The following is the English translation of the text:
This gossip about Fang Yuan surprised me. I found it hard to believe that Fang Yuan, who is usually so meticulous, would expose such matters to public scrutiny. After all, he is not part of the entertainment industry and doesn’t need such incidents for publicity. On the contrary, this would have an extremely negative impact on him, who operates in the business world. How Mi Zhongde and Mi Lan view this incident is even more thought-provoking.
But one thing is certain without any guesswork: the emotional relationship between Fang Yuan and Mi Lan has developed cracks! This had already shown signs before.
The sky gradually darkened. After having some snacks for dinner, I left the “Mo Chou Coffee Shop” on Muchou Road and returned to Suzhou, preparing for the work that awaited me the next day.
On this night, I dealt with some work emails in the old house and then went to a small snack shop near the moat for some late-night snacks. Because a large garment processing factory had recently opened nearby, the snack shop often stayed open until late to cater to the workers who worked night shifts.
This convenience was a boon for me, although it changed the atmosphere of the area. The moat was no longer the same one it used to be, so I often stayed late, eating snacks and standing by the riverbank, lamenting how the world had changed.
After finishing my late-night snack, it was already quite late at night, and I didn’t rush back. I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head and leaned against the railing by the river, lighting a cigarette. I only wanted to stay for the length of that cigarette, because soon the garment factory would end its night shift, and the road along the river would become very noisy, losing all the deep, quiet atmosphere of the night—I really disliked this scenario!
I flicked the ash from my cigarette and instinctively turned my head to the side, only to be very surprised to see Jian Wei, also wearing a hood, walking toward me. We had met here once in the morning and now again at night.
We were both very surprised!
I lowered my hood and looked at her. She stopped beside me, her figure appearing tall and slender under the moonlight. I could even catch a faint whiff of her fragrance in the gentle breeze.
“Why are you here again?”
Jian Wei leaned against the railing. She didn’t answer immediately but instead fiddled with the button on her hood before finally saying, “I just wanted to find a place to go in the evening. I think this place is nice, and it’s not too far from the sanatorium where I live.”
“Not too far? The sanatorium is nearly two kilometers away from here!”
“For someone with nothing to do, is two kilometers really that far?”
Looking at Jian Wei’s slightly tired face, I finally said after a long pause, “I feel like there’s something else behind your words… Do you want to change your current life? Don’t want to stay idle all the time!”
Jian Wei gazed at the calm river surface until a breeze created ripples. Finally, she said, “Yes… I’ve decided to move to the United States with Dr. Mo.”
“Uh…” I paused, then raised my hand and took a deep puff of my cigarette, forcing a smile as I asked, “When are you planning to leave?”
“I have all the procedures for going to the U.S. completed, so I can leave anytime.”
“Okay…”
The wind continued to blow past us, as if carrying the sorrow of the entire city. Jian Wei lowered her head, staring at the river below. She spoke softly, almost to herself: “Whether it’s people, the world, or even time, which seems eternal, everything has an end. My end will definitely be in a foreign land after I turn around. I heard my parents thought the same way. They both hoped I would leave this place full of troubles.”
“Jian Wei, listen to me. Leaving isn’t an end for you, but rather a new beginning.”
“How I see it is my own business. I don’t need you to give me another answer.”
“You’re right, you’re right… As long as you’re happy, I can keep quiet.”
After my compromise, we fell into silence. At that moment, the garment factory finally ended its night shift. The previously quiet road was now filled with the sounds of electric bikes and conversations. Jian Wei seemed unaccustomed to the sudden crowd. She turned around, looked, and covered her ears. She hated the sudden noise. Perhaps I should have told her about all the changes here when we met in the morning, so she would have been mentally prepared… But honestly, I didn’t expect her to come here again at night.
Jian Wei brushed the dust off the railing. The breath we exhaled seemed to turn into pure white smoke, dispersing along the light from the street lamps. The world finally quieted down again.
Shaking her head, Jian Wei, just like in the morning, left without saying goodbye, walking alone along the river embankment back the way she came. I took a while to react, wanting to drive her back, but she happened to catch a taxi passing by on the road and disappeared in an instant, vanishing into the misty riverside of Muchou… This left me feeling hollow, yet unable to express it!
…
Two days later, Jian Wei left without saying goodbye. Even Mo Zishi didn’t inform me beforehand. Together, they left Suzhou for the United States. It wasn’t until the evening that Yan Yan came to my office and told me this news.
I didn’t say anything. I just poured myself a cup of hot tea and stood by the window, gazing at every passing car that came into view, as if seeing both departures and reunions… Finally, I smiled faintly at Yan Yan and asked, “Will she come back?”
Yan Yan shook her head and replied, “She didn’t say whether she would come back. She left very peacefully!”
I muttered softly, “Good… Actually, it’s good… Is it good or not? Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not!”
As I kept muttering, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I thought of the scene of meeting Jian Wei by the Muchou River two days ago, and the series of events that had happened over the past two years. I couldn’t forget her jumping into the river to save my life, or her pouring gasoline with me at Xiaojun’s flower shop, facing the thugs and saying, “Let’s die together!”
I thought back even further, to a few years earlier: she hated me, hated my inaction. She had cried and argued with me because of it. She also loved me, loved the sky city I had painted for her, loved every bit of warmth and happiness I brought her…
The bitter tears finally fell from my eyes. I realized that these emotions would never come again. She would no longer appear in my life with such intensity… Everything must come to an end. That saying wasn’t wrong. Jian Wei and I started in Suzhou, and we ended in Suzhou. From now on, she is she, and I am I… Perhaps even mutual reminiscence has become a luxury. At this moment, I finally tasted the flavor of an ending. Some people are destined to leave, while others are destined to return… This isn’t a rule, but it’s the way of human emotions.
At this moment, Yan Yan came to my side. She took out a familiar tablet from her handbag and said to me, “Zhaoyang, this is what Weiwei asked me to return to you before she left. She said… she didn’t want to take this with her. I don’t know why she did this. Did she already remember something?”
I took the tablet from Yan Yan’s hand without saying anything. Only after I felt calmer did I turn on the tablet and input the familiar password…
My heart started to race. I saw that folder again, but it was no longer encrypted—the password had been removed… My fingers trembled as I opened the notes file inside. However, apart from the title, there was no content inside…
I felt weak and sat back on the sofa. I finally understood that during both of our encounters by the Muchou River, she had already remembered everything that had happened there. But she said nothing, only giving me this tablet with all its content deleted…
She was reborn! And our past was extinguished…
It felt as if all these years between us had condensed into four words at this moment… Loved, missed!
Hehe, everything seemed like just a dizziness in fate! Sometimes real, sometimes illusory like bubbles…
…
After a tiring day, I returned to the old house. As I was about to open the door, I noticed a postcard in the mailbox that had always been empty. I quickly took the postcard out. It was a postcard customized by Xinlv Energy, so it must have been sent to me by Mi Cai…
She wrote in English: “The world is so big, this is home… Dear Yang, Happy New Year in advance, and wish you success in your work! Missing you, Mi Cai!”
I raised my head, closed my eyes, and placed the postcard on my chest. I could feel Mi Cai becoming more proactive… Was she coming back? Really coming back? We had been apart for almost a year. This process had been so long that it seemed to have turned me into an old man without vitality.
Back in the house, I looked at the postcard over and over again. I could almost see Mi Cai’s expression as she wrote those words of blessing. She wrote the word “missing” so heavily, surely she really missed me… Since she misses me so much, why not come back soon!
Thinking like this, if she could come back before the New Year, our family, including Ban Die and Mom, could reunite in Suzhou, the city where we would spend the rest of our lives. Just thinking about it was beautiful, and it was the only ending I would accept.
The night had become unbearably deep. I stubbornly kept my hand on this postcard, unwilling to let go. For the first time, I felt that Mi Cai was so close to me, because just a few days ago, her hand had also been placed on this postcard like mine. At this moment, there was no insurmountable distance between us, only the distance of a postcard!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage