After Qin Yan left, I finally had a moment to pick up my phone and check the day’s entertainment news. As expected, the most prominent headlines were about Leyao. To be precise, the news was actually about Cao Jinfey, but it dragged along Leyao due to her close association with him.
The news article featured photos taken by a reporter from an entertainment magazine in the Maldives, showing Cao Jinfey vacationing with a top female star from mainland China. The two were seen entering and leaving the hotel together, behaving intimately…
The article went into great detail analyzing the incident, labeling Cao Jinfey and Leyao’s marriage as a business alliance, asserting that there was no genuine love between them…
I then checked Leyao’s Weibo account, where her page was flooded with comments from netizens. Some claimed this was a publicity stunt orchestrated by her and Cao Jinfey, as her movie was currently in production—this being a common practice in the industry. Others dismissed this theory, arguing that Leyao had no need to promote herself at the expense of her marital reputation, and proceeded to curse Cao Jinfey as an unfaithful man who was unworthy of Leyao… Meanwhile, jokes and anecdotes about Leyao and Cao Jinfey flooded the internet, placing the two squarely at the center of public controversy. Thus, everyone eagerly awaited a direct response from Leyao, but she had gone silent, and even her assistant had no idea where she was, causing the outside speculation to spiral further out of control!
Instinctively, I furrowed my brow and threw the phone aside, placing both hands over my face, unwilling to continue watching the endless stream of gossip from the entertainment world. I also lacked the capacity to understand the truth behind everything… I really couldn’t believe that Cao Jinfey had already strayed so soon after their marriage!
Suddenly, I found myself wanting more than anyone else to see the parties involved address the matter directly… Yet I had to restrain myself, reminding forcefully that I must not get involved in this incident, at most just silently follow its developments.
I refocused, shifting my attention entirely to my entrepreneurial plans. Meanwhile, customers at the coffee shop came and went without my notice, leaving Xiao Nuo constantly busy acting as both barista and server. Finally, long after the streetlights outside had come on, I got up to help her with some of the chores.
The crowd in the shop gradually thinned out, the earlier liveliness gone for good. In the flickering lights, I saw the end of the day approaching…
I sat tiredly on the sofa, lit a cigarette, and looked at the day’s receipts… The income had been quite good: a total of 82 cups of coffee were sold for 2,637 yuan. I placed the scattered money into my wallet, preparing to close the coffee shop for the day… At this moment, I really wanted to go home and sleep, but then I remembered that Mi Cai was attending her company’s annual dinner party and would likely end up drinking. Later on, I would have to drive to pick her up, so I said to Xiao Nuo, “Xiao Nuo, once you finish cleaning up the shop, go home and rest first.”
“What about you?”
“Your sister-in-law is at her company’s annual dinner tonight, and I don’t know when it will end, so I’ll just wait here for her.”
Xiao Nuo thought for a moment before replying, “Since I have nothing to do at home anyway, I might as well stay and help you for a while. Maybe more customers will come later!”
I smiled and said, “This is entirely your choice—you won’t be getting any overtime pay!”
“Stingy boss!” Xiao Nuo said, heading to the bar to prepare two cups of milk. She then carried the tray and sat opposite me, handing one of the cups to me. Before I could even take a sip, she asked with concern, “Brother Zhaoyang, did you see today’s news about Leyao and Cao Jinfey?”
Though I had mentally prepared for her to ask, I still felt a wave of irritation. After a long silence, I finally replied, “Yes.”
Xiao Nuo seemed to sense my reluctance to discuss the matter. After another pause, she asked again, “Brother Zhaoyang, I’m actually really curious—how did Leyao, a big celebrity, become such good friends with you, a small coffee shop owner? Is there some kind of special connection between you two?”
I looked at her and feigned realization, saying jokingly, “Xiao Nuo, you traitor… You must be a spy placed by an entertainment magazine to extract exclusive news from me, right?”
Xiao Nuo was stunned, staring at me in disbelief…
Finally, I dropped my serious expression and continued, “Don’t ask about the past anymore. Because Leyao and I have both moved on with our lives. We’re just ordinary friends at best, nothing special… If you really want to call it fate, it’s that several years ago, we were both struggling, went through tough times together, helped each other a bit, and shared some encouraging words. That’s all.”
Xiao Nuo believed me, saying, “Oh… If that’s the case, Leyao probably doesn’t even remember you anymore. After all, people meet many such friends in their lifetime, and she’s such a big star now. Your social circles have fundamentally changed!”
I nodded, “More or less.”
Suddenly, Xiao Nuo seemed to remember something and grabbed my arm, shaking it vigorously while speaking indignantly, “Then tell me, is there still a chance for me to get her autograph? I feel like she probably doesn’t even remember you anymore! You lied to me, saying it would be no problem to have dinner together… This is terrible! You’re such a fraud who deceives people and exploits employees just to achieve your goals!”
Her shaking made me feel deeply melancholy, so much so that I couldn’t speak… This only made her think I was lying even more, so she shook me harder, making me even sadder, as if some past memories and moments could never be regained…
Finally, I comforted her, saying, “Don’t worry, I promise I will fulfill my promise to you!”
“What if you can’t?”
“If I can’t, then I… I’ll be your grandson, okay?”
“That’s more like sincerity. From now on, I’ll work hard for the coffee shop!”
…
The night grew deeper, and I finally received a call from Mi Cai asking me to pick her up. I immediately discarded those complicated thoughts and hurried to the hotel where her company’s annual dinner was being held. Coincidentally, Li Xiaoyun’s husband, Wang Zheng, was also there. We got out of the car together and smoked while waiting for the two of them to come out of the hotel.
After waiting for ten minutes, a large group finally staggered out. Li Xiaoyun supported a slightly drunk Mi Cai as she approached me, apologizing, “Zhaoyang, I’m sorry. Since I’m pregnant and couldn’t drink, Mi Cai helped me drink instead, and she ended up a bit too drunk!”
I took Mi Cai from her, smiled, and said, “It’s fine. Actually, she’s been under a lot of stress lately, so letting loose with some alcohol is okay. And she did it proudly, looking out for your baby!… Once the baby is born, you must tell him or her how selflessly Auntie Mi Cai sacrificed herself, and when he or she grows up, they must be especially considerate to Auntie Mi Cai!”
My words made Li Xiaoyun laugh happily. She then reminded me to take good care of Mi Cai before getting into the car with Wang Zheng and leaving…
I took a deep breath, leaned against the streetlight, picked up Mi Cai, and placed her in the front passenger seat, fastening her seatbelt before leaving the luxurious hotel behind.
…
On the way back, the city was filled with flickering lights and crowded people. For safety, I drove extra slowly, waiting at each intersection for the traffic lights to change.
At an intersection where we had to wait for more than two minutes, I decided to pull the handbrake, roll down the window, and let Mi Cai get some fresh air. I also fed her some warm milk that I had brought from the coffee shop. She seemed very thirsty and drank it quickly, choking a little in the process, which made her cry out in discomfort. My heart ached for her. I gently patted her shoulder while preparing to wipe her mouth with a tissue…
City lights continued to flicker, and people of all kinds gathered and dispersed in different directions under the illumination… I rested my hand on the window edge, gazing outward while calculating in my mind whether a green light would be long enough for me to pass through the intersection, because I wanted to get the drunk Mi Cai home to rest as soon as possible. Sitting in the car must have been uncomfortable for her.
As I gazed, I suddenly seemed to have an illusion—I saw a familiar figure wearing a mask and a baseball cap, walking deeper into the lights with the crowd…
I leaned further out of the window, but the figure had already blended into the distant lights, leaving only a blurred afterimage… I couldn’t make out who it was in time.
Still distracted, a series of honks startled me. I looked up and noticed the traffic light had turned green. I quickly released the handbrake and followed the car ahead toward the next intersection…
…
My mind was restless all the way, constantly wondering whether that figure had really been her… But at the next intersection, I saw several other women similarly wearing masks and hats. That’s when I realized I must have been mistaken—it was winter, after all, and many women wore masks while shopping. My illusion was likely caused by my preoccupation with Leyao and Cao Jinfey’s affair over the past few hours, misleading me subconsciously. After all, how could Leyao possibly come to Xuzhou? Even if she did, with such a large city, what were the odds that I would coincidentally spot her?
Gradually, I convinced myself it had been a mere illusion. I finally stopped overthinking and focused entirely on driving. Before long, I reached the final intersection before home…
Yet, the city’s dazzling lights once again stirred up a nearly faded memory in my mind… In the scene, several years ago, Leyao and I sat in a bar under flickering lights, bored and listless. She leaned on the table, peering at me through her glass, while I looked up at the ceiling, playing with my lighter in hand… We sat in silence from the beginning of the night until deep into the evening… Occasionally glancing at each other, trying to dilute the pain we once felt!
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