The night outside the window gradually quieted down, and there were hardly any customers left in the tea restaurant. The staff announced through the speakers, accompanied by Eason Chan's "Premonition", that the shop would be closing in a quarter of an hour. After repeating the announcement twice, a row of lights in the hall was turned off, leaving only the lights at the table where Mi Cai and I were sitting.

 

We didn't reach a consensus that night, but we had to leave. I stood up and said to Mi Cai, "We should go."

 

Mi Cai nodded and stood up with me. Her mood seemed a bit low, but I couldn't tell whether her sadness was due to worries about her future at Zhuomei, or because I was unwilling to return to Suzhou to join Zhuomei.

 

I booked a hotel nearby for Mi Cai. When she got her room card, it was time for us to part ways.

 

I said to Mi Cai, "If you're not leaving tomorrow, you're welcome to visit my home."

 

"I'm not leaving. I won't leave for the next two days."

 

"Do you really need to stay that long?"

 

"Xuzhou is not your home. I can stay as long as I want."

 

I was a bit speechless and surprised, because Mi Cai rarely spoke with emotion, but this sentence was clearly emotional.

 

After a while, I said, "Alright then, see you tomorrow."

 

Mi Cai nodded, then picked up her luggage and followed the waiter to the elevator.

 

***

 

On the way home, I immediately called Circle. I had to talk to him about this.

 

The call was answered after a while. Before I could speak, Circle laughed and said, "I just took out my phone to call you, but you beat me to it… Did Mi Cai come to see you?"

 

"Why did you tell her about this? Isn't this just adding to her worries?"

 

"Oh, not only do you do good deeds without leaving a name, but you also care about people's feelings. Even Lei Feng didn't do as well as you, Zhao Yang!"

 

"Stop talking nonsense…"

 

Before Circle could respond, Yan Yan snatched the phone and asked, "Zhao Yang, have you found a job yet?"

 

"Not yet." I replied unhappily. I knew that telling Mi Cai about this was probably Yan Yan's idea.

 

"Did Mi Cai invite you back to Suzhou to work at her Zhuomei Shopping Center?"

 

"She did."

 

"What did you say?"

 

"Do you think I need to go back to Suzhou?"

 

Yan Yan laughed, "Zhao Yang, you're making a long-distance call, take it easy. Knowing you, I'm not sure if you can afford your phone bill for the next stage!"

 

I couldn't help but admire Yan Yan's jumping thoughts. After a while, I said, "Damn it, what are you talking about?"

 

"What I mean is, you're in such a bad situation, and Mi Cai personally came to find you and offered you a job. You should stop being so proud, okay? Hurry back to Suzhou and continue your life."

 

"You're a woman, you don't understand anything. Don't talk to me, give the phone to Circle."

 

Circle took the phone and said to me, "What Yan Yan means is what I mean."

 

"Yan Yan doesn't understand the situation, do you not understand it either? If I go back to Suzhou and work at Zhuomei, wouldn't I be even more sorry to Chen Jingming? How can I get over this?"

 

"You don't necessarily have to work at Zhuomei if you go back to Suzhou. Of course, if you've already found a good job in Xuzhou, just ignore what I said."

 

I was speechless…

 

Circle continued, "You should think about it again. In Suzhou, we brothers can support each other. In Xuzhou, knowing Mr. Ban, he definitely won't help you with work."

 

I was speechless again, because Circle was right. Mr. Ban really didn't want to get involved in my work. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so frustrated about work for more than a week!

 

"Zhao Yang, it's late. Let's stop here. Think about it… Oh, I'll recharge your phone with 100 yuan later. Your phone can't be cut off, we need to keep in touch."

 

"Can you two stop being so mean?!"

 

Circle didn't respond to my words and hung up the phone directly. My embarrassment was magnified several times after being ridiculed by Circle and Yan Yan. Indeed, if it weren't for borrowing 1000 yuan from Li Xiaoyun, who I had a blind date with today, I wouldn't even have money to recharge my phone.

 

After another traffic light, I would be home after crossing one more street. Suddenly, the message alert on my phone rang. I picked it up and saw that it was a message confirming a successful recharge of 100 yuan. I couldn't help but laugh and cry. Circle and Yan Yan were really talented!

 

***

 

When I got home and opened the door, Mr. Ban and my mother were sitting on the sofa in the living room. I closed the door and threw the car keys to Mr. Ban, asking, "You guys haven't gone to bed yet?"

 

My mother looked at me and asked with a smile, "Zhao Yang, is the girl who came to our house to find you today your girlfriend?"

 

I wasn't surprised by my mother's question and immediately said, "She's not my girlfriend!"Mr. Ban took over the conversation with a serious expression, "Could she have run all the way from Suzhou to Xuzhou to find you if she wasn't your girlfriend? Did you do something to wrong her?"

 

A sense of helplessness welled up in my heart. I didn't know how to explain to them, so I habitually touched the tip of my nose.

 

My mother immediately said to Mr. Ban, "Did you see that, Mr. Ban? That's the gesture he makes every time he doesn't tell the truth."

 

Mr. Ban nodded in agreement with my mother. I was at a loss for words, so I said, "I really can't explain this to you. I guess she will come to our house for lunch tomorrow. If you don't believe me, you can ask her about our relationship." I quickly walked towards my room, afraid that they would keep asking me questions.

 

Just as I had made a cup of tea and sat on the bed, my mother pushed open the door of my room. It seemed that she was not going to let me off and continued to dig deeper.

 

My mother moved a chair and sat down opposite me, speaking to me earnestly, "Zhao Yang, I heard from your father that she is the girl who lived with you in Suzhou. I even knitted a scarf for her."

 

I didn't deny it and nodded.

 

"So tell me honestly, what is your relationship? You lived together and you still say there's no relationship. Do you think your mother is a fool?"

 

"Mom, it's not that I don't admit it, but there really is no relationship. Don't you know that it's popular to share rent in the city now? We lived together for a while, but we didn't sleep in the same room! If you insist on saying there's a relationship, then we're just ordinary friends."

 

"How could an ordinary friend run all the way to Xuzhou to find you?" My mother looked at me with a 'keep pretending' expression.

 

I was both amused and annoyed, so I simply lay down on the bed, covered myself with the quilt, and ignored everything…

 

My mother was clearly talking to herself, but it sounded more like she was talking to me, "That girl is really beautiful and charming. No wonder you don't want to date Xiao Yun. But how did such a beautiful girl fall for you? And she even came to Xuzhou to find you. This is really mysterious!"

 

Her exclamation made me both laugh and cry. I wanted to ask her: Am I really her son? Am I that bad? But I dared not talk to her, fearing that she would keep asking questions. So, I pulled the quilt all the way up, covering even my face, not listening, not looking, not speaking…