Mo Yan arrived at the parking lot.
Shen Jinghong followed him. He didn't know what had happened to his teacher, but this was the first time he had seen Mo Yan's anxious expression.
He directly opened the driver's door, got in, and started the car.
"Teacher, where are we going?" After fastening his seatbelt, he looked at Mo Yan.
"The airport!" Mo Yan said solemnly.
After speaking, he took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.
About five seconds later, he locked onto a contact and tapped to dial. After two rings, it was connected.
"Lao Zhang, what do you need me for at this hour?"
"Lao Zhang, give me Zhao Yan's contact information!"
Mo Yan's voice was filled with undeniable authority.
After the class reunion, Mo Yan had deleted Zhao Yan's contact information and left the group chat. They hadn't been in touch for years.
Lao Zhang, whose name was Zhang Shenghui, was the class monitor of Mo Yan's year and the only person Mo Yan could contact.
Although Zhang Shenghui's grades were not as good as Mo Yan's, he was still a top student in the class. He majored in civil engineering and benefited from the era's economic boom, becoming a very famous real estate entrepreneur in the country.
When Mo Yan left the class group, he cut ties with everyone. He had reconnected with Zhang Shenghui by chance during an event and added his contact information.
"Mo, why are you suddenly contacting Zhao Yan?" Zhang Shenghui was a little taken aback by Mo Yan's sudden call.
Although they had each other's contact information, they rarely chatted.
"I'm on my way to the airport now. Where is Zhao Yan?" Mo Yan was not in the mood for small talk. He then felt his tone was too abrupt and added, "Give me her contact information and address. Consider it a favor."
After speaking, he held his breath and waited.
Zhang Shenghui chuckled upon hearing this, "Then I'm making a profit! I'll send you the address and contact information right away, but please don't tell Zhao Yan it was me who gave it to you."
"Okay," Mo Yan nodded and hung up the phone.
A moment later, he received a message from Zhang Shenghui via WeChat.
Yun City, Charity Association.
Besides the address and contact information, Zhao Yan's profile was also included.
It turned out that Zhao Yan had returned to China to do charity work.
She was now the Vice President of the China Charity Association.
Mo Yan was not too surprised by this, as he had always considered Zhao Yan to be very kind.
Devoting herself to public welfare and charity was indeed something Zhao Yan would do.
"Help me book the earliest flight to Yun City!" Mo Yan called his assistant. Then he glanced at Shen Jinghong, who was driving, "Two tickets."
He had left in a hurry, leaving his assistant at the program set.
Shen Jinghong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his teacher wanted him to accompany him.
He had overheard Mo Yan's conversation, but he didn't know who this Zhao Yan was.
However, he knew that this person must be very important to Mo Yan.
He even had a bold guess: was this woman his teacher's ex-girlfriend?
...
Yun City.
Vice President's Office, Charity Association.
Zhao Yan was organizing the charity reports for the quarter.
"Who is this anonymous donor? They've already donated nearly two billion. With such a large amount of charity funds, why don't they leave their name?" Zhao Yan looked at the reports on the computer screen.
The Charity Association she belonged to was the national headquarters. Because Yun City had many mountainous areas, the demand for charity projects was also very high, so unlike other associations, they did not establish their headquarters in Kyoto.
For over a year, the Charity Association had been receiving anonymous donations from the same person.
There were donations every month, ranging from hundreds of millions at the high end to tens of millions at the low end.
Generally speaking, although it was difficult to investigate the identity of anonymous donors within the association, there were still ways to find out.
However, there was a rule within the association that no one could inquire about the identity of anonymous donors, regardless of who they were. After all, if the donor's identity was casually revealed, it would undoubtedly affect future anonymous donations. As long as the bank did not flag any issues with the donated money, the association would not investigate.
Therefore, even though Zhao Yan was the Vice President of the Charity Association, she still did not know the donor's identity. It wasn't just her; even the president hadn't investigated because it was a rule.
However, they were all filled with gratitude for this person. After all, with the Charity Association's operations, these funds had already built more than twenty Project Hope primary schools, and dozens more school projects were in preparation. Because the donor's identity was unknown, the Charity Association named these schools built with the funds "Nameless Project Hope Primary Schools."
The activities to help the poor with the funds were also called the "Nameless Action."
After finishing the reports, it was already eleven o'clock at night.
Zhao Yan took off her glasses, rubbed her temples, and leaned back on the sofa.
She had a habit of not looking at her phone while working, so she kept her phone in the drawer.
Now that her work was done, she opened the drawer and took out her phone. There were more than a dozen missed calls, but they were not marked.
"Are the nuisance calls so dedicated now?" she joked with a smile, then packed her things and walked out of the office.
On the way, she opened Weibo.
She habitually checked for news related to Mo Yan.
#Teacher Mo Yan leaves program early due to poor health!#
#Listen to Yu's song "Those Years," perfectly interpreting youth!#
#Did you miss out on love in "Those Years?"#
#Listen to Yu's new song tops love song chart, Mo Yan surprisingly falls to fourth place!#
"Poor health?" A flicker of worry crossed Zhao Yan's brow.
Then she saw many people tagging her, saying that her story shared on Weibo had been selected and turned into a song by Listen to Yu.
"Those Years..." Zhao Yan saw the song at the top of the love song chart and curiously clicked on it.
As it was nighttime, there was no one left in the association, so she used her phone's external speaker as she took the elevator and walked towards the main entrance.
"The heavy rain I missed in those years..."
Sometimes, a single lyric in a song could evoke endless memories.
"Once I wanted to conquer the world,
But in the end, looking back, I realized,
Every bit of this world was you..."
Zhao Yan stood quietly at the entrance of the association, a complex and self-mocking smile flashing in her eyes.
Mo Yan had achieved his dream, but his world no longer contained her.
Thinking of this, she sighed and continued to walk towards the main entrance.
The sky in late May was very clear.
Because the association's headquarters were not in the city center but in the suburbs outside the city, there was no light pollution, and one could see a sky full of stars by looking up.
As she looked ahead, she saw two figures.
Upon recognizing their faces, Zhao Yan froze on the spot as if struck by lightning!
"Zhao Yan, are you married?"
Mo Yan's sudden question left Zhao Yan unsure how to answer.
Who asks such a question right after meeting someone?
She pursed her lips and finally shook her head gently, "No."
Seeing Mo Yan again did not bring the anticipated pain, nor the unfamiliarity of not seeing each other for decades, because this man had lived in her heart every day.
"Not married..." Hearing her answer, Mo Yan's breathing quickened. His mind was in a mess, and he didn't know what to do.
Shen Jinghong was stunned. His teacher was too bold, asking someone if they were married so directly!
*Slap!*
As he was thinking, he felt a slap on his head.
"What are you standing around for? Call her Teacher-Mother!"
Mo Yan said impatiently.
"Ah? Oh!" Shen Jinghong snapped out of his daze, rubbed his head, and grinned at Zhao Yan, "Teacher-Mother!"
Zhao Yan still hadn't figured out the situation.
However, hearing Mo Yan ask Shen Jinghong to call her Teacher-Mother, she gradually understood.
This child was indeed just Mo Yan's apprentice, and they were not father and son.
At this moment,
Mo Yan had already come before her.
He looked at Zhao Yan, his lips trembling with a smile, and said, "Classmate Zhao Yan, I've come for the class reunion."
Hearing his words, Zhao Yan's heart ached sharply. She tried to furrow her brow, blinking rapidly to hold back tears.
Memories surged like a tide.
She didn't know how to respond.
She had silently followed Mo Yan for so many years, believing that Mo Yan was already married and that Shen Jinghong was his son.
But Mo Yan's current behavior didn't seem like it.
She had too many doubts.
She didn't know where to start asking.
Moreover, he was only coming to the class reunion from decades ago now.
It was too late!
"You still know how to show up!"
Finally, she let out a soft hum of extreme grievance, and a line of clear tears trickled down from the corners of her eyes.
This complaint was laden with far too many emotions...