I didn't want to smoke anymore, so I tapped my fingers rhythmically on the table to make myself seem busy... After a very long silence, I finally spoke to her, "Don't you really want to give yourself a chance to start a new life?"
"I want to, I really want to... but I'm even more afraid of the consequences of my lies being exposed..." She paused for a moment, then continued, "I never understood Leilei before, but now I do... She's truly a pitiful woman; fate didn't give her a choice... while I, on the other hand, have willingly fallen into depravity. So, if even Leilei didn't dare to pursue true love, where would I get the courage to touch it?!"
I replied, somewhat annoyed, "So, are you planning to live like this for the rest of your life?"
Peach was filled with confusion. After a long while, she said, "Maybe I'll marry someone I don't love... that way I won't feel so sorry for him. But if I'm with Tie Nan, my guilt will be especially heavy because I feel like I haven't given him my best self. This guilt is really deadly, and it might even prevent me from experiencing the sweetness of love."
"You're carrying too much of a mental burden!"
“What else can I do? I regret it too, but I don’t have another chance to choose… Michael, please take me to the airport tomorrow. I have to leave early.”
"We've only been playing for two days!"
"I don't care that much. I should go back to Shanghai... If Tie Nan asks you about me after I leave, please don't tell him where I am."
Peach's determination filled me with a sense of powerlessness. I felt sorry for her, but there was not much I could do. In the end, I could only say to her, "Fine, I respect your choice... but I also want to advise you, even if you don't accept Tie Nan as a person, don't stay in this industry. This is really not a good place."
"Um."
After a moment of silence, she asked me again, "What about you? Will you find a girlfriend in Dali in the future?"
Lu Jia's image immediately flashed into my mind again. I hadn't forgotten her, nor had I forgotten why she left me. So, after a moment of disappointment, I replied softly, "No rush... this isn't urgent."
...
Back in my room, I grabbed a bottle of "Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon" beer from the fridge, lay on my bed, and started scrolling through my WeChat Moments while drinking it. About ten minutes earlier, Yang Sisi had posted an update asking for help on WeChat Moments, inquiring about ways to improve Dali's tourism image.
I don't know what kind of advice her friends gave her, but I could really see her passion for the guesthouse, and I was touched.
This time, I took the initiative to text her: "What do you want to eat for lunch tomorrow?"
"Hot pot, authentic Chongqing hot pot, Chongqing hot pot is the best!"
"Does Dali have authentic Chongqing hot pot?"
"There's one in Xiaguan, run by people from Chongqing. I heard the ingredients are all air-freighted here from Chongqing."
"Okay, I'll take you to eat there tomorrow."
Why are you suddenly so concerned about me?
"It's to maintain morale. Otherwise, how can we keep you working for the inn?"
"I wish you could say something serious sometime... You must be worried about me working too hard and being exhausted lately!"
Why do you always try to make others feel sorry for you?
Yang Sisi replied confidently, "Because I lacked love since I was a child."
"The love of others can never be as real as self-love. You have to learn to be an independent person and deal with the world independently, because no one can focus their attention on you every moment."
"See? I told you you're cold-blooded. Only a cold-blooded person would say something like that."
I don't like people calling me cold-blooded, so I didn't reply to Yang Sisi's messages anymore. After she sent me a poop emoji on WeChat, she didn't talk to me again.
I continued scrolling down, and then I couldn't believe my eyes, because Ye Zhi, who never posts on WeChat Moments, actually posted one... Upon closer inspection, I realized that this post wasn't about her life, but rather an in-depth article analyzing global economic trends.
Out of curiosity, I commented below: "Did you write this yourself?"
"I copied this from a friend."
"It's quite insightful and profound, but I don't understand it."
Ye Zhi remained indifferent as always; she didn't reply. Because I understand her, I could accept it. I simply looked out the window for a moment after closing my WeChat Moments...
The moon is exceptionally round tonight, illuminating the surface of Erhai Lake. While this makes the lake appear less mysterious, it also adds a touch of solitary beauty.
So I thought to myself, she doesn't seem to be asleep yet either. Is it because the night by Erhai Lake is too lonely?
Whatever her reason for staying up late, I was really sleepy, so I drank the "Romance in the Wind and Snow" in the jar in one gulp, then pulled up the covers and fell into a deep sleep.
...
When I woke up in the morning, Taozi had already packed her luggage. She told me that she had bought a plane ticket to fly from Dali to Shanghai at 8:30. She was in such a hurry that the two of them didn't even have time to eat before driving to the airport.
I helped her get her boarding pass and checked her luggage, and then we stood together at the security checkpoint...
With a hint of helplessness, I asked her, "Will you come to Dali again in the future?"
"Whether I come or not is not important at all. What's important is that you live well here... Leilei has never asked you for anything in her life. Her only hope is that you come to Dali and live a good life. For this, she has given you everything she could!"
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
