The three arrived at the second-floor faculty dining area of the cafeteria. Yan Ningxi swiped her card for both of them and said to Ming You, “The faculty cafeteria is buffet-style. Help yourself.”
“Oh.”
A few unfamiliar teachers sat scattered around. Ming You absentmindedly picked two vegetable dishes. Yan Ningxi still ladled soup for her and added two small bowls of stir-fried zucchini with pork and sweet-and-sour ribs to her tray.
“Weren’t you full of vim and vigor in the office? Lost your appetite?” Yan Ningxi wasn’t without temper; she was just good at hiding it and resolving it herself.
The girl was stubborn too. Caught off guard by Yan Ningxi’s jab, she blinked her eyes and said proudly, “If you’re okay with me eating spicy food, I’ll try every spicy dish and soup there is.”
Yan Ningxi handed her a small soup spoon. “Pretty self-aware.”
Ming You took it with a smile. “You know it.”
He Huan: “Are you still not fully recovered from your illness?”
Ming You: “No.”
Yan Ningxi and He Huan sat on the same side, with Ming You across from them. She could stare unabashedly at Yan Ningxi while they bantered, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet He Huan’s eyes directly anymore. In the past, she had never lacked that courage.
“By my count, isn’t the Autumn Sports Meet coming up soon?” Although she had already heard about it from Jiang Lai, for the sake of their next meeting, she still had to ask.
“Yeah, the day after tomorrow at the latest,” He Huan said. “You never participated in sports meets in high school. What about university? Have you tried any events?”
Ming You answered offhandedly, “No point doing things I’m not confident about.”
This was Ming You’s first time in the faculty-only cafeteria. The school’s junior and high school divisions had separate buildings, but there were three cafeterias total with no separation for junior or high schoolers. Only this floor was for faculty.
In three years at school, He Huan had never brought her here. Yet after graduation, Yan Ningxi had.
A voice call came in. Ming You turned sideways to answer. “Xirui?”
“Ming You, there’s an online assignment due before nine tonight. It’ll count toward your assessment. I sent you the details on WeChat in case you missed it.”
“Got it. I’ll check it.” The one on the call was her roommate Gu Xirui, who had also asked for leave on her behalf.
“Your voice sounds much better. You okay now?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Good. And the preliminaries next weekend…”
“I haven’t forgotten.” Ming You cut her off. “Xirui, thanks. Talk later.”
Gu Xirui was pure and lovely, the kind of petite beauty that inspired protectiveness—a model lady through and through. She had come in second in Hengchuan University’s School Flower Selection two years ago, when they were freshmen.
She had lost by just over a hundred votes to the performance major girl in first place, settling for the title of Department Belle of the Broadcasting Department instead.
Ming You had placed fifth in that vote.
They were in the same department, same year, same class, and same dorm. Their laid-back personalities meshed well, drawing them closer. Everyone saw them as the locked-in “Gu-Ming Siyi CP.”
After hanging up, Ming You suddenly remembered something. She opened her WeChat chat with Gu Xirui, skipped the latest message, and scrolled up to a public account post. The title read: 【Hengchuan School Flower Battle: Broadcasting and Performance Departments Stir Up the Storm Again!】
Hengchuan’s School Flower Selection happened once a year, open to all grades. It wasn’t official media—just third-party fun. By tradition, anyone who had already won the title didn’t participate again.
A few days ago, when Gu Xirui asked why she hadn’t returned to school, they had chatted about the progress.
Ming You didn’t care about her vote count or how striking her looks were. After all, in their department, Gu Xirui was ahead of her anyway.
Gu Xirui had a better temper, better personality, kinder heart, better talents, better character, and better popularity. Virtuous and talented, she deserved the School Flower title. Yet for two years running, the spot had gone to the freshman performance major newbie.
She opened the link and scrolled down to the photo section.
“Sis Yan… Teacher Yan, Teacher He, let me introduce a friend of mine.” Ming You placed her phone on the table. “Gu Xirui, our Broadcasting Department’s Department Belle. Pretty, right?”
She set the phone between Yan Ningxi and He Huan’s lines of sight, so a slight turn of the head let them both see the screen.
A forest-themed portrait photo, with the name: Gu Xirui.
Below Gu Xirui’s name was a short bio, and beneath that peeked the top of another photo.
He Huan’s hand touched the screen and swiped up, revealing a familiar face.
Ming You’s photo in the post was right next to Gu Xirui’s—the one snapped by the Photography Association president when she won the Freshman Host Competition as a first-year.
Gu Xirui had seen it in the event recap post, asked for it, and sent it to Ming You. Ming You liked it enough to post it on Space as good news for He Huan to see: 【Glory and Pride.】
That winter break after freshman year, He Huan had finally agreed to meet up to celebrate her first-place win.
“Teacher He knows my personality best.” As Ming You spoke, she took back her phone, deliberately brushing He Huan’s hand with her fingers. “People say I’m arrogant—that’s the polite version. I’m not good at making friends and definitely don’t take the initiative. Gu Xirui is the first person I’ve ever really clicked with growing up. Sometimes I think she’s a lot like Teacher He—not in looks, but in patience with me. Birds of a feather flock together, after all. The outside world really is more exciting than high school.”
She said this deliberately for He Huan to hear.
She was telling He Huan that she had heeded her advice to look at the wider world—and as expected, she had gained from it.
After the college entrance exam, He Huan had spent a whole day with her.
They drank milk tea, watched a movie, browsed a bookstore, played claw machines, rode the Ferris wheel, strolled by the river.
Gazing at the night view across the river, He Huan had said:
—What we did today is just ordinary stuff friends and couples do.
—Spend the next few years truly engaging with the world and its people. Once you’ve finished university, once you’re truly grown and mature, then you can come back and ask if I’ll reconsider our relationship.
Hearing Ming You’s reflections, He Huan nodded. “You’ve opened up a lot. That’s good.”
“Yeah, I think so too.” Ming You glanced back and forth at the two across from her, then gazed sincerely at He Huan.
“The biggest surprise of coming back to Huai’an over National Day was meeting Teacher Yan at Teacher He’s wedding. Thanks to Teacher Yan’s meticulous care and guidance, I understood a lot about life, pulled myself out of the rut, got back on my feet, and made new plans for the future. Teacher He, I begged Teacher Yan to be my big sister. Please be kind and don’t spill my little secret to the other teachers.”
She deliberately used “meeting” instead of “first meeting,” so it wasn’t really a lie.
The girl’s expression and tone brimmed with coquettishness as she spoke—a tone He Huan had never heard in all these years. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.
Yan Ningxi frowned, her gaze sharp on the girl as she scolded without mercy. “If Teacher He wanted to call you out, she wouldn’t have let you spout nonsense in the office. Ming You, gratitude isn’t empty words. Don’t pick up bad habits.”
Hearing Yan Ningxi’s reprimand, Ming You’s face changed dramatically.
“Making friends is a good thing.” Under the table, He Huan lightly patted Yan Ningxi’s leg. “Let’s eat first. The food’s getting cold.”
“My throat isn’t better, and neither is my appetite. This meal is going to waste Teacher Yan’s kindness.” Ming You held back her anger, expressing her displeasure in as even a tone as she could manage. “I have other things this afternoon, so I won’t keep you two company for the meal.”
The girl stormed off without looking back. Neither of the two across from her said a word to stop her.
“Was she always like this in high school?” Yan Ningxi picked up her chopsticks to eat.
“Like what?” He Huan had no appetite for her chopsticks.
“Glib and specious.”
He Huan paused, then shook her head. That phrase didn’t fit the Ming You she knew at all. “Don’t call it glib. Back then, she barely spoke. ‘Looking down on everything’ fits better.”
“Do you know about her family situation?”
He Huan shook her head again. “If she doesn’t want to talk about it, no one can pry it out of her.”
Yan Ningxi set down her chopsticks too and picked up her phone. As she tapped, she said, “She’s got a lot of issues, mentally unhealthy too. It must be tied to her upbringing.”
He Huan’s phone pinged with a message—from Yan Ningxi right beside her.
She looked at the new photo Yan Ningxi had just sent on WeChat. “To be honest, this is the only selfie we’ve taken together so far. Graduation group photo aside.”
“Last time at KTV when she was drunk, she said she’s used to your comforting and really depends on you.”
“A top student who could have been shining in the spotlight everywhere, yet she packages herself as mediocre and unremarkable at every turn. Yan Yan, you’ve been teaching for two years and even minored in psychology. You should understand this kind of rebellious streak in teenagers.”
Rebellious?
Ming You was more than just rebellious.
Yan Ningxi looked up to meet He Huan’s regretful gaze and heard her sigh. “She just needs a ray of light.”
…
At the school gate, Ming You ran into Jiang Lai, who had come to pick up the cake.
“Senior! You really came to school!” Jiang Lai shouted excitedly, holding the cake. This was the one Ming You had ordered that morning after getting her schedule and messaged Jiang Lai about picking up at the gate during lunch.
During break, Jiang Lai had overheard classmates from the next class gossiping about a super pretty senior visiting the teachers—and she was Teacher Yan’s little sister.
It had to be Senior Ming You.
“Yeah, what a coincidence, Jiang. If you like other flavors, just WeChat me. I’ll send some next time.”
“I like them all, but I’m scared of gaining weight. Can I share the cake with classmates?”
“Of course. Lunch break’s short. Head back to the dorm quick.” Ming You’s thoughts were a mess; she was eager to get away from this place. “Contact me anytime if you need something.”
“See you, Senior!”
…
Ming You didn’t go far. She went to an old shop just off campus that had been open for ten years and scanned to order five dishes.
After placing the order, the server came over specially. “Hello, I see you’re dining alone but ordered five dishes. Our clay pot dishes are pretty generous portions. Two would be plenty for one person. Would you like to cancel a few? Or do you need them packed to go?”
“I ordered right. No packing needed. Just follow the order.”
“Alright, please wait a moment.”
From the first dish to the last, about twenty minutes passed. Ming You hadn’t touched her chopsticks once.
This shop, these dishes—it was where He Huan had brought her that time she got a zero on her essay. She had turned in a blank paper but wasn’t scolded or questioned why.
That was also when she had let herself fall completely.
Her heart had opened here. Today, it would close here too—as if it had never opened at all.
She snapped a photo and posted to her feed: 【From this point, to this.】
After this ritualistic act, Ming You took a long, deep breath. As she exhaled, the oppression and pain from campus seemed to vanish entirely.
She paid via the mini-program and left.
For her, adapting to darkness was far easier than adapting to light.
She had to thank He Huan for risking it all to teach her this lesson, letting her master surviving in both darkness and light. Switching masks with ease.
Life was a play, and she, he, it among the masses—mere actors. Whoever took it seriously was the fool.
