Chapter 77. Graduation season is breakup season. ...
Graduation season is breakup season.
In her senior year of college, Luo Jia, who had successfully secured a place in a graduate program, broke up peacefully with her boyfriend, who was going to return to his hometown after graduation. According to Luo Jia, since it was not unexpected, she wasn't too sad. However, after having dinner and drinking some wine, she still shed a few tears.
It's not entirely because of love.
The scorching summer sun that shone on them when they entered university four years later no longer shines directly on them.
Later, Fang Minzhou also broke up with her boyfriend. She cried all her tears before returning to school and was able to pretend that nothing had happened.
She may have had a premonition.
Her roommates, while expressing their regret, also comforted her, saying that graduation season is often breakup season, and it's not surprising that she couldn't escape the curse. They encouraged each other to vent their frustration by hurling a few more insults at the men, and to regroup and embrace the next stage of life with a positive attitude.
After the interview, Jin Ying had a good impression of Xu Ran, finding the young woman to be clever and easy to talk to. She also noted that Xu Ran's school was in Jiangcheng, and although the internship could be done online, it would be more convenient to be in the same city in case of any issues.
Fang Minzhou couldn't objectively object because Xu Ran was indeed outstanding. You can tell a lot about a child's future at three, their character at seven, and what about at nine? In short, she was better than her uncle at twenty. Fang Minzhou was still quite naive during her freshman and sophomore years of college, but she couldn't say, "This is my ex-boyfriend's niece."
Fang Minzhou wasn't sure if Jin Ying still remembered Wang Kan, but the workplace avoidance system under the law didn't apply to their company.
"But why do I feel like... she's actually quite afraid of you?" Jin Ying pondered.
Fang Minzhou: "Really?"
"A bit, I guess it's because you look too grumpy when you're expressionless, are you under pressure? Hey, smiling like this makes you feel much better."
Jin Ying asked Fang Minzhou for her thoughts, but she didn't say. "I didn't participate in the previous internship interviews either. You should decide for yourself."
"Then why did you even go for the interview?"
"Didn't you forcefully pull me?"
"Too."
Fang Minzhou was not surprised that Xu Ran added Jin Ying as a friend.
She messaged Xu Ran first, asking when she was free so she could invite her to dinner. Xu Ran replied first with an exclamation mark, saying she was free, followed by a cute kitten emoji.
School hasn't started yet, but Xu Ran is currently in Jiangcheng these days because she's going to see a concert.
They decided to meet for dinner the next day. When they met in person, Xu Ran was a little shy and still called her "sister" as before. Fang Minzhou was surprised that Xu Ran had grown quite a bit taller. Although she knew that Xu Ran had grown up, at this moment, it felt like she was standing on the edge of the measuring tape of time. The passage of time had left its mark, which was still easily discernible.
The barriers between people can sometimes be very thick, yet they can also be crushed in the instant they receive a friendly signal from each other. The restaurant's food was quite good, and after a few dishes, Xu Ran became more talkative, vaguely revealing her mischievous and clever childhood self.
“Sister,” Xu Ran said solemnly, “I’m not contacting you for the interview. It’s okay if I don’t pass. I just thought it was a coincidence, so I asked Sister Yingying for your WeChat.”
“I know,” Fang Minzhou said. “I wasn’t involved in the final evaluation of the interview.”
"Okay, okay." Xu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and said, "At first I thought I had mistaken you for someone else, but the more I looked at you, the more familiar you seemed... I was hesitant about whether to contact you, it didn't feel right, but..."
She hesitated, and Fang Minzhou thought to herself that she was really putting her in a difficult position. "No, after I broke up with your uncle, I actually thought that I might never see you again. I remember you said you would come to Beicheng to visit me."
Although her uncle was indeed an unavoidable topic, Xu Ran's heart still skipped a beat when Minzhou brought it up.
She touched her nose, a little embarrassed, "Actually, when I graduated from junior high school, I wanted to go to Beicheng to visit you... I originally wanted to go to Beicheng for college too, but unfortunately I ended up in Jiangcheng."
Fang Minzhou smiled. "Did you go to Beicheng later?"
"Yes, I've been there, with my friend."
"Is it fun?"
"It's quite fun."
"That's great. If you want to go again in the future, you can call me and we'll go again," Fang Minzhou said. "Studying in Jiangcheng is also good. Most importantly, you've found something you're interested in now."
Xu Ran's face flushed.
She remembered that Minzhou had often praised and encouraged her in such a gentle voice before, even though she had forgotten exactly what she had said back then.
Just like Min-joo said, she never expected that they would meet again.
The summer vacation after the high school entrance exam felt as long as a day. Once, she asked her uncle, "Where's Sister Minzhou? I want to play with her." She was shocked by her uncle's expression. Later, she found out that they had broken up.
She asked him why, and he rudely told her that she was just a child meddling in other people's business, which made her angry with him.
Her mother, in turn, told her not to dwell on it, saying he was in a bad mood. As for the breakup, it was because the two had different plans for the future, and she would understand when she grew up. When her mother and father divorced, she also pressed for the reasons, and her mother's conclusion was that she would understand when she grew up.
So when exactly was it?
But she also felt a little apologetic because her grandfather was sick during that time, and she knew her uncle was very busy and sad.
She and Min-joo didn't actually have a very deep friendship. They only met occasionally during holidays in those years. After not seeing each other for so long, her image in her memory had become increasingly blurry. However, as she grew up, her impression of her became more and more profound.
She would think of her from time to time, especially when she was just beginning to experience romantic feelings, recalling the moments she had witnessed of her and her uncle interacting. Some things she only realized later:
Sitting in McDonald's, her uncle kept stealing glances at her. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her red ear and continued explaining the problem to him as if nothing was wrong. In the starry sky exhibition hall of the science museum, she took pictures of them. The two older men were awkward and reserved, and her uncle even childishly made hand gestures... Xu Ran had doubted whether her memory was wrong, but then she accidentally saw these photos on her uncle's phone, and they were exactly how she remembered them.
Another time, they went to an amusement park. When they were queuing to enter the haunted house, she was walking in front and felt scared. She turned around to look for someone and saw Min-joo hurriedly shaking off her uncle's hand. Her uncle grabbed her hand again with an annoyed look. Min-joo glared at her uncle, and her uncle glared at her. For some reason, she was no longer scared and turned around to continue walking forward.
Later, she thought that perhaps because her mother and father had always been friends since she could remember, her uncle and sister Minzhou had unintentionally filled a gap in her understanding of intimate relationships.
In addition, Min-joo played a special role in the prelude to her confused adolescence.
When she was in elementary school, she thought she would be like Minzhou in high school. Because of her, she began to imagine studying in Beicheng in the future. Now that they met again, Minzhou had just started her own business. She could answer any question, which seemed to provide a reference for her future. Xu Ran felt a little regretful that she did not have a good chat with her during the most stressful high school years.
During those years, her uncle was occasionally sarcastic and often silent, at most lending her the books and notes he still kept. She had seen another person's handwriting on them, neat and tidy, and she always suspected it was her sister Minzhou's.
Xu Ran didn't really care about the interview result. Even if Fang Minzhou rejected her, she could understand. If it were her, she wouldn't feel comfortable having her ex-boyfriend's relative in the company. But as they talked, she started praying that she would pass the interview.
After finishing their meal, Fang Minzhou paid the bill. She then walked Xu Ran to the vicinity of the university. Her university friend had rented a house off-campus, and Xu Ran was staying there for the next few days. The restaurant wasn't far from Jiangda University.
Xu Ran wanted to take her around the Jiangda campus, but considering it was getting dark, they arranged to meet another day, which Fang Minzhou agreed to.
After Xu Ran finished speaking, she suddenly remembered that her uncle was a graduate of Jiangda University and should have taken Minzhou shopping before, which made her feel a little embarrassed.
I stole a glance at Sister Minzhou; under the tree-lined path at night, nothing seemed amiss.
Xu Ran really wanted to ask her about her relationship with her uncle, but she couldn't bring herself to ask and held it in. Min Zhou, on the other hand, probably sensed what she was thinking and asked her where she had seen the job posting.
Xu Ran confessed that her uncle forwarded it to her, "but he didn't say it was your studio, and the poster only had Yingying's contact information... Maybe he knew I was looking for an internship, so he sent it to me to take a look."
"I see," Fang Minzhou replied casually.
"You...you're still in contact?"
"We hadn't been in contact for a long time after the breakup, but we ran into each other again recently."
Xu Ran was slightly surprised again.
She didn't remember Minzhou speaking so directly; her short sentence contained a wealth of information, even though she always seemed very authoritative in front of her uncle.
Noticing Xu Ran's frequent glances, Fang Minzhou smiled but remained silent. After a while, she said, "Ask whatever you want."
Her curiosity was noticed, and Xu Ran stopped being coy. "...Is my uncle pursuing you again?"
Fang Minzhou felt that Wang Kan's words and actions could not be described as "pursuing" him. She replied, "I guess so."
Xu Ran didn't know what to say.
Logically, she should have put in a good word for her uncle, which was probably why he forwarded the job posting to her. However... she had indeed grown up, had been in and out of relationships, and was no longer a child who could be bought off by a McDonald's or KFC. It was impossible for him to blindly try to matchmake the two of them.
"Aren't you going to keep asking?"
Xu Ran shook her head shyly, "Sister, I hope you and my uncle can both be happy, but no matter whether you stay together or not, or what your relationship is like in the future, I don't want you to ignore me because of him..."
Fang Minzhou was surprised by Xu Ran's words and felt a pang of sadness. He patted her head and said, "I'm sorry."
Xu Ran's eyes welled up with tears. "Oh, please don't apologize. That's not what I meant."
"I know, but I still want to apologize to you," Fang Minzhou said earnestly. "It's good that we've met again. You can come to me if you need anything in the future."
Xu Ran responded softly.
Relationships between people are so fragile; they can break down in an instant. Yet, the feelings that were once connected linger like a hand brushing against a spider's web, always faintly present.
Spiders are clearly very diligent and quick at spinning their webs.
"However..." Xu Ran still decided to try and advocate for her uncle, "You could still consider my uncle? He's changed a lot, haven't you noticed?"
"...A little."
But Fang Minzhou couldn't say whether she liked this change or not.
"And...did you break up during your senior year?"
"You know so much about this?" Fang Minzhou laughed at her.
Xu Ran stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, you two had already broken up by then, but he still kept your graduation photo."
Fang Minzhou paused and looked at Xu Ran.
"I was wondering why there weren't any photos of us together; I'd completely forgotten about you all..."
"What kind of graduation photo?" Fang Minzhou asked.
"So... you're taking pictures with your classmate."
The photo looked like it had been cropped, leaving only her profile and her back. To be honest, it looked a bit like a candid photo, but she couldn't ask her uncle where the photo came from.
She swallowed the details of the photo, which churned inside her stomach.
Where did you see that?
“…His phone,” Xu Ran said, waving her hand. “I didn’t peek. He was in the hospital at the time, and I was bored, so I took his phone to take pictures of him. I saw it by accident…”
Since Fang Minzhou was going to have dinner with Xu Ran, she was naturally prepared for any topic related to Wang Kan, but she was still taken aback at this moment, "...Hospitalized?"
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