In front of the hotel private room, not only did I see the girl inside standing there stunned, but she also widened her eyes when she saw me.
This sweet-looking girl is named Gao Ya. She was my high school classmate and my first love.
Gao Ya transferred to our class in the second semester of my second year of high school. Because of her beautiful appearance, many boys in the school pursued her. Even the local thugs would often pass messages to her through people in the school, wanting to date her.
During that time, Gao Ya would be harassed by a group of thugs every time school ended. Her home address was in the neighborhood behind my family's pawnshop, so at Gao Ya's request, I would walk with her to and from school every day.
At that time, I was young and full of life, and Gao Ya was a great beauty. I was very happy to be with her.
Because of this incident, rumors spread throughout the school that I had gotten together with Gao Ya. Although I explained to people that Gao Ya was just a friend, I was secretly overjoyed.
In the second semester of my senior year of high school, Gao Ya had a classmate pass me a note. The note contained a confession of her feelings for me. Although we acted like a couple in everything we did, her actions undoubtedly broke the ice.
When I saw that love letter, my scalp tingled, my face burned, and even my breathing became difficult.
There's nothing mysterious about teenage love. She's beautiful and can arouse my hormones. I already had feelings for her, so I wrote a reply with trembling arms.
Since then, my relationship with Gao Ya has become even closer, and the two of us have done almost everything that couples do.
Once, we attended a classmate's birthday party and drank quite a bit. In a daze, we went to a hotel to check in, only to run into other classmates outside the door.
Gao Ya blushed with embarrassment and ran away. I was naive back then, and after chasing after her, I saw that she was embarrassed, so I took her home.
Although Gao Ya and I did not cross any lines, the matter became widely known, which aroused the jealousy of a pedantic student.
That bully was named Gao Qiang. He was a well-known rich kid in school. Although he wasn't as exaggerated as those brainless wish-fulfillment novels, where he would fly a helicopter to school all the time, compared to us ordinary students, his clothes cost several thousand yuan apiece, his mode of transportation was a motorcycle that cost tens of thousands of yuan, and he used an iPhone. In the group of high school students, he was already quite an amazing existence.
To be fair, Gao Qiang was not only rich, but also quite handsome. Many girls pursued him at school, but he was Gao Ya's most ardent pursuer.
The fact that Gao Ya and I exchanged love letters completely enraged Gao Qiang. That night after school, he gathered more than a dozen people, cornered me in an alley across from the school, and beat me up.
In my counterattack, two of the other men suffered concussions, and another broke three ribs. I was also badly injured, with my face bruised and swollen, and my left arm was fractured.
This incident caused quite a stir, resulting in the expulsion of two of the other students, and I also had to suspend my studies for three months as a result.
Ironically, Gao Qiang, the instigator of all this, did not receive any punishment and even used his family connections to transfer to our class.
It was because of this incident that Gao Ya broke up with me. She said that when she saw me fighting, it was like I became a different person, and my crazy appearance terrified her.
By the time my injury had almost healed, the college entrance examination had begun. The months of suspension from school caused my grades to plummet, and I barely passed the second-tier university entrance exam.
Later, because of my grandfather's dying wish, I gave up the opportunity to go to university, and thus completely lost contact with Gao Ya.
My first love ended too soon and was a huge blow to me. After that, I finished my student days and became a small shopkeeper struggling to make a living.
To forget about Gao Ya, I changed my phone number and WeChat account, completely cutting off contact with my classmates. My goal was to avoid thinking about those sad things and to prevent myself from feeling regret for not going to university.
I thought I had long forgotten these things with the passage of time, but unexpectedly, the moment I saw elegance, they surged into my heart like a tide.
When they met again a few years later, the childishness on her face had faded, replaced by a mature beauty. The light makeup on her face made her beauty stand out even more, making all the girls present pale in comparison.
Just as I was at a loss, Lu Yan, a classmate I was close to and who had a bit of a tomboyish personality, suddenly stood up and put her arm around my shoulder: "Duan Shenxing, you're still alive! You haven't attended a single class reunion in all these years, and you haven't even called your classmates. Are you even human?"
"Oh, stop talking about him. Shenxing lost his phone back then, so he lost our contact information!"
Big Head was in a great mood when he saw me, and he pulled me inside, saying, "Shenxing, we haven't seen each other for so many years, we have to drink until we drop today!"
This prompted other classmates to join in the teasing, with one girl shouting, "Duan Shenxing, weren't you and Gao Ya a couple back then? Now that you're old flames meeting again, shouldn't you sit next to her?"
"Hahaha!"
Upon hearing this, everyone else laughed and started to cheer.
This made me blush, and I glanced at Gao Ya somewhat embarrassedly, preparing to go over and say hello.
After many years apart, I no longer feel the same romantic feelings I had for Gao Ya. Instead, I have more youthful memories and some innocent, beautiful feelings.
When Gao Ya heard her classmates teasing her, her expression immediately changed: "Don't talk nonsense. My boyfriend will be here soon, and he won't be happy if he hears these rumors."
When I heard Gao Ya say that, I suddenly felt a little sad. Although I understood that there was no future for the two of them, first love can always leave a deep memory for a boy.
Just then, a freckled girl next to Gao Ya glared at the others and said, "Why are you all so annoying! Everyone knows that Gao Ya has been with Gao Qiang for several years. Her relationship with Duan Shenxing was just a misunderstanding. Gao Ya said that she and Duan Shenxing have no relationship whatsoever. She was just using his name to avoid being harassed by others. What's so special about that? Don't forget, in all these years of our class reunions, it was Brother Qiang who paid the bill! Don't you understand the principle of 'he who eats another's food is bound to him'? Why are you still gossiping here?"
I was thunderstruck when I heard that Gao Ya was dating Gao Qiang.
When we got together, we were in the naive stage of adolescence, and we were both just beginning to experience romantic feelings. Now that our youthful student days are over, I'm even less likely to hold a grudge just because Gao Ya has a boyfriend.
But I never expected that this person would be Gao Qiang, who led the attack on me back then and caused my breakup with Gao Ya.
At the time, Gao Ya told me that he couldn't accept my violence. But wasn't Gao Qiang, who led people to attack me, also violent?
Just as I was in a daze, the door to the private room was pushed open, and Gao Qiang, carrying a Gucci handbag and dressed in Loewe casual wear, entered the room with a broad smile: "Sorry, everyone, I've kept you waiting. My family business has been quite busy today, so I..."
Gao Qiang was explaining his lateness with a smile when his gaze fell on me, and his expression immediately changed: "Why are you here?"
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