Chapter 54: Reunion After a Long Separation

At a class reunion before the New Year, Shen Yihe ran into Lu Yuan. Exactly a year had passed since their breakup, and time had soothed the pain—at least on the surface. Seeing nothing amiss, Shen Yihe assumed their romance had been fleeting, a clean break of parting as friends, and casually mentioned running into Sima a few days prior. Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan’s heart tightened, though her face remained composed as she asked how he was doing.

Instantly energized, Shen Yihe vividly described how Sima had been walking alone on the street with a Bengal leopard cat, his trench coat billowing in a scene straight out of a movie. The kitten was ridiculously cute, letting her pet it and not biting at all...

After chattering on for a bit, noticing Lu Yuan’s silence, Shen Yihe suddenly realized something and whispered, "I heard you used to date him, and then you broke up?"

"There was something like that," Lu Yuan said. "We haven't been in touch for a long time... The academic burden is heavy, studying is hard, and I have to stay up late every day. I don't have the bandwidth for distractions..." Her tone was flat, but a tempest raged inside her. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, and it took a tremendous effort not to give herself away.

Shen Yihe sympathized deeply. "Yes, I never expected university to be this intense, even more exhausting than high school. Either you understand or you don't, and sometimes I wonder if my intelligence is flawed... Hey, I heard Haidian University is packed with top-tier minds and straight-A students. How are your grades in your department?"

Lu Yuan smiled faintly and said, "Fairly well, getting by..."

Shen Yihe’s eyes darted around, unwilling to let her off the hook. "Just how well is 'fairly well'? Top 50%? Top 20%? Or top 10%?" Changzhou was a small city, and it wasn't until Shen Yihe entered Beizhi University of Technology that she realized the gap between people could sometimes be greater than the gap between humans and dogs. She found her studies grueling and somewhat regretted choosing a STEM major.

"At the very top," Lu Yuan murmured.

Shen Yihe let out an exaggerated gasp, quickly covering her mouth in embarrassment. She picked up her teacup and took a sip to calm her nerves. Truly admiring Lu Yuan, she said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "You're amazing. If I had even half your capability, I'd smile in my sleep!"

Lu Yuan thought to herself, *After putting in so much effort and suffering so much hardship, if I can't be at the very top, what meaning is there to life...*

Yes, she was heartbroken. Life had lost its meaning, leaving a hollow emptiness inside. She stopped wearing makeup, paid no attention to her clothes, and reading became her sole pastime and only solace. Over the past year—365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds—she had tried to forget Sima. She had thought she finally had, but Shen Yihe had effortlessly shattered her defenses, unleashing a raging flood that breached every barrier.

Lu Yuan’s eyes grew red. She got up, went to the restroom to splash water on her face, and without returning to the dining room, she sent Shen Yihe a text message and slipped away from the Hongyan Pavilion alone.

The afternoon sun was as warm as a lover's touch. Before she knew it, Lu Yuan found herself back at Changzhou Middle School. Walking through the empty campus, she reminisced about the past, said goodbye to her former self, and felt her mood gradually steady as she decided to step forward into a brand-new life.

Yet at that very moment, in the distance, she spotted Sima sitting on the lawn, his back leaning against the flag-raising platform. A kitten was playing at his feet—brave-looking, lively, and adorable. Lu Yuan ducked behind a tree, her heart pounding furiously in her chest, dizzy with the sudden wave of disbelief. She must be seeing things! It had been so long since they broke up; this was merely a hallucination!

She closed her eyes, held her breath, and pinched her wrist hard. It hurt—it really hurt! Opening her eyes, she peeked out. Sima was still there, using a twig to tease the cat. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the stick away. The kitten turned its head to look at Sima as if looking at an idiot, and lay right where it was, too lazy to move.

Lu Yuan cupped her cheeks, almost laughing out loud. It was a cat, not a dog, that would happily chase after a stick, retrieve it, and wag its tail like mad!

Who would have thought that just a few seconds later, the kitten snapped out of its trance, leaped onto Sima’s chest, pushed off hard, and shot out like an arrow. In no time, it dashed back with the twig in its mouth, laid it down by his hand, and wagged its tail for a reward just like a dog. Sima reached out to pat its little head. Seeming a bit tired, he rummaged through his backpack, pulled out a Lock & Lock glass container, popped the lid, and pinched off a piece of salmon to feed it while crunching away on a Snickers bar himself.

The memory of their northern train ride rushed back—Sima had eaten quite a few Snickers bars along the way. With those good old days flashing vividly before her eyes, Lu Yuan’s mind plunged into chaos. A stinging sensation hit the bridge of her nose, and her eyes filled with tears.

After this long separation, this man remained her obsession and her knot of the heart. She could no longer run away! Lu Yuan sniffed, wiped away her tears with her sleeve, and gathered all her courage to step forward, crossing the lawn as if traversing thousands of mountains and rivers to rush toward the edge of the world.

Starving, Sima wolfed down his Snickers bar and unwrapped a vacuum-sealed pork knuckle. Before he could even swallow his first bite, he heard footsteps. Subconsciously turning his head, he saw Lu Yuan standing there, her features delicate and refined, her figure slender like a white lotus. He raised the pork knuckle in greeting and mumbled, "Hey, long time no see. How have you been?"

Lu Yuan did not answer. Standing before Sima, she looked down at him, hesitated for a long moment, and slowly squatted down on her heels.

Sima handed her the glass container. "Here, help me feed the cat!"

Lu Yuan took the box. The small leopard cat immediately padded over, lifting its little face to gaze at her. Its yellow pupils reflected her figure in a breathtaking, wild beauty. Her heart instantly melted. She pinched off a piece of fish and fed it. The little leopard cat gave a *mew* and snatched it in its mouth, chewing sideways for a few moments before swallowing it whole.

Sima gnawed on the pork knuckle, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. Before long, nothing was left but a bone. He pulled a large chunk of spiced beef from his backpack and began eating it in huge bites, paying no heed to his image.

Lu Yuan didn't know what to say. She focused intently on feeding the cat, her eyelashes fluttering slightly as she occasionally glanced at him. Seeing Sima finish the beef, move on to mutton, and then unwrap another pork knuckle—devouring everything voraciously as if he had been starved for days—she couldn't help feeling a bit worried.

Yet they had broken up; she had no right to manage him anymore. Silently feeding the last piece of fish, she set down the empty container. Feeling her legs go numb, Lu Yuan lost her balance and tipped over, sitting down hard on the lawn as she frowned and massaged her heels.

Wiping his mouth and hands with a wet wipe, Sima asked, "When did you get back? And what brings you to the school?"

Hugging her shins and resting her chin on her knees, Lu Yuan looked toward the distant teaching building and rambled incoherently, "I got back a few days ago. There was a class reunion at noon, but after sitting there for a bit, it felt pointless, so I slipped out for some fresh air, wandered around aimlessly, and happened to pass by the school to take a look..."

"The Sanyuan Hall at the Hongyan Pavilion. Was it organized by Lin Zixuan?"

"You... received the notification too?"

"Didn't pay much attention. I heard about it the last time I ran into Shen Yihe."

"How... why are you at the school?"

Sima nudged the kitten with his chin. "Just finding a place to walk the cat..."

Lu Yuan fell silent for a moment. "I ran into Shen Yihe earlier too. She said you have a Bengal leopard cat, that it's ridiculously cute and lets her pet it..."

Sima let out a carefree laugh, flashing his white teeth. He gave a soft whistle, and the little leopard cat zipped straight into his arms. As Sima scratched its chin, an expression of utter doting washed over his face, striking Lu Yuan like a bolt of lightning and driving her to the verge of collapse.