Late at night, the highway train drove me away from this city full of sadness and helplessness, heading north. I was very tired, but I couldn't sleep at all. I just looked at the completely black scenery outside the window, and flashed through my sight over and over again.

If my life is a story, at this moment, I can't see the end of this story, but only see that we were designed to be pitiful at the center of this story, and I seem to see Jian Wei at this moment. In this story, she cried heart-wrenchingly because of my departure... I also know that she still loves me, and I also love her, but because of the constant missing, we are already on a railway track, heading in the opposite direction, and there is no other force that can make us look back. At least I can't turn back, because I also love Micai even more than enough, but I can only live with one person, and I no longer have the right to choose.

In the second half of the night when I returned to Xuzhou, I had insomnia. In the morning, I had a high fever of 40 degrees, my throat was hoarse, my head was drowsy, and I shrank into the quilt and trembled... I haven't been so sick for a long time!

I put the thermometer back on the cabinet, got up, boiled hot water for myself, and then went to the clinic in the community and fed the water. However, the pain in my heart was not relieved at all, so I could only numbly look at the sunlight scattered on the plants outside the window over and over again.

The middle-aged doctor in the clinic is an acquaintance of our family. He chatted with me with nothing to do. He smiled and sighed: "Zhaoyang, since I opened this clinic, you have never been here to get drip water. You are so strong that you can't stand it this time, ah?"

"Maybe it's because I'm tired recently and my body's immunity has decreased."

"I don't think so... I didn't see you with your girlfriend today. I'm afraid I'm sick, right?"

I was not in the mood to take on his joke, but just sighed and replied, "Lovesickness is a disaster, not a disease... Please don't talk about me here, I want to sleep for a while!"

The doctor was bored and scolded me, then picked up the stethoscope and went to the diagnosis room, but I didn't really fall asleep. I knew that this disease had been brewing for a long time. In just one month, my emotions had been approaching the brink of collapse many times, which eventually affected my body. He went on strike to warn me that there were times when I couldn't stand it.

.........

When I left the clinic, I had already subsided. After a quick meal, I rode my electric bike to the coffee shop. This afternoon I would like to apply for two waiters. If I succeed, the coffee shop would have the conditions to open at any time.

In the afternoon, Dai Wenshan, the owner of the photography shop, brought two female customers to my coffee shop to take a picture. This made me feel embarrassed again, but I didn’t know how to make coffee. In the end, I just soaked two cups of instant coffee to serve as props for them.

Soon, they completed the shooting task, but Dai Wenshan did not leave immediately. He sat with me at the closest to the window and started chatting, saying, "Boss Zhao, I have an idea. I don't know if you can help you realize it."

"You said Sa...I will do my best!"

Dai Wenshan smiled and said, "I want my photography store to be the only partner here... Of course, I will not let you suffer a loss. As long as you are willing, I can give you a venue usage fee of 5,000 yuan per month, and at the same time, you can take a commission of 5% from the photo shoot fee. This is a considerable income, which can at least solve the daily operating costs of this coffee shop..."

I also smiled: "In the short term, the exclusive cooperation you proposed really touched me, but in the long term, it is not conducive to the market transmission of our coffee shop. I really appreciate your kindness, but it does not meet the development plan I have formulated for the coffee shop."

My refusal without thinking made Dai Wenshan very regretful. He saw my determination and did not fight for it anymore. He just changed the subject and asked me: "The girl who was in the coffee shop with you yesterday was your girlfriend, right?"

"Well, what's wrong?"

"Yesterday she went to the city with my ride-sharing. We talked about some photography experiences and found that she was really insightful, so I wanted to make friends with her... Don't get me wrong, just be friends with common hobbies."

I smiled and said, "What can I misunderstand?"

Dai Wenshan explained with an awkward expression: "Your girlfriend looks so amazing. I have been photographing for so many years, and I have taken any model, and I have never seen a woman with such beautiful and elegant appearance. I am afraid that men's approach to her will make you subconsciously feel that you have bad intentions. As a man, I can understand it very much. It is indeed a pressure to keep such a girlfriend...!"

"No, I really hope she can make some like-minded friends in Xuzhou... She just returned to Xuzhou with me, and she has no friends here. Sometimes I feel bad when I see her alone."

Dai Wenshan said with a clear expression: "It seems that you are back to Xuzhou with a story...!"

"I can't talk about the story, it's just a little bad experience..." I said, pulling out a cigarette from the cigarette box and handing it to him, lit one myself, and my thoughts floated back to the scenes that happened in Suzhou, and I felt a little sad...

Dai Wenshan took a puff of cigarettes and suggested, "I don't know if it's convenient for you tonight. Let's have a meal together. I'll treat you to a few more famous local studio owners and photographers to introduce them to you."

"It's not possible today. She went to Yangzhou to meet her friends last night. She will stay for about two or three days. When she comes back, I'll treat you to dinner. In the future, I'll ask you to bring the source of customers to me for consumption."

"What trouble is it? It's a mutually beneficial thing in itself..." Dai Wenshan said, looking at his watch, and then said, "I'll have some shooting tasks later. Let's talk about it first. Don't forget to give me a chance to treat you to dinner when it's convenient."

I nodded, and then sent Dai Wenshan and the two female customers outside the coffee. After less than ten minutes of their walk, another photographer from another photography store came to take the scene. So I was not idle this afternoon, so I sent me two WeChat messages and I ignored them.

It was not until the evening that I made a cup of hot tea, lit a cigarette, sat by the window, and opened the WeChat message sent by Mi Cai. She complained that I didn't care about her at all, because I had never called her since she left last night, and I didn't even send a message.

I thought about it for a long time, but I chose to send her a message. I apologized to her in the message and asked her when she would come back. This time she called back with one call. This urgency made me realize that she was in Yangzhou, but her mind was always on me, so I felt that I had time, so I called me immediately.

In addition, I can be sure that Mi Lan did not tell her the scene of finding Jian Wei with me in Suzhou, otherwise she would not have treated me with such an attitude. However, her ignorance made me fall into a tangle. I was struggling whether to tell her whether I went to Suzhou last night, and then lie, saying that I went to see Yan Yan... This way, it would be perfect, but I couldn't bear to tell her this lie, because it failed her love for me. Perhaps the best choice is to take the initiative to confess!
Chapter completed!