Chapter 30 – Ex-Lover

Bian Ji noticed that the man named Lin Yu did not introduce himself with a suffix. He glanced at Yan Ankuo, didn’t ask further, and smiled as he went forward to greet the two teachers.

After Yan Ankuo introduced Wen Hongyu, he pointed to the person beside him, “This is Bian Ji, my friend.”

The “friend” himself extended his hand with a smile, instinctively maintaining some social etiquette. Lin Yu sized him up, hesitating for a moment before shaking his hand as well.

“Pleased to meet you!” Bian Ji finished his politeness with a joke to liven up the atmosphere, “I’ve seen more lawyers in the past two days than I have in the first thirty years of my life!”

Wen Hongyu was surprised, “What do you mean? Did you switch careers to legal affairs?”

“No, no, no, I have nothing to do with legal affairs.” Bian Ji waved his hands, “I work for an airline.”

“An airline chief steward.” Yan Ankuo helped supplement.

Wen Hongyu nodded repeatedly, “Impressive! You must have been to many places, right?”

Bian Ji shrugged with a smile, “Yes, I travel a lot, but it’s all job-related.”

As Bian Ji spoke, Lin Yu remained silent, looking at him intently.

The four stood on the roadside exchanging pleasantries; their tall figures indeed drew attention. Seeing the students’ gazes, Wen Hongyu sought the guests’ opinions, “Ankuo, are you and your friend in a hurry? Why don’t we wait until we finish delivering the papers, then go eat something together before leaving?”

Yan Ankuo unusually didn’t seek permission and declined the proposal on Bian Ji’s behalf, “No, you guys go ahead. We need to go somewhere else.”

“Alright, let’s make a plan for this month, then? It’s been a while since we last gathered.” Wen Hongyu reached out to shake Yan Ankuo’s hand, who didn’t give a definite answer, merely saying “We’ll see.” Wen Hongyu turned back to Lin Yu, puzzled, “Teacher Lin, why aren’t you speaking?”

“The wind is strong, my throat isn’t feeling great.” Lin Yu coughed lightly, avoiding Yan Ankuo, and directly shook hands with Bian Ji, “If Mr. Bian is busy, we won’t hold you back. Next time you come to the school, please let us know in advance. Although the school cafeteria isn’t great, there are still many delicious options and fun things nearby.”

Bian Ji noticed that Lin Yu had a gentle appearance, yet his eyebrows were sharp, giving off a sense of hidden strength. His courtroom style was similar — often soft-spoken but deadly accurate.

Bian Ji nodded, “Sure! Then, I’ll thank you in advance for the hospitality.”

After they exchanged pleasantries, when the two walked away, Wen Hongyu kept muttering to Lin Yu, “I wonder what day it is today, Ankuo actually came back to school. How many years has it been since we last saw him?”

Lin Yu replied nonchalantly, “The sixteenth of the first lunar month.”

“…?”

“You asked what day it is today.”

“Duh, I know that!”

“He often comes to the school, it’s just…” Lin Yu said indifferently, “He doesn’t often see us.”

“What do you mean? I didn’t offend him, why is he avoiding me? And why didn’t you tell me he was coming?” Wen Hongyu was dissatisfied, “I find it strange that you didn’t even speak to him today! Weren’t you good friends before?”

Their voices faded into the distance, and Bian Ji couldn’t hear what Lin Yu answered after that. He looked back at the direction the two teachers had gone, lost in thought, suddenly pulled back to reality by a snap of fingers.

Yan Ankuo asked, “What are you looking at?”

Bian Ji scratched his head, “Ah…nothing, nothing. Let’s go!”

Yan Ankuo’s car was still parked outside the campus, so they could only walk back to fetch it.

Neither spoke on the way, each stepping on the thick layer of fallen leaves underfoot, the crunching sounds creating an odd atmosphere between them.

Not until they sat in the car and Yan Ankuo started the engine did Bian Ji speak, “That teacher Lin earlier, did you have a falling out with him?”

Holding the steering wheel, Yan Ankuo seemed relieved, “I thought you weren’t going to ask today.”

Bian Ji turned his head towards the window, watching the pedestrians passing by on the road, casually saying, “Just gossip, I noticed he seemed to deliberately avoid you, found it strange, nothing more.”

In reality, given their current relationship, Bian Ji had no right or standing to delve into Yan Ankuo’s past. If Yan Ankuo chose to share, it meant he considered Bian Ji a friend and someone he trusted to confide in. Even if he didn’t say a word, Bian Ji wouldn’t feel anything was amiss.

“It was an ex-lover.” Yan Ankuo opened the car window and leaned back in his seat, “I broke up with him over three years ago.”

Bian Ji’s body froze, pausing for roughly two seconds before slowly regaining the ability to turn his head and speak again.

Yan Ankuo’s ex was a man.

This made his sexual orientation clear.

This discovery filled Bian Ji with wild joy, but under the circumstances, showing too much happiness seemed inappropriate, so he mainly expressed surprise, repeating dumbly, “Ex-lover?”

“Yes.” Surprisingly, Yan Ankuo asked, “Do you mind?”

Bian Ji thought to himself, how could I mind, I’d be thrilled if you liked men: “What for? A man in his thirties, it would be abnormal to not have an ex!”

This response was clever. Yan Ankuo had asked if he minded about his sexual orientation, and Bian Ji responded that he didn’t mind him having an ex — this implicitly answered the previous question while also drawing them closer.

Bian Ji felt there should be a long story behind this, so he suggested going to a nearby bar for a drink.

Yan Ankuo drove to Zhongshan Park and managed to find a pub that was open during the day, ordering a brandy and a whiskey.

“I didn’t expect to run into him today, I usually go to another campus.” Yan Ankuo said, “Besides, he recently has a big case, I thought he wouldn’t have time to be at the school.”

Bian Ji keenly picked up on the loophole in his words, “Does Attorney Yan have the habit of keeping tabs on his ex-boyfriend?”

“…It’s because that case has been in the news frequently.” Yan Ankuo, usually decisive and swift, now had a tone that almost sounded apologetic, hastily explaining, “I haven’t been snooping, nor have I spoken to him.”

Meaning, it was purely coincidental that they met today, but he didn’t want Bian Ji to misunderstand.

Bian Ji was amused by his reaction, “Alright, no need to explain yourself to me.”

The two clinked glasses and took a small sip of their drinks.

The daytime bar had very few patrons, even the resident singer wasn’t working, the surroundings quiet, allowing Bian Ji to listen carefully.

“Hey, how did you two meet?” Bian Ji suddenly became extremely interested in that bespectacled teacher Lin, “Were you schoolmates?”

“Yes, we did legal aid internships together.” Yan Ankuo mentioned this, suddenly remembering the building they had just discussed, “It was in that short building you asked about earlier.”

During their senior year, Yan Ankuo and Lin Yu worked on a project for wage-seeking workers. Two inexperienced young men, facing the cutthroat arena of fame and fortune for the first time, they charged ahead recklessly, staying up all night, and finally succeeded in helping the workers reclaim their wages with the help of the lawyer, even securing substantial compensation for them.

Upon completion of the case, the two received a banner of praise, but they also offended several people they shouldn’t have.

Once, Yan Ankuo and Lin Yu went to a village for research, unexpectedly finding themselves followed, suddenly surrounded by a group of men in black clothing, trapped under a remote bridge.

The opposing side was numerous and powerful, armed with weapons, clearly outnumbered, brute force was not an option, they could only think of a way to escape. Yan Ankuo had learned martial arts, Lin Yu was skilled at sprinting. Yan Ankuo immediately decided that he would hold off the attackers while Lin Yu went to call the police.

In that situation, the one left behind was likely to suffer, but there was no better alternative. To ensure Lin Yu’s escape, Yan Ankuo frantically wrestled the iron rod from one of the black-clothed men, knocking down several people, tightly biting onto one man’s arm, engaging in physical combat, enduring countless punches and kicks, allowing Lin Yu to seize the opportunity to break through the encirclement and seek help.

The two narrowly escaped, and Yan Ankuo suffered injuries. Naturally, the two fell in love in the hospital, embarking on a five-year relationship.

During those five years, Yan Ankuo persisted in civil law, entering a red circle internship early; Lin Yu switched to criminal defense, beginning his fight for the rights he believed in.

Due to disagreements on defense viewpoints, they had many conflicts, during the most intense arguments, it even affected their normal living arrangements.

Seeing that the two were growing increasingly exhausted from trying to accommodate each other, Yan Ankuo planned to introduce him to Cheng Xi and Yan Fanxuan, naively believing that the act of forming a family could somehow mend the already shattered mirror.

However, Lin Yu always felt that people like them were destined to never live in the light of day, they wouldn’t even have the right to a legal marriage, let alone gain family approval. Therefore, even during the peak of their love, he hadn’t considered coming out, let alone during the period when their relationship was on the brink of collapse.

Thus, their arguments gained another focus, leading to even more hurtful words. At times, Lin Yu would mention that Yan Ankuo’s possessiveness made him suffocate, the latter held onto old family grievances, neither admitting fault, which usually resulted in a cold war.

Initially planning to resume communication after cooling off, but a month later, Yan Ankuo received Lin Yu’s breakup message. The message said that they were fundamentally different people, unable to reconcile or love each other. Their initial relationship might have stemmed from the bridge effect after their shared perilous experience, plus a little gratitude — once the danger passed, everything became irreversible.

Five years, not a short duration, brushed aside with a light “bridge” and “gratitude,” anyone would find it hard to accept. Yan Ankuo drowned his sorrows in alcohol, sinking into depression for three working days, summoning the only senior sister who knew about their relationship, listening to her accusations against Lin Yu’s “perhaps not wanting to come out or take responsibility,” powerless to refute, yet unwilling to resign himself to fate.

Later, he heard that Lin Yu took on a high-profile case in Shanghai, securing a five-year reduction in sentence for the defendant, thus gaining fame in the criminal defense circle.

Strangely enough, with only around 3,500 courts in the country and at least 600,000 practicing lawyers, Yan Ankuo and Lin Yu never crossed paths, as if tacitly avoiding something.

Until they met just now in the campus, Yan Ankuo realized that time could dilute many emotions, and today could be just another ordinary day.