Chapter 237: Chapter 220: High School Alumni Reunion 1
"He’s too tired, he just fell asleep not long ago. Are you willing to wake him up?"
"I want you to wake him up."
Su Xiaomeng knew that Luo Feiya wasn’t a good person. She naturally couldn’t start doubting Yin Shixiu just because of these two sentences from Luo Feiya.
But... she is a woman, after all.
It’s impossible for her to remain calm as if nothing happened after hearing Luo Feiya’s "provocation".
After all... Yin Shixiu’s phone was in Luo Feiya’s hands.
"Okay, I’ll go wake him up..."
Su Xiaomeng perked up her ears. Every tiny sound on the other side, she wanted to listen to it carefully, and then...
When she heard Luo Feiya lightly blowing and muttering hoarsely, "Your wife’s calling... should I pick it up?"
"Ah, don’t rush..."
Then there was the sound of the phone dropping to the floor.
Su Xiaomeng was a bit shocked...
What’s going on?
Before she could even sort out her thoughts, Huang Xinjue’s call came in, "Junior Sister, are you ready? I’m already downstairs at your place."
"...Oh, oh."
Su Xiaomeng snapped back from her earlier daze, picked up her bag, and headed out the door.
She didn’t know what tricks Luo Feiya was playing, but she knew that Yin Shixiu wouldn’t do such a thing.
But... why was the phone with Luo Feiya?
When Huang Xinjue saw Su Xiaomeng come out from the apartment building, he got out of the car and waved to her.
Su Xiaomeng jogged over, "Senior Brother."
Huang Xinjue opened the car door for her, "You’ve really changed! I almost couldn’t recognize you."
Su Xiaomeng smiled, thinking, wouldn’t you change after having two kids?
"This time, everyone you know is coming, just from that one-on-one pairing activity back then, there are three pairs coming!"
"Wow! Is Senior Sister Zhang Ling coming?"
"Yes, and her junior sister too."
"Ah, I really like Senior Sister Zhang Ling. Actually, I wanted to pair with her back then!"
"Hey, why does what you say sound a bit off to me?"
"Haha!" Su Xiaomeng chuckled.
"Back then, I never thought, the one who lagged the most was you, and you still got into A University."
"Are you impressed with me?"
Su Xiaomeng raised her eyebrows, feeling particularly proud.
Huang Xinjue glanced at her, "Really not humble."
"I learned it from you."
"Still as sharp-tongued as ever."
Su Xiaomeng smiled. While chatting with Huang Xinjue, her mind was still on Yin Shixiu.
The car stopped in the underground parking lot of a bar.
As Su Xiaomeng got out with Huang Xinjue, unexpectedly, she saw someone from the car across stepping out.
"Senior Brother Ren, you’re here! Old K is amazing, getting a big shot like you over."
"Ren Yixuan..."
Su Xiaomeng raised her hand to greet him.
Huang Xinjue frowned slightly, a bit puzzled, "What are you two scheming? Since Senior Brother Ren was coming, why didn’t you come with Xiao Meng? And needed me to pick up Xiao Meng?"
Today’s gathering was for high school alumni. Everyone only knew that Xiao Meng and Ren Yixuan used to be close, and that they were the town’s students accepted into the city’s key schools.
Though years had passed, Huang Xinjue knew that Su Xiaomeng and Ren Yixuan both got into the same university again.
So... what was going on?
"I rushed here from out of town and couldn’t pick her up."
Ren Yixuan explained briefly, then walked over to Su Xiaomeng, "Let’s go."
Su Xiaomeng blinked, then dazedly followed Ren Yixuan up the stairs.
Huang Xinjue said, "That’s more like it! Speaking of which... you two..."
In the elevator, Huang Xinjue looked at them with an ambiguous expression, smiling mischievously, "There’s definitely something going on, right?"
"Senior Brother, I am already mar—"
"Junior Brother Huang, you’re being a bit nosy!"
Ren Yixuan interrupted her with a strong voice.
Huang Xinjue didn’t mind whatever Xiao Meng had started to say, his round chubby face, eyes squinting into a line with laughter, "Looks like Senior Brother has a long way to go!"
Ren Yixuan smiled.
Once out of the elevator, the loud electronic music and excited cheers from the bar rushed into their ears.
Huang Xinjue led the way, and Ren Yixuan walked by Su Xiaomeng, coldly saying, "Getting pregnant out of wedlock and marrying because of it is nothing to be proud of, no need to flaunt it around."
Su Xiaomeng’s body trembled slightly, a moment of stiffness.
The tall and unfamiliar figure in front of her made her heart feel... very cold.
Pregnant out of wedlock, marrying because of it...
She took a shallow breath, indeed it wasn’t something to be proud of, but she didn’t intend to talk about those things.
She just wanted to say that she was already married...
However, perhaps in his eyes, her marriage was shameful too.
To this day, she still clearly remembered, on the night of her birthday, his remark, "But I am not happy."
The tone is lighter than a cloud, gentler than the wind, but it lands on her heart, heavier than a mountain of gold.
Back then, who was truly right or wrong... back then, who was the first to let down whom...
There’s no longer a definitive answer.
The bar was lively, with multi-colored lights sweeping across the place.
On stage, there was a saxophonist playing American country ballads, a handsome resident singer humming English lyrics...
The dance floor, wild and uninhibited a moment ago, suddenly became gentle and graceful with the music.
Su Xiaomeng followed them, but her gaze couldn’t leave the dance floor, resulting in her bumping into Ren Yixuan’s chest, who had turned around at some point and was gazing steadily at her.
"How long has it been since you’ve danced?"
Ren Yixuan asked, but his voice wasn’t loud enough, drowned by the bustling music.
Su Xiaomeng didn’t catch what he said, perhaps she didn’t care much either, she just rubbed her head and apologized, then quickly caught up with Huang Xinjue ahead.
Ren Yixuan sighed and followed.
Huang Xinjue led them into a booth, where a dozen alumni were already seated.
Little Meng had not expected so many people, she nodded her head slightly and greeted them one by one.
Ren Yixuan received a different treatment; almost everyone present was his junior brothers and sisters... upon seeing Ren Yixuan, they all stood up to greet him eagerly.
"So in the end, Senior Brother and Xiaomeng ended up together, huh!"
Someone blurted this out first, and then memories came flooding back with what they said.
Su Xiaomeng pressed her lips tightly together, feeling awkward.
She thought Ren Yixuan would deny it, but he simply went over and sat down at a spot.
The girl beside him noticed Su Xiaomeng still standing and immediately moved, making space for her to sit next to Ren Yixuan.
Su Xiaomeng didn’t go over, she just sat down nearby, and the other girl was stunned for a moment. She explained, "It’s the same wherever I sit."
Huang Xinjue patted Su Xiaomeng on the back with a laugh, "This Su Xiaomeng, she’s been like this since before, looks so clever but is actually quite slow!"
"Haha, that’s what makes her cute!"
The girl who gave up her seat sat back down and bantered with a smile.
Su Xiaomeng could only smile dryly, maybe she really was slow, and that’s why she didn’t ask who was coming before she arrived.
If she had known Ren Yixuan would come...
Would she have still come?
Before the birthday party, she might have come, but after the birthday party, after he said that sentence, she might not have come.
Almost twenty years of friendship, the feelings had long since changed.
When he told others about her pregnancy, she lost trust in him.
But more than three hundred days passed, the once stormy times, now only calm remained, towards him, she no longer held resentment.
She used to think the issue between them was on her side, thought he was in the wrong, thought she was the one most hurt...
"But I’m not happy."
This sentence, how much of Ren Yixuan’s mind, experience, and emotion did it contain...
When Ren Yixuan brought Rong Qiao back to Chengdu, she had harbored a little hope...
She no longer hated him, so could they continue this ’revolutionary friendship’ living one above the other in the future?
However, she thought too simply...
Perhaps the one being resented was never Ren Yixuan; perhaps the one being resented all along was herself.
Every time she recalled his sentence "But I’m not happy," it was like she was under a spell, with too many questions she wanted to ask...
Why aren’t you happy?
How can you not be happy?
What reason is there to feel unhappy?
Your parents are alive and well, your girlfriend is beautiful and gentle, utterly devoted to you, your career is thriving, what more could you want?
But not a single question did she dare to ask.
Because the answer was right at her lips, yearning to be said.
And if this answer were truly to come out of Ren Yixuan’s mouth again, word by word into her ears,
she truly couldn’t bear it.
She’d rather never meet again in this life, rather continue deceiving herself forever, not wanting her tranquil heart to stir again.
Yet, life’s affairs do not go as one wishes, and the more you want to escape, the more inevitable and unavoidable it becomes.
The waiter brought in a few jugs of beer and two large bottles of juice.
A transparent bucket was filled with ice cubes.
Huang Xinjue poured a glass of juice for Su Xiaomeng, just about to add ice cubes when Su Xiaomeng quietly reminded him, "Senior Brother, I’m still sick..."
Huang Xinjue quickly tapped his forehead and called the waiter, "Please bring us a pot of hot fruit tea."
Su Xiaomeng nodded and smiled at Huang Xinjue, "Thank you, Senior Brother."
Huang Xinjue rubbed her hair and said softly, "You’re giving Senior Brother face, of course, I have to look after you."
Su Xiaomeng felt a warm sweetness in her heart, thinking that in a lifetime, one encounters many people, but the vast majority are just fleeting visitors.
Only a few truly leave footprints in one’s life.
Su Xiaomeng is a warm and energetic person, but it doesn’t mean she’s good at socializing.
After graduation, she hardly contacts schoolmates on her own, thinking everyone is busy with their own circles and lives.
So when Huang Xinjue contacted her more than once, she felt both happy and guilty.
"Xiaomeng looks much more beautiful now!"
A senior sister beside her, who was Su Xiaomeng’s favorite, said this.
Being praised by the senior sister made Su Xiaomeng feel a bit bashful, even under the dim lights, the blush on her cheeks was evident.