On the day of Xu Guangliang’s wedding, Jiangcheng, which had been gloomy for nearly half a month, finally cleared up.

Ginkgo leaves blanketed the greenery strips, and the warm sun made everyone languid.

Zhu Wenshu leaned against the car window, dozing off several times, only to be jolted awake each time by the driver’s remarkable braking technique.

Eventually, she just sat up straight and put on her earphones to listen to music.

The moment she turned on her phone, a message from Shi Xue’er came in.

[Lone Angler on the Snowy River, Charming Lady]: Teacher Zhu, are you free today?

Zhu Wenshu looked at that display name and felt it was somehow degrading her literary sensibilities, so she went ahead and changed her contact note for her.

[Zhu Wenshu]: I’m at a classmate’s wedding, what’s up?

[Shi Xue’er]: Was just saying the weather’s so nice today, wanted to invite you for a picnic.

[Zhu Wenshu]: Oh… next time then.

[Shi Xue’er]: Mm-hm.

Arriving at the hotel where the wedding was held, Zhu Wenshu got out of the car and met up with Zhong Ya, who’d arrived a few minutes earlier.

They hadn’t seen each other in years, and the other few classmates coming weren’t especially close either. Zhong Ya, worried about feeling awkward walking in alone, had preferred to wait for Zhu Wenshu under the sun at the entrance.

Today happened to be an auspicious date on the calendar, so many couples were getting married—this hotel alone had three weddings going on.

Zhu Wenshu and Zhong Ya entered the lobby and, following the signs on the roll-up banners, went up to the second floor, toward Xu Guangliang’s wedding banquet hall.

Along the way, Zhong Ya dug a red envelope out of her bag.

“So how much did you end up giving?”

Speaking of this, Zhu Wenshu felt a bit exasperated.

She’d originally planned out the gift amount just fine, had even withdrawn the cash from the ATM downstairs—only for Ling Chen to say he’d match whatever she gave.

So she’d had to add another three hundred yuan, just in case he thought her original amount seemed too little once it came out.

Then Ling Chen said he didn’t have cash on him and transferred the money to her, asking her to bring it along and give it to Xu Guangliang at the reception on his behalf.

Honestly…

Could a big celebrity not go around dragging other people into being his errand runner!

She told Zhong Ya the number, and Zhong Ya looked mildly surprised.

“Oh, so did I give a bit too little?”

“No, it’s about right.”

Zhu Wenshu said, “I was thinking about how Xu Guangliang used to help me move desks and hand out assignments and stuff, he’s a good person, so I gave a bit more.”

“Oh…”

Zhong Ya said with a smile, “Did he used to have a crush on you or something?”

“Hey, don’t talk nonsense.”

Zhu Wenshu patted the back of her hand. “It’s not appropriate to say that at his wedding.”

Zhong Ya: “Come on, I’m just joking, I won’t say it in front of the bride.”

The hotel was massive; the two of them walked through a glass corridor before finally spotting Xu Guangliang’s wedding sign.

“He really is a good person, no other meaning to it.” Zhu Wenshu glanced at the wedding photo on the sign, recalling old memories.

Actually, she’d been well aware of which boys in class had feelings for her back then.

After all, they were teenagers, spending all their time together in the same class—there was no hiding it.

“By the way, Zhang Boyi’s coming today too.”

Zhong Ya said quietly, “Do you remember him? The one who gave you the Swarovski bracelet.”

Zhu Wenshu hadn’t expected Zhong Ya to suddenly bring that up. “You still remember that?”

Zhong Ya: “Of course. Swarovski was so expensive back then.”

“Ugh, I gave it back to him later, and he never came after me again.”

Zhu Wenshu said, “Don’t bring it up later, it’d be awkward if someone overheard.”

“Don’t worry, I know how to keep my mouth shut.”

Zhong Ya finished, then pointed ahead. “There it is, there it is.”

Two long tables stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, piled with candy and cigarettes.

Relatives sat behind, collecting gift money, while Xu Guangliang stood off to the side with his bride, welcoming guests.

Seeing Zhu Wenshu and Zhong Ya approach, Xu Guangliang waved from a distance.

“Hey, Teacher Zhu! Big Bro Zhong!”

Hearing Xu Guangliang still using her high school nickname, Zhong Ya punched at him playfully while feeling that familiar warmth return.

It felt as if they’d just woken from a nap, and they were still seventeen, in the springtime of youth.

“Congratulations on the wedding.”

Zhu Wenshu pulled Zhong Ya along to greet Xu Guangliang, then looked at the bride. Zhong Ya couldn’t help saying, “Seriously, where did you find such a beautiful wife?”

The bride blushed a little at Zhong Ya’s words, and Xu Guangliang, beside her, rubbed the back of his head. “Well, that’s my charm for you.”

He then turned and put his arm around his bride, introducing her. “These are my high school classmates, Zhu Wenshu and Zhong Ya.”

The bride said, “Nice to meet you both. The hotel’s a bit out of the way, come in and have some water first.”

“Sure.”

After handing over their red envelopes, Zhu Wenshu and Zhong Ya headed into the hall.

Fifty full tables of guests, over half already seated.

On this day of red decorations and festivity, the noise and bustle felt entirely fitting.

The place was packed with people, but almost all of them unfamiliar faces.

After finally finding the table Xu Guangliang had assigned, they discovered that of the five or six people there, half were strangers.

And the other half were more or less strangers too.

The three young men had been close with Xu Guangliang in high school, but they’d all been back-row fixtures, with little overlap with a top student like Zhu Wenshu.

Add in the many years without any contact, and the group just exchanged nods and a few pleasantries upon meeting, with nothing much to talk about.

“Zhang Boyi’s not here yet…” Zhong Ya scanned the room, murmuring. “Is he not coming?”

Zhu Wenshu shook her head. “How would I know, I don’t even have his WeChat.”

Zhong Ya glanced around again, then asked, “Hey, who’s this mystery VIP guest Xu Guangliang mentioned? Could it be—”

“Ling Chen, probably.”

A classmate across the table chimed in. “Who else could it be besides Ling Chen?”

The other guests at the table—the bride’s high school classmates—had heard about the connection between the groom and Ling Chen before, though they hadn’t expected to actually see him at the wedding banquet. They immediately grew excited.

“For real? Is he actually coming?”

“Yeah, I think it’s got to be him too.”

“No way, how could Ling Chen possibly come, he vanished off the face of the earth after the college entrance exam.”

“They’ve probably lost touch ages ago anyway, otherwise wouldn’t Xu Guangliang be posting about it on Moments constantly?”

“Besides, even if they are still in touch, Ling Chen wouldn’t have time to come to some ordinary wedding like this.”

Amid everyone’s chattering discussion, Zhu Wenshu quietly lowered her head to check her phone.

Two minutes earlier.

[c]: Have you arrived?

[Zhu Wenshu]: Yeah.

[c]: Where?

[Zhu Wenshu]: Second floor, turn right, the very last banquet hall.

[c]: Mm.

[c]: Did you bring the red envelope?

[Zhu Wenshu]: Got it.

The hall was simply full of too many people, and the name “Ling Chen” kept surfacing in her ears over and over.

Zhu Wenshu couldn’t help but feel like some kind of undercover operative, sneaking glances at her messages.

After a while, more people kept joining their table.

Since not many of Xu Guangliang’s confirmed high school classmates were coming, they couldn’t fill a whole table, so a few of the bride’s classmates had been seated there too.

As strangers gradually took their seats, only the spot beside Zhu Wenshu remained empty.

Thinking that Ling Chen, being a fellow high school classmate too, would logically be seated here as well, she sent him another message.

[Zhu Wenshu]: Do you want to sit next to me?

After sending it, she felt she shouldn’t have phrased it that way, so she quickly typed more: I mean there are a lot of people, should I save you a seat—

Before she could finish typing, a reply came from the other side.

[c]: Yes.

Zhu Wenshu quietly deleted the words in her draft box, then discreetly set her bag on the empty seat beside her.

No one at the table noticed her small gesture; the newly seated female guests had also joined the discussion.

Not long after, a young woman who’d come alone approached—unclear which side of the family she was with, since she didn’t seem to recognize anyone at the table. Noticing the open seat next to Zhu Wenshu, she was about to sit down, but seeing the bag on the chair, she asked, “Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

Zhu Wenshu nodded. “Yeah.”

The woman said nothing more and turned to find another seat.

“Who is it?”

Zhong Ya, overhearing, asked, “Someone else coming?”

“A friend.” Zhu Wenshu said, then, feeling there was no need to hide it from Zhong Ya, added, “Actually—”

“Holy crap!”

Zhong Ya’s sudden shriek cut off what Zhu Wenshu was about to say.

Only then did she belatedly notice the atmosphere around them had shifted.

The entire banquet hall had erupted into a commotion, different from the usual noise.

And at their table, not just Zhong Ya but everyone else too was craning their necks, staring toward something behind her.

Zhu Wenshu immediately turned around, and sure enough, saw the arched double doors of the banquet hall thrown wide open.

The groom and bride, along with the entourage of groomsmen and bridesmaids, were escorting a man forward with great fanfare as they strode inside.

The crystal chandelier overhead cast its light down like a spotlight, illuminating the man. He wore a simple white shirt and dress pants, nothing especially formal, and though he was too far away to make out his face clearly, his tall, straight figure made even the formally dressed groom and groomsmen fade into the background.

Quite the entrance.

Zhu Wenshu thought idly to herself that she hoped Ling Chen wouldn’t have time to come to her own wedding someday—otherwise he’d steal the entire spotlight.

Wherever Ling Chen passed, the crowd surged like waves. Guests all rushed toward the aisle, some brazenly raising their phones to take photos.

The tables closer to the stage, aside from Zhu Wenshu’s group, had no idea what was happening at first.

Not until Ling Chen drew closer and people could gradually make out his face—

a wave of uproar suddenly broke out.

The people around them all stood up, raising their phones as well.

“Holy crap! It’s really Ling Chen!”

“Ling Chen? Is that really Ling Chen? Why is he here?”

“You didn’t know? Xu Guangliang is Ling Chen’s high school classmate!”

“Xu Guangliang’s got some serious pull, actually got Ling Chen to come—the gift money he’ll get today is worth it!”

Amid the surrounding discussion, Ling Chen was already just a few steps from their table.

Zhong Ya’s eyes were practically glued in place, and she still managed to say to Zhu Wenshu, “Which table do you think he’ll sit at? Should we try to squeeze over there?”

Just as she finished, Ling Chen and Xu Guangliang’s group had already reached the aisle beside the table.

Xu Guangliang, his face flushed with excitement, led the way, pointing ahead to a table. “We saved you a seat in the front row.”

Turning around, though, he saw Ling Chen showing no sign of moving forward, instead lowering his gaze to look toward a nearby round table.

As his gaze swept across everyone, the whole table seemed to inexplicably hold its breath, as if the air itself had frozen.

Caught up in the atmosphere, Zhu Wenshu felt a bit nervous too. In the brief second her eyes met Ling Chen’s, she found she had no idea what to say.

But Ling Chen didn’t say anything either—he simply glanced at the nameplate on the table, then said, “No need, I’ll sit here.”

The moment he spoke, Zhu Wenshu seemed to hear the collective gasp from everyone at the table.

Even Xu Guangliang paused for a moment, but quickly caught his meaning.

Fame brought plenty of gossip and attention—in a place this crowded and noisy, it made sense that Ling Chen would want to keep a lower profile by sitting with old classmates instead.

He glanced at the last remaining seat, about to say it seemed to already have someone in it—

but saw Zhu Wenshu wordlessly reach over and pick up her bag, and Ling Chen pulled out the chair and sat down.

“…”

Xu Guangliang hadn’t expected Zhu Wenshu to be so quick on the uptake, so he didn’t comment further.

“Well, sit tight then, let me know if you need anything, I’ll be around, or you can find my wife, she’s…”

Xu Guangliang turned to look and found his wife somewhat dazed, staring at Ling Chen with an unfocused, dreamlike look.

“You all go on ahead.”

Ling Chen said. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Ah, alright then.”

Remembering there were still many guests to welcome, Xu Guangliang didn’t linger, pulling his still half-dazed wife along, and left with the entourage of groomsmen and bridesmaids, glancing back several times as they went.

The crowd thinned out a little, but Zhu Wenshu still felt cramped, feeling as if she’d suddenly become a panda on display at a zoo.

After all, every set of eyes in the hall had converged on this spot, and plenty more people crowded in, forming a circle around Ling Chen at its center, leaving only the aisle for space.

Meanwhile, the old classmates at the table had finally snapped out of their daze and started looking for things to say to Ling Chen.

“You—you actually came? Long time no see, thought you wouldn’t show up.”

“You still remember me? I used to sit in front of you—I’m Hong Sinian.”

“You’re way more handsome than before… I remember you being so skinny back then, haha, it really has been a long time.”

…

Amid the awkward round of greetings, Zhong Ya’s remark felt like a breath of fresh air.

“So…” she poked Zhu Wenshu’s arm, sneaking a glance at Ling Chen. “Now that Ling Chen’s sitting here, where’s that friend you saved a seat for going to sit?”

The surroundings went silent for a beat, and several gazes slowly drifted toward Zhong Ya.

It was hard to imagine, at a moment like this, someone would still be so earnestly pondering such a question.

You didn’t see many people with single-track minds like this in the 21st century!

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

She had no idea how to explain this to Zhong Ya, that her “friend” had already arrived.

In the gap while Zhu Wenshu stood there speechless, Ling Chen leaned in, and, in front of everyone, tilted his head toward Zhong Ya.

“Take a look at me,” he said, drawing out the words unhurriedly, the corners of his eyes lifting slightly. “Do I look anything like Teacher Zhu’s friend?”

“…………”