Exiting the elevator, not only were Lu Yan and Tang Jie dumbfounded, but the young service attendant beside them also stood frozen like a wooden chicken.
The scene they’d just witnessed was straight out of a TVB drama. If the situation spiraled out of control, the entire Golden Sea KTV would descend into chaos—forget the alumni gathering, even personal safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
The service attendant, having received training, was the first to recover: “Don’t worry, ladies. I’ll go down and check what’s happening.”
After he left, Tang Jie swallowed and asked Lu Yan: “Didn’t that guy downstairs look familiar?”
They stood in the middle of the corridor, with long rows of private rooms on both sides. The hallway was unusually empty—perfect timing for a conversation.
Lu Yan nodded calmly: “Familiar! What should we do? Should we call the police?”
Tang Jie: “Are you scared silly? Jiang Chengyi is a police officer himself—what’s the point of calling the police?”
Lu Yan: “Even police officers can lose control sometimes.”
Tang Jie: “…”
Suddenly, a private room door on the left opened, releasing a flood of off-key karaoke singing.
Someone paused at the doorway, then excitedly walked over. “Lu Yan, Tang Jie!”
Still somewhat dazed, they recognized the person as Liu Qin.
He was the alumni association’s vice chairman and former Class Six monitor, whose greatest passion was maintaining connections between classmates. The most enthusiastic person among the alumni, he organized almost every annual gathering.
After Liu Qin’s greeting, the room immediately stirred, and several heads—both male and female—popped out. Seeing the two of them, an immediate commotion erupted.
“You’re late! You’re late! Lu Yan, how long has it been since we’ve seen each other? Such a rare opportunity tonight, and you couldn’t come earlier? Teacher Zhou has asked about you several times.”
“Tang Jie, don’t say you’re driving so you can’t drink. Everyone knows Golden Sea has designated drivers. No excuses tonight—we’re not leaving until we’re drunk.”
The chaos of multiple voices filled the air.
Lu Yan licked her slightly dry lips and said to the approaching crowd: “Being late is our fault, but everyone, please wait. Um, there was a situation downstairs just now.”
Several female classmates, thinking Lu Yan was trying to justify their tardiness, quickly shouted: “No excuses, no excuses! Late is late, nothing you say matters.” They started pulling the two into the room.
“Wait, wait!” Tang Jie’s voice grew louder with urgency. “Lu Yan’s right, something happened downstairs, and we don’t know the situation yet—”
Seeing their serious expressions, everyone exchanged glances: “What happened?”
Just as Tang Jie was struggling to organize her words, the elevator doors opened, and the service attendant returned, accompanied by someone who looked like the duty manager.
“It’s them,” the attendant whispered, pointing to Lu Yan and Tang Jie.
The duty manager hurried over, explaining with a smile: “Here’s what happened—a police officer was carrying out his duties in the parking lot earlier. The situation was a bit special and accidentally frightened these two ladies, but please don’t worry. The suspect has already been apprehended.”
“Oh, this happened?” Liu Qin and others looked surprised.
Tang Jie exchanged glances with Lu Yan, then asked: “Then—where’s the police officer?”
Just then, the duty manager’s phone rang. He quickly stepped aside to answer it, nodding frequently.
Later, putting down the phone, he smiled: “He probably left with the suspect. I’m not sure of the details, but as tonight’s duty manager, I can guarantee to everyone that Golden Sea is safe, inside and out.”
Though Liu Qin and the others didn’t know the earlier details, hearing this, they all relaxed.
At this moment, the private room door opened again, and a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties leaned against the doorframe, looking their way. “What happened?”
“Teacher Zhou!” Lu Yan noticed first, her eyes brightening as she hurried over.
Zhou Zhicheng wore black-framed glasses and had a scholarly, small stature. Standing by the door, he looked at Lu Yan, then at Tang Jie, breaking into a kindly smile: “Late, you two aren’t performing well tonight. Traffic jam?”
Before Lu Yan could answer, Liu Qin walked over and interjected with a smile: “Teacher Zhou, everything’s fine now. By the way, let’s not talk in the hallway. Tonight, Golden Sea’s third floor is mostly booked by our Seventh High. Thanks to Ding Jing’s influence, not only do we have the ’09 classmates, but Principal Wen and Teacher Zhou have also honored us with their presence. It’s really rare—when has our alumni gathering ever been this lively?”
With that, he ushered everyone into the private room without further discussion.
Lu Yan had to put the earlier incident aside, smiling as she took Teacher Zhou’s arm and entered.
Someone inside was singing “Unforgettable Tonight,” a deep, mellow voice rich with nostalgia.
Looking around, she saw Principal Wen sitting on the sofa, surrounded by the central star, holding a microphone and singing with complete absorption.
Besides Principal Wen, the most eye-catching was Ding Jing in a red knit dress, with ear-length short hair, bright red lips, and long, straight white legs crossed—somewhat reminiscent of a former Miss Hong Kong.
Seeing Lu Yan enter, Ding Jing put down her beer glass and applauded: “Finally, Class Six’s goddess makes her appearance.”
Lu Yan and Tang Jie smiled as they poured themselves large glasses of beer, first toasting Principal Wen, then Teacher Zhou, followed by all their classmates, making a complete circle with impeccably apologetic attitudes.
Principal Wen smiled and sighed: “I never thought that at our age, Old Zhou and I could still party with you young people. But time flies—in the blink of an eye, you’ve all been graduated for eight years. On our way here, Old Zhou and I were discussing that we couldn’t just eat and drink for free tonight. We have some life experiences we’d like to share and discuss with the ’09 graduates. Since this room is mostly Class Six students, let’s start with Class Six, then move to other rooms. By the way, are all Class Six students here?”
Someone laughed: “Everyone from Class Six is here, but we’re still waiting for the star guest from another class.”
“Star guest?” Teacher Zhou turned his face.
Liu Qin took a sip of mineral water: “You mean Jiang Chengyi? He was quite the celebrity at Seventh High back then. I heard he transferred back from B City last month, is that true?”
Ding Jing glanced discreetly at Lu Yan, naturally continuing: “His father had a heart attack early this year. After surgery, his health declined significantly, and he’s now focused on recuperating at home. His mother, fearing that something might happen to his father and Jiang Chengyi might not get to see him one last time, pressured him to transfer his job.”
Tang Jie secretly kicked Lu Yan’s foot when no one was looking, the message clear: Look, look, Ding Jing’s making herself part of the story again. If she could arrange to meet Jiang Chengyi privately, why go to all this trouble organizing an alumni gathering?
Lu Yan maintained her smile and kicked back under the table.
Teacher Zhou nodded: “Speaking of Jiang Chengyi, that kid had his ideas. At graduation, everyone thought he’d either study abroad or major in finance to eventually inherit his father’s business. Who would have thought he’d suddenly go to B City to study criminal investigation? And not just study it—he even stayed in B City after graduation.”
Before he finished speaking, someone knocked on the door, followed by a service attendant: “Sir, it’s this room.”
Everyone in the room looked up to see someone walk in.
After a brief silence, an explosion of exclamations erupted: “Damn, it is Jiang Chengyi! You finally decided to show up!” Several male classmates laughed and crowded around the door, an imposing presence—at a glance, all former members of the school basketball team.
Jiang Chengyi stood with his hands in his pockets, wearing a black jacket over black dress pants, his long legs both capable and dashing.
Now Ding Jing became suddenly demure, standing gracefully with a gentle smile directed at the door.
After exchanging greetings for a while, Jiang Chengyi finally approached Principal Wen and Teacher Zhou, his smile somewhat apologetic: “Teachers, I’m sorry, there was an unexpected situation earlier.”
Tang Jie munched on chips while squinting at Jiang Chengyi.
Actually, she never knew why Lu Yan and Jiang Chengyi broke up, but since Lu Yan was her good friend, and she was naturally protective, she instinctively believed it must have been Jiang Chengyi’s fault.
Now, watching him with a critical eye, she found herself increasingly irritated.
Damn, a handsome guy is still a handsome guy—even after several years, he remained the brightest star in the crowd.