After pulling me up from the ground, Mi Cai took out some tissues from her handbag and gently wiped the dirt off me bit by bit. At that moment, I felt like the luckiest man alive. Actually, I didn’t desire much from her—just occasional tenderness and care, which would be enough for me to savor for a long time.
Mi Cai threw the used tissues into a nearby trash can, then returned to my side, looking regretfully at the pancake lying on the ground. “We didn’t even finish eating it yet!”
“Let’s go back and buy another one.”
“That’s a good idea.”
I looked up at the sky. The rain had eased off slightly but was still falling gently, meaning we had to retrace our steps under the rain again. Thus, this night had become somewhat unpredictable, yet amidst all the back and forth, we comforted and supported each other.
When we returned to the stand selling takoyaki, the vendor was already preparing to pack up. When we asked to buy two servings, he looked hesitant because there wasn’t enough left. Eventually, even after scraping the bottom of the pot, there was barely enough to make one pancake. This was truly disappointing for us because we probably wouldn’t have the leisure to come here again to enjoy takoyaki like today.
The vendor pushed his cart away. Mi Cai and I still stood under that streetlight. She said to me, “Carry me. I’m a bit tired.”
I looked down at her feet. She was wearing high heels, which explained her fatigue. I turned around and squatted down. Mi Cai climbed onto my back, and I carried her. The dirt on my clothes, which hadn’t been completely cleaned, soon stained her expensive business suit, making it dirty. But she didn’t seem to mind. Instead, she brought the pancake to my mouth and said, “Eat.”
“What about you?”
“We’ll eat together.”
I smiled, took a gentle bite, and Mi Cai then bit the pancake at the same spot, creating a rainbow shape. She asked me if I thought it was interesting, and I nodded in agreement. Then she giggled in my ear like a child, handed the pancake back to me, and asked me to bite a sun shape. I told her that only by folding the pancake could I possibly bite out a sun shape. She carefully folded the pancake again and handed it to me. Unfortunately, I didn’t control the biting force well and ended up breaking the pancake in half. I was scolded by her again. I seriously told her: pancakes are too small; don’t expect to bite both a rainbow and a sun out of one pancake.
So she suggested that one day, when we had time, we must come back here, buy two pancakes, and each bite one into a rainbow and the other into a sun shape to make up for today’s disappointment. I couldn’t help but admire her imagination, as she even tried to find meaning in biting a pancake.
Tired from walking, the two of us, covered in dirt, didn’t mind the wetness on the bench and sat down to rest, leaning on each other. I stroked her hair, which had been soaked by the rain, and she hugged my waist. In the falling rain, we listened to each other’s breathing, and the world grew quiet, leaving only the two of us.
In this quietness, I somehow felt a surge of courage and asked her, “Do you like me?”
This question startled her a bit, and she lifted her head to look at me.
“Do you like me?”
“Why are you asking this?”
“Because love often begins with doubt. I think this is the right moment to ask.”
“I do like you, and I’ve always been controlled by this feeling, accepting everything about you, whether it’s good or bad… What about you? Do you like me too?”
“I do. I often imagine us living a simple life together like this for the rest of our days.”
Mi Cai looked at me with a gentle smile, then hooked her arm with mine and leaned in closer. Suddenly, I felt like having a cigarette, wanting to dispel some negative emotions through the shapeless smoke. Perhaps the next time we are this close, I will propose marriage to her. But not today, because her rationality and the real taboos between us make it hard for our love to rush into things. Maybe taking it step by step is the best approach.
That night, I returned to my single apartment, took a hot shower, smoked a cigarette, and then fell asleep peacefully, not even dreaming until I woke up in the morning.
That morning, the rain still hadn’t stopped, but the temperature had dropped significantly. I had to wear a sweater to keep warm. I flipped through the calendar and realized it was exactly one year ago today that Leyao had told me she was pregnant. It was also on this day that I met my current girlfriend, Mi Cai, in that old house.
Time had passed so quickly. A whole year had gone by, yet I could still feel the same atmosphere as back then—raining just like now, and with the same chill.
Thinking back to a year ago, I remembered Leyao again. I wondered how she was doing in Singapore. She had said she would return home once her savings ran out, but it was hard for me to predict. Sometimes I felt she might appear before me any second, while at other times, it seemed like an endless wait because I really didn’t know how much money she still had. Thinking about it, Leyao was quite mysterious. She had risen to fame overnight in the entertainment industry despite being alone and struggling, then destroyed many contracts after becoming famous, and resolutely left the entertainment industry. Yet there was no news about any breach-of-contract compensation, which was really incredible. Who paid the breach-of-contract fees for her remained a mystery to the public!
Finally, I picked up my phone and sent her a message, asking about her recent situation and telling her that the teacup dog named Gangjin, which she had left with Wei Xiao, was doing very well. The last time I saw it, it seemed to have grown a bit bigger… I hoped it was just my imagination, because once a teacup dog grows up, it won’t be as cute anymore!
When I arrived at the company, I quickly got into work mode. I was busy until noon, when I was about to go for lunch, but then I received a call from Jian Wei. She invited me to have lunch together because Yang Congrong had come to Suzhou today. I knew Yang Congrong’s visit must be related to that scenic project, which put me in a difficult position. It was really hard to turn down someone who had helped me before! Therefore, before going to meet them, I reminded Jian Wei to help me cover things up a bit during lunch. I really had no interest in that scenic project at all. You must know that I had been waiting all morning for Xia Fanye to come to my company to finalize the cooperation plan for “West of the Old Town.” That was truly what I wanted. Perhaps Jian Wei and Yang Congrong understood my thoughts, but they were always businessmen who valued the commercial potential of projects the most.
Sigh! As long as one is alive, there will always be various constraints. As an insignificant person, I was being tossed around by these constraints. Right now, I was truly worn out by them and had no more complaints left!
I smiled helplessly, picked up my briefcase, hailed a taxi on the street, and finally headed to the hotel where I was supposed to meet Jian Wei and Yang Congrong.
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