Chapter 18#
Phoenix Man (4)#
The man Wang Cheng had greeted stopped in his tracks and looked back at him, replying with a hint of uncertainty, “Wang Cheng?”
A smile broke out on Wang Cheng’s face. “It’s me. Are you free? We haven’t seen each other in so long—how about we find a place to sit and chat?”
The young man nodded. Ten minutes later, the two of them were seated by the window in a milk tea shop. A cup of coffee sat in front of Wang Cheng, while the young man he called Yu Zhao had ordered a glass of lemon juice.
Wang Cheng studied the young man before him and sighed. “It’s been six or seven years, hasn’t it? You still look the same, not a bit different.”
Seeing Yu Zhao was like glimpsing his own past—those unforgettable, youthful years. Though those days had been a mix of sweet and bitter, when he looked back now, he only remembered the truly wonderful things.
Wang Cheng continued, “You were studying at Qingyu University, right? Why aren’t you working in Qingyu City? What brought you to this second-tier provincial capital?”
Yu Zhao’s voice dropped a little. “I dropped out a few years ago.”
Wang Cheng looked surprised. “How?”
Yu Zhao had been the top student in their class. Back in their small hometown, parents didn’t want their kids hanging out with low achievers. Wang Cheng had been the perpetual second-place student because Yu Zhao always held the top spot.
But he never envied Yu Zhao. In fact, he harbored some special fondness for him. Of course, it also helped that the gap between first and second place was huge—as the runner-up, he could only look up, never feel jealous.
Back then, teenage romance wasn’t allowed, and Yu Zhao was a model student, so Wang Cheng never got the chance to confess. Later, Yu Zhao aced the college entrance exam and got into the prestigious Qingyu University that everyone dreamed of, while Wang Cheng had to settle for a relatively unknown key university in a second-tier provincial capital.
Yu Zhao stared at the floating lemon slices in his glass, his bright smile tinged with bitterness. “Something happened at home, so I dropped out.”
The truth was, his father had an accident in the mine. When his mother heard the news, she fell from a height—one dead, one crippled. There were also elderly, sick relatives at home to care for, and he wasn’t an only child; he had a sister ten years younger.
His sister was only eight. He had enjoyed so many years of his parents’ love; he couldn’t just think of himself. Times were tough, so he applied for a leave of absence. During that time, he also had to deal with the ordeal of demanding compensation from the unscrupulous mine owner.
Now, after all that, his studies had been put on hold.
After hearing Yu Zhao’s story, Wang Cheng said with some emotion, “Life is unpredictable. But with your abilities, everything will get better.”
Yu Zhao smiled, this time more relaxed. “Yeah, my mom is recovering. My sister has grown up and become sensible. I’ve saved up some money recently and plan to open my own little shop.”
For most people, getting into a good university is just to find a better job. He wasn’t young anymore, so naturally he wanted a more stable and upward path.
Wang Cheng’s fingers rested on the edge of his coffee cup. Casually, he asked, “I see. So when you dropped out, didn’t your college boyfriend or girlfriend have any objections?”
Yu Zhao was frank. “I didn’t date in college. I didn’t want to in my first year, and then I dropped out in my second. It’s only been stable for the past six months, and I haven’t thought much about it.”
He gave an embarrassed smile. “Honestly, don’t laugh at me. I currently run a hand-grabbed pancake stall near the university town. Not like you guys working in offices.”
His dream had been to own his own coffee shop, but now he was more pragmatic. He wanted to first open a small snack shop.
He asked his old friend in return, “What about you? You seem to be doing well? That new car must cost about a million, right?”
Guys seem to have a natural love for cars. Back in high school, they could sketch the logos of luxury cars in their notebooks and rattle off model specs and prices from memory.
From Wang Cheng’s clothes and car, he was clearly in a much better position. But Yu Zhao hadn’t gone back to their hometown in years, so he didn’t know what Wang Cheng was up to now.
The face of Qiao Yi flashed in Wang Cheng’s mind. “I’m just average. My annual salary is only 50k. The car is on loan, and the house is loaded with debt.”
Yu Zhao wasn’t sure if Wang Cheng was being modest. He didn’t pursue the topic, instead glancing at the ring on Wang Cheng’s finger. “You’re married, right? When did you get married? Why didn’t you invite me? I’d definitely give you a big red envelope.”
Wang Cheng followed his gaze to his own hand, then, as if possessed, he took the ring off his index finger. “Oh, this? I just wear it to make people misunderstand.”
“Make people misunderstand? What do you mean?” Yu Zhao had never heard such a thing before; it sounded interesting.
Wang Cheng said lightly, “It means there’s someone in my heart. I heard that wearing it on this finger means you’re taken. It keeps the flirts away.”
Yu Zhao replied casually, “Then your wife is really lucky.”
Wang Cheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed. After the first lie slipped out, the rest seemed to come uncontrollably, one after another. “Actually, there’s no wife yet. I’ve been waiting for someone.”
Yu Zhao’s eyes widened. “?”
Wang Cheng gazed at Yu Zhao’s youthful, handsome face, feeling all the blood rush to his head. He heard himself ask, “Want to know who this person is? Actually, it’s…”
The feelings in his former classmate’s eyes were almost palpable. Yu Zhao felt awkward, as if sitting on pins and needles. But since the other hadn’t said it outright, he couldn’t just bluntly reject him—that would make him seem presumptuous.
He waited for Wang Cheng to finish his sentence. But Wang Cheng seemed to choke on the second half. He changed his question: “I want to know, back then, did you ever have any feelings for me?”
Yu Zhao said, “In high school, I only thought about studying. I didn’t think about much else.”
Wang Cheng, however, looked relieved and finished what he had intended to say. “Actually back in high school, I always liked you. After the college entrance exam, I planned to confess, but your family moved away, and I never managed to get in touch. Now that I’ve finally said it, I feel much better. No regrets.”
Seeing him so open, Yu Zhao felt embarrassed but didn’t say anything else. “Let’s call it a day then. I need to go pick up my sister. Maybe we can chat another time? If there’s a chance, I’ll treat you to my hand-grabbed pancake.”
“Wait, let’s exchange contact info first,” Wang Cheng said.
They were both adults now—not like in school where things were black and white. No one wanted to burn bridges. Sometimes, one more friend means one more option.
Yu Zhao recited his phone number. They saved each other’s contacts and then went their separate ways.
Yu Zhao left first. Wang Cheng sat there for a while, then got up as well. He got into his car and stuffed the ring he had taken off under the cushion of the back seat. After that, he patted his face and changed the nickname for Qiao Yi in his phone.
He scrolled through his Moments album. Luckily, he wasn’t the type to post often. It took him about ten minutes to set all the pictures related to Qiao Yi, their marriage, and such to “only visible to me” and to Qiao Yi and his parents. Then he let out a long breath and accepted Yu Zhao’s friend request.
After all that, he drove home. When he arrived, the rooms were dark.
In their new house, it had been just him, Wang Fu, and Qiao Yi living there for the past few days. With Wang Fu out, the lights off meant Qiao Yi wasn’t home either.
He checked the time—it was already dinner time. Frowning, he called Qiao Yi. “Hey, where are you?”
“I’m out.”
“What do you want to eat? I can make you dinner?” Actually, he had been the one to pursue Qiao Yi back then. Qiao Yi came from a good family, was good-looking, and had many suitors. One reason Qiao Yi chose him was his cooking skills.
But back in their hometown during school days, he rarely cooked. He had learned to cook solely to please Qiao Yi. Over the past few days, with Wang Fu around, he hadn’t bothered much with cooking. Now he thought he could win Qiao Yi back with good food.
After all, in his memory, whenever Qiao Yi watched him cook and bring out a table full of delicious dishes, his anger would dissipate as he ate.
Qiao Yi’s voice came through the phone. “I’m at the snack street near the university. There’s plenty to eat here. No need to trouble yourself. Just make something for yourself.”
With that, Qiao Yi hung up. He had just consulted a lawyer. If the other party didn’t agree, they would generally have to wait for a court decision, but that required living apart for at least six months—a real hassle.
Maybe he had to find a way to convince Wang Cheng or catch him in some wrongdoing. But Wang Cheng hadn’t cheated yet; he couldn’t use future events as an excuse.
Sigh. This was the first time Qiao Yi felt so conflicted about doing something. After talking to the lawyer, his stomach growled. The law firm happened to be near a university, and the evening stalls were out. He walked around and spotted one stall that was especially clean.
He looked at the hand-grabbed pancake vendor—wearing a mask, only his pretty eyes visible—hesitated, then said, “Give me a pancake with an egg. No scallions or cilantro.”