Why didn’t you even contact Lin Qing?!
Tie, tied properly? It’s tight.
Qiao Yu felt awkwardly trying to loosen the tie around her neck, but just couldn’t find the right way and ended up making herself out of breath, so she gave up.
Now there is less than an hour until the banquet starts, but for some reason, she feels extremely nervous.
Part of this may be due to the outfit – because both of her parents thought that wearing a dress would make their child cold, they unanimously decided to choose a dress with more fabric this time. Qiao Yu had no right to refuse and was squeezed into a strict white suit, with all the necessary accessories, and the makeup artist even tried to put on gold wire glasses for her, which Qiao Yu politely declined without understanding her intention.
Wearing unfamiliar clothes always makes people feel at a loss, especially in a familiar place like this, inevitably making Qiao Yu feel palpitations.
This is the hotel where she celebrated her birthday before. She is now sitting in the same position by the door, patiently waiting for the guests to arrive.
It has been almost three years since that day, and most of the memories are somewhat blurry now, but only one person’s figure shines brightly in her memory.
Qiao Yu looked towards the door, her eyes filled with warmth and nostalgia.
She remembers that on that day, her moon walked in through the door from here.
But the moon will not come here today. She is waiting for the person who can help her pick the moon.
As time passed, guests gradually arrived. Qiao Yu politely smiled and greeted each of them one by one, quietly craning her neck to look back. Before long, she heard a commotion coming from outside the door. Qiao Yu’s heart skipped a beat as she instinctively looked towards the door, where a familiar figure was slowly approaching.
That good guy, Cong Ye, wearing gold wire glasses, had arrived.
It had been two years since they last saw each other, and he looked even more handsome now, shedding some of the immaturity from his high school days. He exuded a cold and intimidating aura that made people feel like they should not approach him – in a way, he still gave off the same vibe as when Qiao Yu first met him. In this regard, he really hasn’t made any progress.
Qiao Yu couldn’t help but wonder why he had dressed so meticulously, giving off the impression that he was ready to make a grand entrance… Now was not the time to criticize him. Finally seeing her familiar friend, Qiao Yu felt a myriad of emotions and was eager to go up and start a conversation.
But after recalling her chat history with Cong Ye on her phone, Qiao Yu felt like he might not be too keen on talking to her. It seemed she needed to approach the conversation with caution.
But previously, she heard from the system that having a face-to-face conversation could help restore her memories. After all, no one knew the method of memory manipulation after being exiled and returning, so it was worth a try. Despite feeling somewhat resigned, Qiao Yu adjusted her mindset and after not waiting long, she nonchalantly walked over to Cong Ye, who was leaning against the wall with an indifferent expression, carrying two non-alcoholic drinks.
“…. Do you want a drink?”
Having never done anything like this before, Qiao Yu awkwardly held out the cup to him, just a simple gesture of goodwill. However, she felt the other person visibly tremble and his gaze turned piercingly towards her.
“Hmph!”
Then, with a powerful demeanor, he waved his sleeves and left with an air of ignoring their relationship.
“…”
Qiao Yu’s hand paused in mid-air, staring blankly at his back, feeling that Cong Ye’s reaction was not quite what she had imagined it to be.
“This doesn’t seem like he doesn’t recognize me…?”
Or maybe this person just acts cool and aloof towards strangers? Qiao Yu pondered to herself. Just then, a crisp exclamation came from nearby, sounding somewhat familiar: “Qiao Yu!”
Before Qiao Yu could react, a short girl pounced in front of her, grabbed her suit, and burst into tears. Qiao Yu could only helplessly raise her hands holding the cups, looking around at the people who were now drawn to the commotion, showing a polite yet awkward smile.
“Wait, wait, don’t cry again, who are you…?”
With these words, the girl’s crying abruptly stopped, and she raised her head angrily.
“How can you be like this! After two years, you don’t remember me? I’ve been thinking about you all this time!”
“Eh, thinking about me?”
Qiao Yu blinked in confusion a few times, before finally recognizing the familiar acquaintance who was now upset.
“Song Wanwan, do you… remember me?”
“…? Of course I remember you! Did you think I would forget you and be like you, forgetting everyone else!”
The eldest lady was furious, hands on hips, as she began to scold Qiao Yu.
“You suddenly stopped coming to school back then, and I couldn’t reach you. It wasn’t until I received an invitation to this banquet that I found out you were actually sick… Why didn’t you tell me earlier! I couldn’t even go see you! You are unbelievable!”
“I-is that so…?”
Even though she spoke with such indignation, Qiao Yu was truly unaware of all the things she was being accused of.
Qiao Yu listened in a daze, seizing the opportunity while the eldest lady ranted to urgently hold an internal meeting with the system: “What’s going on? Song Wanwan seems to remember me!”
“It seems that way… It looks like the world has somewhat patched up the exile of the host.”
The system was also puzzled, its voice filled with confusion.
“From what she’s saying, I guess when the host returned from exile, most of her memories of the host should have been restored…”
“Is the handling of me by this world too rough?”
Although she didn’t know if this was the result of some “divine” manipulation, Qiao Yu felt like a new, overwhelmed employee who had been driven to the point of being at their wit’s end, probably still wailing over the fact that exiles could return.
No, being able to remember was a good thing, but what about Cong Ye?
Snap out of her internal meeting, Qiao Yu glanced at the eldest lady, who was still passionately scolding her for not contacting her for so long, seemingly showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. She was thinking she had to calm down Song Wanwan first before she could do anything, when suddenly a piercing gaze from the opposite side startled her.
Indeed, it turned out Cong Ye had not gone far, just leaned against a different wall, glaring at her fiercely and menacingly.
Qiao Yu was puzzled and tried to make eye contact with him, but he visibly clicked his tongue and strode over, inserting himself between the two of them.
“Excuse me, Song Wanwan, Qiao Yu needs me for something, I’ll accompany her over there—”
He raised his hand and gestured randomly in the air, finally pointing decisively towards the window, “—to chat over there.”
Without giving Qiao Yu a chance to refuse, Cong Ye interjected and escorted Qiao Yu away. The two of them left through the door and stood in the courtyard.
Cong Ye crossed his arms and took a deep breath, about to speak when his gaze was drawn towards Qiao Yu’s hands. He asked in a strange tone, pointing at the two cups in her hands, “… Why are you still holding these two cups?”
“No, you didn’t give me a chance to put them down earlier.”
Feeling unjustly accused under the intense gaze of the other person, Qiao Yu shrugged off the tension, took a sip from one of the cups, and finished it in one gulp.
“Don’t think you can turn the page on this just by handing me a drink, Qiao Yu!”
After finishing the drink, he began to shout. Qiao Yu looked at his angry face and suddenly found it endearing, unable to hold back a smile.
“You’re smiling like you’re up to something!!”
“Why…?”
Startled by his sudden increase in volume, Qiao Yu quickly placed the other cup in her hand on the nearby stone table, freeing up her hands to face Cong Ye as he regained his composure.
“How long has it been since you last contacted us? You should have some idea in your heart!”
“…”
…She never wanted this to happen, but now Qiao Yu seemed to have a bit of understanding. It seemed like Cong Ye had come to inquire and hold her accountable.
“No, didn’t I add you on WeChat before trying to contact you…?”
“Then I haven’t blamed you yet! You lost all our contact information, and even that, you look at what you said when you contacted me this time!”
Cong Ye, in a state of agitation, pulled out his phone. The fine chain dangling from his glasses shook angrily as he lifted his hand and thrust their chat interface in front of Qiao Yu.
Qiao Yu silently took the phone and looked down.
Qiao Yu: hi
Cong Ye: ???
Qiao Yu: How have you been lately?
And then there was no further reply. Qiao Yu felt like there was nothing wrong with these three lines, and lifted her head in confusion, asking Cong Ye, who was fuming, “… What’s wrong with what I said? Wasn’t it you who didn’t reply to me first?”
“After two years of no contact, you start off with a casual ‘hi’!” Cong Ye felt that this person was simply unreasonable, snatched back his phone, and pointed aggressively at the third message, “And you seem like the type of old classmate who shows up out of the blue after many years just to ask for money!”
“…”
No, I wasn’t trying to be overly familiar in case you didn’t remember me and ended up being disliked – Qiao Yu couldn’t say these words and had to shut her mouth, looking sincerely at Cong Ye. However, he was not having any of it and brought up another old issue.
“And another thing, you….”
He unconsciously lowered his voice, his teeth clenched in a mix of anger and frustration, “And you didn’t even contact Lin Qing…!”
Qiao Yu’s heart skipped a beat, feeling a dizzying surge of emotions washing over her.
This was the first time she heard Lin Qing’s name after returning, and her heart, which had been silent for so long, seemed to beat frantically.
The clarity of their presence in the same world brought a new level of understanding that Qiao Yu had never experienced before. She had to take a deep breath to calm her suddenly turbulent emotions.
“…I’m sorry, I don’t want to make any excuses… but I really have a willing heart but lack the ability.”
Qiao Yu earnestly lowered her head and after a moment, she raised it again.
“What happened in these past two years? Can you tell me?”
Throughout the following fifteen minutes, Qiao Yu humbly listened as Cong Ye, still angry, accused her of being unresponsive for two years and suddenly appearing like a stranger, causing him annoyance. She nodded sincerely multiple times to show that she recognized her mistakes, which helped slightly appease the previously offended Cong Ye.
It seemed that in Cong Ye’s memory, Qiao Yu was both selfish and heartless in her disappearances and reappearances – that was the gist of it. Therefore, he had some grievances towards her. Fortunately, Qiao Yu had the excuse of being sick, which served as a valid reason to explain her actions.
“I want to clarify something beforehand.”
Although his face still showed some lingering anger, his tone had almost returned to the way they used to interact. Cong Ye furrowed his brow and said,
“You didn’t invite Lin Qing this time, I think you might be in for some bad luck.”
“Wait, wait, hold on.”
Qiao Yu suddenly felt a cold sweat break out.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, I didn’t know, what kind of bad luck are you talking about?”
…At this point, there was no point in dwelling on the fact that she didn’t invite Lin Qing, thinking that they had all lost their memories. The current situation was that she didn’t invite Lin Qing to the banquet, and from Cong Ye’s implication, it seemed that Lin Qing already knew about it.
“I can’t be blamed for this being exposed! It was my mom who mentioned it at the dinner table after receiving the invitation! And as a result, everyone heard it!”
“…Wait? Were your families having dinner together at that time?”
“Yes, because my mom and Aunt Lin had already—oh.”
Cong Ye suddenly looked uncomfortable, covered his mouth, and nervously babbled in an attempt to brush past the topic. However, Qiao Yu, who was actually the earliest to know about this among the younger generation, inwardly sighed at her lack of foresight in not considering this, remorsefully nodding her head.
Thinking he had successfully brushed past the issue, Cong Ye breathed a sigh of relief, but then furrowed his brows with concern, tactfully addressing Qiao Yu.
“…Well, Lin Qing didn’t react much at the time.”
“But I feel that, the atmosphere was more terrifying than if she had just caused a scene on the spot.”
Recalling that day’s events, Cong Ye felt a shiver down his spine.
At the time, President Cong, who was not good at reading the atmosphere, casually mentioned at the dinner table that Qiao Yu had invited him to the banquet, and then sighed deeply about how difficult it was for the Qiao family’s child to finally recover from her illness. After waiting for a while without hearing her mention Lin Qing going as well, he couldn’t help but ask, ‘Was I the only one invited?’
‘Yes.’
The woman nodded matter-of-factly, and as Cong Ye shook his hand, the chopsticks slipped from his grasp with a clatter.
He couldn’t pay attention to his mother’s reprimand about not being able to hold chopsticks properly at his age. His mind was consumed with thoughts of what the hell Qiao Yu was up to. Steeling himself, he glanced aside at Lin Qing, who hadn’t touched her chopsticks since President Cong started discussing the topic.
‘Qiao Yu?’
Cong Ye had never seen Lin Qing look like that before.
Her ink-colored eyes were filled with complex and abundant emotions, her face expressionless, her voice soft as if murmuring to herself.
‘You were talking… about Qiao Yu?’
The two words of the name were uttered softly, as if in a devout chant.
Cong Ye suddenly couldn’t bear to look at her. He knew that this version of Lin Qing belonged to someone – to the person who could evoke such an expression from her.
Really! These two people were really causing too much worry! This time it was all Qiao Yu’s fault!
‘Yes, that guy probably just woke up and her mind isn’t clear… Let’s go to her banquet together? I’ll go ask Qiao Yu now—’
‘Do you have contact with her?’
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Qing interrupted him. Cong Ye instantly realized he had misspoken, and he could almost hear the motor in his head whirring rapidly. He averted his gaze and awkwardly tried to smooth things over for Qiao Yu, ‘….Not really.’
However, it was clear that she didn’t believe him. There was a moment of blank expression on Lin Qing’s delicate face, quickly suppressed as she stood up, her voice devoid of warmth.
‘If she didn’t invite me, then why should I go?’
After saying this, she left the dining table. Cong Ye had not been able to have a meaningful conversation with her until the banquet.
He sighed and slapped Qiao Yu’s shoulder in frustration, his hand hurting from the contact with her thin frame.
Only then did Cong Ye have the mind to carefully observe his long-lost friend. Some things were different from how he remembered, but more prominent was the familiar feeling rising from the depths of his heart. Cong Ye’s nose tingled inexplicably, and he spoke loudly to cover it up.
“Qiao Yu, how did you become so thin!”
“Well… it’s probably because of being sick.”
“What kind of illness did you have? And why didn’t you tell us?” He spoke, then suddenly hesitated, tapping the back of his head in frustration. “…I don’t know why, but it seems I completely forgot about you before… How are you now? Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine now,” Qiao Yu smiled wryly and waved her hand, “It’s not a big deal that you didn’t come visit me or anything… It’s all my fault.”
“More importantly…”
She took out her phone from her pocket and approached Cong Ye.
“…Could you add Lin Qing as a good friend for me? I need to apologize to her immediately.”
Hmm complicated
at least she’s not back to zero
why would you ignore your friend you worried about before you hear the reasons? smh