Looking at the caller ID, although Lai Yang was emotional, he did not answer the call immediately. It was only after his father reminded him that he picked up the phone and walked into the bedroom.
Pushing open the window, he looked at an apartment building under construction across the street and lit a cigarette to make the call.
There was no speech on the other end, nor did Lai Yang, and the room suddenly became quiet.
The temperature in Xi'an is much lower than that in Shanghai, and the wind at night is still a bit chilly. Lai Yang's eyes fell on the towering lights in the distance, and he took a deep breath and asked, "Are you okay?"
"… have."
"If you have any, tell me."
There was another silence, and then a quiet, soft, and tired voice asked, "Why did you say those words?"
Her words were filled with a bit of reluctance, which made Lai Yang's already determined heart begin to waver again.
He exhaled a long puff of smoke and said, "I'm tired. Since you and Yu Bo are together, let's not contact each other in the future."
"Did anyone tell you anything?"
"Do I need anyone to tell me? You didn't respond to the messages I sent you in the past few days. I know your dad is there, but I don't believe he can keep an eye on your phone 24 hours a day... Oh, forget it, there's no point in saying this. You are free to do whatever you want. I'm just tired and don't want to continue this endless struggle."
"So you're planning on... never contacting each other again? Are you planning on deleting WeChat as well?"
Lai Yang really wanted to say don’t do this at this moment!
This was not the result he wanted at all.
But at this moment, there seemed to be an invisible force controlling his body, causing him to hum heavily, and every word he said was heart-wrenching.
"Don't contact me anymore. I'll find a way to pay you back for the theater money soon. That's all..."
"I don't want this, I think we need to meet..."
Beep~
Lai Yang hung up the phone, and at the same time, the tower lamp in his eyes gradually blurred into a halo.
He wiped the corner of his eyes and thought of the scene at the airport where Tian Jing instinctively reached out to cover the Band-Aid.
At that time, her eyes were a little panicked and her face showed a sense of shame. That subtle expression could not be hidden, and it was enough to prove that something that should not have happened had happened between her and Yu Bo.
If that’s the case, what’s the point in continuing to dwell on this
The phone rang again, Lai Yang hung up ruthlessly, and then completely blocked the phone number.
The night fell silent again. Fog formed in the distance, lingering around the foot of the apartment building which had not yet been topped off.
The smoke has burned out.
Lai Yang then walked out of the room and found that his parents were sitting quietly on the sofa, looking up at him.
"Was it Xiaoqing who hit me?" asked the mother.
Lai Yang shook his head and said that he was a venue partner.
The mother said "oh" and then said that she saw Gu Qian's mother's circle of friends a while ago and she was also married...
As she was talking, her mother's eyes suddenly turned red. She rubbed them with her hands and said, "The first night you brought her home, I told your father that you two had a good personality and a good relationship. I'm going to raise money to buy you a wedding house. When the time comes, we can have a baby and we can take care of it together..."
"Mom, let's not talk about this, okay? Some things are not for me to decide."
"You always say that, and we are always so lenient with you, which is why you are so far behind others now."
"How big is the gap between me and others!?" Lai Yang was a little annoyed.
The father, who had been silent the whole time, said with a dark face: "Talk to your mother properly! Why are you yelling?"
"No, I..."
Lai Yang felt like there was a ball of cotton stuck in his throat, and he could neither spit it out nor swallow it.
He scratched his hair fiercely, frowned and looked at the mat under the coffee table, and after a while he said, "No more talking, I'm leaving tomorrow and going back to Shanghai."
"Then why did you come back? To get some fresh air on the plane?" Dad asked.
"… "
…
The next day, it was a cloudy day in Xi'an. After Lai Yang had breakfast with his parents early in the morning, he said that he was going back to Shanghai. This time his parents did not see him off, but just watched him leave silently.
Wandering on the streets, Lai Yang was completely lost.
He took a taxi to the city wall of Nanshaomen, climbed up the wall alone, put his hands on the dented bluestone bricks, and looked out at this city that blended the ancient and the modern. He didn't know where to go for a long time.
In a trance, he remembered that he had a conflict with Tian Jing when he returned to Xi'an last time, but later she took the initiative to find him, and then the two of them went to the Tang Dynasty City that Never Sleeps together. He also bought her a Tang suit cloak and a few red hairpins.
That night in the crowd, her glance back and her smile made me fall completely in love with her, and I fell in love with her uncontrollably.
More than half a year has passed since that day, but now things and people have changed and we can’t go back to the original version.
Lai Yang took out a cigarette and lit it. At this time, several couples who were traveling from other places were checking in and taking photos on the city wall. Among them, there was a young girl who was also wearing a red Tang suit and had a gorgeous appearance.
Although she is very beautiful, she cannot compare with that woman, and her temperament is much worse.
"Why!"
Lai Yang sighed and forced himself to collect his thoughts. Li Dian just happened to call him and asked him when he would return to Shanghai.
"I don't know, maybe in a few days."
Lai Yang took a puff of cigarette, and then asked tentatively, "Um...did Yunlu look for you?"
"I'm at her house right now."
Lai Yang was choked suddenly.
Yunlu and Song Wen invested their wedding money to join the theater, although doing business comes with risks and opportunities.
But... Lai Yang still felt guilty when something happened, after all, he was the operator of the theater.
"Then give the phone to Yunlu... or Song Wen, I'll talk to them."
As soon as Lai Yang finished speaking, Yun Lu's voice came over; "Brother Yang, you have a bad character, very bad!"
This is quite straightforward.
Lai Yang scratched his head and looked at the buildings in the distance, and said sorry in a low voice.
"You haven't let me down. Investment is like this. There are gains and losses. I, Yunlu, accept this. What I'm saying is that you are sorry for calling me big sister!"
"Ah? I... I..."
"Do you think you can live up to it?"
Yunlu interrupted, "She scheduled the engagement for October 10th. Brother Yang, you know why, but what about you? When something happened, you just walked away and left her to deal with it?"
Lai Yang blushed at these words, but he really had no way to deal with the current situation.
Even if people return to Shanghai, it will not help.
The most important thing is that he has to recover first. At present, he would occasionally fall into the past related to Tian Jing. This feeling is exactly the same as breaking up. He really has no energy to do anything.
Yunlu complained a few words, and Song Wen tried to smooth things over. Finally, Li Dian took the phone, walked out of the room, and said.
"Did you have a falling out with President Tian?"
Lai Yang hummed and said, "I will find a way to deal with the theater, but I really don't want to come back in the next two days. You should find a way to hold on first, so that I can take some time off."
"Well, if you're really in a bad mood, you can go to Zhoushan and talk to Sister Wei. She's knowledgeable and might be able to help you."
Lai Yang's eyes lit up. It was indeed possible to go to Zhoushan, but forget about it, Sister Wei. She could go to Li Liangxin to stay overnight and talk to him about the situation.
Just as Lai Yang was thinking about this, Li Dian said something again in a faint voice.
"Also, Ms. Tian came to the theater to look for you this morning... She looked very sick. I have never seen her look so haggard, and when she asked you, her voice was trembling..."