Before long, the little girl came out of the bathroom and ran directly to Xiao Luo. She tightly held his hand as she stood by his side.
After washing her hands, Tang Wantian came over and said with some envy, “Xiao Luo, your daughter is so close to you. It seems that you must be a loving father.”
Xiao Luo still didn’t know what to say, so he shrugged and smiled.
“Let’s go. We should go up first. Everyone must be waiting.” Tang Wantian changed the topic.
Xiao Luo nodded.
Taking the lift, they soon reached the fifth level. The server led them to room 508.
As they pushed open the door, the first things in sight were a large round table and a crystal chandelier hanging high from the ceiling. The floor was covered in red carpet. The décor was rather vintage. The place was magnificent, pursuing perfection in every decoration. It made one felt as if one had come to a palace.
Around the round table were their classmates.
“Damn, Old Xiao, how did you run into our pretty lady Tang? With this little girl alongside, you two look like a couple here for a banquet.” Zhang Dashan had drunk some liquor, so he couldn’t help but start spouting nonsense.
“Xiao Luo, Wantian, you two are so late. You must drink three glasses of liquor as a punishment.”
At the head of the table, a comely and cultured looking young man stood up and smiled. He was Guo Qinghe, the class head. With a pair of glasses and a suit, one thought of the phrase “successful person” just by taking one look at him.
“Three glasses are not enough. It must be at least five glasses, ha-ha…”
“Yeah, five glasses. It can’t be any less.”
“Xiao Luo and Wantian never got drunk at class gatherings back when we were in university. It shows that they have a high capacity for liquor. If you ask me, five glasses are not enough. They should directly drink from the bottle and finish it.”
The other people cheered them on. The atmosphere in the room immediately warmed up.
“You bunch of jerks are still behaving so badly after three years. Alright, let me eat something first. I’ll play Finger Spoof with all of you later and see whether you all can still be so smug.” Tang Wantian rolled up her sleeves like a tomboy.
This scared the bunch of people cheering. Playing drinking games with Tang Wantian was like seeking one’s death.
They changed their target to Xiao Luo.
“Xiao Luo, what’s going on with you, huh? Why did you bring such a cute little girl over?”
“Yeah, she looks so cute. I really want to hug her and show her some love.”
“I’m still single. I booked this little girl in advance. She will be my future wife, so don’t you all try to compete with me.”
Several men and women left their seats and walked over to the little girl. Some squeezed her cheeks, and some touched her nose. They all liked her very much.
The little girl hugged Xiao Luo’s thighs and sheepishly hid behind him.
Zhao Mengqi was all dressed up and wearing a long tunic dress and light makeup. After going through much heartache and the torture of sickness, she no longer looked as bright and beautiful as before, but she was still a rather good-looking lady.
She sat in her seat, not moving. Ever since Xiao Luo entered, her gaze was always on him. It was indescribably bitter, regretful, and embarrassed. This outstanding young man once belonged to her, but now they were like strangers. Thinking of that, her heart ached. It was as if someone was stabbing it with a knife. She wished for nothing more than to turn back and return to the past. Without realizing it, her eyes became slightly red.
“Ah Shui, if you want to marry this little girl, you must now address Xiao Luo as Father-in-law,” Tang Wantian joked.
Address Xiao Luo as Father-in-law?
Everyone in the room was momentarily shocked.
The man she called Ah Shui was Hu Shuiping. He was rather short and looked fairly plain, but he was a quick thinker. He pointed at the little girl hiding behind Xiao Luo, who was only showing half of her face, and asked Tang Wantian in surprise, “Are you saying that she is Xiao Luo’s daughter?”
Tang Wantian looked at Zhao Mengqi and spread her hands, saying in puzzlement, “Yeah, isn’t Mengqi here? Didn’t she tell you all?”
Everyone exchanged silent looks. Their expressions were awkward.
Hu Shuiping dryly laughed twice and said in a soft voice by her ear, “Old Zhang told us just now that Mengqi and Xiao Luo parted ways a long time ago. Mengqi had also confirmed it.”
“What? Xiao Luo and Mengqi parted…”
Tang Wantian was visibly surprised. Xiao Luo and Zhao Mengqi were a couple they were all optimistic about. They had promised to marry each other and spend their whole lives together during the graduation dinner, so why would they part ways? She realized that she had spoken inappropriately and hurriedly stopped herself. She looked at Xiao Luo with a questioning gazed.
Xiao Luo smiled and calmly said, “Fate is difficult to understand. There are a lot of things that cannot be changed by sheer willpower.”
He casually brushed it aside with a sentence and didn’t explain the reason behind their separation. It was better to show more respect for one’s ex-lover.
Zhao Mengqi felt ashamed and grateful. She knew that Xiao Luo was trying to avoid embarrassing her. He was such a good man, so why did she get blinded and abandon him back then?
“You are right. Come, sit down. Waiter, you may serve the food now.”
Guo Qinghe smoothed things over. He didn’t want to make the atmosphere of the gathering more awkward.
Zhang Dashan spoke up in agreement. “Right, right, right. It’s our class gathering today, so let’s not talk about unhappy things. Let’s talk more about happy memories.” He looked at Hu Shuiping. “Ah Shui, you are more humorous, come, tell us a joke so everyone can have a laugh.”
“That is far from the truth. When it comes to telling jokes, you are the grandmaster in class. Who could possibly compete with you, Old Zhang?” Hu Shuiping gave a wave of his hand and admitted defeat willingly.
“Yeah, Old Zhang, you start first. We love your jokes the most.”
“I still remember the ‘hehehe’ joke you told. It really is a classic. I can remember it perfectly even now.”
“Yeah, chase after me. If you manage to catch me, I will make you go hehehe, hahaha…”
Recalling their times back in the university, everyone was cheerful. Laughter constantly rang out.
Guo Qinghe was also very happy. With a serious expression, he said, “Dashan, everyone is praising you, just tell us one first!”
“Tell you all a joke?”
Zhang Dashan had been eager for the chance for a long time. He had barely suppressed his urge to tell a joke.
“Tell us!”
Everyone, be it men or women, clapped and cheered enthusiastically.
“OK, I will tell a joke.”
Zhang Dashan coughed twice and stood up. He cleared his throat and began speaking. “It’s about a married couple. The wife loves watching television dramas. One day, she says to the husband, ‘Love, for so many years, you have been accompanying me and watching dramas with me. I know that it must have taken a lot of patience, and I shouldn’t be so selfish. I won’t watch my drama today, so you can do anything you want. Give me a chance to make you happy.’
Upon hearing so, the husband said, ‘So, you know that I have been bored watching dramas with you every day for so many years, and you have finally succumbed to your conscience today. I see that you have been watching a lot of period dramas with words like ‘your humble servant,”Your Majesty,’ and all of those pedantic dialogues, right? I don’t want you to do anything for me. I’ll just give you a test.’
‘Love, what do you want to test me about?’
The husband said, ‘Just say a sentence to me. It must make me very happy but also make me very angry.’”
“Guess what the wife said?”
“Old Zhang, stop with the suspense,” Hu Shuiping said. “If we could guess the punchline of your jokes, how would you still be the grandmaster of jokes in our class?”
“Yeah, tell us,” a young woman eagerly said. “What on earth did she say to make her husband both happy and angry?”
Zhang Dashan took a sip of tea. In a moderate speed, he said, “The wife said, ‘Love, your cock is the largest among your friends.’”
