National Tide 1980.

A chance encounter on the street allowed Xiao Tao to unexpectedly witness another, even more arrogant side of Liu Mei.

But this time it wasn't directed at him; rather, Liu Mei resolutely rejected a wealthy Hong Kong businessman and even slapped him in public.

This seems to contradict Liu Mei's earlier statement to Sang Jing and Xiao Tao that she became a flight attendant in order to find men among the first-class passengers.

He started to find this woman a little hard to understand.

He couldn't say whether Liu Mei did this because she was truly virtuous or it was a deeper, more sophisticated disguise.

Is she trying to present herself as a noble princess so that she can get more from men?
Before he could even figure out the problem, just a few days later, the opportunity to run into Liu Mei on the street for the second time came like a boomerang, flying back at an even more unexpected angle.

However, this story begins on the evening of November 2, 1991, when Xiao Tao was forced into a breakup.

That day, he couldn't bear to leave Sang Jing, who knew nothing about her situation. He was so worried and couldn't put his mind at ease that he went to the telephone building to make an international call and dialed Sang Jing's phone number at her school in the United States.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered. It was a girl with a soft voice who first asked him in English who he was looking for.

Xiao Tao guessed that it must be Sang Jing's roommate. He remembered that Sang Jing had mentioned in her letter that a Malaysian Chinese lived with her.

"Hello, are you Ms. Qiu? I'm looking for Sang Jing, is she from your dorm?"

Xiao Tao guessed that the other person should understand Chinese, her voice trembled slightly, and her tone was full of expectation.

As expected, the other party responded to him in Mandarin, but the problem was that the other party's attitude seemed very impatient and the tone was perfunctory.

"You mean Mandy? She didn't come back last night. Are you crazy? Why are you calling so early and waking me up? Do you know it's not even nine in the morning yet, my head is about to explode..."

Unexpectedly being scolded, Xiao Tao immediately became irritated, but he still suppressed his negative emotions and apologized.

"Sorry, I didn't expect you to be asleep yet. But I'm looking for Sang Jing, not Mandy. Could you let Sang Jing answer the phone...?"

However, the other party's harshness was further highlighted.

"Oh my god, are you out of your mind? This is America, right? Everyone only uses English names. The person you're looking for is the Mandy I mentioned, okay..."

"Okay, okay, I got it."

Xiao Tao was completely disgusted with Sang Jing's roommate, disgusted by her terrible attitude and her foreign accent.

But the question is, who made him need someone's help?

Not to mention that he still has to rely on the other party to find someone for him, and given the current situation, Sang Jing's safety is what he cares about most.

"Then...where did Mandy go? When will she be back?"

"How would I know? Maybe she went to some party last night and drank too much, and is staying in someone else's dorm. I'm not her mother. We're just roommates. We have different classes, maybe she's already at school..."

"Could you leave a message for me?"

Xiao Tao suppressed his anger and tried his best to remain polite.

His unease grew stronger; he hadn't expected Sang Jing to have learned to drink alcohol.

"Alright, alright, who are you? What message do you want me to tell her..."

"I'm her boyfriend. If you tell her it's Xiao Tao, she'll know. Please tell her for me..."

The other party finally agreed, but just as Xiao Tao introduced himself and was about to leave another message, he was suddenly interrupted by the other party's scream, "What? You said... who are you?"

Sang Jing's roommate's reaction was quite astonishing, as if she had heard something unbelievable.

"I'm her boyfriend, my name is Xiao Tao..." Xiao Tao thought the other person hadn't heard him properly, so he repeated it.

Unexpectedly, what the other person said next was even more astonishing: "Oh, I remember now. You, aren't you Mandy's ex-boyfriend, the man who stayed in Beijing and was dumped by Mandy..."

Nothing could be more hurtful than these words. Xiao Tao not only felt bewildered, but also suddenly became furious.

"What? I'm your ex-boyfriend? How come I didn't know about this! What did she tell you? Who did you say got dumped?..."

He could no longer hide the anger in his voice, and the other party panicked.

"I don't know, she didn't say. I don't know anything, can you please stop bothering me? You should just ask her yourself. Call me again in six hours, she should be here by then..."

Miss Qiu's attitude changed drastically at this moment, and her tone became increasingly impatient.

After saying a few words, without waiting for Xiao Tao to say anything more, he slammed down the phone.

The busy tone rang in his ears, and Xiao Tao's hand holding the phone trembled slightly. The grievances, anger, longing, and unease that had been building up for so long finally erupted in his heart at this moment.

"Damn it! How did I become Sang Jing's past?"

His eyes were bloodshot, and he almost roared out his thoughts as he stared at the empty lobby.

"Sang Jing, Sang Jing! I poured my heart and soul into you, helped you with your tuition and sent you living expenses, and this is how you repay me? I'm not going to cling to you. If you wanted to break up, you should have told me properly. Do you even have a heart?!"

Xiao Tao couldn't say such things in public, so she had to swallow them and deal with them on her own.

After leaving the house, he squatted on the ground, holding his head in his hands, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably. The pain in his heart felt like being cut by a knife, so intense that he could hardly breathe.

The rest of that night was a difficult time for Xiao Tao.

After a long day, he just wanted to go to sleep when he got home.

The problem is, at home he tosses and turns, unable to fall asleep no matter what.

Because as long as he closes his eyes, he can see Sang Jing's face and will remember the time they spent together.

This is almost equivalent to him being repeatedly tortured by this love that ended without a trace.

He sat in his dark room, smoking and lost in thought, unsure of what to do. At that moment, he had two choices.

Either go to your own father's house and get a bottle of wine, or go outside to a bar or nightclub to drown your sorrows.

Just as he was hesitating, by sheer coincidence, God showed him mercy and generously gave him a third option—the best arrangement.

Suddenly, Xiao Tao's cell phone rang. When he answered, he found it was a driver from the company calling.

On the phone, the driver's voice carried a hint of urgency and guilt.

"Mr. Tao, I'm so sorry, my son has suddenly fallen ill with acute appendicitis and needs to be taken to the hospital immediately. If he really needs surgery, he'll need someone to take care of him. I'm on night shift this month, and I probably won't be able to drive for three to five days. Could you find someone to cover for me...?"

Xiao Tao took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions, and his tone regained its usual composure. He naturally understood what the other person meant, so he generously said, "It's alright, you should take the child to the hospital quickly. You don't need to worry about the night shift, and your driving allowance is waived for the next few days. Just focus on taking good care of the child, and bring the hospital bills and sick leave slip to the company later. Oh, by the way, tell me which hospital you're going to, and I'll come find you now. I need to drive the car away to see if I can find someone to cover your shift."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Tao sat up in bed, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and made up her mind in the blink of an eye.

He thought to himself, "It's better to go out and drive a truck today than to stay at home overthinking and suffering in silence."

At least it keeps me busy and allows me to temporarily forget about my worries.

Moreover, three to five days is neither a long nor a short time, and it is difficult to find someone to take over the shift.

It would be better to keep the car for myself; I can make money and relieve my boredom at the same time—a win-win situation.

So he quickly got up, changed into a simple coat, and left home.

By the time he arrived at the hospital and took over the car, it was almost 11 o'clock.

Moreover, the weather wasn't great either; it even started to drizzle.

In this era, the capital city was exceptionally quiet at night, and after 10 p.m., very few places were still open for business.

It's already difficult for taxis to find fares, and this awful weather is making it even harder.

Xiao Tao started his taxi and drove through the streets, looking at the empty, wet roads, where the streetlights cast a faint glow amidst the chaotic rain.

His heart sank even further, and his spirits plummeted to rock bottom.

Unexpectedly, perhaps because being unlucky in love can bring good fortune, he was surprisingly lucky in attracting customers.

His car had barely left the hospital and hadn't even reached the Second Ring Road when he saw someone waving in the rain and received a "sweet job."

It was a man guarding his luggage who was in a hurry to catch a flight at the airport, and he even promised to pay for the empty flight.

Xiao Tao roused himself, drove steadily, and delivered the guests to their destination as quickly as possible.

Then, I picked up two more foreign men and women at the terminal who were going to the Zhaolong Hotel.

These two jobs alone covered about 70 kilometers, earning me a total of 70 RMB and 30 foreign exchange certificates, which was quite a lucrative job.

So at this point, Xiao Tao's mood had recovered somewhat, and she was no longer as upset as she had been in the first half of the night. She also felt a little tired.

Especially after an autumn rain, the night wind carried a damp and cold atmosphere, causing the temperature in the capital to drop considerably.

Most taxi drivers couldn't stand the cold any longer and went home. Including Xiao Tao, there were only two taxis in front of Zhaolong Hotel.

Xiao Tao was too lazy to go anywhere else, so he parked his taxi under the eaves in front of the restaurant and decided to stay there and wait for customers.

He rolled up the car window halfway, pulled his hat down to cover most of his face, leaned back in the driver's seat, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

The fatigue of the day, the grievances of the breakup, and the anger that couldn't be swallowed were all enveloped by the chill of the night, gradually giving rise to a sense of weariness.

He intended to just doze off for a while, taking on jobs when they came up and waiting until dawn to hand them over when there weren't any, which was better than staying at home staring into an empty room and letting his mind wander.

Unexpectedly, just as drowsiness was about to engulf him, a series of urgent shouts drifted over on the cold wind.

"Master! Master! Shall we go?"

Wow, I found work so quickly?

Xiao Tao was greatly surprised. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked up. He saw two pretty girls standing in the rain at the entrance of the restaurant, waving at his car. They were covered in fine raindrops.

They were both shivering, wearing coats and without umbrellas. Their hair was disheveled and stuck to their cheeks, and their eyes showed a hurried weariness.

However, when the two girls hurriedly walked towards Xiao Tao's taxi, Xiao Tao's heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously closed the window and turned off the valet light, intending to refuse the fare.

For no other reason than that he recognized one of the two girls as Liu Mei, whom he had just bumped into on the street a few days ago.

He desperately wanted nothing to do with this woman.

The first few days after I saw her slapping the Hong Kong businessman, regardless of the truth behind it...

Anyway, this woman's spicy personality left a deep impression on him.
She's like a thorny nuisance; even a second of contact feels like an inconvenience, and you might get pricked if you're not careful.

Who would willingly invite trouble upon themselves?
She still wants him to drive for her?
Dream it.

However, he didn't want to take on any jobs, but the other party refused to give up easily. Faced with rejection, the two girls, including Liu Mei, pleaded with him urgently.

"Sir, we're in a hurry to pick someone up from the bar near the Workers' Stadium, please! It's not far, please make the trip, we really have an emergency! How about this, we'll give you an extra ten yuan as a thank you!"

"Sir, please help us! A friend of mine called us for help. She got drunk at a party and is being harassed at a bar. She's counting on us. If we're too late, things could get really bad. Please, have mercy!"

The car was dark, and Xiao Tao, hidden in the shadows, knew from Liu Mei's words that Liu Mei hadn't recognized her through the foggy glass.

However, the two girls' tearful voices shook Xiao Tao's rock-solid indifference.

He didn't want to take the job, but he wasn't a heartless person. What if what they said was true? If he ignored it and a girl really suffered, his conscience wouldn't allow it.

He looked up again and saw that the rain was still falling outside the windshield. Although it wasn't heavy, the cold wind carried a damp and chilly feeling, and the gusts felt like tiny knives.

Looking at them, neither of them was dressed very warmly. Although their coats were large, they couldn't hide their shivering, and their breath was damp with sweat.

Liu Mei, in particular, seemed to be especially afraid of the cold. She was so cold that she hugged her arms and stood in the rain, stamping her feet anxiously.

Even her lips had turned a bit purple.

In this way, Xiao Tao's stubbornness and rejection in her heart ultimately could not overcome the kindness in her bones.

He has never been able to stand seeing anyone bully the weak since he was a child, let alone now that two helpless girls in the rain at night are asking him for help.

"Tsk." Xiao Tao clicked her tongue softly, suppressing her reluctance, and slightly lowered the car window to reveal a crack.

Then, without even allowing the two girls to peek into the car, he urged them on in a cold tone.

"Then get in the car, hurry up."

The two girls, as if rescued, were moved to tears and thanked her profusely. They hurriedly and laboriously opened the car door and got in.

In an instant, the faint fragrance emanating from the two individuals, mingled with the dampness of the rain, wafted over. (End of Chapter)