After finishing a cigarette, I returned to the living room. It seemed as if Mi Cai’s feminine fragrance still lingered in the air, but I was quickly forgetting the impulse I had just had to confess my feelings to her. So, I thought to myself: as long as I don’t see her, I can remain rational.

After washing up, I put away all my emotions and lay in bed. I chose to forget the things I couldn’t figure out, because it would make things easier. Many times, I really didn’t want to take life too seriously.

The next day, I got up early, but to my surprise, Mi Cai had woken up even earlier, so I didn’t get the chance to make her breakfast. However, I was more excited about the fact that she would be back from Shanghai in the afternoon, and then I could make her dinner or a late-night snack.

The bar was closed, and I found myself with nothing to do. I wanted to fulfill my promise to buy some potted plants at the flower market, but in the end, I gave up. I preferred to use the little money I had to buy Mi Cai a fuel-powered race car.

I planned to sell my own modified race car, which still had decent performance, and then use the money I had to barely afford a fuel-powered race car for Mi Cai.

I turned on my computer to post the information and photos of my race car online, but coincidentally, I saw a fuel-powered race car for sale. The specifications were top-notch, but the seller had a strange request. He wanted to trade cars, specifically for a battery-powered race car.

I immediately contacted him and found out that he had bought the fuel-powered race car for his son. However, due to its high operating difficulty, his son couldn’t handle it. He didn’t want to waste it, so he planned to trade it for a battery-powered car for his son to practice with. Of course, he would need some money to make up for the price difference between the two types of cars.

I arranged to meet him at the entrance of the Zomei Shopping Center. I gave him my race car and an additional two thousand yuan, and successfully completed the transaction.

When I held the fuel-powered race car in my hands, I was filled with joy. My joy came from the anticipation of Mi Cai’s joy when she saw the car.

So, I was even more eager for Mi Cai to return before tonight. I couldn’t wait to give her the car.

I immediately sent her a WeChat message: “Will you be back tonight?”

After a while, she replied: “No, Wei Ran is also in Shanghai. I plan to hang out with him in Shanghai tonight.”

Reading this message, I felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over me. I was disappointed, but there was nothing I could do. After all, Mi Cai had no obligation to spend every day with me. After all, she had her own friends.

I looked at the race car in my hand and gave a helpless bitter smile. I didn’t reply to Mi Cai’s message, just put my phone back in my pocket.

……

Today it was Robben’s turn to supervise the bar, so I had even less to do. I decided to take the newly acquired race car to the square to show off and relieve the disappointment caused by Mi Cai not coming back tonight.

When I arrived at the square, it was already dusk, the busiest time of the day. I saw couples passionately embracing each other, occasionally biting each other, and young parents with satisfied smiles watching their children play. But their happiness only made me feel more alone. I had to hide behind a tree to smoke, afraid of being caught and fined by the square’s administrator.

Finally, after finishing a cigarette, I came out from behind the tree and started playing with the race car on the ground. The powerful performance of the race car quickly attracted a crowd of children. Amid their chirping, I finally managed to dispel my gloom.

I held up the race car and said to the group of children, “Listen to me, if you want to play with my race car, you have to call me ‘big brother’. Whoever calls the loudest gets to play first.”

Immediately, a bold kid, standing in a horse stance, shouted “big brother” at me with all his might.

Seeing his passionate shout, I couldn’t go back on my word, so I handed him the remote control. But I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to control it and would damage the car I was going to give to Mi Cai, so I watched nervously.

After several children had taken turns playing, I finally breathed a sigh of relief, took back the race car, and sat back on the bench. Watching the children who were still not satisfied, I thought of Wei Xiao. He didn’t seem to come to the square to play with cars today.

I looked around and unexpectedly found Wei Xiao in a corner of the square. He seemed to have set up a small stall. I couldn’t see clearly, so I got up and walked over.

Standing in front of Wei Xiao, I saw him sitting on a small stool with a few newspapers spread out in front of him, on which were some hand-woven baskets.

He noticed me and happily shouted, “Zhao Yang, how come you’re at the square again?””What did I ask you to call me last time?”

Wei Xiao chuckled “hehe” and corrected himself to call me “big brother”, courteously offering me his small stool to sit on.

Looking at these hand-woven baskets, I asked him, “These were all made by your grandfather, right?”

“Mm, ten yuan each, do you want to buy one?”

“Little guy, you really know how to sell!”

Wei Xiao pouted and said to me in a low voice, “No one has bought any today!”

Not wanting him to be too disappointed, I pulled out ten yuan from my wallet and handed it to him, saying, “Alright, I’ll buy one. It’s beautifully woven!”

Wei Xiao took the money from my hand with a grin and exclaimed, “Big brother, you’re such a good person. If I were as rich as you, my grandfather wouldn’t have to weave baskets every day!”

“Where on earth am I rich?”

“You are rich, you can afford to eat at KFC and McDonald’s!”

Wei Xiao’s naivety made me somewhat melancholic. In a world where celebrities can earn hundreds of thousands just for walking a runway, there’s still a child who innocently believes that being able to afford KFC and McDonald’s means being rich. I really don’t know which class this is mocking.

With a heavy sigh in my heart, I regretted my lack of ability. The only help I could offer Wei Xiao now 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, sat next to his small stall acting as a street musician, and started busking…

Soon, people began to gather around us. Among them were those who bought Wei Xiao’s woven baskets out of pity, and those who threw some change at me after listening to my songs. In any case, Wei Xiao and I made a little money that evening.

As the sky finally darkened and the temperature began to plummet, the number of people in the square decreased. I gave all the money I had received from passersby to Wei Xiao, packed up my guitar and prepared to leave, but suddenly saw a graceful figure approaching from a distance.

I couldn’t see clearly, but as she got closer, I realized it was Mi Cai. She had actually returned from Shanghai. I was puzzled, wasn’t she supposed to be with Wei Ran?