I suppose our parting must have happened in the early morning before the sunlight had spread. All I remember is that we had fallen asleep on the sofa in the café. I dreamed all night, and when I woke up, I was covered with her coat, but she had already left. At that moment, the entire Moyou Road was still asleep, only some cold sunlight mixed with the streetlights scattered lazily on the old eaves. Then gradually, vendors selling breakfast arrived on the street. When they lifted the lids of their steaming pots, the street, covered in winter, seemed to come alive. Their business gradually picked up, and the city’s first wave of working people had begun their busy day.
I carefully folded Mi Cai’s white coat and held it in my arms. I felt somewhat lost, but calm. I had already mentally prepared myself for her departure. Actually, the best possible outcome was that she had left while I was asleep. To be honest, I was afraid of helplessly watching her figure gradually disappear from my sight.
In the morning, Le Yao, Luo Ben, and I met at a famous breakfast restaurant in Nanjing. Yang Youqi did not act at all like a pop diva. She was like a considerate girlfriend, carefully brewing a pot of jasmine tea for Luo Ben and me, then sitting aside, watching us like a listener.
Luo Ben asked me, “Where did you spend the night yesterday?”
I didn’t want to tell Luo Ben that I had briefly met Mi Cai, fearing that it would cause him a series of concerns, which I would then have to respond to while enduring the pain of parting. I simply replied, “I had some late-night snacks and randomly found a small hotel to stay at.”
“When did you become so unsociable?”
I smiled, took a sip of hot tea from my cup, and thought again of Mi Cai’s request before she left—that I should contact An Qi to discuss cooperation. Before that, I had to confirm with Yang Youqi whether she was willing to endorse our online mall. I then turned to Yang Youqi, who had been sitting beside us listening, and asked, “Youqi, what do you think about the cooperation I mentioned earlier?”
Yang Youqi smiled slightly and said, “Zhaoyang Ge, I was just about to talk to you about this! I think we can definitely take this discussion further.”
Delighted, I immediately asked, “I really want to know what made you decide this?”
Yang Youqi first looked at Luo Ben before turning to me and replying, “Luo Ben said you’re a reliable guy!”
I nodded. Regarding my brother Luo Ben, my gratitude didn’t need to be expressed. His trust in me seemed unconditional ever since we first met. Conversely, Yang Youqi’s trust in him was also unconditional, which is why I could smoothly accomplish this task. This further proved that Yang Youqi truly loved Luo Ben. After all, for a celebrity like her to make the decision to cooperate without considering endorsement fees and while the project was still in its planning phase was quite rare.
But would Yang Youqi, who was already devoting her heart, end up with Luo Ben with a happy result?
I couldn’t figure it out. I just saw in them some resemblance to Faye Wong and Dou Wei. I’ve heard that life is like a foggy forest, where some people get lost, while others meet again. If that’s the case, I hope they belong to the latter. I also hope that Yang Youqi’s rising fame won’t become a burden for Luo Ben.
That morning, after leaving Nanjing, I headed directly to Yangzhou and went to the new home of An Qi and Zhang Yixi. Zhang Yixi happened to be in Yangzhou, so he insisted on turning this business meeting into a friendly gathering. As a result, when I saw how perfectly happy their family was, I had absolutely no desire to discuss business. I just wanted to stay at their house, enjoying lunch and then dinner.
While Zhang Yixi and An Qi were busy in the kitchen, I sat on the sofa with their son, Pipi, chatting about a popular new video game. We seriously exchanged our gaming experiences, which eventually led to An Qi scolding me furiously. She accused me and Zhang Yixi of having the same bad habits, always leading Pipi astray and almost turning him into a delinquent. She nearly kicked me out.
After lunch, Zhang Yixi took Pipi to their room for a nap. In the living room, finally, An Qi and I began discussing the business cooperation like true professionals.
I spent an hour explaining my project ideas and strategic plans to An Qi. Throughout the conversation, she seemed to have everything under control and didn’t question my plans much. However, she highly appreciated my acquisition of the fashion magazine, Fashion Balley, and the decision to invite Yang Youqi to join the project. Eventually, we reached an agreement to establish a working group soon to determine the cooperation methods and profit-sharing arrangements.
The time had already moved from noon to afternoon when An Qi and I finally shifted our conversation from business back to life. I could finally catch my breath, yet inevitably recalled the night before when I was with Mi Cai. Honestly, even I hadn’t anticipated that we could calm down after the excitement of reuniting after such a long time. Our brief time together had been so peaceful, yet so unforgettable. It felt as if even now, there was still a faint trace of her lingering on me, making it hard for me to believe that she had left me again.
That night, I really did stay at An Qi and Zhang Yixi’s house for dinner, then found a hotel near the Slender West Lake scenic area to stay the night. Thus, all my seemingly hidden loneliness erupted again amidst the night filled with lights.
This year, I saw many of my friends settle down in love and life, but I could only pretend to be someone who could wait indefinitely, drifting without a time limit in the bitter sea of time.
Standing by the balcony, leaning forward to view the charming night view, I sighed deeply. Burdened by loneliness, I couldn’t convince myself that I was a happy person.
After returning to Suzhou, I started forming a new work team and began collaborating efficiently with An Qi’s investment team. We quickly and effectively determined the initial investment amount. In the following month, I officially acquired the fashion magazine, Fashion Balley, under the name of Luku, and started building our own supply chain through relevant connections. At the same time, Tongzi led a new team in constructing our online mall, while I personally assembled a team to plan marketing strategies in advance for the mall’s future operations.
During this period, besides being busy with the company and the new project, I also closely monitored the movements of our competitor, Wansen. According to reliable information, Wansen’s online mall had originally planned a 200 million yuan advertising budget for this quarter. However, recently, it was suddenly reported that this budget had been cut by 100 million yuan. There was no need for much speculation about the reason, as it was related to the significant impact suffered by Wansen’s investors in the European market. They had no choice but to tighten various budgets to maintain the group’s operations. However, these issues only caused them some financial pressure. Even without the support of their investors, Wansen was still a well-established group with other financing channels to sustain its operations.
Therefore, it was nearly impossible to defeat such a giant as Wansen in a short time. We needed to engage them more directly in the market. Wansen’s online mall, which had almost all of their resources poured into it, was the best target. Once this project failed, it would directly harm the foundation of Wansen’s business.
It was another late night after a busy day. I drove alone to the city center to grab some late-night snacks when I ran into Fang Yuan while passing by Wansen. I didn’t think it was a coincidence because, over the long period that had passed, we had only met a few times by chance.
Fang Yuan approached me with his briefcase, clearly having also been working late. I looked at him coldly because even today, I still harbored an unquenchable hatred for him. If he hadn’t deliberately deceived me and trampled on our nearly decade-long friendship, I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation with Mi Cai. It was his selfishness and bloated desires that destroyed my life with Mi Cai. If there is justice in this world, a person like him, who betrays trust and gratitude, must receive the punishment he deserves; otherwise, there is no justice or fairness in this world.
Fang Yuan was a man hard to understand. He seemed never to have done anything that would provoke public outrage. He, as usual, smoothly pulled out a cigarette from his pack and offered it to me with a smile, asking, “Just got off work too?”
I didn’t take his cigarette and replied, “There’s no need for us to go through these superficial formalities anymore, Fang Yuan. You’ve done so many despicable things—how can you still live so comfortably and stand before me so calmly?”
Fang Yuan smiled and said, “I don’t know if I’m living comfortably, but seeking happiness is a person’s nature. That’s our biggest difference. I live to feel good, while you always choose to burden yourself with troubles.”
“Haha… You do live to feel good, so you married Mi Lan and still went out to play with female celebrities, squandering all the money you gained through shameless means. Fang Yuan, those who do much evil will eventually destroy themselves. You’ve betrayed far too many people… even Mi Lan, that extremely foolish woman!”
Fang Yuan looked at me, lit the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth, took a puff, and narrowed his eyes to avoid the smoke before speaking, “…A person walks many paths in life, but I never take the path back because looking back means admitting I took a wrong turn…”
I interrupted him before he could continue, “There are no wrong paths in this world, only wrong people… Take care of yourself!”
Fang Yuan called out to me as I was about to leave, “Zhaoyang… Remember this: the reason I don’t take the path back is because no one is willing to give me a way back. I’ve tried… There is none. No one is willing to give me that path. I once naively tried to have Yan Yan keep our child, but I couldn’t. Now she’s married to someone else and is even pregnant… Tell me, where is the way back? Instead of thinking about that, I should focus on finishing this path and proving to everyone that I, Fang Yuan, am not wrong—that I am the true winner in life! Because I have the wealth that most people in this world don’t, and I have people who are always ready to flatter me!”
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