Chapter 9

  After we sat down in the store, we ordered some hot pot dishes and got a spicy pot. I asked him about his recent situation, and smiled: "You decided to come back, do you want to settle down?"

  He smiled and said, "Yes, family relationships are more convenient when you return home."

  "Family member—" I emphasized the term, "Lawyer Lin has finally been caught? Tsk tsk, Isabel and Kenney from the law firm will be heartbroken. Who is this person, do I know them?"

  Lin You smiled noncommittally and said, "I'll tell you once it's officially decided."

  I sighed: "Even you are getting married, and there is one less excellent bachelor in this world."

  When I first met Lin You, he once said that I looked like one of his friends. At the time, I thought it was just a pickup line from Lawyer Lin and didn't take it seriously. The Chinese community in London is not very big, and Lin You is quite popular among them. My roommate Tang Jing even tried to play matchmaker for us at some point.

  At that time, I was alone in London, always feeling a bit lonely and uneasy, so I didn't refuse her kindness. But after getting to know Lin You better, I could also feel the unbridgeable distance between us, which is actually the same as the distance between love and friendship.

  Tan Jing always felt that Lin You was much closer to me than to ordinary female friends, but both of us knew in our hearts that we were not the kind of people who could fully invest our emotions. I don't know about Lin You, but after going through that relationship with Lu You, I found it difficult to enter into another romance without considering gains and losses.

  If we are together, it's just two lonely people in a foreign land, finding someone with suitable conditions to make up the numbers.

  After dinner, I and Lin You proposed that we might as well go back to our alma mater for a walk. It's been so many years since we came back, and the school has changed a lot too.

  It's still summer vacation, and the school is empty except for the freshmen who are reporting early for military training. The teaching buildings have been newly renovated or rebuilt, and the scene in front of me is both unfamiliar and familiar.

  I turned to Lin You and asked, "How long hasn't it been since you came back?"

  "After graduating, I went to London and never came back, it's been 5 years."

  "I'm the same. It's been too long, I feel like I've aged a whole generation."

  He smiled and said: "You're still old? Then I'm an old man who has returned home to spend his later years in peace."

  He amused me and I laughed, saying: "To be honest, I'm getting more and more curious about that 'family member' of yours. Is she in B City now?"

  Lin You said: "You've seen it."

  "Have you seen her? Stop pretending, which one is it?" I concentrated and thought for a moment, "There are so many girls around Lawyer Lin, how can I keep track of them all? Is it Wendy..." My voice gradually trailed off as two people approached from the front.

  It's probably around 8 o'clock in the evening now, and there aren't many lights on in the teaching building. Only the streetlights by the road cast a dim yellow glow. After seeing me, Lu You's footsteps also hesitated for a moment. He was wearing a crisp light-colored shirt and dark gray suit pants, with cufflinks shining under the light. The woman beside him looked somewhat familiar, but what was even more familiar were the sandals on her feet - sheepskin dark red round-toed high heels.

  I don't know whether I should walk up front and smile to greet; or just brush past, pretending not to see.

  The distance between us was only a few steps away. Lu You reacted faster than me and walked over calmly, greeting me: "You're also coming to school?"

  It wasn't until I got closer that I realized the woman next to him was Wang Shu, Luyu's fellow villager.

  Although this situation is unexpected, it's also reasonable. Lu You is more devoted than I imagined. They've been together for several years, and even when Lu You and I were still boyfriend and girlfriend, Wang Shu often appeared in our world.

  I suddenly remembered that today is Lu You's birthday, no wonder they chose to come to school for a stroll at this time, it turns out that they came to find memories on the anniversary.

  Wang Shu looked at me with surprise, nodded slightly to greet me, his expression a bit stiff, then bit his lower lip and silently glanced at Lu You.

  I said: "Yes, it's been too long since I came back. I just happened to be passing by and thought I'd take a look." Then I introduced Lu You to Lin You: "Originally in school, my senior, four years older than me."

  Lin You smiled at Lu You and said: "If it's the senior year, then we're in the same grade. I'm Lin You from the Law Department, what about you?"

  "He's from the finance department. But he didn't do his undergraduate studies at B University, he did his graduate studies here." After saying that, I leaned in close to Lin You and gently wrapped my arm around his arm.

  Lin You almost immediately understood what I meant, looked down at me with a smile and said: "It's still better in China, you can easily run into someone you know. Unlike in London, you'll be shouting that the circle is too small and boring every day."

  Lu You looked at us, habitually pushed his glasses, and the corners of his eyes behind the lenses contained a hint of alienation. "The school has changed a lot in these few years, only the library and the area behind the third teaching building haven't changed, you can go around and take a look."