After finishing a cigarette, I returned to the living room. It seemed as though the delicate fragrance of Mi Cai still lingered in the air, but I was already close to forgetting my earlier impulse to confess my feelings to her. Therefore, I thought to myself: as long as I don’t see her, I will remain rational.
After washing up, I suppressed all my emotions and lay down on the bed. As for the things I couldn’t understand, I chose to forget them, because it would make things easier. Many times, I really didn’t want to live life too seriously.
The next day, I got up early, yet Mi Cai had risen even earlier, so I missed the chance to prepare breakfast for her. Still, I looked forward to this afternoon when she would return from Shanghai, and then I could cook her dinner or even prepare a late-night snack.
Since the bar was closed, I had nothing to do the entire day. I intended to keep my promise and go to the flower and plant market to buy some potted plants, but eventually I gave up. Instead, I hoped to use my limited money to buy Mi Cai an oil-powered racing car.
I planned to sell my own modified racing car, which had decent performance, and with the money I had, I could barely afford to buy an oil-powered racing car for Mi Cai.
I turned on the computer and prepared to post the racing car’s information and photos online, when I coincidentally saw an oil-powered racing car listed for sale. I checked the configuration, which was quite top-tier, but the seller’s requirement was quite strange—he wanted to exchange cars, and specifically wanted a battery-powered racing car in return.
I immediately contacted him and learned that the oil-powered racing car had originally been bought for his son to play with. However, due to its high operating difficulty, the child couldn’t control it at all. Yet leaving it unused would be a waste, so he wanted to exchange it for a battery-powered car for his son to practice with first. Of course, some additional money would still need to be paid, since there was a large price difference between the two types of cars.
I arranged to meet him at the entrance of the Zhuomei Shopping Center, handed him my racing car, and paid him an additional two thousand yuan, successfully completing the transaction.
When I held the oil-powered racing car in my hands, I was filled with joy. My happiness came from imagining Mi Cai’s delight when she saw this racing car.
Therefore, I looked forward to Mi Cai returning before tonight, as I couldn’t wait to give this car to her.
I took out my phone and immediately sent Mi Cai a WeChat message: “Will you come back tonight?”
Moments later, she replied: “No, Weiran has come to Shanghai too. Tonight I plan to accompany him for a stroll around Shanghai.”
Seeing this message, it felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over me. I felt disappointed but helpless. After all, Mi Cai had no obligation to stay with me every day, since she had her own friends.
I looked at the racing car in my hand with a helpless smile, didn’t reply to Mi Cai’s message, and just put my phone back into my pocket.
…
Today was Luo Ben’s turn to supervise at the bar, so I had even less to do. I decided to take the newly acquired racing car and go to the plaza to show it off a bit, hoping to relieve the disappointment caused by Mi Cai not coming back tonight.
When I arrived at the plaza, it was already dusk, the most bustling time of the day. I saw many couples hugging each other passionately, occasionally kissing, and young parents watching their children play with satisfied smiles. However, these scenes of others’ happiness only made me feel lonelier. Even smoking a cigarette, I had to hide behind a tree, fearing being caught by the plaza’s administrator and fined.
Finally finishing my cigarette, I walked out from behind the tree and placed the racing car on the ground, amusing myself by playing with it. The car’s powerful performance soon attracted many children to gather around. Amidst their chattering voices, I finally managed to relieve some of the bitterness in my heart.
Holding the racing car, I said to the group of children: “Listen up, if you want to play with my racing car, you have to call me ‘big brother.’ Whoever shouts the loudest gets to play first.”
Immediately, a bold little kid stood in a horse stance, took a deep breath, and shouted “Big Brother” with a powerful voice.
Seeing how loudly he shouted, I felt bad about going back on my word, so I handed him the remote control. Yet I was still afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle it and might crash the car I intended to give to Mi Cai, so I watched nervously.
After several kids had taken turns playing with it, I finally breathed a sigh of relief, took back the racing car, sat back on the bench, and watching the group of children who were still eager for more, I thought of Wei Xiao. He hadn’t come to the plaza to play with his car today.
I looked around and unexpectedly spotted Wei Xiao at a corner on the other side of the plaza. He seemed to have set up a small stall, though I couldn’t see clearly. So I stood up and walked toward him.
Standing in front of Wei Xiao, I saw him sitting on a small stool, with several newspapers spread out in front of him, displaying some hand-woven baskets.
He soon noticed me and happily shouted: “Zhaoyang, why are you at the plaza again?”
“Do you remember what I told you to call me last time?”
Wei Xiao chuckled and corrected himself, calling me “Big Brother,” then very politely offered me his small stool to sit on.
Looking at the baskets, I asked him: “Did your grandpa weave all of these?”
“Yeah, ten yuan each. Do you want to buy one?”
“You little guy, really good at selling things!”
Wei Xiao pouted and said in a low voice: “No one has bought one today yet!”
Not wanting him to feel too disappointed, I took out ten yuan from my wallet and handed it to him, saying: “Okay then, I’ll buy one. It’s pretty well woven!”
Wei Xiao happily took the money from me and exclaimed: “Big Brother, you’re really a good person. If I were as rich as you, my grandpa wouldn’t have to weave baskets every day!”
“Who says I’m rich at all!”
“You are rich! You can even afford KFC and McDonald’s!”
Wei Xiao’s childishness made me feel a bit sad. In today’s world, where celebrities can earn hundreds of thousands for just a casual appearance, there’s still a child who naively believes that being able to afford KFC and McDonald’s means being rich. I really didn’t know which social class this was meant to mock.
I sighed heavily, hating my own lack of ability. Right now, the only help I could offer Wei Xiao was to treat him to KFC and buy one of his hand-woven baskets.
I decided to help Wei Xiao a bit more, so I went home to get my guitar, and sat by his stall, acting as a wandering singer performing on the street…
Soon, people began to gather around us. Some bought Wei Xiao’s woven baskets out of sympathy, while others threw some loose change after listening to my songs. In that dusk, both Wei Xiao and I earned a bit of money.
As night finally fell, the temperature began to drop sharply, and the number of people at the plaza decreased. I gave all the money collected from passersby to Wei Xiao, packed up my guitar, and prepared to leave, when suddenly I saw a graceful figure walking towards us from a distance.
I couldn’t see clearly at first, but as she drew closer, I realized it was actually Mi Cai. She had returned from Shanghai. I felt puzzled—hadn’t she said she was going to accompany Weiran?
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