Stepping out of the car, she placed her feet onto the familiar yet unfamiliar grounds of Zhi Shi University. It only felt familiar to her due to her newly acquired memories.
The same old trees that she had never seen in her life seemed to be welcoming her as the wind gently shook its leaves. A few rows of glass buildings interlinked with some other smaller structures by their sides. The neatly paved pathway linked from a wide parking area to the glass buildings. A long trail of short bush hedges surrounded the fence of the school. A few flowerbeds intricately positioned in some areas of the neatly crisp lawn grass to add a beautiful and fascinating look to the school environment. The flowerbeds made up of beautiful flowers that seemed to release their aroma into the air filling it with freshness and a flowery fragrance.
Students were in groups in various areas of the school grounds. Some were on the pathway happily chatting as they walked to class, while some sat on benches. Others were seated or standing on the grass lawn.
For a brief moment, Zhu Yunqing became engrossed as she checked out the University. With everything that had happened and what she had seen so far, she would easily believe if someone told her that she was in a dream. Things were indeed beautiful in the past, but the modern versions seem to be even more enthralling.
After Wei Chujiu got out of the car and finished giving a few instructions to her driver, she hurried to where Zhu Yunqing stood and pulled her towards one of the buildings.
"Let's go!"
Her pull broke Zhu Yunqing from her engrossed state. Only then did she notice the quick side glances and stares of the students. As Wei Chujiu pulled her along, Zhu Yunqing gave herself some cheering up in her mind. 'Fighting!'
Wei Chujiu has been used to it for a long time now. When she was the only one coming, she would just ignore the stares and plaster on an indifferent look on her face and walked on. But this time around, it was different. Wei Chujiu interlocked her hands with Zhu Yunqing's. She had a bright and cheerful smile on her face as they walked towards their class. It was like she wanted to show the entire school or even the whole world that they were back being friends. And this time around, their relationship would be unbreakable.
Wei Chujiu and Zhu Yunqing were in the same class, Art class. Though, they didn't take the same set of courses. They only had a few similar courses. Zhu Yunqing was yet to choose her major, so she has been doing a generalized course. Wei Chujiu, on the other hand, wanted to be an actress from the onset. So after University, she would go to acting school.
Entering their class, Wei Chujiu chose to seat in the second row. A few of their classmates were around and chattering away in the classroom.
"Whoa! Who is that with Young Miss Wei?"
"Wait! Isn't that Zhu Yunqing." A girl who went to the same high school as them was able to recognize Zhu Yunqing.
"Wow! She looks so much different now!"
"She even looks beautiful now!"
"Damn! If I had known she was this hot, I would have gone after her," one of the boys said after checking out Zhu Yunqing.
Some, who were in the same high school with them knew about how sour their relationship had gotten for some years now found it weird to see them together. It was still strange even for those who didn't know that they were best of friends initially to see them being chummy now.
"Whoa! Have they made up?" a girl uttered as she pulled her glasses away from her eyes, cleaned them and wore them again to make sure that she was seeing right. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The girl was one of their classmates ever since high school, and she knew when they started acting like the north and south poles.
"Were they friends before? I thought they never liked each other," her friend asked.
"Yeah! They were good friends in high school. I don't know the reason, but during the last year of high school, they had a big fight and stopped being friends. No one ever knew what their fight was about," the first girl that spoke answered.
"Zhu Yunqing's style seems to have changed," another girl joined their conversation.
"Yeah! Her dressing has always been weird. And she never made it for class this early before," the first girl said.
"Damn! Her clothes were really ugly previously," her friend added.
"Yeah, she always skips classes too and follows Young Master Tang around."
Another student interrupted, upon hearing them mentioning Young Master Tang, "Speaking of Young Master Tang, did you guys see the news? I doubt he will still be able to show his face around here anymore."
"But don't you think he must have had his way with Zhu Yunqing also?"
"And the relationship between him, Zhu Yunqing, Zhu Yanyu is weird also!"
"Yeah! Maybe he was messing around with both girls."
"Who knew that Yu An Qiao would be so cheap that she would even go to the extent of sleeping with her friend's boyfriend?"
"If I knew she was that cheap, I would have gone after her," one of the boys' in the class commented.
"So the news is true! Do you think that's why Zhu Yunqing did not come to school all this while?"
"I heard that she was sick!"
"Do you believe that?"
"Maybe she was too heartbroken to come to school!"
Gossip was something that seemed to easily fly around and the entrance of Wei Chujiu and Zhu Yunqing into the classroom had stimulated the students' thirst for gossip.
From where they sat, Zhu Yunqing heard the whispers and noticed the strange looks directed at them. Her most especially, but she couldn't care less about their nonsense talks.
Suddenly the classroom became quiet. So much so that if a pin dropped, the sound could be heard. The only sound that penetrated the air was the clacking of someone shoes.