I left the villa area where Cao Xiaobei lived in a daze. When I returned to "Jiulongju", it was already noon. I had no appetite and just sat alone under the parasol, sometimes in a daze, sometimes anxious, and sometimes staring blankly out the street.
I felt like I was just sitting there waiting to die; and this feeling of knowing I was unwilling to accept it, yet being powerless to do anything about it, was really unbearable.
After midnight, Taozi came to Jiulongju again. She waved her hand in front of me and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
I then came to my senses and looked at her, not caring why she had come, and simply asked, "Did you bring any cigarettes?"
"Do you smoke a lady's cigarette?"
"Give me one."
Peach took a pack of cigarettes out of her handbag and handed it to me.
I lit a cigarette and looked up at the blazing sun in the sky. It seemed that only the emptiness beyond the sun could allow me to briefly forget the dust and grime brought on by the mundane world... I suddenly longed to become a god beyond this world, and then to hell with money, to hell with toil, to hell with being empty-handed...
I slowly exhaled the smoke from my mouth, then gave a dry laugh at Peach and asked, "What brings you here?"
"I just made a matcha cake at home. I was thinking of you, so I brought it over to you."
I remain silent.
Peach placed the cake box on the stone table, then asked me with concern, "I feel like something's wrong with you. What's wrong?"
I replied listlessly, "I'm too lazy to talk because of the sun."
Peach didn't believe me at all, and she pressed me further, "Are you in some kind of trouble?"
I clenched my fist and punched my head twice... but I didn't know how to tell Taozi, and I didn't want to tell her either, because it wouldn't help and would only increase her worries.
...
Brother Ping brought over a pot of tea, and Peach then turned to Brother Ping and asked, "What's wrong with him, looking so distracted?"
Sighing, Ping lit a cigarette before replying to Taozi, "He's really in trouble this time... Two locksmiths came this morning and changed the locks on all 16 shops he rented from Cao Jinbo... He's already spent all the money he could, and he was just about to open for business and make money when this happened. How can he not be anxious and upset?!"
Peach was startled at first, then asked Bottle, "Why did they change the lock over there? ...Didn't we agree on that before?"
"You'll have to ask Michael about that... I only have a vague understanding myself."
Peach then turned her gaze to me.
I finally spoke up: "This is none of your business, so please leave it alone."
Bottle smacked his lips and said to Peach, "Look, that's exactly what he said when I asked him just now..."
"I really don't know how to explain this to you... Just go about your business and let me have some peace and quiet... I'm begging you, okay?"
As I spoke, I could feel the veins on my neck bulging. At that moment, I was excited because I really didn't want to be disturbed. But the more I did this, the more worried Taozi became. She said to me with even more concern, "Michael, we were friends when we were in Shanghai, and now we've settled down together in Dali... In this place, if I don't care about you, who else will?"
I looked at Peach, then vigorously rubbed the hair at my temples with my hands. In a low voice, I said, "I've fallen into a trap, become a pawn in someone else's game... I can't be more specific. If you really want to help, give me some space to think of a solution... I'm extremely confused right now... extremely!"
Peach was silent for a while, then finally spoke: "Then sit by yourself for a while. I'll come see you with Tie Nan tonight."
I absentmindedly hummed in agreement, and only then did Peach pick up her handbag and walk out of "Jiulongju". When she was almost at the street corner, she turned back and glanced at me again.
...
I sat there listlessly until dusk. I don't know exactly what time it was, but then I received a call from the courier, telling me to pick up a package at Longkan... I was confused for a moment before I remembered that it was cured meat and sausages that Lao Mi had sent. He didn't know that the inn had been demolished, so he was still sending things to that address.
I finally checked the time; it was 4:30 PM. I managed to compose myself and then rode my "little ninja" to the Dragon Shrine.
Twenty catties of cured pork and ten catties of sausage were delivered in a large bag. After receiving it, I tied it to the back seat and pushed the motorcycle to the tree we had met before. At that time, the inn had not yet opened. After finishing the renovation, Ma and I would always sit under this tree and drink a few bottles of "Wind, Flower, Snow and Moon".
I couldn't help but think of the people I had met, wondering how Coach Ma and Bai Lu, who had gone far away, were doing now.
After standing there for a while, I borrowed a large basin and a towel from a shop owner I knew nearby. Then I went to Erhai Lake, filled the basin with water, and washed the "little ninja." After Yang Sisi left, I had come to regard it as my closest companion, and it would remind me of the times when I argued and bickered with Yang Sisi.
I didn't mean anything by it; I just washed it clean so that I wouldn't feel too lonely in my predicament, because it carried her shadow.
...
After washing the car and returning the things to the shop owner, I stood by the ruins of the inn for a while, and suddenly felt hungry... Instead of buying instant noodles, I went to a nearby farmer's house and borrowed a shovel.
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