SYLM Chapter 73

Chapter 73 “Can you please take me?”

Chapter 73 “Can you please take me?”

In the restroom.

The lights were cold and white, reflecting a scene of utter silence.

Icy liquid slowly flowed from the faucet, sliding across her fair hand, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold.

Chen Lu lowered her head to look at the water, her fingertips trembling slightly, as if the coldness was seeping into her heart through her skin. She slowly raised her head, her gaze falling on her reflection in the mirror—

Her face, which could be described as beautiful, was now shrouded in a haze, looking unhappy.

Annoyed.

Chen Lu frowned.

Recalling a certain someone’s reaction at the dinner table just now, in the mirror, a pair of crescent eyes reflected endless indifference and alienation. Chen Lu’s eyes met her reflection in the mirror, her expression icy.

Gu Wan Jun, you’ve crossed the line.

From the very beginning, Chen Lu knew that Gu Wan Jun would come, after all, this person had once been their homeroom teacher.

When she received the phone invitation from the class monitor, Li Wen Qi, Chen Lu had only been back in the country for three days. At that time, she was at the restaurant opened by her best friend, Fu Yi Wen, after graduation, sampling the dishes.

Initially, when she received the invitation, Chen Lu was prepared to explicitly refuse, but Fu Yi Wen, who was sitting opposite her, forcibly snatched the phone away, and readily agreed that she and Chen Lu would definitely be there on time, before hanging up the phone.

“Fu Yi Wen, what do you want to do?”

“What do you mean, what do I want to do? What’s wrong with attending a class reunion?”

“You know perfectly well what I mean.”

“It’s not me saying, Lu Lu, your issues with Gu Wan Jun are ancient history. Besides, what does it matter to her if you attend the class reunion?”

“I don’t want to see her.”

“Don’t want to see her? That’s easy, your eyes are on your own body, just don’t look at her when the time comes, right?”

“…I’m not going.”

“Aiya, good Lu Lu, please, just treat it as accompanying me, okay? Jiang Zhen Zhen’s flight is delayed and she can’t come back, if you don’t go either, what’s the point of me going alone!”

“I don’t care if there’s a point for you, anyway, I’m not going.”

“That won’t do! I already agreed with the class monitor!”

“You agreed, you go, I didn’t agree.”

“No, you… are you really not going?”

“Not going.”

“If you don’t go, I… I’ll take it as you haven’t let go of Gu Wan Jun yet. You’re not going because you’re afraid of rekindling old flames with her!”

“Fu Yi Wen, you’ve learned a thing or two from Tang Ying now, you even know how to use reverse psychology.”

“…We’re talking about whether you’re going to the class reunion or not, what does Tang Ying have to do with it!?”

“How is it unrelated? Who did you apply to Yunjiang City University for?”

“?”

“Who did you desperately lose weight for?”

“…”

“Who did you cook for and take care of around the clock during the quarantine period?”

“…”

“After graduation, who did you use all your savings to open a restaurant for?”

“Alright, alright! Who, who, who! Who else could it be for! You’re really a living ancestor, you’ve gone way off topic! Just tell me whether you agree to go to the class reunion or not!”

“I don’t agree.”

“You… Fine! Anyway, I dare to act and dare to take responsibility. I admit that I haven’t been able to let go of Tang Ying, but what about you? You keep saying you’ve let go of Gu Wan Jun, who can prove it?”

“I don’t need to prove it to anyone.”

“If you don’t dare to prove it, it means you’re guilty!”

“Say whatever you want, anyway, I’m not going.”

“Chen Lu! If you don’t go, I… I’ll cry for you to see!”

“…Did Tang Ying give you some kind of death order?”

“Haha, as expected, Lu Lu knows me best, it’s not for nothing that we’ve been friends for so many years. But to tell you the truth, this matter really isn’t Tang Ying’s idea.”

“Is that so.”

“Lu Lu, others don’t understand you, but I do, I understand you too well. That incident back then caused you so much harm that you couldn’t sleep at night for years, and you self-harmed from time to time. Auntie Qing Yu has told me all about it, and there were even a few times when you almost—”

“Enough, why bring up the past.”

“I insist on bringing it up! Lu Lu, I don’t necessarily want to force you to see Gu Wan Jun, but you can’t keep fighting with yourself. If you want the wound to heal, you have to clean out the rotten flesh inside. You can’t keep saying you’ve let go while being trapped in that rainy night. Do you think you’re just taking revenge on Gu Wan Jun by doing this? You’re still torturing yourself to death! I’m your friend, I can’t just watch you hang yourself on Gu Wan Jun’s tree for the rest of your life!”

“……”

The emotionally charged conversation replayed in Chen Lu’s mind, shaking every nerve. She vaguely remembered her final, faint reply, “Isn’t it just a gathering? I’ll go. After the gathering, don’t mention that person’s name in front of me again.”

The sound of water flowing in the restroom reached her ears, drip, drip, drip, as if time was passing little by little, as if someone was crying silently, or as if it was the torrential rain that had weighed on her heart five years ago.

Why be persistent in a valley without echoes, she should have let go long ago.

Shouldn’t she?

Turning off the faucet, the water flow stopped abruptly, and the surroundings fell into dead silence. Chen Lu took a deep breath, turned and left, the figure in the mirror also disappearing with it, leaving only a cold blank space.

As Chen Lu left the private room, Gu Wan Jun’s heart flew to the restroom with her.

She’s been gone for almost ten minutes, why hasn’t she come back yet?

Gu Wan Jun pursed her lips, and when she looked up, she happened to see Fu Yi Wen, who was sitting diagonally across from her, also looking at her watch frequently.

The others around were busy chatting, and few people noticed this direction. Gu Wan Jun kept her voice very low:

“Chen Lu has been gone for so long, Fu Yi Wen, why don’t you go and take a look.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Fu Yi Wen looked up and met Gu Wan Jun’s eyes. Even though what this person said was exactly what she was thinking, Fu Yi Wen still found it difficult to have a good tone when she opened her mouth to answer:

“No need to bother Gu teacher, I was just about to go find Lu Lu. I would have found Lu Lu already in the time I’ve spent talking to Gu teacher.”

With that, Fu Yi Wen got up and left the private room.

Gu Wan Jun understood Fu Yi Wen’s reaction, after all, she had hurt Chen Lu so deeply, how could she expect Chen Lu’s friend to have a good attitude towards her.

Rather than caring about Fu Yi Wen’s attitude towards her, Gu Wan Jun was more concerned about how Chen Lu was doing now and whether she would still appear in the private room.

The surrounding chatter continued, and Gu Wan Jun, whose mind was full of Chen Lu, lowered her eyes. She gently swirled her wine glass, listening aimlessly. Suddenly, a fleeting keyword floated into her ears, attracting the woman’s attention—

“Class monitor, I heard that you and Chen Lu have been invited back to our alma mater as outstanding alumni representatives to give a speech to this year’s senior high school students.”

“Yeah, it was originally the three of us, me, Chen Lu, and Jiang Zhen Zhen, but Jiang Zhen Zhen can’t come back, so it’s just me and Chen Lu going.”

“Oh my god, that’s an honor. You have to show off the excellent style of our Class of 2019 alumni. When are you going?”

“The principal scheduled us to go to the school’s auditorium during evening self-study tomorrow night.”

“Well, it still has to be Ningcheng No. 1 High School, where you have to go to school even if knives are falling from the sky. I knew that these old guys would never take up the students’ class time, they would only be willing to squeeze the students’ evening self-study. Tsk, I originally wanted to join in the fun, but unfortunately, I have work tomorrow.”

“……”

The chatter continued to drift into her ears. Over there, the topic naturally turned to salary and benefits. Over here, someone who was listening intently quietly took out her phone from under the table and thoughtfully opened the WeChat chat box of a certain old leader in her list.

About two minutes later, the door of the private room opened, and Chen Lu and Fu Yi Wen came back.

Her slender fingers paused as she quickly typed under the table. The moment the person opposite her sat down again, Gu Wan Jun locked her phone screen, pretending that nothing had happened.

The lively chat continued, and after a while, Fu Yi Wen, who was looking at her phone frequently, whispered a few words to Chen Lu, then got up to say goodbye.

“Sorry everyone, I have something to do and have to leave first, excuse me.”

The sudden farewell caused quite a bit of criticism from the crowd. Everyone was trying to persuade Fu Yi Wen to stay, Gu Wan Jun quietly sized up Chen Lu.

Will Chen Lu leave with her too?

Gu Wan Jun’s heart felt like it was growing grass, and she suppressed her infatuated and reluctant gaze, not daring to take her eyes off Chen Lu, afraid that this person would disappear in the next second.

And until Fu Yi Wen left the private room amidst the sounds of goodbye, Chen Lu, who was sitting opposite her, did not get up. Gu Wan Jun was relieved to see this, and the wine glass that was about to be crushed was finally liberated.

As soon as Fu Yi Wen left the private room, the phone under the table vibrated. Gu Wan Jun lowered her eyes, unlocked it, and saw a message from Tang Ying.

Tang Ying: [I’ve transferred the light bulb away for you, fight for it.]

The lights in the private room were bright, and the words on the phone screen were a bit dazzling. Gu Wan Jun looked at the words in front of her several times before her fingers quickly typed a reply: [You know about the gathering?]

Tang Ying: [Fu Yi Wen reports to me wherever she goes, didn’t you know.]

The fingers that were typing suddenly stopped. Gu Wan Jun sighed and found it a bit funny.

She shouldn’t have asked that question.

No wonder Chen Lu didn’t leave with her just now, it turned out that Tang Ying was the one who was looking for Fu Yi Wen.

But even if Fu Yi Wen left, what could she do?

Moving her gaze away from the screen, Gu Wan Jun raised her head and secretly glanced at Chen Lu, who was listening carefully to the others, then lowered her head again. She didn’t know what to reply.

As if she had sensed her thoughts, a few seconds later, Tang Ying’s message jumped out on the screen again: [You’ve been typing for half a day and haven’t sent a word, don’t tell me your phone exploded.]

Gu Wan Jun pursed her lips and typed: [No]

Tang Ying: [Nonsense, of course I know it didn’t.]

Tang Ying: [You’re being so slow and timid right now. When Chen Lu really has a boyfriend, I don’t know who’s going to be so useless and cry over her pictures in the middle of the night, disturbing our Xiao Duoduo’s sleep. Annoying.]

Tang Ying: [If you want to get back together, hurry up. Don’t blame me for not reminding you. A beautiful young girl like your little follower won’t stay single for long, you can figure it out yourself.]

[……]

Get back together?

Her fingers gripped the phone tightly, her knuckles turning white from the excessive force, as if she wanted to pour all her emotions into this cold machine.

What qualifications did she have to get back together with Chen Lu?

Thinking of that rainy night five years ago, waves of bitterness surged one after another, almost drowning Gu Wan Jun. She knew that she had long lost the qualifications to stand by Chen Lu’s side.

In the five years since they separated, Chen Lu had become more and more excellent, and more and more dazzling. How could she be worthy of her, and how could she dare to hope that she would still forgive her and accept her…

After three rounds of wine, Gu Wan Jun felt a little dizzy after drinking glass after glass of cold wine. She supported her chin with one hand. Perhaps it was the alcohol that was working, and the peach blossom eyes, which had previously only dared to secretly look at someone, were now openly sketching the beautiful and quiet profile of the person opposite her.

How many times had this face appeared in her dreams? Looking at this face, even the most bitter wine would become sweet.

Let it be like this.

Isn’t it good to still have the opportunity to meet her like this?

Gu Wan Jun, don’t be too greedy.

If the previous subtle peeks could still be pretended to be ignored, then the current direct gaze was like putting Chen Lu on the fire to roast, making it difficult for people not to notice.

Gu Wan Jun, you’ve crossed the line again.

Chen Lu frowned and met the direct gaze with a cold face. She saw Gu Wan Jun lazily supporting her chin, like a contented cat, her cheeks flushed with a rose-colored blush that spread all the way to the roots of her ears. Her eyes, which were usually clear and gentle, were now covered with a layer of mist, and the slightly upturned corners of her eyes carried a bit of unconscious charm. Her curled and thick eyelashes trembled slightly, casting a fan-shaped shadow under her eyes, slowly rising and falling with the frequency of her breathing.

The moment their eyes met, the woman’s gaze was innocent and charming, fragile and seductive. Her eyes flowed with a hazy focus, as if she wanted to drill into someone’s wildly beating heart to see what was going on.

Chen Lu felt that she should leave.

Seeing Chen Lu get up to leave, Deng Peng, who was obsessed with matchmaking, immediately grabbed his good buddy Qin Hao Yang and pushed him in front of the “heroine”, saying with a smile:

“Chen Lu is leaving? Perfect, let Hao Yang take you.”

“No need, I’ll take a taxi back.”

“Don’t, it’s so late, we’d be worried about you going back alone, so let Hao Yang take you—”

“I… I feel a little uncomfortable.”

A gentle and lazy female voice suddenly cut into the conversation of several people. Following the voice, everyone saw Gu Wan Jun, her face flushed, supporting her forehead, her voice weak: “Maybe I drank too much.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the people around her immediately surrounded her with concern, calling her teacher this and teacher that, but Gu Wan Jun only raised her eyes to look at Chen Lu:

“I should go home too. The others haven’t finished chatting yet. Can I trouble you to take me home?”

“……”

Meeting those watery peach blossom eyes, Chen Lu, who was suddenly cued, knew the deep meaning behind the person in front of her’s behavior. She frowned slightly and refused without hesitation:

“I didn’t drive, and we don’t live in the same direction.”

“……”

Chen Lu’s overly straightforward rejection made the people around her a little confused. Everyone looked at each other, wondering if their memories were playing tricks on them.

Weren’t these two very close in high school? Chen Lu shouldn’t refuse Gu teacher.

The gossipy gazes of the crowd shifted and scanned between the two, and for Chen Lu’s direct rejection, Gu Wan Jun seemed not to have heard it. She rubbed her temples, her tone adding a bit of grievance and coquetry: “I… I’m dizzy and want to vomit.”

Chen Lu’s eyebrows twitched slightly, but what she said was still a clear refusal: “I get carsick, I’m afraid I can’t take you. If it really doesn’t work, let the class monitor call a car for you—”

“Chen Lu.” Gu Wan Jun interrupted Chen Lu, she reached out and loosely tugged at the sleeve of the person in front of her, softly begging: “My daughter is still waiting for me at home, can you please take me?”

“……”