After sheltering under that eaves for a while, Yang Sisi and I went back to Tina's bar together. We were both wearing soaking wet clothes, but the bar was quite warm, so we didn't feel too cold…
Despite the strange looks from the crowd, Yang Sisi smiled and said, "I just went out and got caught in the rain, it felt so good..."
Among the crowd, a talkative girl laughed and said, "Sisi, did you go out to get rained on or to create a romantic scene? ... It must have been to create a romantic scene. I think you live like the female lead in an idol drama!"
Yang Sisi laughed, then smoothed her wet hair as she replied, "If you really think that way... then go outside and get soaked for a while... I'll put a camera in front of your face and record your expressions the whole time. If you can still laugh when it's played back, I'll admit defeat... Romantic, my foot! You'll be lucky if you don't get hit on the head... Don't you know that there was hail mixed in with the rain just now?"
Everyone joined in the laughter, and Yang Sisi readily poured herself a full glass of beer and asked everyone to toast with her. The atmosphere was instantly lively, and those who were engrossed in the moment no longer questioned what the two of us had just been doing.
...
After partying for a while at the bar, they finally switched to a softer song. Taking advantage of this opportunity to talk, Chen Jin said to me, "We've earned this 200,000 yuan. What are your plans for spending it?"
I calmed myself down and replied, "The street light installation still hasn't been finalized. I'll go talk to that municipal engineering company again, and this time I'll raise the budget to 150,000..."
“I thought you’d forgotten about it. It’s good that you’re keeping it in mind…” He paused for a moment, then continued, “As long as we can finalize the deal to install the streetlights, I’m willing to increase the budget… We had a budget of about 70,000 before, which means we only need to take another 80,000 from the 200,000.”
"Um."
"With the budget increased to 150,000, do you feel confident in your ability to secure a budget?"
I shook my head and replied, "It's hard to say. From what they said before, we need to provide a budget of at least 200,000 yuan before they're willing to ask the Ancient City Management and Protection Bureau for this favor... But we can't possibly provide 200,000 yuan... A budget of 150,000 yuan is already enough to install very high-standard streetlights here!"
Chen Jin glanced at me, then said in a consultative tone, "You haven't been doing well lately. How about I talk to them about this... We have to get this streetlight installation done... Otherwise, Jiulongju will only be able to do business during the day, and we'll be letting down Lu Jia and Manager Wu. They paid real money to rent the shop from us; we can't just leave them with a dark street at night, can we?"
"Well, if you're confident, you can go and negotiate."
"Then give me a hint: what's the maximum budget we can offer?"
160,000.
“Okay, if 160,000 is still not enough to satisfy their appetite, then we’ll think of another way… But to be honest, this is the second time we’ve gone to them, so we’re already in a very passive position. They’ll probably ask for an exorbitant amount because they’ve already figured out that we absolutely have to rely on them to do this… So it would be best if we had a second plan.”
"I'll figure something out."
Chen Jin nodded and said nothing more. Then, holding his wine glass, he plunged back into the group of women. He seemed to have mastered the ability to switch freely between his personal life and work... The happiness he displayed at this moment was particularly genuine; he was truly happy! Yang Sisi, although she would also joke and play around with the women, would intermittently lose focus, so her happiness was merely an act...
In life, the most frightening thing to encounter is someone like Yang Sisi, who seems carefree on the surface but is very good at hiding her true feelings. Because you will belatedly feel sorry for them, and you must have unintentionally hurt them before because you didn't know them.
...
During the break, I texted Coach Ma to tell him that something came up and I couldn't have dinner with him... Coach Ma is truly unassuming. Even though I stood him up so badly, he wasn't angry, and he didn't even ask why. He just told me to come find me next time he goes down the mountain.
Around 11:30, Lao Huang, whom I hadn't contacted in a long time, called me. I didn't answer because Yang Sisi was also there.
Since I have now cut off all contact with Shanghai, the only reason he could call me is because of Yang Sisi.
Then, Lao Huang sent me another WeChat message, saying that he was in Dali right now and that I absolutely had to meet him.
I replied to his message, saying that I was drinking with friends, and he said that no matter how late it was, he would wait for me.
...
At midnight, Chen Jin and the others finally ended the gathering, and I was only freed after Chen Jin and Yang Sisi took a taxi back to their place, "Shanshuijian".
I went to the teahouse where I had arranged to meet Lao Huang. Lao Huang seemed to have been waiting there for a long time, so when I went in, he was dozing off... Judging from his face, he looked extremely haggard, probably because he had rushed to Dali.
My slightest movement woke him up. Instead of his usual smiling face, he looked exhausted and said to me, "Michael, it's so hard to see you... I won't beat around the bush, you have to tell me the truth, is Sisi with you now?"
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