"Your smile is so strange, it means you haven't thought things through!" Amei said angrily.
I knew she couldn't be fooled, so I quickly said, "I just remembered a joke."
"It's definitely a dirty joke!" Amei gritted her teeth and said.
"No, that's really not it!" I shook my head and said, "I once heard someone say: Women always spend so much money to buy all kinds of beautiful clothes, from outerwear to underwear, so many fancy styles... Actually, why do women dress so beautifully? Isn't it to attract men's attention? But ironically... what men like to see most is women without clothes."
After saying all that, I didn't dare look at Amei's face. Before she could get angry, I quickly changed the subject, borrowed her phone, and dialed Yang Wei's number. I told Yang Wei my exact location on the phone and then told her to call Amei's number when she arrived.
After hanging up the phone, I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Yang Wei's tone on the phone seemed rather cold—well, although Yang Wei is usually someone who doesn't easily show her emotions and always speaks to everyone with a calm and composed demeanor, this time, I could clearly hear a deliberate hint of distance in her tone when she spoke to me.
Yang Wei's attitude left me feeling somewhat disheartened. Considering that after my marriage, she hadn't contacted me at all, and later even left the US for China without saying goodbye, it was clear she was avoiding me.
Men! They're all spineless! I couldn't help but curse.
Admittedly, when Yang Wei fell for me, I was hesitant and indecisive. I was both attracted to her and worried about hurting other women. I was both hesitant and secretly pleased, but at the same time, I always kept her at arm's length.
But now, once she keeps her distance from me, I can't help but feel a pang of jealousy.
Thinking back to Yang Wei's sudden departure... Could it be that she has really decided to sever all ties with me?
You worthless wretch! You worthless wretch! I don't even know what I'm feeling. I was so lost in thought that I forgot to speak.
After a while, I saw a small hand waving in front of my eyes. I then came to my senses and saw Amei looking at me with a half-smile: "Who are you thinking about? You seem so lost in thought?"
"It's nothing," I mumbled.
"Hmph!" Amei pouted. "Don't try to hide it. You must be thinking about some woman... um, you must be thinking about one of your lovers, right?"
"Nonsense," I muttered.
“I’m not talking nonsense,” Amei retorted confidently. “When a man’s mind wanders, it’s because he’s thinking about his lover!” She squinted at me and said, “You were definitely thinking about a woman just now, and not Yan Di.”
Before I could retort, Amei quickly said, "Look at your expression just now, sighing and looking so anxious and heartbroken... you looked like you were tormented by love! I know Yan Di, that girl would give you her whole heart, she'd do anything for you, she would never disobey you in the slightest. Whatever you asked her to do, she would never refuse, so naturally she wouldn't make you so distressed. If you were thinking about Yan Di, you wouldn't have this expression, so you must be thinking about another woman."
I was annoyed and embarrassed by her words, and whispered, "Nonsense. It's been over two years, and you're still as sharp-tongued as ever. With a temper like that, what man would dare to marry you?"
Ah Mei is fine in every other way, but her mouth is just too sharp; she's like a little firecracker. Of all the girls I know, besides Qiao Qiao, she's the most formidable. (Of course, who can compare to the invincible Miss Qiao?)
My words immediately made A-Mei blush, and she gritted her teeth and said, "Pah! Whether I get married or not is none of your business. Who said...who said I was fierce! Humph!"
"Haha, if you weren't fierce, there wouldn't be any fierce girls." I laughed and said, "Remember the last time we had a fight before I ran away? I just accidentally bumped into you taking a shower, I wasn't intentionally spying on you. And what happened? You even threw a kitchen knife at me! If I hadn't been good at fighting, I probably would have been killed by your Ah Mei. Don't you think about how you were my personal caregiver when I was injured and hospitalized? You saw me showering and using the toilet countless times, but you weren't this petty. Just because I accidentally saw you with your private parts exposed, you're quick to grab a knife and attack me." I paused, then laughed, "I heard from Yan Di that even though you lived in my house, you always kept a pair of scissors under your pillow every night when you slept!"
Speaking of the past, Amei was even more embarrassed, her pretty face turning so red it almost blushed.
Yes, when a man's mind wanders, it's because he's thinking about his lover.
So, what does it mean when a woman blushes?
Is she missing her husband?
Seeing Ah Mei's embarrassed expression, I was secretly delighted and laughed heartily.
After a long while, Amei suddenly sighed, glanced at me, and said softly, "You're still the same. You talk to girls without any sense of propriety, flirting with them here and there. People who know you know you don't mean it. But girls who don't know you can't help but fall for you... You're such a womanizer, always flirting with girls and never knowing how to speak properly... Sigh, in the end, it's the women around you who suffer. I wonder how many times Yandi will secretly be heartbroken following you."
These words seemed unintentional, but when they reached my ears, they suddenly gave me a jolt!
What is often said without malice can be taken to heart. Ah Mei's two sighs, however, struck a chord deep within me!
My expression changed, and after thinking it over for a long time, I couldn't help but whisper, "Did I...did I say something inappropriate?"
Amei glanced at me with a hint of resentment, and whispered, "You, how can you talk to girls like that without any sense of propriety! Don't you know that there are some things you shouldn't say to girls? Some jokes you shouldn't make with girls! Otherwise, it's easy to cause misunderstandings! But you, on the other hand, never think of these things. You talk so recklessly to everyone. If people knew, it would be fine, but if they didn't, they would really think you were flirting with girls! In the end, without any reason, girls misunderstand you. They fall for you and get heartbroken, and in the end, you still act all innocent and clueless."
I was speechless.
Amei sighed again and said, "Just like what you said earlier. Like seeing me taking a shower, and saying that I saw your body when I took care of you... Sigh, these things, after all, are different between men and women. You said them so stupidly, and you still acted so carefree. If it were an ordinary girl, she would really think that you were interested in her and were deliberately flirting with her. No wonder you are always surrounded by beautiful women, one after another, but you still seem to be clueless."
The more I listened, the more alarmed I became, and a cold sweat broke out on my back. It was as if a single word had awakened me from my dream… Could it be that I had unknowingly made a grave mistake in my actions all along?
If you think about it carefully, what Amei said really makes a lot of sense.
I started working as a waitress in nightclubs at a young age. The women I saw and interacted with were all prostitutes working in those kinds of establishments. These girls spoke very casually, without any sense of propriety or restraint. They dared to make any inappropriate jokes. Under such influence, I seemed to have gotten used to it. Whether I was familiar with a woman or not, my words always carried a hint of ambiguity.
Of the friends I made later, let's not even talk about Wood; that guy rarely speaks. As for Aze and Qiaoqiao, they were both Casanovas, the kind who would be even more ambiguous if you spoke flirtatiously, and even more lewd if you were wanton. I was used to dealing with girls in nightclubs and didn't really know my limits when talking to them. Meeting these two Casanovas only influenced me further, and I started to have a flirtatious tone in my speech.
I'm used to it and don't think there's anything wrong with it, but when dealing with other women, such an attitude and words are bound to cause misunderstandings.
Now that I think about it carefully, all the women I'm involved with now...
Aside from Yan Di, who initially developed feelings for me out of gratitude after I stood up for her... the other women...
For example, Fang Nan, although she was interested in me—and I did resemble a certain man she used to know…—it seems that the reason we took the first step was because I was tactless in my words and actions, which "provoked" her to boldly confess her feelings! Most importantly, looking back now, the qualitative change in our relationship seems to have been that incident…
I remember that time when Fang Nan was menstruating. Normally, this kind of thing would be an absolute taboo topic for unrelated men. But I not only didn't know how to avoid it, but I was also very carefree and seemed to have no sense of propriety. Not only did I not try to avoid it, but I also took care of her warmly. When I was with her, I even deliberately poured her warm water to drink and told her to be careful of stomach aches...
You know, this kind of thing is the most private and embarrassing thing for a woman to talk about, and yet I, a grown man, helped arrange it without any hesitation... Generally speaking, women would only bring up this kind of thing with their boyfriends or husbands, how could they bring it up with anyone else? How could my enthusiastic and caring attitude at the time not cause Fang Nan to misunderstand? What's more, she already had some feelings for me... So, it seems that I unintentionally provoked Fang Nan.
Speaking of Yang Wei... My acquaintance with Yang Wei naturally started at Ye Huan's club. When we ran out at night, we were ambushed and tumbled down the mountain together...
What was my relationship with Yang Wei at that time?
We have absolutely no relationship! In fact, we've never even met before! She's my boss's VIP customer and an important business partner! And me? What did I say to her? I clearly remember that after we rolled down the cliff, we even huddled together for warmth... That's not all, I even told her dirty jokes all night!
No matter how calm, rational, and strong Yang Wei was, she encountered danger on that dark night. Sharing hardship with a man is when a girl is most vulnerable. At that moment, I held her in my arms and even told dirty jokes… If that doesn't count as flirting, then I really don't know what does!
Ironically, Yang Wei later fell for me, while I remained clueless and clueless!
Damn it!
And then there's Qiaoqiao...
There's no point in even thinking about Qiaoqiao! Between Qiaoqiao and me, we've always been completely unrestrained in our conversations. Forget flirting, I never even considered Qiaoqiao a woman before. I've said all sorts of lewd things to her!
For example, when we often drink and play pool together, we joke around, and sometimes when we're drunk we even make bets: "If I lose this round, I'll pay you back with my body tonight, or I'll just pretend I was haunted by a ghost!"
At times like these, Miss Qiao would laugh and reply, "Should I call another girl so we can have a threesome?"
She's said countless similar vulgar things. Although Miss Qiao is tough and can't be judged by normal standards, she's still a girl, and girls have their moments of "not being tough."
Besides, there's another principle: a lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth. A joke told too many times becomes the truth!
Now that I think about it, isn't the fact that Miss Qiao is infatuated with me partly because we used to get along too well?
Otherwise, the same four wolves would be together. Why didn't Qiao Qiao fall in love with A Ze or Mu Tou, but instead fell for me?
It's because I'm too enthusiastic towards girls! Or rather... I simply don't know how to interact with normal girls!
Spending so much time in nightclubs, my interactions with women seem to carry a hint of ambiguity.
Aze and Mutou are different from me. Mutou doesn't interact with girls at all. Aze, although also a womanizer, at least went to university and had a lot of contact with normal girls in school. Unlike me, who's always so reckless!
There's a saying: "Flies don't land on eggs without cracks!"
If I hadn't spoken and acted without tact, causing the girl to misunderstand my intentions, would she have so easily fallen for me and even pursued me?
Do you really think I'm universally loved?
Depend on!
What's most infuriating is that I deliberately acted like I was completely innocent!
I couldn't help but mutter a curse under my breath. No one had ever said these things to me before. Ah Mei's sudden words were just what woke me up!
"I suddenly realized that I really deserve a beating," I couldn't help but say with a wry smile.
Ah Mei looked at me coldly, then sneered, "You only understand now? Hmph... Hmph..."
Seeing Amei's humming expression, and recalling how she blushed earlier, and the hint of resentment in her eyes when she occasionally looked at me, I couldn't help but feel a pang of unease and warned myself: This is bad!
That's how it is when men and women get along. No matter how pure the friendship between men and women is, as soon as there are any ulterior motives, the atmosphere will inevitably change.
Now that I understand all this, I'm even more scheming, and the pleasant atmosphere has instead become somewhat ambiguous.
Amei initially wanted to tease me, but seeing my evasive gaze, she became shy and couldn't help but spit out, "You... what kind of silly thoughts are you having now!"
I protested repeatedly, spreading my hands and saying, "There really aren't any left."
Amei's face turned even redder. Suddenly realizing what I was thinking, she gritted her teeth and said, "You...you...don't think such things! I...I didn't do anything to you..."
She became more and more anxious as she spoke, but her words became increasingly incoherent and she could not express herself clearly. In the end, she was so anxious that she almost cried.
Suddenly, it dawned on me! In the past, I would have gone up to her and offered gentle comfort, being as tender as possible. But I didn't realize that the more gentle you are, the more likely you are to misunderstand and think you're interested in her. Now that I've been enlightened, I won't be foolish anymore. I can only pretend not to understand, letting her be anxious, and quickly change the subject: "By the way, you haven't told me yet, after you left us, why did you come to Shanghai?"
“I…” A-Mei glared at me, sat back a few feet, took a few breaths, and then said sullenly, “I told you, back in Nanjing, I had such a good job and such a good income, but I always felt like I was being given charity. I don’t like living under someone else’s roof. I have hands and feet, I can support myself, besides…”
She suddenly blushed and couldn't continue.
My heart skipped a beat! I suddenly understood... her departure was probably related to me too!
Judging from this girl's attitude towards me, it would be a lie to say she has no feelings for me. But since she and Yan Di are best friends, she naturally wouldn't stoop to competing with Yan Di for a man. In the end, she'll probably just have to leave alone.
It's not that I'm overestimating myself, but that's mostly the truth.
Lost in my own thoughts, I didn't pay much attention to what A-Mei said next. When I came to my senses, I heard A-Mei continue:
"...A teacher from my nursing school introduced me to a nursing home in Shanghai. She was the director there, and the salary was pretty good. So I came. But after only a short time, the land where the nursing home was located was bought by a developer, and the nursing home closed down. The land was used for real estate development. The original nursing home reopened in a different location, but it lacked funds. Our nursing home was originally run by a charity, and with its tight budget, it had to cut costs. I was new, had no connections, and nobody spoke up for me. I wasn't willing to curry favor with the director, so in the end, I had to leave..."
"Huh? What about the teacher who introduced you? He didn't speak up for you either?"
Amei blushed and gritted her teeth, saying, "Hmph! That guy is no good! He didn't bring me here with any good intentions!"
I asked around and found out that the teacher who introduced Amei to Shanghai had previously taught at the nursing school Amei attended, and later became the director of this nursing home in Shanghai. He was a forty-year-old man with a wife and children.
When the nursing home was cutting costs and laying off staff, A-Mei had approached him before, even inviting him to dinner and asking for his help. But the old man, drunk that night, started behaving inappropriately, eventually becoming a drunken tantrum and insisting on "taking A-Mei home." Once inside A-Mei's house, he refused to leave.
Ah Mei was terrified and finally called the police. When the police arrived, the beastly teacher who had been pretending to be drunk slunk away; he wasn't drunk at all, he was just faking it. However, this made it even harder for Ah Mei to stay at the nursing home. She eventually lost her job and had to find work in Shanghai to earn money.
Although she was young and beautiful, she was very principled and refused to sell her body, so naturally she didn't do very well.
Many people have a misconception that pretty girls can easily find jobs and do well in life.
That's actually incorrect.
To be precise: a pretty girl who is willing to "let loose" is likely to do quite well in life.
However, if a pretty girl is "too reserved", she will often end up worse off than an average girl!
That's just how the world is.
We chatted for a while, and the atmosphere finally eased a bit. I didn't dare to make any more jokes and spoke very carefully. Finally, after a while, Amei's phone by the bed suddenly rang. I looked at the number and saw that Yang Wei had arrived.
Then Amei walked me downstairs. We walked down to the bottom, and Amei was about to go back up, but I stopped her and said seriously, "Don't go up either, come back with me first. First, Yandi is now my wife, and she's been wanting to meet you for a long time. Second, you helped me today, and I'm very grateful to you..."
"I don't want your reward." Amei shook her head.
"It's not about repaying a debt." I thought for a moment and could only find a reason to coax her. I said, "You helped me, but if the news gets out, my enemies will definitely come after you... Well, I've offended some bad guys in the underworld. They're chasing me, and you're helping me hide, which is the same as offending them. If word gets out, you'll be in trouble. I can't hurt you. You should come back with me and stay at my place for a few days. Also, Aze and Mutou are here too; they haven't seen you in a long time."
Seeing that Amei was about to refuse, I quickly added, "I'm very interested in what you just said about the nursing home. As you know, I'm somewhat wealthy now, and I'd like to do some good deeds. I was thinking that perhaps I could fund a nursing home. You happen to be a nursing student, so if you're interested, you could help me... Oh, I'm not giving you charity; I want to do good deeds, so you're helping me out, is that alright?"