Chapter 89: Leyao Arrives in Xuzhou

CC handed the phone to Mi Cai. Before she could say anything, I asked her with a blaming tone, “Where have you been? Your phone was turned off!”

Mi Cai replied in a calm tone, “I’ve been a bit tired lately, so I took a one-week vacation in South Korea. I didn’t bring the mobile phone you called with.”

Her calmness suddenly made me feel peaceful, and I realized that I had indeed been overly anxious. After a long silence, I simply replied, “Oh.”

“Hearing from CC, you’ve been very anxious looking for me?”

I hesitated and answered, “Have I? It’s just out of concern; I wouldn’t say I was anxious.”

“CC said so. Are you saying CC is lying?” Mi Cai’s tone was somewhat teasing, as if trying to expose my pretense.

Suddenly annoyed, I said, “So what if I was anxious? So what if I was worried about you? …”

My sudden outburst left Mi Cai speechless for a while before she said, “Thank you for worrying about me.”

“You’re welcome. I just felt sorry for you being alone, that’s all.” I replied in a huff, though I couldn’t quite figure out why I was upset—maybe because I disliked her for seeing through my attempt to hide my anxiety, or perhaps because of her indifferent manner, while I had been anxious all day long.

Mi Cai’s mood suddenly dropped, probably hurt by my words, “I don’t need your pity… If you don’t have anything else, I’ll hang up now.”

“Wait, don’t hang up yet.” I quickly said.

“What is it?”

After a moment’s silence, I said, “Sorry, I was a bit harsh just now. I was just… just scared that something might have happened to you!”

“If something happened to me, what does it have to do with you?” Mi Cai replied with a bad mood.

“Please don’t say that.”

“I don’t know what else to say… Anyway, I’m hanging up now. You don’t need to worry about me. I can live well on my own!” Mi Cai hung up the phone without giving me a chance to respond.

I was somewhat stunned, listening to the dial tone in the phone. Finally regaining my senses, I dialed again, but this time it was CC who answered.

CC probably hadn’t heard my conversation with Mi Cai, and asked with confusion, “Why did you call again?”

“Uh… In the future, if you have time, spend more time with Mi Cai. She’s quite…” I finally couldn’t bring myself to say the word “pitiful.”

CC, however, understood my meaning and said, “Don’t worry, I will become her close friend.”

I smiled and asked, “For my sake?”

“Of course not. Because she’s a woman who can enchant other women too.”

I quickly said, “You’d better not have any ideas about her. Think about Roben… think about Roben!”

CC burst into laughter and said, “You really reminded me. Anyway, Roben doesn’t have feelings for me…”

“Snap out of it, tomboy!”

“Okay, I won’t joke with you anymore. I’ll invite her to have dinner at the restaurant or go shopping with me when I have time.”

“Yeah, after she finishes eating later, please send her home. I’m a bit worried about her being alone this late…”

Before I could finish, CC interrupted, “Zhaoyang, since when have you become so talkative?”

Instinctively, I replied, “Have I?”

“Of course you have. I don’t want to hear you ramble anymore. I’m hanging up now!”

“You hang up then… By the way, don’t forget what I asked you to do!”

“There you go again!”

Hearing CC’s exasperated complaints, I finally fell silent, and CC hung up the phone amid my silence. Suddenly, I felt an unfathomable sense of loss, as if there was no reason at all.

In my hand, I was still holding a simple suitcase I had packed, but now I didn’t need to go to Suzhou anymore. Mi Cai had only gone on vacation to South Korea, and my worries seemed quite unnecessary.

Looking into the darkness toward Suzhou, I gave a self-mocking smile and finally took the suitcase and went back upstairs.

…

Before I knew it, Christmas had arrived. This afternoon, I came to the Christmas promotion event at Times Department Store. This Christmas promotion at Times Department Store was fully planned by our Osen Advertising, and as the initiator and person in charge of the planning, I was naturally there at the Times Department Store to assist with the execution.

In the past period of time, my work performance had been very good. In just over a month, I had successfully completed several marketing and planning schemes and gradually established myself at Osen Advertising, earning the appreciation of the leaders. By devoting all my energy to work, I had gradually become unwilling to recall everything that had happened in Suzhou.

In fact, I hadn’t contacted Fang Yuan and Yan Yan, the couple, for nearly a month, nor had I contacted CC and Roben again. As for… Mi Cai, she seemed to have gradually faded from my memory. I only occasionally thought of her and Jian Wei late at night, when everything was quiet.

Holding a walkie-talkie in my hand, I directed the on-site staff to carry out the event procedures. After a busy period, I finally found a moment to rest. I sat on a wooden bench in the mall, wanting to light a cigarette, only to suddenly realize I was in a public place where smoking was prohibited, so I put the cigarette back into the pack and absentmindedly played with the walkie-talkie in my hand.

My fiancée, Li Xiaoyun, came to my side with a handbag following the crowd shopping in the mall. She was holding a can of Red Bull, and with a smile, she handed it to me, saying, “Here, to help you stay alert. I had it warmed up with hot water at the mall service desk just now. Drink it while it’s still hot.”

I smiled back at Li Xiaoyun, took the drink from her hand, tore it open, and started drinking while Xiaoyun sat beside me.

“You’ve worked hard these days. After you finish work, I’ll treat you to a big meal to reward you!”

“That’s exactly what I’m waiting for!”

“Then I won’t leave. I’ll wait here for you to finish work…”

I nodded, but suddenly my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Leyao, someone I hadn’t been in touch with for a long time.

I only considered Leyao as a friend and didn’t hide anything from Li Xiaoyun. I answered the call in front of her and asked with a smile, “Miss Leyao, since it’s Christmas today, did you specially call to wish me a merry Christmas?”

Leyao’s voice was low as she said to me, “Zhaoyang, I’m in Xuzhou now. Where are you right now?”

“What! You’re in Xuzhou… Why did you suddenly come to Xuzhou?” I asked in great surprise.

“There’s something I need your help with… I can’t explain it clearly over the phone. Where are you? I’ll come find you.” Leyao’s voice was still low.

Her words made me tense up, but I still calmly asked, “Where are you? I’ll come find you.”

“At the train station.”

“Okay, you’d better find a place to eat something first. I’ll be there soon.”

Leyao responded with an acknowledgment, and then we both hung up the phone.

I handed the walkie-talkie in my hand to the Xiaoyun beside me and said apologetically, “Xiaoyun, a friend of mine has come to Xuzhou, and I have to go pick her up now. I’m afraid we can’t have dinner together tonight.”

“I’ll go with you. We can have dinner together with your friend.”

I shook my head and said, “The on-site work here still needs you to oversee. I’ll try my best to come back as soon as possible, and then we can go to dinner together.”

Xiaoyun hesitated for a moment but still said, “Okay then, be careful on your way. It’s rush hour now, and there’s a lot of traffic.”

I nodded and then ran out of the mall.