Led by Taozi, I entered this floating hotel for the first time in my life; the hotel's restaurant is built right next to Erhai Lake, and when we sat by the window, we had the same visual experience as if we were standing on the shore of Erhai Lake. We could even hear the sound of the waves crashing against the foundation...
Peach ordered a cocktail, and I ordered a Coke.
I spoke first, asking her, "You've been gone for almost two years, are you doing alright?"
"It's great... I got married."
I looked at the peach, speechless for a moment.
Peach lowered her head, as if it were an unconscious action. She turned the diamond ring on her hand and then said to me, "My husband is a businessman. He is remarried and has a child."
Is he good to you?
"Um……"
After Taozi finished speaking, she gripped the cup tightly in her hand again. I thought she was lying to me, but after looking at Erhai Lake for a while, she said to me again, "He is really good to me... He knows what I used to do, and he doesn't hold it against me for the past... So, I live a very peaceful life now."
"That's good!……"
After a brief pause, I tentatively asked, "Did you go back to Dali this time... for Tie Nan?"
Peach shook her head: "Not entirely... I don't know why, I just wanted to come back and see... This place is like a dream of mine, and I, like ordinary people, have pursued my dreams."
"Hmm... We all came here with boundless enthusiasm... It's a pity you were the first to leave."
“For Tetsuo, for myself… I have to go… Michael, do you know? I am a woman who cannot have children… I can’t give Tetsuo anything.”
I looked at Peach in surprise, because she had never told me about this before.
Peach then said to me in a low voice, "After Tie Nan's accident, I didn't have my period for a month... I thought I was pregnant, so I went to the hospital for a checkup... The doctor said I was no longer fertile, and that the delay in my period was just due to too much stress... Later, I realized that I had an abortion when I was in college; at that time, because I didn't have money to go to a proper hospital, I went to a clinic, and they didn't even give me anesthesia, they just scraped it off..."
Peach shed tears, and after a long while, she continued, "In college, I had many dreams. I believed in love and wanted to grow old with someone... But that scumbag broke up with me after my abortion... I went to nightclubs later, partly because of family difficulties and partly because of self-abandonment... It wasn't until I met Tie Nan that I regained hope for life and love... But I never imagined that I would ultimately have to pay the price for my past immaturity... Tell me, what right does a woman who is infertile and has worked in nightclubs have to be with Tie Nan?... I can't give him anything... Leaving is the last respect I can show him!"
My heart was filled with mixed emotions, and it took me a long time to finally speak.
He said, "If you hadn't said these things, we would all have thought that you abandoned Tie Nan for your own future."
Peach shook her head and replied, "When I thought I was pregnant, I was even a little happy... because having a child gave me more motivation to wait for him to be born... I could stay in Dali, work, and wait for the child to be born... By the time he is born, the child might already be calling me 'Dad,' and he might let go of his resentment towards society and become a good father... But reality is not like that... This fact overwhelmed my last lifeline... I have to leave!"
After a brief pause, Peach forced a smile and said, "For a woman like me, could you have imagined a better outcome than this?"
I remain silent, for what is done is done, and no matter how much I say, it won't change anything... But in this story, the tragic fate of Taozi and Tienan is an unchangeable fact; Tienan risked everything for Taozi's happiness, committing illegal and disorderly acts; and Taozi, in turn, chose to marry a divorced man with a child so that Tienan could be happy... In the end, they couldn't be together.
Judging by the days, Tie Nan should be out by now. I really don't know how he's going to face all of this.
After a moment of silence, Peach turned to me and said, "Let's not talk about me anymore. Let's talk about you. How have you been these past two years?"
I came here to talk to Taozi, so I told her everything that had happened in the past two years... including Ye Zhi's return, Lao Mi's serious illness, and everything that happened between Yang Sisi and me.
After I finished speaking, I lit a cigarette to calm my turmoil.
Taozi lit a cigarette for herself and then sighed, "If Leilei hadn't asked you to come to Dali back then, perhaps none of this would have happened... Every single one of them is so unforgettable for us!"
I smiled and replied, "I really want to know, if I had known it would turn out this way, would Wang Lei still have asked me to come to Dali?"
"Leilei is someone who always does things without regret... Even if she knew, I don't think she would change her mind... But I still feel very sorry for her. If she could see herself clearly, maybe the situation would be different... Unfortunately, she is not me!"
I nodded, and then I recalled some scenes of my time with Wang Lei... In the scene, there was a down-on-his-luck office worker and a nightclub hostess. The snow in Shanghai had fallen thickly on their shoulders. They were unwilling to be defeated by life, so they sat on an open-air stall, drinking beef offal soup and talking about the meaning of life.
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