Chapter 36: Youth Campus Chapter 9

  Seven years later, F City, Yan Yu's office.

  Knock knock——

  "Enter."

  "Director Yan, I've brought over the invitation letter and schedule for the school anniversary celebration. Please take a look to see if there's any problem."

  "Let me take a look." Yan Yu took the school anniversary arrangement from his secretary, "On the 8th, there will be an inter-departmental meeting in the morning, and the notice has been sent out. I won't attend the campus tour in the morning, but the lecture in the afternoon and the evening's cultural performance and dinner party are all okay."

  "Alright, I'll go respond to them. Do you need me to prepare a draft for the lecture?"

  "No need, I'll take care of it myself. Oh, right, go order a bouquet of flowers, freesia would be good, make sure they're fresh and nicely packaged, put them in my car early tomorrow morning."

  "Alright, nothing else, I'll leave first."

  "Go."

  Yan Yuxiu's long fingers slid across the agenda paper, stopping at the guest column, where they remained still, rubbing back and forth. A gentle, meaningful smile spread across his face. The name "Su Luo" was clearly written at the tip of his finger.

  "Director Yan, may I ask a question?"

  Yan Yunzheng was immersed in nostalgia and melancholy, startled by the sudden voice, quickly collecting his facial expression, pretending to be nonchalant. It turned out that the little secretary couldn't resist her curiosity and made a comeback.

  "Speak." was interrupted, Yan Yu was actually not very happy.

  "It was you who asked me to ask, right?" Then I won't be polite! Little secretary clenched his fists and rubbed his palms, seemingly very excited: "Is this flower really for Miss Su? She's coming back for the school anniversary this time and will participate in the speech and evening party as a well-known alumnus. Are you going to make some kind of statement?" The last sentence was said with a slightly lewd tone, and his eyebrows were raised up and down.

  Yan Yu has a headache. This girl is quite capable and responsible at work, but sometimes she's too lively and gossipy, and when she gets excited, she doesn't take him as her boss seriously, daring to say anything. Looking at this, it should be another outbreak of her bad temper.

  "Do you want to know?"

  "Mmm." The secretary nodded vigorously, indicating her sincerity.

  "Come over." Yan Yu beckoned with his hand.

  The little secretary ran to the desk with a fawning expression, like a hungry Pomeranian.

  "This flower is for..." Yan Yu deliberately paused, the secretary perked up his ears, focused intently, "Not telling you!" Yan Yu said with a proud smile.

  "How can this be! Director Yan, don't play with your subordinates like this!" The little secretary was furious.

  "Get out and finish this report. I want it on my desk before you leave work today, or don't even think about leaving!" This was his usual principle for dealing with subordinates' laziness.

  "Got it, I'll do it right away." The little secretary of the work task still never shirks, but is obviously curious to death and can't get the truth, feeling really uncomfortable and suffocated, so she responds with a lack of energy.

  "You still dare to pout, unwillingly? Last time you spread the news that Su Luo and I were classmates, and even told the whole company about me buying her album and magazine. You haven't settled accounts with me yet! Do you want to know more? Or should I tell you everything? Let's schedule an exclusive interview, and then you can post it on the company website later. As for the interview fee, just deduct it from your salary this month."

  "No, no need, no need! Manager Yan, I'll go do the report right away, guarantee completion of the task!" Clearly a brain-dead fanboy, yet won't let others speak, what a loser, deserves to be unable to catch up with his goddess!

  The little secretary returned to her own workstation with a belly full of complaints and grievances.

  Yan Yu calmed down alone and began to think about the bits and pieces of these years, as well as those people and things that seemed to have gone far away.

  That year, the college entrance examination was almost ruined because of taking the wrong admission ticket, but fortunately, with Su Luo's help at the last minute, he managed to catch up. After that, everything went smoothly, and both he and Zhou Xiaomeng scored high marks and were admitted to B University. The two were very happy, and Zhou Xiaomeng was also very satisfied with his performance. Without the burden of an early romance, she finally agreed to his pursuit.

  But he didn't forget Suoluo's kindness, after all, it wasn't a small matter. His parents also wanted to meet the girl and express their gratitude, and they should apologize for delaying her college entrance exam and make amends. At least they should help her explain things to her family so she wouldn't be blamed by her parents. However, when they asked around, there was no news of her whereabouts, and surprisingly, not a single classmate had her contact information. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. On the other hand, many people were talking about her heroic act of breaking the window that day, expressing their admiration and envy towards him. He couldn't help but feel moved when he heard these stories, especially when he thought back to that scene. He felt a mix of emotions - a bit of sadness, a bit of laughter, and a sense of resignation. It was indeed her style, and only she could do something like that. In the past, he had been impulsive and hadn't treated her well, so if he had the chance, he should apologize and thank her, even though he couldn't accept her feelings.

  Because his relationship with Zhou Xiaomeng had been made public, the brothers didn't try to persuade him to betray her, but instead said it was a pity for Suoluo. If he could have a girl like that who liked him so much, it would be too happy. In the end, when asked about their class teacher, the teacher said she had gone abroad and told him not to look for her anymore. He also inquired several times about her home address and phone number overseas, but got nothing, and was also afraid of making Zhou Xiaomeng anxious, so he eventually gave up. At least he knew that her family conditions were good, and it wouldn't affect her future too much because she couldn't take the college entrance exam, which made him feel a little comforted and reduced his guilt.

  University life is too rich and colorful, busy talking about love with Zhou Xiaomeng, gradually forgetting this matter, only occasionally when parents mention it or jokingly ask if the little girl likes you, will remember Su Luo Luo who dares to do anything for him.

  Her feelings with Zhou Xiaomeng were not as smooth as expected. She was too strong-willed and took learning too seriously, at least more important than him, her boyfriend. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed that he could never meet her requirements. Inevitably, the two had quarrels, cold wars, although they always ended up making up in the end under his compromise, but once a crack appeared, it was difficult to completely heal.

  In order to accompany her to self-study, he gradually reduced the time spent gathering with good brothers to play games; In order to make her happy, he gave up the hard-won university basketball league quota and participated in an unknown academic project; Because she thought it was too showy, the house and car bought by her family were idle, living in a dormitory and riding a bicycle every day...

  There are many such things, and he can't count them all. But because he likes her, he can tolerate everything and try to make some changes. After all, as a man, he should be more tolerant. Since he has pursued her, he must take responsibility to the end. However, despite this, the two still couldn't walk together in the end.

  Although there have been pursuers around Zhou Xiaomeng all along, he didn't take those people seriously. After all, with Zhou Xiaomeng's cold personality, these people didn't stand a chance, and he was still the most special one to her, which gave him some confidence. But the appearance of one person broke his self-confidence and also made his relationship with Zhou Xiaomeng slide to an all-time low.

  This man is Zhou Xiaomeng's mentor - Zhou Chong.

  It has to be admitted that Zhou Chong is a charming man, in his thirties, elegant and refined, with extensive knowledge, most welcomed by those twenty-year-old girls, but he just has a crush on Zhou Xiaoting.

  Knowing that Zhou Xiaomeng had a genuine boyfriend, Zhou Chong was disappointed, but he didn't give up because of this. Instead, his competitive spirit was stirred up, and he made steady progress. In front of Zhou Xiaomeng, he put on an air of being a good mentor and friend, making her admire his scholarship and character; while in private, he openly taunted his emotional rival, vowing that he would eventually gain ownership of Zhou Xiaomeng's heart, trying to provoke his anger.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, he succeeded, and the two of them became more and more at odds because of him. Moreover, Zhou Xiaomeng always chose to believe her admired teacher Zhou rather than him, her actual boyfriend.

  The last big fight was after I went to America in my sophomore year.

  That year, because of Zhou Xiaomeng's persistence, the two chose to be exchange students for a year. Although he was already involved in managing his family's business in City B and could hardly take time off, he eventually decided to accompany her, handling some matters remotely and flying back and forth when necessary.

  Before that, Zhou Xiaomeng had concealed the news that Zhou Chong would also be visiting the same university as a scholar. Later, he explained that he was afraid of being overly cautious, and he reluctantly accepted it. Afterwards, despite his opposition, she resolutely joined Zhou Chong's laboratory and became his assistant. The two had another argument over this, and in the end, he lost again.

  Every time they meet on campus, Zhou Chong always smiles at him with a deep meaning, as if to say: See! I told you I would win! Zhou Xiaomeng will be mine sooner or later. He is so angry that his teeth are itchy, and he can't help but want to punch him, but in the end, he chooses to remain silent, not because he's afraid of him, but because he doesn't want Zhou Xiaomeng to be embarrassed and hurt.

  During that time, a major project was being negotiated and his dad hoped he could learn some experience from it, so he took half a month off and flew back to City B. After finishing the business, on the day of his return, which coincidentally was his birthday, they agreed that Zhou Xiaomeng would pick him up at the airport and celebrate together.

  As a result, after he landed, he couldn't see anyone around him, and when he called her, it said the phone was turned off. He had a nagging worry in his heart, fearing that something unexpected had happened, so he hurried to school. Along the way, he kept dialing her number and sent several text messages, but there was no response at all.

  He was so anxious that he was sweating all over, and he couldn't help but want to slap himself. How could he have let her, a young girl, come all the way here to pick him up in the middle of the night? If anything happened, he would never be able to forgive himself for the rest of his life.

  The taxi finally arrived at the school. He first went to her dormitory, but she wasn't there. Her roommate said she had left early in the morning, and then he went to the library, but she wasn't there either. In the end, there was only one possibility left, which was Zhou Chong's laboratory.

  He dragged his tired body to the laboratory door, fortunately, the security guard had seen him a few times and knew he was Zhou Xiaomeng's boyfriend, so he let him pass smoothly.

  Result...

  As a result, he pushed open the door and saw... Zhou Xiaomeng lying on the sofa, covered with Zhou Chong's suit, and Zhou Chong was about to kiss her!

  That beast actually dared to kiss her!!!!!

  Disappointment, resentment, anger, sadness... all sorts of emotions burst out at this moment, turning into a fist that heavily slammed onto Zhou Chong's face.

  "Ah——Yan Yu, what are you doing! It's my fault, I forgot to pick you up, if you're angry, take it out on me, why hit Teacher Zhou!" Zhou Xiaomeng was startled awake and saw the scene before her eyes, without asking any questions, she immediately found him guilty.

  "What for?! You ask me what for?! Because I'm your boyfriend! Because this bastard took advantage of you when I wasn't around..."

  The words after "pa" hadn't been finished yet when Zhou Xiaomeng interrupted with a slap.

  He seemed to have heard a shattering sound in his heart, it was love, his love for her.

  After that day, he spent some time reflecting on the relationship between the two of them and slowly came to a realization: with only one side compromising and yielding, lacking mutual effort and even the most basic trust, even the deepest emotions would eventually be exhausted. That's how it was with him and Zhou Xiaomeng - not that he didn't love her, but his love wasn't good enough.

  He chose to return home, back to his family and parents who needed him, and also chose to break up with Zhou Xiaomeng.

  It's clear that Zhou Xiaomeng is also reluctant to part with him, but her strong and stubborn personality doesn't allow her to hold him back, so she pretends to be carefree and wishes him a smooth journey.

  When leaving, it was sweet and romantic, but on the way back, I was alone with a solitary shadow.