Yu Yao laughed, “Of course, our beauty-loving A-Jun.” There was another reason that everyone avoided mentioning, but Yu Yao knew very well. She and Yang Jun were the same age, and by the time Yang Jun was thirty-five, Yu Yao had already been missing for seven years. After such a long time with no news, they must have presumed she was dead.

“Yao Yao, how about going out with me today?” Yang Jun proposed.

Without hesitation, Yu Yao agreed, “Sure.”

At Yang Jun’s request, Xu Xian and Jiang Zhonglin stayed at home, and only the two of them went out. Xu Xian gave Yang Jun a worried reminder, “Be careful, you know your own health. Don’t get too excited or eat sweets. Make sure to carry your medicine.”

Jiang Zhonglin also glanced at Yu Yao and kindly said, “If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call. Don’t be afraid.”

With their advice in mind, Yang Jun took Yu Yao out. Yu Yao thought Yang Jun was taking her somewhere special, but they ended up at a movie theater.

“Watching a movie?” Yu Yao was puzzled, but since she hadn’t experienced movies from forty years in the future, she went along with it. However, Yang Jun only led her to sit at a table by the window outside the cinema and had no intention of buying tickets.

Yang Jun glanced out at the street and winked at Yu Yao. “Do you know where this is?”

Yu Yao looked around, finding everything unfamiliar. She shook her head and asked, “Where is this? Is it your old place?”

Yang Jun sighed, “This is our old high school site. About ten years ago, No. 16 Middle School moved to the new district, and this place was demolished… It’s completely unrecognizable now. When the school was demolished, all of our high school classmates gathered here once, and everyone came except for you… Actually, I haven’t been here in a long time either. It’s different from the last time I saw it.”

Yu Yao was truly surprised that this was the old No. 16 Middle School she remembered. She turned to look at the street and the pedestrians, her gaze somewhat vacant.

During her school years, especially in middle and high school, she was in a rebellious phase. For her back then, the school was no different from a prison, and she hated everything related to it. She frequently skipped classes, got into fights, went to internet cafes, smoked, drank, and even dyed her hair a flashy red—mostly to upset her father. Anything that could make her father furious, she did it. From her teenage years to her college days, she was dedicated to one thing: making her father mad.

Eventually, she realized her father was in great health despite all her attempts to anger him. With age, her resentment faded significantly, and she outgrew her rebellious phase, choosing instead to ignore him.

The past was vivid and didn’t feel distant to her.

“Did the Mingde Private School near No. 16 Middle School move too?” Yu Yao suddenly asked.

Yang Jun replied, “Yes, it moved to the new district as well, but it’s very far from the new No. 16 Middle School.”

The No. 16 Middle School Yu Yao attended was a rundown, low-tier school, filled with rebellious students. According to her homeroom teacher, it was a “pot of rat droppings,” with students who would become social pests. When Yu Yao chose No. 16 over the second-tier school her father had arranged, her father punished her severely, leaving her with a limp for half a month.

In contrast, Mingde Private School, just a wall away from No. 16, was an elite institution with a high fee and a small student body. It was a prestigious private school.