Leyao and I chose a small teahouse by the Xitang River. We sat on the third floor, enjoying tea and chatting while admiring the night view of Xitang.
After chatting for a while, Leyao was recognized by other customers in the teahouse as a celebrity. They asked for her autograph and photos, which she kindly obliged. Afterward, she put on her oversized sunglasses to avoid being recognized again.
Amused, I teased her, saying, “Looks like you won’t have any personal space anymore!”
“Do you think that’s a bad thing?”
I thought for a moment before replying, “Not really, I guess. After all, this is the life you’ve always dreamed of.”
“But one day I will get tired of it.”
“Then enjoy it while you haven’t.”
Leyao nodded silently, as if lost in thought. In her silence, I also began to reflect on my own thoughts.
Suddenly, I noticed a detail that didn’t make sense. Logically speaking, Mi Cai should have known that I had received a 500,000 commission from Jian Wei. So why did she still think I needed to borrow money from others when I left Suzhou this time?
The only explanation was: she had visited Jian Wei, or Jian Wei had visited her.
But what did this mean to me?
I didn’t want to dwell on it further because I was already in Xitang, far away from Suzhou. Some things were better left untouched. At this moment, I convinced myself not to turn that fleeting love and hatred into sorrow.
…
The night deepened, and the owner of the small teahouse told Leyao and me that it was closing time. We reluctantly left.
Once again wandering through the small alley paved with blue stones, I asked her, “How long are you planning to stay in Xitang?”
“A week, but if it’s inconvenient for you, we can do our own thing separately.”
“Fine with me, we do our own thing.”
Leyao took off her sunglasses and glared at me.
“Why are you glaring at me?”
“Don’t I even have the right to be insincere in front of you?”
“Being insincere is something only little girls do. You are now a shining star!” I joked with her indifferently.
“Yeah, why would a big star like me come to Xitang to find a little nobody like you… I’m going back to Beijing tomorrow!”
“What time? If I can get up, I’ll see you off!”
Leyao looked at me in frustration and finally gestured me closer, saying, “Come here, let me strangle you!”
I stuck my neck out, saying, “Go ahead.”
Leyao stepped closer to me, but as she approached, she suddenly hugged me and whispered in my ear, “I can’t bear to strangle you… Zhaoyang, work hard quickly. Everyone around you is making progress. If you stay where you are, you will become more and more distressed!”
“I understand…”
…
It was almost 11 o’clock when I finally said goodbye to Leyao and returned to the inn, where Tuzi was still lying on the bed watching a TV series on his laptop.
I lay on the bed, planning to rest for a while before washing up.
After a short while, Tuzi finished watching his TV series, put his laptop aside, and asked me, “Brother Yang, why did you come back so late? It’s already past 11!”
“A friend came, so I kept her company for a while.”
“Who is it? Male or female?”
“Leyao.”
Tuzi immediately got angry, “Brother Yang… it’s not funny when you keep making the same joke. Do you really look down on me and think I’m an idiot?”
“No, no, you’re misunderstanding!”
Tuzi wouldn’t let it go, “Actually, you’re even more of a loser than me. You keep fantasizing about Leyao. I suggest you come back to reality. It’s not good to get too obsessed.”
I was both amused and annoyed but decided not to pay attention to him and just lit a cigarette, smoking silently. However, a thought gradually grew amidst the smoke, eventually spiraling out of control.
Finally, I took out my phone from my backpack, lit another cigarette, and then asked Tuzi, who was playing an online game, “What’s the Wi-Fi password for this room?”
“Brother Yang, so you actually use the internet! I thought you lived above worldly matters since I haven’t seen you answer a single phone call these past two days!”
“The password.”
Tuzi quickly replied, “667766”
I took a deep puff of my cigarette, turned on the internet connection, and finally entered the row of passwords. As soon as the internet connected, dozens of push notifications rang urgently, stimulating my senses.
Most of the messages were from CC, Fangyuan, and others, while Mi Cai had only sent two. One asked where I was, and the other urged me to contact her after seeing the message.
She was still as calm as always, at least in the WeChat messages.
Her calmness affected me, and I didn’t think too much. Following my original plan, I replied to Mi Cai, “I’m fine!”
She replied immediately without giving me even a moment to breathe, “Where are you?”
“In a place where I can be reborn from ashes.”
“Will you return to Suzhou?”
Suddenly, this question stumped me. Since I had left my guitar behind, my luggage had become light. A travel bag contained everything I had in Suzhou. I could move freely like the wind, traveling between cities.
Thus, I replied to Mi Cai with a self-imagined sense of ease, “No, I won’t go back. I’ve already taken everything I had in that city with me.”
Mi Cai took a long time before replying, “I see.”
I stared blankly at this message, feeling an inexplicable sense of loss. Perhaps I had indeed taken everything tangible with me, but those lingering whispers of love still remained there, unable to be carried away.
…
I didn’t want to continue indulging in this unspoken sense of loss, so I decisively turned off my phone and made up my mind: I wouldn’t turn it on again during my time in Xitang.
Finally, I went to the bathroom to wash up. After washing up, I lay stiffly on the bed, staring at the ceiling, saying nothing until Tuzi spoke to me.
“Brother Yang, have you decided what takeout you want to eat tomorrow at noon?”
“I don’t want takeout tomorrow.”
“Then what do you want to eat?”
“We’ll go out to eat together. My friend is still in Xitang, and we made plans.”
Tuzi hesitated, saying, “No way. I really dislike going out at noon…”
“Then you can stay in the inn and eat takeout.”
“Is your friend a man or a woman?”
“Does it matter?”
Tuzi nodded seriously, “Of course it does. If it’s a woman, I can barely force myself to go out to eat with you!”
I joked with him, saying, “It’s a woman, but she’s not very pretty.”
“That’s fine as long as it’s a woman!”
“Why are you doing this to yourself?”
“I’ve been in Xitang for so long, and apart from shopping, I haven’t even talked to a woman. You know what I mean, right?”
At this moment, I couldn’t help but feel deeply worried for Tuzi. Even if he stayed in Xitang, a place full of encounters, for his entire life, he still might not be able to get rid of his virginity!
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