After discussing the recent developments of Xinlv Energy with Chen Jingming, I didn’t leave the company immediately. Instead, I patiently completed my tasks in batches, piece by piece. It wasn’t until nearly dusk that I finally drove away from the office.
I clipped the business card Chen Jingming had given me—on which Mi Cai’s private email address was written—onto the air vent of my car’s air conditioner. I hadn’t rushed to send Mi Cai an email at the office because at that moment, America was still before dawn…
Yes, the biggest change in me over these past two years has been learning self-restraint. I didn’t want to impulsively turn the grievances of these two years into accusations toward Mi Cai. I only wanted to talk to her with the expectations and feelings I had always carried, just as if we had never been separated.
After parking the car, Old Ban happened to arrive beside me carrying his day’s catch. I carried the fish basket for him, and we walked together toward the stairwell entrance. He asked me, “Why are you back so early today?”
“I finished my tasks ahead of schedule,” I replied. Yet suddenly, I didn’t know how to bring up the news about Mi Cai possibly returning soon. Over these past two years, every time I saw him and Mom showing great affection for other people’s children, I felt a sense of guilt that words could not describe. I could only try to make it up to them materially, but they had no great desire for material things. I knew what they longed for most was for Mi Cai to return home as soon as possible and rebuild this broken family with me…
Yes, the wishes of the elderly are that simple. Yet we young people in our prime are too busy entangled in our struggles, caught up in our emotional entanglements, desperately seeking a way out that seems close but is actually far away. Therefore, I was hesitant to tell them this news, fearing unforeseen changes. Unless Mi Cai herself confirmed to me that she would return, I swallowed back the words that had nearly reached my lips.
Even Old Ban seemed to have become accustomed to waiting. He and Mom hadn’t asked about Mi Cai in front of me for a long time. But I knew exactly what he was thinking. Recently, with nothing much to do, he often went to the wedding planning company downstairs to do odd jobs. He said it wasn’t for the sake of earning a little money, but that helping young people about to embark on marriage made him feel fulfilled.
After entering the house, Mom was already busily preparing dinner for the evening. She skillfully cooked the fish Old Ban had caught into drinking snacks. I also took advantage of the free evening to have a few drinks with Old Ban. Everything seemed to return to the days two years ago in Xuzhou, except that Mi Cai—who used to be there setting the tableware and pouring the wine—was missing. This made the taste of the wine seem a little more diluted. Sometimes I also thought: if she knew how much we missed her, would she move up her return date a bit?
…
After having dinner with Old Ban and Mom, I returned to the old house and turned on the computer in Mi Cai’s room, beginning to write her an email. I calculated the time—if she was working today, she should already be in her office.
I repeatedly drafted several different openings for this email, yet remained unsatisfied. In my anxiety, I pulled the curtains open and stood by the window for a while, looking at the old neighborhood before me—less lively but full of depth. Everything here seemed calm, as if untouched by worldly disturbances or the burdens of reality. Then I recalled my earlier decision to talk to her as if we had never been separated. So I sat back down at the computer and casually sent her a message: “Are you at work today?”
Time passed minute by minute, but I still hadn’t received her reply. But this was normal—after all, our communication relied only on email. If she had a routine meeting in the morning, she definitely couldn’t reply immediately. I put on a thick jacket, habitually took a can of beer from the fridge, and tucked a pack of cigarettes into my pocket, walking down the increasingly quiet street. I wanted to ease my anxiety through a walk, but the late autumn night already carried the chill of winter. I saw a couple who seemed homeless, hugging each other for warmth, discussing with smiles on their faces whether they would go on a carefree trip in the future.
Hmph! In my eyes, they weren’t that happy either, because in their smiles, I saw only a pile of youthful memories woven together—something not particularly valuable in this materialistic world.
I walked all the way to the moat, drank half the beer, lit a cigarette, and took out my phone to check if Mi Cai had replied.
She hadn’t…
I sighed and focused all my attention on the river flowing joyfully with the spring breeze. It had no worries, no fatigue—precisely what I lacked.
My phone vibrated in my hand. Instinctively, I flipped the screen around. It was Mi Cai replying to the email. She politely asked, “May I ask who this is?”
I decided to be the clueless guy I used to be and skipped the formal introduction, bluntly asking, “Have you gone to work today or not?”
This time Mi Cai replied quickly, but briefly, with only an emoji showing sweat… Probably frustrated by my absurd behavior.
I decided to act tough again and replied, “You have two minutes to guess who I am… Hurry up!”
“This doesn’t even need guessing!”
“Then who am I?”
“…My very neurotic husband!”
I barely had time to feel the happiness from those words when she quickly added, “Did Mr. Chen give you this email address?”
“Yes. Everyone thinks I’ve had it tough these past two years. I’m almost at my breaking point. Can you give me a definite answer? When exactly do you plan to come back? How much longer do I have to wait?”
Perhaps unable to give me a precise timeline, Mi Cai didn’t reply for a long time this time. In the meantime, I finished the rest of the beer and lit another cigarette—but the moment I lit it, I put it out again. These days, I allow myself only a few cigarettes a day, and today would be no exception. I had promised Mi Cai firmly that I would reduce my smoking, and she had promised me she would come back. I kept my promise, but she hadn’t yet.
Finally, my phone vibrated again. It was Mi Cai’s reply: “Not too much longer. When I come back, I’ll give you a surprise to make up for all your waiting!”
I hated the vagueness of time and replied emotionally: “What surprise do I want? What surprise do I want? For me, you’re the biggest surprise… Just come back soon, okay?”
After sending the email, I tried to think from Mi Cai’s perspective about how to reply and realized it really was hard. Sometimes I truly was difficult to deal with. But nearly two years of waiting had left me unsure how to endure any longer. It felt like an insurmountable obstacle between us, unless the day finally came when she stood before me with her luggage. Until then, I would still feel sad over so many unfulfilled promises.
I didn’t want to pressure her too much, so I sent another email: “I know forcing you like this won’t make you appear in front of me tomorrow. Some things need to be dealt with before they can be resolved. So I will still wait for you as firmly as before… Even though people keep setting me up on blind dates, I’ve rejected every single one. You don’t need to doubt—I’m that firm!”
I had originally thought that the latter half of the message, meant as a joke, would provoke a playful reply from Mi Cai. But she replied: “You must be firm. Must…”
The emphasized “must” made me sense her inner anxiety. I quickly reassured her and steered the conversation toward work topics. We ended the conversation when it was already midnight here and lunchtime there. Though there was no concrete outcome, for me it was already a blessing—after all, we had reached a stage where we could occasionally communicate. So I firmly believed that her return was truly not far off, perhaps on the day of the acquisition of Hengyang Department Store!
…
The next evening, I picked up the four-year-old son of our Business Department Director from kindergarten. She had urgent business in Shanghai, and her husband was on a business trip to Taiwan, so she entrusted me to take care of the little chatterbox.
I really liked children. After finishing my work, I took the little kid to a toy store at the mall and bought him many toys. Then I treated him to a children’s meal before returning to the office to wait together with him for his mother to come back from Shanghai.
While I was helping the little boy assemble the toys, I received a call from the front desk saying that Mr. Fang from Wansen Group had come without an appointment and insisted on meeting me, asking whether I would see him.
I certainly had the right to refuse to meet Fang Yuan. But some subtle emotions always stirred within me, and in the business world, it’s unnecessary to be overly narrow-minded. So in the end, I chose to respect his right to express himself and agreed to meet him.
Soon, Fang Yuan was led by the receptionist to my office. He sat down on the sofa opposite my desk, while the innocent little boy, as pure as a blank sheet of paper, continued playing with his favorite toys in a corner.
Ironically, the two of us—seasoned adults—were about to stage a performance of emotional intrigue and commercial rivalry in front of him, yet neither of us would remember that we too once had a time of innocence…
Fang Yuan possessed a kind of inexplicable tenacity. Whatever he set his mind to, no matter how difficult, he would accomplish it—even if it meant crawling on his knees. Therefore, I could already roughly guess why he had come to see me this time!
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