Driving that old car, breaking through the shackles of the night, I finally arrived at the city moat. It was the same familiar section of the river, but I was alone.

It didn’t matter, I had long been accustomed to the solitude here. It wasn’t so lonely, at least I had my cigarettes, the bare trees, and the occasional gusts of cold wind.

I pulled out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, put one in my mouth, and repeatedly searched my pockets, only to realize: I had left my lighter on the table at the bar.

I was a bit annoyed, but it wasn’t worth the trouble to drive into the city from the suburbs just to buy a lighter.

But without the company of a cigarette, I was poisoned by loneliness. At this moment, I thought of Jian Wei. If she were here, she would definitely light my cigarette with her blue lighter.

But that was just an if. She was probably not in Suzhou at the moment, otherwise, why wasn’t she at the lunch Yan Yan invited me to today?

So, I forcefully suppressed my desire for a cigarette, lay on the withered lawn, looked at the sky, my eyes filled with twinkling stars, but my heart was empty.

The city moat was really quiet at this moment, so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat and the sound of the wind rustling the dry leaves. Unable to bear the loneliness without a cigarette, I began to sing, singing until the world was reduced to just me…

“Zhao Yang, is that you?”

The voice was soft, I thought it was an illusion, but she was already standing next to me. If it wasn’t Jian Wei, who else could it be?

“Why are you still in Suzhou? Why did you come here again?” I asked Jian Wei two questions in disbelief.

“I’ve always been in Suzhou, because the advertising company is being set up… The pressure has been a bit high lately, so I come here to sit for a while after work every day.”

I looked at her, and it seemed like I saw a trace of desolation in her. After all, a woman sitting alone by this deserted city moat late at night, how lonely she must be! Even lonelier than me!

I was silent for a long time before I said to her, “Why bother?”

Jian Wei smiled and replied, “Are you pitying me?… I don’t think I’m pitiful, because I often imagine this place as a beautiful ink painting.”

“But you are the most drifting leaf in this painting!… As long as you’re willing, you can live a good life, why let an advertising company become your burden?”

Jian Wei looked at me with a questioning expression and said, “You didn’t say that last time, you said I would definitely succeed, successfully run a top advertising company!”

“That’s under the premise that you can take it easy, not like now.”

“What’s wrong with now? I live a fulfilling life every day, coming here is just a way to relax, just like some people go to bars for fun!”

Seeing her strong demeanor, I didn’t want to argue with her anymore, so I shook the cigarette in my hand and asked her, “Do you have a lighter? Can I borrow it?”

Jian Wei didn’t expect me to give up so easily. She was stunned for a moment before she took out a lighter from her bag and lit my cigarette in the cold wind.

I took a deep puff of the cigarette, then exhaled heavily, and then asked Jian Wei, “Aren’t you going back to Shanghai for the New Year?”

“Shanghai is so close to Suzhou, I can come and go anytime.”

I was silent for a long time before I said, “What I mean is: what do your parents think about what you’re doing now?”

“Why don’t you just say it, why beat around the bush?”

“To show my depth, to cultivate your intelligence…”

Jian Wei looked at me and burst out laughing. It seemed like in my memory, she hadn’t laughed like this since she came back.

“You’re still as outspoken as before, making people laugh and cry!”

“We shouldn’t talk about the past anymore, even though I’m still the same me.”

“I know, because I’m not the same me anymore…” Jian Wei said, her face no longer had the smile from just now, and she looked at the flowing river with a bit of confusion.

“You still haven’t told me, what do your parents think about you starting an advertising company.”

Jian Wei turned to look at me, frowned and said, “Don’t ask me this question again, I remember I told you, no matter who opposes, I will treat this as a dream to realize.”

“Jian Wei, don’t you think you’re being willful?”

“Hehe, am I?… But have you ever thought, if I weren’t willful, why would I have fallen in love with you, followed you, otherwise, if I had just fallen in love with someone else, I wouldn’t have suffered so much!”

Jian Wei’s words made me feel guilty and downcast. At this moment, she had denied everything we once had. She regretted it, regretted her willfulness back then, regretted the pain she had to endure because of it.

“Do you regret being with me back then?… Yes, I never denied it, I’m not good enough for you, it’s all my fault!” I said in a low voice, not to mock Jian Wei, but to blame myself from the bottom of my heart. If there were ifs, I would have been a sensible person back then, not starting this love that eventually tore us apart.

But Jian Wei was looking at me, saying, “Zhao Yang, I don’t regret it, because I’m still being willful, and you’re not wrong, I’m the one who’s wrong…”

Jian Wei and I looked at each other. I remember we just mentioned not to talk about the past, so why did we say so much now? And what does this mean to us? It only makes us both suffer and suppress in the past!

Unexpectedly, Jian Wei changed the subject before me and said, “Let’s not talk about this, tell me about you, how’s the bar doing lately?”

“Much better than before.”

Jian Wei nodded and said, “That’s expected, because your marketing strategy accurately captures the psychological needs of the target consumers… However, the warm marketing you mentioned before hasn’t been reflected yet.”

“Do you have any ideas?””A small suggestion, um… I’ve been following the Weibo posts of some of our bar patrons recently. Many of them expressed regret that they couldn’t go home for the New Year due to various reasons. Do you think this could be an opportunity for some emotional marketing?”

I looked at Jian Wei and immediately asked, “You mean: invite them to spend New Year’s Eve at the bar, so they can experience the festive atmosphere and warmth of family even in a foreign land?”

Jian Wei nodded and said, “Exactly, that’s what I mean. People tend to be most emotional during holidays. Emotional marketing at this time can have the best effect. We can prepare New Year’s Eve dinners that suit the tastes of different customers based on the characteristics of their hometowns. This kind of emotional marketing will make them feel a strong sense of belonging to the bar. Then we can transition to a membership system, and gradually transition to a club-style bar. Once the transition is successful, it means the bar’s transformation is successful, and it even has brand momentum. With further development, we can eventually establish a brand.”

I applauded for Jian Wei. This was a very precise and complete idea. As expected of someone born into an advertising family, her insight made me, who had been working in planning for a long time, feel inferior. At this moment, I had a premonition that perhaps this time I could really solve the bar’s operational problems, fulfill my promise to Le Yao, regain my freedom, and choose my own life again.

But I wonder what decision Mi Cai, who is still on the plane, has made? Maybe she really needs some time to figure out her feelings for me, and all I need to do is to be patient and keep waiting…