Mi Cai didn’t notice me approaching her quietly, as she was wearing a sun hat and was too absorbed in fishing. I was curious about her morning’s catch, so I lifted the lid of her fish basket. Inside, apart from water and a few floating aquatic plants, it was absolutely empty.
I removed her sun hat and asked, “Where are the fish you caught?”
Mi Cai turned around and saw me. She looked a bit discouraged and replied, “I didn’t catch any!”
I glanced around and asked again, “Didn’t others catch any either, or are you the only unlucky one today?”
“They probably all caught some. Your family’s Uncle Ban caught the most!” Mi Cai said with a hint of envy, adding, “I just saw him catch a fish this big!”
I exclaimed, “Wow, that’s really huge! But if you can’t even catch one fish, isn’t it boring just sitting here? I would have gone home already.”
“Not boring at all.”
Mi Cai turned her attention back to the river surface. I spread a newspaper on the ground, lit a cigarette, and sat beside her. After a long while, I turned serious and asked her, “Have you heard of the Tianyang Group in Yangzhou?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of business does this group operate?”
Mi Cai thought for a moment and answered, “Primarily in food services and commercial real estate, it’s a powerful comprehensive listed company in Jiangsu Province. Why are you asking about it all of a sudden?”
“That woman in the red dress seems to have deep ties with the Tianyang Group.”
“If I’m not mistaken, she should be the CEO of Tianyang Group, An Qi…”
I interrupted excitedly, “Exactly, exactly, exactly! She does surnamed An. I didn’t expect her to be so influential, being the CEO of a listed company!”
Yet Mi Cai looked somewhat gloomy. After a while, she softly said, “Tianyang Group only started developing rapidly in recent years. If Dad hadn’t had that accident, and Uncle Mi hadn’t led Zhuo Mei astray with strategic mistakes, Zhuo Mei wouldn’t be any worse than Tianyang Group today!”
From Mi Cai’s tone, I sensed her deep sense of helplessness. I had indeed heard from Chen Jingming before that Zhuo Mei encountered a serious financial crisis a few years ago, and it was at that time that Weiran invested in Zhuo Mei. However, this delayed Zhuo Mei’s best development opportunity. Otherwise, following Mi Cai’s business strategy, Zhuo Mei would now be a leader in the O2O business model. Therefore, Mi Zhongde was a capable strategist, but lacked a strategic vision. For Zhuo Mei, his mistakes outweighed his contributions. Despite this, over the years, he still tightly controlled Zhuo Mei, suppressing Mi Cai’s various reform efforts.
As we were talking, the float on the fishing line suddenly lifted. I quickly reminded Mi Cai, “Quickly reel it in, reel it in! You’ve got a bite!”
“Ahh!” Mi Cai gasped in surprise. She seemed to use all her strength to lift the fishing rod, but due to the inertia, she fell off her small stool and landed awkwardly on the ground. Still, she firmly held onto the fishing rod. The fish was lifted out of the water, struggled for a moment, and then fell back into the river.
Mi Cai looked at me, almost in tears, “Zhaoyang… the fish got away!”
“You were too slow in reeling it in. You missed the best moment when the fish had firmly bitten the hook, so it slipped off.”
“What should I do now?”
“Go rest for a while. I’ll fish now.”
“No, no, I must catch one!” Mi Cai said, setting up her stool again, stubbornly attaching bait to the hook, and casting the line back into the river. A gentle breeze blew, spreading the charming light fragrance from her into the air. Even the reflection on the river surface under the sunlight looked so graceful. Unable to contain myself, I playfully kissed her cheek. She blushed slightly and remained silent, making the entire world seem suddenly more beautiful because of her shyness. At that moment, I couldn’t help but think: If we could stay away from the cutthroat business world and choose to settle down in Xuzhou, wouldn’t life be more meaningful and easier?
It was a powerless fantasy, because we had already made our choices. Even amidst the unease of the business world, we couldn’t approach ordinary life and live peacefully for the rest of our days.
…
That afternoon, Mi Cai still didn’t catch any fish, while Uncle Ban caught a whole basket, which made Mi Cai feel quite ashamed. However, her enthusiasm for fishing grew even stronger. In front of me and Uncle Ban, she solemnly promised to make a comeback. At that moment, I believed she was truly happy. Therefore, she had been so resistant yesterday when I tried to talk to her about work. She was tired, genuinely tired, and had chosen to temporarily escape. Yet, a storm was brewing around us, waiting in ambush, and whether we could break through it was something we could only passively wait for time to answer.
Night fell quickly, and the next day we were about to leave Xuzhou. After dinner, Uncle Ban packed the cooked fish into lunch boxes for me, telling me to put them in the refrigerator in Suzhou and reheat them when I wanted to eat. Mom also prepared some rice and vegetables from the rural relatives for us, telling me to cook for Mi Cai when I had time. At that moment, besides feeling the warmth of family, I also felt nostalgic for this kind of family life. If possible, I truly wished to live in Xuzhou with Mi Cai for the rest of our lives. I believe Uncle Ban and Mom would definitely treat her as their own daughter, making up for the loss of her family.
After packing our luggage, Mi Cai and I held hands and strolled along a small river near the neighborhood, chatting as we walked. With a hint of reluctance, she said to me, “Zhaoyang, two days have passed so quickly!”
“Do you like it here?”
“I like this kind of life… Uncle Ban is so good to me!”
“Doesn’t my mom treat you well?”
Mi Cai smiled and said, “She’s a bit strict… Actually, I know that her standard for a daughter-in-law is someone like Li Xiaoyun.”
“She might be a bit biased at first, but she will slowly change her mind in the future. After all, it’s a blessing for her son to marry you, and she knows it!”
Mi Cai smiled, then let go of my hand, turned toward the river, and shouted with both hands covering her mouth, “I love this kind of life here… If… if one day I unfortunately lose Zhuo Mei… Zhaoyang, take me to settle here. Let’s live a leisurely life together for the rest of our days!”
Watching her vent her feelings like this, I felt a bit sad in my heart. Why couldn’t heaven generously give us a perfect life? Thus, in my questioning, I became even more determined to help her hold on to Zhuo Mei. If she could truly accept the fate of losing Zhuo Mei calmly, she wouldn’t vent so much about wanting to live a leisurely life like that. Therefore, it was just a psychological compensation for the extreme fear of losing it!
…
The next afternoon, we returned to Suzhou. After sending Mi Cai to Zhuo Mei, I immediately arranged a meeting with Fang Yuan. At that time, I had an inexplicable trust in him. I wanted to discuss with him how to find a breakthrough from Mi Zhongde to save Zhuo Mei and Mi Cai.
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