Chapter 27

Graduation Photo and Yearbook

She was Gong Mo’s mother. Did he really like Gong Mo that much? Did he like her so much that he wouldn’t allow even her own mother to bully her? Mama Gong felt a complex mix of emotions. If Sheng Nanxuan really liked Gong Mo that much, she would feel relieved, but his intense feelings for Gong Mo made it seem like her own daughter was being snatched away from her…

Mama Gong calmed down, walked back to her seat, sat down. She asked. “Does your family agree to your marriage to Momo? Aren’t you bothered that she dated your brother before? Are your parents not angry with you?”

“I’ve already been kicked out of the Sheng Familly, so they can’t be bothered with me or control what I do. As for Momo dating my brother…” Sheng Nanxuan cast a look at Gong Mo. “I’m a little bothered by it, but I’m not angry at her. I’m only angry at myself. Why didn’t I confess to Momo earlier even though I’ve known her for so many years? If I had, she wouldn’t have dated my brother.”

Gong Mo looked down, feeling uncomfortable. Why did his words sound so real? She remembered Sheng Donglin’s words and recalled the handkerchief. Could they really have been… high school classmates? At night, Gong Mo took out a sealed box containing things from her past from the top of her closet. She opened the box and rummaged through her high school graduation yearbook and photo.

If Sheng Nanxuan was really her high school classmate, he should have left a few words in her yearbook, right? Even if they weren’t close and he didn’t write anything, there should at least be a picture of him in the yearbook! Gong Mo took out the photo and found a splotch of ink on one of its corners, covering the faces of two or three people. One of their faces was completely covered but the other two faces were only partially covered.

She rubbed the stain but it wouldn’t come off. She could only give up and inspect every single face. Memories of studying rose in her mind as she looked at the faces of each student. She recalled the laughter and fun and the times when they had studied hard for the university entrance exams and could not help but feel nostalgic. She even spotted her high school best friend.

She still remembered that they promised to keep in contact after graduation, but she became uncontactable after they entered university. Gong Mo touched the face of the girl and sighed. Was this the way of life? No matter how close people once were, people change even if things remain the same. Everyone has their own lives to lead and they end up losing contact with everyone else in the end. Sheng Nanxuan did not appear to be in the photo.

Gong Mo’s finger slid to the splotch of ink. Could his face be here? She could not remember who else was there. She still could not see the face behind the stain even after raising the photo to the light. Flipping the photo around, she discovered that the ink had soaked through to the back as well.

She sighed. It seemed like she wouldn’t find any clues from the graduation photo. She could only continue her investigation in her yearbook. She started her search from the very first page but did not find Sheng Nanxuan’s name. It was only when she reached the last few pages that she realized that some pages had been torn out.

Gong Mo was surprised. Upon closer inspection, she saw that a good number of pages had been torn out! Fragmented images suddenly flashed into her mind. A bottle of blue ink fell onto an open yearbook. “She” was shocked and held up the yearbook. Luckily, the pages were blank ones. “She” then tore the few pages that had been soaked by the ink…

The next day, she saw that the torn pages were in the wastebasket. She reached out to tidy the yearbook on her table, but found that the graduation photo was underneath and had also been soaked by the ink. Gong Mo shook her head and pressed her fingers against her temples. Why did those scenes seem more like a dream than reality?