In the sunset of dusk, I was staring at Mi Cai. Finally, I put down the race car in my hand, smiled, and asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Mi Cai didn’t respond, but picked up the down jacket I had laid on the ground. She pulled open my arm and helped me put the jacket back on, reprimanding me, “Don’t you know you could catch a cold?”

“Have you ever seen me catch a cold? This robust body was honed in the cold wind!”

Mi Cai laughed and said, “Stop bragging, hurry up and adjust the race car. I can squat here for a while.”

Looking at Mi Cai’s smile, I was momentarily lost in thought. She hadn’t smiled at me much recently. To keep her smiling, I quickly squatted down and started adjusting the race car.

After a while, the car finally started smoothly under my adjustments. I handed the remote control to Mi Cai and said, “Here, you play.”

Unexpectedly, Mi Cai shook her head and said, “I bought this for you.”

“What?!… Didn’t you say your friend gave it to you?”

“That’s what I said when I was angry. You always upset me!”

I was touched, but still joked, “I know you’re still mad about that day. But there’s always a chance to make up for it. You’ll be back next month, right? I’ll buy you a whole box then!”

“Are you stupid… Who wants you to buy a whole box.”

I laughed awkwardly, feeling a bit embarrassed to face her, because our conversation was starting to sound like a couple’s playful banter.

Seeing me silent, Mi Cai said seriously, “I actually bought this race car last time, planning to give it to you after dinner, but…”

“But I left you and ruined your mood for dinner, right?”

“As long as you know.” After a slight pause, Mi Cai asked, “Can you tell me who asked you out that night? You looked so anxious!”

I hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest, “Jian Wei, she asked me out that night.”

Mi Cai nodded, her gaze no longer on me, but lost in thought as she watched the children playing by the fountain.

……

When we left KFC, it was completely dark. The three of us stood in the winter wind, ready to say goodbye.

I said to Mi Cai, “I’ll take Wei Xiao home later. You’ve been tired lately, go home and rest early.”

“I’ll take him home. It’s the weekend tomorrow, it won’t affect my rest.”

Wei Xiao, who was holding a family bucket, suddenly interrupted, “Big brother, Referee sister, you don’t have to take me home. I can go home by myself, it’s not far.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Aren’t adults in love supposed to go to the movies on Friday nights?”

Mi Cai and I looked at each other, and I finally said, “You little gossip, who told you we’re in love?”

“No way, being in love is so happy!”

I was helpless against Wei Xiao’s innocent logic. I looked at Mi Cai and said to him, “We’re tired of the harassment of happiness!”

Wei Xiao scratched his head and turned to Mi Cai for help, “Referee sister, what does that mean?”

Mi Cai laughed, “Don’t mind him, he just likes to act mysterious!”

Despite Mi Cai’s denial and sarcasm, I didn’t argue back. But that doesn’t mean I admit to acting mysterious. The so-called ‘tired of the harassment of happiness’ is true, it just takes time to understand its meaning. I guess Mi Cai isn’t in the mood to delve into it right now.

……

In the end, Mi Cai and I walked Wei Xiao home together. After chatting with his grandfather for a while, we left.

Walking on the small path in the shantytown, the cold wind was blowing against us. I was worried that Mi Cai couldn’t withstand the cutting wind, so I took off my down jacket and put it on her again.

She still refused to wear it. I forcibly wrapped her in the down jacket and said with some reproach, “Have you forgotten how you caught a cold last time?… If you’re weak, don’t try to be strong!”

Mi Cai wanted to say something but stopped. She finally didn’t struggle anymore and said to me, “You better not catch a cold.”

“For a man, this kind of cold is a kind of happiness!”

“Masochist.”

I laughed and said, “Wait until we get out of this alley before you scold me. The wind here is so strong, even this masochist can hardly bear it!”

Mi Cai nodded, but suddenly put my freezing red hand into the pocket of the down jacket she was wearing. My left hand was enveloped in warmth.

I was stunned for a long time before I followed her steps towards the end of the alley. Our shadows were close together, as if drawing warmth from each other to resist the severe cold.

……

When I got home, as usual, I lay on the bed smoking a cigarette after washing up, thinking about every moment I had spent with Mi Cai since we met. Suddenly, I realized that we had already experienced the change of two seasons.I still vividly remember that rainy day in late autumn, how rudely I threw her quilt and sheets from the upstairs, and how she tricked me into the wilderness, subjecting me to endless torment… And when she traveled all the way to Xuzhou to find me, I played the guitar for her, and she nestled against me, crying.

It turns out that we’ve been through so much with the changing seasons. I regret not having the high emotional intelligence of Wei Ran. If I had also used a DV to record all this, perhaps every night with a memory to savor would be fulfilling!

Extinguishing the cigarette in my hand, I looked again at the photos I had stolen, displayed on the distant cabinet. Even though I couldn’t see clearly under the dim light, I could still see her heart that needed comfort. But why can’t I be a brave person?

Perhaps I really am inferior. I’m afraid I can’t comfort her heart that has been heavily hit. It seems that all I can do for her now is to cook a meal, put on a coat to keep her warm, and occasionally do some unkind things to make her angry.

But can these insignificant offerings really support a love with such a huge gap?

What an unsolvable proposition! But how can there be an answer if I don’t try? If I try and can’t support it, wouldn’t that just add pain to both of us?

And that’s already an optimistic assumption. More pessimistically, I might not even have the chance to try, because there’s Wei Ran, who is always attentive to Mi Cai. If I were to compare myself with Wei Ran, I have no doubt that I’m just a nobody with a power level of only 5.

So, I really should go to bed! To stop this unreliable self-torment… Finally, I turned off the light, in the dark room, repeatedly experiencing the loneliness that had lit up.

But the deepening loneliness was interrupted by a sudden ringtone from my phone. It took me a while to pick it up and look at it. It was a message from Mi Cai.

“Zhao Yang, I forgot to tell you just now, arrange a meeting with Circle, Chen Jingming, and me tomorrow afternoon.”

This message instantly made me forget the loneliness just now, because it concerns the career fate of Circle and Chen Jingming. I’m even more looking forward to a good result from Mi Cai for them tomorrow!