Chapter 5

For the first two minutes after Ren Wei left, the table was still murmuring.

Five minutes later, everyone fell silent.

“Is Mu Yicong the only one missing now?” someone asked.

With Ren Wei gone, Liu Dameng became the second-in-command.

He stood up and counted heads. “Yeah, everyone’s here except Mu Yicong and Ren Wei.”

“Ren Wei’s been gone a while picking him up,” someone else laughed. “Mu Yicong’s got a real big shot attitude now, huh?”

“Didn’t he become some kind of CEO or something?”

“Didn’t see that back in school…”

“What do you mean you didn’t see it? Wasn’t it because his dad got transferred to our city as… um…” A guy raised his index finger, pointing mysteriously upwards. “That’s why he transferred to No. 9 Middle School.”

“Oh, yeah, I think I heard that rumor.”

“Still can’t see it though,” the first guy insisted. “Back in school, he was…”

The few people gossiping all turned their heads in unison, shooting glances at Qi Yang and his group, then pretending to shut up.

“What a great thing.”

A man with a beer belly, who had been blowing his nose like a freight train ever since Qi Yang walked in, opened his mouth, sniffling and whining.

“If they’re not married, our female classmates would all have a chance. Even if they are married, you girls still have a chance.”

A few girls at the table rolled their eyes at him. One of them muttered disdainfully, “Still as classless as ever.”

Another girl called him a ‘dumbass’.

“That fat guy is the sports commissioner, right?” Qi Yang wanted to laugh. He rested his elbow on the table, propping his mouth with his hand, and asked Liu Dameng quietly. “Haven’t changed his topics at all, has he?”

“That’s him.” Liu Dameng forked a piece of orange into his mouth. “His head’s full of that shit.”

“He was always interested in gender-related stuff since school,” Cui Wu said. “Is the orange sour?”

“Pretty sweet.” Liu Dameng forked a piece for him too.

The casual conversation shifted from Mu Yicong to marriage. Everyone was asking each other if they were married or not when the door to the private room finally clicked open.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, sorry to keep you waiting.” Ren Wei strode in briskly and stood by the door. “Our old classmate, Mu Yicong, has arrived.”

Just like when Qi Yang had walked in, over a dozen people stopped talking at once and looked towards the door.

Qi Yang leaned back in his chair, shaking his head to refuse the orange Liu Dameng was passing him over Cui Wu. Hearing the announcement, he turned his face as well.

He had definitely changed.

Watching Mu Yicong walk through the door, Qi Yang’s eyebrows moved slightly as Liu Dameng’s description of him came to mind.

Like a supermodel.

As if he had his own entry effect, Mu Yicong strode in with his long legs, looking like a mannequin that had stepped out of a magazine.

The first thing that caught everyone’s eyes was a long black coat. From its lines to its texture, it was sharp and elegant. Even Qi Yang could tell it was a high-end custom piece.

Beneath the perfectly tailored jacket was a pure black wool lining, without a single stray thread. The half-high collar accentuated his long, smooth neck and shoulders. His jawline was quite beautiful.

Moving up from there, a thin, aristocratic mouth, a high, straight nose bridge, and those eyes…

Meeting Mu Yicong’s dark, deep pupils, Qi Yang’s eyelids froze mid-blink as he realized he had no idea what expression to put on.

But before he could adjust his features, Mu Yicong had already calmly looked away.

“My apologies.”

Mu Yicong ignored Ren Wei, who was standing by the door about to applaud. He took off his coat and casually handed it to an etiquette lady. A watch flashed discreetly beneath his sleeve, half-hidden by his wrist.

He walked straight to the dining table, his tone as if he were at some high-level corporate meeting at his own company: “Got stuck in traffic.”

The old classmates immediately started saying it was no big deal. Ren Wei hurriedly followed, leading Mu Yicong to the reserved seat, and chimed in, “No problem, Yicong. Everyone just got here too.”

Amidst all the greetings, Qi Yang awkwardly lowered his eyelids.

Mu Yicong was sitting diagonally in front of him, separated by three people. No matter how he adjusted, he was facing him.

“Fuck,” Liu Dameng cursed under his breath.

Qi Yang looked over and saw Liu Dameng making a gesture under the table. He first held up a ‘1’, then spread all five fingers, turning his hand back and forth several times.

Based on years of tacit understanding, Qi Yang understood that Liu Dameng was trying to express the value of the watch on Mu Yicong’s wrist.

Cui Wu’s eyes widened. He also stretched out five fingers and flipped them back and forth.

Liu Dameng nodded affirmatively, looked up at Qi Yang, and said, “Mhm!”

See? I told you so.

Qi Yang glanced sideways at him.

“Since all the old classmates who were supposed to come are here… We’re all old friends, so I won’t stand on ceremony. I’ll be bold and propose the first toast.”

Ren Wei picked up his wine glass and started to take charge.

“Today…”

The table fell silent again, everyone looking up at Ren Wei giving his toast speech.

Qi Yang looked away from Liu Dameng. When he looked up, Mu Yicong was leaning back in his chair, legs crossed, and their eyes met again.

This time, Qi Yang didn’t move. He stared at him.

Mu Yicong didn’t move either. He was in a relaxed, casual posture, his head slightly tilted as he listened to someone beside him, but his eyes were fixed on Qi Yang’s face. In his gaze was a flicker of subtle… mockery.

With just that one look, Qi Yang suddenly felt that Mu Yicong hadn’t changed at all.

Back in school, that’s how Mu Yicong was. Aloof. Arrogant. Eyes on the top of his head, looking down on everyone.

Especially him, Qi Yang.

Whenever he had to interact with Qi Yang, his eyes held a barely concealed indifference and disdain. Occasionally, when he was in a good mood and smiled at him, it was always a mocking smile, like he was looking at a clown.

That’s right. Not a single thing had changed.

Qi Yang suddenly relaxed.

Mu Yicong had simply grown up to become the person he was always meant to be.

With this conclusion drawn, Qi Yang stopped agonizing over whether or not to greet him, whether to express his guilt towards the guy like Liu Dameng had suggested, just to feel better about himself.

He and Mu Yicong had never been on the same path.

It was the same as before, and it would just have to stay the same now.

But some people clearly didn’t think that way.

After Ren Wei’s toast was over and everyone had a drink, the atmosphere relaxed a little.

A few classmates who were more talkative back in school started to open up, taking turns to speak and propose toasts, though the topics all somehow revolved around Mu Yicong.

Ren Wei was sitting across from them, watching. For whatever reason, he suddenly called out, “Qi Yang, say something, will you? You and Mu Yicong probably haven’t seen each other in a long time either.”

Qi Yang knew he was annoying back in school. He was in trouble every other day, the type of student who was the hardest to discipline.

Even thinking back on it now, he found himself annoying.

But there was one thing about his personality that he still kept to this day.

He absolutely hated being the center of attention.

During his most arrogant days in school, he led a group of school thugs and trashed the principal’s office. At that time, the whole school knew him. Even among the young punks in town, the name ‘Qi Yang’ meant something.

But in a way, that was also the most low-key he’d ever been.

Unlike Liu Dameng and Cui Wu, who kind of enjoyed the fearful or disgusted looks they got from others, Qi Yang genuinely just found it annoying.

When a group went out to play, he never walked shoulder-to-shoulder with anyone. He liked to drift along at the back by himself.

Unless there was trouble and he had to step in and talk, he was always used to just acting first and asking questions later.

Today, from the moment he walked in, at least three or four groups of people at the table had been whispering about him.

And now, this dumbass Ren Wei was even calling him out by name.

The whole roomful of people stared at him again as if he were some kind of sideshow.

Qi Yang had just lit a cigarette. He was listening to them talk, spinning his lighter on the table.

At Ren Wei’s words, he lifted his eyelids and stared back. Out of the corner of his eye, he could feel Mu Yicong watching him too.

Ren Wei had always been a little scared of Qi Yang back in school.

After being stared at for two seconds, he instinctively wanted to look away. His eyes slid towards Mu Yicong, but he held his ground, thinking of something.

The huge night view private room fell into a strangely oppressive silence.

“Go ahead.” Qi Yang put the lighter in his palm and tapped his wine glass with two fingers. “I quit.”

“I’ll do it.” Liu Dameng knew Qi Yang’s temper. He picked up his own glass and stood up. “This party was kinda my idea anyway.”

“Qi Yang doesn’t like talking at these things. You all know that.” Cui Wu chuckled, crossing his arms, and chimed in.

Ren Wei stood there awkwardly for a moment, then forced a grin and sat down.

“Just now, Ren Wei mentioned Mu Yicong. To be honest, I set this whole thing up with Ren Wei today because I wanted to say a few words to our old classmate.”

Liu Dameng did have a purpose today, so he cut straight to the point when he stood up.

“I don’t know if you remember, Mu Yicong, but I ran into you a few days ago, bro.”

“I didn’t think about it when I didn’t see you, but the day I saw you, I suddenly remembered a lot of things from before. Thinking back now, we were all pretty reckless back in high school. Clueless. We gave you a hard time.”

“Today, since most of the old classmates who know the story are here, they all know what was going on back then.”

Liu Dameng put it very diplomatically, not even mentioning the andrology hospital incident. His intention was to save face for himself, and for Mu Yicong, who they’d tormented relentlessly back in school.

He clinked his glass against the table and faced Mu Yicong. “I want to apologize for what happened back then. Bottoms up.”

Liu Dameng downed his drink in one gulp. Naturally, a few classmates who were good at smoothing things over chimed in, saying things like “Water under the bridge” and “The fact that Mu Yicong came today shows he’s not holding a grudge.” They were trying to liven up the atmosphere again with their laughter.

Qi Yang didn’t look at Mu Yicong’s reaction. He tapped his ash off the table and pursed his lips slightly.

He understood what Liu Dameng meant, and he knew Liu Dameng was genuinely sorry.

He had come with the same intention himself. But after seeing Mu Yicong’s eyes just now, he knew that no matter how nicely Liu Dameng put it, it was meaningless in this setting.

What was the point?

He didn’t even need to put himself in Mu Yicong’s shoes to figure it out: You get bullied by people, they mess with you for your entire middle and high school career. Now, times have changed. A half-hearted apology, and they expect to sweep it all under the rug.

How much genuine remorse was there in that glass of wine? It was just a way to make themselves feel better.

“I’ll drink one too.” Cui Wu was thinking the same thing as Liu Dameng. He downed a glass of wine and said a few words of apology.

Neither of them actively mentioned Qi Yang, but everyone at the table was still staring at him.

With looks of anticipation, amusement, waiting for him to make a fool of himself.

There was no way around it. Back then, the one who’d really given Mu Yicong the most trouble was him, Qi Yang.

“If you ever need anything, just say the word.”

Qi Yang didn’t drink, and he didn’t have a lot to say. He just said this one thing to Mu Yicong.

Mu Yicong didn’t give any response to anyone, from Liu Dameng to Cui Wu.

Ren Wei was studying his expression, about to say something, when Mu Yicong met Qi Yang’s gaze and spoke. “There is actually something.”

“Yeah,” Qi Yang acknowledged. “Tell me.”

“Crawl over here.” Mu Yicong gave a slight tilt of his chin towards the empty space beside him. “Qi Yang.”