“What the—?!”

“You little punk, what are you even doing in a place like this?!”

“Back-talking me now? You got a death wish?!”

Outside the bathroom door.

A bald man with a tiger tattoo across his shoulder was unloading on Lin Jie at full volume. Li Nan had come out with a group of classmates behind him, but one look at the situation and nobody moved. Nobody said a word.

Li Nan didn’t want any part of this. But every eye was on him, so he forced himself forward and tried to apologize on Lin Jie’s behalf.

The bald man didn’t give him a single inch. One word — scram — and Li Nan nearly jumped out of his skin.

These were kids who’d grown up sheltered, never had to deal with anything like this in their lives. Getting barked at once was all it took to completely deflate him. The rest of the group took the hint and stayed back.

Xu Ye stood at the back and watched for a moment, piecing together what had happened.

The bald man had been coming out of the bathroom when Lin Jie stumbled into him — the two of them barely even crossing paths. But Lin Jie had drunk way too much, and in his haze he’d thrown up right on the guy’s shoe. That set the man off, and when Lin Jie — who was normally pretty mild-mannered — drunkenly mouthed off a couple of times, it pushed him over the edge. Now it was a stream of insults, and Lin Jie stood there too stunned to respond.

The growing crowd of onlookers was only making the man angrier.

Xu Ye sighed, pushed through to the front, and stepped up.

He pulled Lin Jie behind him and turned to the bald man with an easy smile. “Hey, big bro — my buddy here had way too much to drink, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. We literally just finished our college entrance exams today — cut us some slack?”

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?”

The man was clearly a few drinks in himself. “Get out of my face!”

Xu Ye didn’t flinch back like Li Nan had. His expression went calm and flat. He stepped closer and dropped his voice.

“Don’t push your luck. A good chunk of us are still minors. You really want to blow this up? Think about what happens when the cops show up — whose side do you think they’re taking? A room full of students, or you?”

Then, without missing a beat, he went right back to the apologetic smile.

The bald man wasn’t an idiot. He knew Xu Ye had just handed him a way out. He considered it for a second, then waved a hand like he was doing them all a huge favor.

“Fine. Not worth my time arguing with a bunch of kids.”

Xu Ye dipped his head. “Appreciate it, big bro. Take care now.”

He watched the man disappear around the corner. The whole group let out a collective breath.

Xu Ye patted Lin Jie on the shoulder, heard a quiet “thanks,” and headed back to the private room.

The others crowded around Lin Jie to check on him.

But a few of the guys who’d spent three years playing tough in class had found their voices again.

“Xu Ye was kind of kissing up to that guy, wasn’t he?”

“Right? Total brownnoser material.”

“What was that bald dude so cocky about anyway — like we were all scared of him.”

Qin Zhiwei turned around.

“Really? That’s what you’re going with?” He looked each of them in the eye. “You were all just standing there praying nobody looked at you, and now that Xu Ye cleaned it up you’ve got opinions? Pathetic.”

He walked away without waiting for a response.

None of them had anything to say to that.

The group filtered back into the private room, and the incident dissolved like it had never happened — everyone back on the mics within minutes, singing like nothing had occurred.

Zhiwei dropped down next to Xu Ye, still fuming. “Xie Hong and Jiang Lei were talking trash about you. Stood there completely useless while that guy was going off, and the second you sorted it out they start calling you a suck-up.”

Xu Ye shrugged. “I’m not bothered, so why are you? A few kind words to defuse the situation — what’s the alternative, letting it turn into a brawl? They’ll figure it out once they’re out in the real world. Ego doesn’t pay for anything out there.”

Zhiwei frowned. “When did you get so… grown up about everything?”

“Obviously I’ve matured — I’m basically your dad at this point.”

“You absolute—”

Two of the guys finally wrestled the microphones away from the girls and launched into a duet — Ten Years. [TL: 《十年》is a classic Cantopop ballad by Hong Kong singer Eason Chan (陈奕迅), released in 2003. It’s about love lost over time and remains one of the most recognizable and beloved Chinese-language songs ever recorded.]

The opening chords hit Xu Ye somewhere deep.

Ten years.

Memory after memory surfaced without being asked — everything that had happened across that decade, playing back one scene at a time. Looking at it all now, from this side of it, it all seemed so absurd.

He laughed quietly to himself, picked up a Budweiser, and drank.

Time moved slowly.

By just past eight, Xu Ye let out a long yawn. He was about to reach down and discretely adjust his position on the couch when his head suddenly started swimming.

It hit him then — he might not be affected by beer as his twenty-eight-year-old self, but this body had basically never touched alcohol. Eighteen-year-old Xu Ye had no tolerance at all. Two small bottles had been more than enough to tip him sideways.

God, I need to be more careful.

He rubbed his temples, closed his eyes to wait it out — and was asleep within minutes.

Half an hour later.

The door swung open from outside.

Duan Qingjun walked in, with Gu Mengyao and Liu Qian right behind him.

“What took you three so long?”

“You’re late to your own class reunion.”

“Mengyao, you wanna sing? We’re all exhausted.”

Gu Mengyao smiled and didn’t answer. Her eyes were already moving around the room.

They landed on Xu Ye, out cold on the couch.

Her stomach dropped a little.

She and Liu Qian had planned this whole thing — the deliberately late entrance, showing up with Duan Qingjun, the setup to make Xu Ye notice. But if he was asleep…

Then Qin Zhiwei spotted her.

He nudged Xu Ye.

“Xu Ye. Hey — Xu Ye.”

A groan. A furrowed brow. Xu Ye slowly cracked one eye open.

His stomach wasn’t happy. The alcohol was still making itself known. But he pushed through it and sat up.

Zhiwei leaned in close and whispered, “Don’t fall back asleep — Gu Mengyao just walked in.”

“Who? Who’s here?”

“Gu Mengyao.”

Gu Mengyao saw him stir and made her move — she shifted closer to Duan Qingjun, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and turned on a bright, sweet smile.

Zhiwei held his breath, half-expecting Xu Ye to get up and walk over.

Xu Ye rubbed his eyes. He looked up.

His gaze swept across Gu Mengyao, Liu Qian, and the other girls standing nearby.

Then he raised one hand lazily in the air and called out, in the most unbothered voice imaginable—

“Next… next round of singers!”

(End of Chapter)