Chapter 15: Teasing Mi Cai

I sat back on the sofa, smoked the cigarette in my hand to the end, and then stubbed it out in the ashtray. I glanced at the guitar beside me but had no mood to sing even a single song anymore.

I lay back on the sofa, once again succumbing to the torment of boredom. I looked toward Mi Cai’s room, feeling somewhat unhappy. If it weren’t for the restrictions she imposed on me, I would already be drinking beer with Luo Ben and watching a fashion show full of beautiful women. To a large extent, my current boredom was her doing.

If she hadn’t suddenly bought this house, I wouldn’t have had to compromise to continue living here, nor would I have had to change my lifestyle, dying from boredom on a night like this.

I felt she had the responsibility to help me get rid of this endless boredom. No matter how much of a bully this logic might seem to others, I thought it was only fair. Because in my understanding, boredom is terrifying—it is entirely born of loneliness. If one is alive, who isn’t afraid of loneliness?

I went to Mi Cai’s door, determined to break free from the prison of loneliness on this not-yet-deep night. I knocked and said to Mi Cai, who was inside doing who-knows-what, “Hey, are you free? Come out and chat for a bit.”

“We don’t have anything in common,” came Mi Cai’s voice from inside.

“We’re both speaking Chinese, how can we have nothing in common? Besides, I’m the landlord and you’re the tenant. Living under the same roof, we should communicate more to maintain a harmonious coexistence.”

Mi Cai ignored me, and only an awkward echo answered from inside the room.

I immediately changed tactics, adopting a softer approach, and knocked on her door again, saying, “Have you had dinner yet? Maybe I can make some late-night snacks…”

Mi Cai wasn’t moved, interrupting me with annoyance, “Please do something meaningful.”

“Come on, I’m offering to make you a snack, and you’re mocking me for being meaningless? Well then, I won’t bother you anymore. Great! I’ll just go play with my spoon…”

I sat back on the sofa in a huff, but I couldn’t accept her indifferent attitude. Why did she act as if I wasn’t even worth her attention? I might be poor and not particularly successful, but that didn’t mean I was willing to lower myself to accommodate her high-handedness. As long as I was alive, I still cared about my self-respect.

I actually went to the kitchen and found a spoon, placing it on the coffee table and flicking the handle with my finger so that the spoon spun like a top.

…

Half an hour later, Mi Cai opened her door. She had changed clothes and was wearing a white fleece pullover pajama as she walked toward the bathroom, seemingly preparing to wash up and rest.

I stared at her, but she kept her eyes straight ahead. When she reached the coffee table, she finally glanced at the still-spinning spoon, then stopped and looked at me. I, in turn, looked at her expressionlessly, flicking the spoon handle angrily again, making it spin even faster.

My boring antics finally brought a slight smile to Mi Cai’s face, though I couldn’t tell whether it was genuine amusement or mockery.

“What are you smiling about! Didn’t I just tell you I was going to play with the spoon?” I said, spinning the spoon even faster.

Mi Cai nodded, saying, “You really keep your word. Progress.” Without another word, she continued toward the bathroom.

I watched her retreating figure with a sidelong glance, then slapped the spinning spoon to a stop.

…

Shortly afterward, Mi Cai came out of the bathroom. Her hair was now loose, and there were a few water droplets on the ends. Even though she had completely removed her makeup, her skin remained fair and delicate, highlighting her natural beauty. Among countless women I had known, none had looked this beautiful without makeup.

She continued to ignore me as she walked toward her room.

Once again, I called out to her shamelessly, “Hey, you stop right there.”

“What?” Mi Cai asked coldly, her expression even colder as she looked at me.

I felt a little nervous but pressed on, “I… I’m really bored. Keep me company for a while!”

“Find someone as bored as you. I’m going to rest.”

I sounded as if I had received a royal decree, my tone rising, “You said it yourself! I’m going out to have fun right now!”

“You can go out, but take your luggage with you, and there’s no need to come back.”

“I knew you’d take advantage of my weakness to amuse yourself… Honestly, I’ve been renting for over three years and met all kinds of people, but I’ve never met a tenant as arrogant as you. Can’t you be a little more polite to your own landlord?” I, filled with dissatisfaction, once again forced the title of tenant onto Mi Cai.

Mi Cai retorted, “I’ve never met someone as shameless as you either!”

“If I weren’t shameless, I’d already be homeless on the street. It’s all your fault.” I glared at Mi Cai, feeling another surge of annoyance thinking about the past few days.

“Aren’t you the landlord? Who dares to force you!” Mi Cai looked at me with a half-smile, her words full of sarcasm.

I pointed at Mi Cai, so angry I felt pain in my liver, and finally said, “You cruel woman, when I say I’m the landlord, it’s just to give myself a little dignity. Can’t you leave me a bit of respect?” I sighed loudly, “The poor have a hard life… no happiness at all…”

“You, in ancient times, would be considered a ruffian and troublemaker; nowadays, you’re just a hooligan!” Mi Cai gave me a glare and, unwilling to continue the argument, turned toward her room.

I spat in anger as I watched the door slam shut, shouting, “So what if you’re bourgeois! Comrade Deng Xiaoping said the Chinese people will eventually achieve common prosperity. Let you rich people show off for a few more years. Just wait a few more years, and you’ll see me…”

I messed around in the living room for a while before returning to my room, closing the door, and lying on the bed. Habitually, I lit a cigarette, still thinking about the argument with Mi Cai. Although I hadn’t gained any advantage, I felt secretly pleased thinking about Mi Cai’s angry face when she called me a hooligan. My mood seemed less irritable, and soon I dozed off, finally escaping the torment of boredom!

…

Possibly because I had slept early the previous night, I woke up at six in the morning and couldn’t fall back asleep no matter what I did. I just stared at the ceiling, thinking involuntarily about Fang Yuan and Yan Yan’s upcoming wedding, which made me anxious. I knew this anxiety wasn’t baseless—it was related to my impending meeting with Jian Wei, which was really a problem! No matter how I tried to comfort myself, I couldn’t remain calm…

Moreover, I was also curious. Both Jian Wei and I had devoted years of our youth to each other. I felt anxious because I was about to meet her again, but what about her? Did she feel the same?

I had no answer. I couldn’t use myself as a standard to judge Jian Wei, because sometimes women differ from men, and sometimes Jian Wei was even more different from me. Perhaps three years later, when she saw me again, she might see me as just an ordinary friend, or even a stranger!

It was just getting light outside, and under the persistent anxiety, I decided not to try sleeping again. After a simple wash-up, I prepared to make myself breakfast. I opened the fridge and saw there were still a few salted duck eggs that Ban Di had brought the other day. Boiling a pot of porridge, buying a few deep-fried dough sticks, and it would still be a decent breakfast.

I went downstairs to the breakfast shop to buy some dough sticks and then went to the convenience store to buy a few bags of pickled mustard tuber. When I returned, the water in the pot was already boiling, so I poured in the rice and then got a mop to clean the house.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew in from the balcony window. I realized that last night both Mi Cai and I had forgotten to close the window, which explained why this morning felt colder than usual.

Autumn was already halfway through, and the morning temperature was quite low. I tucked my clothes tighter and walked to the balcony to close the window. At that moment, the first rays of morning sunlight refracted through the glass, lazily illuminating the colorful coleus plants below, as if telling me: this was a beautiful morning.

To immerse myself in this beautiful morning, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Gradually, my restless heart calmed a bit.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Mi Cai walking out of her room. She was still in her pajamas, her expression still drowsy from sleep.

Leaning on the mop, I greeted Mi Cai with a teasing smile, “Good morning, my lady tenant!”

Mi Cai seemed no longer willing to argue about the tenant identity I had forced upon her. She tucked her sleep-mussed hair behind her ear and asked, “Do you usually get up this early?”

“Of course not. I got up especially early today just to make breakfast for you,” I lied casually.

“Really? I was planning to sleep a bit longer.”

“Then why are you up now?” I looked at Mi Cai knowingly. Obviously, she had gotten up to go to the bathroom, but I was curious how the unrefined word “pee” would sound coming out of a beautiful girl like Mi Cai—or if she would even dare to say it! Regardless of whether she dared or not, I thought it was fun to amuse myself at the start of the day.

Mi Cai looked at me with a frown but said nothing. Indeed, a beautiful girl like her would find it hard to utter such an unrefined word. I felt smug and took another step forward, blocking the bathroom door.

After a while, Mi Cai said to me, “Please move aside.”

“I won’t! Don’t you know manners? You haven’t answered my question yet, and you’re making me angry so early in the morning!” I raised my voice.

Mi Cai stood still, her face slightly flushed, possibly from anger or possibly from holding it in… after holding it all night, how could she not be holding a lot!

I felt delighted, as if I had finally avenged the injustice of Mi Cai taking over the house with her money. I continued boastfully, “Go ahead, since you were planning to sleep, why are you up now?”

“I got up because I need to use the bathroom. Please move aside,” Mi Cai said, her expression already quite displeased.

I was afraid I had gone too far with my joke, even more afraid that Mi Cai would get angry and ask me to move out. I quickly stepped aside, giving Mi Cai space to enter. Suddenly, I realized that one doesn’t necessarily have to say “pee”; saying “use the bathroom” could also express the same thing in a more refined way. This was the difference between a rough man and a beautiful girl!

After Mi Cai came out of the bathroom, I sincerely invited her to have breakfast with me again. But she seemed to resent my teasing and ignored me, going directly into her room to continue sleeping. As a result, on this seemingly nice morning, I ended up eating a boring breakfast alone, then like a machine, started a day already programmed for me.

Wait, I need to correct myself. Strictly speaking, I wasn’t exactly like a machine, because lately I always carried human emotions and anxieties. Every time I thought about Fang Yuan and Yan Yan’s wedding approaching and the inevitable meeting with Jian Wei, I felt instinctively anxious… at times like these, I actually wished I were a machine without emotions. Because another day had passed, and I still didn’t know what mindset to adopt when facing Jian Wei after three years apart!

At that moment, the perfect morning sunlight shifted its angle and poured into the room, illuminating the black coat in the wardrobe, extinguishing my emotions, while Jian Wei’s face became increasingly clear…