The Day of Payday

As soon as he got up, the woman named Lili walked down from above. The air was filled with the strong smell of perfume.

"Are you done?" I asked as I tucked in my clothes.

Lili glanced at me and said unhappily, "If it weren't for you, I would have spent the night here."

"Robben still has a few songs to perform in the bar tomorrow, so don't torment him."

"I don't understand why two men are living together!" Lili said to me unwillingly.

"I'll stay here for a while. I'll move away when I find a house." I explained to Lili, feeling a little apologetic.

Lili nodded and said, "I forgot my wallet. Give me 50 yuan for a taxi."

I'm a bit surprised, "Why didn't you ask Robben for it?"

"I forgot just now and can't be bothered to go up again. Stop dawdling and hurry up." Lili made another gesture to me asking for money.

I took out my wallet from my pocket and rummaged through it for a long time but couldn't find a 50-yuan note. Lili took out a 100-yuan note and waved it in front of me.

After Lili left, I felt that staying at Robben's place wasn't a long-term solution. After all, it wasn't very convenient and it was far from the company. I still had to continue looking for a house.

...

After returning to the house, I placed the cherries that Mi Cai had brought on the table and said to Robben, "It's a gift from a friend. Try it."

"Yo, it's imported from Chile. Which friend of yours is so extravagant?" Robben picked one up and threw it into his mouth.

I didn't answer for a long time. I realized that calling Mi Cai a friend was a little wishful thinking. In reality, we were at most a little stronger than strangers. At the very least, Mi Cai hated me a lot of the time.

"Just a friend." I responded vaguely with a sentence.

This wasn't a big deal, to begin with, so Robben didn't ask further. He took out his guitar from the guitar case and strummed the strings. With an intoxicated expression, he asked me, "Didn't you use this awesome guitar to pay off your debt? Why is it back in your hands?"

"She returned it to me." I answered truthfully.

"Who is she?"

"Should I f*cking write a book to answer you?"

Robben smiled at me with a knowing look, "Calm down…" Finally, he stopped asking me questions. He strummed the guitar strings and the song Cinderella floated out of the ten-square-meter attic in the autumn wind.

...

The night was as quiet as a pool of stagnant water. Robben and I lay on the bed, each holding a cigarette in their hands. We were equally at a loss and equally silent.

A gust of wind suddenly blew in from outside the window, instantly dispersing the smoke in the room.

I fought with the wild wind and took a deep breath of smoke. The smell of tobacco filled the room again.

I quickly finished my cigarette and put it out in the ashtray. I finally asked Robben," Ben, what are you thinking about?"

"I miss having a girl." Robben said as he took a deep puff.

"Didn't you just sleep with Lily?" I teased.

Robben smiled and put out the cigarette in his hand. He took another cigarette from the box and lit it up. After a while, he said, "I wonder how she's doing now."

"Contact her if you miss her. Just treat her as an old friend and show her some concern."

"You broke up with Jian Wei for more than two years. Do you dare to contact her?" Robben asked.

"Why are you dragging me and Jian Wei?"

"It's the same principle. What can we change if we contact them?"

"I'm just feeling wronged for you. You clearly still love her, and you were forced by her parents, but in the end, you left a bad reputation in her heart for betrayal."

"As long as she lives a happy life, my grievances are nothing."

I lit another cigarette, took two puffs, and fell silent. I didn't urge Robben to contact that Beijing girl.

"Go to sleep. It's almost dawn." Robben said to me as he put out his half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray.

I looked out of the window as if I had seen through all the darkness before dawn. Living was really an unsolvable problem. Right and wrong, true and false…

...

The next day, I spent another busy day. I had never been so busy in my first two years in the company. It was mainly because Fang Yuan's work had temporarily fallen on my shoulders. However, this was not a bad thing. If I was lucky enough to become the leader of the planning and copywriting team, then this was a process of adapting in advance.

Other than being busy for the whole day, I had other gains. Today, I finally got my salary, so when I was about to get off work, I planned how to spend this month's salary.

After thinking for a long time, I decided to use this money to treat Mi Cai to dinner. I still remember how angry she was when I tricked her into Fang Yuan's wedding in the name of a meal. There was no doubt that I did this without consideration. Therefore, I had to invite her with the most sincere attitude tonight. Firstly, I wanted to apologize. Secondly, I wanted to thank her for cooperating with me in the bar the night before yesterday. It made me feel ashamed in front of Jian Wei.

I found Mi Cai's phone and dialed it. After a while, she picked up. Her tone was still very calm as she said, "Hello, what's the matter?"

"I want to treat you to dinner tonight. Do you want to do me the honor?" I said sincerely.

"Which friend of yours is getting married this time?"

I was a little speechless. She was always so calm that I almost choked to death. After a pause, she said, "This time, it's really not a friend's wedding. I just want to treat you to a meal."

"Oh, forget it for today."

I was a little disappointed, but I still insisted, "Come on, I'm getting paid today, so you're the first one I thought of. Don't reject my kindness."

"My car has been sent for maintenance. It's not convenient to take a taxi here." Mi Cai finally gave me a reason not to come this time.

"That's easy. I have a car. I'll pick you up, where are you."

"Do you have a car?" Mi Cai was puzzled.

"Yes, it's about the same as your car. Just give me some face and I'll take you to a very interesting restaurant tonight. I guarantee that you'll like it."

Mi Cai thought for a moment and finally replied," Yes, I'm at Liu An Scenic Garden. Come over."

"You live in Liu An Scenic Garden!" I sighed. Because this was a very high-end residential area in the local area, Mi Cai probably went to Liu An Scenic Garden to stay because the bathroom was sprayed with pesticide yesterday.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Mi Cai hung up the phone after saying that.

I smiled and didn't care about Mi Cai's attitude. I had already expected her to have another house in Suzhou.

I put my phone in my pocket and said to Zhao Li, who was still busy next door, "Zhao Li, lend me your Alto Little Prince for tonight."

Zhao Li raised his head and looked at me warily, "What are you doing?"

"I'll fill you up with gas after I'm done." I said impatiently.

"You said it. Don't fool me." Zhao Li said as he took out the car keys from the drawer and handed them to me.

..

The sky was getting dark. I drove Zhao Li's Alto to the "Liu An Scenic Garden" community. This time, I really didn't lie to Mi Cai. The car I was driving now was indeed similar to her car. Her car was called Audi, and mine was called Alto. They were also eye-catching purple-red.