Before the opportunity for Circle’s and my own promotion, I seriously weighed the pros and cons in my heart. Actually, I was fine, but mainly for Circle. If he could really be promoted to the deputy manager of the planning department, his treatment and status in the company would take a qualitative leap, and his future would be bright.

“Zhao Yang, if you can’t handle this, I’ll have Circle come back and take care of it. He shouldn’t even take his wedding leave!” Chen Jingming looked at me with a pressing expression.

“No, Manager! If I can’t handle it, he definitely can’t. He’s not familiar with that model.”

Chen Jingming softened his tone and said to me, “Actually, we are about to sign the contract soon. I guess CUCCI is just using the model incident to test our company’s sincerity in cooperation. Even without this incident, they would probably create other unexpected events… Whether GUCCI will set up a counter in our department store not only concerns the company’s interests, but also the interests of our planning department, including you. So… no matter what method you use, you must help the company through this last hurdle.”

After weighing it in my heart for a while, I finally nodded and said, “I’ll do my best.”

“Doing your best is not enough, you must succeed. You have to promise me this.” Chen Jingming adjusted his glasses, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

Whether this matter can be done or not, I have to do it. Now I can only hope that Le Yao can free up her schedule. After weighing it over and over again, I nodded and said, “I will definitely get this done.”

Chen Jingming finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That’s great!”

I thought to myself, “You’re fine, but I have to shamelessly beg a woman I least want to beg. Do you fucking know that?”

As I was about to leave, Chen Jingming called me back, “Zhao Yang, don’t call that model yet. Isn’t she filming in Hengdian? You go to Hengdian tomorrow. If you travel all the way there to talk to her in person, she won’t be able to refuse so easily!”

“Manager, you’re considerate and wise!” I forced a smile and said, but no matter how I looked at him, he seemed like a shameless old fox. Has he ever considered how others would feel if they couldn’t arrange their schedule and found it hard to refuse?

……

That evening after work, I sat on the bus home, feeling restless. The source of my restlessness was that I had to go to Hengdian to see Le Yao tomorrow, and I had to move out of the room I had lived in for two years tonight. The restlessness turned into frustration. I seemed to never be able to decide my own life. Often, a few words from others would shatter my love, work, and life, like Jian Wei, the female representative of GUCCI, and Mi Cai.

When I returned to the old room, I subconsciously looked at Mi Cai’s room. Her door was still closed, she probably hadn’t come home yet.

Whether she came home or not had nothing to do with me. Now what I had to do was to keep my promise and move out of this room forever.

I went back to my room and started packing my luggage. Actually, I had almost finished packing yesterday. I just needed to pack some items on the bed.

After packing, I opened my computer and searched on the local website for a place where I could move in immediately. I found a few suitable ones, but they all required half a year’s rent and a three-month deposit. After calculating, I needed at least ten thousand yuan for the rent. I was in a dilemma. I only had a few thousand yuan left. I wouldn’t get last month’s salary until the day after tomorrow. Even if I got it, I couldn’t use it all for rent. I had to save some for living expenses.

With no other choice, I had to lower my standards and start looking for a place where I could share the rent. The rent would be relatively less. As time quietly passed, the night had already lit up the city.

I rubbed my face heavily to relieve the fatigue from staring at the computer for a long time. After a rest, I had to continue looking for a place to live. I couldn’t really end up on the streets. I was already down and out enough!

I looked out the window in a daze, my soul once again lonely among the lights of thousands of homes. At this moment, I really longed for a house of my own in this city where I had lived for more than two years, a woman waiting for me to come home every day, to say goodbye to homelessness, to say goodbye to the loneliness of the night, to say goodbye to the bitterness of life…

A while later, the sound of the door opening came from outside the room. I knew it was Mi Cai coming back. But at this moment, I could face her with a clear conscience, because I finally didn’t break my promise to her. I would move out of here in a while.

Mi Cai, carrying her handbag and wearing her newly changed slippers, stood at my door, looked at my packed luggage, and asked me, “Have you found a place?”

“Don’t worry, whether I find a place or not, I’ll move out tonight.” I answered, subconsciously feeling that Mi Cai would like this answer.

“Oh.” Mi Cai responded, but didn’t leave.

After a moment, she seemed to remember something and asked me, “You said you would buy some insecticide powder and sprinkle it in the bathroom today. Did you buy it?”Compared to moving, being forced by my boss to go to Hengdian to find Le Yao was really insignificant, so I genuinely forgot about buying the insecticide powder.

I apologized to Mi Cai, “I’m sorry, I forgot. You can go buy some yourself. If you don’t want to go out, you can buy it online. It’s very convenient.”

Mi Cai’s expression turned displeased, “This is something you promised me. How can you be so irresponsible?”

I had been frustrated all day, and I still hadn’t found a place to live. My mood was far from good, and my tone became harsher, “Can responsibility feed me? You keep bringing it up, isn’t it annoying?”

Mi Cai didn’t expect my reaction to be so intense. She was taken aback, then lowered her face and nodded, “Fine, pay back the money you owe me. I don’t need to be responsible for you.”

I was speechless for a while, once again falling into the sorrow of being broke. After a long time, I said in a lower voice, “You said that as long as I moved out, I didn’t have to rush to pay back the money I borrowed from you.”

“Who cares about that, it’s only right to pay back the money you owe.” Mi Cai still said coldly.

“We’ve been living under the same roof for several days, do you really need to push me into a corner like this?” I said with my head down, not knowing what to feel.

Mi Cai scoffed, “I’m not pushing you into a corner. You’ve been working for several years, why don’t you have any savings?… You should understand, the one pushing you into a corner is yourself.”

Mi Cai’s words ruthlessly tore open the deepest, most painful scar in my heart. In an instant, feelings of inferiority and shame made me feel utterly humiliated.

In my confusion, I saw the guitar I had placed in the corner. This guitar was a birthday gift from Jian Wei, who had it custom-made in a music shop. It was made of very good materials and was worth far more than ten thousand.

Looking at this guitar, I once again felt the pain of things remaining the same but people changing.

I got up and brought the guitar to Mi Cai, handing it to her, “You can take this guitar as collateral. If you sell it to someone who knows its worth, it will definitely fetch more than ten thousand.”

Before Mi Cai could respond whether she would accept the guitar as collateral, I had already picked up my luggage. I didn’t dare to take another look at this room and walked out with my head down.

……