With a strong sense of anticipation, I opened my email inbox, only to be met with a deep sense of disappointment. Many days had passed, but CC still hadn’t replied to my message. Perhaps she really had already started a new life, completely detached from the past, and unwilling to touch anything connected to her former life.
Even so, I still couldn’t give up and sent another email to CC: “Luoben is leaving for the United States tomorrow, his flight is at 4:30 PM…”
After sending this email, I was once again filled with blind hope. I kept imagining a scene like in a TV drama, where at the last moment before Luoben’s departure, CC would show up in front of him, reversing the plot and bringing about a perfect ending.
With this hope in my heart, I finally calmed myself down and drove back to the place where Mi Cai and I lived.
…
In the old house, Mi Cai was sitting on the sofa, as usual, continuing the work she hadn’t finished during the day. On her right side, there was still her favorite fruit. I placed all my small belongings on the coffee table and sat down beside her. Then she got up, poured me a glass of hot water, handed it to me, and turned her attention back to her work.
While drinking the hot water, I looked at her laptop and asked, “What are you working on?”
Mi Cai didn’t hide anything from me and continued typing as she said, “I’m preparing a research report for Tianyang Group’s investment in Zhuomei. An Zong has already started the investment process and moved faster than me. If my research report can be approved at the board meeting next week, the cooperation between Zhuomei and Tianyang Group will officially be finalized!”
“Congratulations, congratulations…”
Mi Cai smiled slightly, her fingers still flying over the keyboard. I wasn’t idle either. I peeled an orange, placed a segment in her mouth, then moved behind the sofa to give her a shoulder massage, helping her relieve the fatigue of the day.
As I massaged her shoulders, I asked again, “Tianyang Group’s investment in Zhuomei must be almost certain by now, right?”
“It’s very likely, unless a third investor appears, but the possibility of that is very small.”
I nodded. If it weren’t for the woman in red’s long-term strategic plan and the fact that Tianyang Group itself is a company with substantial resources and strength, they wouldn’t have taken the risk of investing in Zhuomei at this time. Therefore, in such a cautious situation, it would be difficult for any third party to dare to invest in Zhuomei. Moreover, even if there were another investor comparable to Tianyang Group, with Mi Cai’s control over the board of directors, the final choice would still be Tianyang Group led by the woman in red.
Once Tianyang Group replaces Weiran’s ZH and invests in Zhuomei, Zhuomei will be completely under Mi Cai’s control. At that time, with the entire Zhuomei team united and the strong support of Tianyang Group, she will quickly lead Zhuomei out of its difficulties and continue to climb new heights!
Suddenly, Mi Cai groaned loudly, “Oh… Zhao Yang, you’re squeezing too hard!”
I quickly loosened my grip. Mi Cai turned her head and looked at me with a mixture of tears and laughter, saying, “You can even get distracted while giving me a shoulder massage. What are you thinking about?”
I pulled aside Mi Cai’s collar and indeed saw a red and purple mark where I had massaged her. Feeling guilty, I quickly went to the bathroom and got a hot towel for her. After applying it, I replied, “I was just thinking too positively about the future, so I couldn’t help but put too much force into the massage!… Honestly, I didn’t expect to hurt you this badly!!”
Mi Cai rubbed her shoulder and smiled helplessly, then asked, “So tell me, how positively were you thinking about the future?”
Without hesitation, I answered, “First, Zhuomei will stabilize and climb new heights. Then… shouldn’t we also start considering getting married? And after we get married, we can bring my father and mother to Suzhou to live with us. At that time, even if we have a child, there won’t be any pressure at all!… Ha ha, doesn’t that sound great?”
Mi Cai nodded and said, “That’s a nice thought!”
I felt Mi Cai’s response lacked sincerity, so I asked with a serious face, “Then are you willing to cooperate with me to make the future that great?”
Mi Cai reluctantly nodded again.
“Do you have to look so reluctant and scared when I ask you to cooperate?”
“…I just don’t want to make you too happy, or you might end up hurting my other shoulder too!”
At this moment, I was the one who couldn’t help but laugh. She was still the same old Mi Cai, just like in the past, always managing to leave me speechless and unable to continue the conversation…
After this light-hearted topic, I thought again about Luoben’s departure tomorrow. Although I had already become accustomed to the recent emotional ups and downs, I still asked Mi Cai in a low voice, “Will you be free tomorrow afternoon? If so, come with me to Shanghai to see Luoben off.”
Mi Cai thought for a moment and replied, “I’ve been really busy lately, I’m afraid I won’t have time to go… Please tell Luoben I’m sorry on my behalf.”
I smiled and said, “Whether you go or not doesn’t really matter much, since you often go to the United States anyway. You can meet there. At that time, I will also ask you to convey my greetings to him!”
“Did he say which city in the United States he is going to?”
“He didn’t say, maybe he will stay in New York.”
Mi Cai nodded and turned her attention back to her unfinished work. But I couldn’t help but speak to her again, “These past few days, I sent two emails to CC, telling her all about Luoben. Do you think, if tomorrow CC could show up at the airport, it would be such a pleasant surprise!!… It wouldn’t make everyone feel so awkward and sad!”
When I mentioned CC, Mi Cai finally stopped her work, turned to me and said, “That might seem nice, but no matter what situation Luoben is in now, CC will never give him another chance.”
I couldn’t understand and asked, “Why do you say that?”
“Because CC has already made the most painful decision, and she definitely won’t look back… Sometimes, women are just like this, we don’t make decisions for the sake of making a choice.”
“Then what do we make them for?”
“For another kind of life, so CC, who has already entered another life, most likely won’t look back.”
I couldn’t agree with Mi Cai, shook my head, and said, “I still believe that love can create miracles… Maybe, the woman who will accompany Luoben all the way to old age is still CC!”
…
The next afternoon, I put aside all my work and first went to the hotel to pick up Leyao, then drove to the place where Luoben and Wei Manwen used to live. When we arrived, Luoben had already packed all his luggage and was standing downstairs with his beloved guitar.
I got out of the car, put his suitcase into the trunk, and asked him, “Have you informed your family about your trip to the United States this time?”
Luoben’s expression was gloomy: “I’ll tell them when I get to the US… I can’t tell them now.” He paused, then laughed painfully and added, “They are still in Beijing, waiting for my marriage news with Manwen… I really don’t know what kind of mood I should have to face them.”
I had truly experienced Luoben’s feelings before, so no one could understand him better than me. But even I didn’t know how to comfort him. I just kept my head down, continuing to put his luggage piece by piece into the trunk. Luoben took this opportunity to light a cigarette. It was obvious that he was nervous at this moment because he kept imagining that Wei Manwen would come to see him off. However, until now, there was still no sign of Wei Manwen. His willpower was gradually collapsing. In the end, he could only place his hope on the airport. However, it was undoubtedly waiting for a ship at the airport, the hope became increasingly slim, until it no longer existed…
I finally put all of Luoben’s luggage into the trunk. When I was about to take the guitar from his back, he held my hand and looked towards the exit of the community, saying, “Can we wait for the time it takes to smoke a cigarette?”
I agreed and lit a cigarette, accompanying him to look towards that place where people came and went…
Soon, I finished my cigarette, and after a while, I patted Luoben’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go… We should leave early enough to avoid traffic jams!”
Luoben seemed to have lost his soul. It took him about ten seconds to wake up and say, “Then let’s hurry… Maybe she is already waiting for me at the airport!” With that, he quickly opened the car door, got in, and urged me and Leyao to get in as well, fearing that any delay might cost us time to get to the airport.
Leyao and I exchanged a bitter glance. Although we knew that Wei Manwen would never show up, we dared not say anything that would make Luoben feel desperate. We just took heavy steps, opened the car doors one by one, and got in the car!
…
On the way, there was no traffic jam as we had imagined, and we soon arrived at the airport, giving us plenty of time to wait for the flight to take off. However, reality was like a sharp knife piercing Luoben’s heart. Until now, none of us had seen any sign of Wei Manwen coming to see him off. At this moment, she must still be in that small village, not even thinking about Luoben’s departure, let alone remembering the pain she had caused him. Right now, she is solely focused on pursuing the life she wants, without looking back at the old days.
As the boarding time drew closer, despair finally appeared on Luoben’s face, and I also fell into despair. At this moment, it wasn’t just that Wei Manwen hadn’t arrived. The CC I had been hoping for hadn’t come either. Therefore, I had to believe that what Mi Cai said was true. Once women have entered another life, they will no longer look back. This is true for Wei Manwen, and it’s also true for CC…
As I was feeling sentimental, Luoben fell into complete despair. He raised his head, painfully swallowed his tears, then took out the song he had probably written all night, tore it into pieces, and scattered them into the air… He kept breathing heavily, not caring about the many strange looks being cast at him at that moment, only hiding his desperate back under a heart-wrenching smile.
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