Hard to Escape

Chapter 19

Once I'd arrived at school, I still wanted to be left to my own peace and quiet. Yet I didn't expect that upon entering the classroom, everyone's eyes would sweep over in my direction. Among them, Su Lin Lin's gaze was the harshest. At first, I didn't know what was going on. Thankfully, it wasn't long before the professor entered. The lesson was French speaking and conversation, so everyone quickly quieted down.

But after the professor had gone over a few key points from the homework last time, he suddenly changed topics. He asked, "Isn't today a particularly happy occasion?" Then he squinted at me. Only then did I discover that everyone had begun to stare at me with varying expressions. Meanwhile, I started to get the feeling that something was off.

"Félicitations pour vos fiançailles!"1 This professor, who loved sentimental things, congratulated me in French while looking at me with a somewhat envious expression.

1 Congratulations on your engagement

At this, my classmates all raised a clamor as well, repeating the same phrase in French and clapping excitedly.

Faced with this kind of situation, I was struck with a feeling of confusion as if I didn't know what night this night was.2 But my blank expression probably ticked off Su Lin Lin. In between classes, she came over and said to me in a biting, sarcastic tone, "In the future, should I address you as Madame Yin? The dogs that actually bite don't bark. I really didn't see you as the sort of person to not only latch onto Yin Li, but also move so quickly to have him agree to put engagement notices in the papers."

2不知今夕何夕 or 今夕何夕 ("Don't know what night this night is" or "what night is this night?") comes from a Song dynasty poem. Sometimes it's used to express frustration/confusion (like "What year is this?") or a feeling of regret ("How time flies!").

"Engagement notices?"

"What are you still playing dumb for? It's on the headlines of pretty much all the papers today. Even if I don't want to see it I can't avoid it." Saying this, Su Lin Lin reached into her bag and pulled out a newspaper, slapping it down on before me. "Just look at it yourself, the fact that Yin Li is willing to take this step really makes people's eyes fall out in shock."

Su Lin Lin's movements were very dramatic. The newspaper fell open before my eyes, revealing a corner of the headline story. Above a row of large red letters was a photo of Yin Li hugging me to him, taken just as we were smiling happily at each other. Yin Li carried my school bag and we walked hand-in-hand. The whole scene looked very intimate.

I unfolded the newspaper to see a vivid and lively tale.

"Crown prince" Yin Li's Engagement, fiancée Yan Xiao's smiling face.3 Insider reveals that the two have already been living together for a while. Expected to marry soon, suspecting a shotgun wedding after pregnancy.

3 There's actually a play on words here with Yan Xiao's name, 颜 (Yan) meaning "face", 笑 (Xiao) meaning "smile". It was written as 颜笑笑颜 (Yan Xiao xiao yan) meaning something like "Yan Xiao's smiling face".

And then, next to this description was placed a couple of photos. There was one of Chen Qing Yan and one of Yan Ge, and their photos were all edited to be black-and-white. Not only that, there was also a torn effect like they'd been ripped. Only the photo of Yin Li and I was in color, and with this in addition to the article, it gave off the feeling that I was completely flushed with success.

At this moment Wu Mei also came over, her entire face brimming with curiosity. "Turns out the person you brought to eat hotpot was filthy rich. Oh that's right, Yan Xiao, before classes today a crowd of reporters came to ask us for interviews.