When I offered to buy Yang Sisi's motorcycle for 12,000 yuan, she first looked at me disdainfully, and then said, "Even if you give me 12 million, I still don't want to sell it if I don't want to."

"You were the one who offered to sell it to me at this price."

"It's been more than half a month already, and I've changed my mind, is that not allowed?" After a slight pause, she added, "Are you particularly afraid of taking advantage of me?"

"Yeah, I really don't want to take advantage of this."

"Don't worry, this isn't a bargain... Consider this motorcycle as something I'm leaving with you. You can return it to me when I return from my studies abroad."

"You've been gone for several years now, and I can't guarantee that I'll be able to return everything to you when you come back."

"So you knew I'd been gone for years!"

I paused for a moment before replying, "Yeah, studying abroad takes several years... and some people fall in love with foreign countries and never come back home."

Yang Sisi, unusually, didn't respond to my question, but looked at my clothes and changed the subject, asking, "You didn't buy these clothes yourself, did you?"

I retorted, "How can you tell that I didn't buy it myself?"

"This outfit, plus the shoes you're wearing, must cost at least 20,000 yuan. Would you really be willing to spend that much?"

I was shocked. Actually, when I received the clothes Ye Zhi sent, I didn't specifically check the price. I just felt they weren't cheap, but I didn't expect them to be so ridiculously expensive. I immediately felt uncomfortable and thought I shouldn't have accepted such an expensive gift.

Yang Sisi added, "Did Ye Zhi buy it for you?... Besides her, you don't have any other wealthy friends."

I tacitly agreed, and then replied, "I didn't expect it to be so expensive!"

"Don't be too happy. Considering her spending power, this is just an ordinary set of clothes and shoes... Did you know that the watches she wears cost tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands?"

"No, how did you see that I'm happy?"

"If you're unhappy, can you really wear these clothes with a happy heart?"

I was speechless.

Yang Sisi straightened my clothes and said softly, "She's really good to you... I've given up. You should go after her... If you can win her over, and if I haven't gone abroad yet, I'll treat you to dinner to celebrate."

Feeling somewhat evasive, I said, "Is there any point in saying this?..."

“If you don’t have any feelings for her at all, you can pretend I didn’t say anything.” After a slight pause, Yang Sisi continued, “I’ve thought about it a bit now… Actually, I might not really like you either… Back in school, when we were studying psychology, our teacher said that people have a herd mentality, so when I saw that Ye Zhi liked you, I started competing with her, feeling that I shouldn’t lose to her, and all I could see were your good points… But I forgot that you’re not good enough for me at all, so you should go and ruin Ye Zhi’s life.”

Yang Sisi's words became increasingly harsh, but just when I tried not to take them to heart, she started crying. She looked extremely distressed, which made me doubt the truthfulness of her words.

Yang Sisi then said to me, "My flight back to Shanghai is tomorrow afternoon. I don't have any other requests. I just hope you can take me to the airport in this little ninja and keep it safe for me. I'll come back to you when I return from my studies abroad."

"Okay, I'll keep it safe for you. If you don't want to come to Dali later, I'll ship it to Shanghai for you via logistics."

"Even if that day comes, I won't thank you."

"You're welcome."

Yang Sisi was silent for a moment, then sighed softly, "By then, you should be married and have children, right? ...You'll already be over 30!"

"Don't you get tired of thinking so far ahead for my future?"

"Not tired...not tired at all."

After saying that, Yang Sisi reminded me not to forget to take her to the airport the next afternoon, and then she left... At the moment she left, I felt for the first time that the shimmering Erhai Lake was particularly poignant! It was like a relationship had come to an end, leaving only beautiful memories, which turned into light and were reflected on the surface of the lake.

...

Shortly after Yang Sisi left, I took photos of the now-ruined inn and posted them on my WeChat Moments. I didn't deliberately express my disappointment and distress; I simply said "Goodbye" with great reluctance. Twenty minutes later, I finally left with my meager belongings and went to Jiulongju…

If I had to say what I've gained from Jiulongju so far, it would be my friend Ping Ge. He not only helped me carry some of my luggage outside, but also cooked a few home-style dishes for me in the evening and drank several bottles of Erguotou with me.

Ping Ge said he was quite happy because after being cooped up in Jiulongju for so long, he had finally found a friend he could talk to. But when I tried to talk to him about why he gave up Beijing to live in Dali, he became noticeably reserved and unwilling to tell me the real reason, which made him even more mysterious!

Anyway, I think that someone who can afford five shops in Jiulongju, who is already middle-aged, but doesn't have a woman by his side, must have an untold story behind it.

I couldn't help but think of Coach Ma again. He became my brother with the same mysterious aura he possessed back then. Now, I wonder how he's doing, having opened up about his past and facing life head-on. Life in Dali is probably like this: one friend leaves, another is made, and the cycle repeats itself. The only constant is the loneliness that's ingrained in your bones. It has nothing to do with the number of friends you have. Sometimes it's just because you see a certain scene or light a cigarette at dusk, and you inexplicably feel lonely. But this loneliness varies by location. In Dali, loneliness carries a sense of bewilderment, while in Shanghai, it's filled with pressure and tension. If I had to choose one of these two different kinds of loneliness, I'd rather be bewildered... because bewilderment represents the unknown, and the unknown is a necessary condition for miracles to happen.

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