black coat, her bulging belly could not be hidden—she was really pregnant…
I looked at her smiling, and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. Finally, I couldn’t hold back either and shed a man’s tears in front of everyone. I hugged her again, choking up, “It’s been too long since we last saw each other… You look like you’re doing very well!”
“Uh-huh… I’m very happy now. How about you? Are you okay?… And what about Mi’er, is she okay too?”
When CC asked about Mi’er, I felt too sad to want to talk about it here, so I remained silent. This made CC leave my embrace, signal to everyone that she was leaving, and then pull me out of the “Empty City Restaurant.”
…
We found a milk tea shop nearby, finally having a space to talk. She asked me, “How did you think of coming to the Empty City Restaurant today?”
“Leyao saw you sitting in a taxi on the road, so we chased here until the restaurant… But later, he left!”
Perhaps this was the first time in a year that someone had mentioned Leyao’s name in front of CC. Her expression was complex, but smiles seemed to be the most commonly used expression after so many years had passed. She smiled and said, “Is Leyao doing well?… He should have already married Ms. Wei, right?”
“No, they didn’t get married!”
CC’s expression was full of surprise as she asked, “Why? What happened?”
“Ms. Wei returned to that small village and later married Zhou Hang, the town doctor. You should have some impression of him.”
“This!…” CC only said the word “This” before tilting her head up, preventing the tears welling up in her eyes from falling. I naturally knew what she was thinking, but some feelings, once missed, are simply missed… I believed CC understood this better than me, otherwise how could she have decided to get married and have a child?
I tried to change the subject and asked her, “How about you? How have you been this past year?”
CC placed her hand on her nose, wiping away her tears, still smiling as she said to me, “Pretty good. Didn’t I send you a message last time?… I said I met the right person while traveling and am now married… Actually, I’m quite happy!”
“So that’s why you decided to come back to Suzhou to take a look?”
“Not especially for Suzhou… The baby in my belly will be born in a few months. The medical conditions in Shanghai are relatively better, so my mother-in-law accompanied me to Shanghai for the delivery… But this afternoon it started snowing, reminding me of the day I left Suzhou, so I couldn’t help but come back to take a look… It seems like everything here is still the same, but so much has happened!”
“Uh-huh.”
“What about you? You and Mi’er should have gotten married too, right?”
I turned my head to look at the snowy white world outside the window. After a long while, I told CC everything that had happened in the past year, including Fangyuan’s betrayal, Jianwei’s serious injury, and Mi’er’s departure to America…
CC calmly listened to me recount all these thrilling events, but the moment I finished speaking, a sad expression emerged on her face, so much so that she didn’t know how to view our past year.
At this moment, it showed how correct her decision to leave had been. Probably no one had a lighter year than her. I could see that her current life was free from sorrow, only involving the ease that comes after forgetting and giving up the need to be strong… Perhaps she was a role model for all of us, because sometimes giving up indeed requires more courage than pursuing. She had done it, though with some regret.
Finally, she asked me, “Have you really decided to wait for Mi’er to come back without any time limit?”
“Of course I’ll wait. If I don’t wait, won’t all our promises become lies?…”
“Uh-huh… I’m happy for your persistence on behalf of Mi’er.”
I looked at her, then fell into a brief silence. It seemed that after this year of emptiness, there were now fewer things for us to talk about. It must be this way, because I could no longer talk to her about Leyao, and she was also worried that mentioning Mi’er might bring me sadness. Thus, our topics inevitably became fewer.
The night had grown deep, and I didn’t want CC, who was pregnant, to stay up late because I still had more to say. I sent her into a nearby hotel and hoped she wouldn’t rush back to Shanghai the next day. I wanted to invite her for lunch, and CC agreed. Only then did I feel she wouldn’t leave my world so quickly again. In fact, I really had so many words and so many emotions to share with her.
…
This was a deep night after returning home. As usual, I habitually opened my phone to browse financial news from the United States. This time, after several months, I finally saw another piece of explosive information about Mi’er’s return…
Mi’er had already returned to the United States and officially taken up the position of Executive President of New Green Energy… A year later, I finally saw Mi’er holding real power, but there were still things that puzzled me. What factors had enabled her to make such a leap within New Green Energy, and why had Yan Zhuomei decided to hand over real authority to her?
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