The restaurant's primary business during the period around the Spring Festival came from wedding banquets and gatherings.
The class monitor, Mu Nan, had booked a table in advance. After the three of them entered the restaurant, a waiter led them to a banquet hall on the second floor.
"Those four dining tables over there are yours."
The waiter pointed to several tables on the right.
The three of them looked and saw that a few people had already arrived and were waving at them from their seats.
"Alright, thank you for your trouble," Qin Tian nodded in thanks.
The female waiter smiled and turned away.
Qin Tian and the other two walked towards their classmates, exchanging pleasantries and greetings.
Xia Nuannuan was pulled aside by two girls to whisper secrets with them, while Qin Tian sat with several boys from the class, chatting and laughing.
Many people had changed significantly after entering university.
The most obvious changes were that girls learned to dress up, and boys learned to smoke.
One of the boys took out a cigarette and a lighter and offered one to Qin Tian.
"Thank you, but no thank you, I don't smoke." Qin Tian politely declined with a smile.
The boy didn't insist and turned to offer cigarettes to the other two smokers.
"Brother Xu, give me one too!" Qian Sheng said with a laugh.
The boy was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Qian Sheng, you smoke now too?"
"If you guys can smoke, why can't I?" Qian Sheng shrugged.
"Do you know that high school students are prohibited from smoking? If Mr. Li the King of Hell comes, will we tell on you?" another boy said, exhaling a puff of smoke and jokingly threatening him.
"Then go ahead and tell. Please, I'm not his subordinate anymore." Qian Sheng displayed an indifferent expression.
"Qian Sheng, you've gotten so bold in just half a year, you're not even afraid of Mr. Li the King of Hell anymore? I don't even dare to smoke in front of him now." Brother Xu handed him a cigarette and said with a smile.
"Cough cough... We're all buddies, don't tell on me." Qian Sheng took the cigarette and chuckled sheepishly.
"Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.
"You guys don't know, the pressure of repeating the year is immense. Quite a few boys in our class smoke. We often sneak off to the toilet after class for a cigarette to relax." Qian Sheng skillfully lit a cigarette, pretended to look melancholic, and slowly exhaled the smoke.
The boys exchanged glances.
"Doesn't anyone supervise you?"
"It's not like we're at High School No. 4. If teachers see us, as long as it's not their own students, they won't intervene. Even if it's their own students, they're too lazy to bother."
"Hearing you say that, the environment at your cram school doesn't seem great. Can you really achieve better results next year?" someone expressed concern on his behalf.
"There are definitely people who goof off, but there are also people who study very seriously, like me." Qian Sheng pointed to himself and grinned, "I've been doing pretty well these past six months. Regardless, I have to get into a university next year, otherwise, I won't have the face to come to future class reunions."
Hearing this, everyone thought he had become more mature and steady, and they were happy for him in their hearts.
"Brother Tian, how are you and Xia Nuannuan doing at university? Still showing off your affection and showering us with PDA?" someone shifted the topic to Qin Tian.
"No, don't spout nonsense." Qin Tian denied it with a straight face, his heart not skipping a beat.
"Not yet? Someone shared Xia Nuannuan's birthday post from her social media in the group chat, and we all saw it!" Qian Sheng exposed him with a smile.
"Exactly, eighteen birthday gifts! Brother Tian, you're amazing!"
"Giving gifts on birthdays is normal, how is that showing off affection."
"Yuck..." The boys let out a collective hiss of disgust.
At the same time, Xia Nuannuan, at another dining table, also blushed with shyness under the teasing of some girls from the class.
Amidst the chatting and laughing, more and more classmates arrived.
Cui Ying and Qiu Man also arrived together. When they saw Xia Nuannuan looking at them, they both averted their gaze uncomfortably.
"Nuannuan, you guys are here so early!" Cui Ying greeted her with a smile as she approached.
Xia Nuannuan nodded in response, wanting to say something but hesitating.
Cui Ying smiled, pulled Qiu Man along, and sat down at another table.
Amidst the confused glances of some other girls in the class, Xia Nuannuan got up and walked over to sit with them.
"Cui Ying, Qiu Man, why didn't you come yesterday?" she asked in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, embarrassment appeared on both their faces.
They had indeed seen the messages in the group chat, and it wasn't that they didn't want to go, but they felt too embarrassed to.
Before the college entrance examination, they had shaken hands and made peace with Xia Nuannuan, becoming friends and even attending study sessions together.
However, during their interactions, perhaps due to the guilt of having bullied Xia Nuannuan before, or for other reasons, the two of them always felt a sense of not being able to fully integrate into that small circle.
After entering university, their contact with Xia Nuannuan, their only friend, gradually dwindled, making this feeling even more pronounced. They felt completely estranged from that circle. Strangely, they didn't feel much regret; instead, they experienced a sense of relief and liberation.
"Xia Nuannuan, I'm sorry!" Cui Ying didn't know what to say, only lowering her head and apologizing.
Xia Nuannuan was taken aback and frowned. "Why are you saying sorry? Did something happen? Did Xu Ying do something again?" She thought of Xu Ying's attempt to retaliate against them a few months ago.
"No, no, we haven't been in contact with Xu Ying for a long time." Cui Ying quickly waved her hands.
"Then..." Xia Nuannuan's expression became even more confused.
"Xia Nuannuan, please don't ask anymore." Qiu Man lowered her eyelids and also spoke.
Xia Nuannuan looked at the two of them, her face showing clear disappointment. Although she still had doubts in her heart, she had already realized that they might only be ordinary friends from now on.
"Okay, I won't ask. You guys... I'll always consider you good friends." Xia Nuannuan left this sentence and got up to walk towards Qin Tian.
Cui Ying and Qiu Man looked up at her, then exchanged glances, seeing the complex emotions in each other's eyes.
Their interactions with Xu Ying and with Xia Nuannuan, in their experience, shared a commonality: they felt a lot of pressure.
This pressure was different for each. With Xu Ying, it was pressure laced with appeasement and awe. With Xia Nuannuan, it stemmed from the vast disparity in various aspects. Even though Xia Nuannuan genuinely considered them equal friends, her increasing excellence, her kindness, her family background, her looks, and even Qin Tian all contributed to the pressure they felt.
Compared to forcibly fitting into that circle, they now preferred to maintain a distance and remain ordinary friends and classmates.
They were deeply touched and grateful for Xia Nuannuan's parting words. However, it was precisely because of Xia Nuannuan's sincerity and goodwill that their guilt intensified, making them feel that their decision was correct. Xia Nuannuan was too perfect; they were not from the same world to begin with.