In order to bring down my fever faster so I could continue my journey, I went to the clinic next door for an IV drip. Yang Sisi sat next to me, idly flipping through an urban romance novel called "My 26-Year-Old Female Tenant".
I said to her, "If you really have nothing to do, go buy me a few packs of cigarettes."
Yang Sisi glanced at me and replied, "I think you should save your own life first before thinking about smoking."
I clutched my chest with my hand, my face contorted in pain, and said, "If I don't smoke, I'll die right now!"
Yang Sisi put down her novel, looked around, and replied, "But this isn't a place to smoke. There are so many patients here. Can you bear to poison them a second time?"
"I'll go to the bathroom to draw a card."
"I can't stand you anymore, I'll go buy it for you, okay... What kind of cigarettes do you want?"
...
Outside the clinic, under the shade of a tree, after finishing my IV drip, I lit a bottle of Zhongnanhai cigarettes that Yang Sisi had bought, and my mood improved.
She had only taken a few puffs when she started complaining, "You, why did you have to overestimate yourself and try to be a hero? Fine, you did it, but why am I the one suffering here with you in the end? What's worse, you little bastard, you actually did something as heinous as abandoning your teammates. I should have added some Sanlu milk powder to your saline solution so you could never take care of yourself again."
"Can it be any more poisonous?"
Yang Sisi thought for a moment and then asked in return, "Is there a 'medicine' that can poison a person so much that they can never have a 'sex' life?"
I choked on the smoke I inhaled, and then, in the sunlight filtering through the gaps, I saw a face that was anything but a joke. I really admired her ability to choose words and phrases, but I couldn't quite grasp her unique sense of humor.
Yang Sisi kindly patted my back to help me catch my breath. After I calmed down, she leaned close to my ear and whispered, "I'll tell you a secret."
"You've already poisoned the saline solution?"
"No, no, I wouldn't really do something so pointless. After all, I'm a person who knows what's good for me."
With a mischievous smile, Yang Sisi continued, "Actually, that woman from last night gave me her phone number... She's also going to Dali. She told you to call her after you get there, as she wants to treat you to dinner and express her gratitude."
"Is that so?"
"Do you want it or not? If you do, it'll be like a modern romance drama, that's how it's written at the beginning... She's also going to Dali!"
"I don't want it."
Are you sure you're not just pretending to be virtuous?
I was stunned for a long time, then turned to look at Yang Sisi and pointed to my chest: "Actually, I also have a secret related to you hidden in my heart."
"I don't believe it. We've only known each other for less than three days."
"Our story is more like the opening scene of an urban romance drama. Would you like to hear it?"
Yang Sisi looked at me with a skeptical expression, and after a long while replied, "Don't scare me. I'm still a child. I want to go back to my mother's house to drink 'milk' and don't want to get involved in your world!"
With a serious expression, I said, "Actually, I'm an undercover agent that Lao Huang placed next to you... Don't you think it's a coincidence at all? You're going to Dali, so I resigned from the company and went to Dali with you."
"Uh...maybe so! Tell me quickly, what exactly does the undercover agent want to do with me?"
"Be your man."
Yang Sisi's expression suddenly dawned on her: "No wonder you dumped me in Wuhan! Because after we actually met, you knew you weren't good enough for me, so you backed down!"
"No, it's you who are not good enough for me."
"Tch, I'm not kidding. Uncle Huang won't let you have any good things; he's such a scheming person."
Perhaps because I was in a better mood and my mind was sharper, Yang Sisi lost the argument for the first time and fell silent. But I saw a shrewdness in her silence; she wasn't as carefree as she seemed, and she knew what kind of person Huang Heping was.
...
After a bumpy journey, we finally arrived in Kunming on the fourth day, and truly felt like we were in Yunnan, the land of colorful clouds.
Old Huang contacted me several more times, reminding me to keep track of Yang Sisi's whereabouts. He said he would be coming here with her parents in about a week. He also asked me if Yang Sisi's attitude towards going to Dali had changed. I had no answer, only telling him that the 8,000 yuan he had transferred was almost gone, and without further assistance, she probably wouldn't stay in Dali for long.
Along the way, she didn't want to miss a single beautiful scene, constantly using her phone to record fleeting flowers, grasses, and ever-changing clouds. My mood, too, subtly shifted as we approached Dali; thinking of Wang Lei, I felt a pang of sadness.
As the road gradually came together, signs pointing to Dali Old Town appeared. The unique architecture of the Bai ethnic group and the colorful clouds nestled between the mountains painted a distinctive picture of Dali's charm. I tried to relax, parked the car at a viewpoint, took out Wang Lei's tablet from my bag, and recorded a short video. At that moment, I hoped she could see the shimmering Erhai Lake under the sunlight, just as I could, and I also hoped she could feel my emotions.
Yang Sisi came to my side again, looking at the tablet in my hand with disdain, and said, "Oh my, you're a grown man using a pink tablet, that's so weird!"
"From a friend."
Yang Sisi, ever the gossip, pressed on, "Your ex-girlfriend?"
"From the same hometown."
Perhaps sensing my lack of enthusiasm, she didn't press the matter further. But after a short while, she narrowed her eyes, then smiled and said to me, "You really don't want the contact information that woman left me?"
"I said it was just a small thing, nothing more."
"You'll regret this!"
"No regrets... Let's go, we've reached Dengchuan ahead, we'll get off the highway there."
...
It was peak tourist season in Dali, so I didn't let Yang Sisi drive into the congested old town. I got out of the car on National Highway 214. Behind me was a large billboard with the highest leader's expectations for Dali: "We must protect Erhai Lake well."
This gave me a sense of security. I believe that under such guidance, Dali will only become more and more beautiful and better.
Yang Sisi and I parted ways. She rolled down the car window and called my name for the first time: "Hey, Michael, wanna have a farewell dinner? My treat."
"I'm not eating it, I'm afraid you've poisoned my food."
I thought she would scold me or belittle me, but she just smiled at me and replied, "If you don't want to eat, that's fine. Just don't look like you're half-dead in the future. You should be happier in Dali, otherwise what's the point of coming all this way? It's the same in Shanghai, it's all suffering anyway!"
I looked at her, wanting to say thank you, but she closed the car window and disappeared from my sight with the flow of traffic.
I gazed silently into the distance, and in this unfamiliar place, surrounded by people and cars, I felt a profound sense of loneliness, as if I were starting all over again...
After a while, the streetlights came on, and in the distance, countless lights shone from homes, but none of them touched my heart. Because in this completely unfamiliar city, I was just a wanderer.
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