After Zhu Yaya finished eating, she hugged a small throw pillow and sat cross-legged on the sofa, absentmindedly watching the Spring Festival Gala.
Five years ago, Yan Heng had sat right beside her, watching it with her. That guy, who looked so smart, would foolishly laugh along with her just for her sake.
At the thought of this, Zhu Yaya couldn't help but smile. But soon, a wave of loneliness washed over her.
It had been five years—no, it was already the sixth year. Why hasn't he appeared yet? Didn't he promise her he would return after five years? But why hasn't she seen him yet?
Yan Heng had lied to her.
Or had he forgotten her entirely?
Zhu Yaya suddenly recalled a story: a married couple was separated during a war. It wasn't until their twilight years that they were finally reunited. The woman was white-haired and all alone, while the man had a house full of children and grandchildren gathered around him.
"You've been waiting for him these past five years, haven't you?"
Zhu Jianjun's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Zhu Yaya's reminiscence. Only then did Zhu Yaya realize that her face was already covered in tears.
"Who?" Zhu Yaya asked instinctively, not yet fully registering the question, as she awkwardly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.
After a long pause without a reply from Zhu Jianjun, she understood.
The "him" Zhu Jianjun was referring to was Yan Heng.
Zhu Yaya remained silent, burying her face in the pillow.
"Actually, he came to see me before he left five years ago," Zhu Jianjun said.
The pinky finger on Zhu Yaya's right hand twitched. She slowly lifted her head from the pillow, looking at Zhu Jianjun with eyes full of a desperate desire to know.
Zhu Jianjun patted Zhu Yaya's head and smiled warmly. "Did you really think us parents wouldn't be able to see what was going on between you two?"
Zhu Yaya's face flushed red, and she whined playfully, "Dad! And then what?" She stared intently into Zhu Jianjun's eyes.
Zhu Jianjun helplessly slapped his thigh, sighing that "girls can't be kept at home forever once they grow up," before continuing, "At that time, Yan Heng told me straight up, 'Uncle Zhu, I like Zhu Yaya. It's the kind of like where I want to take care of her for the rest of my life.'"
Zhu Jianjun chuckled at this point. "That boy. Our Zhu family helped him so much, yet he bit the hand that fed him and ran off with our family's most precious treasure. I was so mad I wanted to beat him up right then and there!"
Zhu Yaya let out a soft giggle.
Zhu Jianjun's eyes were full of paternal love. "But I knew our little princess liked that brat too, so I held back."
"Dad." Zhu Yaya's voice was filled with emotion.
"Actually, those birthday gifts Dad gave you over the past five years were all from Yan Heng. Every time your birthday rolled around, a package would suddenly appear at our front door. It wasn't delivered by a courier; it was as if it appeared out of thin air. Later, I opened the packages and saw that they were all things you liked, which was when I guessed he was the one sending you the gifts."
Zhu Yaya's breathing quickened.
So, all her gifts over the last five years had been from Yan Heng?
So, he hadn't forgotten her!
Zhu Yaya thought to herself, then she would keep waiting for him!
After New Year's Eve came the time to visit various relatives for New Year greetings and to host them in return.
Once the busy period passed, Zhu Yaya's high school class WeChat group buzzed with talk of finding a time to get together for a meal.
The time was set for this Saturday.
Zhu Yaya figured that since she didn't have much going on right now anyway, she might as well go and see everyone. She hadn't seen her old deskmate, Xu Baoying, in a long time.
Xu Baoying hadn't gotten into Imperial Capital University and had instead gone to a university in another province to study Chinese Language and Literature.
During their freshman year, she and Xu Baoying still kept in touch, but gradually, without knowing exactly when it started, Xu Baoying stopped replying to Zhu Yaya's WeChat messages. After that, Zhu Yaya stopped sending her messages too.
Thinking of this, a touch of sadness inevitably appeared on Zhu Yaya's face. Back then, it always felt like their friendship would last forever, completely underestimating the terrifying power of time. Having not seen each other for so many years, would they still be the same people they once were?
Zhu Yaya let out a sigh.
At that moment, a news notification popped up at the top of her phone screen: A family-run drug manufacturing syndicate in southwestern China had been completely wiped out, bringing down a large number of corrupt officials involved in cronyism with them.
Zhu Yaya didn't pay much attention to the news.
When it was time for the class reunion, Zhu Yaya arrived punctually at the designated location: a hotel in the East District near Skoda High School.
Zhu Yaya hadn't expected to be the last one to arrive. But when she pushed open the door to the private room, she was startled by the room full of people.
"Yo, Minister Zhu is here! Hurry up and come in! What are you doing just standing there looking silly at the door!" someone in the private room hollered.
That familiar title, "Minister Zhu," pulled Zhu Yaya right back to those days at Scott High School. Her inner apprehension faded away, and she walked into the room with a bright smile. "I was just startled by all of you! Turns out I'm the last one here!"
"You sure are! You have to be penalized!" a masculine-looking man clamored loudly.
Zhu Yaya recognized this person as Gu Tao, the class sports committee member from back then.
"Alright!" Zhu Yaya poured herself a small glass of wine and downed it in one heroic gulp.
"As expected of Minister Zhu! So straightforward!" Gu Tao gave Zhu Yaya a thumbs up.
Zhu Yaya smiled. She looked around the room, wondering where she should sit.
"Yaya, sit here!" An elegantly dressed young woman stood up and waved her hand.
Zhu Yaya was delighted. Wasn't this Xu Baoying?
How come she hadn't changed a bit?
Wait a minute, why did the bespectacled man sitting next to Xu Baoying look so much like Li Hao?
But that couldn't be right!
Li Hao was a grade above them, so why would he be at their class reunion?
At that moment, someone said to Zhu Yaya, "Xu Baoying saved the seat next to her for you ages ago."
Xu Baoying put her hands on her hips and said proudly, "Zhu Yaya is my deskmate! We were deskmates for three years!"
Zhu Yaya walked over and sat down right next to Xu Baoying.
She discreetly sized up the man next to Xu Baoying who looked like Li Hao!
Xu Baoying noticed and introduced him to Zhu Yaya with a wide grin. "It's okay to bring future family members to a class reunion, right? Yaya, let me introduce you. This is my fiancé, Li Hao. He was in the same class as Yan Heng."
Li Hao pushed up the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Hey there, junior."
Zhu Yaya: !!!
She never in a million years would have thought that Xu Baoying and Li Hao would end up together.
She immediately grabbed Xu Baoying and interrogated her. "When did this happen? How did you two meet? You're even engaged! When is the wedding?"
Xu Baoying covered her mouth and laughed heartily.
Li Hao cast a doting look at Xu Baoying and said to Zhu Yaya, "Yingying and I both went to college in the neighboring province. One thing led to another, and we got to know each other. We're planning to get married this year on Qixi Festival. Make sure you come to the wedding banquet, junior!"
"I will," Zhu Yaya nodded with a smile.
"By the way, junior, how is Brother Yan doing these days? Why didn't you bring him along?" Li Hao asked.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Xu Baoying chimed in.
Yan Heng, huh...
Zhu Yaya choked up for a moment: "I... well, I haven't seen him for five years."
"What!" Li Hao looked surprised. "I thought you two would definitely end up together! How could—ouch!"
Xu Baoying secretly pinched the flesh on the back of Li Hao's hand and glared at him fiercely.
Li Hao, knowing he had misspoken, gave Zhu Yaya an apologetic smile.
Zhu Yaya shook her head slightly, knowing they had misunderstood. But she didn't know how to explain it to them, so she simply didn't.
Xu Baoying changed the subject: "Do you still remember our homeroom teacher, Ms. Chang Wen?"
"Of course I remember! How could I forget?"
Xu Baoying smiled mysteriously: "She and Li Hao's homeroom teacher, Mr. Qiao Wei, got together. He's the male teacher who looked after us with Ms. Chang Wen during our spring trip in our first year of high school."
Zhu Yaya raised her eyebrows, not too surprised. Li Hao had told her about the history between Ms. Chang Wen and Mr. Qiao Wei before.
When the gathering was about to end, Xu Baoying patted Zhu Yaya's shoulder: "Sister, I lost my previous phone and your contact info with it. This time, I only knew about the gathering because Li Hao knows Gu Tao."
So that was the reason.
Zhu Yaya smiled and nodded: "Okay."
People were leaving one after another. Zhu Yaya walked to the hotel entrance and waved goodbye to Xu Baoying and Li Hao. At this moment, Gu Tao approached Zhu Yaya: "Minister Zhu, do you need a ride?"
"Ooh la la~" someone teased.
Zhu Yaya smiled and was about to refuse when she heard the voice she had been yearning for day and night for years—
"No need, her fiancé is here to pick her up."
The man's voice was cold, deep, and magnetic.
Zhu Yaya's body trembled slightly.
She saw a tall figure in the shadows slowly walking towards her.
First, the man's head emerged, then his upper body, and finally, his whole person was exposed to the light.
It was Yan Heng!!!
He had grown a bit taller.
Thinner.
More tanned.
Yan Heng walked up to Zhu Yaya, his eyes seemingly sparkling with starlight: "Yaya, I'm back! I brought all my belongings to marry you!"
Zhu Yaya's eyes immediately turned red.
She choked back a sob: "Okay."
More than five years of waiting finally received the most beautiful response.
She would marry the man before her and be his eternal sweetheart.
They would live happily for the rest of their lives.
She firmly believed it.
[The End, scatter flowers]
