The security personnel came over with a tourniquet to bandage Circle. Mi Cai held onto Circle without moving. I finally calmed down a bit and said to her, “We can’t wait for the ambulance. Give me your car keys. The nearest hospital is only ten minutes away.”

Mi Cai mechanically handed me her handbag, saying, “The car keys are inside.”

I dumped out the contents of the handbag, found the car keys, and took Circle from Mi Cai’s arms, running towards the exit.

When I got to Mi Cai’s car, I remembered that the R8 was a two-seater, so I ran back to my own car.

Mi Cai followed closely behind me and said, “You’ve been drinking. Don’t cause more trouble by driving. Give me the keys. I’ll drive.”

I gestured that the keys were in my jacket pocket. Mi Cai quickly took them out, opened the car door immediately, and I put Circle in the car, protecting his head and letting him lie on my lap. Mi Cai started the car right away and sped around a corner.

Fortunately, there was no traffic. What was originally a ten-minute drive was completed by Mi Cai in five minutes. But it felt like a year of torment for me. As soon as Mi Cai stopped the car, I rushed Circle into the hospital, anxiously watching as he was wheeled into the emergency room surrounded by a group of doctors and nurses.

…

Mi Cai leaned against the wall, and I lowered my head, painfully pulling at my hair, unable to say a word.

A moment later, Mi Cai also arrived at the hospital, followed by several police officers, ready to take me to the police station to deal with the fight.

I struggled, not wanting to go, wanting to wait at the hospital for Circle’s rescue results.

At this time, Mi Cai took out her phone and made a call, then approached the police officers and asked, “Which one of you is Officer He?”

One of the officers responded.

Mi Cai handed him her phone, saying, “Excuse me, your superior wants to speak with you.”

Officer He took the phone from Mi Cai, nodding his head continuously. After a moment, he returned the phone to Mi Cai and sternly said to me, “Come to the police station voluntarily tomorrow for processing, understand?”

I numbly nodded, then weakly sat back down in the chair. Besides feeling defeated, I felt like my world was dark. I was so absurd, absurd to the point of involving my brother, absurd to the point of needing a woman to solve one problem after another for me… Why did I end up like this, why?

It felt like I had walked through hell when the door to the emergency room finally opened. Mi Cai, Mi Cai, and I reflexively ran towards the attending doctor.

The doctor took off his mask and said to us, “Fortunately, no vital parts were hit. There’s a slight concussion, and we’ve just done a suturing operation. He should recover after some rest.”

It felt like a stone had fallen from my heart, and my tense nerves suddenly relaxed. I leaned against the wall and sat down, taking a long, long time before I dared to take out my phone and call Yan Yan.

…

In the end, Yan Yan stayed at the hospital to take care of Circle, and she didn’t blame me for anything, which only deepened my guilt. Even now, I still feel a wave of fear. If anything had happened to Circle, even if I killed myself in front of Yan Yan, it wouldn’t be enough to make up for it.

When Mi Cai, Mi Cai, and I were about to leave, Jian Wei, who had heard the news, also rushed to the hospital to visit. But she only greeted us briefly before going straight to the ward. At this moment, I was truly happy for her, because by giving up on me, a good-for-nothing, she would have fewer troubles and painful choices.

After Mi Cai dropped me off at the old house, I sat on the sofa, chain-smoking, inevitably thinking a lot. Finally, I put out the cigarette in my hand and asked Mi Cai, who was sitting across from me, “You must be very disappointed in me, right?”

Mi Cai didn’t say anything for a long time, but this silence was also an answer to me. I felt a sudden suffocation in my heart. Originally, I wanted to give her a bouquet of flowers with joy and invite her to a candlelight dinner, but in the end, it turned out like this. Wasn’t it because of my damn pride that I went to the bar to drown my sorrows?

But where does this pride come from?

Isn’t it because I have no money, no status, and can’t live freely in this real world, so I use my pride to fully arm myself, and then find a little pathetic comfort in my retreat?

Mi Cai, who had been silent, finally said to me, “Zhao Yang, can you be a little more mature? This is the second time you’ve caused trouble in a bar.”

“I can’t stand them pointing at my brother’s nose, and I can’t stand their dirty words about you!”

Mi Cai fell silent again. I knew she was touched in her heart, so she couldn’t bear to blame me again, but she didn’t like my irrationality. Because there were many ways to handle tonight’s incident, but I chose the most extreme one. And the act of being the first to hurt someone made what was originally reasonable unreasonable, and even involved my own brother.

Although I was defending Circle, was this kind of defense really right compared to his near-death experience?

…After Mi Cai left, I was the only one left in the room with the lights off. In the darkness, I gradually calmed down and began to reflect on my life. I couldn’t remember when my pride had taken over, turning me into a hedgehog, a hedgehog with sharp spines. I had hurt myself all over, constantly rubbing salt into my wounds.

I didn’t want to be that hedgehog with sharp spines anymore. Even if the process of removing the spines was painful, I was willing to endure it!

After a deep sigh to release the pent-up frustration in my heart, I finally took out my phone and sent a message to Jian Wei: “Are you free tomorrow? I want to talk to you about the advertising business.”

Looking at the message I sent, I seemed to feel the pain of removing the spines. But I needed funds, and in this society, the so-called pride I imagined wouldn’t really bring me much dignity. On the contrary, career and material wealth are the foundation for survival in this real world.

Although I relied on Jian Wei’s help, I didn’t want to feel ashamed anymore. If I could negotiate successfully, at least I was making an effort, not living off others’ charity. I could completely imagine Jian Wei as the boss of an advertising company I had never met before, and then assign me to negotiate this advertising business.

A moment later, Jian Wei replied to my message: “After work tomorrow.”

“Okay, you choose the place.”

“Anywhere is fine, but I’m curious, what made you change your original decision?”

I stared at this message for a long time, subconsciously took out a cigarette from the pack and lit it for myself, and finally typed a line on the phone screen and sent it out.

“It’s the unrecognizable life.”

…

The night deepened, the wind blew through the not tightly closed window and moved the curtain. I saw the moonlight pouring into the room through the gap. It was so bright that I was somewhat fascinated, until the message alert sounded again.

This was a message from Jian Wei, replying after a quarter of an hour.

“Understood, 7 o’clock tomorrow evening, meet at Starbucks Times Store.”