I answered the call, took a deep drag of my cigarette, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Why didn't you reply to my WeChat message yesterday?
"Did you send it?...I didn't notice."
"Do you think I can trust you?...Where are you right now?"
I countered, "Would you believe me if I told you where I am?"
"Don't argue with me... Just send me a shared location on WeChat, and I'll trust you without you saying anything."
"I think you have a brighter future as a detective than working at the hotel... Have you considered changing jobs?"
"I've never seen anyone as indecisive as you! ... I'm calling you just to remind you that you promised your uncle you'd bring your sister-in-law back to our small town... Judging from your evasive behavior now, do you think you can keep your promise?"
"Sister-in-law my ass."
Dai Qiang paused for a moment, then asked, "Did something really happen to you two?"
I took a deep drag of my cigarette and replied, "I told you long ago that she and I are not on the same path, but you still insisted on adding fuel to the fire between us; let me tell you, everything you did was completely useless... Now I don't even have a chance to back down, I've completely lost face!"
"What exactly happened?"
Thinking about how pathetic I was last night, I was so angry that my breathing became rapid. After taking a deep drag of my cigarette, I calmed myself down and replied, "I'm in Shanghai right now... I waited for her on the Bund until midnight yesterday, but she ignored me..."
"Weren't you two always getting along well?...Why is she ignoring you?"
"Do you know that asking these questions is like stabbing me in the heart?... Can't you at least give me some face?"
"Brother, I really didn't mean to make things worse for you... Uh... I was just wondering if there might be some misunderstanding, like... she went there and you didn't see her; or, she went there right after you left... or maybe she got the time and place wrong?"
I interrupted impatiently: "Stop, stop... None of what you're saying is possible at all. She just doesn't want to see me."
"You said you waited until midnight?"
"We made an appointment for 10 o'clock, but we waited until 1:30. Isn't that past midnight?"
Dai Qiang hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone before replying, "I certainly can't be sure whether my sister-in-law went or not... but I saw her today... Believe it or not, she fell asleep during the meeting. Not just dozing off, she really fell asleep, and our old chairman was there too; in the end, her assistant had to wake her up... You can imagine the scene, it was incredibly awkward!"
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