A few days later, Jiang Yan's situation was fully investigated.
It was truly a twisted fate. Back in their second year of high school during the National Physics Competition, Tian Xuanyue had taken first place nationally while Jiang Yan came in second. Later in university, they competed for the top spot for four full years.
During graduate studies, they chose the same research direction and both selected the most renowned supervisor in the field, eventually collaborating to tackle the same technical challenge.
However, both possessed sharp, uncompromising personalities. Their constant clashes made continued collaboration impossible, leading them to work independently.
This meant whoever solved the problem first would make their name in the physics world.
Everyone only remembers the first-place winner—no one pays attention to the runner-up.
Both Jiang Yan and Tian Xuanyue devoted themselves day and night to research, losing count of sleepless nights spent in the laboratory. Initially, Tian Xuanyue believed he had lost fair and square due to inferior skills, until he discovered most of Jiang Yan's data actually came from him.
The repercussions of this incident continued to spread.
The same number of people who had praised him when the Highest Physics Award news broke were now condemning him.
As the newspaper that had most closely followed the story from the beginning, Zhou Wan's publication needed to continue covering the developments.
"Zhou Wan," the editor-in-chief said, "you'll conduct the interview later, and we'll need you on camera."
Zhou Wan paused. "On camera?"
"Yes, you're our newspaper's face. Don't worry, it'll just be a profile shot during the interview. No need to be nervous."
Zhou Wan nodded. "Alright."
Since the incident went viral online, they had been unable to contact Jiang Yan.
He was ambitious and proud—such a scandal would leave him unsure how to face anyone.
While Zhou Wan couldn't forgive his past actions or continue considering him a friend, she didn't want to see Jiang Yan do anything foolish.
She asked Uncle Ye for Jiang Yan's phone number.
Uncle Ye seemed surprised. "Weren't you classmates? Don't you have his number?"
Zhou Wan smiled and shook her head. "I lost my phone after high school graduation and lost contact with many people."
"I thought you would have exchanged contacts during the last interview." Uncle Ye copied Jiang Yan's number and sent it to Zhou Wan's WeChat, sighing. "I never expected things to turn out like this. During the interview, I thought Jiang Yan seemed quite amiable and decent."
Zhou Wan thanked him and returned to her desk.
—Jiang Yan, this is Zhou Wan...
She composed a text message.
[Jiang Yan, this is Zhou Wan. Since we couldn't reach you, I wanted to check how you're doing.]
[When my grandma first passed away, I was extremely distraught. I felt life had lost all direction and purpose, even briefly considering ending everything. But back then, Lu Xixiao told me nothing is set in stone yet, everything can still change. We still have what comes after, we still have a future. Those words gave me great strength at the time, helping me recover. I hope they can bring you strength too.]
[Jiang Yan, you're still young and very intelligent. Everything will get better in time.]
Right after sending the message, her editor called her to prepare for the interview.
"Okay," Zhou Wan responded.
As she got in the car, Jiang Yan replied.
[Jiang Yan: Can we still be friends?]Zhou Wan paused for a moment before continuing her reply.
[Zhou Wan: As I said before, I can't forgive you on behalf of Lu Xixiao.]
[Zhou Wan: Jiang Yan, from now on, live for yourself properly.]
After sending this reply, Zhou Wan put away her phone and looked out the window.
Spring blossoms were in full bloom, and the sunlight was just right.
Arriving at the hospital by car, Zhou Wan was assigned to interview Tian Xuanyue.
She was naturally good-looking, exuding a gentle and steady aura. Her delicate facial features and smooth jawline made her exceptionally photogenic.
That evening, the interview video was published across the newspaper's official accounts, becoming the first official explanation clarifying the entire incident. It quickly surpassed a million views.
Aside from discussions about the incident itself, the comments largely focused on Zhou Wan—
[The interviewer is so beautiful, and she speaks so gently. Haven't seen her in previous videos.]
[I think she's gorgeous too!]
[What's going on? Why are you all talking about my wife? Don't you have your own?]
[Hey, you in the front, don't just drink—remember to eat something with it.]
...
Zhou Wan never expected that merely stepping in as a temporary interviewer would unexpectedly make her somewhat famous.
Even Lu Xixiao received a message from Huang Ping with a screenshot of the video: [Is this our little sister? Not bad—you've got a lot of rivals in love now.]
Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow at the message and showed it directly to Zhou Wan.
Zhou Wan couldn't help but smile, her eyes curving. "What's this for?"
"Explain yourself."
"..."
Zhou Wan felt utterly wronged and had nothing to explain. Seeing Lu Xixiao's openly jealous expression, she found it endearing and couldn't resist lowering her head to suppress a laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
Caught red-handed.
"Nothing." Zhou Wan quickly composed herself. "It's just that I haven't been working here long, so I'm trying out different roles. The editor-in-chief just wanted me to try interviewing on a whim."
Lu Xixiao lifted his hand, his fingertips tilting her chin upward in a somewhat playful gesture.
"Let me see—if you're really as beautiful as they say."
Zhou Wan blinked at him.
Being stared at like this made her a bit shy. Just as she was about to push him away, Lu Xixiao chuckled and leaned in to kiss her lips.
He clicked his tongue. "So annoying."
His tone was impatient, tinged with a sulky displeasure.
Zhou Wan gently hooked her finger with his. "What's wrong?"
"They're calling you 'wife.'"
"I think most of those comments are from girls—their profile pictures are quite cute."
"Don't care." Lu Xixiao nibbled her lip, grinding his teeth in mock frustration. "I haven't even called you 'wife' yet."
Zhou Wan was taken aback, then her eyes curved into a smile.
Lu Xixiao brushed her ear and tilted his head. "When can I call you that?"
"Huh?"
"Don't play dumb."
"..."
Zhou Wan's face warmed at his blunt and sudden question, but she carefully considered it. "I haven't saved enough money for marriage yet, but the editor-in-chief values me now, and the salary is about the same as my previous job. If I save for a few more years, I should have enough."
"..."
Lu Xixiao had no idea how her train of thought worked like this.
After a moment, he nodded. "Alright."
He lowered his gaze, then leaned closer, blowing a playful breath at the stray hairs framing her face with a roguish look. "Then I'll start fulfilling my duties in advance."
"What duties?"Lu Xixiao directly lifted Zhou Wan into his arms with ease, heading toward the bedroom: "Marital duty."
...
An hour later, Zhou Wan lay sprawled on the bed, utterly exhausted.
Just then, her phone rang. She picked it up—it was an unlisted number, still from Pingchuan City.
Zhou Wan froze for a moment before answering, "Hello?"
The other end hesitated quietly for a few seconds, then a young woman's voice came through, "Is this Zhou Wan?"
Zhou Wan frowned slightly, finding the voice familiar. After a moment, she finally realized something, "...Gu Meng?"
"It really is you!" Gu Meng immediately shed her earlier restraint. "Wanwan, it's been so long since we last talked! If I hadn't seen your interview video online, I'd still have no idea how you're doing now!"
Zhou Wan laughed and explained that she had lost her phone not long after leaving Pingchuan City and hadn't intentionally cut off contact.
"How did you get my number?"
"A friend from university interned at your newspaper before. I asked her to help me inquire, and I didn't expect to actually reach you," Gu Meng said. "Wanwan, how have you been since then?"
Zhou Wan chuckled lightly, downplaying it, "Pretty good, everything went smoothly. How about you?"
"Same as always, I'm a teacher now."
Zhou Wan thought Gu Meng's cheerful personality was indeed well-suited for teaching.
The two chatted casually, sharing stories from over the years, and when they mentioned Jiang Yan, they both sighed with regret.
Just then, Lu Xixiao walked out after his shower.
He had only loosely pulled on a pair of pants, his upper body bare, revealing the tattoo and scar on his collarbone. His muscle lines were even and smooth, crisscrossing in an orderly pattern, still dripping with water droplets that trailed down his waistline and disappeared at the edge of his waistband.
"Who are you talking to?" he asked.
"A high school classmate," Zhou Wan replied. "We just reconnected."
She smiled, her eyes curving and sparkling, looking incredibly beautiful. Lu Xixiao couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her, whispering, "Then keep chatting. I'll go out to handle some work."
"Mm."
Gu Meng, of course, heard her and immediately activated her gossip radar, teasing, "Wanwan, is that your boyfriend?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, if I ever come to City B, you have to bring your boyfriend out for me to see."
"You've met him before," Zhou Wan said, her eyes curving and a shallow dimple appearing at the corner of her lips. "It's Lu Xixiao."
Gu Meng was stunned for a full ten seconds before exclaiming, "You're still together!?"
"Yeah, but we only ran into each other again last year."
"That's wonderful, Wanwan. You're still together. But I always thought you two wouldn't end so simply."
"Why?"
"Because, what the heart longs for and hopes for, it sees all day long."
Zhou Wan laughed, "You really are a language teacher now."
"I'm being serious!" Gu Meng said. "Actually, right after you transferred schools, I really disliked Lu Xixiao because he didn't seem sad at all. He was just like before, as if it didn't matter. A lot of people were talking about it on the school forum back then."
Zhou Wan froze, her heartbeat suddenly quickening, "And then?"
Zhou Wan had heard about that version of Lu Xixiao from Huang Ping and from his old friends, but those accounts came from boys—all straightforward and blunt—so they couldn't reveal too much."Later on—oh right, Wanwan, when exactly did you lose your phone back then?"
Zhou Wan thought for a moment: "It was the year I transferred schools, after National Day, around late October."
"Right, that must've been when it happened. I remember trying to message you around the end of the year and couldn't get through, calls went unanswered too. I started worrying, thinking I might as well try every possible option, so I went to your place hoping to find someone who might know your whereabouts."
...
The reason Gu Meng remembered this so clearly was because that year's typhoon in Pingchuan City arrived later than usual, not unleashing its fury until late October. The wind howled and rain poured down, making the dilapidated neighborhood seem on the verge of dissolving in the deluge, the air thick with damp, fishy moisture.
Her umbrella was torn away by the gale, so she threw on a raincoat and dashed into the building, wading through water until her shoes were completely soaked.
She rushed upstairs, but suddenly halted on the final few steps, lifting her gaze.
Lu Xixiao was drenched, his hair wet and disheveled, raindrops tracing paths down his strands. He was painfully thin, all sharp angles and edges, like a shabby, soaked stray cat.
Gu Meng stared at him in surprise, then spoke: "Lu Xixiao?"
"You—" His voice emerged rough and hoarse, as if scraped over coarse gravel. Gu Meng even wondered if he'd been standing there for hours.
Lu Xixiao cleared his throat and asked: "Do you know where Zhou Wan is?"
Moving closer, Gu Meng caught the strong scent of alcohol on him. In the dim corridor light, she could see his flushed skin—clearly drunk.
Zhou Wan had left so abruptly back then, and Gu Meng never fully understood what had happened between them. She'd only seen Lu Xixiao start dating someone new not long after Zhou Wan's departure, acting as if nothing had happened.
Angry on Zhou Wan's behalf, her tone came out sharp: "What does it matter to you where she is? You broke up long ago."
Lu Xixiao fell silent.
His gaze seemed slow, as if gradually processing this reality.
After a long pause, Lu Xixiao whispered: "She was the one who abandoned me."
Gu Meng froze.
Lu Xixiao had always carried himself with sharp, imposing bone structure, but in that moment he was enveloped in damp despair, red-rimmed eyes silently fixed on some distant point.
Everything about him seemed wrong—the redness at his eyes and his fragility appeared to rupture through some innate toughness carved into his flesh.
His breath trembled as he repeated, low and deliberate: "She was the one who didn't want me."
After that day, whenever Gu Meng saw Lu Xixiao at school, he had returned to his usual self.
That typhoon-night encounter felt like some surreal dream.
Not long after hanging up, Zhou Wan was added to a class group chat by Gu Meng.
Soon, many former high school classmates began sending her friend requests.
The class group had actually been quiet for a while, but with old friends suddenly reconnecting, conversation exploded into lively chatter.
Many formerly close friends pulled Zhou Wan into catching up, and as they chatted they began reminiscing about the past, collectively sighing about how blissfully unaware they'd been of their happy school days.
Zhou Wen scrolled through the messages one by one.
She learned that some classmates had married, others pursued studies abroad, some found entrepreneurial success, while others were forced to rely on their parents. Forty-some people, forty-some different life paths unfolding.Later, no one could remember who started it first, but someone remarked that time truly is a butcher's knife—even the former class sports committee member had lost his good looks.
The sports committee member was Lu Hai. In Zhou Wan's memory, he was a tall, lean boy with sun-kissed skin, radiating sunshine and cheerfulness.
As soon as this was said, Lu Hai immediately posted a photo of his dinner in the group chat—each dish exquisitely prepared and delicious.
He replied: [Can't help it—my wife's been feeding me into a blissful plumpness.]
The group erupted with teasing accusations of him flaunting his happy relationship, and Zhou Wan couldn't help but smile, her eyes crinkling with amusement.
[I've almost forgotten what Lu Hai even looks like.]
[Hahahaha, if you hadn't brought it up, I would've completely forgotten I had a crush on him for a while back in school.]
[Hahahaha, it's too late for you to speak up now—he's already married!]
[Get lost! I didn't even like him for more than two weeks. Later, when I heard him reading aloud in that plastic Mandarin of his, I was instantly turned off.]
[Does anyone have old photos of Lu Hai from back then? Let me see!]
...
Soon, someone started posting pictures in the group chat, mostly candid shots from sports days.
The images loaded one by one, until the final one appeared.
Zhou Wan's gaze paused.
It was a panoramic photo—the entire grade's graduation picture.
She tapped to open it, downloading the original file. The image was large and took a while to load completely.
Zhou Wan zoomed in, lowering her head as she carefully searched for where Lu Xixiao was.
She found him quickly.
Lu Xixiao stood out everywhere he went.
The young man stood in the back row, wearing blue-and-white school uniform, his raven-black eyelashes casting shadows over his deep, dark eyes.
The weather that day must have been rather sunny—his brow was slightly furrowed, his expression radiating impatience and casual defiance. His features were sharp and striking.
Sunlight spilled over him, as if veiling him in a faint, hazy mist that softened the edges. His back was straight, his posture untamed yet solitary, like an isolated island.
Suddenly, Zhou Wan felt a profound sadness and regret.
Among the five or six hundred people in this graduation photo, she was the only one missing.
How she wished everything could start over—that she could have grown up by Lu Xixiao's side.
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