The air seemed to have been put on pause, eerily still.
At the banquet, countless strangers in evening gowns holding champagne glasses turned to look at them. Elegant men and women, all unfamiliar faces.
The luxurious crystal chandelier overhead was exquisite and dazzling, casting ample bright light on Ruan Qiuping's face, revealing his expression in full detail.
Ruan Qiuping's eyes widened slightly, his pupils a bit moist, his whole person dazed and stunned as if in a dream.
Half of the bread in Chen Hai's mouth fell to the ground. He pointed at Yu Huan, turning to Jing Yang with a shocked expression: "Jing Yang! He, he touched the bad lu— mmph!"
Jing Yang quickly covered Chen Hai's mouth.
Ruan Qiuping seemed to suddenly wake from a dream. His pupils constricted sharply, and he involuntarily took several steps back, looking at Yu Huan in shock.
"...Ruan Ruan."
Yu Huan reached out his hand, as if about to touch Ruan Qiuping's cheek again.
This time Ruan Qiuping reacted quickly, turning his head away the instant Yu Huan's hand extended.
His heart was racing, but his mind was blank, his whole body trembling slightly.
He gripped the ceramic shard in his hand tightly, with only one thought left in his mind.
Get out of here!
Get as far away from Yu Huan as possible!
His pupils quivered, and he immediately prepared to run out of the banquet hall.
But just as he was about to run, Yu Huan sensed his intention and stretched out his long arm in front of him, seemingly about to block him—
Ruan Qiuping didn't dare touch Yu Huan again, so he immediately stopped in his tracks, barely halting in front of Yu Huan's arm.
He wanted to change direction and keep running, but his current position was in the corner of the banquet hall where there weren't many paths to begin with. Yu Huan's assistants and bodyguards behind him had very tacitly stretched out their arms in unison, blocking all of Ruan Qiuping's escape routes.
Behind him was a solid wall, in front was a human wall centered around Yu Huan, and over a hundred people in the entire banquet hall had stopped what they were doing to look curiously at this commotion.
Ruan Qiuping didn't dare use invisibility in front of so many eyes. He couldn't move forward or backward, and every time he looked up, he met Yu Huan's scorching gaze that seemed to burn him.
Seeing Yu Huan approaching step by step, Ruan Qiuping's brain suddenly jammed like a machine that had been broken for decades. He turned around and hurriedly crawled under the dessert table behind him.
...
Jing Yang: "..."
Chen Hai: "..."
.
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
The previously quiet banquet hall was suddenly filled with whispers and noisy sounds, and many people even took out their phones to secretly take photos.
"Isn't that CEO Yu from Guilai Group? I heard he never attends banquets, why is he here?"
"What's the relationship between that guy and Yu Huan? What's with this atmosphere?"
"...Is CEO Yu the type to bully others with his power? Look how scared that person is, hiding under the table."
"I seem to have heard that CEO Yu has had an unusual relationship with a man since high school. Someone leaked that they were seen hugging and stuff in front of many people back then... Is it this person?"
"High school? But the ages don't match up."
"...I think I know why CEO Yu hasn't had any rumors for years."
"Damn! I'm shipping it!"
...What a mess.
Ruan Qiuping listened, feeling confused. He sat on the ground hugging his knees, seriously considering how many thousand-word self-criticisms he would need to write if he were to turn invisible or use teleportation to escape right now, and how many people's memories Qi Yue would have to erase...
After thinking about it, he felt this method wasn't very feasible.
Then he remembered that Yu Huan had just touched the corner of his lips.
Ruan Qiuping frowned, lowered his head, and looked worriedly at the ceramic shard in his palm, starting to pray that this shard would really be useful and could dispel the bad luck that might have been transmitted when Yu Huan touched him earlier.
"Ruan Qiuping!" Chen Hai didn't care at all and immediately lay down on the ground, poking his head to look under the table at Ruan Qiuping. He shouted, "Hey! Ruan Qiuping! Do you owe him money or something?! How much do you owe? Look how cowardly you are!"
Jing Yang pulled Chen Hai up from the ground and sighed helplessly: "Chen Hai, can you please not make things worse?"
"How am I making things worse..." Chen Hai patted his clothes, muttering, "Can't I even ask a question?"
The tablecloth was twenty centimeters off the ground, and Ruan Qiuping could see that cane and those leather shoes approaching him step by step.
Then he heard Yu Huan ask: "Excuse me, what is your relationship with Ruan Qiuping?"
Chen Hai asked: "Does Ruan Qiuping owe you money? Are you enemies? If so, then we don't know Ruan Qiuping."
"No, we have a very good relationship."
Chen Hai said: "Oh, then we're classmates! We're even in the same group!"
"I'm sorry I can't personally entertain you. The 17th floor of the hotel is the VIP leisure and entertainment area with top-tier buffet. Here are the access cards. I hope you enjoy yourselves."
"Wow!" Chen Hai happily accepted the cards and excitedly pulled Jing Yang along, "Jing Yang, Jing Yang! Let's go eat the top-tier buffet!"
"But, Ruan is still..." Jing Yang seemed to feel it wasn't right to leave Ruan Qiuping behind.
"But I'm so hungry, and I've never had a top-tier buffet before..."
"...Alright then." Jing Yang bent down and said to Ruan Qiuping, "Ruan Qiuping, I'm really sorry, but I'm going to take Chen Hai upstairs to eat first. Um, when you're done here, you can come find us up there."
He waited for a moment but still didn't hear a response from Ruan Qiuping, so he said goodbye and left with Chen Hai.
.
After Chen Hai and Jing Yang were sent away, it wasn't long before everyone in the banquet hall gradually left as well.
...The child from back then had indeed grown up, seemingly possessing incredible abilities. So many people left just because he told them to.
Ruan Qiuping thought quietly to himself.
"Mr. Yu, should I help you move this table away?" A burly voice spoke up, seemingly one of Yu Huan's bodyguards.
Move the table?!
Ruan Qiuping quickly reached out to hug the table legs, reacting as dramatically as a turtle protecting its shell.
Yu Huan glanced at the table that had suddenly shaken and said, "No need. You all go downstairs too."
After Yu Huan's subordinates and bodyguards left, only Yu Huan and Ruan Qiuping remained in the vast banquet hall.
"Ruan Ruan." Yu Huan called out softly.
Yu Huan's age had increased somewhat, and his voice had become deeper and more restrained.
Not just his voice, but his movements, demeanor, and the way he spoke seemed to have changed a lot too.
In Ruan Qiuping's memory, Yu Huan still retained his 17-year-old appearance - easily angered but also quick to smile, prone to nervousness and acting spoiled, bright and clear like sunshine.
But the 32-year-old Yu Huan had matured considerably. When speaking to others and dealing with people, he was deep and elegant, clear and cold like winter snow.
This mature Yu Huan felt somewhat unfamiliar to Ruan Qiuping, but it also made him curious. He couldn't help wanting to know more about Yu Huan. He wanted to know when Yu Huan started wearing glasses, why he was using a cane - was the mechanical leg uncomfortable to use? He wanted to know how Yu Huan had spent these 15 years, and why he could recognize him at a glance.
But Ruan Qiuping only thought about these things briefly. He gripped the ceramic shard in his hand tightly, hugged his knees, and continued to hide quietly under the table like a turtle.
"Ruan Ruan, won't you come out?" Yu Huan asked gently.
But he received no answer.
Yu Huan knelt down, reaching out his hand to slowly lift the tablecloth.
But Ruan Qiuping panicked and hurriedly pulled the tablecloth tight from inside.
Yu Huan's movement paused, then he let go of his hand.
Seeing that Yu Huan had let go, Ruan Qiuping secretly breathed a sigh of relief and continued to crouch, hugging his knees.
But when he quietly shifted his gaze outside, through the twenty-centimeter gap between the tablecloth and the floor, he saw the jet-black metal prosthetic leg revealed at Yu Huan's trouser cuff as he half-crouched.
Looking at that cold, black metal, Ruan Qiuping felt as if he had fallen into water. His breath caught, and it was as if seaweed had entangled his heart, leaving him unable to move or struggle.
Fortunately, Yu Huan soon stood up again, leaning on his cane. His movements were a bit stiff, but the falling trouser leg once again concealed that metal prosthesis.
Yu Huan remained silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "Ruan Ruan, talk to me, please. Don't ignore me. I've almost forgotten the sound of your voice."
Ruan Qiuping still didn't speak.
Yu Huan lowered his eyes, his voice low and slow: "Ruan Ruan, do you know how many years I've waited for you? Fifteen years. Now that you've appeared, are you still trying to hide and avoid seeing me?"
"Ruan Ruan, you lied to me about so many things, do you know that? You said you were going to buy me candy, but you never came back. You said you'd appear once a year, but you disappeared for fifteen whole years."
"You said you'd bring me good luck... but after you left, I felt unlucky every day."
Ruan Qiuping's whole body trembled.
"Ruan Ruan, will you let me see you?"
"I miss you so much."
Another long silence followed.
The banquet hall was so vast that even the ticking of the clock's hands became clearly audible.
After a long while, the silver tablecloth finally moved slightly.
A hand reached out from underneath, slowly lifting the tablecloth.
Ruan Qiuping looked up at Yu Huan, his face pale and his eyes rimmed with red.
Seeing Ruan Qiuping emerge, Yu Huan finally smiled.
If his previously calm and dignified face had been like flawless thick ice, his smile now carried a warmth that could melt snow and ice, overlapping with the image of that pure, smiling youth from many years ago.
Yu Huan extended his left hand towards Ruan Qiuping: "Ruan Ruan, come out."
But Ruan Qiuping's body shrank back slightly, avoiding Yu Huan's hand, and crawled out from the other side of the table.
Ruan Qiuping retreated a few more steps until his heels touched the wall. Only then did he stop. He glanced at Yu Huan, then lowered his head, looking at his own toes: "Yu Huan, do you think... you're unlucky?"
Yu Huan: "Mm."
"Why?"
Yu Huan's life had been smooth and peaceful, he hadn't encountered any more accidents, his family relationships were good, and his social status was high. Why would he still feel unlucky?
Yu Huan suddenly stepped forward twice.
Finally, he stopped in front of Ruan Qiuping and said softly:
"Ruan Ruan, I've been waiting for you every year, but I never see you. How could you think that someone like me is lucky?"
Ruan Qiuping's eyes widened slightly. His lips trembled, and then he said: "That's because you don't know anything... Do you know who I am? Do you know that you'll have bad luck if you touch me? Do you know that all your misfortunes stem from me? Do you know that your leg—"
"—What if I did know?" Yu Huan suddenly interrupted Ruan Qiuping's words.
He took a step forward, his toes almost touching Ruan Qiuping's.
Too close...
Ruan Qiuping instinctively wanted to move away, but before he could, Yu Huan suddenly reached out his arms, tightly encircling Ruan Qiuping's waist and pulling him forcefully into his embrace.
Yu Huan looked down at him, his black pupils like an endless tunnel. His arms tightened inch by inch, half of his body pressing tightly against Ruan Qiuping, with such force as if he wanted to embed Ruan Qiuping into his body. He said:
"—What if I insist on touching you?"