Chapter 6
It was exactly three years since we had graduated.
Our class organized a reunion dinner.
Ji Yan and Cheng Shu arrived together.
Cheng Shu’s best friend started teasing them.
“Well, well, well. Don’t I remember a certain two people making such a dramatic fuss when they broke up, as if they’d never speak again?”
“And now you’re all cozy together again?”
Someone else chimed in.
“That’s true love for you. After all those twists and turns, you’re back together. When do we get the wedding candy?”
Perhaps it was my imagination,
but although Cheng Shu was as carefully dressed as ever, she couldn’t hide her exhaustion.
She smiled.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Ji Yan acted as though he hadn’t heard them. After pulling out a chair for Cheng Shu, he sat beside her.
My seat was near the door to the private room.
Cheng Shu got up to go to the restroom.
As she opened the door, she collided with a server coming in with tea.
The teapot tipped over.
The water spilled all over Cheng Shu and me.
Summer clothes were thin. Worried that my underwear would show through, I immediately turned away to wipe myself down.
Ji Yan and Cheng Shu’s best friend came over.
Her friend looked at Ji Yan.
“What are you waiting for, Mr. Campus Heartthrob? Can’t you see Shu’s clothes are wet? Give her your jacket.”
“You think you’ll win her back by standing around like that…?”
Ji Yan’s gaze passed over me. For a long moment, he didn’t move.
Then he slowly took off his jacket, reached past me, and draped it over Cheng Shu.
Lowering his eyes, he asked me in a carefully restrained, distant voice,
“Shall I borrow a jacket for you?”
Our class representative was sitting nearby. “Oh, Meng Ning’s clothes are wet too.”
“Did anyone else bring a jacket?”
A moment later, a jacket still carrying someone’s warmth wrapped around me.
I looked back.
My gaze met Xie Yanzhuo’s faintly amused eyes.
He was very close. His voice was low enough for only the two of us to hear.
“Look.”
“Your husband seems to be getting himself a girlfriend.”
I had nothing to say to that.
Xie Yanzhuo was the only person in our class who knew about Ji Yan and me.
On the day of our graduation group photo,
Ji Yan and I had only just registered our marriage. I was hiding in a corner, calling my mother.
“Mom, don’t worry. I know we rushed into marriage a little, but I really do love him.”
“He was in my class. His name is Ji Yan. I’ll bring him home to meet you when we have time.”
“Okay, okay. Bye.”
When I hung up and turned around, I almost walked straight into Xie Yanzhuo’s arms.
He was holding a bouquet.
It didn’t quite fit the listless expression on his face.
Startled, I asked, “Were you looking for me?”
He looked away. “No. Just passing by.”
Clutching my phone, I gave a dazed “Oh.”
He didn’t leave. After a moment’s silence, he asked,
“You married Ji Yan?”
There was no way to deny it, so I could only say,
“Will you keep it a secret for us?”
“We’re not ready to tell people yet.”
Xie Yanzhuo’s eyelids drooped, his voice devoid of feeling.
“I’m not interested in spreading things like that around.”
I awkwardly thanked him.
Then I looked at his flowers, searching for something to say.
“Did someone give you those? They’re beautiful.”
“Found them.”
“Some unlucky bastard probably got rejected and threw them by the road,” he said.
Talking to Xie Yanzhuo really was awkward…
He pushed the flowers into my arms and said flatly,
“You can have them.”
“Consider them my congratulations on your marriage.”
I held the bouquet helplessly.
When I looked up again, all I could see was his back.
He was as loose-limbed and careless as ever.
Only now, there was a trace of loneliness as well.