After a long silence, just as Daniel was beginning to wonder, his friend finally spoke. "Turns out the girl I liked was… a lesbian."
"What?" Daniel's eyes went wide. He knew what that meant, but he hadn't expected his friend to encounter something so unexpected.
But what did this mean, exactly? Was his friend venting, maybe looking for some comfort? After all, chasing a girl for so long only to find out she wasn't interested in men would be a hard blow for anyone to handle. Then a thought hit him. "Wait, you spent all that money, and she's not even into guys? Wasn't that just a waste?"
It made him feel angry on his friend's behalf. After all, if she'd accepted his money knowing she had no interest in him, it seemed almost like fraud.
"You could maybe report her for that," Daniel suggested.
"She paid me back," his friend replied. "She kept track of everything I spent on her, then paid me back in full."
"Huh?!" Daniel was stunned. If she hadn't taken advantage of him for his money, what was she after? She didn't want his affection or his money, but still let him pursue her for so long. What, did she just want to feel admired?
He was still trying to figure this out when his friend said something even more confusing: "Daniel, I'm sorry… I've been leading you into the wolf's den."
Huh? Daniel felt a knot in his stomach as something began to dawn on him. "What… what do you mean? I… I don't understand."
His friend paused. "What I'm trying to tell you, Daniel, is… I want you to brace yourself."
Daniel fell silent, listening, dreading what was coming.
His friend took a deep breath. "The reason that girl got close to me… was because of… your girlfriend."
Daniel froze.
"She's gotten what she wanted. So…"
But Daniel couldn't listen to any more; he hung up before his friend could finish. In a haze, he shakily dialed his girlfriend's number. He needed to hear her voice. He needed answers.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, Xiaoli, I…"
A few minutes later, Daniel slumped back onto his couch, hands on his head, feeling like his world was spinning. His mind flashed to the Tom and Jerry episode with Jerry's fate. Just moments ago, he'd been feeling sorry for Tom, sympathizing with his loss. And now, he'd met the same fate.
Just a moment ago, he'd been worried about his friend, and now he was the one in need of comforting.
"So, the fool… was me?" he murmured to himself.
The world had suddenly become a very complicated place.
Of course, not many would know that somewhere in the world, a man was crying alone late at night after watching Tom and Jerry, sharing the same ending as Jerry.
"Poor thing," thought Daniel as he remembered Tom's story in the episode just before the commercial break, how Tom had given everything only to end up with nothing.
"Guess in life, it's good to know your own limits," he mused, recalling an old story about a fan who'd bankrupted their family chasing after an idol, even driving one family member to despair.
All this reminded him that not everyone got lucky like the security guard who ended up marrying a rich woman. And, just as he was lost in thought, the episode resumed.
The title of the new episode caught his eye: Peace Treaty.
It began with the usual chase scene, with Tom, Jerry, and Spike the bulldog in a furious pursuit, taking swings at each other as they went. Jerry hit Tom, Tom hit Spike, but poor Spike found himself hitting nothing but air.
Daniel couldn't help but laugh at the poor dog's plight.
Maybe Spike was tired of this endless cycle. After all, he was the only one who didn't get to hit anyone back. So, in the middle of all the chaos, Spike raised his paws and suggested a truce: "Why don't we all just be friends, brothers even?"
Reluctantly, Tom and Jerry agreed under Spike's watchful gaze. They wrote up a peace treaty, and their lives turned surprisingly harmonious.
Tom would cover Jerry with a blanket when he slept, Jerry would close Spike's mouth if he started snoring, and Spike would make breakfast for everyone. They seemed like the perfect little family. If any of them were picked on, the others would step in to help.
But something felt off to Daniel. The episode was barely halfway over, so there had to be some kind of twist.
"Bet it's Tom who breaks the treaty first," Daniel thought to himself.
After all, Tom had broken their peace agreements plenty of times before.
Sure enough, trouble started one day when they stumbled upon a delicious piece of meat. As they prepared to eat, the three of them began bickering over who should get the biggest portion.
Feeling cheated, they quickly launched into a brawl. In the scuffle, the meat flew out the window and into a sewer.
They exchanged glances, and Spike ripped the treaty to shreds, setting them all back to square one.
As the week's episodes finished, Tom and Jerry fans took to the internet to chat about them.
"Wow, Tom's breakup episode was heartbreaking. Poor guy."
"Yeah, they weren't kidding about that phrase 'give your all and end up with nothing'!"
"Jerry wasn't much better off. You'd think he'd know better than to jinx himself with all that confidence."
"I'm starting to lose faith in romance."
"Haha, love without stability is like a house without a foundation—it'll crumble in a strong wind."
Fans, during their breaks, seemed to discuss Tom and Jerry nonstop, especially the heartbreak of Tom's story.
People also talked a lot about the episode Peace Treaty. It seemed like the moral of the story was that in life, there were no permanent allies, only lasting interests. Tom, Jerry, and Spike had all started out as close as could be, but the moment something valuable came between them, their friendship dissolved in seconds.
Many of the viewers could relate to this. Distance, circumstances, and competition had a way of turning the best of friends into strangers.
It was a bit harsh, but it was reality.
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