I'll wait for you amidst the romance of nature.

After I asked my question, Ye Zhi stopped eating. She looked at me but didn't say anything. I realized that she was probably a woman who cared a lot about her privacy, so I quickly said, "This seems a bit of an invasion of your privacy... If you don't want to talk about it, just pretend I didn't ask."

Unexpectedly, Ye Zhi said something that made me want to vomit blood the next second: "Sisi introduced her cousin to me, does that count?"

"This...this definitely doesn't count. I'm talking about the kind that tears your heart apart."

"Maybe it will be heartbreaking later."

"Are you two together?"

"No, but we met once when I went back to Shanghai last time... We're still in touch."

I nodded and then fell silent. I felt that I didn't even have the right to know about this, so how could I be so tactless as to keep asking? Actually, from a realistic point of view, this is a pretty good thing, after all, they are a handsome man and a beautiful woman.

Considering Yang Sisi's appearance, her cousin is likely not only talented but also handsome, since he and Yang Sisi share the same genes, so his looks are definitely not bad. Otherwise, given Ye Zhi's pickiness, she wouldn't have maintained contact with him after they met.

So, upon analysis, they are not only a perfect match in terms of talent and appearance, but also in terms of both. Isn't that exactly what Yang Sisi meant by a match made in heaven?

……

Two bowls of rice noodles and two fried eggs cost a total of 26 yuan. When we got up to leave, it was just past 9 o'clock, and we all have the habit of going to bed after 1 o'clock, so we still had enough time to circle Erhai Lake.

On the way back to the hospital to get our car with Ye Zhi, Yang Sisi called me again. I avoided Ye Zhi, then answered the phone. She said to me in a particularly rude tone, "Michael, are you an idiot? We're all so busy, and you have the nerve to go out and pick up girls all by yourself!"

"Who's picking up girls?"

"You...it was mentioned in the group chat that you asked Ye Zhi out to dinner."

"Having a meal together counts as picking up girls? ...Then how many times have you been picked up by other girls?!"

Yang Sisi insisted, "You're just there to pick up girls."

I argued logically: "Didn't you introduce Ye Zhi to your cousin? Even when it comes to picking up girls, there's a proper order to things. It's obvious that your cousin has more designs on her now."

"Then you're poaching my partner."

"Mom is more... are you ever going to stop?"

Yang Sisi laughed and said, "Michael, are you feeling really bad because of this sense of crisis? ... What do you have to compare with my cousin? You're not even on the same level... Haha, how pitiful, you're already out of the game without even having a chance to compete."

"No matter how much you talk, it won't make a difference. I'm very calm right now."

"Then why don't you hurry up and come back to die?!"

"Can you tell me what you're busy with?"

Yang Sisi replied firmly, "Coach Ma is singing for our customers at the bar, Sister Tao is mixing drinks, Tie Nan is chatting with the customers, and I'm serving tea and drinks... Do you think we're busy or not?"

"You've already taken care of everything, why would I go back?"

Yang Sisi paused for a moment, then said, "You just stand by the table and grin at the guests... Anyway, everyone likes to tease idiots, so consider this how you entertain the guests."

Are you a goofball?

"Hmph... If this hadn't been brought up, I wouldn't have realized that you're the most useless person in our inn... How about I go back and ask my parents for some money, and you give me your shares?"

"I won't allow it. Didn't you see me busy during the day?"

"We haven't been idle during the day either... Stop talking nonsense and hurry back to the inn... We'll have a meeting later to summarize today's work."

"Holy crap...am I the boss, or are you the boss?"

While I was cursing, Yang Sisi had already hung up the phone, leaving me in a very awkward position. But if we really needed to have a meeting and make a summary, I really couldn't be absent. After all, this is a legitimate business, and I know very well what's more important.

……

Back with Ye Zhi, I said to her, "I can't accompany you around Erhai Lake today. A few of them said they need to have a meeting and insist that I go back."

"it is good."

I looked at Ye Zhi, who was as cold and indifferent as ever, so I couldn't tell whether my broken promise had affected her mood. But she was definitely not the kind of woman who would burden someone else; she seemed to prefer to make things easier rather than force them.

In the hospital parking lot, Ye Zhi returned my clothes to me and was about to leave when I quickly called out to her, "Wait, my box of fireworks is still in your car. Could you open the trunk for me?"

Ye Zhi didn't say anything, but she opened the trunk.

After I took my things out, I closed the trunk, and she turned and walked back into the hospital. Her figure looked very lonely under the cold lights, which made me feel that something was missing from the night.

So I caught up with her and called out to her again.

"What's up? Is there something else?"

I looked at the box of fireworks and said, "Look, we don't need these anymore, and they're too much trouble to carry around. Why don't we find a place to set them off?"

"Weren't you going back to a meeting?"

"I didn't say it was urgent. We all live together. As long as they're still awake when I get back, the meeting can be held."

Ye Zhi hesitated for a moment.

I urged again, "Let's go, it's really beautiful, there's a 'Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl' show, and a 'Flying Fairy from Heaven'..."

"A celestial being descending from the heavens?"

"It's a celestial maiden scattering flowers... a celestial maiden scattering flowers."

……

On the shore of Erhai Lake, in an open space, I lit fireworks...

In the flickering light of the fireworks, we stood silently in the same position. I smoked, and she kept her hands in her pockets, not moving... After the box of fireworks was finished, we went our separate ways. I went to Longkan Wharf, of course, and she went back to the hospital...

Two different paths, two different lives... but in the brief brilliance of fireworks, we were together.

……

Back at the inn, it was nothing like Yang Sisi had described. There was neither Coach Ma singing in the bar, nor Tie Nan chatting with the guests; only Taozi was wiping down the bartending equipment.

I asked Peach, "Why are you alone at the bar? Where are Tie Nan and Coach Ma?"

"They went to the ancient city. The bar can't just have Coach Ma singing alone, so they're going to find another singer."

"Where's Yang Sisi? Where the hell is she...? Wasn't there supposed to be a meeting to summarize the day? And Bai Lu, why isn't she here?"

Peach looked at me, puzzled, and then replied, "Sisi went back to her room to take a shower... Bailu, I haven't heard that you're coming over."

"So, did the meeting actually take place?"

"Nobody mentioned it."

I was a little annoyed, so I sat down on a chair at the bar and lit a cigarette. After smoking half of it, to Peach's surprise, I rushed out of the bar, stood in front of Yang Sisi's door, and started banging on it…

There was no sound of voices inside, only the rushing water. It was unclear whether she genuinely hadn't heard anything or was simply hiding inside, too afraid to make a sound.

Honestly, I find this about her really annoying, but sometimes I just can't do anything about it...

As I calmed down, I realized I had overreacted, because her prank hadn't cost me anything. I could even go back to the inn earlier and get some rest; I've been quite tired lately.

……

I went back to the bar, and Peach asked me, "Why did you rush to Sisi's room like that?"

"It's nothing... just make me a mojito."

Perhaps because I always bicker with Yang Sisi, Taozi, who was used to it, didn't ask any further questions. A moment later, she helped me mix the drink.

I sat down by the window with my wine glass in hand. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I could see Erhai Lake and the shimmering lights on the opposite shore... I felt good about myself and didn't care about being tricked by Yang Sisi earlier.

I took advantage of this free time to call Lao Mi and share the good situation of the inn with him, so that he and my mother could feel at ease at home.

Before I dialed, I noticed that the woman I hadn't contacted in a long time, who was using Lu Jia's number, had messaged me again: "Idiot, can you chat with me for a bit?...

This message was sent around 9 o'clock. I was with Ye Zhi at the time, so I didn't pay much attention to whether there was a message or not.

At 10:30, she posted another message: "I miscarried... I'm heartbroken!"

It was already eleven o'clock, and I felt a little regretful because I hadn't been able to comfort this heartbroken woman immediately.