As Weiran approached us, Mi Cai, who stood shoulder to shoulder with me, though her expression remained mostly unchanged, instinctively pressed closer to me and held my hand even tighter!
Weiran stopped about a meter away from us. His expression had already cleared up from its earlier gloominess, and with a smile he said to Mi Cai, “Betsy, out shopping with your boyfriend?”
Mi Cai nodded slightly, while I remained silent, wanting to see first what he was really up to.
Still smiling, Weiran continued, “All the members of the Zhuomei board are here today. Why don’t you both join us for lunch?”
“Sorry, we’re busy today. Maybe another time. I’ll treat everyone another day.”
After Mi Cai declined, Mi Zhongde, who stood beside Weiran, spoke up. With a smile just like Weiran’s, he said to Mi Cai, “Xiao Cai, you’ve been working so hard for Zhuo Mei’s IPO preparations in the U.S. I haven’t properly thanked you as your uncle. Please join us for lunch today.”
Mi Cai glanced at me beside her, hesitated slightly, and still declined, “I need to go back to Xuzhou with Zhaoyang. After we come back, I’ll treat everyone in the board, okay?”
Mi Zhongde and Weiran looked at me, and finally Mi Zhongde lightly patted Mi Cai’s shoulder and said, “Alright, then your uncle will wait for your invitation.”
“Okay.”
Mi Zhongde nodded, but just as he was about to leave, he said to Mi Cai again, “Your uncle is really grateful to you. Without your efforts in facilitating Zhuomei’s cooperation with Mr. Wei’s investment company, Zhuomei wouldn’t have made such significant progress over these years, nor would we have had the opportunity to aim for an IPO!”
Mi Cai slightly furrowed her brow and then looked at Weiran. He responded with a calm smile, but the implication was clear. At this moment, he might have already initially reached some sort of understanding with Mi Zhongde. Otherwise, Mi Zhongde wouldn’t have dared to say such words to Mi Cai.
“No, it’s I who should thank you, Uncle. You’ve devoted so much to Zuo Mei all these years. Thank you for your hard work!”
Mi Cai’s meaning was clear. While expressing gratitude to Mi Zhongde, she subtly reminded him, in her capacity as the legitimate leader of Zhuomei, not to overstep his boundaries.
…
After this brief verbal exchange, Mi Zhongde and Weiran led the board members away first. Mi Cai stood there helplessly watching them leave, remaining silent for quite some time. I could feel her inner feelings at this moment but didn’t know what words to use to comfort her. I just held her a bit tighter, hoping my body could give her a sense of security.
Finally, Mi Cai looked up at me and asked, “Are we still going to buy your battle shirt?”
“Of course. Otherwise, how could it match with your battle boots!”
Mi Cai smiled, then took my hand and walked toward the elevator. We then went together to Baoli Department Store. After she bought me a very stylish and imposing T-shirt as my “battle shirt,” we drove directly toward Xuzhou.
After a six-hour long journey, we finally arrived in Xuzhou. Since we hadn’t informed anyone beforehand, it was a surprise for Banda to open the door for us. My mom was sitting behind a partition in the living room playing mahjong. To my surprise, Li Xiaoyun, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, was also at the table playing with her.
Banda started chatting with Mi Cai, while I walked around the partition and approached the mahjong table where my mom and Li Xiaoyun were sitting. I asked Xiaoyun curiously, “You’ve taken up mahjong too?”
Li Xiaoyun smiled and replied, “It’s the weekend today. My mom had something urgent to do, so she asked me to play a few rounds for her.”
I nodded.
After drawing a tile, Li Xiaoyun asked me, “How come you’re back?”
“To visit my parents and also to relax a bit!”
At this moment, my mom discarded a tile, and instantly Li Xiaoyun’s face lit up with joy as she laid down her tiles and said, “I win!”
Whether intentionally or not, the other two mahjong players then sighed to my mom, “Earlier, Xiaoyun discarded a tile that let you win, and now you discarded one that let her win. You two are really in sync. No wonder you almost became mother-in-law and daughter-in-law!” Then they turned to me and said, “Zhaoyang, are you dating anyone? If not, you and Xiaoyun seem well suited.”
Li Xiaoyun looked awkwardly at me, while I looked through the glass partition at Mi Cai. She seemed not to have heard what was being said here and was still chatting with Banda, apparently talking about something related to fishing.
Finally, Li Xiaoyun responded to my mom’s mahjong friend, “Auntie, don’t say such things. Zhaoyang already has a girlfriend, who’s talking with Uncle outside!”
The mahjong friend curiously peeked out from behind the partition and indeed spotted Mi Cai. Immediately, she blamed herself, saying, “Look at my big mouth! I thought it was someone from next door chatting! Zhaoyang, since you’ve brought your girlfriend back, why don’t you introduce her to us aunties?”
I immediately called Mi Cai over to greet everyone. Mi Cai came to my side with a smile and, not speaking much, simply said to everyone, “Hello, Aunties.”
The two aunties looked at me and asked instantly, “Zhaoyang, where did you find such a pretty girl?” Then they turned to each other and exclaimed, “We’ve never seen such a pretty girl in Xuzhou before!”
Clearly not accustomed to such a situation, Mi Cai looked somewhat embarrassed. I joked in response, “Just bumped into her with my eyes closed…”
The auntie laughed at me, saying, “Some people are just lucky. Our family’s youngest son is already 27, and he still hasn’t bumped into any girl even with his eyes wide open! Someday you must share your experience with him. Our youngest son doesn’t have high standards—he’d be happy with just a decent-looking girl!”
As she spoke, Banda, who had finished arranging the gifts, also approached the mahjong table and said to my mom, “Zhaoyang and Xiao Mi rarely come back. You can stop playing mahjong now. Let’s go to the supermarket to buy some ingredients, and I’ll cook dinner!”
My mom seemed reluctant to leave the mahjong table, replying, “It’s still early. Let me finish this round first. Or maybe we can go out for dinner!”
The two aunties chimed in, “Dining out is better. Today, Auntie Zhaoyang’s mom has won quite a bit of money. We can all share in the good fortune.”
Li Xiaoyun, who had been concentrating on the game, also spoke up, “Then let’s go out for dinner. There’s a new restaurant opening in the city center today. It’s partnered with our advertising company, and they gave me a VIP card. I can get a discount if I go. Let me treat everyone today!”
Curious, I asked, “What kind of cuisine does this restaurant serve?”
“Huaiyang cuisine! The restaurant is called Lijingxuan. It’s quite famous in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai areas. Since you’ve been in Suzhou for so long, the Huaiyang cuisine should be quite similar to Suzhou’s flavor. You and Mi Cai should be able to enjoy it, right?”
I looked at Mi Cai, seeking her opinion. She glanced at everyone and, seemingly unable to refuse their warm invitation, finally nodded. So it was decided—we would all go to “Lijingxuan” for dinner that night.
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