Chapter 661

Around 5:40 p. m., all guests had arrived.

Li Guohong instructed the waiters to serve the dishes.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi's college advancement banquet officially began.

As the child's father, Li Guohong took the microphone from the waiter alongside Ying Zhicheng and spoke briefly in the center of the hall.

He then invited Kong Junxiang, who had also come for the banquet, to take the stage and speak.

Kong Junxiang was about to marry Ding Xiang and had been busy with wedding preparations, yet he still made time to come.

After all, this was the college advancement banquet of his most proud student—he had to be here.

As for which of the two provincial top scorers was his most proud student, it was obvious.

After all, Li Luo had studied under him for three solid years, and Kong Junxiang himself was a Chinese language teacher who was delighted by Li Luo's extraordinary Gaokao score of 145 in Chinese.

Not to mention Li Luo's achievements in literature; though he wrote online novels, he had also penned realistic works like "Little Joys," which resonated deeply with him.

After expressing his sentiments into the microphone, Kong Junxiang returned it and sat back down with his students.

Then it was Li Luo and Ying Chanxi's turn to speak.

At this point, the hotel's dishes began arriving one by one; after brief opening remarks, everyone picked up their chopsticks.

The earlier little incident of Ying Chanxi clinging to Li Luo's arm upon entering was quickly forgotten by everyone.

But their matching outfits were simply too conspicuous.

Only the older generation couldn't read English, so they merely thought the two looked well-coordinated.

Among the students like Zhu Yufei, it was instantly obvious.

"Isn't the monitor being too bold?" Zhang Guohuang whispered. "Wearing matching outfits in front of Yan Zhusheng and Xu Senior's parents? Is that really okay?"

"What if they don't mind?" Ren Zheng whispered in speculation. "If Xi Xi and he don't mind behind closed doors, the monitor gets all the benefits. I told you, no man is good."

Lin Yuan: "... Don't be so aggressive—I'm a good guy."

"Didn't Fang Chen even show up?" Zhu Yufei turned around, scanning the room. "Don't worry, Ren Zheng—by the time you get to Qianjiang University, good guys will be everywhere."

"Fuck off." Ren Zheng rolled her eyes; she was currently at the stage of utter disillusionment with the male species.

After Li Luo and Ying Chanxi finished their thanks, they returned to their seats.

At this point, Ying Zhicheng and the others had already started eating; the earlier incident seemed forgotten by those at the table.

When the dishes were halfway served, Lin Xiuhong whispered to Li Luo: "Go and toast. Do you expect me and your father to drag you around?"

"Got it." Li Luo nodded, stood up, picked up a bottle of beer, and poured himself a glass.

Ying Chanxi rose beside him and whispered, "I'll go with you."

She reached for the beer bottle, intending to pour herself a glass.

But Li Luo blocked the cup with his hand, took the bottle away from her, patted her head, and poured her a glass of apple juice instead: "This looks just like beer—don't drink alcohol. You pass out after one sip."

"Okay." Ying Chanxi nodded obediently, cupped her glass, and followed Li Luo away from their seat.

Li Luo first went to his second uncle's table to toast; though everyone there were relatives, his second uncle's family were no strangers to Ying Chanxi and greeted them warmly.

Ying Chanxi had followed Li Luo around since childhood; back in the countryside, the elders used to tease the two of them.

"In a blink, Xi Xi has grown so beautiful," Li Luo's second aunt laughed, holding Ying Chanxi's small hand. "Do you two remember? When you were little, I asked Xi Xi who she'd marry when she grew up, and she immediately hugged Li Luo and said..."

"Oh, Grandma, don't say that again," Ying Chanxi blushed furiously, tugging at her aunt's arm in pleading. "You say this every New Year."

"I'm just happy," the second aunt chuckled, gazing at the two children, then quietly pulled out two red envelopes and slipped them into their palms.

Li Luo tried to refuse, but the second aunt forced the envelopes into his pocket; seeing this, Ying Chanxi accepted the gift without protest.

After toasting two tables, Li Luo brought Ying Chanxi to his third uncle's table.

Following the earlier pattern, after toasting, the third uncle held them back, smiling as he praised: "I remember when I said I'd sell the house—I told people it was a house full of talent."

"Look, look—after your family bought it, two provincial top scorers came out of one room, ha ha!"

"Oh, by the way, I heard Xiuhong say your other two roommates also got into Qianjiang University, right?"

Li Luo smiled and nodded: "Yeah, all of them got into Qianjiang. Third uncle, you really had a sense for that house."

"Of course I did," the third uncle chuckled happily. "Good kid, accomplished! Better than your brother!"

The brother the third uncle meant was Li Luo's cousin, his direct grandson, currently studying abroad.

They had sold the Bihai Lanting apartment to Li Luo's family to recoup some funds, since they no longer needed the school district property at the time.

But now, with the subway about to open and a new Times Tianjie commercial center nearby, Bihai Lanting's property value had risen significantly.

Still, seeing the third uncle didn't seem to care, Li Luo felt slightly relieved.

After all, their family wasn't short on money—they ran a company with a clothing factory, a business built alongside Li Guoru.

Among this entire Li family, in his past life, Li Luo's branch had been the poorest.

Later, when Lin Xiuhong fell seriously ill, several relatives had helped out financially, and Li Luo remembered every single favor.

After toasting one glass and bidding farewell to the third uncle, Li Luo brought Ying Chanxi over to the table of Class Eight.

The first table nearby belonged to a few original Class Eight students who had transferred to other classes after Gao Er.

To Li Luo's surprise, Wei Chun had come too.

Lin Xiuhong had invited Zhang Xuefen and Wei Dongrong, but the couple had politely declined.

Still, perhaps sensing the Li family's rise and wanting to preserve face, Wei Dongrong had sent his son anyway.

Li Luo glanced at the still-silent Wei Chun and sighed for him, then turned to the others.

Chen Zhongqi, who played the pipa; Zhu Huiyan, the Gao Yi Chinese class representative; Shi Yanran, the Youth League secretary; and Jin Yuting, Ying Chanxi's close friend from junior high—all had chosen pure liberal arts and were thus assigned to Class Sixteen.

Among them, only Shi Yanran had gotten into Qianjiang University; the rest had fallen short.

In the end, nearly all chose local universities.

Actually, a few of them had scores barely sufficient for some provincial 211 universities.

But in Qianjiang Province, especially among families in Yuhang City, parents generally disliked their daughters going too far from home.

Especially if she's an only daughter, it's even more so.

So most girls, even if they choose local finance or teacher-training schools, won't consider attending 211 universities out of province.

It's purely because it's close to home.

Li Luo raised a toast with Ying Chanxi; Jin Yuting at the table watched the couple in matching outfits with a complex expression.

Three years ago, during the high school entrance exam, Jin Yuting still thought Li Luo was completely unworthy of Ying Chanxi.

But now, Li Luo isn't just worthy—he's even…

Jin Yuting glanced at the two graceful figures at the head table and couldn't help muttering to herself.

Her hometown is Li Family Village; every year during Chinese New Year, she'd visit Ying Chanxi's place.

But over these three years, every Chinese New Year, she kept running into Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu coming as guests to Li Luo's house.

Not to mention the rumors and gossip swirling all over school.

Jin Yuting's gaze toward Li Luo now was complex and tinged with nostalgia—it was truly hard to imagine what this guy had been like in middle school.

Three years, worlds apart.

Can a person really change this much?

At this moment, Jin Yuting even felt a bit envious of Ying Chanxi.

In the past, as Ying Chanxi's best friend, she envied Ying Chanxi's beauty and outstanding grades.

But right now, she even envied Ying Chanxi for being beside Li Luo.

This boy's growth over three years was too dazzling to forget.

The other girls' gazes toward Li Luo were also somewhat complex.

With such an outstanding class monitor in the class, every girl had, to some degree, entertained thoughts about him.

But most had self-awareness and only dared to think about it in their hearts.

Now, watching Li Luo shine brightly amid the crowd, the girls all felt a quiet yearning.

But Li Luo paid little attention to their inner thoughts; after toasting with Ying Chanxi, he moved on to the next table.

This table mainly consisted of boys from the new Class Eight, who weren't very familiar with Li Luo after the grade division.

Among them was the old acquaintance Shao Heqi.

To be fair, Li Luo had thought this guy wouldn't come—but he showed up, just like Liu Shaowen.

Li Luo didn't mind at all; he grinned and raised his glass in a toast.

Liu Shaowen and Shao Heqi both stood up, looking at the two with complex expressions.

As boys who had secretly loved Ying Chanxi for years, their reasons for attending the graduation banquet were different.

Liu Shaowen simply feared others would say he lacked grace, even though he was completely overthinking it—he truly felt that way.

After all, Li Luo had invited him; if he refused, wouldn't that make him look petty?

Then Ying Chanxi might look down on him even more.

Shao Heqi, however, had a more tragic reason.

As someone who had secretly loved Ying Chanxi for six full years, his feelings for her were like a youthful white moonlight.

And the most painful part wasn't that he missed his white moonlight—it was that his white moonlight was already in someone else's arms, blushing brightly.

Shao Heqi's heart had long been shattered into pieces.

But after this Gaokao, his score fell far short of Qianjiang University's threshold, so he ultimately chose a 985 university out of province.

In just over half a month, he would be leaving far away.

After this parting, perhaps he'd never have another chance to see Ying Chanxi.

So after Li Luo extended the invitation, Shao Heqi hesitated repeatedly, but finally decided to accept—just to see Ying Chanxi one last time.

But seeing Ying Chanxi and Li Luo in matching outfits still made it hard for him to hold it together.

"Um…" After the toast, as Ying Chanxi was about to leave with Li Luo, Shao Heqi couldn't hold back and softly called out to her, "When you graduated, did you… did you read the letter I gave you?"

Ying Chanxi turned around in surprise, glanced at Shao Heqi, and upon hearing this, immediately felt embarrassed: "Uh… uh… I… I read it. Thank you."

Actually, she hadn't read it at all…

Because after returning from the graduation ceremony that night, she'd just tossed her backpack into her bedroom.

As everyone knows, although Ying Chanxi and her two friends each had their own bedrooms,

aside from Xu Youyu needing to write at her desk at night, Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng's bedrooms served mostly as storage rooms.

So since that graduation night, Ying Chanxi's backpack had simply lain quietly in the corner, untouched.

Later, she traveled with Li Luo to Changning City for a salon event, and the group drove a motorhome around touring.

When they returned, it was already mid-July.

Ying Chanxi had completely forgotten that Shao Heqi had given her a letter at graduation.

But since he'd asked, she couldn't say she hadn't read it.

That would hurt his pride too much.

So Ying Chanxi told a kind lie, then awkwardly hurried off with Li Luo.

Seeing this, Shao Heqi's eyes instantly dimmed.

All the deep emotion he'd poured into that letter over six years…

And in the end… it was only met with a "thank you"?

He looked up at the ceiling, feeling leaves fluttering, snowflakes falling… a desolate atmosphere surrounded him.

His youth had truly ended…

"What did he say to you?" Li Luo noticed Shao Heqi speaking to Ying Chanxi; when she caught up, he asked curiously.

Ying Chanxi shook her head, embarrassed: "He asked if I'd read the letter he gave me at graduation… I'd completely forgotten about it."

Li Luo: "… Should we take a look when we get back?"

"Better not," Ying Chanxi said helplessly. "We might never see each other again anyway—there's no point in looking."

Li Luo nodded and said no more.

The two walked together to the last table, looking at Kong Jun and Ding Xiang, then at Zhao Rongjun, Xu Yinghuan, Qiao Xinyan, then at Hua Xiuxiu, Ren Zheng, Lin Yuan, and finally at Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang, those two clowns.

"Anyway, we'll probably see each other again at Professor Kong's wedding on the 20th—no need to say more." Li Luo smiled and raised his cup. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

(End of Chapter)