A cold wind blew in from the intersection ahead, and the sound of rain mixed with the loud roar of airplanes taking off. It's hard to imagine anyone liking this kind of environment.

I felt incredibly embarrassed to ask her this. When Ye Zhi told me to go back to my room to sleep, I actually asked her if I wanted to sleep in the car. After all, she is a woman, born delicate. Could she possibly be more tolerant of a car that feels like a box than me?

But words spoken are like water spilled; it's too late to take them back. So, I just stood there awkwardly staring at Ye Zhi...

Ye Zhi's expression didn't change much, and she even nodded and replied, "Then you go upstairs to sleep, I'll sleep in the car."

"I feel like there's an unspoken message you're not saying."

What's the subtext?

"Then you can go upstairs to sleep, I'll sleep in the car... as long as you're comfortable with that."

Ye Zhi looked disdainful and replied, "I wouldn't have so many unnecessary thoughts. Is there anything in this world that you're embarrassed to do? You just want us to go somewhere else so I can experience the pain of sleeping in the car, so you're getting revenge on me. I should have let you sleep in the room from the start."

I exclaimed, "You're usually so aloof with everyone, but I never imagined you had such a dramatic inner life... As a guy, how can I not be a little more magnanimous with you, a woman? As long as you're comfortable, I'd grit my teeth and sleep in a car, or even under a bridge, if it meant sleeping under a bridge!"

Ye Zhi laughed, "Whoever takes it seriously first loses."

"Never mind winning or losing, aren't you cold standing outside like this?"

As I spoke, I opened the car door, gesturing for her to come in first. Strangely, the moment Ye Zhi entered, the space that had previously felt oppressive suddenly felt less so, and the temperature inside the car seemed to rise a bit, probably because there was another person breathing inside.

...

Ye Zhi sat cross-legged on the fully reclined car seat, while I huddled in another corner, about fifty or sixty centimeters apart. The last time I was alone in a car with a woman like this was on the way to Shangri-La with Yang Sisi. That day was truly freezing cold. Compared to that weather, this is actually quite mild.

I looked down on myself because of this. It turns out that I wasn't really afraid of the cramped space in the car; I was afraid of loneliness... But I always considered myself someone who wasn't afraid of being alone, especially during the year I spent alone in Jimo. That made me arrogant, thinking I could go anywhere and stay anywhere.

I coughed and then asked Ye Zhi, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I've already been asleep, but the sound of rain woke me up; what about you, haven't you been sleeping at all?"

"I was also woken up by the sound of raindrops."

"Oh...it seems like it's almost dawn."

"There are still three or four hours left, so there's no need to go upstairs to sleep. I can make do with this, you should go back now."

Ye Zhi hugged her legs with both hands, staring blankly at the world outside the car window for a while before replying, "I don't want to go up anymore. I'll just sit here. It's almost dawn anyway."

"If I had known this would happen, why would I have booked a room? I wasted five hundred yuan for nothing."

Ye Zhi didn't seem interested in the topic of money, so she didn't respond to me. But I was really heartbroken because I paid for the room. I couldn't compare to her. With this 500 yuan, there were so many things I could do.

Ye Zhi opened the sunroof cover, adding a little more light to the car, but without changing the dim atmosphere. Especially when the rainwater flowed down the sunroof glass, it was like water ripples reflecting on Ye Zhi and me, making everything seem like a mirage, a dream.

I then asked Ye Zhi, "Why doesn't such an expensive car have a panoramic sunroof?"

Ye Zhi was a little dazed. "Ah... what did you say?"

"Why can't such an expensive car be equipped with a panoramic sunroof? If it had a panoramic sunroof, we could see so much more."

"I don't know anything about cars."

After a brief silence, I said, "You seem to be in a bad mood."

"Is that so? Sometimes, I feel particularly lost, not knowing what I'm living for... It's like every day is dispensable."

“I can understand that feeling because I’ve been through it too… You know, I made a lot of money in Jiulongju before, and I used it to buy houses and luxury cars. But when the things I used to dream of suddenly became readily available, I was stunned. I felt like I lost my hunger and didn’t know what to do next.”

So, do you think I lack a sense of hunger?

"To be precise, you have lost your goal in the short term... But right now, you have nothing to lack."

Ye Zhi thought for a moment, then shook her head and replied, "No, I think it's because I can't get anything... I have no family, no friends, and even the existence of love seems to be less than satisfactory for me... I am actually a very unsuccessful person."

I advised, “You once told me not to always think about what you’ve lost, but to see what you have… What you have now is something countless people envy. You can drive the best cars, live in the best houses, and buy the best things… You’re also surrounded by countless people who want to curry favor with you. This is actually a kind of emotional investment. You can try to enjoy the feeling of being flattered by others.”

"Who would cherish something they're born with for decades?... You know what? It's precisely because of these things that I've lost so many things I wanted to cherish... You always think I care about fame and fortune, but that's not true..."

Ye Zhi wanted to express her feelings, but when the words reached her lips, she couldn't say them. She looked very frustrated, and after a long while, she finally said, "I don't know how to describe it."

“You can open up and talk to me… just like a casual chat.”

Ye Zhi remained silent. For her to take the initiative to talk to me about these things was already a very difficult thing.

Throughout this process, I kept tapping on the car window with my fingers. I didn't want the atmosphere to become too tense; I was waiting for her to speak...

I finally couldn't hold back any longer and took the initiative to say to her, "Even if you didn't tell me, I already know some things. Is your father named Ye Lifan, and your mother named Tang Bingjun?"

Ye Zhi looked at me with surprise, and after a long while replied, "Who told you that? It's not surprising that people know my dad's name, but not many people know my mom's name... She's been gone from the country for almost twenty years!"

“I only heard about it recently. I think that as long as we are still in contact, these things will reach my ears sooner or later... For me, this is already quite late. After all, we have known each other for three years and even dated as boyfriend and girlfriend, but I know nothing about your family situation!”

(End of this chapter) h/>/>