Chapter 110: Do You Like Her?

It was already 11 p.m. when Mi Cai picked up her handbag and said to us, “I’m a bit tired today, so I’ll go back and rest first.”

That’s when I remembered that Mi Cai had attended business meetings all day in Shanghai and then, despite her exhaustion, came to the bar to help out. I felt grateful, but also quite guilty.

CC nudged me and said, “Zhaoyang, aren’t you going to walk Mi Cai home?”

I quickly nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ll walk her out.” With that, I took the handbag from Mi Cai and carried it for her.

Mi Cai said “Thank you” and walked ahead of me toward the bar’s exit. I followed her and said, “You keep thanking me—it makes us seem so distant!”

“Really?”

Mi Cai’s absent-minded reply left me unsure how to respond, so I just silently followed her steps outside.

Suddenly, we stopped under the eaves outside the bar. At that moment, the sky was actually filled with snowflakes. It had finally started snowing this winter.

Instinctively, I exclaimed, “It’s snowing!”

“Yeah,” Mi Cai replied softly, but she appreciated the scene more. She took out a small camera from her handbag and captured the snowy world in a photo. Then she stepped out from under the eaves and walked into the swirling snow.

I followed closely behind her. Bored, I grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and calmly called out to her, “Mi Cai!”

Mi Cai instinctively turned her head. Without any sense of chivalry, I threw the snow at her. It scattered on her clothes, creating a burst of white.

Mi Cai frowned at me while I playfully said, “You think you can get me back? You’re such a poised girl—you’d never lower yourself to play such a childish game like a snowball fight…”

Before I even finished speaking, Mi Cai suddenly shoved me hard. The ground was already slippery with snow, so the unexpected push caused me to fall flat on my back.

Feeling humiliated, I quickly jumped up, grabbed Mi Cai, pushed her to the ground, and pinned her down as I said angrily, “Damn, you really pushed hard! If there had been a rock behind me, I could’ve ended up in a vegetative state!”

Our faces were very close at that moment. Mi Cai looked at me without saying anything. I could even feel her gentle breath, like the fragrance of orchids, and I felt my heart race. I didn’t want to get up.

Mi Cai didn’t struggle at all and continued to look at me expressionlessly. Suddenly, she grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and smashed it against my face. Instantly, the coldness spread across my face—I had been tricked again.

Taking advantage of the moment, Mi Cai pushed me away and even kicked me once before finally scolding me, “You’re crazy!”

I wiped the snow off my face, stubbornly stood up again, and said angrily, “You really don’t behave well. Such a poised girl—look how CC has influenced you! You’ve become vulgar, and now you even dare to kick me!”

Mi Cai looked at me like she had won a battle but remained silent as usual. I couldn’t possibly really hit her, but I also didn’t know how to respond to her silence, so I just stared at her blankly.

Thus, we stood in the snowfall, facing each other with completely different emotions.

Finally, Mi Cai said to me, “You can keep standing there. I’m leaving.”

The sudden snowfall seemed to make me sentimental. In my sentimentality, I didn’t want Mi Cai to leave, so I shouted at her, “You hit me and still want to leave? Listen, no one has ever dared to bully me like this in my entire life!”

“You were the one who threw snow at me first.”

“Yes, I did throw snow at you, but at most it was just a snowball fight. Then you pushed me down so brutally! Isn’t that an act of physical aggression?”

“Don’t you know how much I dislike your silly behavior?”

“Even if you dislike it, you can’t treat me like this! If there had been a knife next to you just now, would you have chopped me to death without mercy?”

“I don’t have time to argue with you.” Finally losing patience, Mi Cai refused to acknowledge me any further and turned to walk toward her car.

Watching her retreating figure, my mood suddenly sank. Yet I no longer knew what feeble excuse I could use to keep her here for a few more words.

I lit a cigarette and silently watched Mi Cai’s car disappear from my sight. It was a while before I realized that the cigarette had already burned out and that a layer of snow had fallen onto my shoulders.

Luo Ben, guitar slung over his back, approached me from somewhere and took the extinguished cigarette from my hand. He put a new one into my mouth, lit it for me, and then asked, “Do you like her?”

Instinctively, I took a puff of the cigarette but calmly asked Luo Ben in return, “Why do you say that?”

“Male intuition.”

I shook my head seriously and said, “Luo Ben, you’re wrong. Male intuition isn’t reliable. Think about it—throughout my life, what kind of love haven’t I experienced? There really isn’t any woman who can move my cold, hardened heart anymore!”

Luo Ben looked up at the sky and sighed, “You must’ve summoned this snow with your pretentiousness!”

…

Late that night after returning home, I pushed aside all the chaotic emotions, turned on the desk lamp, and started working on the themed marketing plan for the “Fifth Season” at the bar. I also searched online for image references that might be useful for the bar’s renovation.

The time left for me was extremely limited. I had to complete the information gathering within a day, finalize the renovation plan with the design company within two days, and then find ways to spread the bar’s information during the renovation period. I aimed to initially build the bar’s reputation within a month after its reopening.

If everything went smoothly and the bar eventually ran steadily, I would seriously consider whether to return to Xuzhou. Compared to the drifting and uncertainty in Suzhou, perhaps deep down, I preferred the stability and sense of security Xuzhou offered.

However, before contemplating this question, I first had to find a way to repay the 500,000 RMB I owed to Jian Wei, because only after clearing all debts could I truly leave with peace of mind.

As my thoughts wandered, I lit another cigarette, leaned back in my office chair, and tried to empty my mind for a brief rest. But unintentionally, I noticed the snow still falling heavily outside the window. I could already foresee that the next morning, the city I lived in would transform into a snowy wonderland, showcasing the beauty of this winter.

Amid the drifting smoke, a WeChat notification sounded. I picked up my phone and saw that the message was from Mi Cai.

“Zhaoyang, do you know how to build a snowman?”

I immediately replied, “Of course I do. Are you coming to build one with me now?”

“It’s too late now. Let’s do it tomorrow morning. It’s the weekend anyway!”

I felt happy but replied insincerely, “Who wants to build one with you? You kicked me just now!”

Mi Cai replied quickly, “Then I’ll ask CC.”

“Come on! CC is such a mature woman. She’d never play such a childish game with you. Maybe she’d be interested in conquering a mountain, but not building snowmen!”

“Then what should I do?”

Mi Cai’s reply made me smile. We seemed to tacitly understand each other, playing a childish teasing game on this snowy night.

But the world of children is also the purest and most crystal-clear…

As the word “crystal-clear” flashed through my mind, I suddenly wondered: Was this Mi Cai, who always quarreled with me yet remained emotionally distant, the long-haired girl from that city fortress?