After playing for about an hour, Pei Shiyu started wanting to take Xiao Long home. Perhaps because it had been too long since he'd been out, Xiao Long hid directly inside a curve in the slide, and wouldn't come out no matter how she called.

I took off my shoes and went inside, loudly saying at the entrance, "You don't need to hide inside. Can you play for another half hour?"

As soon as he heard it was me, he immediately slid down to my feet, but his eyes were looking at Pei Shiyu outside: "Really?"

"Yes, I keep my word! When I call you later, you have to come out yourself."

"Okay."

There were many children, all about the same age, and the sounds were very noisy. This age group should be carefree.

When I went out and put on my shoes, I found that Pei Shiyu was no longer beside me. The phone in my pocket also started ringing. I took it out and saw that there were already several missed calls, all from Wang Rui.

I'd only met her twice, but she felt like an old friend to me, due to her cheerful personality. It might also be partly because she didn't quite understand my bottom line. If she knew about my life experiences, I don't know if she would still be so enthusiastic.

By the time I answered, the ringing had stopped, so I proactively called back. As soon as she answered, there was an explosion of noise inside. I asked loudly, "Did you go to a bar again?"

"Yes, I was calling to ask if you wanted to come?"

"I'm at the mall right now, I can't get away."

"There are a lot of beauties today. The woman you're with doesn't suit you. Come quickly and find your prey," Wang Rui shouted on the other end of the phone.

That was too direct. Fortunately, Pei Shiyu wasn't here. Even though we weren't even ordinary friends, anyone who heard that would have ideas.

"I'm not going. You guys have fun. I'll catch up with you another day."

"Spoilsport."

It was too noisy, so I hung up the phone without replying.

I saw Pei Shiyu walking over from the other side. I looked at the mall sign, she must have just come back from the restroom. She was holding a crumpled ball of paper in her hand and threw it gracefully into the trash can as she passed by.

I sat on a resting chair, staring at my shoes. Because of the rain, the leather had become a little soft after being wet. I reached out and pressed the toe. I had bought these expensive leather shoes and suit to avoid embarrassing CEO Li when I was following him around, including the black socks, it was all a complete set.

"Go get Xiao Long," Pei Shiyu's voice came from above.

"I already told him he could play for another half hour."

"Sit down." I patted the seat next to me and said.

She didn't sit down, just stood there. Was it because she thought the seat was too close, or because she didn't want to follow someone else's instructions? There was no way to know.

I stared at the time on my phone. When it was two minutes away from half an hour, I got up and went inside again. Xiao Long was standing at the top, playing with a sweaty forehead. I waved to him, and he immediately asked playfully, "Can I play for a little longer?"

I didn't say anything, just shook my hand to indicate no. I saw his small body quickly crawl into the opening and slide down the curve again. He had already taken off the coat he was wearing and put it in a corner, but he didn't forget to put it back on, zip it up. Although the movements were a little slow, he was dressed neatly.

As soon as he went out, he ingratiated himself with Pei Shiyu, saying, "I kept my word."

I was amused again standing behind him, but Pei Shiyu, expressionless, was already a little impatient. She took his hand and walked out. The elegant and composed demeanor from earlier was gone.

I could have said goodbye to them, but the car was still parked in their neighborhood, so I had to get a ride in her car.

This time I sat in the front. After driving for a short distance, seeing that she didn't intend to say anything, I asked her directly, "Is your personality always like this?"

She seemed to be thinking about something else. My sudden voice surprised her. She looked ahead and asked, "What's wrong with me?"

"Hot and cold, making you hard to figure out."

"Why do you need to figure me out?"

"I know I'm not worthy, but can't you change the way you talk?"

"There's no need for that. Take it or leave it."

I didn't know where the sudden outburst of emotions came from. I thought about it, it didn't seem like I had offended her, except maybe asking her to sit down on the chair earlier. I was a little confused, so I stopped talking.

My car was parked at the entrance of the neighborhood. Before getting out of the car, I glanced at her. She didn't seem to have any expression. I only said "goodbye" to Xiao Long, stared at the back of Pei Shiyu's car for a while, and then walked towards my own car.

Having held it in for a whole day, the first thing I did after getting in the car was to light a cigarette, taking a long drag like a drug addict, feeling lightheaded. Before I could exhale, I saw Pei Shiyu standing by the car. I was almost choked to death, and immediately felt embarrassed and angry. Not only was I caught in an unsightly state, but more importantly, I was really startled.

I clearly watched her drive into the neighborhood, this sudden return caught me off guard. I was already very dissatisfied with her attitude earlier, so the words I spoke were a little harsh: "Did I scare you?"

"Why would I be nervous if I hadn't done anything wrong?"

She suddenly opened the door and threw something from the handle onto the passenger seat. I looked and saw it was my phone.

.......

After spending several days doing nothing, I got up early this morning. The first thing I did was open the curtains. After several days of rain, it finally stopped. The weather was exceptionally good. The sun had just begun to show its brilliance, quietly poking half its head out from the due east, making it easy to tell that it would be a sunny day.

Lao Wang called me last night, saying that today was his birthday and I had to go to his house for lunch. Since it was his birthday, I couldn't go empty-handed.

The reason I got up early was not only because I was hungry, but also because I had to prepare a gift for Lao Wang. These tedious things really weren't suitable for me, because I didn't have that kind of meticulous mind.

While brushing my teeth, I suddenly remembered that Xiao Wu had called me the day he left, but he hadn't contacted me since. It had already been four or five days. It seemed that he had also been bought off by Chen Biao. As for A Cheng and Hei, there was no need to doubt them, they had originally jumped ship from his side.

I habitually looked at the clock on the wall. It was exactly seven o'clock. This was the first time I had gotten up so early since the beginning of spring. If I hadn't gone to bed early last night, I wouldn't have woken up so early today.

The vehicles coming in and out of the neighborhood downstairs were already very busy. The parking space where I parked my car was already empty on both sides. The empty surroundings gave me the convenience of making a U-turn. As soon as I started the car, I saw the security guard walking to the window. I immediately lowered the window and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You haven't paid your parking fee for this year yet. I've been keeping an eye on you for several days."

"How much is it?"

The security guard took out an invoice and handed it to me, for the annual fee. I felt around in my pocket, and was about to say that I didn't have that much cash when he took out the Alipay QR code and put it directly on my steering wheel.

"Just scan it. It's very convenient now."

While scanning, I joked, "You came prepared. You were ambushing me here early in the morning, and you even brought a weapon."

"There's no other way. There are so many owners, and we often come up empty-handed when we go door-to-door."