Chapter 2

From childhood to adulthood, Jian Ming Xi had always been called ‘The child every family wanted to have’ in various senses.

For example, the two of them drank a cup of milk every day, from the same brand and in the same glass, but the only person who grew taller was only Jian Ming Xi.

At the end of summer break at the age of twelve, Chen Sui met Jian Ming Xi at the registration office of her new school.

The Jian family travelled abroad for two months, so they had not seen each other for the whole summer break. With a smile on his face, he pulled Chen Sui, who was like a little child, twirling around.

Jian Ming Xi lowered his head to look at her as he smiled, revealing a faint dimple, “I bought you a present, wanna come over to my house to get it after school?”

Why… Why is he so tall?

Chen Sui glared at the person who was half a head taller than her, unable to say anything. Her confidence that she was 3 centimetres taller after the summer break immediately collapsed.

“You… Have you noticed that I’ve changed?” Chen Sui had difficulty opening her mouth to ask.

The young man looked at her seriously and thought for two seconds, “Did you get fatter?”

Chen Sui, “…”

Chen Sui’s face stiffened. As she thought, she really hated Jian Ming Xi.　　

But things like that did not just happen once.

From height to study, Chen Sui was always surpassed by the opponent.

Mother Chen also sided with him, always repeating those praises in her ears throughout her youth.　

“I heard that this school year, Xiao Xi ranked first in your school again. Sui Sui, you have to learn a lot from him and work harder, understand?”

“Yesterday, when I went to the parent-teacher meeting, even your homeroom teacher said that Jian Ming Xi from the next class, Xiao Xi, is the city’s Olympic champion, so smart ah.”

“Xiao Xi…”

Chen Sui, who was doing her homework, could not bear it any longer, “Mom, why do you always have to compare me with him in everything?”　　

Mother Chen asked in return as she knitted, “If I don’t compare now, how can you be worthy of him in the future?”

Chen Sui accidentally broke the pencil lead.

Seventeen-year-old Chen Sui flipped through her notebook, and her face was so red that it was hot, not knowing if it was due to anger or what. After a while, she said, “Who wants to be worthy of him!”

In elementary school, Chen Sui and Jian Ming Xi were seatmates, in middle school, they were in the same class, and in high school, they were in the same school.

She could hold it when being compared with him by her parents at home, but at school, she was even teased by her classmates who did not know the truth.

It was annoying ah.

At the coming of age ceremony, Chen Sui sulkily made a wish that she never wanted to see Jian Ming Xi again.

… 

Chen Sui did not expect that her wish actually came true.

A few months later, the Chen family went bankrupt, sold the villa, and move to another small district in the city.

On the day of moving, Chen Sui sat in the car and looked outside the window. The clean road filled with trees and flowers gradually disappeared from her sight, and even the Jian family’s villa slowly turned into a small point from far away.

“Mother Jian said that Xiao Xi has gone to participate in a competition in another province these days, so he still doesn’t know about this,” Mother Chen looked at her daughter and said softly, “You guys are both in grade 12 this year, try to do well on the university entrance exam, you both can still go to the same university in the future.”　

Chen Sui pulled the chain on her schoolbag, this was a gift that Jian Ming Xi bought for her after returning from the US in middle school.

As soon as she heard it, she acted as if she did not care and said, “Who wants to go to the same university as him!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay not to go to the same university,” Mother Chen sighed and wiped her daughter’s tears, “Sui Sui, don’t cry.”

After that, Jian Ming Xi went to study abroad. Until now, for stories about him, Chen Sui changed from a person who understood him well to one who only heard about him from other colleagues’ mouths.

The two of them were gradually becoming strangers.

… 

After returning home from work, Chen Sui opened her computer and typed ‘Jian Ming Xi’ in the search box.

She held her face, staring at the countless news media releases that suddenly popped out in front of her eyes and silently pondered in her heart. What her colleagues said was not wrong, it seemed that these past few years, Jian Ming Xi had been living a very comfortable and successful life.

Currently, Jian Ming Xi had become a top photographer of the new generation, travelling from all over the world, and shooting from the scene of the African refugee crisis to the scene of a dying polar bear. A young famous and successful man with a bright future.

Compared to her, a financial worker working in an office building, he was much better.

A light hum resounded in the silent room. 

One humming was not enough, Chen Sui snorted again and turned off her computer with an expressionless face.  

Someone like her still could not catch up with him after all.

Very frustrating indeed. 

Before she let out the third hum, a notification from WeiXin rang. 

Chen Sui opened her phone and saw the group chat of her high school classmates was unusually lively as they were discussing the class reunion at the end of this month. 

[We still haven’t held a class reunion this year, right? Let’s book at the Shang Hai hotel then. Those of you who are currently in the city are not allowed to be absent!]

[Wait a minute, I’ll go to the A-class mall to buy some high-end clothing and then come.]

[Gao Cheng Lin, stop acting ah. If people like you with an annual salary of over one hundred thousand yuan still want to buy high-end clothing, then what are we supposed to do?]　

The current class reunion was not to show off who was richer but to show who was poorer.

Chen Sui scrolled through the group chat until she was bored, watching her classmates complaining about being poor yet showing off their wealth at the same time. She had no choice but to accept her fate, turning on her computer to start working overtime. 

Thinking back to all the news related to Jian Ming Xi she found just now, Chen Sui gritted her teeth. 

Speaking of miserable, she was the one who deserved to speak the most ah.

… 

The class reunion was extremely boring.

A group of people clinking glasses noisily, and the topic of conversation was inseparable from these years.

“If you don’t count as having a stable life, then tell me, who among us has the most stable life?”

“Our class doesn’t count, but Jian Ming Xi from the next class, you guys probably have heard of him, right? That’s what we call a successful life.”

Chen Sui bit her chopsticks. 

“Of course, I know Jian Ming Xi. Our school’s student is now a celebrity ah.”

“He’s so successful. Oh right, Chen Sui, weren’t you very close with him in the past?”

“That’s right, they’re childhood sweethearts.”　

“What childhood sweethearts?” Chen Sui’s heart suddenly started beating fast. She tried to smile lightly, “I’m not close with him.”

This was strange.　　

Originally, Chen Sui had buried Jian Ming Xi in her memory, even the soil was about to harden. Until some time ago, when she heard of him from her colleagues’ gossip, those memories emerged, and she discovered that this person’s presence was becoming stronger and stronger in her life. 

Scrolling through Weibo, the news of Ge Kong, the rich and famous lady, who confessed her love to JMing went on a hot search. 

Looking at the latest news, JMing donated ten million from the auction of photographic manuscripts to a charity, and also went to the top of the hot search.

Even when chatting in the tea room, her colleagues kept on praising the photos taken by Jian Ming Xi with eight hundred sentences next to her ears.

As if the old days were back, perhaps bringing along her old friends. 

But when she returned to her working position, looking at the green and red K-lines and the data reports that had not been processed yet, the time returned to the working overtime days and brought her back to reality.

Like the end of the K-lines on both sides of the screen, the years that had passed could not be returned. 

After the meal, the class reunion ended, and Chen Sui left the hotel with her friends.　　　　

Under the noisy hotel lobby, the classmate who was pulling Chen Sui’s hand turned her head and looked back, exclaiming all of a sudden, “Isn’t that Jian Ming Xi?”

Chen Sui turned her head and saw a group of people coming out of the revolving door.

Jian Ming Xi in real life looked even more bright and confident than in the photos. 

Chen Sui stared at his phoenix eyes as if coming out of a manga that her colleagues had praised countless times. There was a hint of surprise underneath the man’s eyes, and the little lights along with happiness flashed through his eyes.

Jian Ming Xi approached her with his eyes fixed on her, “Sui Sui.”

Chen Sui’s body stiffened and turned her head without a word. 

There was no greeting in her head at the moment. 

Seeing that she still kept her refusal look, Jian Ming Xi sighed silently, ignoring the eyes of others, and asked again, “Sui Sui?”

Why are you calling me?

It’s not like we’re close with each other…

What kind of life he had lived, and how she had lived, the difference between them was too large, and their distance was too far. 

Staring for a while, Chen Sui felt her vision blur and was about to rub her eyes with her hand, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed by Jian Ming Xi. 

Just like Mother Chen when she moved house at the age of eighteen, and just like when Father Chen passed away.

Jian Ming Xi patiently wiped away Chen Sui’s tears with his hand, and coaxed her in a gentle voice as if coaxing a child, “Sui Sui, don’t cry.”