Chapter 227: Nostalgia

Mu Chenyan was fuming when she went back to the private room where Yue was engrossed in eating the hotpot. Since Mu Chenyan told her to enjoy the hotpot, she did exactly that. Not in the least being polite by even waiting for her to return.

Seeing the look on her face, Yue put her chopsticks down and inquired, 'Why do you look like you're ready to murder someone?'

"Because I want to murder someone," retorted Mu Chenyan. She sighed and sat down as she held her head and rubbed her temples to ease the pain. Suddenly, she started talking, "You know, I used to love coming here. Whenever Elder Xiang or his wife grounded me, Ge would always help me sneak out the window and bring me here to lift up my mood. It was our little secret."

Yue tapped her hand on the table to make Mu Chenyan look up at her and then she used the hand signs to communicate with her again, 'Why are you being nostalgic all of a sudden?'

"I ran into my Ge outside," told Mu Chenyan. "I didn't expect him to still come here. Or maybe I did expect it."

'Feeling complicated?'

Mu Chenyan nodded her head, "I really am feeling complicated. I'm happy to see him here and at the same time, I'm sad about it as well." She leaned over the table as she asked, "I've lost my mind, right?"

Yue didn't act polite at all and frankly nodded her head in agreement.

Mu Chenyan snickered at her, "Yue, friends shouldn't do this."

Yue's brows knitted up before she responded, 'But that's the friendship that Yue Fai and Raelle have.'

Mu Chenyan thought about it and could only agree with her over this. The friendship between Yue Fai and Raelle was indeed something like this. 

"Don't compare them with us. Those two are strange people and their friendship is even stranger. Let's not enter their strange world." Mu Chenyan didn't just say it, she actually believed in her own words. Who wouldn't believe it? She had seen them grow up and she had seen their friendship grow as well. There was no doubt that both of them were strange in their own ways. One didn't know how to express her feelings and the other didn't want to express his feelings. None of the two was pure black or white. They were both grey. It was just that both Hyson and Raelle had their own particular shades of grey.

Yue silently laughed but she also could only agree. 

Both women ate and chatted for a long time. When Mu Chenyan was paying for their meal, Yue was busy looking at the little girl who was playing in the corridor all by herself. Seeing her talking to herself as she played, Yue had a soft and nostalgic smile on her face. The little girl continued to throw her ball and kept laughing and talking all by herself. And she looked really happy in her own world.

"What are you smiling about?" inquired Mu Chenyan.

Yue pointed at the little girl and told her, 'I just suddenly felt a rush of memories settle in. Fai used to play like this.' Her smile dampened a little as she added, 'He didn't have any friends so he played by himself. He even used to talk to himself. It really gave me a headache back then but with time, I got used to it.'

Mu Chenyan patted her shoulder, "Only smart people talk to themselves. Even Elle used to do it. But her talking was different, she acted like a professor who was giving a lecture. As for playing... I wish she had an interest in that." She shook her head helplessly, "The only time Elle picked a ball was when she wanted to perform the experiments like a bouncing ball or the ball drop." She had been happily emerged in her memories when suddenly she caught sight of Xiang Hulin and tugged at Yue's arm saying, "Let's get out of here now."

Yue didn't refuse and let herself be dragged along. Only when they reached the car did Mu Chenyan opened her mouth in confusion. "I wonder when did Ge become friends with that Zhai Kuijun. They weren't this close back in the days." She was surprised to see Zhai Kuijun with Xiang Hulin again today. That meant they had come to eat here together. 

Although their fathers, Xiang Tianyu and Zhai Feiyang had a deep friendship, these two men really weren't this close in their early years. Because their interests didn't match. One wanted to be a soldier and the other always had a business mind. 

Yue stiffened when she heard the name Zhai Kuijun from Mu Chenyan. She didn't want to probe but she couldn't help it either as she asked, 'Who is he?'

"Who? Zhai Kuijun?" Yue nodded her head and Mu Chenyan sighed out, "He is just a family friend. Didn't you meet his parents last week? They are friends with Elder Xiang and that's why I know him a little." She took a pause and added, "But I don't know him personally that well. I've only heard things about him. I had a very diverse group of friends so I got to hear all sorts of gossips."

Yue didn't try to continue this topic since she didn't want Mu Chenyan's astute nature to pick up anything from her expressions or words. She didn't really want to hide the whole truth from Mu Chenyan either but after all these years, but she didn't want to recall those memories again. Not just because the memories were painful but also because she had come too far from all of that now.

Talking about the past would only push her back into that past. And it was not that she couldn't face her past. She had nothing to be ashamed about. But she wanted to keep her distance from that past of hers. If not for herself then for her son.