“Wang Cheng, did you forget about me?”
Wei Dandan’s cheerful voice came through the phone. Wang Cheng thought he could hear a trace of nervousness hidden underneath it, though he could not tell whether he was imagining things.
“Of course I didn’t forget. You’re Wei Dandan, my high-school classmate. How have you been lately?” Hearing that, Wei Dandan felt a little disappointed. She had thought Wang Cheng already considered her a friend. Apparently she still had work to do. She had liked Wang Cheng ever since they became classmates in their second year of high school, but she had never dared say it aloud. Later, her friend, the school beauty, openly announced that she liked Wang Cheng, which made Wei Dandan even less willing to confess.
Fortunately, Wang Cheng rejected the school beauty’s confession. Wei Dandan comforted her friend on the surface, but inwardly she was a little happy. It made her feel she had not misjudged him. Her friend’s family background and appearance were both far better than hers, yet Wang Cheng had not been interested. Clearly, he was not the kind of man who cared only about money and looks. A man like that was worth entrusting oneself to.
Because of the school beauty, Wei Dandan never dared confess before graduation. She had once thought about attending the same university as Wang Cheng, only to discover that he did not go to university at all. Later, he disappeared completely, and almost nobody in the class knew what happened to him.
Seven years later, running into Wang Cheng again had made Wei Dandan indescribably happy. She discovered her feelings had not changed at all. More importantly, she realized Wang Cheng did not have a girlfriend. That discovery made her decide to put aside a woman’s reserve and take the initiative to contact him. Unfortunately, she had reached out several times while Wang Cheng had never once contacted her first, leaving her with a disappointment she could not quite describe.
“Nothing much. Same as always. Every day is pretty much the same. What about you? You seem really busy lately. You haven’t even had time to call an old classmate for a casual chat.” As Wei Dandan said this, she was actually so nervous she had no idea what to do with her hands and feet. Fortunately, they were only talking by phone. As long as she kept her voice steady, that was enough.
“You guessed right. I’ve been back home for almost a month, and every day I’ve been so busy I barely have time to breathe,” Wang Cheng explained.
“You quit your job?” Wei Dandan was startled. If he started staying back home all the time like before, would it not become difficult for her to see him again?
“Not yet, but almost. I never planned to stay at that company forever.”
“What have you been so busy with?”
“My family contracted a fruit mountain. It’s autumn now and the fruit is ripening one batch after another, so everyone at home has been busy.”
“So you haven’t had any free time lately?”
“Not exactly. The busiest period is already over. Is there something you wanted to say?” Wang Cheng heard the probing tone in her words. He had never believed Wei Dandan would call him for no reason, so there had to be something.
“There is something, actually, but I don’t know if you’d be willing to go,” Wei Dandan said hesitantly.
“Tell me.”
“Well, someone from Class One in our third year is organizing a class reunion. They want everyone to get together and see their old classmates again. There have actually been several reunions over the years. They wanted to invite you before too, but nobody had your contact information, so they had to give up.”
“Why did they suddenly think of inviting me this time?”
Wei Dandan apologized. “I’m sorry, Wang Cheng. One time I was chatting with a friend and accidentally mentioned that I had run into you and had your contact information. I forgot to tell her not to spread it around, and she ended up telling other people. This time, once the reunion organizers found out, they told me I had to invite you. I’m sorry. If you don’t have time, you don’t have to agree. Don’t worry about me. It was my fault for talking too much.”
She did not know whether Wang Cheng had any interest in a class reunion, especially since he had once been ostracized by classmates. What worried her most was that he might dislike her for this and stop wanting anything to do with her.
“When is it?”
“You’re agreeing to come?” Wei Dandan brightened.
“That depends on whether I’m free that day.” Wang Cheng truly had little interest in class reunions, but he remembered having two fairly close friends in high school. One had been in the same class and the other in the same dorm. Back then, when the school beauty caused most of the boys to freeze him out, those two ignored the whole thing and kept hanging out with him as usual. He had no idea how they were doing now.
“November 8. It happens to be a Sunday, and most people won’t have work, so they deliberately chose that day.”
Today was October 31, which meant there were still eight days to go. He was no longer especially busy, so he should be free that day.
“Have they decided where the reunion will be?”
“Yes. They said Jinding Hotel.”
Wang Cheng made a surprised sound. “Isn’t that exactly where you work? Won’t it be awkward if you run into your coworkers?” What really surprised him was that a small class reunion would be held at an upscale five-star hotel like Jinding. Whoever suggested the venue was probably one of the particularly wealthy people from their class.
“It’ll definitely be awkward, but there’s nothing I can do. I can’t ask everyone to change the place just because of me. Besides, they said it’s already booked.” Wei Dandan had not expected Wang Cheng to understand why she would feel awkward, and that gave her a little rush of happiness. Besides, she would get to see him that day. Compared with that, a little awkwardness was nothing.
“Send me the exact floor and room later.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Wang Cheng drove to the company. There was still an hour before the end of the workday, so he decided to see how things were going. He had been on leave for nearly a month, and his coworkers were probably surprised. Cheng Cheng had called him before and said everyone kept asking when he was coming back. When Wang Cheng reached Changhe Building, he tried calling Chu Yifeng again, but the phone was still turned off. So he called Cheng Cheng instead. Cheng Cheng was delighted to hear he was downstairs and even offered to come down and meet him, but Wang Cheng refused. He was a grown man, not some delicate woman who needed an escort.
When Wang Cheng entered the company, he saw plenty of unfamiliar faces, just as expected. Cheng Cheng spotted him and excitedly pulled him over to Wang Cheng’s old desk.
“Brother Cheng, look! Your desk still looks brand-new. I wipe the dust off every day, just waiting for you to come back. I never expected you to take almost a month off. I nearly thought you weren’t coming back at all.”
Wang Cheng ran a hand over the desk and found it truly spotless. He immediately laughed and patted Cheng Cheng on the shoulder. “Not bad, not bad. You’re a diligent young man. All that care I usually show you wasn’t wasted.”
“You come back and immediately start teasing your coworkers. Young man, how old are you?” Fang Tian came out of the break room and saw Wang Cheng. At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Then he walked closer, heard what Wang Cheng was saying, and laughed. It really was Wang Cheng. Nobody else could say shameless things like that so naturally.
“Fang Tian? You look pretty good. Seems like you’ve been living comfortably while I was gone.”
Fang Tian rolled his eyes. “I think you’re the one who’s been comfortable. I’ve been worked to death. Haven’t you noticed how many more people the company has now? Yet my workload hasn’t gone down at all. I’ve practically withered away. Unlike you, taking nearly a whole month off. Must’ve been nice and leisurely.”
“Can’t you see how much darker I got? Leisurely, my ass.” Wang Cheng even held out an arm for him to inspect.
Fang Tian looked once. “Honestly? I can’t tell.”
Wang Cheng was not pale, but he was not particularly dark either. He had spent his whole life in the sun, and his skin tone had barely changed. Hearing Fang Tian say that, he waved a hand and glanced toward the office. “Forget it. I’m not arguing with you two. Is the boss here?”
“Aren’t you and the boss neighbors? You don’t know whether he came to work?” Fang Tian teased.
“I’ve been back in my hometown this whole time. I haven’t been staying at my elder brother’s apartment at all. How would I know the boss’s whereabouts?” Wang Cheng replied with a guilty conscience.
“What could possibly keep you in your hometown long enough to take a whole month off? Mind telling me?”
Cheng Cheng did not dare ask something like that because he was worried it might be private. Fang Tian was closer to Wang Cheng and knew a little about his family, so he had no problem asking.
“My family contracted a fruit mountain. My parents couldn’t handle all the work by themselves, so I’ve been helping at home.”
“Oh. So are you finished now? When are you coming back?”
“That… I’m not sure yet.” Wang Cheng looked around. There were a lot of people nearby, and many of the new employees did not know him. Seeing how familiar he was with Fang Tian and Cheng Cheng, several were already glancing over. He did not want to announce in front of all of them that he might not return at all.
Cheng Cheng did not know, but Fang Tian did. Wang Cheng’s agreement with Huaying Real Estate would expire soon. Even though Wang Cheng did not say anything, Fang Tian had already started to suspect what might happen.
After leaving the company, Wang Cheng called Chu Yifeng again, but the phone was still off. He figured the man probably was not at the apartment either, so he made another trip to the packaging factory. He loaded fewer than ten sets of jam into the car, then drove back to Guanjia Village. In truth, there were still plenty of things waiting for him. For example, he needed a dedicated place to make jam. They could not keep relying on Mama Wang and Eldest Maternal Aunt forever. He also needed to find a storefront. The more Wang Cheng thought about it, the more work he realized he still had ahead of him. He really should not have been so quick to tell Wei Dandan he would probably be free.