An Yang only stayed in his hometown for two days—on the fifth and sixth days of the lunar new year. He left on the morning of the seventh.
Teacher An and Teacher Xie, meanwhile, still believed the saying, "Don't leave home on the seventh, and don't return home on the eighth." They couldn't even tell whether traveling from their hometown to Yan City counted as leaving or returning, so they simply decided to leave on the ninth.
The reason An Yang didn't stay longer, aside from vaguely sensing that his next mission was about to arrive, was that he had some trivial matters to deal with.
After the third day, most days were taken up by gatherings with friends. Generally speaking, many people had to return to work after the eighth, so they took advantage of this time to get together and reconnect with friends and classmates after growing distant. Most class reunions were held around then as well.
An Yang received a call from Yuan Shu and a text message from his high-school class monitor, Lin Si'yan. Many of their high-school classmates had decided to get together on the evening of the seventh, in Yan City. He had originally planned to refuse, but Ji Weiwei really wanted to go, so he accompanied her.
He then received a call from his university class monitor, who said there would be a gathering in Jinguan on the eighth. All the classmates currently in Jinguan would attend—and not just those from their class. Supposedly, the gathering was open to their entire year.
An Yang tactfully declined the university reunion. In his eyes, that sort of gathering was truly rather meaningless.
He returned to Yan City on the morning of the seventh and had lunch. That afternoon, he went out with Ji Weiwei and