Free Web NovelChapter 177: Chapter 177: Li Jia’s Counterattack, Gao Qiang Complains
Wen Meng’s face was like stone. She didn’t say a word, nor did she stand.
But Li Jia, who was next to her, shot to her feet, slammed her hand on the table, and snapped, "Yang Hua, what the hell do you think you’re doing? You know full well Meng Meng has a boyfriend, yet you still come over here to be disgusting!"
The once-lively venue fell silent in an instant. Some people who didn’t know what was going on stared over, dumbfounded. ’How did a fight break out already!?’
Yang Hua, however, just grinned sleazily and said, "I’m just expressing my admiration for Wen Meng, seeing if there’s an opportunity for me to move in! What if Wen Meng isn’t satisfied with that student boyfriend of hers? Then my chance will come, won’t it?"
Some of the people present heard the disdain in Yang Hua’s tone regarding the "student" status, and their opinion of him sank even lower.
"Yang Hua, you just got out into the working world a few years before us! What’s there to be so smug about!" Li Jia couldn’t stand the sight of this petty man gloating. She’d seen plenty of guys like him in school—some even more arrogant.
Li Jia didn’t give Yang Hua a chance to respond. She snatched Wen Meng’s bag from the chair beside her, pulled out a set of car keys, and brandished them. "Look! Recognize this logo? It’s the key to a Mercedes G63!"
The classmates who had just seen the car at the entrance looked at Wen Meng in surprise. A few car enthusiasts in the group had expressions of pure envy.
Seeing Yang Hua’s awkward expression, Li Jia pressed on, giving him no time to recover. "This car costs two or three million! A gift from Meng Meng’s boyfriend!"
As she spoke, she took out her phone and forwarded a photo to the class group chat—a photo of the car’s registration. She had insisted on seeing it last time because she hadn’t believed Wen Meng.
Li Jia was no pushover. "Yang Hua, you buy one shabby BMW and you show it off on your social media all day long! You even hang your keys from your belt like some middle-aged guy! Are you that afraid people won’t know you own a car?"
"Do you think any of us here don’t know what you’re really worth? You just got lucky in the birth lottery, that’s all!"
A few of the girls who had long been unable to stand Yang Hua immediately chimed in, "Exactly!"
Li Jia’s words were like a series of slaps to Yang Hua’s face, making him wish he could find a hole to crawl into and hide. If Wen Meng’s boyfriend had been some thirty- or forty-year-old man, he could have still found an excuse to argue back, saying something about how fortunes change over time.
The crucial part was that he had just finished mocking her boyfriend for being a student, only to have it thrown right back in his face—and it was a resounding slap.
"Haha, well then, I wish my dear classmate Wen Meng a happy future! I truly can’t compete with someone who was luckier at birth." Yang Hua downed the beer in his hand, then turned and walked back toward the men’s table.
Li Jia looked like she wanted to say more, but Wen Meng grabbed her arm. "That’s enough, Jiajia. There’s no need to waste your breath on clowns like him. We’ll have nothing to do with them in the future anyway. In a few days, I’ll introduce you to Wu Yun. Who knows, he might be able to help you with your career."
Wen Meng was used to being confessed to in public, but she was genuinely angered by Yang Hua’s condescending words about Wu Yun. However, Li Jia had launched the counterattack before she could. Seeing her friend stand up for her so fiercely still moved her.
Wen Meng leaned in and whispered to Li Jia, "Jiajia, I don’t plan on coming to these reunions anymore. Don’t drag me along next time. These ’simple’ gatherings are only going to get more and more toxic."
Seeing Li Jia nod in strong agreement, Wen Meng continued, "Okay, let’s at least not make things difficult for the class monitor. We’ll leave right after we finish eating."
After that little drama, everyone ate much more quietly. The atmosphere was no longer as boisterous as it had been at the start.
Seeing this, Wei Xin could only go from table to table with her drink, making small talk. Only then did the atmosphere relax a little.
"Wen Meng! You two aren’t staying for karaoke?" Wei Xin asked, standing outside the car and looking at Wen Meng and Li Jia inside the large SUV.
"We can’t! You guys have fun, class monitor! We have other things to do!"
Watching the G63’s taillights disappear, Wei Xin knew that the camaraderie from their school days would also fade with the passage of time.
"What! You’ve already met the parents?" Li Jia stared at Wen Meng in shock. ’Isn’t that a little too fast?’
"What did your parents think?"
"They were very happy with him!" A smile touched Wen Meng’s lips as she remembered what her father, Wenfeng, had said on the way home last night.
"Tell me everything!" Li Jia’s face was alight with a hunger for gossip.
So, as she drove, Wen Meng recounted the whole story of her parents’ "surprise inspection" after she’d picked up the car.
...
Gao Qiang slid a piece of beef off a skewer with his teeth and said with a miserable look on his face, "Ah Yun, you’re the well-fed man who doesn’t know the hungry man’s suffering! You have no idea how miserable we are in the Arhat Garden!"
"Do you have any idea what my last month has been like?"
Gao Qiang channeled his grief and indignation into his appetite, tearing into another skewer of beef. He mumbled through the mouthful, "Every day, I wake up to guys. The cafeteria? More guys! Even in the classroom, the handful of girls we have are either... not much to look at, or they already have boyfriends!"
"The struggle is real! I’m starting to forget what a woman even is!..."
Wu Yun cut off Gao Qiang’s complaining. "It’s not like I haven’t told you to come hang out at my university. There are tons of girls! I can introduce you to a few!"
Gao Qiang gave an awkward laugh. "Hey, we just finished our military training! I’ll come find you after the National Day holiday! We’re both in Rongcheng, after all. You have to introduce me to some girls then!"
Wu Yun noticed Bai Yue watching him with a knowing half-smile and quickly added, "I can only give you a platform; the rest is up to you! As for girls, I don’t know that many myself. Most of them are just in my class."
Gao Qiang looked impatient. "Are any of them pretty? Let me see some pictures!"
Wu Yun was exasperated. ’This idiot can’t read the room! Didn’t you see me trying to signal you with my eyes?’
"Why would I have pictures of other people? If you have a free period someday, just come sit in on one of my classes and see for yourself!"
Gao Qiang, gnawing on a pork rib, finally looked up and saw Wu Yun pointedly glancing toward Bai Yue. It finally clicked. "Fine, fine, fine! I’ll do my own scouting!"
Then, Gao Qiang’s expression changed again, this time to one of panic. "Ah Yun! Bitcoin dropped by One Hundred Dollars a coin! And from the looks of it, the trend is still downward. My dad’s been asking about it the last few days and I don’t know what to tell him. I mean, I trust you, but... that’s a lot of money. It pains me to see it."
At this point, Bai Yue asked curiously, "What’s Bitcoin?"
"It’s a type of virtual currency. You can think of it as us playing the stock market," Wu Yun explained simply, then turned to Gao Qiang with a reassuring smile. "What are you afraid of? Just remember to sell everything in late December 2017. For now, just keep an eye on the account and don’t worry about it."
Seeing Gao Qiang still looking worried, Wu Yun said, "I’ve put in tens of millions and I’m not saying a word. What’s there to be afraid of? If the sky falls, I’m the tall guy who’ll hold it up. Relax! Just remember to treat us to a big feast when it’s time to count your winnings!"
"What? Tens of millions?" Bai Yue and Gao Qiang exclaimed in unison.
Noticing that their outburst had drawn the attention of the surrounding customers, Gao Qiang quickly lowered his voice. "Ah Yun, where did you get that kind of money?"
Wu Yun just gave a mysterious smile. "From, of course..."
