Classmate

  "I am Lu Yiheng," came the icy voice over the phone. Nie Zhiyan's hand trembled as he held the receiver, almost dropping it.

  It had been a long time since she spoke, and Lu Yiheng seemed to have patience, not hanging up the phone, just waiting with her.

  "...I am Nie Zhen's words."

  "Oh, something's up?" His voice was tinged with a hint of cold laughter, and he really wanted to just hang up the phone like that.

  She calmed herself down and said: "I left my phone at the restaurant, have you seen it?"

  "Yes."

  "Excuse me..."

  "It's been thrown into the trash can," Lu Yiheng interrupted her words. "If you go back to look for it now, maybe it's still in time."

  Nie Ziyu couldn't put into words what he was feeling, only that his heart ached with injustice and unwillingness, finding it hard to believe...

  She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, saying: "Lu Yiheng, we haven't seen each other for seven years, what did I do to offend you?"

  She slammed down the phone and didn't give the other person a chance to say anything else.

  Out of the public phone booth, a cold wind hit her face. She walked slowly along the street, step by step, with a stream of cars beside her. The sounds of car horns, advertisements, conversations, and other noises mixed together in a cacophony.

  As she walked past the advertisement column, she faintly saw her own reflection inside, wearing a green knee-length dress and white high-heeled shoes, which made her look slender and elegant, delicate as a flower.

  Unfortunately, his complexion was a bit too pale.

  She forced a smile on her face and smiled at the figure, telling herself: "I didn't make a mistake coming back, and I won't regret it."

  Then she turned around and hailed a taxi, heading for the restaurant.

  When she arrived at the restaurant, it was already after 8 pm, which was the busiest time for the restaurant. She hastily ran to the cashier and asked the owner if anyone had found a cell phone. The owner, a middle-aged woman with sharp eyes, seeing her flustered appearance, asked: "Are you the girl who came with Mr. Lu?"

  "Yes," he nodded, "I dropped my phone here. Have you picked it up? That phone is very important to me."

  "No," said the landlady apologetically, "no one has turned in a mobile phone here."

  "Mr. Lu said he threw it in the trash."

  "There are a few trash cans outside, maybe you can go take a look." The boss's wife suggested.

  "Thank you."

  The cool night air was like water, surrounded by large patches of lights, the dim streetlights cast on Nie Zhiyan's body, outlining a small shadow. She bent her body, with dense sweat beads on her forehead, searching very hard.

  There is no...

  There is no...

  Still nothing...

  She has looked through all these trash cans and found nothing.

  She smiled bitterly and stood up, her back straight as a pen, took out a tissue from her bag and wiped her hands clean bit by bit.

  Her mind was a complete blank, she wandered aimlessly along the street, and in the distance, two students wearing school uniforms were walking towards her. Nie Zhiyan seemed to be frozen in place, standing on the brightly lit street, unable to move.

  From a distance, I heard the girl yelling at the boy next to her: "Hey, can you please focus on class for once? You're always so restless and it's really disturbing me."

  The boy didn't show any signs of anger, instead he said in a flattering tone: "I know, I know, oh, it's really hard to be your deskmate, there are so many rules."

  "Then go and tell the teacher to change seats." The girl pouted, clearly very disdainful.

  "No, no, no...... I'm willing! Can't I change?" The boy coaxed in a flattering manner.

  "This is about right, I'm telling you, today's math problem..."