Your Punishment

The taxi drove into the old neighborhood. I first pressed the window down to see if Mi Cai had moved my luggage out. The result was satisfactory. Although I didn't keep my promise, there was no luggage downstairs. It seemed that my warning last time was effective.

I went upstairs lightly. When I opened the door, it was dark inside. I looked at Mi Cai's room. There was no light in the crack of the door. So she didn't come back tonight. No wonder I didn't see her car downstairs. No wonder she didn't move my luggage out.

It's good that she don't come back. I can stay the night again. Perhaps this is the only comfort God gives me at the end of the day.

After washing up, I lay on the bed. The moment I turned off the lights and closed my eyes, the world suddenly quieted down. I thought I would be able to fall asleep very quickly in this state, but some fragments entered my mind rashly.

These scenes were all about the past. Thinking back to the past, they brought up the emptiness and desolation of the present. I didn't understand why Fang Yuan and Yan Yan were able to persevere on their path after graduation and finally get married, while Jian Wei and I ended up in such a bleak situation. What exactly did I do wrong? I really hoped that Jian Wei could tell me personally, but such a simple request actually became an extravagant hope!

Therefore, I suffered for two years in confusion and rotted away for two years.

....

I wiped my face heavily and sat up from the bed. After sitting for a long time, I got out of bed and found the guitar that had been sealed for a long time in the cabinet. I wanted to sing a song for myself, For Jian Wei.

I adjusted the tune with the tuning device and plucked the strings. Ying Hao's "Lost" came out of my mouth.

"Who can see this prosperity clearly? Who can hide from this noise, once again, corroding you; Who has ever mentioned the past, once again, forget you; Who will meet again in this next life, and fall in love with you again?

I lost my way and couldn't find the map. The road of love is so hard to walk. I lost my way and couldn't find a way out. Why did the world become so numb? I lost my way and couldn't find the way I came. The people around me were strangers. I lost my way and was walking in the same spot, while your heart had already flown far away…"

When I sang the last line, I felt a warmth from the corner of my eyes. I was lost, really lost. I thought I had walked very far in the past two years, but I was still walking on a map called love, but her heart had flown far away…

I lit up a cigarette and took a puff. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I was so scared I almost broke the guitar string...

Mi Cai's voice came from outside the door. "If you're in the mood to sing, please find a place with no one. This is a residential area."

I put on my slippers and opened the door. Mi Cai was standing in front of me in her spaghetti-strap pajamas. Her curvaceous figure was comparable to Yan Yan's, but her pretty face was so quiet under the hazy light. This made her aura unparalleled.

"Didn't you hear me sing 'I am lost'? How can I find a place with no one when I'm already lost!" I said with a faint smile.

"Nonsense!"

I ignored Mi Cai's dissatisfaction and asked, "Why are you at home?"

"I've always been here."

"I didn't see your car downstairs!"

"It's parked in the open space opposite."

"No wonder!" I sighed and immediately wanted to close the door, afraid that Mi Cai would mention moving to me. It was almost one o'clock in the middle of the night. Where could I move to?

Mi Cai pushed the door open with both hands, not letting me succeed.

I glared at her and asked, "You're not really going to let me move out now, are you?"

"No." After a pause, Mi Cai said, "Didn't you want to sing and get lost? I can bring you to a place where there's no one else. You can vent to your heart's content."

"Really? Are you that good?" I asked warily.

"Anyway, I'm already awake from the noise you made. If you're still interested, I can be your listener. Your voice is not bad!"

I think Mi Cai is taking the initiative to repair our relationship. Perhaps she was stunned by my singing, or perhaps she pitied a decadent man. Regardless of the motive, I think I can agree to her request because I can't sleep either. Let's go crazy together!

...

A moment later, Mi Cai changed her clothes. I wore pajamas, slippers, and a guitar as we walked downstairs.

Mi Cai drove her own car. I opened the door and sat in the front passenger seat. It wasn't that I hadn't been in a luxury car before, but it was my first time in a Q7. I couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Before I could put on my seatbelt, Mi Cai had already stepped on the accelerator. The Q7's powerful back thrust almost killed me by the car window.

"Do you want a corpse to sit next to you in the middle of the night?" I rubbed my head which hurt from the collision and angrily said to Mi Cai.

"Who asked you not to fasten your seatbelt? Those who don't follow the rules deserve to be hit!" Mi Cai said indifferently.

I pointed at Mi Cai and said helplessly, "Just f*cking take revenge on me!"

Mi Cai didn't pay attention to me and continued driving expressionlessly.

...

About twenty minutes later, Mi Cai really brought me to a deserted suburb. She stopped the car, pulled the handbrake, and finally turned off the engine. "There's no one here, just sing to your heart's content."

"The space in the car is too small."

"Then go down and sing."

"Do you think I'm stupid? If you drive the car away later, where can I complain?" I said warily. Ever since she deliberately started the car when I wasn't wearing my seatbelt, I suspected she didn't have good intentions.

"You talk too much nonsense!" Mi Cai said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car first. She looked like a gentleman who was magnanimous and I am a villain who was sad.

I also got out of the car and stood beside Mi Cai. The weather was good tonight. The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The air was also good. I had a feeling that I had finally escaped from the hustle and bustle.

My heart gradually calmed down. I was really grateful to Mi Cai for bringing me to this quiet place. I needed to vent my unhappiness and dissatisfaction with reality.

I strummed my guitar and sang Jin Wulin's "Metamorphosis".

After singing, Mi Cai unexpectedly clapped for me and asked, "Do you like serious music too?"

"Yes, if there were more instruments, it would be more enjoyable to sing," I said, surprised that Mi Cai actually knew about this song. After all, serious music wasn't for the masses. It was more artistic and academic. Both the singer and the appreciator needed a certain level of aesthetic ability.

Mi Cai nodded and said, "You're not as stupid as you look!"

"You're the narrow-minded one who judges a book by its cover."

Mi Cai didn't care about our conflict and said to me, "Please continue."

I put down the guitar and said to Mi Cai, "You should know a lot about music. Do you know how to play the guitar? Play a song."

"We agreed that I would be the audience."

I nodded. On such a dark night, in the boundless wilderness, there was an excessively beautiful woman who was willing to be my listener. It was a gift from the heavens!

Thinking about it, I suddenly felt even more guilty for being so rough to Mi Cai before. Actually, she was quite good to me. She lent me money and took me in for an extra night. Now, she's accompanying me to vent my depression. Perhaps my rough temper should really be changed!

A gust of cold wind blew past, and Mi Cai subconsciously tucked her thin clothes.

I couldn't bear to say to her, "Get in the car. I'll vent on my own."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded.

Mi Cai opened the car door and sat in the car, but she didn't completely isolate herself from me. She pressed down the window and looked at me with her chin in her hand as if she was looking forward to my next song.

I plucked the guitar strings and sang another song. Just as I was in the middle of singing, the car behind me suddenly started. I turned around abruptly and Mi Cai had already fastened her seatbelt.

She said to me with a faint smile, "Your voice is really good… However, I have to go first. This is your punishment for breaking your promise and being rude." With that, the car shot through the darkness like an arrow.

"F*ck you!" I took off my slippers and threw them at her car, but it didn't hurt.

"F*ck you, you b*tch. I f*cking know you don't have good intentions… You might be struck by lightning if you take advantage of my sympathy… F*ck! I'm not done with you!" I spun around anxiously and cursed incoherently at Mi Cai, who had already disappeared from my sight.

...

I've always been a person who's friendly with everyone. I'm easy to trust and don't like to be on guard. I f*cking deserve to end up like this!!