Chapter 106
T HIS FAREWELL DINNER had Jiang Cheng feeling a little wistful.
A whirlwind of emotions swept through the room after Lao-Xu’s speech.
A good number of students were already clustered into teary huddles halfway through the meal—first the girls, then the boys, too.
One sip of alcohol was all it took to get everyone bawling.
Even if they had fought before, all their grudges melted away in this moment—perhaps these quarrels would continue later beyond this room and this meal, but not right here, right now, when they were all simply members of Class Eight.
Though not much food had been eaten, the drinks had already been topped off a couple of times. Some other teachers tried to intervene, but they were all forced back with one line from Lao-Lu.
“Just this once—let them drink as much as they want,” he said. “It’s all coming back out as tears anyway.”
Jiang Cheng only had two glasses of beer.
He felt a sense of wistfulness, but none of the intense emotions the rest of his classmates were feeling.
In fact, that absence of feelings was part of the reason for his wistfulness.
After all, he hadn’t spent as much time with these people.
He still couldn’t put names to many of these faces—but then again, with the exception of Pan Zhi, he’d felt more or less the same about his classmates at his old high school.
Being disconnected on both ends left him feeling untethered. Was there anyone capable of evoking such intense emotions in him…?
He turned around and glanced at Gu Fei next to him, who had his head down as he played on his phone, his face impassive.
Perhaps Gu Fei was the only one.
After everyone had finished crying to their hearts’ content, it was time to exchange contact information and take photos together.
Gu Fei had actually added quite a few classmates already for the sake of his stupid Aixiaochu , whereas Jiang Cheng hadn’t added anyone aside from the guys they played basketball with.
Now, they all started coming up to him.
One of the boys squeezed up to his side. “Hey, Jiang Cheng, let’s add each other.”
“Sure.” Nodding, Jiang Cheng pulled out his phone. He truly was a little surprised, though—he thought the guy looked familiar, but up until a second ago, he’d always assumed he belonged to Class Seven next door.
After he’d added several other boys to his WeChat, the girls started coming over as well.
Exchange contacts. Take photos. Ad infinitum.
Even Lao-Xu and Lao-Lu were poking their heads everywhere in excitement.
After stiffly holding the corners of his mouth up for photos with several girls in a row, Jiang Cheng noticed in his peripheral vision that Gu Fei was no longer beside him. Good Little Bunny sure is an apt name, he thought, hopping off faster than anyone.
Finally, after Wang Xu had finished wrangling him into a photo with one arm around his neck, Jiang Cheng walked out of the room and found Gu Fei in the hallway, leaning against the wall.
“You certainly didn’t waste time running away!” Jiang Cheng said, glaring at him.
“I always run from these things.” The corners of Gu Fei’s mouth lifted. “Unlike some guy who used to have a girlfriend, who must be really enjoying himself.”
“Bull-fucking-utter-shit!” said Jiang Cheng.
“I want a photo together, too,” Gu Fei said.
Jiang Cheng laughed. “Don’t we have enough of those?”
“Not like this.” Gu Fei pulled out his phone, then walked to the door and looked at him. “Come on.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t know what Gu Fei was thinking, but he went over to stand beside him anyway.
Gu Fei pulled him close, both of their backs to the door. He held up his phone with one hand and put the other around Jiang Cheng’s shoulder. “Get ready. I want a big smile.”
“Okay.” Jiang Cheng cracked his mouth wide and stretched his facial muscles in preparation. “Right, how do you want to do this? It’s a little dark in here, isn’t it?”
“It’ll look good backlit, too.” Gu Fei lifted his leg and swung it backward, kicking open the door of the private room behind them. “Smile!”
Jiang Cheng cooperated immediately, putting on an exaggerated grin, but when he saw the scene captured in the camera screen, it promptly turned into a genuine laugh.
Everyone in the room was either wiping away their tears or huddled together drinking. When the door swung open they all froze in place, and everyone was still holding the position of whatever they’d been doing a second ago, eyes collectively directed toward the doorway.
Lao-Xu and Lao-Lu were caught crossing their arms as if to share a nuptial drink under the pressure of their students. Their arms were already interlocked with cups raised to their lips, but now they looked toward the door together like a pair of deer in the headlights.
Gu Fei pressed down on the shutter. “Okay.”
“I was wondering where you ran off to!” Wang Xu shouted as he lunged at them from behind a few chairs. He wrapped his arms around Gu Fei and started hauling him inside. “Everyone! Hurry up and get over here if you want a picture!”
“Ah, crap.” Gu Fei struggled a few times but didn’t manage to break free, and a horde of excited and inebriated young people caught up and dragged him inside with them.
Pinning him to a chair, they started to take turns snapping selfies with him.
Jiang Cheng leaned against the doorway and laughed as he watched.
It was likely that after tonight, none of these people would have the gall to trap Gu Fei in a chair for a selfie with them. After all, the guy was a notorious troublemaker with an ice sculpture for a face.
Jiang Cheng took out his phone too and snapped a few pictures of the chaotic scene. It would be a memory of sorts.
Whether he was close with these people or not, they were still a part of his high school life; he’d spent the eighteenth year of his life here, and these were the people he had passed along the way.
After dinner, they still had plans for karaoke.
As usual, Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei fell behind, walking at the back of the crowd.
Everyone ahead of them was so elated they couldn’t even walk straight.
The two of them watched the others make a turn at the intersection ahead, then walked in the other direction, onto a street that would lead them back home.
“You don’t want to party a little longer?” Gu Fei asked.
“Nah, my head’s ready to burst from all the partying already.” Jiang Cheng glanced at him. “Besides, the way you are right now, we’d better go back and rest.”