At half past seven in the evening, the doorbell finally rang. I, in my slippers, rushed to open the door, and as expected, it was Mi Cai who had previously agreed to come over for dinner.

Mi Cai was holding a large convenience bag in her hand. I took it from her and looked inside. There were some vegetables, some meat, a bottle of red wine, and a bottle of juice.

Mi Cai said to me, “The red wine is for you, and I’ll drink the juice.”

“Why don’t you have some red wine with me? Are you afraid that if we drink too much, I’ll take advantage of you?”

“I didn’t say that, I just don’t have the habit of drinking.”

I complained with a smile, “You’re really no fun. I just want to tease you a bit, why won’t you play along?”

“Why should I play along with your indecency?”

“Indecency, good word. Sometimes I really don’t think I’m very noble.”

Mi Cai looked at me silently, obviously not knowing how to respond.

I closed the door and said to Mi Cai, “You sit for a while, I’ll go cook. You can just enjoy the meal later.”

Mi Cai shook her head and said, “I can help you with what I can.”

“It’s not like we’re making husband and wife lung slices, why do you need to help me?” I said as I took the bag and headed for the kitchen.

Mi Cai looked at me silently again.

……

In the kitchen, I was cooking up a storm, averaging one dish every ten minutes. In about fifty minutes, all the stir-fried dishes were ready, and the bone soup simmering on low heat was also done at the same time. The timing was perfect.

At this time, Mi Cai, who had been idle, finally came into use. She came to the kitchen and helped to carry the cooked food to the dining table.

I turned on all the lights in the house, and the small dining room was brightly lit. I took off my apron and sat opposite Mi Cai. I drank red wine, she drank juice, but it was not a candlelit dinner.

I said to the eager Mi Cai, “Shall we toast first, or do you want to taste my cooking first?”

“I’ll taste your cooking first.” Mi Cai picked up a piece of sweet and sour fish and put it in her mouth. After tasting it, she nodded in approval, “Not bad, your cooking is pretty good.”

“See, like father, like son.” I said with a hint of pride.

“It’s hard to imagine that you can cook, and cook well. When did you learn all this?” Mi Cai asked, looking at me curiously.

I answered while eating, “My dad, Mr. Ban, said I was wild and had a bad temper, so he forced me to learn to cook when I was very young. He said it could cultivate my character and win a wife’s heart in the future!”

Mi Cai ignored my implication and asked me, “Your dad, Mr. Ban?”

“Yeah, I call my dad Mr. Ban. Haven’t you heard me call him that before?”

“I didn’t pay much attention. Why do you call him Mr. Ban?”

I patiently explained, “Because he’s old-fashioned. Not only do I call him Mr. Ban, but his colleagues also call him ‘Ban Ke’. But he always thought I was calling him ‘my dad’…haha…!”

Mi Cai was amused by me and said after a while, “You’re really bad, even your own dad isn’t spared!” But then her expression suddenly darkened. I suddenly realized that she was thinking of her father, Mi Zhongxin, who died in a car accident, and finally understood why she was so kind to Mr. Ban.

I raised my glass to Mi Cai and said, “Let’s stop talking and toast, to celebrate our chance to turn hostility into friendship.”

Mi Cai nodded, raised her juice, and gently clinked glasses with me. After taking a sip, she smiled at me again, shaking off the gloom and depression from just now.

……

The dinner continued. I had already had two glasses of red wine, while Mi Cai had only drunk half a glass of juice.

I looked at Mi Cai with a complex expression for a long time, and finally put down my wine glass and said to her, “I’m going back to my hometown tomorrow.”

“What’s wrong, are you going on vacation?” Mi Cai asked casually.

“No, I’m going back to live in my hometown. I’ve quit my job here.”

Mi Cai looked at me, put down her chopsticks, and asked in surprise, “You quit your job! Did something happen at home?”

No wonder Mi Cai was surprised. Just a few days ago, she had helped me rent this single apartment I’m living in now. But she didn’t know that at that time, I was struggling, although struggling, I didn’t have the idea of leaving. But when I finally chose to tell her about Mi Zhongde’s power conspiracy in an anonymous letter, my fate to leave this city was already irreversible.

I smiled at Mi Cai and said, “You know, my job wasn’t a proper one, and I’m not getting any younger. I don’t have much time to struggle in this rootless city. So… going back to my hometown to live a stable life is also a good choice. People, especially adults, must learn to make the right judgments about their environment.”

Mi Cai nodded in agreement with my words, but didn’t say much. We are not from the same world, destined to live lives that we don’t understand and can’t penetrate each other.

I raised my glass to Mi Cai again, and she raised her glass to me. After I nodded, I drank half a glass of red wine in one gulp. A feeling that couldn’t be expressed in words spread throughout my body along with the wine.

……The dinner ended with a few words exchanged between Mi Cai and me. As she was about to leave, I took out all the cash I had on me. Some of it was my salary, and some was the money I got from subletting this bachelor apartment. The total was 10,318 yuan. After paying back Mi Cai’s 10,016 yuan, I was left with 302 yuan. This 302 yuan was all I had left after struggling in this city for over two years.

I put the money on the table and carefully counted out 10,016 yuan from the pile of loose change to give to Mi Cai, saying, “Here, I’m paying you back.”

Mi Cai looked at me and took the stack of money, which ranged in denomination from one hundred to one yuan, from my hand. To my surprise, she pulled out 16 yuan from it and handed it to me, saying, “I prefer round numbers.”

I looked at Mi Cai in surprise, not reaching out to take it. She had already put the loose 16 yuan on the table and put the other stack of money into her handbag.

“It’s getting late, I should go,” Mi Cai said to me.

“Oh, okay… Be careful on your way.”

Mi Cai nodded and then turned to leave. I suddenly realized that after this night, we might not have the chance to see each other again. Even though I had been at odds with this woman who was about to leave for nearly two months, in the end, those fleeting moments turned into dust with my departure, slowly erased by the passage of time.

“Mi Cai…” I called out her name.

“What?” She turned around, her long hair hanging over her shoulders, making her look so untainted by the world.

I was silent for a long time, then asked softly, “Are we friends?”

Mi Cai thought for a moment, then nodded and said to me, “Yes.”

“Okay.” I nodded heavily.

Mi Cai gave me a smile, then turned and walked towards the elevator not far away. After a short while, the elevator doors closed, once again isolating us in two separate worlds.