After Jian Wei left, I sat in the cafe for a long time but didn’t eat the plate of pastries she hadn’t touched. My mind kept flashing intermittently to that scar, even though I had convinced myself it was just an accident.
Finally, I drank the remaining coffee in the cup, looked out the window, and fell into another trance. In that trance, I longed to become a street lamp that had already gone out, regardless of how sad this lamp was because it could no longer illuminate the people passing by.
…
After leaving the cafe, I went to CC’s “Empty City Music Restaurant,” but CC wasn’t there; only Luo Ben was inside the restaurant.
He brought me a large mug of draft beer. I drank half of it in one go before asking him, “Where’s CC?”
“She went to the Fifth Season Bar. There’s a fashion show there today.”
I nodded without saying anything else, just drinking.
Luo Ben threw me a cigarette and smiled as he asked, “Something on your mind?”
“It’s not exactly something on my mind; I just feel a bit uneasy.”
“Uneasy?”
I lit the cigarette and took a deep puff, “It’s hard to describe what I’m feeling. Anyway, it’s not good.”
“Is it because Mi Cai left?”
“Maybe.”
Luo Ben didn’t ask further but kept smoking with me until we finished, then he stubbed out the cigarette butt and asked, “Have you heard anything about Man Wen?”
I shook my head, “I asked Yue Yao to look into it. She hasn’t given me any news yet.”
“Don’t rush. Take your time.”
I looked at Luo Ben but saw a kind of cowardice on his face, a fear of the outcome. I couldn’t understand what love really was, which could make a tough guy like Luo Ben escape for years and only be forced to muster the courage to wait for the result.
…
Because I had drunk a lot, I left the car Mi Cai had given me parked at CC’s music restaurant and took a taxi back to the old house.
Without bothering to wash up, I went to Mi Cai’s room and used her desktop computer.
After starting the computer, Jian Wei indeed sent me the website materials for “Easy Travel” on time.
I lit a cigarette and, overcoming the dizziness from the alcohol, read them carefully.
A moment later, my phone rang—it was Jian Wei calling.
I answered the call, and Jian Wei asked me, “Zhao Yang, have you received that information?”
“Yeah, I’m reading it now. Can you provide some personal information about Mr. Yang?”
“Do you mean his work experience?”
“The more detailed, the better… Oh, do you still use QQ? Let’s chat on QQ.”
“I have a work QQ. I’ll add you later.”
Jian Wei hung up the phone, but I felt helpless because of her impatience—I hadn’t even given her my QQ number yet.
Just as I was about to send her a message with my QQ number, the computer speakers emitted two cough-like sounds indicating someone was adding me as a friend.
I opened the add request and found the username was “Simay Guanggao,” undoubtedly Jian Wei’s work QQ.
Could it be that she had never forgotten my QQ number all these years?
There was no need to question this, otherwise I wouldn’t have received this verification message.
Soon, “Simay Guanggao” sent me a message: “I’m Jian Wei. This is my work QQ.”
I didn’t reply immediately but instead, from memory, entered the QQ number she had used for several years in the search bar for finding friends.
I quickly found it. Her username hadn’t changed; it was still “Weijian Wei,” but the last updated personalized signature was from a few years ago. It seemed this QQ account had been abandoned by her for many years.
I finally closed the search bar and replied to Jian Wei: “Got it. Send me Mr. Yang’s personal information.”
Jian Wei seemed well-prepared. She immediately sent me a document. I promptly accepted it and sent her a thank-you emoji with my hands clasped.
Jian Wei replied with a smile emoji and didn’t respond further, and our conversation ended there.
…
After extracting the key points from the documents, it was already midnight. I rubbed my temples slightly to relieve some fatigue and was about to wash up and rest when, just as I was about to shut down the computer, I noticed Jian Wei’s QQ was still online.
I sent her a message: “Why haven’t you gone to bed yet?”
“I still have some work to do.”
I asked doubtfully, “Do you have to do everything yourself at the company?”
“The company has just started and hasn’t formed a complete management system yet. I have to be personally involved in a lot of work.”
“Then you should balance work and rest. After all, your health is the foundation of your work.”
“You too.”
“Are you still at the company now?”
“Yeah, I’ll go home soon.”
Such stiff words left me at a loss for how to reply. So in the brief silence, I randomly opened “My Computer” and clicked around aimlessly with the mouse until I stopped at a folder named “My Days in America.”
Suddenly, I remembered I was using Mi Cai’s computer now, so this folder must contain many of her photos from when she was in America.
I wasn’t sure if this was an invasion of her privacy, but driven by curiosity, I still opened the folder.
My guess wasn’t wrong. This folder indeed contained a large number of photos of Mi Cai, which was related to her usual habit of taking photos to keep memories.
I browsed one by one. Besides Mi Cai’s daily photos, there were various award-winning pictures of hers. It seemed what Wei Ran said was true—she was indeed a businesswoman, as the numerous awards sufficiently proved.
When I had browsed about halfway through, I saw another independent folder. The file was named using Mi Cai’s and Wei Ran’s English names.
I hadn’t even opened it yet when I felt uncomfortable inside, a natural reaction completely beyond my control.
I lit another cigarette before opening the folder, which made me feel even more uncomfortable because it contained many photos of Mi Cai and Wei Ran in intimate gestures. Among them, one photo even showed the two with their cheeks pressed together.
I took a deep puff of the cigarette, raised my hand wanting to delete these photos, but still held back.
Leaning back in the office chair, I heavily exhaled the smoke from my mouth. These photos gave me a more direct understanding of the relationship between Mi Cai and Wei Ran in the past.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say their feelings were between lovers and friends… But what did that prove? After all, it was in the past, and after all, Mi Cai had never been in a romantic relationship with Wei Ran.
Putting myself in her shoes, if Mi Cai were to dwell on my past, wouldn’t I feel even more ashamed? After all, I had cohabited with Jian Wei and slept with Yue Yao…
No wonder people always say that love requires compromise and tolerance. At this moment, I really needed an inclusive heart.
Time passed second by second in my anxiety and hesitation. When I came back to my senses, Jian Wei’s QQ avatar had already turned gray, probably having left the company and gone home to rest.
Stubbing out the nearly finished cigarette butt, I suddenly had no desire to rest anymore. I might as well continue searching for relevant information online and keep researching the current state of the tourism industry.
There was another reason I stayed up late: in three hours, Mi Cai would arrive in New York. Even if I had to wait until late at night, I wanted to chat with her—not necessarily about her relationship with Wei Ran, just wanted to talk with her.
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