“Didn’t you go abroad?”
“Mm, came back. Didn’t have time to tell you,” he said.
“There’s nothing to tell about that.” I smiled, then awkwardly put away my smile: “How have you been lately?”
Before he could answer, Zhou Ting came jogging over with water, looking at us both, at a loss: “Your friend?”
“Ah… let me introduce you. My high school classmate, Zhou Ting,” I said. “My childhood friend, Cheng Xia.”
Zhou Ting’s expression immediately took on three parts ingratiation. He extended his hand first: “Hello, let’s have a meal together sometime.”
Cheng Xia shook his hand, saying very gently: “A bit awkward though, because besides being childhood friends, I’m also her ex-boyfriend.”
Zhou Ting stared at me dumbstruck, while I stared dumbstruck at Cheng Xia.
Cheng Xia seemed completely oblivious, saying: “Where are you heading? Want to go together?”
…I drew in a sharp breath.
“Not going anywhere, I need to head back now,” I said. “We also drove here, we’re leaving now.”
Zhou Ting nodded beside me. He looked even more eager to escape this battleground than I was.
“What a coincidence.” Cheng Xia said: “I didn’t drive. Give me a ride?”
Me: …
On the way here, Yu Shixuan and I had sat in the back. Now with this situation, sitting in the back obviously wasn’t appropriate.
So I sat in the passenger seat. Cheng Xia never seemed to notice anything amiss, instead asking Zhou Ting with interest: “How much did this car run you on the ground?”
Zhou Ting answered: “Around three hundred thousand. My parents like Japanese cars.”
“Me too, though I’ve been wanting to switch to a hybrid recently.”
Boys probably all liked cars. They chatted about this topic, with Zhou Ting not much of a talker, just answering Cheng Xia’s questions one by one.
I turned my head to look out the car window. Dusk had arrived. Many people carried groceries home. There were also groups of students buying grilled cold noodles or fried chicken from street vendors, wearing sack-like school uniforms, laughing and playing around. The girls’ laughter was crisp and bright, just like mine used to be.
Everything felt like a hazy dream.
In the rearview mirror, Cheng Xia was talking. He’d changed a great deal.
First, he had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. When he smiled or frowned, those marks of time were deeply etched at his eye corners. They didn’t diminish his good looks—instead they added a gentleness to him.
Second, he was brighter, more cheerful. At least on the surface he seemed like someone without worries, smiling carefree.
In short, he was neither the soaring, upright youth from my memories, nor that despairing, melancholy young man. He was an entirely new Cheng Xia.
The new Cheng Xia made eye contact with me through the rearview mirror. While talking to Zhou Ting, he smiled slightly.
I looked away, neither speaking nor smiling.
Zhou Ting dropped Cheng Xia off at his home. After getting out, Cheng Xia said to me: “Come visit when you have time. My dad misses you quite a bit.”
“How’s his health?” I said.
“Not bad. He’ll retire in another two years.”
On the way back, Zhou Ting and I didn’t speak the entire way.
I genuinely didn’t know what to say—this situation exceeded my brain capacity.
As for him, I had even less idea what he was thinking.
“Goodbye.” After arriving at my place, Zhou Ting waved at me.
“Goodbye,” I said.
——
My confusion didn’t last long.
After getting home, Yu Shixuan showed none of her earlier delicate manner. She’d casually tied her hair in a bun and was frantically typing on her laptop, wishing she could grow eight hands.
“Did you eat dinner?” I said while taking off my clothes.
“Eat what!” she shrieked: “The president of Nanbei University wants to meet with me!”
Nanbei University had originally been a second-tier university. A few of their programs were indeed excellent, and in recent years they’d been upgraded to first-tier.
The president, surnamed Wu, was a Peking University graduate with considerable sentiment for Weiming Lake. He was determined to create distinctive features and generate a sense of belonging among students.
That’s why he’d seek out emerging designers like Yu Shixuan.
President Wu himself was very optimistic about Yu Shixuan, but the contract wasn’t signed yet. They also had many backup designers, each with more credentials than Yu Shixuan.
In other words, if Yu Shixuan’s performance tomorrow didn’t pass muster, forget entrepreneurship—this project would fall through.
I got anxious too: “Why are you only mentioning this now! And you were so unhurried.”
“I thought it was next week! Who knew he’d have a business trip and move it up!” Yu Shixuan was so anxious she was about to cry: “Quick, help me look at this!”
“Don’t panic, don’t cry, I… I… let’s work on it together.”
I didn’t really understand art. After spending all night revising her budget sheet, I took leave the next day to accompany her to Nanbei University.
No matter how arrogant Yu Shixuan usually was, she was still a young girl. The dark circles under her eyes couldn’t be covered even with powder.