The graduation ceremony at University C is a week earlier than at University A.
On the day before Nuo's graduation ceremony, his parents rushed over from a neighbouring city.
Yu and Nuo's parents sat separately in the audience at the University C's graduation ceremony. Two hours after the ceremony ended, Yu met Nuo's parents at the gate of the University C's living area, and introduced to them as a dear friend. They went to a restaurant for a meal, along with Nuo's classmate and close friend, Liu Tao, who was brought along by Nuo as a shield.
Nuo's parents are both researchers at a university in the neighbouring city, exuding a halo of accumulated knowledge and life experiences.
Thank you, Uncle and Aunt, for giving me such a wonderful Nuo, Yu thought to himself.
A week later was the graduation ceremony of University A. The only one present at Yu's graduation ceremony was his mother. Yu's mother arrived two days early from City A to Qianlin, and they went to the airport together to pick up her.
"Feeling nervous, Math Little Prince?" Yu jokingly asked Nuo, who was staring at the flight information screen in the airport lobby.
"Not at all," Nuo replied, looking past Yu towards the Starbucks behind him. "I'll go buy a coffee for Aunt."
"No need, my mom doesn't drink that stuff," Yu said, grabbing Nuo's hand, and noticing the rare hint of nervousness on his face. "Really nervous, your palms are so sweaty,"
Yu smiled warmly.
Nuo, the Little Prince, was defeated.
"Your... Aunt..." Nuo pursed his lips.
"My mom really likes you," Yu said as the flight from City A was announced to have landed. "I showed your photos to my parents a long time ago. They..." Yu chuckled quietly. "Really like you."
"I've been wanting to tell you earlier, but I couldn't resist seeing how you would react before meeting my parents," Yu relaxed his posture, exuding a hint of playfulness. "You really made me wait."
"You..." Nuo, who always acted neither hurried nor slow, felt a mix of annoyance and amusement at the moment. He was so deliberate in wanting to see him nervous, yet so gentle.
With these thoughts, he involuntarily embraced Yu.
"I'm not nervous at all."
All the previous worries in his heart suddenly vanished. He had thought Yu only came out to his family, but it turned out he had paved the way for everything long ago.
Yu's mother, Tang Jing, emerged pushing a luggage cart, seeing the two embracing each other.
"Mom," Yu and Nuo turned to see Jing walking towards them with a smile.
"Hi, Aunt, I'm Wang Nuo," Nuo said.
Jing carefully examined the young man in front of her, then, linking her arm with Nuo's, left the luggage for her own son and walked towards the exit.
"Nuo, tell me, what do you see in that rebellious boy?" Jing's words did not hide her disdain for her own son.
Nuo, surprised by Jing's directness, felt relieved and calm. "Being with him makes time stand still."
In an instant, everything seemed timeless.
On the day of Yu's graduation ceremony, Nuo and Jing sat side by side in the family area. Watching Yu walk onto the stage, receive his certificate, shake hands with the principal, and bow to the audience, Nuo felt everything was so real yet unreal.
Jing took a few videos of Yu on stage with her phone.
"Yu came out to me and his father when he was 13," Jing said as she watched the graduates walk across the stage."At that time, his younger brother, Fu Ze, had just turned one."
13 years old? Yu had mentioned coming out to his family early, but Nuo didn't expect it to be that early.
"His father and I are both business people and neglected him during his childhood. When we first found out, we thought it was a ploy to seek attention. Yu told me he liked a boy in his class, and his heart raced when he saw that boy. It was only then that we realized he was serious.'"
"You also know that children born in our generation understand that many things are actually right, but we cannot accept them." Jing's gaze drifted back to the past through the stage. "Finally, we even took him to the hospital, hoping for a correction. The doctor's tests showed that Yu was very certain he liked boys from birth. He told us 'Homosexuality is not an illness, it's just an orientation, a natural law existing in the world.'"
"At 14 or 15, in the rebellious phase, our relationship with Yu was very tense. It wasn't until his younger brother Ze's fifth birthday that he said his birthday wish was 'I hope my brother can be happy.' That's when his father and I realised, does it really matter if Yu likes boys or girls? Isn't the most important thing for him to be happy and content with the person he loves?"
"'His happiness and well-being are our greatest wishes."
Through the passage of time, Nuo seemed to catch a glimpse of the uncompromising nature of Yu's, along with the struggles and unhappiness of those days.
When he decided to come out to his family one day, would he receive understanding? Nuo thought of.
"Auntie, Yu is truly happy," Nuo said, each word spoken with great sincerity.
Jing smiled gracefully, "I see."
Yu's father, Fukai, was busy with business overseas and Ze had to present at school, so they couldn't come to attend.
After the graduation ceremony, Yu, dressed in academic grown, connected via video call with his father and younger brother, with his "fiancé" Nuo making an appearance.
The family was exceptionally pleased to see them all.