Don't Let Me See You in Suzhou

The next morning, I left Heng Dian and returned to Suzhou in the afternoon. The first thing I did was to go to the company and report the situation to the manager, Chen Jingming. The matter of shooting posters for Gucci was resolved with Le Yao's promise to me.

This evening after work, I sat in my office for a long time without leaving. After leaving the house I had lived in for more than two years, the fear of having nowhere to go haunted me.

Actually, habit is a very scary thing. My pain now stems entirely from habit. I'm used to the love that Jian Wei once gave me, used to the warmth and comfort that the house once gave me.

I don't understand what happened all these years. Why did I always throw away the most precious things in my life, but only gain so little?

Perhaps I knew the answer, but I didn't want to admit it, so I comforted myself. Now that I finally saw some hope in my job, the progress in my job would definitely make my life better in the future, so I had to pack up and prepare for a new life!

After leaving the company, I didn't go looking for a new house. I decided to stay at Robben's place for the time being. At least at night, two equally lonely and frustrated men could talk about music and this nonsense life.

...

Wandering alone on the street was extremely boring, so I planned to go to the bar to look for Robben and have a few more drinks.

I immediately hailed a taxi and headed to Robben's bar.

When I arrived at the bar, it was still the same familiar scene of debauchery and the same crowd of people. I just found a relatively quiet corner and sat down.

Robben came to me with a few bottles of beer and sat down opposite me. He handed me another bottle of beer and said, "I thought you were cut off from this place. Why are you here again?"

I looked around and joked, "I came here to inhale some decadent aura. I've been living too proudly recently!"

Robben clinked his wine bottle with mine and asked with a smile, "You're just used to living a hard life. What's wrong with living a little proudly?"

I also smiled and raised the bottle, saying, "This is the reality. Little comrade, you still have to understand slowly… Let's drink!"

Robben smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He also took a sip and asked me, "You went to Heng Dian to look for Le Yao yesterday, right?"

"I hid it so well. How did you know?" I asked in surprise.

"I chatted with Le Yao on WeChat today. She said you went."

"Actually, I really went to Heng Dian for work. Didn't Gucci want to set up a counter in our department store? They insisted on Le Yao to shoot posters for their products, so this hard job fell on me." I took another sip of beer.

"No wonder Le Yao said that she was happy for nothing. She probably thought you went to look for her at the beginning."

"Even if I go to look for her, I'll have to wait until the weekend."

Robben nodded and didn't ask any more questions. The two of them drank another bottle of beer and chatted for a while before Robben left. It was his turn to perform on stage.

In the bar, I'm looking for entertainment. The people were getting more crowded, but I'm still sitting in the corner, drinking one mouthful after another, absentminded. That night with Le Yao appear in my mind out of nowhere. I'm a little sad, this sadness makes me puzzled, but it really exists.

On the stage, Robben and another female singer were singing a song that he had written himself. There was intermittent applause from the audience. My attention was finally attracted. I followed the rhythm of the music and snapped my fingers.

Robben was actually a talented folk singer, but he was too stubborn and was unwilling to write some commercial pop songs. He was also unwilling to participate in the lousy talent show, so he had been singing in the bar all these years, living a poor life, but he didn't seem to care too much about this kind of poverty. He often said, playing music didn't necessarily mean that you had to be famous, but you had to have a strong determination.

It's just that I don't know what his insistence is after spending so many years with him, but that doesn't stop me from admiring him.

...

As the music played, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I continued to snap my fingers to the rhythm. I took out my phone from my pocket and answered the call without looking at the number.

The call was from Fang Yuan, and he seemed to hear the noise of the bar, saying to me, "Zhao Yang, fooling around in the bar again?"

"Have a good honeymoon and don't worry about this bro." I stood up from my seat and swayed along with the crowd to the rhythm of the music.

"Which bar are you at? I'll go find you."

"Didn't you go to Hainan with Yan Yan?" I asked curiously.

"It's been raining heavily these past few days in Hainan."

"You were only there for a few days. Is your marriage leave enough?"

"I won't be able to play for a few days. It's enough…Stop talking nonsense and tell me which bar you're at."

"Soho Bar. Come on, I'll treat you to a drink."

"Then you have to prepare more money. Yan Yan, Jian Wei, and Xiang Chen are going too."

When I heard Jian Wei and Xiang Chen's names, my heart trembled. I was stunned for a long time before I cursed, "Are you f*cking stupid from getting married? Why did you bring them here?"

"What are you so agitated about? The five of us haven't been together for a few years, right? Besides, don't you have a girlfriend now? If you call her out to gather together, don't think about those messy things in the past."

"Who told you that I have a girlfriend?"

"Jian Wei did. If you didn't have a girlfriend, I wouldn't have brought Jian Wei and Xiang Chen to make things difficult for you."

Only then did I remember that on the day of Fang Yuan's wedding, I indeed had lied to Jian Wei that Mi Cai was my girlfriend. I didn't expect that this lie would be like a rock that I had lifted and smashed into my own feet. I couldn't avoid it at all.

While in a daze, Fang Yuan said to me, "Actually, it was Xiang Chen's idea to get together with you. We're all brothers who came from the university. Don't be unhappy because of emotional matters… Now everyone is in pairs, isn't it good to gather together!"

I didn't know what to say, so I remained silent.

Fang Yuan reminded me again, "Remember to ask your girlfriend out. She's so beautiful that even Jian Wei thinks so. Yan Yan and I really want to broaden our horizons!"

Just as I was about to say something, Fang Yuan had already hung up the phone. When I heard the toot sound from the phone, I was instantly dumbfounded!

...

The bar was still noisy, but I was restless. Since Fang Yuan had already said so much, I couldn't run away. The bad thing was that I had recklessly said that Mi Cai was my girlfriend that day. However, at that time, I was really like a drowning person who needed a life-saving straw, so I could understand what I had done back then. But what should I do now?

After being at a loss for a long time, I finally decided to give Mi Cai a call. If she still had any loyalty, she would definitely help.

I took out my phone and found Mi Cai's number, but I couldn't press it for a long time. I still remembered that when I moved out the day before yesterday, we had a fight because I didn't buy the pesticide powder. Then, she forced me to pay back the debt. I was so embarrassed that I left the guitar behind and almost ran away. Isn't it too unmanly to call her now?

"It doesn't matter. In her eyes, I'm just a scumbag."

I muttered. With my reputation as a scumbag, I mustered up my courage and dialed the number.

Listening to the dial tone, I was actually a little nervous. There was a reason for this nervousness. I was worried that Mi Cai would sneer at my lack of integrity, and I was even more worried that she would not be willing to help.

A moment later, the call was connected. I heard Mi Cai's stern voice again, "Why are you calling me?"

"Emergency in the martial arts world."

"Emergency in the martial arts world? Are you going to jump into the river or lake again?"

I was almost choked by Mi Cai. After a while, I said, "I didn't jump into the river this time. Do you remember the last time at my friend's wedding, I told a woman that you were my girlfriend?"

"You still have the cheek to mention this?"

I immediately followed Mi Cai's words and sighed, "Sigh! My friend said he wants to see you. He's already on his way here. Hurry up and come to Soho Bar to save me."

"Even Jesus can't save people like you!"

"Don't insult me. It's really urgent. If you didn't come, I would really be embarrassed today!"

"Who cares about you!"

"I'm begging you, okay?" I said anxiously as if I had no choice but to lower my head.

Mi Cai replied, "You're on your own."

I was furious, "Don't you have any sense of brotherhood… F*ck, don't let me see you in Suzhou in the future…"

The phone was suddenly hung up. Listening to the beeping sound, I was completely dumbfounded!