When I said that Mi Cai was lying and fooling around, her emotions didn’t change much. She calmly said to me, “I remember telling you last time that it’s inconvenient for the two of us to live together. Our lifestyles and habits are very different. Why do you keep making things difficult for me and endlessly bothering me?”

I calmly responded, “Don’t say that. Am I bothering you? I care about that room. If you move out, I will never go looking for you.”

Mi Cai nodded and said, “I believe that, but the property certificate clearly states my name. What’s the point of you caring about it?”

I earnestly said to Mi Cai, “Let’s switch places and think about it. If you lived in a house for over two years and suddenly moved out, how would you feel? In Suzhou, we don’t have a house. Our lives are unsettled, and we really long for a place to rely on, especially at night… You will never understand the fear of having nowhere to go, feeling suppressed and helpless!”

Mi Cai fell silent.

I also fell silent. At this moment, it wasn’t just a house that caused conflict between us, but also the barriers of social class. These barriers prevented us from understanding each other and caused us to torment each other while holding our ground.

After a long time, I asked Mi Cai with doubt, “If you really wanted me to leave, for example, by calling the police, I would have to go. Why haven’t you done that?”

Mi Cai looked up at me, and after a moment of silence, she said, “You haven’t become bad enough to warrant calling the police on you.”

I smiled and said, “Then I’m really lucky. I’m lucky that I’m not completely bad!”

Although it was a sarcastic remark towards Mi Cai, she said to me seriously again, “You can help CC guard that restaurant and become friends with her. You can’t be that bad. It’s just that life and emotions have given you too much pressure, so you appear to be someone who does anything without scruples. In reality, your indifference is just a way to make yourself feel better.”

I looked at Mi Cai absentmindedly. It turned out that she was the one who understood me the most over the years. At least my closest friends, Circle, Yan Yan, Robben, and CC, have never said these things to me. It seemed like Mi Cai lightly touched the deepest knot in my heart, but didn’t completely untie it. However, it was enough to touch my sensitivity.

Finally, I said to Mi Cai, “Are you trying to affirm my character and make me feel embarrassed to bother you, fulfilling your desire for peace? Stop playing mind games with me. I’ve been to school, and I understand the policy of leniency.”

Mi Cai fell silent, looking helpless. It seemed that my stubbornness didn’t work on her, and I already knew her bottom line. If I stubbornly refused to leave, she wouldn’t have any way to deal with me. Naturally, I wouldn’t give her another chance to lock me in the house. How could someone as smart and alert as me be taken advantage of by the same woman three times?

I wasn’t ashamed of my behavior of bothering Mi Cai. At least she still had a luxurious house in this city. If I forced her out, she wouldn’t experience the feeling of being adrift with nowhere to go. And of course, I wouldn’t live in that old house for free. I would still pay the rent that was due.

This was my plan. If Mi Cai could compromise, it would be a win-win situation for both of us. Indeed, she was beautiful, rich, and the CEO of Zhuo Mei. But that didn’t mean I had to like her or have any ulterior motives towards her. So I really didn’t need to bother her. As long as she was willing to rent the house to me, I wouldn’t bother her for the rest of my life.

After thinking for a while, I said to Mi Cai, who had been silent all along, “Why don’t you just rent this house to me? Don’t you have another house in Liu’an Jingyuan? You can go back there to live. Just give me a bank account number, and I’ll transfer the rent to your account every month. We don’t even have to see each other anymore. Isn’t that great?”

Mi Cai didn’t accept my proposal at all and said with an angry expression, “You were so determined to move out last time. Why are you changing your mind now?”

“I’m just a scoundrel, living a wavering life. Besides, I thought I would find a suitable house after moving out. But either they were too expensive or too far from my company. I wasn’t happy being adrift, so of course, I wanted to move back.”

Mi Cai looked at me helplessly and said with a wry smile, “Your reasons are really convincing. Both subjectively and objectively!”

“Of course, I’m someone who does things thoroughly.”

“But don’t you think you’re going too far? Who forces someone to rent their house to them?” Mi Cai still patiently said to me.

I shouted, “Am I going too far? How about I call all my friends right now and let them judge who is going too far between us? Really, you’re just like those tyrant bandits in the past, using money to oppress the lives of poor people.”

Mi Cai finally lost her patience. She picked up her handbag from the table, stood up, and said to me, “I don’t have time to argue with you. I definitely won’t rent the house to you. Stop fantasizing.”

I followed Mi Cai out of the noodle shop, wanting to continue talking to her. In any case, I wanted to settle the matter of the house tonight.

Mi Cai walked fast, afraid that I would catch up to her. Her high heels made a “clacking” sound on the concrete ground. I also didn’t slow down and took a few big steps, blocking Mi Cai’s path and threateningly said, “Are you going to rent it or not…”

Before I could finish my sentence, a sudden and excruciating pain bloomed in my stomach. I covered my abdomen and squatted down. I hadn’t eaten all day, and I just had a big meal. My already weak stomach couldn’t handle such stimulation.

Mi Cai took advantage of me squatting on the ground, walked around me, and didn’t care about whether I was alive or dead.

“Do you have… no conscience? My stomach hurts, and you’re just watching me suffer?” I said while enduring the pain.

Mi Cai stopped and turned to look at me. “What? Are you planning to use the ‘suffering together’ tactic on me again? I already made it clear to you just now. I won’t rent the house to you.”

I convulsed in pain and could even feel the sweat on my forehead.

Mi Cai finally came back to my side, squatted down, and looked at me with doubt. She asked, “What’s wrong with you?””Didn’t I just tell you… I have a stomachache. How could you… just stand by and do nothing? Last time… when you had a fever, didn’t I make ginger soup for you out of kindness… didn’t I go buy medicine for you?” I said, my face twisted in pain.

“At a time like this, you’re still nitpicking. Did I say I wouldn’t help?… I’m calling an ambulance.” Mi Cai said, pulling out her phone from her handbag.

“What planet did you parachute from, you alien? Don’t you have… any common sense? I just have a stomachache, why are you calling an ambulance… There’s a pharmacy one hundred meters to the right across the street, go… buy those fast-acting stomachache chewable tablets, I’ll be fine after chewing a couple.”

Mi Cai gave me a dissatisfied look and said, “You’re like this, can’t you just save your strength and talk less? Fine, I’m going now, you wait here.”

I grimaced and said, “Hurry up, I’m in so much pain I’m going crazy!”

Mi Cai nodded, then jogged across the street… Watching her retreating figure, I sat on the ground, another wave of pain hitting me.

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I heard today is a holiday, so I’ll add an extra chapter. Three chapters today.

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