349. Class Reunion
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Maybe it’s because they jumped into the workforce early, but Li Qiang and Chen Jia Jun clearly looked more mature than the others.
This maturity, however, brought a strong sense of unfamiliarity and distance—even Chen Yao felt a bit uncomfortable.
“So, what have you two been up to recently?”
The five of them were gathered around a round table in a small restaurant, having ordered food. Chen Yao asked curiously.
“Just working, you know, serving at a KTV.” Li Qiang said, puffing on a cigarette, casually leaning back like a delinquent. “A little over three thousand a month—thank goodness my family has some money; otherwise, I’d be starving by now.”
“I’m doing okay, working in sales. Got lucky last month and made a few deals, pulled in about five or six thousand.” Chen Jia Jun tugged at his cheap suit. “Come on, you don’t think I wear this suit to show off, do you? Last year I was scraping by on a two-thousand bucks base salary, couldn’t even afford to eat!”
Chen Yao then turned his gaze to Zhu Yong Wen. This chubby guy was clearly not adapting to the vibe, scratching his head and saying, “I’m just studying, got accepted into grad school directly.”
Lin Nan watched him with a hint of envy. The once inconspicuous, average-performing classmate had suddenly risen up.
Li Qiang and Chen Jia Jun also cast envious looks at him. Especially Chen Jia Jun, who lamented with a sour face, “If only I had gone to a vocational school back then. I’d at least be better off when I graduated.”
Li Qiang rolled his eyes. “Please, you’d just be playing on your phone in class. What would a vocational school even do for you?”
“At least I’d have a diploma, even if I was making less—sitting in an office is definitely better than being a waiter or a salesman, right?”
“Fair point.” Li Qiang patted Zhu Yong Wen on the shoulder, teasing, “Keep it up! Studying for grad school? You’ll be way ahead of us, and when you’re all successful, just remember to take us to your company as security guards or something!”
“Who’d want you as security?” Chen Yao chimed in.
Zhu Yong Wen clearly relaxed a bit. Back in high school, Li Qiang was always rumored to be out fighting and being a total punk, and Chen Jia Jun loved to bully him with words. Now, these two were slightly kinder, and it actually made him a little happy.
They began venting about their work woes. Li Qiang had it good; his family owned a gym, so they were somewhat well off. Chen Jia Jun was just from an ordinary family, scraping by on his own.
Lin Nan couldn’t chime in at all. He initially thought about chatting with Zhu Yong Wen, but then realized he really shouldn’t know him in this new identity, so he gave up.
In the past, Chen Jia Jun and Lin Nan’s relationship was merely one of casual friends, but ever since she got tricked into working as a waiter for a summer at a discount, she had been keeping an eye on this guy.
If not for the fact that she couldn’t get into that absurd restaurant herself, she’d have ended up getting exploited for thousands over those two months.
Their food arrived, and they started to eat and chat. But not long in, the conversation shifted to Lin Nan.
“Chen Yao, why isn’t Lin Nan here?” Zhu Yong Wen asked curiously. “Weren’t you guys pretty close? Didn’t he come over to your house before the New Year? Why isn’t he here today?”
“He’s at school. I came back for something,” Chen Yao glanced at his girlfriend beside him.
“I thought he’d come too…” Zhu Yong Wen sighed. If he had known Lin Nan wouldn’t be here, he wouldn’t have shown up either.
He wasn’t familiar with anyone else except Chen Yao, and sitting around eating felt extremely awkward.
Lin Nan perked up, eavesdropping on the conversation about herself.
“Next time, we’ll invite her to the gathering,” Chen Yao dismissed the topic.
He figured Lin Nan probably wouldn’t be able to meet this group of old classmates again in the identity of a guy.
“That girl’s pretty cute. You’d better thank Lin Nan for setting you up!” Li Qiang teased Chen Yao, then looked at Lin Nan, grinning, “I’m Li Qiang, Chen Yao’s classmate and fighting buddy from high school. If you ever need anything, call me, I’ll be there!”
“Yeah, Chen Yao mentioned you…” Lin Nan replied, looking down.
Curious about the impressions these old classmates had of her, she asked, “What was I like in high school? I haven’t heard much from her.”
Chen Yao looked at Lin Nan in surprise.
Chen Jia Jun, however, didn’t think much of it and took a moment to recall, saying, “A bit silly, I’d say. Seemed kind of goofy.”
“That’s called being pure!” Chen Yao retorted without hesitation.
“Pretty introverted, honestly. If it weren’t for Chen Yao, I probably wouldn’t even remember him,” Li Qiang added. “Just remember he did pretty well academically.”
“He was always at the top of the class!” Chen Yao affirmed.
Zhu Yong Wen, who used to sit next to Lin Nan, uncertainly added, “He’d suit wearing girl’s clothes?”
Chen Yao fell silent, unsure how to respond. But recalling last summer when Lin Nan did try on girl’s clothes… back then, she hadn’t really started looking feminine; her skin was average, but surprisingly, she was quite suited for it; it almost bent his reality.
Well, now it shouldn’t be considered bent, right?
“If Lin Nan had better skin, she’d probably have a boyfriend by now,” Zhu Yong Wen mused, recalling. “Last time I saw her, there were a lot of breakouts.”
Chen Yao pressed down on Lin Nan’s thigh protectively, defending her against Zhu Yong Wen. “Where’s the weakness? I think he’s just quiet.”
“But he could chat a lot with me during class, it’s just that he looks a bit rough around the edges. But with some makeup, in girl’s clothes, he’d probably be fine…”
“Shhh! If you keep talking like that, Lin Nan might throw a slap at you!”
Chen Yao smiled weakly, turning to look at Lin Nan’s smiling face, starting to feel anxious.
“Why are you defending Lin Nan so much? Lin Nan hasn’t even said anything,” Li Qiang asked, chuckling. “You guys aren’t really going to end up like the rumors from back then, are you?”
“Rumors, what are you talking about?” Lin Nan’s curiosity was piqued.
Chen Yao shot daggers at Li Qiang with his eyes, but Chen Jia Jun chimed in, “Back then, the girls in class said Lin Nan and Chen Yao were in a ‘top and bottom’ relationship. I guess Lin Nan didn’t know about it.”
“How could that be?! My relationship with Lin Nan is totally innocent!” Chen Yao’s face darkened. They thought reminiscing about past embarrassing stories was funny, but they were just digging their own graves. He asserted, “Look, I have a girlfriend now! Lin Nan has a male… girlfriend too!”
Lin Nan was stunned; this was the first time she’d heard about it.
There were girls in high school who liked that kind of stuff, really?
Zhu Yong Wen clicked his tongue in wonder, “If Lin Nan’s skin cleared up, she’d probably have a boyfriend by now.”
Brother, if you keep talking, I might not be able to save you, even if you’re telling the truth.
Chen Yao couldn’t fathom why these guys enjoyed digging their own graves.
“By the way, Peiqi, do you have a girlfriend?” Lin Nan blurted out instinctively.
In an instant, all eyes were on her. Zhu Yong Wen, more confused than ever, asked, “How do you know my nickname?”
That’s when Lin Nan realized she had slipped up, awkwardly freezing in place.
“I mentioned your nickname to her,” Chen Yao hurried to defuse the tension. “So, what rank are you at now? I just hit King the other day!”
With that, he forcefully shifted the conversation back to games.
