I wasn’t surprised that Mi Cai and Wei Xiao were together, but meeting them like this, unexpectedly and under these circumstances, made me feel somewhat awkward, so much so that I wasn’t quite sure what to say.
Wei Xiao, being childish at heart, didn’t care about the awkwardness between us adults. She took the teacup dog from Leyao’s hands and petted it lovingly, clearly delighted, then asked Leyao, “Sister, is this your dog?”
Leyao nodded.
I asked Wei Xiao, “Do you like this little thing?”
“Mm-hmm…,” Wei Xiao nodded vigorously, then exaggeratedly kissed the teacup dog and exclaimed, “It smells so good! Is it a boy dog or a girl dog?”
I replied, “A boy.” Then I leaned in closer to sniff it too, and asked Leyao, “Do you feed it perfume every day?”
“Would you prefer a messy dog? I bathe it every day…”
“In that case, you definitely can’t leave it with me. I really don’t have time to give it such treatment. In just a few days, this nice clean dog would become dirty again!”
Wei Xiao then asked Leyao, “Sister, are you giving away this cute dog?”
Leyao nodded and said, “Yes, sister is going abroad, and no one will be able to take care of it anymore.”
Wei Xiao raised her hand enthusiastically and said, “Sister, then give it to me! I promise to bathe it every day, keep it clean and beautiful, and make it smell as nice as before!”
Leyao hesitated, clearly worried that Wei Xiao wouldn’t be able to take good care of the teacup dog. Wei Xiao continued, “Sister, don’t worry. I used to have a dog before, and I took really good care of it. Even our teacher liked it. Later I gave it to the teacher, but I really want another dog!”
Finally reassured, Leyao looked at the teacup dog in her hands with reluctance before handing it to Wei Xiao. Then she pulled out a wad of money from her wallet and offered it to Wei Xiao, saying, “Little girl, from now on, this dog is your responsibility. Remember to feed it special dog food and take it for regular health checkups, okay?”
Wei Xiao nodded repeatedly but refused to take the money. She said, “Sister, my family can afford to take care of this dog… You know, Mi Cai even brought my grandpa’s handmade crafts to Shanghai and Nanjing to sell. We’ve made a lot of money! Now my grandpa even has two apprentices helping him make crafts!”
Although Wei Xiao didn’t explain very clearly, I still understood her meaning. Mi Cai must have set up special counters in Zhuo Mei stores in both Shanghai and Nanjing to help sell Wei Xiao’s grandfather’s handmade crafts, and she must have planned it professionally. Otherwise, the sales wouldn’t have been so successful. She had truly gone out of her way to help this struggling family.
At this moment, I actually began to understand Mi Cai a little. After all, she carried the heavy burden of many families’ livelihoods. She really didn’t have much energy left to take care of her own life and emotions.
When Wei Xiao mentioned Mi Cai, Leyao instinctively looked toward her but didn’t say anything further. However, Mi Cai, as always calm, asked her, “Are you going abroad?”
“Yes, to be precise, I’m emigrating…” After a moment of silence, she added to Mi Cai, “I want to apologize for the trouble I caused you and Zhaoyang before. I hope you two can live a good life together in the future!”
Mi Cai looked at me but didn’t immediately respond to Leyao. At that moment, Wei Xiao had already run off into the crowd with the teacup dog, leaving only the three of us. The atmosphere was strangely awkward.
Leyao spoke again to Mi Cai, “What I just said wasn’t fake flattery. But if you can’t give Zhaoyang the happiness he deserves, I will definitely come back and fight for him, because I still love him… That’s not a lie either!”
I had expected Mi Cai to tell Leyao that we had already broken up, but she didn’t answer immediately. At that moment, Wei Xiao suddenly came back, pulling Mi Cai to the side to play with Leyao’s teacup dog together. Her silence thus became a strange coincidence, making Leyao mistakenly believe that we were still in love…
That was actually okay. After all, I didn’t want Leyao to know that Mi Cai and I had already broken up. I hoped she could start a new life abroad without any burdens.
After playing for a while, Wei Xiao returned to where I and Leyao were, while Mi Cai continued playing with the teacup dog not far away.
Wei Xiao said to Leyao, “Sister, why don’t you come with us to have KFC later? I’ll treat you, to thank you for giving me this dog.”
Leyao shook her head and said, “Little girl, I’m afraid I can’t go with you. Just take good care of Jingang for me. I will come back to visit him someday!”
Wei Xiao nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I will definitely take good care of Jingang. Although, it’s kind of cool that it’s named Jingang!”
Leyao smiled, picked up her handbag, took one last look at the teacup dog, and without saying goodbye to me, stood up and walked out of the square. At that moment, I truly felt her determination to emigrate abroad.
After Leyao left, Wei Xiao kept urging me to accompany her to have KFC, but I refused. I wasn’t sure how to sit face-to-face with Mi Cai and have a meal together. Moreover, I knew that Mi Cai was avoiding meeting me, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked me to return the things to CC, who would then pass them on to her.
Although Wei Xiao was very disappointed, I still firmly left the square. Throughout this unexpected reunion, I hadn’t even spoken a single word to Mi Cai. But I didn’t think this was a mistake, nor did I feel petty. I believed: we really shouldn’t have any more contact. Our decision to break up was definitely not a joke.
…
After leaving the square, I aimlessly walked along the street, still unsure where I should go tomorrow, and gradually gave up the idea of going out to relax. I decided to spend these days working on a business plan that could be used to seek investment.
As night deepened, I had wandered the streets for an hour with the crowd before finally taking out my phone to find Luoben and have a few drinks. Maybe after getting drunk, I could finally have a peaceful sleep tonight.
Sliding open the phone screen, I was surprised to find several missed calls, all from Ban Die… Only then did I remember that it had been a long time since I last called home to chat about my recent life, especially after breaking up with Mi Cai, I had even less courage to make that call. But eventually, I had to face it.
Lighting a cigarette and taking a deep puff, I finally forced myself to dial Ban Die’s number, silently praying that he would just chat casually with me and not ask about Mi Cai!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage