Chapter 125: Chapter 119: Chance Encounter Part 2 Chapter 125: Chapter 119: Chance Encounter Part 2 In the distance, a rowdy group of five people who seemed to have been drinking laughed and shouted loudly. The girls’ scolding laughter mixed with the boys’ yells joined together in loud laughter, faintly carried over by the riverside.

Initially, the group was far away, but as time passed, they slowly moved towards where a boy was reading his book. The noise grew louder and louder.

The boy looked up, glanced in that direction, and frowned. He turned to look behind him. The spacious garden path was empty. He sat down again.

Soon, the noisy group had come very close. There were three men and two women, all dressed fashionably, probably out for a walk after singing at a karaoke bar. One of the girls was wearing black stockings and looked no older than a teenager—her mature outfit undoubtedly made her seem too mature. But without a doubt, the group was made up of handsome men and beautiful women, although largely due to their stylish dress.

Han Luyao shook her dizzy head vigorously; just two beers were enough to overwhelm her, making her undoubtedly the quietest one in the group. Her companions yelled drunkenly around her, and Han Luyao felt grateful that this was happening at the riverside park. Otherwise, it would be utterly embarrassing if acquaintances saw them like this.

“Alright, Honghong, time to go home; you’re really drunk,” she said, supporting the girl in black stockings and frowning.

“Scared… what am I scared of, I’m perfectly lucid!” Honghong struggled, trying to pull away from Han Luyao’s support but immediately staggered again.

“Honghong, you’re still pretending! If it wasn’t for me blocking so many drinks for you, you would have collapsed already,” a boy next to her said, laughing and slurring his words.

“Who asked you to block them? If you weren’t… weren’t my brother, I wouldn’t want you to!” Honghong stuttered.

“Alright, alright. Let’s find a place to sit down and rest for a while,” Han Luyao herself felt unsteady walking, but the cold wind blowing along the river brought waves of coolness that cleared her mind quite a bit. She looked down the riverside.

There was only one bench with a backrest at the end of the path nearby, available for a rest. But there was already a boy there reading a book.

“Let’s go there; there’s a bench to rest on.”

The five of them supported each other and walked over.

From afar, it was hard to see clearly, but as they drew nearer, Han Luyao gradually recognized the boy.

He looked somewhat familiar.

“Seems like I’ve seen him somewhere?” she muttered, touching her somewhat hot forehead. “Where did I see him?” She was certain she knew him, but she couldn’t remember. She really couldn’t recall where she had seen him before.

“What was his name? Lin… Lin… Lin Fei!” Han Luyao suddenly remembered. This boy was her middle school classmate. Originally both of them attended the poor school, but later Lin Fei had managed to get into the prestigious high school due to his good grades, while she had to leverage connections to attend a much worse private school nearby. Memories of Lin Fei flooded back to her.

Han Luyao was slightly distracted, staring blankly at Lin Fei sitting on the bench.

“Yaoyao? What’s wrong?” a boy next to her asked, laughing and waving his hand in front of Han Luyao’s eyes.

“Nothing, just saw someone I know.”

The boy followed her gaze and saw Lin Fei sitting on the bench.

“Is it him?”

“Yes, my old middle school classmate, now he’s a top student at the prestigious high school,” Han Luyao said, feeling slightly bitter.

“I hate these kinds of studious, good students. How… how well did you know him?” Honghong asked.

“Just classmates,” Han Luyao replied with a smile. In the past, she was the prettiest girl in the class; although not academically inclined, she was very popular. But Lin Fei was always the one with the best grades. However, their lives were completely different worlds. His world must forever be about studying and reading…

Han Luyao shook her head, unwilling to dwell on it, having no desire to delve into the nerdy world of such a bookworm.

Shopping, singing, partying, discussing fashion in magazines, joking around with friends, and occasionally flirting with boys. Wasn’t this kind of life good? It was always fun.

Although she considered herself and Lin Fei to be from different worlds, Han Luyao still decided to go greet him; it was basic manners, after all.

“I’ll go say hello; he is an old classmate, after all.”

“Such a hassle, just pretend you don’t recognize him,” Honghong muttered, seeming much more sober after the cold wind.

“Yaoyao, you’re different,” a boy laughed, “that’s one reason she’s not as popular as you.”

“Really? Does that mean you don’t love me anymore?” Honghong squinted.

Suddenly, the boys burst into laughter.

“Hey! Lin Fei.” Han Luyao straightened her slightly disheveled clothes and walked up with a smile.

The boy on the bench looked up and was clearly taken aback when he saw Han Luyao.

“Even a bookworm knows how to appreciate a pretty girl, huh.” Han Luyao felt a slight pride inside, although she fundamentally looked down on these study-obsessed nerds.

“Are you… Han Luyao?” Lin Fei hesitated before recognizing the girl in front of him. He showed a gentle smile, “What’s up? Out having fun with friends?”

“Yeah, we came out to sing karaoke. I didn’t expect to bump into an old classmate from junior high. What a coincidence,” Han Luyao replied with a smile, sweeping her bangs from her forehead.

“It is quite a coincidence.”

“You’re at Third Middle School now, right? It seems like college entrance exams are just around the corner, how is it going? Are you still leading the class like before?” Han Luyao knew to engage people on topics they were interested and skilled in, as this would garner more favor. It was a basic social tactic.

“It’s okay. I am just an ordinary student at Third Middle now. There are many talented people there, it’s not my turn,” Lin Fei said with a smile, though his words sounded very polite.

“What are you doing here? Sitting in this cold weather and reading a book? No way, Schopenhauer? The philosopher who committed suicide? Too young to act all literary.” Han Luyao knew only that Schopenhauer was a suicidal philosopher who preached pessimism. She had never been interested in such things.

Lin Fei smiled and responded, “Not really reading, just waiting for someone. It’s just a book I picked up casually.”

Han Luyao didn’t believe it; from quite a distance away she had seen someone sitting here. It had taken her over twenty minutes to walk from there to here, not to mention how long he might have been waiting before. Making excuses was something everyone could do; she had seen many boys create pretexts to save face, concocting fictitious people and scenarios to maintain a better image in front of others. Such tactics were everywhere.

“Oh, I see. Sorry, but I have friends waiting over there, you continue waiting, I’ll head off,” Han Luyao said, uninterested in dealing with this pretentious guy. She turned and walked towards her friend Honghong.

“Let’s go inside, it seems there are benches in the garden,” she said indifferently.

“Sure.”

“I don’t mind.”

The group followed the path through the garden behind Lin Fei. From here, one could directly see the road opposite the garden; it wasn’t far away. The riverside park was shaped like a triangle, and this spot was right at the tip, so the road and riverbank were very close.

Han Luyao continued to support Honghong and noticed a bench by the road ahead.

“Over there, over there,” she pointed. “We can rest there nicely.”

“Yeah, the wind’s been blowing so long my head is starting to hurt,” one of the male companions said, holding his forehead.

Cars came and went on the road; the surrounding few hundred meters were all straight, with no turns, so the cars were moving fast.

The group had only covered half the distance when suddenly a red Mercedes slowly pulled up to the roadside, stopping at the park entrance.

Bang!

A beautiful woman in a black trench coat got out and slammed the car door, unconcerned that it was a multimillion-dollar S-class model.

Watching, Han Luyao and her friends couldn’t help but admire. Such an impressive woman was truly rare.

“If I could find a woman like that, I’d be content with my life,” one of the male companions whispered, “Rich and influential, perfect.”

“Forget it, you can’t even handle our own Honghong, let alone someone at that level,” Han Luyao teased.

The woman walked past them, leaving a faint scent of perfume that was refreshing.

Lin Fei sat on the bench, listening to the footsteps behind him. He gently closed the book in his hands and stood up.

“Long time no see,” a cool female voice came from behind, but it wasn’t in Chinese, it was Korean.

Lin Fei smiled and turned around.

“Long time no see, Caiyuan,” he replied in Korean as well.

Nearby, Han Luyao and the others were stunned.

Watching the two standing face to face, fluently conversing in a language they couldn’t understand.

A strange feeling rose from the bottom of their hearts.

“We should go,” Honghong said with a smile, speaking softly.

At that moment, Han Luyao didn’t know what to feel. Recalling her past life, a sense of shame suddenly surged within her.

“Just a bookworm after all…” she muttered self-deprecatingly, looking at the man and woman talking by the riverside. Somehow, they suddenly seemed so dazzling.

“Maybe I should really learn how to work hard,” Honghong’s brother said huskily. He looked up at the others, who all unconsciously avoided his gaze.