Wandering in the vast darkness

Chapter 256 Goodbye (Final Chapter)

Around 8 p.m., Qiqi called Yu Wenhao to ask where he was.

Yu asked if he was at work.

Qiqi asked in surprise, "You didn't drive today, brother?"

Yu Wenhao said, "The company has a tight production schedule and is working overtime, so I need to stay here and keep an eye on things."

"Oh, I see. So, when do you get off work?" Qiqi asked.

Yu asked, "Ten o'clock."

"Brother, could you pick me up after get off work? I'd like to sit with you for a while," Qiqi said.

Yu said hello.

"Then can you come to Tenglong Building? I didn't go to work today."

Yu said hello.

At 10:30, Yu Wenhao drove to Tenglong Building. Zhan Wei hadn't started work yet, and Yu Wenhao didn't see him at the entrance. Yu Wenhao called Qiqi to tell her that he had arrived. After a while, Qiqi came down from the door, skipped down the steps, opened the car door, and got in.

"Where's Zhan Wei?" Yu asked.

"I don't know," Qiqi said.

"Oh ho!" Yu Wen chuckled. "You two, aren't you always inseparable? What's wrong with you today? You don't even know where he went?"

Qiqi remained silent.

Yu Wenhao thought that Zhan Wei would be going to work soon, so she stopped looking for him and asked Qiqi, "Where are you going?"

Kiki said, "Let's go to Joe Street's late-night diner for oysters. I didn't eat much for dinner. Bro, you're treating me today."

Yu nodded in greeting.

Throughout the journey, Qiqi gazed out the window, humming a song, seemingly enjoying herself. Yu Wenhao didn't disturb her, but sensed that her humming wasn't out of happiness, but rather as if she was concealing something, avoiding something, afraid that Yu Wenhao would ask her something.

They arrived at Qiao's Late Night Diner, but not the one they'd been to with Lao Shi and Qi Qi before—the one behind the Wyndham Hotel on Fengqi Road. This one was in the Jinli Center on Shengli River Food Street. The two found a table by the window and sat down.

"Tell me, why is today so special? Why do you want me to come out and sit with you?" Yu asked, looking at Qiqi after she had ordered.

Kiki pouted, "Can't I?"

Qiqi hesitated for a moment, then looked at Yu Wenhao and said, "Brother, I'm leaving Hangzhou tomorrow."

Yu Wen was taken aback and asked, "What do you mean? Is something wrong at home that requires you to go back?"

Qiqi shook her head: "No, it's that I'm leaving Hangzhou and I'm not planning to come back."

"Why?" Yu Wenhao was even more puzzled.

A strand of hair fell down, and Qiqi gathered it back up. Then she smiled at Yu Wenhao and said, "That pen dip is so annoying."

Yu asked, "What's wrong with him?"

"He confessed his feelings to me, saying he liked me and wanted to be with me," Qiqi said.

Yu chuckled and said, "That's a good thing!"

"What a load of crap!" Kiki exclaimed, annoyed.

Yu Wenhao said, "I think Zhan Wei is a really good guy. It would be great if he wanted to be my brother-in-law."

Qiqi rolled her eyes at him: "Just because someone's a good person doesn't mean we have to sleep together. I think you're a good person too, so does that mean we should sleep together too?"

"Get lost, I'm your brother," Yu Wenhao snapped. "What, you don't like him?"

"It's not that I don't like him, it's that we have no future," Qiqi said. "We can be friends, but we can't be together."

Why?

Kiki lowered her head and whispered, "I'm more clear-headed than you men. When you see a woman as beautiful as me, of course you'll fall in love with every single one you see..."

Yu Wenhao scolded, "Don't talk nonsense."

"Okay, okay, you don't count, my brother doesn't, alright? But most guys are like that, they get excited when they see a woman as pretty as me, you admit that, right? Otherwise, all the nightclubs in Hangzhou could close down, and we'd all starve," Qiqi said. "This guy confessed to me in the heat of the moment, I can understand, but what happens after the passion fades?"

Qiqi looked up at Yu Wenhao and asked, "What do you think will happen after the passion ends?"

Yu Wenhao looked at Qiqi, frowned slightly, and asked, "Is this why you're running away?"

"It's not about running away, it's about making a clean break, cutting the Gordian knot. Otherwise, both he and I will suffer a lot in the future." Qiqi shook her head. "That's enough, I don't want to do that anymore."

Yu asked, "Are you feeling inferior because of your profession?"

"That's a fact, there's no way to change it, and it has nothing to do with whether you feel inferior or not," Qiqi said. "Brother, tell me the truth, if Sister Cao Fang had worked in a nightclub before, and was touched by men like I am every day, do you think you wouldn't mind? Tell me the truth."

Yu Wenhao was stumped by the question. To be honest, it was impossible for him not to mind, but he couldn't bear to tell Qiqi.

"Do you know what he said yesterday when he wanted to be with me?"

"What did you say?"

"He told me not to go to work anymore, haha, what else could it be but minding him?" Qiqi said with a wry smile. "Let me tell you, brother, I know very well what will happen if I'm with him. In the beginning, it might be good. When we're together, I can help him relieve his boredom. But as time goes on, he'll start thinking this way and that way, and he'll keep comparing me to his Huihui."

"The longer it goes on, the less valuable I will be in his heart, and the more he will feel that I am inferior to his Huihui in every way. At that point, damn it, when I'm with him, I will either feel like a piece of trash that can be discarded, or I will feel like a third party, as if I am interfering in their relationship. I don't want to be that third party."

"Really, brother, I know very well that this is bound to happen after a while when the pen tip is dipped. Otherwise, it wouldn't be human. I have no hope at all."

Qiqi's words made Yu Wenhao feel that something was wrong, but he also felt that he had nothing to say in rebuttal.

Qiqi continued, "Brother, I actually have a very clear vision of my future, even clearer than other people."

Yu asked curiously, "What will you do in the future?"

"I'll definitely do this in the future: I don't want to work the night shift every day anymore. I'll find a shop in some city, open a nail salon, and try to make a living. Then I'll flirt with the small business owners of the bakery or bubble tea shop next door who don't know about my past and still think I'm an innocent girl, and we'll exchange cheesy pick-up lines."

As Qiqi spoke, Yu Wenhao wanted to laugh, but felt unable to, and felt a little lonely.

"So where are you planning to go next?" Yu asked.

"Anywhere is fine, bro. Don't worry about me. What city doesn't have a KTV? As long as there's a KTV, I can start work tonight as soon as I arrive. No problem at all."

"Do you really have to leave?"

"We must go," Qiqi said firmly. "You know that guy who uses the pen tip, he's so stubborn. I don't want things to get too complicated. If they get too complicated, I'm afraid I'll soften my heart."

Yu Wenhao suddenly felt that she couldn't say anything, but the feeling of heartache was very real.

The two were silent for a while. Qiqi picked up her phone and tapped a few times. Yu Wenhao's phone dinged. He picked it up and was shocked to see that Qiqi had transferred 50,000 yuan to him via WeChat.

"What are you doing?" Yu asked.

Qiqi said, "Brother, this isn't for you, it's for Qianqian. I know you don't like accepting other people's help, and I know this little bit of money isn't much. Qianqian is going to have a second transplant, and if we don't have enough money, San San, Jiang Yihe, and Zhanbitou will cover it all. I know that."

"But this is from my heart, brother, please accept it, okay? I want to do something for Qianqian, please promise me."

Qiqi spoke very sincerely, and Yu Wenhao felt he couldn't refuse the money, so he clicked "accept" and said to Qiqi:

"Thank you! I also thank you on behalf of Cao Fang and Qianqian! Qiqi, please let me know where you are, okay?"

Qiqi hesitated, then Yu Wenhao said, "Once Qianqian recovers, we'll take her to see you."

Qiqi nodded, then looked at Yu Wen and chuckled, "Maybe after a while, once I've calmed down from dipping my brush in the ink and everyone can have some fun again, I'll come back. To be honest, I really like it here, and I don't want to leave."

I said hello and I hope you can come back.

The two sat there until almost one o'clock. Qiqi called the waiter over and ordered a plate of fried noodles, saying she wanted to take it back to Zhan Wei. Yu Wen was relieved to hear this, thinking that perhaps Qiqi was just acting on a whim. If she went back and spent some time with Zhan Wei, she would give up the idea of ​​leaving. It was clear that she liked Zhan Wei too.

When it came time to pay the bill, Qiqi didn't stand on ceremony and let Yu Wenhao pay. This was the first time Yu Wenhao had ever paid the bill in all the time they'd been together. Before, Qiqi would always yell and demand that Yu Wenhao treat her to something, but if Yu Wenhao tried to pay, she would definitely yell at him.

Yu Wenhao drove to Tenglong Building. Zhan Wei was standing on the steps. When he saw Yu Wenhao's car, he took two steps down the steps and then stopped. Qiqi got out of the car, and Yu Wenhao also got out of the car.

Qiqi said, "Brother, can you hug me?"

Yu Wenhao agreed and hugged Qiqi. Qiqi was holding a vest bag and couldn't hug Yu Wenhao, so she spread her arms. When Yu Wenhao hugged her, she giggled, then her nose tingled, and she immediately turned away, saying:

"Bye-bye, bro!"

Zhan Wei remained standing on the steps, watching them. Yu Wenhao didn't follow Qiqi over, and his nose also felt sore. He waved to Zhan Wei from afar, got into his car, and drove away.

Yu Wenhao tried his best to control himself and not look in the rearview mirror to see how Qiqi and Zhan Wei were doing.

The next morning, Yu Wenhao had just driven out of the residential area when he couldn't help but call Qiqi, but her phone was switched off. He then tried calling her every twenty or thirty minutes, but Qiqi's phone remained switched off.

Around 10 o'clock, Zhan Wei arrived at Yu Wenhao's office, looking ashen-faced and utterly dejected. Yu Wenhao had seen this same expression on Zhan Wei's face the night they first met.

Seeing Zhan Wei like this, Yu Wenhao knew without asking that Qiqi must have already left.

Zhan Wei sat on the sofa for over an hour, his brows furrowed and eyes fixed, barely uttering a word. Yu Wenhao didn't know what to say to him either, but as Zhan Wei stood up to leave, Yu Wenhao saw him out and said to him:

"Don't worry, Qiqi will probably come back in a while. That's just the kind of person she is, sometimes she's not, sometimes she is."

Zhan Wei didn't say anything, but nodded silently.

Three days later, around 9 PM, Yu Wenhao was still in the workshop when he received a text message from an unknown number:

"Brother, I'm fine, I just miss you!"

The printing presses in the workshop were very noisy. Yu Wenhao hurried back to the office and dialed the number on his mobile phone. The phone rang a few times before being answered. Loud voices, music, and shouting singing came from the phone, which sounded like a private room in a KTV.

A man shouted, "Hey, hey, who are you?"

Yu Wenhao also exclaimed, "Who just sent me that text message using this phone?"

"Oh, that's the beautiful girl next to me."

"Okay," Yu said, "Could you please let her answer the phone?"

There was a moment of silence on the phone, then it was the same man again: "Dude, she said she's not answering."

Yu asked, "Then can you tell me which city and which KTV this is in?"

"We are at..."

Before the other person could finish speaking, the phone was snatched away, and then a "beep beep" sound came from the phone.

Yu Wenhao dialed again, but it was always busy. Yu Wenhao sighed, knowing that Qiqi had blocked him.

Thank you Tianchige and Xinghaishuchong1977 for the rewards! Thank you Pingluocunlichangle, Liu Guangzhen, and Shuyou20230412083142226 for the monthly tickets! Thank you for all the recommendation tickets and reads! Wishing everyone good health!