After settling things off with Professor Tan, Jiang Xiaoli ordered a roast duck to take home.

After lunch, she called each of the classmates she had invited to confirm.

Of her high school classmates, everyone except for the policewoman Yuan Man who couldn't get leave and Xu Xing whose phone call couldn't be reached was able to travel. What surprised her the most was that Xie Yitao had made something of himself and even brought his girlfriend along!

She stretched her body and continued calling An Ke. After confirming that everything was alright, she asked, "By the way, I couldn't get through to Xu Xing. What's wrong with him?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone. Jiang Xiaoli pressed on, "Keke? Why aren't you saying anything?"

She sat up straight. "Could something have happened to Xu Xing?"

She was already cursing under her breath, wondering why everyone around her was having such bad luck lately! Was it Mercury retrograde?

An Ke's weak voice came through, "Um... Xiao Li, Xu Xing has gone abroad."

"He went abroad?" She didn't understand. "Where did he go?"

“Princeton,” Anke replied. “The exchange program. In fact, the professors in the department had recommended Xu Xing several times, but he had refused them all. However, he suddenly submitted his application in April, and he went there in September.”

Jiang Xiaoli frowned. "Why so suddenly? Xu Xiaoxing is really capricious. No wonder he didn't reply to my 'SOSO' message. He's probably still asleep. I'll tell him when he replies. He should be getting his British visa in the US pretty quickly."

When she sent out invitations last time, she gave all of their invitations to Cui Zhe to pass on, and she never expected such a mishap to happen.

"Um... Xiaoli, I think you should stop looking for him."

She was a little confused. "Why?"

An Ke hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Actually, Xu Xing probably went to the United States to find a place without you."

"No way?" Jiang Xiaoli was even more confused. "I didn't offend him!"

She frantically searched her memory for the last time she saw Xu Xing, "We didn't argue when I saw him last time!"

“Xiao Li, it’s not your fault!” An Ke replied.

She sighed, "Before Xu left, a few of us had dinner together to see him off. He drank too much and cried a lot. We were all stunned. He said... he said..."

Jiang Xiaoli was truly exasperated with An Ke's indecisiveness. "What exactly did he say?"

He said he likes you, but since you're married, he wants to go somewhere where you're not!

An Ke finished speaking very quickly, but the amount of information in her words left Jiang Xiaoli dumbfounded.

She swallowed hard. "Keke, you're kidding, right? Xu Xing and I battled each other from the beginning of high school all the way to college. How could he possibly like me!"

Having made her point clear, Anke opened up, and her voice came through the microphone.

“At first, the rest of us thought it was impossible. You two always argue, bicker, and give each other the silent treatment. It didn’t seem like there was anything going on. But it’s true. Xu Xing said he’s liked you for a long time, and then he said some things that we didn’t quite understand, like we weren’t compatible or something. Later, when Yu Yang took Xu Xing back, he said that he decided to go to Princeton after meeting you and finding out that you got your marriage certificate.”

Jiang Xiaoli scratched her head, "What's going on here!"

An Ke was a little embarrassed. "Xiao Li, it's all my fault for being too gossipy and not being able to resist. But I still think you shouldn't invite him if Xu Xing doesn't reply to your message. He looked really sad the other day."

She sighed, "Okay, I got it, Keke, can you just pretend you never told me about this?"

"Mmm-hmm!" An Ke nodded repeatedly. "I didn't say that! I'm going to go shopping with Cuicui to buy clothes!"

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Xiaoli shook her head helplessly, involuntarily recalling every little thing that had happened since she met Xu Xing.

Finally, she hugged her pillow and whispered to the air, "Is Xu Xiaoxing a masochist?"

She really couldn't understand it; Xu Xing had never really tried to please her.

When she entered high school, "Xu Shen" stood out from the crowd, but after she became a variable, she became less unique and dazzling.

They bickered ten times in a row, and Xu Xing was lucky to win even once. She really couldn't understand what Xu Xing saw in her.

This question persisted until Zongjia returned home.

She patted the sofa next to her. "Ayu, come and sit down."

Zong Jia bought her a small cake on the way home, but she left it untouched on the coffee table.

Zong Jiayu found it a bit strange, "What's wrong? Don't you like this place anymore?"

Jiang Xiaoli shook her head. She sat cross-legged facing him. "Ayu, I have a very serious question to ask you!"

Zong Jiayu looked at her expression and immediately became serious. "Little Pear, ask away."

She asked, "Ayu, what do you like about me? Or rather, why do you like me?"

Zong Jiayu was taken aback. "This is the serious issue you were talking about?"

She nodded and said, "Yes! Isn't this serious enough!"

Zong Jia reached out and pinched her cheek. "Enough, enough! Let me think about how to answer."

Jiang Xiaoli's beautiful face crumpled into a small knot. "Do I still need to think about this? Don't you have an answer?"

He pulled the person into his arms and said, "I feel like there's so much to say, and if you suddenly ask me, I don't even know where to begin."

She glanced at him sideways. "Is that really true? Then tell me slowly, I have plenty of time today!"

Zong Jia chuckled softly and slowly said, "Do you remember the first time we went to my old house to look for a steamed bun shop? That day I told you about my family's situation, and you smiled and told me to follow you."

Jiang Xiaoli tilted her head and looked at her, "Did you start liking me from wanting to be my little brother?"

"Hehe." Zong Jia couldn't resist giving her a kiss on the cheek.

He continued, “When I was with Dafu and the others, even though I was a few years younger than them, they all called me brother. I always made the decisions, and I was used to taking on the responsibility of being the leader.”

But after meeting you, I felt that your intelligence, resourcefulness, and willingness to take risks made me realize that I had met a partner who was my equal. That day, I told you about my family situation, but you didn't care at all.

I remember it clearly. The room was filled with dust, and a beam of sunlight shone through the window onto your face. At that moment, you were smiling at me, and I felt like I was seeing an angel.

Jiang Xiaoli has a good memory; she remembers the scene he described.

But she was a little embarrassed. Zong Jiayu had described such a beautiful scene, but in reality, all the dust in the room was stirred up by her forcefully slapping the dusty table to show off.

She touched her nose guiltily, "Oh, so early..."

Zong Jia hugged her and kissed her. "Yes, I've liked Little Pear for a very, very long time..."