Circle opened the personnel file of Zhuomei Shopping Center in confusion, his expression changing rapidly, no less shocking than when I first saw it.

Yan Yan, who was beside him, noticed Circle’s unusual behavior and asked, “What’s wrong?” She also looked at the personnel file in Circle’s hand, took a glance, covered her mouth in shock, and stared at me with wide eyes. After a while, she said, “Oh my god, your girlfriend is the CEO of Zhuomei Shopping Center!!… This is too exaggerated, or am I hallucinating?”

Circle put down the file in his hand and looked at me with the same expression as Yan Yan, saying, “Zhao Yang, what’s going on? You never mentioned it before. Mi Cai is the CEO of Zhuomei?”

“I only found out this morning when I saw this personnel file. I feel the same way as you guys. I also thought it was my illusion!”

Circle and Yan Yan glanced at each other, still in a state of shock, and asked me, “How did you two meet?”

“Do you remember when I told you that the old house I used to live in was bought by a woman driving a luxury car?”

“Yeah, you told me.”

“It was Mi Cai who bought it, and then we naturally got to know each other.”

Circle nodded and suddenly seemed to have realized the key to the problem. He asked me with a piercing gaze, “She became your girlfriend in less than a month?”

I tried to hide it, “There’s nothing I can do. Fate came and I couldn’t stop it!”

“The CEO of Zhuomei was pursued by you, Zhao Yang, in less than a month? Even in a novel, the plot wouldn’t develop so quickly!”

Yan Yan agreed, “When you introduced Mi Cai to us at first, we all thought you had been dating her for a long time, just hiding it from us. I didn’t expect you two to have only known each other for less than a month. Zhao Yang, you’re really skilled at picking up girls!”

“Can you two stop talking to me in such a sarcastic tone?” I said angrily, glaring at them.

Circle and Yan Yan simultaneously questioned me, “Then you have to be honest with us. What is your relationship with Mi Cai?”

In fact, the moment I showed Circle Mi Cai’s file, I already knew that the truth couldn’t be hidden anymore. Who would believe that the CEO of a top shopping center would fall in love with an unreliable employee? If only Mi Cai was the daughter of a town enterprise owner or someone who came out of nowhere, I wouldn’t be facing this embarrassing situation.

After a while, I impatiently said to Circle and Yan Yan, who were staring at me, “Stop looking at me like you’re interrogating a criminal. I’ve confessed, isn’t that enough?”

“Hurry up, if you don’t confess, we’ll use torture on you,” Yan Yan threatened, raising her fist.

I lay back in the chair, finally looking at the ceiling, and said recklessly, “She’s not my girlfriend. On the day of your wedding, I felt empty inside, so I called Mi Cai and lied to her, saying I wanted to have dinner with her. I tricked her into attending your wedding banquet, and then I met Jian Wei. In a moment of madness, I said she was my girlfriend. And then I kept using lies to cover up lies, until everyone really believed that she was my girlfriend…”

“Oh my god! Zhao Yang, does this mean you still can’t forget Jian Wei?” Yan Yan couldn’t help but exclaim, regardless of the crowded restaurant.

“Circle, give your wife a sedative, she’s too noisy!” I said in the calmest tone.

Circle gave Yan Yan a look, signaling her to be quiet. Yan Yan finally looked at me apologetically and fell silent, leaving the conversation space to me and Circle.

After a moment of silence, Circle said to me, “Zhao Yang, why do you have to deceive yourself with such childish methods?”

I smiled, “Is it childish? I just want to make myself feel better, and also Jian Wei and Xiang Chen. At least we don’t have to be bitter enemies, and we can still talk like friends.”

Circle sighed and fell silent. The most helpless thing between men and women in this world is love, which comes and goes beyond our control. No one can save me and Jian Wei from our past. Circle chose silence because he understood this truth.

I also fell silent, a silence filled with helplessness, sadness within the helplessness. But there was no boat in this deep autumn night that could carry me away from the sadness. So I suppressed my desires, wandered with my soul, and anxiously looked around…

…

After dinner, I walked alone on the street. I wasn’t exactly lost, but I wanted to leave this city. In fact, I had wanted to leave a long time ago because this city had been my fantasy for two years, and it had also exhausted me for two years.

Countless sleepless nights, I fantasized that one day Jian Wei would return to my side. But my fantasies were shattered time and time again, and I became more and more tired. Now I finally don’t have to fantasize anymore because Jian Wei has made up her mind. When Xiang Chen put the necklace of commitment on her, I woke up.

I really want to leave! Leave this place and return to the city where I grew up, where there is a sweater knitted by my mother when it’s cold, and a cup of herbal tea brewed by Mr. Ban when it’s hot…

But I can’t leave this city. My soul has long been buried here. Here, there is a guitar singing loneliness, a deserted city hiding the past, and an old house comforting me.

Sitting on the bench at the bus stop, I looked blankly at the buses carrying passengers to every corner of the city. But it seemed that I had nowhere to go on this night.

The last bus of route 32 stopped at the bus stop, and I suddenly woke up. Then I hurriedly ran up and threw in a coin, finally having an identity as a passenger. Tonight, I will ride this route 32 bus, passing through six streets, and return to that old house.

…

Subconsciously, I didn’t want to leave this old house. So this morning, I took a risk and went to Mi Cai’s room again. I found a bunch of keys to this house and naively thought that Mi Cai had really left this house for me, never to return.Pulling out the key, I opened the door to the apartment, only to unexpectedly hear the sound of someone washing up in the bathroom. Glancing at the shoe rack, I noticed a pair of women’s Chanel shoes with crystal sequins. Without a doubt, Mi Cai was back.

I quietly stood at the bathroom door, watching Mi Cai who was in the midst of washing up, and suddenly said, “You’re back?”

Mi Cai didn’t seem startled, probably because she had heard me opening the door earlier. However, she didn’t respond to me, seemingly still upset about my shameless behavior yesterday.

“Did you just rinse your mouth?” I asked Mi Cai again.

Mi Cai subconsciously looked at her toothbrush before asking, “Why do you ask?”

“I woke up late this morning and didn’t have time to buy toiletries, so I used yours,” I replied.

Mi Cai’s expression immediately changed, her breath becoming heavier, “You…”

“You left so decisively yesterday, I thought you wouldn’t come back. Otherwise, I would have definitely told you in advance, or bought you a new set.”

Mi Cai’s expression was similar to the one she had when she saw a cockroach, she angrily said, “Aren’t you disgusting?”

“You’re a beauty, so I definitely don’t find it disgusting. I used it, so what?” I spoke the truth. In fact, this was a trivial matter to me. Back in college, a few of us guys would share a cigarette, each of us taking a puff. Compared to that, why would I mind using a toothbrush that a beauty had used? Besides, I really intended to buy her a new set. Who knew she would come back tonight?

“I’m talking about your behavior being disgusting!”

I innocently replied, “I really don’t find using your toothbrush disgusting, you really don’t need to worry about me.”

Mi Cai’s expression became even more furious. She threw her toothbrush, towel, and even her cosmetics into the trash bin. She walked over to me, who was blocking the bathroom door, and gave me a hard shove, cursing for the first time, “Get lost!”

I grabbed Mi Cai and feigned realization, “Oh!… So you find it disgusting that I used your toothbrush!… Look at your communication skills, it’s really frustrating that you can’t express yourself clearly!”