Chapter 79: Separation

It was already 11 PM when I got home. I thought Ban Di and Mom had already gone to bed, but both were sitting in the living room watching TV.

I closed the door and picked up my slippers from the shoe rack. Mom lowered the TV volume and asked me, “Zhaoyang, did you have dinner with that girl tonight?”

“Yeah, I took her to eat di guo ji (a kind of Chinese dish).” To prevent further questioning, I quickly added, “She’s going back to Suzhou tomorrow.”

Mom nodded and turned her attention back to the TV drama.

Before I could even relax a bit, Ban Di suddenly asked, “Is she here to persuade you to go back to Suzhou for work?”

“I guess that’s what she wants,” I replied ambiguously.

“How did you lose your job in Suzhou? Why did she say it had something to do with her?”

“Ban Di, I’m not planning to go back to Suzhou for work anymore. It doesn’t make much sense for you to keep asking, right?”

“You can stay in Xuzhou if you want. But find a job yourself. Don’t expect me to arrange one for you,” Ban Di said sternly.

“I’ve been looking for jobs all along, haven’t I? Don’t worry, I can handle it myself,” I replied somewhat helplessly.

Ban Di didn’t respond further and turned his attention back to the TV drama.

…

Back in my room, leaning on the bed, I lit a cigarette and started thinking about the pressing issue of finding a job. If possible, I still hoped to work in a department store. However, in the entire Xuzhou, the number of department stores could be counted on one’s fingers, and there wasn’t much demand for new employees. It seemed difficult to find a job like my previous one, and if necessary, I might have to settle for a lower-paid planning position.

Amidst this uncertain and gloomy situation, I thought of Mi Cai again. Admittedly, going back to Suzhou with her seemed like a decent temporary choice, but that city really exhausted me. I hardly had any expectations left for it. I didn’t want to go back and retrace the path I had walked before.

Sometimes people are like this: before I had decided to leave Suzhou, I still felt unwilling and attached. But once leaving became a reality, those feelings gradually faded away. This was the fundamental reason why I refused to return to Suzhou.

The next day, as agreed with Mi Cai, I arrived at the hotel where she was staying before 7 o’clock. We said our goodbyes in the morning sunlight.

I handed her a box and said, “This is a local specialty from Xuzhou, Xiao Hai Su Tang (a kind of candy). You can have it for fun when you’re bored at night. It won’t make you gain weight.”

Mi Cai took the box from my hand, looked at it, and then smiled and said, “Thank you.”

“Drive slowly on the way. If you feel sleepy, stop at a service station and take a nap,” I reminded her, somewhat worried about her long drive alone.

“I know.”

“Er…”

Mi Cai looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

“Er, feel free to come to Xuzhou for a visit sometime.”

Mi Cai showed a hint of disappointment but still smiled and nodded, then said, “Sure, if there’s an opportunity, I hope I can come here again to eat di guo ji.”

“Okay, then we’ll say goodbye. Take care.”

“You too.”

After saying that, Mi Cai walked toward her car. Just as she was about to leave, I finally remembered what I wanted to say. I shouted toward her back, “Mi Cai, watch out for your uncle Mi Zhongde. He won’t give up easily.”

Mi Cai stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn around. She nodded and then got into her car and drove out of the hotel parking lot without further hesitation.

Watching her car gradually disappear into the traffic, I felt a strange sense of loss. I didn’t want to dwell too deeply on this feeling. With a light sigh, I opened my car door, got in, and drove away in the opposite direction from Mi Cai.

…

Throughout the day, I attended interviews at several companies. As usual, some were satisfactory while others were not. The final results would require waiting for further notice.

It was already evening when I found the phone number of my first blind date, Li Xiaoyun, and dialed it.

After a short while, the call was answered. I got straight to the point, saying to Li Xiaoyun, “Are you free tonight? I’d like to properly treat you to dinner and also return the money I borrowed from you last time.”

“I’m about to finish work. Where are we going to eat?” Li Xiaoyun replied without refusing.

“You can choose the place. Whatever you feel like eating.”

Li Xiaoyun thought for a moment and said, “Let’s have Japanese cuisine. Recently, a new Japanese restaurant opened on Fashion Avenue, and it’s said to be quite good.”

“Great. Which advertising company are you working at? I’ll pick you up.”

“No need. I drove here myself today. We can just meet directly at the restaurant.”

“OK.”

…

I arrived at the newly opened Japanese restaurant on Fashion Avenue first, reserved a table, and waited outside for Li Xiaoyun. About fifteen minutes later, a red Focus two-door car pulled up in front of me, and then Li Xiaoyun got out of the car, waved at me, and asked, “Have you been waiting long?”

“Not really, I’ve already reserved a seat. Let’s go inside.”

Li Xiaoyun nodded and followed me into the restaurant.

Inside a private two-person room, Li Xiaoyun and I sat facing each other. Soon, the dishes we ordered were all served. In fact, I couldn’t really say that I liked Japanese cuisine, but since Li Xiaoyun wanted it, I had to maintain a gentleman’s demeanor to satisfy her.

As we ate and chatted, Li Xiaoyun suddenly asked me, “Zhaoyang, do you know that day when we were having dinner at the coffee shop, my mom and your mom were sitting right behind us?”

“Yeah, I know. Otherwise, how could I have gotten the money to repay you so quickly? My mom scolded me quite a bit, but in the end, she still gave me some pocket money out of maternal concern,” I smiled.

Li Xiaoyun smiled faintly and said, “Do you know how my mom evaluated you?”

“It mustn’t have been anything positive.”

Li Xiaoyun burst into laughter and said, “My mom said she had never seen someone who would borrow money from a girl during a blind date. She said she had learned something new.”

I sighed and said, “Oh well! Your mom has completely dismissed me. It seems our match is not going to work out. But you can’t blame your mom; it’s just that I’m not acting properly.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic…”

I smiled and asked, “So you’re saying there’s still hope for us?”

“Er… I didn’t mean that either.”

“Then you don’t need to comfort me. Let’s just stay cheerful and enjoy this dinner tonight.”

Li Xiaoyun nodded and said, “Okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. By the way, have you been looking for a job recently?”

“Yeah, I’ve been troubled by this for almost over a week now.”

Li Xiaoyun asked in surprise, “I heard you graduated from Suzhou University, which is a pretty good school. Plus, your father is a section chief in a state-owned enterprise. With your good academic background, wouldn’t it be easy for him to arrange a job for you at his company?”

“Let’s not talk about this. I’m just his adopted son!” I said somewhat unhappily.

Li Xiaoyun smiled but didn’t focus on this topic anymore and asked, “You used to work in planning, right?”

“Why? Are you planning to introduce a job opportunity to me?”

Li Xiaoyun nodded and said, “You could say that. Our advertising company’s planning department is currently recruiting for a commercial planner position. With your experience in planning at large department stores, you should be able to handle the planning work at an advertising company, right?”

“No problem. The nature of the work is pretty much the same. I can get the hang of it quickly,” I said confidently.

“Great, then send me your resume later. I’ll pass it to our planning director tomorrow. If he has no problem with it, he’ll arrange a face-to-face interview,” Li Xiaoyun said.

“Great, that’s a lot of trouble for you.”

“Why so formal? Our families are quite familiar with Auntie Zhang (the auntie who introduced us). Just consider it a favor to a friend. Besides, I have a good relationship with Zhou, our planning director. I think there shouldn’t be a problem with the job,” Li Xiaoyun smiled and said.

“Then I won’t thank you now. Once I get the job, I’ll treat you to another meal.”

“Actually, I’d rather you treat me to a meal after you’ve achieved something at work. That meal might taste even better.”