A woven bag of beer was finished by Robben and I, and time came from dusk to night. The street lights by the moat were lit up at some point. Just like last time, the light poles fell parallel shadows on the river surface, and there was a faint shining.

I touched my somewhat full belly and asked Robben, "Is it time to go back?"

He looked at the night and said, "It's still early, but there's no alcohol!"

I lay back on the lawn where there was already some dew. It seemed that I hadn't been by the moat for so long for a long time. Today is an exception, from noon to dusk, and then to night.

I asked Robben, "What are the plans to bring Wei Manwen out of the mountains this time? Will she not go back?"

"I won't go back, maybe I'll find a job in Suzhou. This is not a difficult task for her."

"Does she bear to live in the mountains and those children?"

"I can't bear to give up, and I'm worried that I won't have a good teaching in the future to educate them."

"She compromised for you again!"

Robben nodded, then lit a cigarette for himself, took several sips, then turned around and leaned on the guardrail, looking at the river surface reflected by street lights.

"Then what are your plans?...will you still sing in the bar?"

Robben shook his head: "A satellite TV station opened an original music talent show. I received an invitation and prepared to try it out. Maybe there will be a chance."

I didn't accept Robben's words, but I understood that he also made great compromises for Wei Manwen. In the past, he was disdainful to participate in such a program. He has been silently lying in the folk song circle as a free musician over the years, but he wrote one good song after another. I hope that this time he will become famous like Le Yao, and not for himself, he will also give Wei Manwen a comfortable material life.

A sound of a car closing the door came from the river bank. I subconsciously turned around and looked up, and saw Jian Wei walking towards the river bank with a stack of documents in her hand. She was used to being here at this time, so she met me who had been dying here.

Jian Wei came to the river bank like this and was surprised to see Robben and I, but she just said hello in an understatement. Then she sat not far away from us, looking at the thick stack of documents she brought with her, and the pen in her hand kept scratching the documents.

I didn't want to bother her at work, so I asked Robben to leave, but Robben was still unwilling to leave, sighing: "No wonder you always make yourself drunk here. I didn't expect that there is such a good place to get drunk in the suburbs of Suzhou."

Jian Wei, who had not talked much, unexpectedly looked up and took Robben's words and said, "This place has existed for a long time, but have Zhaoyang been drunk here many times?"

Robben looked at me and replied, "I will get him, a drunk here almost every week... Zhaoyang, I remember this correctly, right?"

Jian Wei looked at me and waited for my answer, but I avoided Jian Wei's gaze and looked at the riverside and said, "It's really a bit exaggerated every week. I just come to drink and have a good time."

Luo Ben looked at me questioningly. He didn't understand very much. Now I don't want Jian Wei to know this, because in all the scenery where things are no longer true, my favorite person is no longer her. In my current world, there are only the woman who appeared later... However, we don't seem to be as perfect as we expected. There are too many unsolved troubles waiting for us to face and solve, but I am not sure enough to deal with this overly excited life.

Just when I didn't know how to respond to Robben's doubts, another taxi drove up by the river bank, and then I saw Wei Manwen who came to find Robben.

This was the second time I saw Wei Manwen after leaving the mountain village, but she had changed qualitatively compared to last time. Just a fashionable set of clothes and a beauty treatment made her completely lose the atmosphere of the countryside. She did not belong there at all, and her roots have always been in this prosperous urban life.

Wei Manwen came to Robben's side. The two of them held their fingers tightly, and seemed to be reluctant to separate again. Although I had never experienced this feeling of losing and gaining, I felt a sense of empathy in my imagination.

I smiled at Wei Manwen, as if she was greeting her. She nodded gently to respond, but Jian Wei looked at Wei Manwen with some confusion, and they didn't know each other.

Robben introduced Wei Manwen to Jian Wei. Jian Wei smiled and said to Robben: "If I was not wrong, she should be the woman you miss day and night, right?"

Robben nodded.

"Congratulations to you lovers for finally getting married!"

Wei Manwen politely said "thank you" to Jian Wei, and then waited for Robben to introduce Jian Wei to her. This was also the first time she had seen Jian Wei.

Robben and Jian Wei are not familiar with each other. It is a bit reluctant to call me a friend. I looked at me in a bit embarrassed. I couldn’t introduce myself to me as my ex-girlfriend.

I finally spoke, solved the problem for Robben and said to Wei Manwen: "Her name is Jian Wei, Shanghai girl, we are friends, today is purely a coincidence."

Jian Wei suddenly glared at me... but I didn't know what was wrong, so I looked at her innocently.

Jian Wei finally stopped staring at me, picked up the documents placed beside her, and said goodbye to Wei Manwen and Roben. Then she didn't say anything anymore, walked up the river bank, and drove away from our sight...

I was a little overwhelmed and asked Robben for a long time: "Did I say something wrong? I made her so inexplicable!"

Robben looked in the direction of Jian Wei's departure and said to me: "I'm afraid she still has you in her heart, but you treated her as a passerby whom you met by chance today..."

Then I followed Robben's eyes blankly and looked at the direction where Jian Wei left, but I could no longer see the Cadillac.

Robben patted my shoulder and said, "You'd better find out why she broke up with you, otherwise this will still be a knot that may stung your life, and it's the same for Jane Wei!"

I became even more messy in this wave of uneven and then again. Not only did I have to wait for Mi Cai to choose between me and Zhuomei in the future, but I also had to find out the truth about Jian Wei breaking up with me. This messyness was a bit too much, so I was extremely eager to lit a cigarette for myself. I didn't ask Robben until I finished smoking: "Is this necessary?"

Robben nodded solemnly and said, "Nothing makes people feel happier than losing and returning. This is my own position and tell you my deepest experience recently... Maybe Micai is not the final destination suitable for you!"

Robben's words seemed to ignite a flame in my heart. I remembered that I would hug, kiss Jian Wei like before, and talk about life and the future without hesitation. So I really realized the joy of losing and regaining in my imagination, and the joys of the past that were about to be forgotten suddenly became clear, making me unable to help but look back and look back...

......

This night when I returned to my residence was so deep, so I kept sitting on the bed and looking out the window, hoping to break through the depth and make myself simpler, but Mi Cai sent me a WeChat message, she told me: In a week, she will return home, and the trip to the United States will come to an end for the time being, but the joy of being about to part and reunite for a long time is so light, and the night is even deeper. I know very well: for another week of calm, my life will soon undergo drastic changes...
Chapter completed!