Teasing Mi Cai

I sat back down on the sofa and finished smoking the cigarette in my hand. Then, I put it out in the ashtray. I looked at the guitar beside me, but I didn't have the mood to sing another song.

I lay on the sofa and once again died of boredom. I looked at Mi Cai's room and felt a little unhappy. If it wasn't for her restraining me, I would have been drinking beer with Robben and the others, watching a runway show full of beautiful women. So, to a large extent, the boredom now was given to me by her.

If she hadn't suddenly bought this house, I wouldn't have had to compromise to continue living here, nor would I have had to change my living habits and die in this boring torture on a night like this.

I felt that she had the responsibility to help me get rid of this endless boredom. No matter how ridiculous this logic seemed to others, I felt it was reasonable because boredom was so terrible in my cognitive world. It originated entirely from loneliness. If we were alive, who wouldn't be afraid of loneliness?

I came to Mi Cai's door and decided to break through the cage of loneliness on this not-so-deep night. I knocked on the door and said to Mi Cai, who was doing something in the room, "Hey, are you free? Come out and chat."

"We have no common language." Mi Cai's voice came from the room.

"Everyone is speaking Chinese. Why isn't there a common language? ... Besides, I'm the landlord, and you're the tenant. We live under the same roof. In order to live in harmony for a long time, it's necessary to communicate frequently."

Mi Cai didn't pay attention to me, I only heard a slightly awkward echo from her room.

I immediately changed my strategy and adopted a conciliatory policy. I knocked on her door again and said, "Have you eaten dinner? Why don't I cook some supper…"

But Mi Cai was ungrateful and interrupted me, "Please do something meaningful."

"F*ck, I'm making supper for you, and you're mocking me for doing something meaningless, right? Then I really don't want to disturb you. I'll go play with the spoon…"

I sat back down on the sofa angrily, but I was unwilling to accept it. Why did she act like she couldn't be bothered with me? I was poor and didn't have much potential, but this didn't mean I was willing to use my lowly status to satisfy her high status. Since I am still alive, I still cared about my self-esteem.

I really found a spoon from the kitchen and placed it on the coffee table. I used my fingers to turn the spoon, making it spin like a top.

...

Half an hour later, Mi Cai's door was opened. She had already changed her clothes and was wearing a white coral velvet nightgown as she walked to the bathroom. It seemed she was planning to wash up and rest.

I stared at her, but she didn't look sideways. She walked to the coffee table and glanced at the spoon that was still spinning. Then she stopped and looked at me. I looked at her expressionlessly and used my fingers to poke the spoon handle as if I was venting. The spoon spun even faster.

My boring actions finally made Mi Cai smile, but I couldn't tell if she was simply amused or mocking me.

"What are you smiling at? Didn't I tell you that I wanted to play with the spoon?" I said as I spun the spoon faster.

Mi Cai nodded and said, "You really keep your word and have improved." With that, she walked to the bathroom.

I looked at Mi Cai's back as she left and slapped the spoon to stop.

...

A moment later, Mi Cai walked out of the bathroom. Her hair was already loose, and there were some water stains on the ends of her hair. Even though she had completely removed her makeup, her skin was still fair and soft. This showed her natural beauty. At least, among countless women I knew, there was truly no one who was still so beautiful after removing their makeup.

She continued to ignore my existence and walked towards her room.

I shouted at her again, "... Stop right there."

"What do you want?" Mi Cai not only spoke coldly, but her expression was even colder as she looked at me.

I felt a little guilty. I braced myself and said, "I... I'm quite bored, chat with me for a while!"

"Find someone as boring as you. I'm going to rest."

It was as if I had received a special pardon. My voice was a little higher, "You said it yourself. I'm going out to have some fun now."

"You can go out, but you have to bring your luggage with you. There's no need to come back."

"I knew you would grab my weakness and use me for entertainment... To be honest, I've been renting houses for more than three years and have seen all kinds of people, but I've never seen a tenant as arrogant as you. Can't you be more polite to your landlord?" With dissatisfaction, I once again forced the title of tenant onto Mi Cai.

"I've never seen anyone as thick-skinned as you!" Mi Cai retorted.

"If I wasn't thick-skinned, I would have slept on the streets long ago. This is all because you forced me." I glared at Mi Cai, thinking about what happened in the past few days, and felt a wave of displeasure.

"Aren't you the landlord? Who dares to force you!" Mi Cai looked at me with a faint smile, but her words were full of sarcasm.

I pointed at Mi Cai and was so angry that my liver hurt. After a while, I said, "You vicious woman. I said I was the landlord just to find a loincloth for myself. Can you leave some dignity behind?" After saying that, I sighed, "The days of the poor are bitter... Ah! Living without a sense of happiness… Ah!"

"People like you were ruffians in ancient times, but are rogues and hooligans in present times!" Mi Cai glared at me. After saying that, she didn't want to be entangled with me anymore. She turned around and walked to her room.

Looking at the heavily closed door, I spat and said angrily, "So what if you're a capitalist? Comrade Xiao Ping has said that Chinese people will eventually move towards common prosperity. I'll let you guys who have become rich ahead of time show off for a few years. In a few years, just watch me…"

I tossed around in the living room for a while before returning to my room. I closed the door and lay on the bed. I lit a cigarette out of habit. I was still thinking about the situation when I argued with Mi Cai just now. Although I didn't get any advantage, I was secretly pleased when I thought about Mi Cai's tensed-up face and how she was so angry that she called me a rogue and hooligan. I didn't seem to be so agitated anymore. After a moment, I actually fell asleep in a daze. I finally didn't die from being tortured by boredom!

...

Perhaps it was because I slept early last night that I woke up at six in the morning. After that, I couldn't fall asleep no matter what. I just stared at the ceiling in a daze. I couldn't help but think of Fang Yuan and Yan Yan's upcoming wedding. My mood became anxious. I understood this anxiety wasn't born out of thin air. It had something to do with my upcoming meeting with Jian Wei. It was terrible! No matter how much I comfort myself, I can't seem to calm down…

Besides, I'm also very curious. Jian Wei and I have dedicated many years of our youth to each other. I'm anxious because I'm about to meet her, but what about her? Does she feel the same as me?

I didn't have an answer. I couldn't use myself as a basis to measure Jian Wei. Sometimes, women were different from men, and sometimes, Jian Wei wasn't me. Perhaps after three years, when she met me again, she would only treat me as an ordinary friend, or even a stranger!

The sky was just beginning to brighten. I didn't plan to sleep anymore due to my constant anxiety. After getting up and washing up, I prepared to make breakfast for myself. I opened the refrigerator and took a look. There were still a few salted eggs that Dad Ban had brought over a few days ago. I cooked a pot of porridge and bought a few fried dough sticks. It was a good breakfast combination.

I went to the breakfast store downstairs to buy some fried dough sticks and then went to the convenience store to buy a few bags of pickled vegetables. When I came back, the water in the pot was already boiling. I poured the rice into it and then found a mop to clean the house.

A gust of cold wind suddenly blew in through the window of the balcony. It was only then I realized that Mi Cai and I had forgotten to close the window last night. No wonder this morning was colder than usual.

It was already half autumn, and the temperature in the morning was very low. I tucked my clothes in and walked to the balcony to close the window. The first ray of sunlight in the morning also refracted through the glass and lazily swayed on the colorful leaf grass under the balcony, as if telling me that it was a good morning.

In order to blend in with this good morning, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Gradually, my anxious mood calmed down a little.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Mi Cai walking out of the room. She was still in her pajamas, and her expression was still hazy from just waking up.

I held the mop in my hand and greeted Mi Cai with a frivolous smile, "Good morning, my female tenant!"

Mi Cai didn't seem to be willing to dwell on the identity I had imposed on her. She tucked her messy hair behind her ear and asked me, "Do you always wake up so early?"

"Of course not. I woke up so early today to make breakfast for you." I lied without batting an eyelid.

"Is that so? But I plan to sleep a little longer."

"Then what are you doing up now?" I looked at Mi Cai, who already knew the answer. It was obvious that she had woken up to go to the bathroom, but I was very curious about how these indecent words would come out of a beautiful woman like Mi Cai's mouth. Perhaps she was too embarrassed to say it! ... I didn't care if she was embarrassed or not, as long as I could find some fun for myself at the beginning of the day.

Mi Cai frowned and looked at me, but she didn't say anything. It was indeed difficult for such a beautiful woman with such a temperament to say these words. I was proud in my heart, and I took a step forward to block the door of the bathroom.

After a while, Mi Cai said to me, "Move aside."

"No! Do you know manners? I asked you a question and you haven't answered it. You're making me very angry early in the morning!" I raised my voice.

Mi Cai stood on the spot with a slightly red face. Perhaps she was angry at me, or perhaps she was holding it in… She had held it for an entire night, how could she hold it in?

My heart was so happy that the flowers bloomed. It was as if I had already taken revenge for Mi Cai using money to occupy this house. I said with a smug expression, "Tell me, since you still plan to sleep, why are you getting up now?"

"I'm getting up now because I need to use the bathroom. Please move aside." Mi Cai's expression was already very unhappy as she spoke.

I was afraid I had gone overboard with my joke, and I was even more afraid Mi Cai would turn hostile and ask me to move out. I hurriedly tilted my body to give Mi Cai some space to go in. I suddenly understood that using the bathroom could also be expressed subtly. This was the difference between a rough man and a beautiful woman!

After Mi Cai came out of the bathroom, I sincerely invited her to have breakfast with me again. However, she seemed to be very disgusted with my teasing just now. She ignored me and went straight to her room to continue sleeping. In the end, I ate a boring breakfast alone on this seemingly good morning. Then, like a machine, I began the day that had been set for me.

Wait a minute, I have to correct my own statement. Strictly speaking, I am not like a machine, because recently I have always been anxious about human emotions. Every time I thought of Fang Yuan and Yan Yan's wedding date approaching, I would instinctively feel anxious about how I'll meet Jian Wei. At this time, I would rather be an emotionless machine, because another day had passed, and I still didn't know what kind of attitude to face my reunion with Jian Wei after three years!

At this moment, the morning sunlight changed its angle and fell into the room. It illuminated the black coat in the closet and extinguished my emotions. Jian Wei's face became clearer and clearer...