After we had all the equipment installed, I pushed open the door of the café and walked in with everyone else. We approached Leyao, who looked at me with an air of fearlessness, and said with a half-smile, “What are you glaring at me like that for? As if I’ve done something terrible to you!”
“Why do you keep pretending and acting innocent? Don’t you feel guilty about this?”
“I’m just an actress, and all I care about is having fun. Who needs a conscience anyway?”
“Exactly, and the consequence of having no conscience is hurting others. Can’t you stop letting your selfishness affect other people’s emotions?”
Leyao looked at me with disdain, as if I didn’t even deserve to have emotions, which made me even angrier. I glared back at her fiercely.
“Zhaoyang, what are you trying to do? I’m warning you, don’t mess with me. Everyone here today is my friend, and they’ll take you down in no time!”
“Right, pretending to be a sweet girl the other day and now acting like a tough woman. How long can you keep faking before you end up with a split personality?”
“Even better! At least then I won’t feel so lonely and bored. I can just play with myself.”
After Leyao said this, she still wore that same half-smile, clearly enjoying our verbal sparring and indulging in it endlessly.
I didn’t want to keep arguing with her, so I changed the subject and asked, “Why are you here anyway?”
My good buddy Rob invited me… He never forgets me when there’s something fun going on, unlike someone with a wolf’s heart and a dog’s lungs who stole my beloved Jingang from me and doesn’t even show a bit of remorse.
Leyao bringing up the past made me feel a little guilty. I took out a cigarette from my pocket and lit it. I didn’t know what to say and fell silent, frequently glancing out the window, estimating when Mi Cai would appear in my sight.
After a while, there was another commotion outside the café. Then I saw CC wearing a black leather jacket and combat boots. What stood out most was the electric guitar on her back and the cigarette in her hand. She was still the same as before—not the prettiest in the crowd, but definitely the most unique, exuding a mysterious charm that made people want to know more about her.
After greeting Rob and the others who were still busy outside, CC pushed open the café door and walked in. She took off her guitar and said to Xia Fanye, who was making coffee, “Boss, do you still have time to make me a cup of Old City West before the show?”
Xia Fanye, who rarely smiled, actually smiled this time and handed CC a freshly made cup of coffee, saying, “You had made a reservation earlier, so of course I’m ready anytime.”
CC leaned forward to take the coffee from Xia Fanye’s hand and said, “Thank you.”
Xia Fanye gestured that it was no need to thank him and sincerely added, “Looking forward to your wonderful performance.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best.”
During CC and Xia Fanye’s conversation, I turned to Leyao beside me and said, “Look at CC. Don’t you feel ashamed? One is a well-mannered goddess, while the other is a nagging, unreasonable woman!”
Leyao glanced at CC and said, “She’s faking it. She’s just pretending in front of the shop owner. How well-mannered can a woman who smokes and drinks every day really be?”
I couldn’t help but admire Leyao’s bizarre logic. In fact, CC, who smoked and drank, was the most well-mannered woman I knew among that group. She had never burdened Rob, the man she loved deeply. When Wei Manwen returned, she quietly walked away… But how much pain did she endure alone in the dark nights? Only she herself truly knew.
CC, holding her coffee, came to where I and Leyao were and smiled, “I heard what you two were just talking about… Yaomei (Leyao), it’s not very decent to badmouth someone behind their back!”
Leyao quickly grabbed CC’s hand and apologized, then shifted the blame for the gossip onto me. I still didn’t want to argue with her because, in the end, it was just a joke between friends. Over the years, we had always gotten along like this. This way of interacting had left a deep mark in the time we spent together. Therefore, neither CC nor Leyao really cared about this brief incident. They sat close to each other and began chatting about recent happenings. The cigarette in my hand hadn’t even finished burning yet. I took another puff and looked out the window again.
After looking out several times, I finally caught sight of Mi Cai’s familiar and beloved figure. It seemed she hadn’t had time to go home and change yet—she was still wearing her professional business suit and a pair of white high heels. The outfit made her look anything but relaxed, clearly showing the fatigue from a long day’s work. My heart ached for her. CC, gazing in Mi Cai’s direction, smiled and sighed, “How can a woman be so beautiful? Is Suzhou’s feng shui really that exceptional? Every time I see her, it feels like she’s just stepped out of a painting!”
Leyao also looked outside with us. Her lips moved as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she said nothing, merely lifting the unfinished cup of Old City West to take another sip. At that moment, Mi Cai pushed open the café door and walked in.
I quickly walked up to her, took her handbag, pulled out a chair for her to sit down, and then went to the bar counter to ask Xia Fanye to prepare a cup of mint tea for her to relieve her fatigue from the day.
I did all of this from the bottom of my heart, which made CC smile and say, “Zhaoyang, I never thought you could become such a considerate and warm guy!”
Mi Cai asked CC, “Wasn’t he always like this before?”
CC hadn’t expected Mi Cai to ask such a question. But asking this question was inevitably comparing her to the past—Jian Wei. After all, the only two official girlfriends I had were Jian Wei and Mi Cai.
CC hesitated for a moment before replying, “He used to be a wild and unrestrained man. He probably wasn’t even this considerate towards himself. You should’ve seen how he used to open dozens of bottles of beer in one breath. There was no way he could be this gentle and thoughtful back then!”
Mi Cai looked at me. Her eyes revealed a complex emotion, but there was definitely gratitude in them—gratitude for the changes I had made after meeting her. Suddenly, in her gaze, I recalled my former self. Back then, I hadn’t been able to give Jian Wei such tenderness amidst the trivialities of life. Instead, it was Jian Wei who often brewed me a cup of mint tea after I finished singing at night to protect my voice, and then carried my guitar as we left CC’s restaurant together.
Perhaps this contrast stemmed from two different kinds of life. Back then, I was often trapped in the heaviness of life, so how could I have thought of giving Jian Wei too much tenderness and care? Yet, no matter who I gave that care to, my love had truly existed for both of these women. However, my love with Jian Wei hadn’t happened at the right time. I didn’t have the strength to be considerate, and she relied on promises… while fate had left only a little bit of connection after college!
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