Returning to my place, I opened the door, only to find Mi Cai inside, holding a stack of documents.

I asked in surprise, “Why are you back? Weren’t you supposed to stay over there?”

“I came back for the documents.”

“Oh.” I responded tiredly and headed towards my room.

Mi Cai looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong? You seem down.”

“Down? Just a bit tired,” I replied casually.

Mi Cai glanced at her watch and said, “It’s 11:30 in the morning, lunchtime. Your timing is off if you’re tired now.”

I glanced at Mi Cai but didn’t respond, continuing towards my room. Unexpectedly, Mi Cai put the documents on the coffee table and followed me into my room.

“Why are you coming into my room?”

Given Mi Cai’s usual logic, I thought she would retort with “You’ve been in my room plenty of times,” but instead, she asked, “You seem troubled. Is it about Le Yao’s bar and her debts?”

“So CC told you about that too!” I exclaimed. I thought CC had only told Mi Cai that I returned to Suzhou for Le Yao, but she even mentioned Le Yao’s high-interest debts. It seemed that she and Mi Cai had become close friends who shared everything.

Mi Cai looked at me for a long time before saying, “If you need help, you can tell me. I think I can help.”

After she finished speaking, I looked at her for a while before changing the subject, “Aren’t you going to work after getting the documents?…”

Mi Cai didn’t say anything more, just nodded and left my room. I thought: she must understand that I was resistant to seeking her help, so she didn’t insist unnecessarily.

…

After Mi Cai left, the room suddenly became quiet. I closed my eyes, curled up in the blanket, and fell asleep after a while. When I woke up, the wind had brought dusk.

I sat on the bed in a daze for a while, remembering that I had an appointment with Xiang Chen tonight. I quickly put on my coat, freshened up in the bathroom, and hurried downstairs. I hailed a taxi and rushed to the agreed hotel.

When I arrived, a silver Audi A4 and a black Range Rover drove towards me. I knew the Range Rover was Xiang Chen’s car. On closer inspection, I realized that Circle was driving the A4, with Yan Yan sitting next to him. It turned out that Circle had bought a car in the months I was away. It made sense, considering he was now the deputy manager of the planning department at Baoli Department Store and needed a decent car to match his status. I was happy for him, as his life with Yan Yan was getting better and better.

After the two cars parked, Circle and Yan Yan got out of the A4, and Jian Wei and Xiang Chen also got out of their car.

Their pairing once again highlighted my loneliness. My legs felt heavy as I stood there, forcing a smile at them.

Jian Wei and Xiang Chen were behind, Circle and Yan Yan were in front, walking towards me. Circle complained, “Zhao Yang, you just returned to Suzhou and invited Xiang Chen and Jian Wei for dinner, but didn’t invite me and Yan Yan. What’s the meaning of this?”

I just smiled, not knowing how to respond. At this point, Circle and Yan Yan didn’t know that I had broken up with Li Xiaoyun and was alone again. It would be hard to tell them about this incident. If they knew, they would probably blame me.

After a while, I finally said to Circle and Yan Yan, “Whether I invite you or not, you’re here, aren’t you?”

Yan Yan patted my shoulder and laughed, “Humph… We’re good at showing up uninvited!”

I laughed along, then turned to Jian Wei and Xiang Chen, who had been standing by and watching, “Let’s not stand here. Let’s go in and sit.”

Xiang Chen smiled, and Jian Wei linked her arm with his. The two of them walked into the hotel first. Watching their retreating figures, a strange feeling filled my heart. Perhaps their relationship had progressed a lot in the three months we hadn’t been in touch, and I, as a thing of the past, was gradually fading, gradually falling out of her memory.

At this moment, I realized that even though I rarely thought about Jian Wei, she still stirred my emotions when I faced her. After all, I had loved her so passionately, and now I had to watch her walk beside someone else alone. The days of forgetting her suddenly seemed deliberate.

Circle patted me, who was lost in thought, and said, “What are you standing there for? Let’s go in.”

I nodded and followed Circle into the hotel, pushing all the negative emotions into a corner of my mind that I didn’t want to touch.

…

Inside the hotel’s private room, the five of us sat around the dining table. After ordering, we started to chat.

The talkative Yan Yan, in her gossiping spirit, asked, “Zhao Yang, why didn’t you bring your fiancée to Suzhou this time? We all want to meet her. What kind of woman has tamed you, the playboy?”I chose to answer Yan Yan’s question indirectly, forcing a smile and saying, “This time I came back, I don’t plan to return to Xuzhou.”

“Ah? That’s a lot of information!” Yan Yan stared at me with wide eyes, expressing her astonishment.

Not only Yan Yan, Circle also looked at me with a surprised expression, and Jian Wei, who had been chatting with Xiang Chen, also stopped to look at me, waiting for my explanation.

I looked away, fell silent for a moment, and then said, “We broke up.”

“No way, you guys even bought engagement rings!” Yan Yan asked me again, full of shock.

I finally put on an “I don’t care” attitude and said, “Even a marriage certificate can’t bind two people who don’t want to be together, let alone an engagement ring!”

Yan Yan, who didn’t understand, asked again, “Why don’t you want to be together anymore? Is it your fault, or hers?… Does this have anything to do with your sudden return to Suzhou?”

I nodded and said, “It does have to do with my return to Suzhou. I ran into some trouble… I came to Xiang Chen this time for this matter… Let’s eat first, we can talk about other things later.”

Hearing that I had run into trouble, both Circle and Yan Yan looked at me with concern. Jian Wei, who had been silent all along, finally asked, “What kind of trouble?”

“Let’s eat first…” I responded.

Jian Wei continued to look at me with a seemingly calm gaze, waiting for my answer, and so did Xiang Chen.

Finally, even Circle said to me, “Stop beating around the bush, I know you, Zhao Yang, wouldn’t easily ask for help, so the problem must be serious, right?”

I looked around at everyone waiting for an answer, knowing that I had to speak. After gathering my emotions, I lit a cigarette and finally said, “My friend owes a million in high-interest loans, it’s a tricky situation, I hope Xiang Chen can help me with this…” After finishing, I added, “I’m telling the truth, I may not be able to repay it in the next few years, but I will definitely try my best to find a way.”