I stared at the message for a long time, then suddenly laughed. Of course, I knew why Mi Cai was coming to Xuzhou, and my previous doubts seemed more like self-mockery amidst the confusion.

Finally, I replied to Mi Cai: “Tell me, are you coming to Xuzhou to play video games, eat hot pot, or do you have another purpose?”

Mi Cai didn’t reply immediately, and I thought of Le Yao’s suggestion for me to go to Lijiang to relax, which made me feel a bit torn.

After a long time, I replied to Le Yao: “I’m not going.”

Le Yao didn’t ask why I wasn’t going, she just sent a disdainful emoji, said “Good night,” and ended our conversation.

I asked myself, if Mi Cai wasn’t coming to Xuzhou, would I have accepted Le Yao’s proposal to go to Lijiang? In fact, I would never go to Lijiang, because it’s not appropriate for me and Le Yao, a single man and woman, to stay in this city known for romantic encounters.

I lay flat on the bed, still staring at the ceiling in a daze, but thinking about what kind of reply Mi Cai would give me.

A moment later, I finally received a reply from Mi Cai: “Of course, I have another purpose. But playing video games and eating hot pot are also two indispensable parts of the trip.”

“What other purpose?” I replied almost instantly.

After a long wait, Mi Cai replied: “I want to see you…”

These three simple words made the wilted flower in my heart miraculously bloom again. I felt that if the word “see” was removed from “I want to see you”, it would be more direct and penetrating. So I replied: “Can you remove the word ‘see’?”

Mi Cai sent a voice message: “You really know how to find a topic… I’m going to sleep, I won’t talk to you anymore, I have to get up early tomorrow.”

I didn’t mind Mi Cai avoiding my flirtatious joke, and replied: “If you don’t want to talk… then do you want to come to my house for lunch?”

This time Mi Cai replied quickly: “Do you think it’s okay?”

I thought about it, worried that my mother would give her a cold face because of my situation with Li Xiaoyun, so I decided to discuss this with Mr. Ban. If Mr. Ban said it was okay, I would feel more confident.

I immediately sent a message to Mr. Ban: “Dad, are you asleep?”

“Going to sleep soon.”

“I’m having trouble sleeping, can you bring out your old Chen wine and have a few drinks with me?”

…

In the living room, Mr. Ban brought a bottle of old Chen wine, poured a small glass for each of us, and we started chatting.

“Mr. Ban, I have something to tell you.”

“Hmm, go ahead.”

“You must know that I’m not drinking with you because I can’t sleep, right?”

“Hmm.”

I subconsciously touched the tip of my nose, then said: “Comrade Xiao Mi is coming to Xuzhou tomorrow… Do you think it’s appropriate for her to come to our house for lunch?”

Mr. Ban took a sip of his wine and asked: “Does she have other relatives or friends in Xuzhou?”

I quickly shook my head and said: “No, she really doesn’t…”

Mr. Ban didn’t say anything, and I suddenly said: “You think it’s okay, right?”

“If she’s coming to Xuzhou to see you, and she doesn’t come to our house for lunch, are we supposed to let her eat out during the New Year?”

I breathed a sigh of relief, clinked glasses with Mr. Ban, and laughed: “With your words, it’s settled. You have to help me with my mom. Xiao Mi is a girl with a thin skin, you know. It would be awkward if my mom gives her a cold face!”

Mr. Ban nodded, indicating that he would handle this matter.

After returning to my room, I immediately replied to Mi Cai with confidence: “There’s nothing wrong with it. I’ll pick you up at the highway exit tomorrow, and then we’ll have lunch at my house.”

“No need, I know where your house is.”

“Oh right, you’ve been here before…”

“Hmm, see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, drive safely on the road!”

…

The next day, I got up early and started chatting with my mom who was making breakfast. I tentatively asked: “Mom, do you know that a friend of mine is coming to Xuzhou today?”

“Your father told me.”

My mom’s indifferent tone made me a bit worried, so I asked: “So what do you think?”

“I think I need to buy groceries and cook.”

I felt a little relieved and reminded her: “This is a visit across regions after all, you must show our Xuzhou hospitality!”

“I know what to do.”

I smiled at my mom, thanked her for her cooperation, and was about to leave when my mom pulled me back and asked: “Tell me honestly, what’s your relationship with that girl from Suzhou?”

“Didn’t I just tell you? We’re just friends! The house I live in Suzhou is hers, we get along well.”With a dissatisfied look, my mother said, “I knew I couldn’t get the truth out of you… If you could seriously find a girlfriend, I wouldn’t insist on you being with Xiao Yun, but… Look at yourself, what is this situation now?”

“Mom, can we not talk about Xiao Yun for now? Can we ignore her gender and treat her as a visiting friend?… To be honest with you, I don’t have anything going on with her right now. If you must define our relationship, it’s similar to CC. You’ve met CC, right? She visited our house two years ago. Just treat her like CC, laugh when you should, and be hospitable when you should, okay?”

“I have no problem cooperating with you, but you need to think about it yourself. How old are you this year! Isn’t it time to find a girl to put your father and me at ease?”

“You’re right, I’ll definitely try hard this year, I won’t let you and Mr. Ban down!”

“I hope you’re not just paying lip service.”

“Don’t worry, if I can find the right girl, who would want to stay single!”

……

After breakfast, I took a pack of cigarettes and made a cup of tea, sitting on the balcony, afraid of missing Mi Cai’s arrival. But I didn’t consider how long it would take to drive from Shanghai to Xuzhou.

Around 11:30 in the morning, I finally saw Mi Cai’s red Q7 drive into the community. I rushed down from the building.

After guiding Mi Cai to park her car, she got out of the car with her handbag. We stood not far apart, looking at each other. It felt like we hadn’t seen each other for years, even though it had only been a few days.

I finally said, “I’m happy to see you.”

“Me too.”

After another period of silence, I said to Mi Cai, “Let’s go, let’s go up for lunch. Mr. Ban cooked it himself.”

“Wait, I brought some gifts for your parents. Can you help me get them out of the trunk?”

“Why bring gifts? The gifts you bought last year are still in the old house, we didn’t bring them back to Xuzhou.”

“Be good, go get them for me.”

Because Mi Cai used the word “good”, it instantly made our relationship feel more intimate. I stared at her for a long time.

Mi Cai laughed and asked, “Why are you looking at me like that? Are you going to ask me why I’m so fair-skinned again?”

“Yeah, why are you so fair and good-looking?”

“First, get the stuff out of the car, then we can chat.” Mi Cai urged me, still in a good mood.

I finally took the things out of her car trunk and curiously asked, “What did you buy?”

“I bought a bag for your mom, and since your dad loves fishing, I bought him a fishing rod!”

I opened the shopping bag and saw a Prada bag inside. I said with a laugh, “Do you believe my mom would use this bag to carry vegetables from the market? You really didn’t have to spend so much!… I bet that fishing rod for my dad wasn’t cheap either, right?”

Mi Cai didn’t mind and deliberately changed the subject, “Didn’t you just ask me why I’m so fair? Do you still want the answer?”

As I led Mi Cai towards the building, I said, “Of course, tell me why you’re so fair?”

Mi Cai pretended to be mysterious and after a while, she gave me a perfunctory answer, “Because I’m a girl from the Jiangnan water town… Haha!”

“I spit, that’s so perfunctory. There are thousands of girls from Jiangnan, but I haven’t seen many as fair as you!… You must be a fairy!”

—-

To be continued.