I was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "I'm exhausted... I won't say anymore, you should get some rest, you must be exhausted from the journey!"

"Alright, see you later."

See you later.

After ending my call with Chen Jin, I went to the smoking room. I wanted to have a cigarette, but when I reached into my pocket, I realized that the only pack of cigarettes I had was taken by Ye Zhi before I came to the airport.

I walked out of the smoking room feeling empty again, then sat back in my original spot, fiddling with my phone out of boredom. The chat window I had just been chatting with Yang Sisi had been replaced by another chat window.

I put my phone back in my pocket, my eyes empty.

It wasn't until Ye Zhi's smile appeared in my mind that I shook off my low mood. I told myself: life will always have regrets, and I don't have the ability to be perfect. Since I have chosen Ye Zhi, I have the responsibility to maintain our relationship. Yang Sisi is that regret, and I must forget the happiness and ease she brought me.

I can only silently assume that a girl as interesting and accomplished as her will surely encounter the most beautiful scenery on the road of love, and that I am just a thunderstorm to her, coming fiercely and leaving quickly.

Therefore, she will definitely forget all of this!

My flight was finally about to take off. I carried my luggage and followed the other passengers who were also going to Kunming to the boarding gate.

My heart gradually calmed down, and then I relived the moment when Ye Zhi and I decided to be together... Then, the plane carried me into the clouds, into a dark and 'psychedelic' world.

...

At five o'clock in the morning, I walked out of the terminal with my only bag on my back, and then booked a ride from Kunming to Dali. I calculated the time and it was about nine o'clock when I arrived in Dali.

I didn't rush to eat breakfast because it would delay my trip, and the next ride to Dali wasn't until 6:30 in the morning; if I left now, I could arrive at 9:00 without any problem, which was the best time for me to eat breakfast.

...

I slept for more than an hour on the way, and then watched the sky outside the car window gradually change from the dimness before dawn to the pale white, and then from the pale white to the bright red; then, the sky was completely bright, and I had arrived in Xiangyun County, which is very close to Dali.

For some reason, more and more cars appeared in front of me, and gradually they all came to a stop. I looked at the navigation system on the center console; the lines were completely blocked and turned dark red.

The driver complained, "There must have been another accident up ahead. This road won't be clear for a while."

I asked, "Are there frequent car accidents on this highway?"

The driver nodded and replied, "Yes, the highways in Yunnan are difficult to drive on. There are many curves and downhill sections. I don't know how many trucks have had accidents on this highway... Moreover, at this time, there are many truck drivers who have stayed up all night to drive here. They are in a daze, and if they are not careful, a traffic accident will occur... Sigh! It's not easy to make money these days. The road administration is strict during the day, so we can only drive secretly at night."

"Aren't they all checking for overloading?"

"Um."

"Overloading is quite dangerous, so stricter regulations are a good thing."

The driver glanced at me and said, "Young man, I used to drive a truck. Let me tell you, if a truck doesn't overload, sometimes you can't even break even, especially those that frequently travel through complex terrains like Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. They're risking their lives for money..." He paused briefly, lit another cigarette, and said in a low voice, "My brother-in-law got into an accident last year. He drove 20 kilometers downhill, and the brakes wore off, causing the truck to plunge off the highway into a cliff. My sister was on the truck too. Neither of them survived. The only survivor was a seven-year-old child in elementary school... Before the accident, they were planning to buy a house in the county town so they could send their child to school there, but they were short of the down payment. That's why they took on this overloaded job, and they ended up losing their lives... Tell me, is this money easy to earn?"

I was speechless, only feeling that there was too much injustice in this world... I wanted to do something for this world, but I was powerless. I couldn't control the ever-increasing housing prices, nor could I reduce the cost of living for the poor. I could only be a bystander, and the only ones who truly had the power to change things were people like Ye Zhi, the first to get rich in the new society. But I don't know if they have forgotten the mission established when the reform and opening up began... The country said: Let some people get rich first, then help others get rich, and finally eliminate poverty.

I think this should be a process, and I shouldn't be too impatient... However, I don't dare to say these words to the driver in front of me. He wouldn't understand. All he can see is that some of the people who have become rich are building houses and then using all sorts of marketing methods to plunder their pitiful wealth; others who have become rich are playing games, like spiritual opium, making their children addicted to games and increasingly useless; thus, it becomes increasingly difficult for children from poor families to succeed.

That must be what he was thinking, because I saw helpless anger in his eyes... In fact, there are some successful entrepreneurs in this society who have a sense of social responsibility. They take from the people and use it for the people, but there are very few of these entrepreneurs.

...

Before I knew it, the car was stuck in traffic on the highway until 11 a.m. Then I received a call from Nicole. She sounded very anxious. She said, "Michael, where are you... Something happened at home. Someone came to the bar and caused trouble, hitting one of the waiters... Cao Xue has already taken some men to that person's bar to cause trouble... They went there with machetes and steel pipes... I couldn't stop them. Is this going to be a big deal?!"

I was startled! I had done something that overturned the unspoken rules of the bar industry, so it was inevitable that one or two fools would come looking for trouble. Cao Xue was used to being domineering, and his way of handling things was in line with his personality, but it would cause big trouble for the bar.

I have to stop him, the sooner the better... otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable.