I gave Mi Cai blessings with a smile, but she did not respond to me with a smile. She just looked at the fountain behind me in silence, and was still so emotionally unconscious. So this lack of emotion gradually infected me, and she just looked at the maple tree behind her until a maple leaf fell on her shoulders...

Dad Ban also came to the sanatorium at some point, carrying a thermal box and a few jars in his hand, and walked towards us.

I finally said to Mi Cai, "My dad is here, behind you."

Mi Cai looked back and stood up from the bench until Dad Ban came to her, and only then showed a soothing smile and shouted, "Uncle."

Dad Ban picked up the insulation box in his hand and asked with a smile: "Have you eaten lunch yet?"

Mi Cai nodded, and Ban Dad smiled again and said, "Zhaoyang and I have just arrived from Xuzhou. It's tight at noon and I haven't cooked any good dishes. They are all very home-cooked!"

"Uncle, I really like the home-cooked dishes you cook!"

Ban Dad put the insulation box on the stone table under the maple tree and asked Mi Cai with concern: "Xiaomi, how are you in good health? Do you still feel dizzy?"

"Uncle, don't worry, I'm much better, maybe I'm a little tired recently!"

"Then you must pay more attention to rest. People are prone to anxiety in summer, their physical functions are fragile, and they are tired and stressed, so they are prone to dizziness!"

I interrupted, "Dad Ban, she is a top student at least. How can she not understand this common sense of life? Don't nag her!"

Mi Cai looked at me with a complicated expression, and I said to the somewhat surprised father, "If you leave these foods, we'll almost go out for dinner, it's almost a little bit soon!"

Ban Dad finally noticed something wrong with the atmosphere. After a little silence, he said to Mi Cai: "Okay, Zhaoyang and I will go out for dinner first. The jar next to the insulation box is herbal tea made of summer vegetation and honeysuckle, which has a meditation effect. If you feel bitter, add some honey. The honey is in the smallest jar. Remember to drink it after dinner later..."

I interrupted Daddy Ban again and complained, "Dad, when did you nag like this?...I'm so hungry, let's go to have a meal quickly, will it be fine?"

Mi Cai looked at the jars of all sizes on the stone table, tears were faintly found in her eyes, and my heart also ached. She just wanted to leave this place of failure quickly, so she walked towards the parked car before Daddy Ban.

In an instant, he drove the car to Mr. Ban's side and urged him to get on the car...

Dad Ban opened the passenger door and sat in the car. Before starting the car, I stared at Mi Cai again. She seemed to want to say something, but bit her lip. I finally said to her: "There is a maple leaf on your shoulder."

Mi Cai looked around and took off the maple leaf from her shoulder. I didn't say anything else. I closed the car window and drove my father out of the sanatorium. Until I left the gate, I remembered that I had never said goodbye to her... But so what, some people are born lonely, such as me, Mi Cai, so we don't need to say goodbye to each other, because farewell cannot save those loneliness. This kind of tragedy comes from we have never really relied on each other. Whoever is lonely and who is in pain again deserves it!

......

During the meal with Mr. Ban, I didn't say much, but just told him: Mi Cai was ready to marry another man, and then he fell into silence completely. He didn't say anything to me until he left Suzhou. I guess he was disappointed, but he knew that at this point, no matter how much effort he made, he could not save anything. It would be better to accept this result in silence, and at least he could leave some final dignity for his son.

I seemed to be used to pain, so this afternoon, I was very calm, calmly smoking half a pack of cigarettes, slept peacefully for a few hours, and then calmly called Jian Wei, intending to return the car to her.

In my memory, I seem to have not sang with a guitar for a long time, so I took the guitar to the moat this evening. I wanted to sing because calm does not mean there is no emotion. I need a kind of catharsis, which is related to guitar and has nothing to do with alcohol.

I think I am indeed much calmer than before, so I didn’t go to the bar or drink, but just came to the moat and could return Jian Wei’s car to her. Isn’t that sensible enough?

I lit a cigarette and plucked the strings of the guitar, but my voice was dry inexplicably. So I sang the song "Proverbs of Love" in a much hoarse voice than before, but the more I sang it, the less I understood it. Why did I sing this song with many memories in such a risk of heartache?

Perhaps, I fantasized about having a conversation with Mi Zhongxin, and I wanted to ask him: Do you recognize what his beloved daughter has done now, and do you recognize all the changes and efforts I have made for Mi Cai?

As I sang, a warm feeling came from the corners of my eyes, and I could no longer sing. I just looked at the river with the flowing water, slowly finished smoking a cigarette in my hand, and then looked up at the sky. The sunset was covered by thick clouds.

......

Jian Wei finally came to me. After she sat down, she asked, "Didn't you say that the genius came back? Why did you go ahead?"

I threw the car key to her, and also imitated Mi Cai's emotions-free appearance and replied: "There's something to do for the time being."

Jian Wei nodded, without saying anything. As usual, she took out a stack of documents from her handbag, as if she was about to enter the working state.

I looked at her, she turned her head and looked back at me and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"When are you planning to marry Xiang Chen?"

Jian Wei was a little surprised that I asked a sudden question, and then replied for a while: "Next year, haven't you told you before?"

"Get up now, you can get down to your marriage..."

"Who has stimulated you to this kind of virtue again?"

I smiled and replied with disdain: "Will I be stimulated?...... Let me tell you that I have lived smoothly until now, and I have long been invincible for all poisons!"

"If I were in charge of taxation, I would definitely include bragging in the scope of taxation. Look at whether you guys dare to brag so unscrupulously!"

I didn't respond, and lay straight on the lawn, staring at the somewhat dull sky for a long time, and finally asked Jian Wei: "What do you think we have now?"

Jian Wei was stunned for a moment and replied: "It can be considered a friend, it can also be said to be a cooperative relationship."

"Actually, I have always wanted to ask, we always meet each other so often, and now we have a commercial partnership. Does Xiang Chen care about it at all?"

Jian Wei shook her head and smiled, saying, "Zhaoyang, you and I are both a good horse. Who would still think about the grass that needs to be turned back to eat? So Xiang Chen doesn't mind anything, and I always think he is a confident man. He knows very well what kind of mentality can keep his woman!"

After a while, I finally smiled with self-deprecating. If Jian Wei’s statement was true, compared with Xiang Chen, I was not really a confident man, so Jian Wei and Mi Cai would leave me one after another, and I also fell into the lonely star of the Tiansha in the crowd... I just feel that love and marriage are getting farther and farther away from me!

So, after seeing through it, he made up his mind, gave up those unrealistic fantasies about love, found a woman as soon as possible, and got married! Then he went all out to create that "literary and artistic road" and realize the most worthy life value he should realize!
Chapter completed!