The phone line fell into a prolonged silence.
Xu Xing, nestled under the covers, felt a twinge of nervousness. Noticing Kang Chen's lack of response, she inquired, "Did you… hear me?"
"I heard."
… Is that it?
Was his reaction somewhat underwhelming?
She fidgeted with her blanket, hesitating for a moment before finally speaking up, "Then, should I continue?"
"Mm."
How was it possible that she wanted to smash that indifferent expression off his face?
Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm…
Xu Xing collected her thoughts and cleared her throat, "Alright, then I'll proceed. Here's what happened…"
Kang Chen casually switched to speaker mode, placing the phone on the coffee table.
Xu Xing continued her stream of chatter on the other end, while Kang Chen was uncertain if he was actually listening. He removed his recently donned glasses and began to wipe them with a piece of black cloth.
"... So, I wanted to ask, did we meet during my graduate studies?" she cautiously inquired after a careful explanation.
The phone fell silent, so quiet that one could hear the faint sound of breathing.
"Are you not afraid to ask me this, considering my possible connection to your case?"
Xu Xing's lively heart suddenly tightened. She turned away, facing the window.
A night flight crossed the city's sky, its navigation lights flickering in and out, accompanied by the distant roar of engines as it approached and then vanished into the horizon.
She took a considerable time to respond.
Kang Chen was difficult to define. They had known each other for many years—three years in kindergarten, three in middle school, and a brief year in high school. Yet, she couldn't confidently claim she understood him well enough to assert that he had no connection to her case.
However, at this moment, he was her only lead concerning the past three years. Those who know how to seize the moment are the wise, and perhaps a slight betrayal of her conscience wouldn't matter.
After some contemplation, she said, "We've known each other for so long, and you're such a good person. There's no way you could do something so heinous, right?"
"I'm such a good person?"
Kang Chen emphasized those words, a weight behind them.
Xu Xing felt a flutter of unease.
He added, "Since when did you become so good at flattering?"
Are you a horse?
What kind of horse?
A stud horse?
What's wrong with flattering someone?
Isn't life already hard enough?
A little figure in Xu Xing's mind was furiously spinning in circles, critiquing her, but she took a deep breath and resolved to continue speaking against her better judgment. "Hehe, I'm not flattering you; I'm just stating the truth. You're clearly a cold exterior with a warm interior. I still remember how you gave me the little bunny from Teacher Sunflower back in kindergarten."
Provided I had helped you eat so many carrots.
Kang Chen probably didn't expect Xu Xing to suddenly dredge up memories from kindergarten. After a brief pause, he replied, "So, my admirable qualities can only be traced back to kindergarten?"
His tone carried a hint of self-deprecating irony that was characteristic of him.
D*mn! When will this end? Are we going to say anything or not?!
Xu Xing felt she had unwittingly handed him a weapon to use against her, and from now on, she would likely be subjected to humiliation.
At that moment, Kang Chen abruptly turned serious, "When you were in your third year of grad school, you attended a short program at AFI. I happened to be in Los Angeles, and you came to find me."
…?
Li Yuanjun had told her about her visit to the U.S. during her third year, but, "Why would I come to find you?"
"To hang out."
In other words, she went to him to mooch off food and drinks, right?
"And… what else?"
"You stayed at my place."
Wow, she even crashed at his place? Was her twenty-four-year-old self really that shameless?!
At the gym reunion, she had put on a brave face and boasted about working in education, dabbling in writing, while disdainfully commenting on how that gym was far from upscale. She had truly put on a performance. Did Kang Chen think she had lost her mind back then?
Also, it turned out that her financial struggles had been consistent; she had been so broke during grad school that she needed to crash with someone! No wonder her bank card had been frozen and recalled after her release for failing to pay the maintenance fee.
The overwhelming realization washed over Xu Xing, leaving her momentarily speechless.
Kang Chen paused for a moment before continuing, "You returned home after three months in Los Angeles, and we didn't have any contact until our recent meeting at the gym…"
Don't say any more!
If she were in his shoes, she wouldn't want to keep in touch with a so-called childhood sweetheart who had mooched off her for three months, would she?!
Xu Xing had never imagined that she would feel a sense of shame akin to "not being able to face a childhood sweetheart" in relation to Kang Chen.
With a heavy heart, she said, "I'm sorry, Kang Chen."
Then she silently hung up the phone, burying her head deep into the covers, trembling slightly.
***
In the days that followed, Xu Xing felt somewhat disoriented.
During the routine meeting on Monday, her mind was wandering when unexpectedly, her boss called her name, "... Alright, Xu Xing it is. Xu Xing?"
Teacher Zhou, seated beside her, discreetly nudged her foot under the table.
Snapping back to attention, she hurriedly replied, "Yes!"
"Hmm, you don't have any issues, do you?"
…?
What… no issues?
She didn't have time to think it over, so she quickly answered, "None at all."
Her boss appeared quite satisfied, nodding approvingly.
Feeling anxious, she sat for a few more minutes, and once the meeting concluded, she leaned closer to Teacher Zhou, quietly asking, "Zhou Zhou, what did the boss want me for just now? I didn't catch it."
"You didn't hear and yet you still dared to respond recklessly…" Teacher Zhou shot her a look that clearly conveyed exasperation. "It's just that you're supposed to go to Yong City for a workshop this weekend. You don't have any classes, so the boss asked you to go. You're not busy, are you?"
Hearing this, Xu Xing let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, it wasn't anything too absurd.
The teachers at their company often traveled for workshops, lectures, and exchanges of ideas; these short trips were reimbursed and not burdensome at all.
Xu Xing continued chatting with Teacher Zhou, and just as they stepped out of the conference room, her phone chimed with notifications.
She glanced at it, frowning.
"Loving family of mutual affection"
What on earth is this?
Puzzled, Xu Xing clicked into WeChat, where a group chat named "Loving Family of Mutual Affection" was buzzing with activity.
Upon entering, she noticed someone had tagged her, asking, "Who is this?"
…
I'm just as curious about who you are.
Before she could respond, someone else answered on her behalf, "This is Xu Xing; I brought her in."
After replying, they conveniently tagged Xu Xing again, prompting her to change the group name.
It took her a moment to recognize the person who answered for her—wasn't that Zhuo Xiaoqing?
When she had just gotten out of prison and was busy handling various procedures in Yong City, one day, while riding her electric scooter to the police station, she swerved to avoid a little girl who suddenly darted into the street, accidentally bumping into a nearby Mercedes.
As luck would have it, the window rolled down, revealing the owner of the Mercedes to be none other than her high school classmate, Zhuo Xiaoqing.
It's not that she's bragging, but despite having spent almost a year in prison, she still exuded the same charm as before, which allowed Zhuo Xiaoqing to recognize her immediately. They chatted for a bit, and then Zhuo Xiaoqing demanded compensation.
Encountering Zhuo Xiaoqing back then was even more awkward than meeting Kang Chen at the gym.
After all, during their school years, she was the center of attention, while Zhuo Xiaoqing had always been at odds with her, creating various tensions both openly and covertly.
Who could have predicted that years later, one would be a refined girl in a Mercedes while the other was a simple girl on an electric scooter?
Zhuo Xiaoqing had a sharp eye; she could instantly tell Xu Xing was struggling financially and made subtle digs at her from the sidewalk.
Xu Xing felt a surge of anger—when she had money, she was just as much of a "queen bee," effortlessly flaunting her prowess.
In a moment of inspiration, she decided to embody the persona of Li Yuanjun, casually mentioning that she was now a writer doing fieldwork, hence her more down-to-earth appearance.
Zhuo Xiaoqing seemed somewhat skeptical.
She then generously assured her that she would compensate her fully.
They exchanged WeChat information, and after settling on a compensation amount of twenty-eight thousand, Xu Xing generously rounded it up, handing Zhuo Xiaoqing three bundles of cash.
Yes, she borrowed that money from Li Yuanjun.
At the time, freshly out of prison, Xu Xing was oblivious to the hardships of life, not realizing that two thousand yuan could crush the spirit of countless heroes.
Remembering those two thousand yuan, Xu Xing felt a twinge of pain in her heart once again.
As more and more people joined the group, Xu Xing began to piece together that they were all classmates from their first year of high school.
Back then, there was no WeChat, and they couldn't often access the internet, so after splitting into classes, their QQ group had remained stagnant like a still pond.
Xu Xing had no idea how these classmates, who had barely kept in touch since their separation, suddenly found themselves together again, but she felt an unsettling premonition.
By the time Xu Xing finished work and opened WeChat, the number of messages in the group had grown so extensive that it was denoted by a red ellipsis.
At that moment, someone tagged her, asking, "Xu Xing, where are you now?"
Without time to scroll back, she simply replied, "Xing City."
"Xing City? That's great!"
Great, what's great about it?
She quickly caught onto other classmates discussing words like "weekend" and "classmate gathering," so she hurriedly added, "But I'll be in Yong City this weekend."
However, another classmate simultaneously posted, "Doesn't that mean you can often go to Xing City Satellite TV to watch the shows?"
"..."
It seemed she had misunderstood something.
Her comment about going to Yong City was too late to retract, for upon reading her message, that classmate expressed great emotion, "You're returning to Yong City specifically for the classmate gathering? That's wonderful! Can everyone learn from Xu Xing? Let's all try to make it if we can, alright?"
What a bizarre situation; she didn't want to go!
One misstep could lead to endless regrets. Just as Xu Xing was racking her brain for an excuse to decline, Kang Chen's call unexpectedly came through.
"Are you going to the gathering?"
Xu Xing paused, instinctively asking, "How did you know?"
Immediately, she realized she had made a rather foolish mistake—Kang Chen was also a classmate from their first year.
But could he even be in the group?
Xu Xing found it difficult to imagine Kang Chen quietly observing dozens of former classmates bantering in the chat.
After silently contemplating, she asked, "Are you going?"
He certainly wouldn't be attending.
"If you go, then I'll go."
D*mn, does he need a companion to show off?