After finishing my conversation with Dai Qiang, Yang Sisi and I looked at each other. She spoke first, saying, "If I hadn't introduced myself, would your cousin have thought that the person you brought back was Ye Zhi?"
"That's ridiculous... He works at Ye Zhi's company, how could he not know that Ye Zhi is getting engaged?"
"Women are emotional creatures; who knows if she might change her mind at the last minute..."
"Can we stop talking about this?... I find it really boring!"
Unexpectedly, Yang Sisi went even further, saying to me, "Speaking of which, you two are really quite pitiful... You clearly have feelings for each other, but you just can't be together... Why is that?"
"If you keep talking nonsense... I'll open the window and jump right now, you believe me?"
"Jump quickly, and once you're done, the world will be rid of one more scourge..."
I ignored her and just kept eating with my head down.
Yang Sisi tapped her fingers on the table, seemingly out of boredom, but I knew she was brewing up some embarrassing question. Sure enough, she squinted and asked me, "Michael, have you ever thought about going to her wedding and causing a huge scene? ... If you dare to go, I'll respect you as a man!"
"Can we stop joking?!"
"I'm not kidding... If I couldn't be with the one I love in this life, how painful would that be... If I were you, I'd hire a bunch of thugs who aren't afraid of trouble. They'd be in charge of smashing things up, and I'd be in charge of looting... I'd also park a big truck outside, sit in the driver's seat, and pin her down in the passenger seat... Anyone who dares to block my way, I'd run them over!"
Don't you think you're a little vicious?
"For the one I love, I'm willing to commit the most heinous crimes..."
"All these years, you haven't grown at all... Where's the maturity you were promised?"
Yang Sisi said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Just tell me if you're going or not? If you're not going, I'll go... and then I'll let her spend the rest of her life with me."
The more she talked, the more rambling it became, which really annoyed me. So, I said coldly, "You know better than I do why I came to Shanghai... What's the point of you saying these nonsensical things to me now?"
"Which of my statements wasn't the truth?"
“None of these words are true... You just think I'm a loser in relationships, so you have no bottom line and try to have fun with me.”
After I finished speaking, Yang Sisi put down her chopsticks and said in an even colder tone than mine, "Why would I want to find pleasure in you?... When it comes to success or failure in relationships, is there anyone in this world more utterly defeated than me?... I've already abandoned my pride to stay by your side... I have no other expectations... I just hope you can be with the woman you love most in your life... Because I know what kind of pain it is to not be able to be with the one you love... I just don't want you..."
Repeating the same mistake... You're already so much luckier than me... Because we all know that the woman you love loves you too... There's still hope between you two... If you could be as willing to go all out as I am, Ye Zhi would soften her heart... And please don't doubt me so easily, because I'm a woman, and I understand women's hearts better than you do!
Yang Sisi and I were now locked in a standoff; after I had calmed myself down, I said to her, "I understand you less and less... What exactly do you mean by coming back to the county town with me?"
"That's where my dilemma lies... I don't want to see you so lonely... If Ye Zhi is willing to go back with you, I'll stay far away from her."
My inner fire was instantly extinguished by Yang Sisi's words, and I fell into silence, unable to speak for a long time... It wasn't that she wasn't mature enough, but that burning flame in her heart had never been extinguished.
In my silence, Yang Sisi whispered to me again, "Let's not talk about this. There's something else important I want to tell you... Cao Xiaobei is getting married too. I don't know what he's thinking, but he insisted on inviting me to his wedding... I feel incredibly guilty towards him, so when he told me this was the last time he'd ask me, I softened and agreed... I'm telling you this for no other reason than to hope that you can come with me to Dali before we go back to our small town... You know, in his heart, he always thought we were together and very happy... Just consider it as going through the motions."
After considering it for a moment, I asked Yang Sisi, "When is he getting married?"
"Three more days."
“Okay, then we’ll drive to Dali first, and then go back to the county from Dali… It’s on the way, and it won’t delay our attendance at Dai Qiang’s wedding.”
Yang Sisi forced a smile, then sighed and said, "I don't know why, but lately all my friends seem to be getting married in droves... Is it really because I'm getting old?"
"Um."
"Let's eat. After we finish, I'll take you to the hotel so you can get some rest. You have to leave tomorrow."
"Um."
...
After Yang Sisi dropped me off at the hotel, she left alone. I don't know why, but even though I was sleepy, I couldn't fall asleep as the sky darkened... In the end, I simply stood on the balcony, looking down at the familiar city... and then I entered a state of complete relaxation.
Then, my phone, which was in my pocket, beeped with a WeChat notification.
I took it out and looked at it; it was a WeChat message from An'an… I was quite surprised because we hadn't contacted each other since she left Phuket. (Please follow the author's personal WeChat official account: Tank's Bookstall, reply "playlist" to see the complete playlist for this book, reply "Sisi" to see pictures of the main characters, and participate in more activities to interact with the author.)
"Michael...I've already spoken with Cao..."
Jinbo has come clean; I want to leave Dali… but he misunderstood me, thinking it's because he hasn't given me a marriage commitment that I'm considering leaving… He proposed and is planning to announce our relationship… I'm incredibly anxious because his son's wedding is in three days… He said he'll take me to the wedding… I'm terrified he'll announce our relationship there… I've asked Nicole and Bai Lu… you weren't lying, Cao Jinbo really did rise to power through organized crime, and his older brother was sentenced to a serious crime because he took the blame for him… I don't want to spend my life with someone like that… but now he won't let me leave. What should I do? …If I force myself to leave, will he use the same methods he uses on others on me?
(End of this chapter)
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