After thinking for a long time, I decided to hold off on this matter for now. After all, Mi Cai just returned home today, and I shouldn’t recklessly ruin her mood. Besides, all of this is just my subjective speculation. If Fang Yuan has no ulterior motives, my unnecessary warnings would definitely make Mi Cai develop strong wariness toward him, which would affect his future at Zhuo Mei. For this reason alone, I need to think it through again.
A fragrant scent of shower gel drifted into my nose with the air flow. I turned around and saw Mi Cai walking toward me in white pajamas, drying her wet hair. She asked, “Have you been standing here the whole time without leaving?”
“Yeah, the view from this window is the best, and I can see the sunset in Xitang most clearly.”
Mi Cai stood beside me, looking outside following my gaze, then looked at me and said, “The sunset in Xitang is indeed beautiful, but I suspect you have more on your mind?”
I asked in surprise, “Why do you say that?”
“With your lively personality, you wouldn’t stand here for so long without a reason, even if watching the sunset is a pretty good excuse.”
“I don’t believe you understand me that well.”
“Actually, you’re very simple. I thought so as early as the second day you moved into that house.”
I deliberately changed the subject and said, “So you’ve been secretly in love with me since the second day? I never knew I was so charming!”
Mi Cai looked at me speechlessly…
Seeing that I had achieved my purpose, I pushed her onto the bed, covered her with the quilt, and urged, “Rest for a while. After dinner, we’ll go to my friend’s bar together, and probably play until late.”
Mi Cai looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated. Eventually, she obediently closed her eyes. I closed the window, drew the curtains, and quietly left her room.
…
Unavoidably, I passed by that balcony and found Luben playing with my guitar. I asked, “How come you’re here playing guitar alone? Where is CC?”
Luben looked up at me and said after a while, “I don’t know.”
“Look, man, can’t you care a little more about her? After all, she is your current, legitimate girlfriend!”
Luben didn’t respond to my advice. After another silence, he asked me, “You mentioned last time that you’d help me find out about her. Have you found anything now?”
“Not yet. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
“I can’t wait anymore. Since you promised to help me find her, I’ve been living in agony every day. It feels like there’s a knife in my chest and I’m not quite dead yet. Do you understand?”
“Of course I do.”
Luben’s emotions became somewhat uncontrolled: “Then hurry up, faster, can you do that?”
I exhaled heavily and finally said to Luben after a long pause, “I’ll get it done as soon as possible.”
Luben calmed down a bit, nodded at me, then focused on the guitar in his hands, gently strumming the strings and softly singing the song “The Price of Love” as if weeping.
…
This was a busy night for me. After saying goodbye to Luben, I went to Leyao’s room because only she knew where Wei Manwen was. I couldn’t let Luben continue enduring that agonizing state of half-dead.
Inside the room, Leyao was lying on the bed, flipping through a magazine while saying to me, “Mi Cai has finally come back once in a while, why aren’t you keeping her company?”
I smiled, “You saw her arrive just now but didn’t even go down to greet her. After all, she’s your fan. Isn’t your attitude a bit too arrogant?”
“I didn’t meet her not because I’m being arrogant, but because she took the blame for me out of nowhere, and I feel too embarrassed to face her!”
“You’re being too serious!”
Leyao looked at me, seemingly unwilling to continue this topic. She put down the magazine and asked me, “Okay, tell me why you came here. Finish quickly and leave!”
Only then did I realize that it wasn’t really appropriate for me to stay long in Leyao’s room, so I got to the point, “I just wanted to ask you about Wei Manwen. If you know anything, please tell me quickly. It’s too torturous for Luben to keep hanging like this!”
“Zhao Yang, let me put it this way… Luben deserves the pain he’s had all these years. Back then, he thought sleeping with a prostitute was a way to accommodate Wei Manwen, but he didn’t know that he had already hurt that poor woman, who was devoted to him, beyond repair… After that, she wasn’t happy at all!”
I was speechless for a while, shocked inside because Leyao’s words had already revealed some information: probably for these years, both Luben and Wei Manwen had been living in a tragedy, yet they each thought the other was living happily, thus avoiding each other.
After a long time, I finally asked Leyao, “Then where is Wei Manwen now, and how is she doing?”
“I don’t want to say now. Luben should pay the price for his own assumptions…”
“What’s the point of keeping it like this? You’ll have to say it one day anyway.”
“Let’s talk after you finish your birthday tomorrow.”
“I have no problem with that, but Luben can’t wait. Whether she’s alive or dead, give him a clear answer now.”
Leyao shook her head firmly, “I don’t want this matter to affect everyone’s mood for your birthday, so let’s talk after the celebration.”
I couldn’t force Leyao, so I had to compromise. However, I felt sorry for Luben and Wei Manwen, and even more worried about CC, because a fierce storm of love was approaching her. If Wei Manwen really wasn’t doing well, given Luben’s personality, even if she had already married someone else, he wouldn’t let go.
In my worries, I reflected: What exactly has made love so complicated now? And why can’t more and more people stay together just for the sake of love?
I had a vague answer in my heart, but I was unwilling to admit it because deep down, I still hoped to have a love free from worldly constraints.
…
The night fell like a roaring waterfall, submerging the entire Xitang town. Finally, Ban Die and Mom had prepared a full table of dishes, giving all the friends who came today the opportunity to gather together for a home-like dinner.
All the dishes were already on the table, and everyone except the still-sleeping Mi Cai had already taken their seats, waiting to start the meal. I then took the spare room card and prepared to go to the room to wake her up.
Opening the door, the room was so quiet that I could even hear Mi Cai’s breathing. I turned on the bedside lamp, gazed at her closed eyes for a while, and then gently pushed her.
Mi Cai opened her sleepy eyes, yawned, and asked me, “Is it time to eat?”
“I came to call you for dinner. Eat well tonight; after dinner, we still need to go to the bar to have some fun, don’t forget!”
“Okay, it’s been a long time since I last sang with CC.”
Hearing CC’s name, my heart was filled with sorrow again. I truly hoped heaven could give her and Luben a happy ending, even if they couldn’t be together in the end.
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