Under the moonlight

Looking into Zhao Meng's smiling eyes and upturned lips, Huang Meng asked, "You, you, did you recognize me a long time ago? I am, I am Huang Meng?" Looking at his smiling face, Huang Meng suddenly realized that he must have recognized her a long time ago.

Zhao Meng suddenly laughed, "What are you talking about? What do you mean, 'recognized you as Huang Meng'? Haven't you always been yourself?"

"No, no, what I meant was, you, I..." Huang Meng suddenly became speechless. If Zhao Meng had recognized her when she first met him, she would have greeted him openly and generously.

She had already accepted the fact that he had forgotten her, but now she suddenly discovered that he had known all along. This feeling of being kept in the dark and unaware of it was really not good!

Huang Meng questioned him somewhat angrily, "Since you know I'm your old classmate, why didn't you just say so? I thought..." Huang Meng suddenly lost the courage to continue. What did she think? That he had forgotten her? What right did she have to be angry because he had forgotten her?

Huang Meng didn't know what to say again, and turned her head away in frustration. Zhao Meng watched her speechless, her face full of complaints yet suppressing her anger, just like before, when she would reluctantly take the homework he handed her, puff out her cheeks, and purse her lips as she did her homework for him.

Zhao Meng took a few steps forward, looked at Huang Meng who was still looking down and turning her face away, and said with a smile, "Let's go, aren't you hungry?" After saying that, Zhao Meng put his arm around her neck and walked towards the car without saying anything more.

Huang Meng, who was still sulking, suddenly felt a weight on her neck. Before she could speak, she was pulled forward. She tried to raise her head to protest, and what she saw was his strong profile.

Huang Meng fell silent instantly. For some reason, she had a feeling of unreality, as if everything that was happening now was just an incredibly real dream, and that she would eventually wake up.

Once in the car, Zhao Meng started it immediately. Huang Meng looked at him without saying a word and asked, puzzled, "Where are we going to eat?"

"You'll find out when we get there."

As Huang Meng looked at his profile as he drove intently, that unreal feeling washed over her once again. She turned to look out the car window, where the neon lights along the roadside had already begun to flash.

He had appeared in her dreams countless times before, but she could never see his face; he only showed her his back. Now, he was right beside her. Wasn't this what people meant by dreams coming true? But no one told her how to face the unease and sense of unreality that kept surging in her heart.

Before Huang Meng could understand, the car came to a smooth stop. "We're here," Zhao Meng said, unbuckling his seatbelt and looking at her.

"Uh, okay." Huang Meng seemed not to have reacted yet, slowly raising her eyes to look outside. It was a farmhouse restaurant. She unbuckled her seatbelt, and Zhao Meng had already gotten out of the car.

Huang Meng watched his retreating figure, took a deep breath, and thought, "What's there to be afraid of? I haven't done anything wrong. It's just youthful ignorance mixed with the restlessness of adolescent hormones! Yes, that's it!" After numbing herself in her mind, Huang Meng opened the car door and got out.

This farmhouse restaurant is doing quite well; the pavilions near and far are all full of people. To be honest, the environment isn't as natural and elegant as the one I visited last time, but the courtyard at night, illuminated by various hazy and colorful lights, has a great atmosphere.

Huang Meng noticed that Zhao Meng was probably looking for a seat, and since she couldn't help him, she stood quietly to the side and waited.

"Huang Meng?" Suddenly a man's voice rang out beside her. She subconsciously turned around and glanced at him, immediately recognizing the person in front of her.

"Chen Zhi?" Huang Meng exclaimed in surprise, "You, what are you doing here? Weren't you in X City?"

When Huang Meng was still in college, she joined a chat group of her high school classmates, but she was always invisible and never spoke. Her purpose in joining the chat group was just to find out about Zhao Meng. Every time she dreamed about him, she had an urge to find him, but she always failed.

It wasn't that she was afraid to ask, but rather that it seemed no one knew where Zhao Meng was or what he was doing. He had vanished into thin air, and Huang Meng had even wondered at one point if he was no longer alive!

So, it wasn't surprising that she knew about Chen Zhi, since the chat group contained some of the most active members of their class. They often shared updates about their classmates in X city. However, she hadn't logged into that chat tool in a long time, so running into Chen Zhi there was indeed a surprise.

"Haha, it really is you! You've become so beautiful, I almost didn't recognize you," Chen Zhi said with a chuckle, rubbing his hands together.

"Really? But you're still so handsome!" Huang Meng said with a smile as she looked at Chen Zhi. Looking at his face, scenes from her time studying in X City seemed to float before her eyes again.

Chen Zhi sat in front of her. Every time class reached the 40-minute mark, he would turn his head upside down, chin up, head against Huang Meng's desk, and ask her in a low voice: "How many more minutes until get out of class ends?"

His strange way of turning around always startled Huang Meng, but she gradually got used to it. In fact, she could even accurately predict his movements and remove the clutter from the table in advance.

Thinking of this, Huang Meng suddenly laughed. Chen Zhi, seeing her laughing so happily, asked curiously, "What's wrong? Are you so happy to see your old classmate?"

"Haha, do you remember how you would always turn around and ask me how many more minutes until get out of class was over, which always startled me!" Huang Meng laughed as she looked at him, but Chen Zhi's smile gradually froze. Huang Meng followed his gaze and saw Zhao Meng standing behind her, watching.