I turned to look at Mi Cai, a hint of smugness in my voice, “Have you seen my tactics now? I suggest you give up on hailing a cab. For every driver that comes, I’ll send them away.”

Mi Cai ignored me, turning around with a stubborn look and continued walking in the rain.

I sighed inwardly, but still followed her steps, determined to stick with her wherever she went.

We walked to the end of the street like this. Suddenly, Mi Cai stopped. I, following behind her, couldn’t overcome my inertia in time and bumped straight into her. We both stumbled, but luckily, neither of us fell.

I looked at her a bit awkwardly. She seemed to be at the end of her tether and asked, “How much longer are you going to follow me?”

“As long as you keep walking, I’ll keep following.”

“Don’t you find yourself annoying?”

I shook my head, “No, I just think there must be a misunderstanding between us!”

Mi Cai didn’t pay attention to my mention of a misunderstanding. She asked, “Do you know the current temperature?”

“Minus 5 degrees.”

“You even know it’s minus 5 degrees!… Please stop bothering me. I’m really cold now and just want to go home and sleep.”

I casually said, “Then I’ll go with you.”

“How can you have the nerve to suggest that? You’ve already taken my old house, do you want to take over my other house too?”

I was speechless.

“Go accompany your friend who’s on her period. I think she needs you more… I’m leaving, don’t bother me anymore.”

I instinctively wanted to follow her, but she turned around and said to me, “Zhao Yang, it’s minus five degrees now!”

The minus five degrees from her mouth seemed to freeze my limbs. I stood there stiffly, watching her walk to the side of the street and finally leave in a taxi.

I sighed heavily, took out a cigarette from the pack, but my hand was frozen stiff in this minus five-degree night, and I couldn’t hold the cigarette, which slipped from my hand.

With another sigh, I turned around and walked back the way I came.

…

When I returned to the old house, I didn’t expect to see a note on the coffee table. It was left by Le Yao: “Zhao Yang, I’ve caused you trouble again, I’m really sorry, I’m going to stay in a hotel!”

I was at a loss for words. Wasn’t this moment proving that we are born alone? In the end, in this minus five-degree night, the only one left in this room was me.

I sat alone on the sofa for a long time before taking out my phone from my pocket and sending a message to Le Yao, reminding her not to catch a cold when she sleeps, especially since she’s on her period and weaker than most women.

Le Yao quickly replied, “Mmm, I won’t catch a cold… By the way, where’s Mi Cai? Did you catch up with her?”

“Do you know the temperature tonight?”

“Minus five degrees.”

“Yeah, so I can’t keep bothering her on a night like this, can I?”

Le Yao sent a pitiful emoji, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know she would suddenly come back.”

“Don’t apologize, after all, we don’t have anything… and neither do I and her.”

“But you can’t deny that you like her, right? And according to CC, she went to America and suddenly came back, probably to surprise you, right?”

I wiped my tired face with my cold hand and replied, “Let’s just say good things take time.”

A long time passed, and Le Yao didn’t reply to my message. In my confusion, I finally went to the bathroom to soak my feet in hot water, still hesitating whether to call Mi Cai. If I couldn’t clear up the misunderstanding, it would be like a fishbone stuck in my throat.

Just as I decided to call her, my phone suddenly rang. I instinctively thought it was Mi Cai, but when I picked it up, I saw it was Mr. Ban.

I answered the phone, a bit nervous, “Mr. Ban, you’re not calling this late to tell me something important, are you?”

“It’s almost New Year, are you coming back?”

Mr. Ban’s tone was still devoid of any emotion, and I couldn’t tell whether he wanted me to come back or not. After a long silence, I tentatively asked, “Wouldn’t my coming back be a bother to you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mr. Ban, you must know about the phone call my mom made to me a few days ago, right?”

“I know.”

“Do you know she told me to find a girl more reliable than Xiao Yun before I come home?… I really don’t think she was joking.”

“Then find one to please her.”

I complained, “You make it sound like reliable girls are commodities that can be found easily!”

Mr. Ban ignored my complaint and said, “Didn’t I tell you to bring Mi Cai home for the New Year last time?”

I scratched my head in annoyance. If it weren’t for today’s incident, maybe I could have spent the New Year in Xuzhou with Mi Cai. But now I’ve messed it up, and with Mi Cai’s unpredictable temper, who knows how long it will take for her to forgive me.

So I sighed and said, “You’re my dad, so I won’t hide it from you. Comrade Mi Cai is currently angry with me!”

“Did you do something stupid again?”

“I swear, I didn’t. It was just a misunderstanding, but she refuses to listen to my explanation. Do you think this is a reliable girl? She has a severe case of princess syndrome!”

Mr. Ban immediately reprimanded me in a low voice, “She’s a girl with no one to rely on, it’s normal for her to lack a sense of security in relationships. You need to be patient.”

After being scolded like this, I thought Mr. Ban was right, so I changed my tune, “You’re right, actually, she’s quite good and reliable at times!”

“She’s definitely more reliable than you.”

I felt a bit embarrassed. Thinking about it, it was true. If I hadn’t been involved with other women, there wouldn’t have been tonight’s incident.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt I was in the wrong, so I asked Mr. Ban for advice, “So what should I do?”

Mr. Ban answered succinctly, “Show more sincerity, and double your patience.””I understand… I will definitely strive to bring her back to Xuzhou for the New Year’s Day. You also have to help me bear some of the burden with my mother.”

“Whether it’s Xiao Yun or Xiao Mi, your mother just hopes that you can live a good life and make fewer mistakes in the future, understand?”

“You’re right. From now on, I’ll look in the mirror every day to remind myself to be a steady and reliable person.”

After ending the conversation with Mr. Ban, I stood in Mi Cai’s shoes and re-examined today’s events. The more I thought about it, the more aggrieved I felt for her. Finally, I gritted my teeth and made a crazy decision: I would stand guard in the community where she lived in this five degrees below zero night, with absolute sincerity and perseverance, until she could let go of tonight’s incident.

…

So, braving the severe cold, I drove to the luxury community where Mi Cai lived, and then sent her a WeChat message, telling her: I was waiting for her outside the community until she was willing to come out.

In order to show my sincerity, I didn’t stay in the car, but paced back and forth in the corridor of the community’s reception room waiting for her. However, she didn’t reply to show her stance.

I started to worry, afraid that she had already gone to bed and didn’t see this message, and also afraid that she was testing my sincerity. So, in this freezing cold, I became more and more anxious…

I was shivering from the cold, and finally couldn’t help but want to call her to find out what her current state was!

If she doesn’t answer, she’s probably asleep. If she rejects the call, she might be testing me. As long as I keep waiting patiently, she definitely won’t just watch me freeze to death in this five degrees below zero night. After all, I think she kind of likes me, even though I’m not that reliable…