As soon as the BMW woman walked into the hospital room, she saw her daughter lying in bed with tubes inserted and a pale complexion. The girl urgently asked her, 'Mom, where's Daddy? Why didn't Daddy come in?'
The BMW woman froze, stunned. She wanted to tell her daughter that the man was a shameless con artist and not her father at all. But seeing her daughter's pale face and the tubes in her mouth and hands, she couldn't bear to tell her the truth.
'He… he…'
'Where did Daddy go? Mom, I want Daddy, I want Daddy…' The little girl saw her mother hesitate and suddenly burst into tears, tears streaming down her face drop by drop.
'Daddy didn't leave, he didn't leave. Daddy… Daddy went to buy something for you. Didn't you say you wanted that big Barbie doll? Daddy went to get it, and he'll bring it to you once he has it,' the BMW woman hurriedly said, feeling a pang of guilt and heartbreak after speaking. Once again, she had deceived her daughter, who was enduring such suffering at an age when she should not have to face it.
'Really? Did Daddy really go to get me a gift?' The little girl became excited immediately.
'Re…really. Once Daddy finds the doll and buys it, he will come to see you right away. You just rest quietly, okay?'
'Okay. Annie will be a good girl and wait for Daddy to come back.' The little girl smiled and lay quietly in bed, imagining the scene of her father bringing her a gift.
Seeing her daughter like that, the BMW woman couldn't hold back her emotions. She turned away, quickly leaving the room, went to the stairwell, and hid there, crying her heart out once again.Just as she was crying loudly, her phone chimed with a message. She wiped away her tears, took out her phone and looked, seeing both the message Wang Wenbin sent her and a photo of his ID. She fell into deep thought. Wang Wenbin walked step by step along the highway, then took out his phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Binzi, what's up?" a man's voice came through the phone. "If I remember correctly, isn't today the weekend?" Wang Wenbin asked. "What's so fresh about that? Just take out your phone and check what day it is. Just say it, what's up?" "Your wife is home today, right?" Wang Wenbin continued. "Are you trying to tell me that you're planning to come over for lunch again today?" the man asked. "Damn you, can you speak properly? What do you mean 'come over for lunch'? If I came to your place to eat, is that considered freeloading? Let me tell you, you know my personality. If I don't like someone, even if you carried me in a lavish sedan chair, I wouldn't go. Got it?" "Alright, alright, I got it. You're coming to my place to eat to save our faces. Okay. Even if you hadn't called, I was about to call you. Ziqi prepared your favorite braised fish and was about to ask me to call you over for lunch. Where are you? Just come straight over." "See, see, Ziqi is really great, unlike you, so heartless. And to think I've treated you as a friend for so many years," Wang Wenbin laughed heartily, then added, "But suddenly, I feel like not going anymore." "Are you insane… You just said you'd come for lunch, and now you say you won't?" the man on the phone said angrily.
"If I call over myself, that's me calling, but if you actively invite me to eat, I definitely won't go. There's an old saying: 'Unsolicited attentions are either deceitful or greedy.' You two are always scared of me showing up to freeload food and drink. And today, suddenly being so proactive in inviting me, needless to say, there must be something wrong. Bro, I'm not falling for it, I won't go! I'll go home and eat instant noodles myself." Wang Wenbin sat on a stone bench by the roadside, lit a cigarette, and said this. "Hey hey hey, Binzi, don't you care about a little face? What do you mean we're always scared you'll come over to freeload? Do you even consider that freeloading? You're like a thief: six out of seven days a week eating at our place! Do you honestly say you're just freeloading? Don't insult the word freeload. Enough, stop the nonsense and come over soon.""Fine, but I'm telling you, if your wife tries to set me up on another blind date or something, I swear I'll turn around and leave. Don't say I didn't respect you two.""You, how can you be so ungrateful? Zi Qi goes to so much trouble to introduce someone to you, what for? Isn't it because you're lonely and pitiful? Besides, which of the girls Zi Qi introduced isn't beautiful, highly educated, and high-earning? And you're still not satisfied?""I thank you, it's just that the girls you introduced were too outstanding, that's why I'm not satisfied. Introducing those girls to me is setting them up for failure. Do you think we could really be together? Would it be suitable? They're all social elites and office workers, and me, I sell barbecue—no car, no house, no savings, and buried in debt. So please don't send these wonderful girls into my fire pit. Besides, I'm only thinking about making more money to pay off my debts, really have no mind for these matters.""Do you know what Zi Qi asked me a few days ago?""What?""She asked me if you had any physiological problem, otherwise how could it be that at your age..."
"Damn it, enough talking, the bus is here. I have to get on." Wang Wenbin said and hung up the phone.
The caller was Liu Jiahao, nicknamed 'Mouse,' who was Wang Wenbin's roommate back in college, a true buddy, a close friend. He had a girlfriend named Nie Ziqi, also a college classmate. After graduation, both of them worked in Shanghai as urban white-collar workers. On the surface, they seemed successful, but in reality, life was tight—they were both salaried employees. In a big international city like this, even a seemingly decent salary was only enough for basic living. For years, the couple had been planning to get married but had not made a decision, all because of a wedding home. They were trying hard to save for a down payment, but housing prices were rising much faster than they could save. In the end, they didn't buy the house, and all the money they had saved was borrowed by Wang Wenbin.
Wang Wenbin took a bus and headed toward Liu Jiahao's house. He was extremely familiar with their home. Back when he first came here, penniless and unable to find a suitable job, he couldn't even rent a place, so he had stayed at Liu Jiahao's house. Their rented apartment was small, a standard one-bedroom with a living room. At that time, the couple slept in the bedroom while Wang Wenbin slept alone on the sofa. The apartment wasn't soundproof, so Wang Wenbin could hear clearly whatever the couple did at night. He stayed there for three months straight, until the couple almost felt hormonally unbalanced before finally managing to kick him out. After all, having a grown man living there made it really inconvenient for them to have some private time.
Jokes aside, they were true brothers, closer than actual blood brothers.I don't miss my wife at all.