I tilted my head back, finished the rest of the beer in the can, and smoked my cigarette. With nothing left to do, I could only watch the night-blackened Erhai Lake and the waterbirds swimming from one side to the other…
At that moment, even though my attention was not focused, I smiled bitterly after a while. Why did those shops have to be Cao Jinbo's? Was this really a test of my will?
I consider myself a person with psychological fastidiousness, so doing this would be disgusting, but not doing it would mean missing out on a money-making opportunity... Over the years, I've been tormented enough by money, and if I continue in this miserable state, it would be a great torment to my soul.
Gradually, the wind picked up, and the surrounding withered leaves swirled and scraped against the ground as they flew further and further away...
I couldn't help but ask myself: If they had lives, would they also hate this moment of wandering and displacement?
I can't understand these leaves, but as a living being, I really hate this feeling of being adrift. I want a home of my own, whether it's Shanghai or Dali, just having a home is enough. I can't let Lao Mi travel all that way to see me only to end up staying in a guesthouse. I also hope to have a girlfriend who can cook him a hot bowl of porridge after he moves into our house. That's what home feels like.
When I was thinking about this, I really wanted to earn some money to fulfill this wish.
...
He stood up from the rocks, then sat down again, picked up the half-smoked cigarette butt from the ground, lit it, and as the smoke began to dissipate, he suddenly wished there was someone who could talk to him at that moment.
But when I actually took my phone out of my pocket, I didn't know who to contact. After all, all I wanted to talk about were complaints, and everyone was busy and working hard. Who would want to get involved with my negative energy for no reason?
So I resisted the urge to chat and just sat alone by Erhai Lake, pondering whether this was something I could do or should do.
...
Half an hour passed, and finally someone sent me a message. It was that woman who had taken Lu Jia's number. Her reaction time was really long. So many things had happened at the inn, both joyful and sorrowful, but she only asked about it today.
She said, "Wait a minute, I remember you told me last time that someone was willing to take over your inn for a high price, and you should have already received the money, right? Didn't you say you didn't want to stay in Dali anymore? But judging from what you said last time, it seems like you're still messing around in Dali."
Someone finally spoke to me, but they were just there to annoy me. I replied with a wry smile, "I didn't get a single penny. There's a new big project that's overlapping with the location of our inn, so the inn is going to be demolished. The person who originally wanted to take over has backed out."
"You seem like a pretty unlucky person!"
"What do you mean by 'feeling'? The truth is... even a cooked duck can fly away!"
"Haha...you must have done too many bad things in your past life."
“I must have done too many bad things in my past life, I have to pay for them in this life… I’m really frustrated… But what’s frustrating me isn’t that I couldn’t sell the inn, because later, the shareholders changed their minds and decided not to sell it. We wanted to run it properly… but now some have left, some have scattered, and in the end, I’m the only one left guarding this inn that’s going to be demolished.”
"Are you dying of loneliness?"
"Can't you just say a few words of comfort? Stop making sarcastic remarks all the time."
"I'm not good at comforting people; I love kicking someone when they're down."
"Alright... then let's just keep taking revenge."
This time, she replied a moment later, but she had already changed the subject. She asked me, "By the way, you said you'd help me find an apartment, is there any progress?"
"There's still more than a month until Chinese New Year, why are you in such a hurry?"
“My best friend is also coming to Dali with me. I just wanted to let you know that I need two rooms now.”
I wouldn't go so far as to tell a stranger about my troubles with finding a place to rent, so I simply replied, "Don't worry, I can get you two rooms..."
"I won't thank you."
I joked and replied, "I don't think we're that close yet, let's talk about it anyway."
The woman didn't reply to my messages anymore, but I wasn't angry at her rudeness. On the contrary, I was a little curious. How could such an eccentric woman have a best friend? She must be an eccentric woman herself!
...
The stronger the wind, the stronger my craving for cigarettes became. In the end, I couldn't resist anymore, so I asked a delivery guy on Meituan to send me a pack. When the guy delivered it, I chatted with him for about the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.
After the delivery guy left, I felt increasingly wanting to kill time. Just as I lit another cigarette, I received a message from Ye Zhi. She said, "I fell asleep while we were chatting last night. I'm so sorry."
She was willing to explain this to me specifically a day later, which proved that she cared about our relationship. Of course, I was happy, so even though it was just cold text, I still subconsciously smiled and replied, "It's okay... You've arrived in Indonesia, right?"
"We've arrived... They're having dinner now, have you eaten?"
It was only when someone showed concern that I realized I hadn't eaten dinner yet. But not wanting to appear too lonely in front of Ye Zhi, I stubbornly replied, "I ate, and I even had a few drinks with some friends outside... What did you eat?"
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