Yang Sisi didn't seem to care about getting an answer from me about whether I really missed her. She let go of me while I was silent, and then looked at me and smiled... In the twilight, the most eye-catching thing was the dimples on her face, which were a little charming and a little cute.

I coughed to hide my true feelings.

Yang Sisi was displeased. She put on a stern face and said to me, "You're a living, breathing person. Can't you give me a surprised look?"

I remained silent and turned my gaze to the artificial stream flowing beneath our feet. Goldfish were swimming in the stream, two or three of them gathered together, foraging for food. In the blink of an eye, they flicked their tails and swam to Yang Sisi's shadow, which was illuminated by the light, and then overlapped with her shadow... This quiet yet lively atmosphere was indescribably beautiful, and at least I felt very comfortable.

Yang Sisi got anxious. She grabbed my cheeks with both hands and tried to pull them apart, determined to force a smile onto my face... Suddenly, she gave up, then looked disappointed and said, "Knowing that some things can't be changed, why should I force you to do something against your will?"

She paused briefly, then continued, "...But before we met, I really thought you would be pleasantly surprised, after all, we've been apart for so long...I'm always like this, I always compare my feelings to yours...but we're completely different!"

"No, that's not true. The moment I saw you, I was already thinking about where to take you for a nice meal... You've lost weight!"

Tears welled up in Yang Sisi's eyes. She must have really had a tough time abroad… That's understandable; she's always been a spoiled princess, but now she had to comfort and accommodate others, and in the process, she also had to accept the fact that she'd fallen from grace. It was indeed quite painful…

She choked up as she told me, “I don’t know if I’ve lost weight, but that environment was really depressing. Every day was lifeless, and no one talked, especially my dad… He’s grown so many gray hairs lately… I feel so, so heartbroken for him, but I don’t know what I can do for him. He seems to have really broken down. He won’t say a word about anything related to his career… He’s already like this, so who would dare to advise him to think about making a comeback?”

I was silent for a moment before asking, "Do you really care about your previous life as a pampered young lady?"

Yang Sisi looked at me with a confused expression. She replied, "I don't know what I really care about... Materially speaking, I haven't felt too much pain from losing it... Look, I've been wearing these shoes you gave me for a long time, and I'm still very satisfied..."

"That's good……"

Unexpectedly, Yang Sisi added, "But when I'm dragging my suitcase, looking at the lights of every house, wanting to find a place to rest, and then realize that I can't afford a five-star hotel anymore, I still feel disappointed... Disappointment is also a kind of pain, isn't it?"

I sighed softly and replied, "You live too authentically, which makes you more conflicted than others..."

"It's okay... I'm happy just to see you; I'm even happier knowing you'll take me out for something delicious later!"

Yang Sisi laughed again, as if in that instant she had thrown all those unhappy things to the winds... Before, I called this carefree, but now I feel a little sorry for her. I'm afraid she's pretending to be strong, or even more afraid that she's doing it for me, trying to encourage me to get out of the shadows of life.

...

On this night of reunion with Yang Sisi after a long separation, I was exceptionally generous. I took her to eat the most expensive and authentic roasted lamb leg in the entire ancient city... She didn't lie, and the whole process was happy. We talked about the present and the future, but we didn't talk about the past.

After dinner, I thought she would go back to the apartment Cao Xiaobei had arranged for her, but instead she found a youth hostel near Jiulongju, where a bed cost 20 yuan and you had to share a room with other people.

I escorted her to the entrance of the hostel. I knew I shouldn't have said it, but I still said to her, "There are too many people here, and the environment isn't good. You shouldn't stay here... If you're planning to stay in Dali for a long time, I'll rent you a studio apartment."

"If that's what you're going to do, then why don't I just go and live in Cao Xiaobei's house?"

She paused briefly, then continued, "Thank you, but I don't want to live in that dream world anymore. So, the life I choose now must be within my means... I want to prove to my dad that I can live a normal life, that I can work hard to support myself. I don't want to be a burden to him, and I don't want him to continue being so depressed..."

"Are you trying to prove yourself this way?"

Yang Sisi laughed: "Not entirely... I think this is my life now, very real, so there's nothing to escape."

I glanced again at the rather ordinary hostel and finally decided not to try to persuade Yang Sisi anymore... But in the next instant, I seemed to see myself in Yang Sisi's shadow, feeling somewhat negative and insignificant...

I suddenly feel disgusted with myself right now.

...

For three days after I put Yang Sisi in the hostel, she didn't call me on her own initiative, let alone contact me from her studio... I found this quite unusual. I was worried about her safety, so I called her, but she didn't answer. I don't know if she did it on purpose or if she was really busy with something.

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