The staff brought us some drinks and beers, and we four spent our time chatting and waiting for the others to arrive.
I asked Luoben, “How have you been these past few days in Beijing?”
He exhaled smoke heavily and replied tiredly, “Busy, of course.”
Luoben was a native Beijinger, a typical hutong local. If even he was so busy that he spoke sparingly, he must have been extremely occupied.
CC then asked Leyao, “Big shot Leyao, how about you? You must be super busy too, right? I’ve seen you several times on TV promoting your new drama on entertainment shows with your director!”
Leyao nodded and said, “Yes, we even have an interview to record the day after tomorrow. I can’t stay in Suzhou for long. This year is definitely not going to be a relaxing one—I have to join the second drama’s crew after the Chinese New Year!”
CC exclaimed, “Once your first drama is broadcast nationwide, your title of ‘Big Shot Leyao’ will truly be well-deserved!”
Leyao simply smiled, raised her beer and took a sip, then fell silent. This silence more strongly emphasized her transformation.
After a while, Fangyuan, Jianwei, and Yanyan arrived at the bar first, greeting everyone. Among those present, except for Jianwei and Leyao meeting for the first time, everyone else was familiar with each other, so the two studied each other carefully.
Eventually, CC introduced them to each other, naturally presenting them as friends, without mentioning me.
Leyao smiled at Jianwei and said, “So you’re Jianwei. I’ve heard your name for almost two years now.”
Jianwei immediately looked at me, then asked Leyao, “What do you mean by that?”
“To be precise, Zhaoyang has missed you for two years… You’re very pretty!” Leyao said straightforwardly.
At that moment, I was truly grateful that Xiangchen wasn’t there, or else Leyao’s words might have caused misunderstandings. Fortunately, CC stepped in to save the situation by inviting Fangyuan and others to sit down and asking the staff to bring more drinks.
After Jianwei sat down, Leyao took out a bank card from her bag and handed it to her, saying, “This bar is mine, so the 500,000 yuan you lent Zhaoyang was essentially lent to me. This card has 510,000 yuan, including interest. I’m returning it to you with gratitude… Thank you for your generosity back then.”
I looked at Leyao in shock. That day, I had only mentioned borrowing money from a friend without specifying who, so how did she figure out that this friend was Jianwei? Or was it just an educated guess?
Fangyuan and Yanyan exchanged glances because they had no idea that Jianwei had lent me 500,000 yuan. During our meal together that day, when Xiangchen asked Jianwei if she had spare money to lend me, she firmly said no. At this moment, I was again grateful that Xiangchen wasn’t present.
Jianwei stared at Leyao with complex eyes for a while but didn’t take the bank card. She said, “I lent the money to Zhaoyang, so it should be repaid by him. Besides, I lent it to him as a friend, so there’s no need to mention interest.”
The atmosphere became awkward because of Jianwei’s refusal. To ease the tension, I took the bank card from Leyao and told Jianwei, “Later, give me your bank account number, and I’ll transfer the money to you tomorrow.”
Jianwei nodded, and this awkwardness caused by repaying the debt was temporarily resolved. But I knew that when Micai arrived, this scene might reoccur.
After weighing the options, I still said to Leyao, “Let’s step out and talk.”
…
Inside the small office of the bar, I sat on the sofa with Leyao. Before I could speak, she spoke first, “I know you must be wondering where this money came from. Don’t worry, it’s from my salary after signing with the film and television company. It’s legitimate.”
I nodded and said, “I believe you won’t repeat past mistakes…” After a short pause, I asked, “How did you know that the 500,000 yuan was from Jianwei?”
Leyao smiled and said, “I know your friends very well. Those who have money might not be willing to lend, and those willing to lend might not have money. But your ex-girlfriend, who you can’t forget, is an exception… Initially, I wasn’t sure either. I thought it might be Micai who lent it. But later, when Micai showed me a check for one million yuan, I was certain that the previous 500,000 yuan must have come from your ex-girlfriend.”
Leyao’s explanation made me realize that she wasn’t as careless as she appeared. For example, she had previously seen through at a glance that Micai wasn’t my real girlfriend, and now she accurately judged the true source of the money. In fact, her thoughts were even more delicate than those of ordinary women.
After a moment of silence, Leyao said to me in a low voice, “Zhaoyang, you know, when I figured out that the 500,000 yuan came from your ex-girlfriend, I felt an indescribable pressure inside. From that day on, I told myself: no matter what, I would never let you endure such humiliation again. So after coming to Beijing, I worked hard and was lucky enough to seize an opportunity for my life…”
Leyao’s voice became choked here, and my heart sank, fearing that behind her efforts and luck was a brutal self-sacrifice.
Leyao quickly regained her composure and said to me, “Anyway, thank you very much. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me in this life.”
I still tried to comfort her with a joke, saying, “Big Shot Leyao, you’re so emotional both on and off screen. Isn’t that tiring?… Well, thinking about being remembered by a future best actress, I still feel quite accomplished!”
Leyao finally smiled, then took out another bank card from her bag and handed it to me, saying, “This one is for Micai. Please return it for me later. I know it’s not good to repay debts in front of everyone, but I just don’t want to owe your ex-girlfriend. Even owing for one more second makes me uncomfortable… She gave you too much pain and didn’t know how to value you!… She will regret it one day!”
…
Leyao and I returned to the bar’s main hall. As soon as we sat down, Micai arrived at the bar with Weiran. CC once again played the role of introducer, introducing Micai and Weiran to everyone. Thus, the night became even more complicated with their arrival.
Micai and Weiran sat together but kept the farthest distance from me. I threw a cigarette each to Luoben and Fangyuan, then handed one to Weiran and asked, “Do you smoke?”
Weiran coldly said to me, “Don’t you think smoking in front of so many women is impolite?”
I immediately threw the cigarette box onto the table, feeling like punching him. Because of what he said, I felt awkward whether to smoke or not, as if his presence was solely to embarrass me. But he was right, indeed, smoking in front of all these women was inappropriate! However, I was too rough and careless to consider the environment I was in.
As I was caught in a dilemma, unexpectedly, Luoben picked up the lighter, “Snap,” lit his cigarette, looked at the little turtle-like guy, and started smoking casually.
I couldn’t help but admire him inwardly. Indeed, those hutong locals from Beijing are impressive, because such a “whatever” attitude is not something ordinary people can easily possess. I also knew that his action was meant to support me.
The atmosphere became awkward again, but I didn’t follow Luoben’s example to smoke. I didn’t want to make this night more complicated. So I asked the staff to bring promotional flyers and discount coupons for the grand opening, and said to everyone, “It’s rare for us all to be here today. Let’s go out together and celebrate!”
Everyone looked at me in confusion. Then I said to Micai, “Director Mi, would it be okay to use your Zhuomei’s venue to hold a small concert?”
“Now?”
“Yes, right now!” I continued, turning to Luoben, “Ben, call Xiao Wu now and ask him to bring the other band members and the performance equipment to Zhuomei… After the show, I’ll treat everyone to beer and hotpot!”
I said this while pulling out the guitar I had prepared in advance. I felt that the only way to spend a peaceful and joyful evening together with this complicated group of people was through music.
You know, among those present, CC, Luoben, Micai, Jianwei, including me, were all experts. I’m sure that little turtle guy wasn’t bad either, considering Micai’s guitar skills were taught by him.
This upcoming small concert would gather many experts and beauties. I believe it will definitely create a huge storm at Zhuomei!
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