I stared blankly as Mi Cai approached. Wei Xiao, beside me, let out an exclamation, “Wow, bro! The referee sister is here!”
“I’m not blind, okay? Control yourself and stop shouting randomly!”
Wei Xiao stuck his tongue out at me. He was indeed still a child at heart. By now, Mi Cai had already reached us. She was still wearing her business attire, seemingly having not had time to change into warmer clothes. Thus, on this cold winter evening, she appeared even more frail in the chilly wind.
It had already grown completely dark, and I figured there would be no more square administrators showing up. I brazenly pulled out a cigarette from my pocket, lit it, took a puff, and asked Mi Cai, “Didn’t you say you were staying in Shanghai to accompany Weiran?”
“I felt you must have something important to talk to me about.”
Mi Cai’s response caught me off guard, and I asked, “What makes you think that?”
“Because you rarely contact me first. Later, I sent you messages, but you didn’t reply. You must have been disappointed and upset, so you’re being petty!”
I immediately took out my phone from my pocket and indeed saw the WeChat messages Mi Cai had sent me later, asking if I had anything going on. However, I had been at the noisy square playing go-kart and singing, so I hadn’t heard the phone notifications at all.
I brought my phone close to Mi Cai and said, “See, I didn’t even open your messages, so it’s not that I’m petty—it’s just that I didn’t hear them at all.”
Right after I finished speaking, I felt an odd sensation inside. Last time, when I couldn’t get in touch with Mi Cai while I was in Xuzhou, I nearly rushed back to Suzhou overnight to look for her. This time, Mi Cai thought I was disappointed and came back to Suzhou from Shanghai. Although the distance from Shanghai to Suzhou is much shorter than from Xuzhou to Suzhou, it was enough to show that she cared about me.
“Zhao Yang, wake up! Don’t get the wrong idea!” I hurriedly reminded myself with a lingering sense of unease.
“I misunderstood you then!” Mi Cai added after a brief pause, “I told you yesterday to bring me to find Wei Xiao. I thought you were referring to that today, otherwise I wouldn’t have come back.”
Mi Cai’s words made me feel fortunate that I had reminded myself not to misinterpret her intentions. She had returned from Shanghai only to help Wei Xiao, who shared her pain, and that was why she had come to this square where Wei Xiao might show up.
Before I could say anything, Wei Xiao looked at Mi Cai in confusion and asked, “Referee sister, why are you looking for me?”
Mi Cai patted Wei Xiao’s head and said, “Because I want to help you.”
Wei Xiao’s face lit up with joy and he said, “Then buy the baskets my grandpa weaves. Zhao Yang said they’re really nice too!”
At that moment, I didn’t mind Wei Xiao’s habit of calling me Zhao Yang anymore. I moved Mi Cai’s hand away from Wei Xiao’s head and placed my own there, saying meaningfully, “You silly kid, you must aim further. The person standing in front of you is a very silly, super rich sister who can easily buy you a KFC restaurant!”
Wei Xiao opened his mouth wide, staring at Mi Cai. Mi Cai, however, glared at me and said, “Am I really that silly?”
“Not exactly smart,” I replied bluntly. If she was silly, then there probably wouldn’t be any smart women left in the world.
Before I could finish speaking, an elderly female square administrator suddenly appeared from somewhere and shouted angrily at me, “Young man, smoking there—put out your cigarette!” She quickly strode toward me, as if determined to fine me at least a hundred yuan to satisfy her anger.
I threw the cigarette onto the ground and said to Mi Cai and Wei Xiao, “KFC, meet me at KFC later…” With that, I had already shouldered my guitar and fled the scene.
…
A short while later, the three of us met up at KFC. I said somewhat proudly, “How was my escape speed? Pretty good, right?”
Mi Cai gave me a disdainful look and said, “You ran away like a coward just to avoid breaking public etiquette. How can you sound so pleased with yourself? You’re such a freak!”
Her words made me feel embarrassed, and I retorted angrily, “Well, did you inhale my second-hand smoke or not? If you did, you’re my accomplice—you’re not much better than me!”
“You’re a freak of a lifetime, with an even freakier logic!” Mi Cai said in exasperation, looking at me.
Standing between us, Wei Xiao chimed in, “Bro, you’d have been better off not running just now. That old lady and referee sister were going to fine you.”
I asked Mi Cai, “Did you pay it?”
“What else could I do? I don’t have your amazing escape speed!”
Ignoring Mi Cai’s sarcasm, I smiled ambiguously and said, “So that makes you my accomplice too, right? Otherwise, why would you pay the fine for me? My logic is perfectly sound! Besides, I wasn’t wrong about you being silly and rich, was I? I’m contributing to the country’s tobacco tax by smoking—why should they fine me, an innocent citizen?”
“Didn’t running so fast just now tire you out?… And now you can still talk so much nonsense!” Mi Cai shot back.
I smiled unconcerned and said, “Now that you mention it, I really am quite tired. Let’s quickly go in and eat something… You’re treating.”
…
After having something to eat at KFC, Mi Cai drove me and together we sent Wei Xiao back home.
Wei Xiao and his grandfather lived in one of the few remaining shantytown areas in the city. The living conditions were exceptionally poor, so bad that even cars couldn’t enter. We had to walk into the area.
On the way, Wei Xiao told us that they originally had a house, but had sold it to pay for his father’s medical treatment. Despite this, they couldn’t save his father in the end. After hearing Wei Xiao’s story, Mi Cai’s expression became even more serious.
Finally, we arrived at Wei Xiao’s current residence. He led Mi Cai and me around various obstacles and entered the low, cramped house. There, under the dim light, we saw an elderly man weaving bamboo baskets—the grandfather of Wei Xiao. Beside him lay a walking cane, one leg bent uselessly, and his face, deeply lined from a life of hardship, bore the marks of relentless struggles.
After Wei Xiao explained our intentions, the elderly man, despite his disability, struggled to get up and offer us water. Both Mi Cai and I hurriedly stopped him. At that moment, I was sure that Mi Cai felt as heavy-hearted as I did. So, almost immediately, she pulled out a wad of money from her handbag and handed it to the old man, telling him to let her know if they needed any help.
The old man thanked us repeatedly, but relying on charity was not a sustainable solution, especially since Wei Xiao was still too young to do much for the family.
…
After spending a little time chatting with Wei Xiao’s grandfather, Mi Cai and I left. On the way out of the shantytown area, we both remained silent, burdened by the heaviness in our hearts. It wasn’t until I got into her car that I finally spoke up, “You can support them for a while, but you can’t support them forever. I think it’s better to give them a fishing rod rather than just giving them fish.”
Mi Cai nodded thoughtfully and asked me, “Do you have any ideas?”
“It depends on whether you’re willing or not.”
“I’m definitely willing if it can help them,” Mi Cai said earnestly, looking at me.
I paused briefly before saying to Mi Cai, “Wei Xiao’s grandfather knows how to weave by hand—it’s a skill. I think we can package his woven items as products and set up a counter for them at your Zhuomei store. That way, we can fundamentally solve their livelihood issues.”
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