I threw away the broken guitar neck in my hand. The music shop owner grabbed my clothes, yelling in agony: “Let me kill you, okay? You poor bastard, do you know what you’ve just destroyed? The most valuable guitar in my shop! If you like breaking guitars, why not pick a cheaper one? I swear I’ll kill you. This guitar costs over ten thousand yuan!”
“Get off me,” I tried to break free. But he held me even tighter, fearing I might escape, and kept shouting, “How can you possibly afford to compensate me for such an expensive guitar? Why am I so unlucky to run into a madman and a pauper like you?”
She came over to where I stood with the shop owner. Her voice was soft, yet clear enough for both of us to hear: “I’ll cover the cost of the guitar he broke.”
“Do you two know each other?”
While the shop owner looked puzzled, I pushed him away forcefully. Finally free from his grasp, I still felt as if I were caught in a dream, unsure of when she had returned from the United States or when she arrived in Xuzhou.
Mi Cai nodded and replied, “He’s my boyfriend.”
The shop owner looked at me, then at Mi Cai, his face full of disbelief. He exclaimed suddenly, “Oh, I get it now! You must be a rich girl and a poor guy. The pressure must be huge on him, so he ran away. He’s been running and suffering, and my guitar just had to suffer the misfortune!”
I responded in Xuzhou dialect, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Oh, so you’re a local! Then you definitely didn’t escape from somewhere! Well then, even better. This guitar wasn’t free, so hurry up and have your girlfriend pay up.”
Mi Cai, unable to bear the chatty shop owner any longer, spoke up for me: “I already said I’m willing to pay. Just tell us how much. It’s not that hard!”
The shop owner looked painfully at the broken guitar, thought for a moment, and finally said, “You pay me sixteen thousand yuan. No more, no less.”
Mi Cai hesitated slightly and said, “I don’t have that much cash on me right now. Can I pay by card here?”
The shop owner fell silent again, then answered, “You can pay by card at the restaurant next door. The owner is my friend. Go pay him.”
“Okay, you lead the way.”
…
On Huanghe South Road in Xuzhou, I was holding the broken guitar and walking side by side with Mi Cai. I said to her, “You know, no one ever falls in love on this street during winter.”
“Why? Is the scenery here not nice enough?”
“No. Do you see the plane trees lining the road? When the winter wind blows, all the leaves fall off. Who would want to hug each other in sadness while looking at these bare trunks, especially at night?”
“I’ve never heard of that before.”
“You’re not from Xuzhou, so of course you haven’t.”
Mi Cai stopped walking, looking at the leaves scattered on the ground. I looked at her white leather boots. We both lowered our heads for a moment, and suddenly the Huanghe South Road seemed even more lonely. This place was truly less romantic than the roads near the moat. So I encouraged her to walk down the road I liked better. However, ahead of us, a couple was kissing and hugging.
Mi Cai looked at me and asked, “Didn’t you say no one would be in love on this road?”
“Hehe, they must be from out of town!”
“Why don’t you go and ask them?”
“No, better not disturb them. Can’t you see their tongues are almost tied together in a knot? They won’t have time to talk to me.”
Mi Cai sat down on a bench by the roadside. I followed her and sat closely beside her. Then she hooked her arm through mine and leaned against me.
I finally asked her, “Didn’t you say you’d come back after New Year’s Day? Why did you come back earlier?”
“After midnight, it’s already after New Year’s Day. I just came back a day earlier…”
“Actually, you wanted to surprise me… Remember the last few times you went to America, our reunions were always too simple. I just waited for you at the airport.”
“You’re right. This reunion was really exciting. Why were you alone on the street, singing by yourself and breaking the guitar?”
I didn’t rush to answer. Instead, I asked her, “When you came to Xuzhou and couldn’t get through on my phone, why didn’t you come to my house? You know the way.”
“Irma doesn’t like me. I was afraid to go.”
“You know, she doesn’t like me either… So I was kicked out, homeless, and impulsively threw away my money and broke my bank card, and then had nowhere to go… Luckily, I met you.”
“You’re really generous. Did you calculate how much you’ve spent tonight?”
“I did… Not even enough to buy a square meter in Shanghai.”
Mi Cai looked at me helplessly, and I looked at her. Suddenly, we felt like two homeless children on this Huanghe South Road, too afraid to fall in love but seeking a kind of warmth similar to family… Could we skip love and directly elevate our relationship to family? If that were true, I wouldn’t be surprised because I knew that what she needed most was family.
I held her hair, which hung over her shoulders, and kissed her deeply. Months of waiting had made this kiss incredibly rich and sweet.
…
After leaving Huanghe South Road, we walked along the moat. Finally feeling the atmosphere of romance, I asked her, “Have you found a place to stay?”
“The hotel across the street.”
“This fancy hotel must have a nice environment… Take me in.”
“Then I’ll book another room for you.”
“I’ve already spent so much money tonight. Don’t spend more. Let’s stay together. Anyway, you always like to stay in suites. One more person won’t make a difference.”
“You didn’t spend that much. Not even enough to buy a square meter in Shanghai!”
I grabbed her, stopping her from walking further. I looked serious and asked, “What are you thinking? What’s wrong with us staying together? Isn’t it nice to chat?”
“How can we chat and where?”
“On your bed. We can talk about anything…”
“Okay then. Let’s talk about how you feel now that Yueyao and Li Xiaoyun are married.”
“Don’t think you can scare me off like that. Let’s talk about it… Come on, let’s go back to the hotel together.”
…
Actually, this wasn’t the first time I had been alone in a room with Mi Cai. So after entering her room, I felt no discomfort at all. I quickly took off my clothes, leaving only my underwear, and went into the bathroom. I wanted to take a hot shower, washing away the loneliness of the past few months and all the unpleasantness of tonight. Then I would lie on her bed, chat with her, and tell her all the thoughts I had been nurturing for so long.
In fact, I didn’t care at all who got married with whom. All I cared about was when she would marry me…
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