Chapter Fifty-Six: The Reunion (6)

Knock, knock!

The bathroom door was rapped upon.

From outside, Gao Yan called, “Yaya, are you in there?”

Kong Yaqin wiped away her tears and hurriedly answered.

Then came Zheng Yichao’s voice, with a hint of laughter: “Knew you’d be here. Now there’s no need to worry.”

“Mm,” Gao Yan responded.

Kong Yajie stood up, glanced at her reflection in the mirror, lifted her hand to fix the makeup smudged by tears, and quickly took out her compact from her purse.

Her hands moved deftly as she touched up her makeup, concealing all traces of her recent tears. Unfortunately, there was no way to erase the bloodshot in her eyes as quickly as her makeup.

She took several deep breaths, then walked briskly to the door and flung it open.

All three men in the corridor turned to look at her.

Kong Yajie smiled, “Why are all three of you here?”

Zheng Yichao spoke first, smiling as well. “I stepped out for a cigarette and saw Mr. Gao looking all over for you.”

Gao Yan asked, “Why did you come up here?”

Kong Yajie blinked, “I needed the restroom. The one downstairs is out of order.”

Again, Zheng Yichao explained, smiling, “There are two bathrooms on the second floor. If you leave the banquet hall, there’s another restroom beside the smoking room. Up here on the fourth floor is the property management office.”

“Oh,” Kong Yajie exclaimed, “I just thought there’d be a restroom on every floor in a building like this… I even ran into another woman looking for a restroom. She went downstairs and was chased away by the kitchen staff.”

Gao Yan said, “Alright, next time you need the restroom, don’t get lost.”

“Okay.” Kong Yajie nodded.

Zheng Yichao added, “I’ll tell the hotel staff. This is the fire escape; the door can’t be locked, so maybe others ended up here or on the first floor just like you.”

As he spoke, Zheng Yichao turned to leave. Gao Yan took Kong Yajie’s hand, heading toward the stairwell door.

Kong Yajie glanced at Tong Bin, who had been silent all this time. Their eyes met for a moment.

Tong Bin quickly looked away, lowering his head awkwardly and following behind the group.

Kong Yajie retracted her gaze and lowered her head.

Creak—

The metal door swung open, and the four of them stepped out in single file.

Their footsteps echoed in the stairwell.

This time, Kong Yajie no longer felt afraid. Gao Yan was holding her hand; she didn’t even need to look up to see his back. Behind her was Tong Bin…

A trace of discomfort flickered across Kong Yajie’s face.

As the four emerged from the stairwell, Sheng Yao appeared at the landing on the fifth floor.

Sheng Yao descended to the third floor, pushed open the door to the stairwell, and the lively, noisy banquet hall came into view again. Bright lights ahead left not a shadow in sight, while behind him, the stairwell was illuminated only by harsh white energy-saving bulbs and dim green emergency lights, shadows lurking everywhere.

Sheng Yao looked back at the stairwell.

Strange.

Just now, he had felt as if there was something in that stairwell; but now, it seemed utterly ordinary. The temperature inside was a bit different from outside; there was no central air, no exhaust vent, no windows. Other than that, nothing was unusual or frightening.

Was it because Tong Bin had left the stairwell?

Sheng Yao went back into the banquet hall and closed the metal doors behind him.

...

At Table 17 in the banquet hall, Du Aiyun and Ding Yi were eating. When they saw Kong Yajie return, they laughed and asked, “Where did you go?” “Why were you gone so long?”

Kong Yajie recounted what had just happened.

“Tong Bin went looking for you too?” Ding Yi suddenly asked.

Tong Bin, in the middle of a drink, choked.

Kong Yajie laughed, “He must have been confused. Saw the sign on the ladies’ room and assumed the men’s was broken too.”

“So he also went upstairs?” Ding Yi was surprised. “You two really are on the same wavelength.”

“Both of you are so silly,” Du Aiyun joked. “You seem smart, but always end up doing the oddest things.”

Kong Yajie protested, mentioning the woman she had encountered, “...It’s not just us.” Then, following the thread, she continued, “That woman was quite the gossip. On the short walk up the stairs, she kept asking me about Zheng Yichao.”

“Was she a bit plump, wearing high heels?” Ding Yi asked.

Kong Yajie nodded, “You know her?”

“Ran into her with Yun Yun when we went to get food. She’s been nosing around everywhere… Apparently her husband worked at Zheng Yichao’s company, left last year. The class monitor said he has a non-compete, but he’s secretly working for your company now.” Ding Yi eagerly shared her fresh gossip, “Her husband’s the one who used to be so sly in grad school—I forget his name—the annoying one the class monitor always complained about, always poking around the dorm and trying to muscle into the lab.”

Kong Yajie suddenly realized, then corrected, “What do you mean, ‘our company’? I’ve already switched jobs.” She instinctively glanced at Tong Bin.

Tong Bin silently ate his now-cold meat, not joining the women’s gossip nor Gao Yan’s conversation about the latest football matches.

Kong Yajie said nothing. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Following her gaze, Du Aiyun also looked at Tong Bin, sympathy flashing across her face.

Ding Yi, less delicate, was reminded by Kong Yajie’s glance and asked Tong Bin directly, “Tong Bin, remember that guy from grad school? Did he really join your company?”

Tong Bin, slow to react, looked up at Ding Yi.

Ding Yi, undeterred, repeated the gossip she’d just shared with Kong Yajie, more concisely this time.

Tong Bin thought for a moment. “I haven’t heard anything. The research department hasn’t had any new people lately. And if he has a non-compete, he couldn’t possibly be officially hired.”

Ding Yi’s words caught the attention of Gao Yan and the others.

Ding Yi’s boyfriend teased, “You don’t even work in this field anymore. Why are you so nosy?”

Ding Yi looked a little embarrassed.

Du Aiyun’s husband said, “If that’s true, he probably wouldn’t have come to today’s reunion, right?”

“Not necessarily,” said Gao Yan, taking a sip of his drink. “There’s a lot of turnover at Houyi. Some people leave, and a couple of years later, they come back.”

Du Aiyun’s husband was surprised. “Really?”

Gao Yan just smiled and didn’t continue the industry gossip.

Ding Yi, clearly uninterested in that, continued, “That woman’s been asking everyone about Zheng Yichao’s undergraduate days, probably about the selection exam. Her husband used to ask about it too when he was in grad school. The class monitor and the others never wanted to talk about it, but he kept bringing it up. He seemed really jealous of Zheng Yichao, wanting to bring him down.”

“What selection exam?” Du Aiyun’s husband asked offhandedly.

“In junior year, the professor picked students for the lab and gave us all a test,” Ding Yi explained. “Zheng Yichao wasn’t remarkable at all in his first two years, kind of like Tong Bin.” She turned to ask Tong Bin, “You and he were in the same dorm building, weren’t you? Just the two of you. Didn’t you often walk together back then?”

Tong Bin nodded.

“Everyone thought the only reason he stood out was because of the dorm allocation. But then, during that exam, he suddenly scored first place,” Ding Yi continued, “There was a top student in our department—first in the entrance exam, always first in every test for two years. In that selection exam, he scored twenty points lower than Zheng Yichao. Zheng Yichao nearly got a perfect score.”

Du Aiyun’s husband and Ding Yi’s boyfriend were both surprised.

“Twenty points? That’s a huge gap.”

“That much of a difference?”

Ding Yi shrugged, “The rest of us were thirty or forty points behind Lin Jun. I couldn’t even understand half the questions on that test.”

Du Aiyun glanced around, then withdrew her gaze.

Ding Yi went on, “Lin Jun wasn’t convinced. I heard the grad students who graded the papers gossiped too. They thought Zheng Yichao’s results were suspicious—maybe he cheated, got a look at the answers.”

Gao Yan raised an eyebrow at Kong Yajie.

Kong Yajie lowered her gaze, showing no reaction.

Tong Bin kept eating, seemingly uninterested, though his eyes would drift occasionally to Ding Yi.

Du Aiyun interjected, “Zheng Yichao just had a sudden breakthrough. He always worked hard, spent lots of time in the library, always asking professors questions. Tong Bin, you know, right? He used to go to class with you in first year, but then stopped. That’s when he started working harder, right?”

Tong Bin agreed, “Yeah. In first year, he’d often walk with me…” His voice trailed off, “But in second year, he went to the library alone.”

Their dorm had three roommates, each with their own agenda. Tong Bin had hoped to be close with Zheng Yichao, but when Zheng Yichao suddenly poured himself into his studies, Tong Bin was left completely alone. Later, he and Kong Yajie were assigned to the same group, so he often walked across campus with her. In four years of college, Kong Yajie was the only friend he made.

Tong Bin couldn’t help but glance at her now.

Kong Yajie seemed distracted. She had been animated earlier when explaining things to Ding Yi. Once Ding Yi took over the conversation, she lost interest.

Du Aiyun smiled, “I had a similar experience in high school. Lin Jun was always proud, so he couldn’t accept it. But in the end, both he and Zheng Yichao were chosen for the professor’s research group. Zheng Yichao excelled—he was the best one there. Lin Jun stopped complaining after that.”

A hint of hesitation flickered in Ding Yi’s eyes, but seeing the smile on Du Aiyun’s face, she nodded in agreement.

“Mm… Maybe he was thinking of going abroad by then,” Ding Yi said.

“He was just motivated by competition. He’d always been first,” Du Aiyun added, then sighed, “These days, no one has that kind of drive anymore. Actually… I never had that kind of ambition. I just wanted to pass finals and my thesis, just enough to graduate.”

Ding Yi laughed, “You decided your path early. Didn’t you take the CPA exam in sophomore year? You must have known this wasn’t for you.”

“Ha! After taking those freshman courses, I knew I wasn’t cut out for it. Remember what the math professor said in first year? ‘If you don’t see the answer at a glance, find another path. If you can’t solve this, you’ll never make it in the field.’” Du Aiyun mimicked the professor’s arrogant tone.

Ding Yi doubled over laughing, “I remember! He was awful. Only Lin Jun met his standards; every class, he’d call on Lin Jun, then heap on the praise.”

Du Aiyun nodded, “But look, plenty of our classmates stayed in the field, and the best one isn’t Lin Jun—it’s Zheng Yichao.”

As the two chatted about college days, their classmate Kong Yajie seemed to drift away, and Tong Bin, as always, remained a silent listener.

All around the banquet hall, people mingled in small groups, reminiscing or catching up on their current lives.

Sheng Yao felt out of place among these old classmates. Fortunately, he wasn’t the only one; many had brought partners, and not everyone was sociable.

He kept an ear out for the conversation at Tong Bin’s table, but to his disappointment, most of it was about Zheng Yichao, not Tong Bin or Kong Yajie—those he cared about most.

Both Tong Bin and Kong Yajie remained largely silent.

Sheng Yao glanced at them, sensing something amiss between the two.

Clearly, in the stairwell and restroom, they shouldn’t have met…

A flicker of realization flashed in Sheng Yao’s eyes.

Tong Bin hadn’t gone into the ladies’ room. Sheng Yao had no idea what happened inside. Could it be that Tong Bin—or rather, the doctor’s medicine—had some side effect that allowed him to affect Kong Yajie without entering?

The tumors growing on Liu Yu, the mutations on Mao Mao… these changes were erratic and extreme.

If Tong Bin had something growing from his body, that could slip through the bathroom door gap, enter the stall, and then sprout a mouth to speak to Kong Yajie…

Sheng Yao quickly dismissed the thought.

If that had really happened, Kong Yajie wouldn’t be silent—she’d be screaming.

He rejected the idea, but involuntarily recalled the Longevity Cemetery months before.

Little Wu’s terrified accusation bubbled up from deep within:

“…This guy’s a lunatic, talking to himself at the grave! Just sitting there, talking to thin air… There was no one there!…”

“Time to go!” A loud call interrupted Sheng Yao’s thoughts.

He snapped out of the dark confusion of memory and looked toward the gathering crowd.

“We’re heading back. The kid’s at home,” someone explained.

“I’ll see you off,” Zheng Yichao offered with a smile.

“No need, no need. You all keep eating, keep having fun. I’ll be off. Let’s keep in touch.”

“Keep in touch!”

“Bring your kid next time.”

“Take care.”

“Goodbye, goodbye.”

Amid a flurry of farewells, Sheng Yao’s gaze swept past Zheng Yichao and landed on Table 17.

Tong Bin, Kong Yajie, and the others looked up briefly, then turned away.

Though the noisy goodbyes echoed from afar, Sheng Yao could still make out their conversation.

“Should we go say hello?” Du Aiyun’s husband asked.

Du Aiyun replied, “Those are their grad school classmates. The four of us didn’t go to grad school.”

“I think they were in the neighboring class in undergrad,” Ding Yi added.

“We only had big lectures together, really. By the way, Zou Yu and the others came by earlier to say hi, but you were in the restroom,” Du Aiyun told Kong Yajie.

“Oh? Which table are they at? I’ll go chat with them,” Kong Yajie said, pushing her plate aside and calling out to Gao Yan, “We’ll need to invite them when we host a banquet.”

Du Aiyun pointed not far away, “That table over there.” She chuckled, “We have to get our wedding gifts back.”

Ding Yi said, “She might not be able to make it. Her husband’s from out of town, his family’s in one city, he works in another. She has it pretty tough.”

“Really?” Kong Yajie was surprised. “Didn’t she say last time they’d settled here?”

“They registered here, but she just said things have been a hassle lately,” Ding Yi shook her head.

As they spoke, Kong Yajie had already walked to Gao Yan and taken his arm.

She glanced back at Tong Bin.

Gao Yan took a step, then stopped, puzzled by Kong Yajie’s hesitation.

She spoke, “Tong Bin, want to come with us?”

Tong Bin looked up in surprise, glanced at Kong Yajie holding Gao Yan’s arm, then shook his head. “I’ll pass. I didn’t know them well in college.”

Kong Yajie made a small sound—whether disappointed or relieved, it was hard to tell.

And off they went.

Du Aiyun wiped her mouth and called to Ding Yi, “Hey, I just saw Xu Aili and her roommates nearby. Let’s go say hi.”

Ding Yi craned her neck, complaining, “I didn’t even spot them. These buffets are so inconvenient.”

Du Aiyun pulled her husband along, telling Ding Yi, “Zheng Yichao had to gather so many classmates; this was the only way. Easier for him to mingle.”

Ding Yi looked puzzled, but didn’t dwell on it.

“Let’s invite Yaya to meet everyone else in a bit. Since we’re here, we should say hi,” Du Aiyun urged.

Ding Yi nodded.

Their husbands and boyfriends followed alongside.

The four of them walked off.

Table 17 was left with only Tong Bin.

He silently finished everything on his plate before putting down his utensils.

He looked around at the now-empty round table, then gazed blankly at the bustling banquet hall, searching the crowd until he found Kong Yajie standing arm in arm with Gao Yan, her smile gentle.

As his focus drifted, Tong Bin saw other classmates gathered in groups.

Whether single or with partners, everyone seemed lively and engaged.

For a moment, it was as if he were back in college, in those days when Zheng Yichao had suddenly thrown himself into his studies.

A whole classroom: some happily slacking off on their phones, others reaping the rewards of diligent attention. Beside him, Zheng Yichao would record nearly every word the teacher spoke.

Only Tong Bin was adrift.

Back then, he worried that when class ended and Zheng Yichao went to the library, he’d have to eat alone in the cafeteria, return alone to the dorm, and stay there by himself.

He’d tried following Zheng Yichao to the library, but once there, he never knew what to do. The oppressive atmosphere of study made him feel guilty, as if he were taking up someone else’s seat, wasting the library’s resources.

In the end, he could only choose solitude…

Now, once again, he was alone.

Tong Bin slowly lowered his head.