Yu Sheng spoke slowly amidst the nonstop applause. As his last sentence "I wish you all to ride the wind, ascend to the heavens, and make all your ideals come true" rang out, the entire venue stood up and applauded thunderously.
Sitting in the audience, Li Zhen felt dazed.
Memories engulfed her like ocean tides, and Li Zhen was suddenly struck by a feeling of absurdity.
This scene was just like the freshman orientation when she was a freshman.
It was as if the seven years were but a temporary illusion, and she had just woken up from a dream. She and Yu Sheng were still strangers who had never crossed paths.
Li Zhen walked out of the auditorium, still drowned in the deafening applause that seemed to never end.
-
Li Zhen strolled down the asphalt path aimlessly. Tree branches swayed lightly in the summer breeze. Sunlight danced playfully on her shoulders. University students clutching books hurried by her, coming and going in an endless stream.
"Ding ding ding..."
The sharp ring of a bicycle bell approached hastily, followed by a male and female yelp.
"Move, move quickly..."
Seeing the bicycle about to crash into Li Zhen, a pair of large hands grabbed her by the waist and gently pulled her aside, dodging the reckless bicycle.
Li Zhen looked back. "Yu Sheng? Weren't you in the auditorium?"
"You came to see my speech. Why didn't you wait for me so we could leave together?" After helping her stand firmly, Yu Sheng let her go.
Li Zhen did not expect Yu Sheng to not only see her, but also misunderstand her intentions. "I only came to watch the event, not to see you..."
Their conversation was interrupted as the young couple quickly stopped their bikes and jogged over.
The boy apologized, "I'm sorry, I was teaching my girlfriend to ride a bike and she lost control of the direction just now..."
"It's okay." Li Zhen waved her hand dismissively.
As soon as the girl came over, her eyes lit up upon seeing them. "You...you're senior Li Zhen and senior Yu Sheng?"
"You know us?" Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow slightly.
The girl was extremely excited. "Senior Yu, I'm a freshman. Our school forum has so many posts about you and senior Li Zhen. You two are our idols!"
Li Zhen had chased the icy prince for two years in university until she finally became his girlfriend. She was then doted on so much by the icy prince that the whole school knew about it. Back then, many little details about the two of them were dug up and talked about repeatedly by fans.
Among them was a photo of the two that still had an active discussion thread going, with new couples from their university leaving comments wishing to be blessed like them. They might as well be the god and goddess of relationships.
The girl pulled Li Zhen and pleaded, "Senior Li, could I ask you and senior Yu to take a picture with us? That way, we can be blessed to be in love forever too."
Li Zhen's eyebrows furrowed intensely...
What was this girl saying, where was the logic in that? Taking a picture with them could let this couple be in love forever?
Li Zhen guessed that the rumors about her and Yu Sheng were still circulating in their university. She calmly replied, "I'm sorry, Yu Sheng and I are not comfortable taking pictures together."
The girl was puzzled. "Why not?"
"Because we bro...broke up." Li Zhen swallowed the word "divorced".
Yu Sheng shot Li Zhen a cold glare, his sharp eyebrows scowling in displeasure.
"What!" The girl's eyes went wide in shock.
After a few seconds, she gingerly asked again, "Senior Li, you must be joking with me, right?"
Li Zhen: "No, I'm serious."
The girl cycled through a myriad of expressions before taking a deep breath.
She looked at her boyfriend and said, "Let's break up."
Li Zhen: ...
Boyfriend: ...
The girl's beliefs were shattered. Her eyes brimmed red with tears welling up as she cried in despair, "Even they can break up. I will never believe in love again in this lifetime."
The boyfriend was stunned. He had just confessed successfully this morning, and they were breaking up in the afternoon already?
The shelf life of love was way too short!
The crying girl ran off.
The boyfriend hurriedly chased after her.
Yu Sheng let out a cold huff, "Spouting nonsense as you wish, are you happy now?"
"Why can't I say the truth? They are too emotionally fragile. You can't blame me for that." Li Zhen finally understood how crushing it was for fans when their idols broke up.
But she still felt guilty.
She opened a digital wooden fish app on her phone and started tapping on it with her finger.
The app showed: Karma +1, Karma +1, Karma +1...
She walked forward, her path blocked by Yu Sheng again. "Chao Wen and the others are still waiting for me at the auditorium door. Let's go eat with him this afternoon."
Li Zhen opened her mouth, about to object, but Yu Sheng continued, "Don't refuse. I still have matters to discuss with you about returning to the Yu Residence tomorrow."
The group arrived at a small restaurant near the school.
The little restaurant was bustling with excitement. This was a small family business, and the couple running it were rushed off their feet.
Zhou Chao Wen adhered to the principle of self-reliance in life and was too lazy to wait for the boss. He took the initiative to grab menus and handed them to Li Zhen. "Sister-in-law, order whatever you like to eat."
The term "sister-in-law" made Li Zhen's scalp tingle uncomfortably.
Now she really could not bear to hear them calling her that.
Last time when she told Zhou Chao Wen about her divorce, it was like he didn't register it at all.
She ordered dishes and passed the menu back to Zhou Chao Wen.
Zhou Chao Wen reached to take it but realized Li Zhen had not let go. "Sister-in-law?"
"Chao Wen, from now on call me by my name. Otherwise I'll pretend I didn't hear you." Li Zhen's tone was stubborn.
Zhou Chao Wen glanced at Yu Sheng, who showed no reaction, so he could only acquiesce. "Sister Zhen."
"Mm, much better on the ears now." Li Zhen released the menu.
Yu Sheng's gaze turned slightly cold.
Wan Zhe was puzzled. They had been calling her sister-in-law for seven years already.
Ever since Li Zhen started pursuing Yu Sheng in freshman year, they knew Yu Sheng's attitude towards her was completely different from other girls chasing him.
Back then, they would tease Li Zhen in front of Yu Sheng, calling her sister-in-law, and Yu Sheng never stopped them.
Why the sudden change in not allowing it now?
The dishes arrived and Wan Zhe excitedly said, "Brother Yu, you were so cool on stage today. It brought me back to freshman orientation..."
"I know right, I still remember that was the first time Si...Sister Zhen confessed to Brother Yu." Zhou Chao Wen hastily swallowed the term he was about to say mid-sentence.
Yu Sheng glanced at Li Zhen, who was sipping soup beside him, his expression serene with a gentle warmth in his brows and eyes that was seldom seen on normal days.
"But come to think of it, that wasn't the first time we met Sister Zhen. It was the day before orientation, during new student registration and reporting..." Wan Zhe abruptly realized something was off and promptly shut up.
But Zhou Chao Wen picked up where he left off, "Yeah, that's right, it was the day before school. We were together with Brother Yu at the back hill of the school that day..."
"Zhou Chao Wen." Yu Sheng's voice turned icy cold all of a sudden.
This unexpected scolding made Zhou Chao Wen react abruptly - Brother Yu had forbidden them from bringing up the incident at the riverside on the back hill in front of Li Zhen.
Although they never knew the reason.
After not seeing each other much these three years, Zhou Chao Wen had temporarily forgotten about it.
Li Zhen, who was sipping soup, paused in surprise and looked at them curiously. "You guys were at the back hill that day too? How come I never heard you mention it before? I thought only Yu Sheng was there."
Li Zhen would always ask Zhou Chao Wen anything and he'd answer.
Zhou Chao Wen's mouth was faster than his brain. He blurted out, "We were all together with Brother Yu that day..."
