Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Stiffly, I called a coworker.

The elevator restarted. Yang Jingzhi and I stood together in the cramped car.

“You get off this late?” she asked, cool and distant.

“We can’t leave until all the guests are gone.”

“Does this place pay well?”

“It’s all right.”

I kept my head bowed, my cap hiding my face.

Yang Jingzhi seemed not to recognize me. After a little idle conversation, she checked her watch.

“This elevator is taking forever. My boyfriend is probably getting impatient. He’s terribly clingy.”

I froze, realizing she meant Xu Wanxing.

“What about you? You’re leaving this late—where’s your girlfriend?”

“I live nearby.”

The doors opened. I rushed out.

Yang Jingzhi, calm for the past several minutes, finally exploded.

“Why are you running?”

“Where else do you think you can run, Yu Ming?”

“Was it fun—walking away and vanishing off the face of the earth?”

She advanced one step at a time. She was still the girl in my memories, only the last of her youthfulness had given way to a mature, commanding beauty.

“Deleted WeChat. Disconnected number. Even our professors couldn’t find you. Impressive, Yu Ming.”

Slowly, I raised my head and met her eyes.

“With your connections, you must have heard by now. My family went bankrupt. My father got caught in a financial dispute, and we still haven’t paid off all the debt.”

“Why didn’t you tell me then?”

I had no answer.

“Were you too proud, Young Master Yu?”

“No—”

Before I could finish, Xu Wanxing approached.

“Huh? Yu Ming! It really is you!”

He was even better-looking than he had been in college, polished down to his last strand of hair.

“It’s been ages. Everyone in class has been looking for you. How did you go four years without a word?”

“I went south.”

“No wonder.” His gaze traveled over my clothes. “Yu Ming, isn’t that the down jacket you bought in junior year? The feathers are coming out. You’re still wearing it?”

I used to throw clothes away after a single season. He wanted to embarrass me.

But I had grown numb to humiliation.

“It isn’t torn. I can still wear it.”

Understanding dawned on his face. “Are you having money trouble? You should have said something. An old classmate would be happy to help.”

He took out a bank card.

“Use this. You don’t have to pay me back.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need it.”

I looked at him, then at Yang Jingzhi, and smiled quietly.

“I’m getting married soon. Don’t forget to come to the wedding.”

Yang Jingzhi went utterly still.