Translator: Alfredo Poutine Soup Editor: DesTheSloth
For someone who was going to hold a wedding ceremony, their lives would be much busier than an ordinary person’s.
Old friends and classmates would constantly invite Xue Shao to party giving the excuse of celebrating his marriage. Such as the so-called Bachelor Nights.
But they all knew Xue Shao well, so they only found a small bar for some drinking.
Xue Shao was slightly drunk.
He sat on the sofa, holding a bottle of beer while looking at the faces of his friends. What made him feel tired was that the time seemed to crawl by at a slow pace… ever since he came back.
His high school class monitor walked close to Xue Shao and proposed a toast to him while saying that, “Are you still alright? Why don’t you drink with the others?”
The class monitor sat by Xue Shao;s side while asking.
“Well… I just want to be alone.” Xue Shao smiled, “It is good to just look around too.”
“Being emotional about life? Life made you mature, that is true.” The class monitor seemed to realize something and he accompanied Xue Shao looking at these excited classmates.
“Oh, I have sent the wedding invitation to our head teacher instead of you.” The class monitor said to him.
Xue Shao was shocked and curious, “You have sent… oh, now I remember. Zishan told me when I was on a business trip. Thank you for sending it, I should have been the one to do so.”
“My pleasure.” Monitor patted Xue Shao’s shoulder, “Our teacher said he would come to your wedding since he had a lot of free time after retirement.”
“That’s good.” Xue Shao would call the teacher sometimes but they hadn’t met for years.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Monitor looked at Xue Shao and continued, “I have obtained Xu Jiayi’s phone number from our teacher and called her to invite her to attend your wedding ceremony as you mentioned last time. But I suppose she won’t come since she had gotten married and has a child already.”
“Married… a kid?” Xue Shao was stunned and sighed later. He smiled while swallowing the beer.
He smiled bitterly, ‘I didn’t think you would play one final prank on me. You really always can bring me a surprise.’
…
“What are you laughing about?” The class monitor was curious.
Xue Shao clinked his glass with monitor’s and smiled, “Everything in life is fleeting.”
The monitor said, “You are right, life is fleeting. Nobody can imagine that our goddess would get married so early. It is a pity. But it was quite normal as she went abroad since the winter vacation of high school. She worked there and married there. Foreigners were more open… Xue Shao, do you think that foreign man is better than a Chinese man? Haha.”
“Class monitor, can you be a bit more serious?” Xue Shao frowned. He really couldn’t do anything about this mischievous friend.
He lowered his head, and drank. Xue Shao suddenly recalled the class monitor’s words and asked. “What did you say just now? She went abroad since winter vacation?”
“Yes. She did!” Monitor added, “We all knew that, right?”
“No… that is impossible.” Xue Shao frowned, “Didn’t she… go abroad after the summer vacation from the last year of high school?”
“Are you drunk?” Monitor touched Xue Shao’s head, “Do you have a fever, are your memories jumbled?”
“No!” Xue Shao was extremely excited, “that’s impossible! If so, who was my girlfriend when we are in twelfth grade?”
“In the semester of twelfth grade?” The class monitor thought a moment, “Oh, her last name was Xu… oh, she was Xu Xin. I remember, Xu Xin.”
“Xu…Xu Xin?” Xue Shao was confused.
The monitor nodded, “I think you really are drunk now. Did you forget Xu Xin? She transferred to our school that summer! She was so pretty and you two dated secretly. We all knew that. To be honest, you really are capable in getting girlfriends in such a short time! Ooops…you are really a prude. How about Xu Xin and you? I haven’t heard any news from you. Why did you break up? Because of the college entrance exam?”
Xu Xin… Xu Jiayi
How could it be?
Xue Shao rubbed his forehead, “I, I… no, I… Who is she? Monitor, am I drunk? Or are you drunk?”
The class monitor touched his own face and said to him, “Me? I just started drinking… Xue Shao, what’s wrong with you? Are you uncomfortable? Why do you keep rubbing your face?”
Xu Xin… Xu Jiayi… the names were ringing in his mind constantly just like a spiral.
“I… I drank too much.” Xue Shao shook his head.
“I think so. Because you seemed delirious.” The monitor nodded, “Don’t move, I will get a cup of hot water for you. Wait for me.”
Xue Shao stood up seeing monitor leaving. He caught one classmate among the group, “Ming, do you know Xu Jiayi and Xu Xin?”
“Xu Jiayi… of course. She was a cold and elegant goddess in our class.” The one named Ming was seriously drunk. He patted Xue Shao’s shoulder,” Xu Xin…oh, I remember, she was a beautiful transfer student in class… did you ever been together? We all know that you gossiped even in class secretly.”
Xu Xin…
Xue Shao caught another one, “Lu Kai, do you remember Xu Xin?”
“You mean your old girlfriend?”
Xu Xin…
Xue Shao caught one more. But the one answered him even before Xue Shao didn’t start to ask, “I know Xu Xin and Xu Jiayi… don’t ask me again, I want to drink. Hahaha…”
Xu Xin…
Xue Shao felt he was in a totally different world when seeing the noisy party… Why was he the only one who forgot Xu Xin?
“You… who has Xu Xin’s phone number?” Xue Shao asked them.
Someone responded, “I have Hong’s contact. Do you want it or not… Haha, only one thousand for a whole night.”
“Hey, I have Xiao Li’s number. She is nice, too!” Another one raised his hand just like a student who answered a teacher’s question!
“I have it, too! Haha… Heihei…”
Xue Shao shook head slightly and stepped backward until he hit the class monitor. He held the class monitor’s hand, “Class monitor, can you find Xu Xin?”
“Ah? You want to find Xu Xin this time?” The monitor was pretty surprised, “What are you going to do? Why are you always finding ex-girlfriends?”
“Leave that alone, you answer me first.”
The class monitor responded, “I remembered that she transferred to our school, but she needed to attend the college entrance exam back in her hometown. Well… she didn’t come to the graduation party. I have no way to contact her. But maybe you can seek help from our teacher. He might have some ways to dig it out.”
…
…
“Xu Xin?” the old teacher was looking at Xue Shao in a confused look. He wore glasses and had grey hair.
He was most impressed by this young man. Xue Shao went to a famous university and kept in touch with him sometimes.
“Yes, teacher, can you remember?” Xue Shao asked seriously.
“No… I have no idea.” The teacher shook head and then stood up, “Wait a moment, I have a try. Which year did you enter our school?”
“On 2013.”
“2013… 2013. Oh, I found the data.” The teacher gave Xue Shao a thick book with a hardcover.
They opened the book. “Xu Xin… Here it is.” The teacher stopped on one page, “Well, see, Xu Xin, it that right?”
A transfer student. Xu Xin. Transfer time, one semester… seeing the data, Xue Shao shivered coldly, “Teacher… why is the picture so vague?”
“The photo was probably affected by the damp.” The teacher fixed his glasses and said, “The photos end up like this if we can’t keep it dry. You reminded me. I need to sort out the photos when I am free.”
“Teacher… did Xu Xin really transfer to our class?”
“Of course, the data here proves that.” The teacher was looking at Xue Shao curiously.
Xue Shao said nothing but opened the data again until he saw another name, Xu Jiayi—dropped out on the last semester of twelfth grade. Reason, overseas studying.
‘As expected… I was the only one who didn’t know this.’
