After washing up, I sat alone on the couch, wide awake. The second hand on the wall clock kept pushing the minute and hour hands around and around. I drank a glass of water, smoked a cigarette, went to the bathroom, and then sat back on the couch again, making the night extremely monotonous. In this monotony, I grew even more tired of living in Suzhou, and my desire to return to Xuzhou intensified.
I stubbed out the cigarette and stood up, retrieving from a drawer beneath the TV cabinet Luo Ben’s property certificate and car keys. Although Luo Ben had already told me to sell his house and car to repay the one million I owed Mi Cai, I hadn’t done it yet.
Perhaps it was time for me to sell his house and car…
After making this decision, I immediately called Mi Cai. I needed to discuss this with her because, for us at this moment, it was a significant matter.
After a while, Mi Cai answered the call. Her voice sounded groggy, likely because she had already gone to sleep. She asked, “Why are you calling me now? It’s already very late!”
“I just wanted to talk to you about something…”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Actually, selling Luo Ben’s house and car wasn’t particularly urgent. I could have waited until the next day to call her, but in the sleepless night, I really missed her, so I used this as an excuse to call. I smiled and said, “Mainly because I missed you… and secondly, there’s another not-so-urgent matter.”
Mi Cai also smiled and said, “No rush. Why don’t you miss me properly first, and then we can talk about the not-so-urgent matter later.”
Her response made me feel her calm state of mind at that moment. That small mountain village was indeed a place that could heal people. Thinking about it, lying in that little house, surrounded by no city lights that never seemed to go out, listening to the faint barking of dogs and the rustling sound of wind blowing through the hay stacks, it was easy for a person to calm down, which explained why she had gone to sleep so early.
I was silent, and she waited. After a long while, I finally said to her, “Okay, I’m done missing you. Now I’ll talk about the other matter.”
“Okay, go ahead… I’m listening.”
“Uh… these days, I plan to sell Luo Ben’s house and car…”
Before I could finish, Mi Cai, rarely interrupting me, said softly, “Wait a second, Zhao Yang. I’m sleeping with Teacher Wei right now, and I’m afraid to wake her up. Let me get dressed and go outside to talk to you…”
Instinctively, I responded with a yes, then suddenly felt surprised. Mi Cai was actually staying with Wei Manwen. Logically, shouldn’t Wei Manwen be living with that man Zhou Hang? By my calculations, they probably had already held their wedding ceremony!
Thinking about it again, it made sense. After all, the small mountain village had very limited housing. Since Mi Cai was only familiar with Wei Manwen, it was reasonable for her to stay with Wei for a few days temporarily. And Zhou Hang was a doctor in the town, so he likely returned to the town already, for convenience.
On the phone, I heard the sound of the wind blowing and didn’t want her to stay outside any longer, so I said, “Go back to sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow morning to talk about this. The night wind in the mountains is really strong!”
“It’s okay. I’m standing next to the hay stack, and the wind can’t reach me… If you didn’t call me tonight, I would have called you tomorrow morning to talk about this matter anyway!”
I was quite surprised, “Huh?”
“You need to get rid of Luo Ben’s house and car as soon as possible… I need a sum of money!”
I was even more surprised and a little worried, so I asked, “What’s going on?”
Mi Cai hesitated for a moment before replying, “Don’t ask so many questions first… This money is very important to me. Please handle it as soon as possible and then transfer it to me, okay?”
I firmly said, “No way. You have to tell me, or else I won’t be able to sleep peacefully tonight!”
Mi Cai was silent for a while and then said, “Zhao Yang, don’t panic first. This money has nothing to do with me personally… It’s just that the medical conditions here in the town are really too poor, so I want to donate this money to the local medical institutions to improve the medical environment here!”
I felt relieved immediately and complained, “This is such a public welfare matter. Why didn’t you let me ask earlier? Did you think I was unwilling to spend this money?”
Mi Cai replied in a joking tone, “Maybe… After all, you’re lazy and gluttonous, and you can’t wait to take the easy way out once you have this money. If you bring this money back to Xuzhou, you might lose your sense of urgency again. So after serious consideration, I still need to let you experience the hardship of starting from scratch and hone your survival skills!”
Even though I knew she was joking, I still felt a sense of shame. I was well aware of how smoothly the past year had gone for me, and Mi Cai’s wake-up call was necessary. I needed to be alert… and using this money to improve the local medical conditions was indeed spending it where it was most needed. Although I did feel a bit reluctant, I quickly became reconciled to the idea.
I smiled and said to Mi Cai, “I’ll go with you on this. But selling Luo Ben’s house and car will definitely fetch more than one million. The extra money, I want to give it to Luo Ben’s parents on his behalf. He’s treated the two elders badly over the years…”
“I agree with you on this matter too… So let’s make this decision happily then.”
“No problem… You go back to sleep quickly now. Don’t catch a chill outside!”
“Okay.” Mi Cai responded, then seemed to remember something and said to me, “Zhao Yang, how’s everything going on your side now? Have you called your uncle and aunt to tell them we’re coming back?”
“The company matters are being handled according to the original plan. I should be able to complete the work handover within a week. Uh… As for my parents… Let’s wait a bit. Then, we’ll drop in on them in Xuzhou, show up in front of them with a pitiful look, and pretend to be helpless. They’ll probably forgive us more easily when they’re feeling both angry and amused!”
Mi Cai was amused by my words. She laughed and asked, “Is that approach reliable?”
“There’s nothing more reliable than this!!”
Mi Cai seemed to trust me, replying, “Okay then, I can pretend to be pitiful too… Then, we’ll both pretend to be pitiful together!”
“Yeah… On that day, we’ll show up in front of them carrying sacks on our shoulders, looking pale and malnourished. When they feel sorry for us, they won’t have the heart to hold any grudges anymore and will treat us well with delicious food and drinks!!…”
Mi Cai was silent for a long time on the other end of the phone before saying, “You’re really not reliable at all…”
…
In the following days, I started contacting friends to sell Luo Ben’s house and car. At the same time, I kept an eye on the developments regarding Yan Yan. During these days, Jian Wei stayed by her side. Jian Wei told me that her mood had been in a state of collapse, crying during the day and unable to sleep at night. Yesterday, she hadn’t even eaten a single grain all day. If she continued like this, her body would soon be unable to withstand it… But aside from feeling anxious, Jian Wei and I were really powerless. Once someone’s heart is hurt by emotions, it can only heal on its own; outsiders can neither persuade nor control it.
One afternoon, I suddenly received a call from Jian Wei. She nervously told me that Yan Yan was already in the hospital preparing for an abortion surgery… I didn’t have time to ask what had happened in between to prompt her to make this extremely painful decision. I hurriedly hung up the phone and rushed to the hospital by car… I instinctively wanted to stop her!
Yes, the child was innocent. I thought of the time when Le Yao and I had a one-night stand, and she had once been pregnant with my child. At that moment, facing the cold surgical instruments, how frightened and resentful that little life with awareness must have been. I couldn’t let Yan Yan repeat the same mistake… At this moment, I forgot my grudge with Fang Yuan. Instinctively driven, I made a decision—I had to stop Yan Yan…
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