Chapter 84: On the Way Back to China

Even as the plane ascended into the clouds, Lin Hexi still felt like the past three years had been nothing but a dream.

It was as if his memories were still stuck in that spring of his senior year—yesterday he was still losing sleep, anxious over the unanswered phone calls and the incomprehensible words in his books, and today he had somehow become a returning graduate with a stable job.

He gave a self-deprecating smile at the reflection of his face in the airplane window.

At least this time, he wasn’t secretly buying a ticket back to China behind You Yueteng’s back.

In the early hours of the morning, fragments of his dream once again surged into Lin Hexi’s mind, gradually overlapping with the clear memories buried deep within his brain.

The details that had been missing from the dream also resurfaced from the depths of his memory, finally seeing the light of day again.

At the time, he hadn’t yet moved out of that house. Using a graduation trip to the East Coast with friends as a pretext, he separated from Wells and the others, then took a connecting flight from an East Coast city back to China.

Two years had passed, and You Chong certainly wouldn’t still be working at that small company from back then. Lin Hexi’s movements had indeed followed the same path as in his dream. He transferred at Lin Hexi Station, took the subway to University Town, and from there, went to the headquarters of You’s company building.

After getting off the subway, Lin Hexi went to the reception desk on the first floor to inquire about You Chong’s whereabouts.

He still remembered it clearly: the sweet-looking, soft-spoken receptionist asked, “Which Mr. You are you referring to?”

Lin Hexi gave You Chong’s name, and only then did he realize from her brief response that You Chong had already begun taking over the core operations and power of the company from You Yueteng.

You Chong was indeed in the same building Lin Hexi was in, but without an appointment, he was stopped on the first floor. He also wasn’t lucky enough to run into Zhou Xuan or Xia Chengfeng.

Lin Hexi had no choice but to leave, and as he turned around, he happened to bump into Zhuang Yixia entering through the door.

At that time, he didn’t know that the young, beautiful woman was named Zhuang Yixia, nor did he know she was You Chong’s fiancée.

He only instinctively glanced twice at the dress she was wearing.

It was the same dress he had seen in a runway video his mentor had shown him, and he knew all the details about that dress by heart.

He heard the security guard and the receptionist address her as “Miss Zhuang” and watched as she walked effortlessly toward the elevator area without any hindrance.

You Chong was an only child, and Lin Hexi had never heard of him having any sisters, either by blood or otherwise.

Although he found it strange, he didn’t dwell on it too much.

For the next few hours, Lin Hexi sat in the café across the street.

Finally, in the evening, he saw You Chong walk out of the building with Miss Zhuang.

Even though there was a wide street between them and You Chong’s face was a bit blurry, and despite him wearing a suit that Lin Hexi wasn’t familiar with, Lin Hexi still recognized him effortlessly.

The first thing he noticed was the woman’s hand resting in the crook of You Chong’s arm, and then his gaze followed that hand down to the expensive dress she was wearing.

People say that we tend to selectively forget unpleasant memories, and now Lin Hexi could barely recall how he had felt at that moment.

The driver had probably gone to fetch the car, and You Chong and Miss Zhuang stood by the roadside, waiting, their hands never letting go of each other.

Lin Hexi lowered his head and searched for Zhuang Yixia’s name on his phone. He also found news of You Chong and Zhuang Yixia’s engagement.

What happened next, just like in his dream, was Lin Hexi borrowing the server’s phone to call You Chong.

When You Chong answered the phone, he finally withdrew his arm from the woman’s grasp. However, the result of that call hurt even more than seeing You Chong being close with another woman—it was suffocating.

You Chong hadn’t changed his number; he simply didn’t want to answer calls from overseas.

Lin Hexi quietly hung up, watching as the driver pulled the car out of the parking lot. You Chong and the woman bent down to get into the back seat, then disappeared from his sight.

Outside, the setting sun sank lower, and just like in his dream, the fiery evening sky soon painted half the sky red.

Unlike in his dream, Lin Hexi didn’t sit quietly for a moment in the café. Instead, he remained there until closing time.

From daylight to nightfall, the street outside changed, but Lin Hexi couldn’t convince himself that the brief time they had spent in their relationship, less than two years, could overcome the two-year gap that had formed between him and You Chong.

In those two years, he hadn’t seen You Chong even once, nor had he heard his voice.

You Yueteng had taken away his phone and SIM card, and the WeChat account linked to that number was no longer accessible. Lin Hexi could only remember You Chong’s phone number, but his calls never went through, and he couldn’t find You Chong’s WeChat account either.

He had tried every possible way to contact You Chong, but none of them had worked, and You Chong had never come looking for him.

Lin Hexi didn’t know if it was You Yueteng using the company’s influence to pressure You Chong, preventing him from coming to find him, or if You Chong had never intended to look for him in the first place.

In romance dramas, the protagonists often find each other again after years of twists and turns. In slice-of-life dramas, the characters count the daily necessities to get by, long forgetting the face of their first love.

Lin Hexi didn’t know which type of drama he and You Chong belonged to—or perhaps they didn’t fit into any of them at all.

Two years ago, during that phone call at the airport, You Yueteng had told You Chong that Lin Hexi had already left the country ten days earlier.

During those ten days when You Chong couldn’t find him, Lin Hexi had been confined at the Lin household, unable to reach You Chong either.

Perhaps before he questioned why You Chong hadn’t come to find him, You Chong had already questioned why Lin Hexi hadn’t tried to contact him for ten whole days after going abroad.

More painful and powerless than believing that You Chong had given up on him was the realization that You Chong probably believed that Lin Hexi had given up on him too.

Audiences often stand in front of their TVs, casually passing judgment. If a breakup happened this way, it clearly showed that neither person loved deeply enough.

However, no one can truly become the protagonist inside the TV, experiencing firsthand the emotions and thoughts of those involved.

They are all merely outsiders, observing from above, detached and commenting from the sidelines.

Even Lin Hexi, who had been at the center of it all two years ago, had once confidently believed that, with no family ties or inheritance to consider, You Yueteng’s tactics couldn’t threaten him.

Yet two years later, Lin Hexi finally understood that You Yueteng didn’t need to make him destitute, nor did he need to ruin his future. He could effortlessly achieve his goal without doing either.

Perhaps it wasn’t really You Yueteng who separated them, but rather the long, seemingly endless two years of no contact that truly drove them apart.

Lin Hexi left the café when it closed.

On the way to the airport, he changed his flight back to the U.S., and at the airport, he ran into Fang Qingning, whom he hadn’t seen in two years.

Fang Qingning looked even more beautiful and radiant than before. Although she hadn’t yet graduated, she was already traveling all over the country for work.

“I heard about You Chong’s engagement from my roommate,” Fang Qingning said, without asking about his sudden disappearance abroad. She seemed both happy and sad. “I’ve already broken up with Xia Chengfeng. Recently, I asked a lot of people, including seniors I know in the entertainment industry, but aside from the woman’s family background, I couldn’t find out much more.”

Lin Hexi nodded and gave her his email address. “I don’t use WeChat anymore, so if you need anything, you can email me.”

Fang Qingning hesitated for a moment before finally asking, “If you want to contact You Chong, I still have Xia Chengfeng as a friend on WeChat—”

Lin Hexi abruptly interrupted her, “If it’s not something important about You Chong, please don’t tell me.”

Fang Qingning didn’t say anything more.

After returning to the U.S., Lin Hexi and Fang Qingning started exchanging emails once a month.

The first email he received from her about You Chong was the one informing him about You Chong’s upcoming wedding.

The email contained only the news of the wedding, with no specific date mentioned.

Even so, on that sleepless morning, Lin Hexi still sent a leave request to his boss and bought a plane ticket back to China.

Even though he knew full well that returning to China was a meaningless endeavor.

You Chong’s marriage wouldn’t change just because he returned.

They no longer shared the same social circle, and it was likely that You Chong wouldn’t even send him a wedding invitation.

Snapping back from his memories to reality, Lin Hexi noticed through the reflection in the airplane window that the woman next to him, wearing sunglasses, was looking at him.

Their eyes met, and Lin Hexi turned his head, confused, and looked at her.

The woman with the sunglasses struck up a conversation. “Are you a student going home for break?”

Lin Hexi was stunned for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I’ve already graduated.”

“You look quite young.” Her gaze fell on the slightly worn watch on his left wrist. “That’s a nice watch. Did you buy it yourself?”

Lin Hexi’s eyes instinctively followed hers, settling on his watch. It took him a moment to snap back to reality. “…It was a gift.”

The woman nodded and shifted the conversation with a kind tone. “Do you have a place to stay when you get back?”

Lin Hexi felt something odd about the situation, but he still replied, “I’ll be staying at a hotel.”

The woman asked again, “Have you booked a room yet?”

He paused for a moment. “Not yet.”

The woman opened the booking app on her phone, her expression slightly apologetic. “I had planned to bring my assistant back to China with me, but they had something come up and couldn’t make it. I’ve booked two rooms at the hotel, and one of them is non-refundable. It would be a waste. Would you like to stay in it?” She smiled. “You can check with the front desk about the room rate and transfer the money to me later.”

Lin Hexi looked at her for two seconds and, almost as if under a strange compulsion, nodded.

The woman told him the name of the hotel.

He fell silent, finding the name somewhat familiar, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall where he had heard it before.