Chapter 173: Graduation Ceremony
“Have you had breakfast? Want to go together?” Shang Lingyu adjusted the tassel of her graduation cap and asked Lian Li.
“No need, I ate on the way here,” Lian Li lowered her head and fiddled with her mobile phone.
“Then I’ll head to the canteen first,” Shang Lingyu picked up her campus card, keys, and mobile phone from the desk. “Bye-bye.”
Lian Li: “Bye-bye.”
She touched her waist with her palm, unable to resist rubbing it. It was all Jin Shi Yue’s fault for stuffing a pillow under her waist, making her back ache.
Thinking of this, her mobile phone suddenly displayed an incoming call, and it was indeed the culprit.
Lian Li swiped to answer, holding the mobile phone to her ear, her voice carrying an obvious sleepiness: “Hello.”
“Not awake yet?” Jin Shi Yue’s voice was casual, with a hint of a smile, as if he was in a good mood.
She had slept for less than four hours, so feeling sleepy was normal.
Lian Li yawned again, her voice slightly slurred: “I’m awake.”
Faint sounds of wind and the whirring of propellers could be heard from the receiver, a jumble of noise. She asked, “Where are you now?”
“The base.”
Outside the military industry base, on the training ground, a group of pilots in green aviation uniforms were conducting aerial exercises.
Jin Shi Yue stood tall and slender, his posture naturally relaxed. On his high-bridged nose were sunglasses given by his girlfriend. The wind ruffled his bangs, and the corners of his lips curved slightly: “Helicopter flight training.”
Lian Li, drowsy, slumped onto the desk, closing her eyes. Her mobile phone was by her ear. “Oh,” she said, “Aren’t you tired?”
“Are you worried about me?” Jin Shi Yue’s tone was nonchalant.
There was quite a difference between caring and worrying. Caring was ordinary concern, while worrying was psychological anxiety, indicating a deeper level of concern.
Lian Li neither admitted nor denied it. Listening to the sounds from the other end of the phone, she said, “You shouldn’t be tired.”
Full of energy, how could he be tired?
“It doesn’t start until nine o’clock, get some more sleep,” Jin Shi Yue looked up, glancing into the distance as a helicopter slowly landed. Young faces emerged from the cockpit; these newcomers were about Lian Li’s age, representing the future and hope.
“No, I have to go prepare early,” Lian Li lay on the desk, her cheek pressed against her arm. “It’s almost time, I’ll hang up now.”
The wind at the base wasn’t strong today. Jin Shi Yue was extremely tall. He hadn’t changed into his air force uniform and was still wearing the black shirt and trousers from when he left, outlining his superior physique with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He casually swiped his mobile phone.
Tan Zongliang of the Air Force Aviation walked over, hands behind his back, gazing at the helicopters performing solo flights in the sky.
“After spending so long in the war zone, returning to the training ground, does it feel like only yesterday?”
Jin Shi Yue glanced at the stripes on Tan Zongliang’s shoulders, his expression unchanged, and said calmly, “You weren’t this sentimental in the past.”
Tan Zongliang, mature and steady, couldn’t help but laugh heartily: “As I get older, I’m not like I used to be.”
Tan Zongliang glanced sideways at Jin Shi Yue, who remained as spirited as ever after ten years, and couldn’t help but recall the young man from back then, who, at such a young age, had defeated many experienced pilots in a fighter jet.
Regardless of background, based on merit alone, he was a renowned figure in the military region.
A bright future and boundless career prospects.
Yet, in the end, he left the service and went into business.
Tan Zongliang: “Want to fly one?”
The helicopters in the sky were like birds soaring freely.
Jin Shi Yue’s tone was serious: “My girlfriend is very strict and won’t let me fly, for fear I’ll die and she’ll become a widow.”
“You rascal,” Tan Zongliang, despite his age, was amused by him. “I never realized you were henpecked.”
“Can’t help it, my girlfriend loves me too much,” Jin Shi Yue said with complete composure.
Tan Zongliang, having lived for most of his life, was being fed dog food in person for the first time.
However, more than shock, he was puzzled: which good family’s daughter had managed to tame this untamed noble young master so completely?
At this moment, the good family’s daughter washed her face, went downstairs with lingering fatigue, and got a shared bicycle to go buy coffee.
At times like these, Lian Li would sigh: as expected of one of the new Four Great Inventions, the shared bicycle, it was truly convenient.
After drinking her coffee, she felt refreshed and headed to the venue for the graduation ceremony.
Graduates in academic dress and graduation caps were everywhere on campus, some holding hands and discussing the future, others taking photos under iconic buildings.
Time flew by; the opening ceremony seemed like yesterday, and today they were about to graduate.
Due to venue capacity limitations, not everyone could attend the school’s graduation ceremony in person, so the school adopted an online live broadcast format.
The preceding proceedings had nothing to do with Lian Li. She sat in a chair backstage, resting her chin on her hand, quietly waiting. Others occasionally chatted with her, and she would politely respond.
Neither overly enthusiastic nor cold, her etiquette was standard and did not cause offense.
Jin Shi Yue was at the base for training, quite far from the school, so he probably wouldn’t be able to make it.
Lian Li lowered her eyelashes and idly swiped through her mobile phone.
“Lian Li, get ready to go on stage,” someone called her.
Lian Li responded, put her mobile phone in her bag, stood up, and tidied her appearance.
Xue Shufan finished her experiment and was taking photos with her camera. She timed it, estimating when her junior sister would go on stage, and after greeting the volunteers, slipped into the venue.
On stage, Lian Li, dressed in academic attire, was composed. After the host introduced her, she calmly walked forward.
Many cameras in the audience were filming her. Xue Shufan also raised her camera, focusing on her junior sister on stage.
Her junior sister had excellent features and was extremely beautiful; she looked good in any photo.
If she sold these photos to the Second Young Master Jin, would she earn enough for a large batch of experimental equipment?
I’m sorry, junior sister.
You could also sell photos of your senior sister, if anyone were willing to buy them.
Lian Li was unaware of her dear senior sister’s thoughts at that moment. On stage, she delivered her speech with high spirits, her heart remaining calm and undisturbed.
Before leaving the stage, her gaze swept downwards and paused.
The front row consisted of school leaders in suits. Jin Yan Ting sat next to the principal, wearing a dark gray custom suit with a neatly tied Windsor knot tie, exuding an air of noble gentleness.
He was in the audience, his gaze fixed on her. His eyes were unclear, but noticing her gaze, he slightly lowered his eyelids and raised the corner of his lips.
The young girl, wearing academic dress, had a strand of hair falling by her cheek, revealing a fair and slender neck. She handled the situation with ease throughout, shining exceptionally brightly.
The same stage and audience, the same eye contact, but a different man.
Lian Li realized that her mood was completely different.
When her eyes met Jin Shi Yue’s on stage in Shanghai, her heart had stirred, like a typhoon passing through with torrential rain.
And she, at the center of the typhoon, was completely unaware.
Lian Li thought, she perhaps didn’t love herself enough yet.
She hadn’t even realized her own emotions.
Around one in the afternoon, Lian Li came out of the auditorium and messaged Xue Shufan to ask if she had eaten.
After finishing her message, she looked up and saw a tall figure not far away, causing her to stop.
