My cousin asked me to go to Wuha, and Hanikezi stuck to me.

After Xiao Fang left, the office remained quiet for a long time.

Chen Yi peeled the sticky note that read "Do not work at all for at least one month every year" off the desktop and stuck it on the bezel of the monitor.

The edges were slightly curled up, indicating insufficient adhesiveness. He pressed it down twice before it was firmly attached.

On the second Saturday of May, Chen Chichi sent a message to his old friends' group.

"It's been 10 years since Wuha started broadcasting. Let's have a meal together. Everyone has to come."

Two minutes after the message was sent, Deng Chao replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

Lu Han replied, "Received."

Old Wang didn't show up for another hour, typing eight words: "We'll see when the time comes, we'll try our best."

Chen Yi stared at the conversation on the screen, his thumb hovering over the keyboard for a moment.

He typed two words and sent them.

"It's settled."

The gathering was held at an old Cantonese restaurant on the East Third Ring Road.

This place has changed its signboard twice in the past ten years, but the chef has remained the same, and the taste is still the same as it was back then.

The private room was booked on the second floor by the window, and when you opened the window you could see the ginkgo trees across the street.

When Chen Yi pushed open the door and entered the room, Chen Chichi was sitting in his seat fiddling with his phone.

A pot of Tieguanyin tea sits on the table, steam rising from the spout.

"You're here early enough."

Chen Yi pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I was afraid you'd all be late, so I came to reserve seats first."

Chen Chichi poured a cup of tea and pushed it over.

"It's been a full ten years. Do you still remember what you looked like on your first day recording the show?"

"I don't remember everything."

"Let me teach you."

Chen Chichi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and squinted his eyes.

"You were standing at the entrance of the shed, hands in your pockets, looking like you owed someone eight million. I went up and patted you on the shoulder, and you almost jumped up."

"It's not that exaggerated."

"It was even more exaggerated than I described. The production team was talking amongst themselves that day, saying that the young man looked so unhappy, and wondered if he had been kidnapped."

"I wasn't kidnapped, I was tricked into coming here."

"Deceiving others is also a skill."

Chen Chichi raised his index finger, his tone unusually serious.

"Without my phone call, you'd still be coding at some big tech company right now."

"Even at any big company, the year-end bonus is more than yours."

Chen Chichi was momentarily speechless. Just as he was about to retort, the door to the private room opened, and Deng Chao and Lu Han walked in one after the other.

Deng Chao's hair was cut much shorter, but he still looked energetic.

He looked around as he entered, his gaze finally settling on the menu.

Have you ordered yet?

"We're waiting for you."

Lu Han sat down next to Chen Yi, took out her phone from her pocket, swiped it a few times, found an old photo, and handed it to the center of the table.

"This is the first group photo we took ten years ago, which we dug out."

The group photo was passed around among the group members.

The people in the photo are wearing matching sponsored sportswear and standing very straight.

Chen Chichi was smiling the most, Deng Chao was gesturing, and Lu Han stood on the far right with her head slightly tilted to the side.

Chen Yi stood in the back row on the left, with his arms at his sides, looking as stiff as if he were going to a graduation ceremony.

Chen Chichi zoomed in on the photo, pointed at Chen Yi's face, and started yelling.

"See? I wasn't lying. That expression could scare away three rows of viewers."

Deng Chao leaned forward and examined it carefully for a moment.

"Not only was his expression stiff, but his hands were pressed tightly against the seams of his pants, just like someone standing at attention on guard duty."

Lu Han whispered a reply from the side.

"Actually, you relaxed after recording the first segment that day."

Chen Yi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and didn't rush to reply.

"I remember in the first scene, you were my partner running errands to buy groceries. You didn't say much the whole time, but you also helped me block the camera twice."

Lu Han smiled.

"I noticed that you had a different vibe from the others in the group, so I paid more attention to you."

Old Wang arrived just in time for lunch, and a gust of cool wind swept in as he pushed open the door.

He wasn't wearing a suit, but a dark casual jacket, looking much more relaxed than when he was the chief director.

"I was stuck in traffic for forty minutes and almost took the wrong overpass."

He pulled out a chair, sat down, glanced at the old photos on the table, and picked them up casually.

"I also have a copy of this photo on my computer. I used it as a backup image for promotional purposes back then. But we didn't use it because we thought your expression was too wooden."

He looked up at Chen Yi.

"Which one did you change to?"

"It was the reshot taken after the third recording. Hanikezi was standing next to you, with a body length between you. I was watching the screen in the monitoring room at the time, and I could tell that the distance was significant."

Chen Chichi slammed his hand on the table.

"I have to reveal this. Old Wang was editing CP (couple) footage until the wee hours of the morning. He dug out all the scenes of them together and created a separate folder. What was it called again?"

Old Wang covered his face with a teacup.

"It's called 'Natural Traffic Material Library,' a proper work category."

Deng Chao burst out laughing on the spot.

"You really know how to generate organic traffic. All that footage later became memorable moments for viewers to enjoy, all thanks to your efforts."

Old Wang put down his teacup and became serious.

"To be honest, during the peak of the popularity of '5H,' the two of you were the main source of traffic. After the show ended, no other CP (couple) has ever generated that kind of buzz."

Lu Han picked up a piece of cold dish with her chopsticks.

"The kind of hype that can't be generated is mostly scripted. But the two of you were genuine from beginning to end."

The private room was quiet for a moment.

Chen Chichi broke the silence by picking up his teacup.

"Alright, stop reminiscing about the bitter past and hurry up and order. My stomach is growling."

The hot dishes were served one after another, and the five people sat around the table eating and chatting.

The conversation drifted from old stories to the current situation.

Old Wang is semi-retired and at home organizing his memoirs, planning to write a book about the behind-the-scenes stories of Wuha back then.

Deng Chao has recently been setting up his own variety show label and has recruited several young directors from outside.

Lu Han took on an art film, playing a down-on-his-luck pianist.

Chen Chichi continues to travel around for gigs and occasionally makes cameo appearances in movies starring acquaintances.

"You tell me."

Chen Chichi chewed on a shrimp dumpling and spoke indistinctly.

"If the production team had anticipated that a random amateur, added on short notice, would become a top star in just two months, would everyone have collectively questioned their existence?"

Deng Chao put down his chopsticks and grabbed a tissue.

"He became a top star in just two months. He also managed to win over the female guest on the show and kept her hidden from being photographed for over a year. His methods are textbook-level in the industry."

Old Wang shook his head.

"Don't even mention it. I was on tenterhooks all day during that time, afraid that the cameras would give us away. Once, after we finished recording a compatibility test, I checked the backend data and his heart rate spiked to 112. I almost crushed the mouse in the monitoring room."

Chen Yi picked up a piece of pastry and put it in the bowl without even lifting his eyelids.

"You figured it out back then?"

"I didn't see through it completely, but I got about 60 or 70 percent of it. Later, when Hani changed the style of her earrings and they were exactly the same as the ones you brought back from Sanya, I was completely convinced."

Lu Han added a sentence.

"I noticed it even before Lao Wang. After filming in Dali, you said you wanted to stay an extra day. I was taking a walk near the old stone bridge when I saw Hani walking out of the alley. You two were about five steps apart, and your walking rhythms were exactly the same."

Chen Yi lifted his eyelids and glanced at him.

"You didn't mention it at all back then."

"It's none of my business; meddling only causes trouble."

The meal took more than two hours to finish.

The five people walked out of the restaurant and stood on the stone steps outside the gate, enjoying the evening breeze.

The ginkgo trees along the roadside have lush leaves, and their green branches block out most of the streetlights.

Chen Chichi clapped his hands.

"Come on, let's take another picture right here, to make a comparison of ten years ago and now."

He handed his phone to the restaurant waiter, and the five of them stood side by side on the steps.

No one deliberately moved their position.

Chen Chichi stood in the middle, while Deng Chao leaned on Lu Han's right side with his arm around Lu Han's shoulder.

Old Wang stood on the far side, his hands hanging naturally beside his trouser seams.

Chen Yi stood on the other side of Chen Chichi, wearing an ordinary gray sweatshirt, the color of which was surprisingly consistent with the clothes in the promotional photo ten years ago.

The waiter held up his phone and counted down three times before the shutter clicked.

The five people crowded around to look at the photos that had just been taken.

Compared to the one from ten years ago, the changes are obvious.

The people who used to stand in a row, wearing the same uniform and tense, have now changed into their own relaxed casual clothes, looking natural with smiles on their faces, without a trace of tension.

Chen Chichi immediately stitched the two photos together into a long image and posted it on his WeChat Moments, along with a sentence.

"Ten years have passed, and my brother is still more handsome than me."

After he finished posting, he held up his phone to show everyone, and Deng Chao glanced at him sideways.

"So all you do is praise your own people."

"Just telling the truth."

Lu Han laughed so hard she bent over.

Old Wang stood to the side with his hands behind his back, smiling and sighing.

Chen Yi looked at the comparison picture on the screen, his gaze lingering for two seconds on his own young face from ten years ago, which had a stern expression.

The naive young man who walked into the photography studio with his hands in his pockets and full of reluctance could never have predicted what would happen next.

The evening breeze swirled a few fallen leaves from the street, gently brushing against the ankles of the five people.

Chen Chichi put his phone back in his pocket and patted Chen Yi on the shoulder.

"What are your plans for the next decade?"

Chen Yi put his hands in his hoodie pockets and watched the traffic lights change at the intersection.

"Make good films, raise your daughter well, and live a stable life."