The trip made everything feel slower.
No rushing to class.
No assignments due at midnight.
No alarms early in the morning.
Just walking around, eating, talking, and laughing.
It felt a little like high school again.
Simple and easy.
---
The Second Night
On the second night of the trip, they bought snacks and drinks from a small store and sat outside near the hotel.
There were a few chairs and a small table, and the night air was cool.
Zhao Ming opened a bag of chips and said,
"This is the life."
"You say that every time you eat," Lin Yue said.
"Because eating is happiness," he replied.
Su Ran laughed and leaned back in her chair.
Jiang Chen sat next to her quietly, listening to Zhao Ming talk about random things.
After a while, the conversation slowed down.
It became one of those late-night talks where people start saying things they normally don't say.
---
The Question
Lin Yue suddenly asked,
"Where do you guys think you'll be in ten years?"
Zhao Ming answered immediately,
"Rich."
"No," Lin Yue said.
"Yes," Zhao Ming said.
Su Ran laughed.
"Be serious."
Zhao Ming thought for a moment.
"Okay… maybe not rich," he said.
"But I think I'll have a normal job, a normal house, and still talk to you guys."
Lin Yue nodded slowly.
"That sounds realistic."
Then she looked at Su Ran.
"What about you?"
Su Ran thought for a long time before answering.
"I don't know exactly," she said.
"But I want a stable job… and I want the people important to me to still be around."
Then she looked at Jiang Chen.
"What about you?" she asked.
He was quiet for a few seconds.
Then he said,
"I don't really think that far ahead."
"That sounds like you," Zhao Ming said.
"But," Jiang Chen continued,
"I think… as long as the people sitting here right now are still in my life, I'll be fine."
No one joked this time.
Because that answer felt too honest to joke about.
---
Zhao Ming and Lin Yue
Later, Zhao Ming and Lin Yue went to buy more drinks from a vending machine across the street.
So Su Ran and Jiang Chen were alone again.
They were quiet for a while, looking at the street lights and the empty road.
"This trip was a good idea," Su Ran said.
"Yeah," he said.
"I feel like we don't talk like this when we're busy at university," she said.
"That's true," he replied.
She looked at him.
"Do you ever think about the future seriously?" she asked.
He thought for a moment.
"Yes," he said.
"And?" she asked.
He looked at her and said quietly,
"When I think about the future… you're always there."
She blinked, a little surprised.
"That was very serious," she said softly.
"I am serious," he replied.
She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Good," she said.
---
Meanwhile…
Across the street, Zhao Ming was putting coins into the vending machine.
Lin Yue looked at him and said,
"You actually care about them a lot."
Zhao Ming pressed a button and waited for the drink.
"Of course," he said.
"They are my people."
Lin Yue smiled slightly.
"You joke a lot," she said.
"But you're actually very loyal."
He looked at her and smiled.
"Only to important people," he said.
The drink fell from the machine, and he picked it up.
"Are you an important person?" he asked.
Lin Yue looked at him for a moment, then said,
"Maybe."
He smiled like that was the best answer he could get.
---
Back Together
When they came back, the four of them sat together again.
Zhao Ming handed drinks to everyone and said,
"I have decided something again."
"You decide too many things," Lin Yue said.
"This is an important decision," he said.
He looked at all of them and said,
"No matter what happens in the future… jobs, cities, relationships, problems… we are not allowed to disappear from each other's lives."
Su Ran nodded immediately.
"Agreed."
Lin Yue nodded too.
"Agreed."
They all looked at Jiang Chen.
He said quietly,
"Agreed."
Zhao Ming raised his drink.
"To the Last Row Trio… plus Lin Yue."
Lin Yue sighed.
"You really won't change that name."
"Never," Zhao Ming said.
They all raised their drinks and lightly tapped them together.
A small sound.
A small moment.
But one they would remember later.
---
The Quiet Ending
That night, before going to sleep, Su Ran and Jiang Chen stood outside the hotel for a few minutes.
"Today felt important," she said.
"It did," he replied.
"Not because we did something big," she said.
"But because we talked about the future," he finished.
She nodded.
Then she said quietly,
"Do you think we'll really still be together in ten years? All four of us?"
He thought for a moment.
"I don't know what will happen," he said honestly.
"But I know I'll try."
She smiled slightly.
"That's a good answer."
He looked at her and said quietly,
"I always try for the important things."
She didn't say anything after that.
She just hugged him.
And under the quiet night sky of a small town far from their university,
two people who started as classmates in the last row of a classroom
stood there thinking about the future,
not knowing exactly what would happen,
but hoping,
that the people they had now
would still be there later.