Chapter 11: Loose Lips

"Li Yun, stop pretending to be the good guy. If you're so capable, why don't you help him?" Li Fei scrutinized Li Yun from head to toe. You're just a lowly employee after all, working at some inconspicuous courier center, busting your ass every day for a measly four thousand a month. Aside from Ling Tianyu, you're the one whose life is the most pathetic here.

"Do you really have to be like this, Li Fei?" Li Yun couldn't stand Li Fei's attitude. Weren't you all eager to talk about Ling Tianyu in the group? Is it just because he didn't give you face back then?

Everyone knew that back in the day, you, Li Fei, had confessed your feelings to Ling Tianyu, but his heart was set on Qin Tianyi, leaving you humiliated. What, now that you see him down on his luck, you start mocking him?

"What's it to you? Come talk to me when you make twenty thousand a month," Li Fei dismissed Li Yun with a glance, clearly believing that birds of a feather flock together. It seems the joking prediction made at graduation has really come true.

Birds of a feather flock together, and people are judged by the company they keep!

And now it had truly come to pass.

"You..." Li Yun was left speechless by Li Fei's retort and could only grind his teeth and keep quiet. After all, he didn't earn as much as her; otherwise, he would've shut her up a long time ago.

It's just a lousy section chief, isn't it?

"What are you all doing out here? Hurry up and come in, I've already made the reservations." Before anyone else could speak, a shout came from behind, and everyone turned to look.

They saw a man in a black suit with slick, shiny hair standing at the entrance of the hotel.

"Wang Yan's here." Meng Xiaoyun saw Wang Yan and hurriedly waved to greet him.

Wang Yan walked over with his head held high. When he saw Ling Tianyu, a sneer crossed his eyes. Actually showing up, huh? I lost to you back then, but today, I am the better man. You'll never be able to catch up. The respect I lost back then, I can finally regain it today.

I can't believe I lost to you, a country bumpkin. Even though Qin Tianyi is getting married now, I need to let her know just how shortsighted she was back then.

Make her regret!

"Long time no see." Wang Yan approached Ling Tianyu and reached out to shake his hand.

Ling Tianyu didn't care much. They were rivals in the past, but that was then. Now everyone was not the same naive eighteen-year-old anymore; they had all become adults who had struggled in society and matured quite a bit.

What Ling Tianyu didn't expect was that just as he extended his hand, Wang Yan pulled his own back, leaving him in an awkward position.

Li Fei and the others watched the scene, some with sympathy, some eager to see the drama unfold. After all, to witness the once city-topping genius who got admitted to Northern Sea University of Technology in embarrassment was too good to miss. Only a fool would pass on such entertainment.

What difference does it make if you've graduated? What difference do classmates make? These days, if you're capable and rich, you're the boss, worth engaging with. If you have no money or skills, you're just a piece of crap. Why should anyone be friends with you?

"Just got out, huh? Life hasn't been easy, has it? Got a job yet? If not, come work with me. After all, we're all from the same alma mater. Even though you only attended for a few months, we naturally should help each other out." Wang Yan spoke with an expression as though the bond between classmates was deep as the ocean. If it weren't for what happened just moments ago, people might actually believe him.

Li Fei, Yang Tingfei, and the others knew that Wang Yan was trying to recover lost face. Qin Tianyi didn't come today since she was about to get married and obviously wouldn't have the time.

Otherwise, Wang Yan would certainly have put on a grand display in front of Qin Tianyi to show her that she made the wrong choice by choosing an impulsive blockhead who doesn't think before he acts.

"Wang Yan, tone it down a bit, or you'll end up getting slapped in the face," Ling Tianyu started to feel contempt for him. Back in school when he was chasing Qin Tianyi, Wang Yan seemed pretty manly. Now it seemed he was just a petty person who kept score over everything.

The more he acted like this, the more it showed his lack of confidence. Who would do such a thing if they were truly confident?

"Slap in the face?" Wang Yan took a step forward and, pointing his finger at Ling Tianyu's face, provocatively said, "You have the guts to slap me? You couldn't even keep your own girlfriend, you're nothing but trash."

"If I were you, I definitely would have kept her, but you, you're just a clueless fool. It serves you right to be cuckolded. Though I really feel sorry for Qin Tianyi; to spare your feelings, she even visited you monthly. What a pity, you couldn't keep such a beautiful girlfriend."

Wang Yan kept spewing nasty words, mocking him, all to regain the face he had lost back then. He now felt a great sense of achievement, an air of superiority, and the satisfaction of besting his old love rival.

I, Wang Yan, am the ultimate victor. I'm now the manager of a prestigious five-star hotel, way above you.

"Okay, time for the gathering." Li Fei checked the time—it was the moment for the big reunion.

"Yeah, let's go." Chu Xin echoed in agreement. The food at this five-star hotel was really good. He had to eat his fill today; he hadn't had enough last time.

"Let's go and try the fine dishes of this five-star hotel. I bet you'll never get to taste such fare in your entire life," Wang Yan said condescendingly to Ling Tianyu, as if to say, 'Not in this lifetime, nor the next, because a poor man will always be a poor man.'

"Slap!"

But a resounding slap echoed as Ling Tianyu slapped Wang Yan across the face. That was asking for it.

The entire class was stunned. Had Ling Tianyu gone mad? To dare hit Wang Yan—a guy who served time daring to strike the manager of a prestigious five-star hotel, did he have a death wish?

At the sight, Li Yun was thrilled. People like Wang Yan needed a good slap, with his foul mouth!

Just because he had some talent, did that mean he had to look down on everyone?

"Ling Tianyu, you're looking for death!" Wang Yan, covering his slapped face, glared at Ling Tianyu. Today he was determined to stop Ling Tianyu from leaving, to break him completely.

"Death?" Ling Tianyu snorted and, without wasting words, kicked out. Wang Yan was sent flying five or six meters away.

"Wang Yan, you're nothing! Just a measly manager of a five-star hotel. What's there to show off?" Ling Tianyu looked at him with disdain. People shouldn't act too high and mighty; otherwise, if lightning doesn't strike you, someone else will surely punch you!

"Brother Yu, what's going on?" Just as Ling Tianyu was about to move again, ready to give this guy a proper thrashing, Dongfang Yan and Nan Feng, holding their car keys, came over. They hadn't seen Brother Yu and turned their gaze this way.

"It's nothing, just kicked a loudmouth," Ling Tianyu replied with a smile.

"A loudmouth?" Hearing this, Dongfang Yan and the others looked over to see Wang Yan still lying on the ground, clutching his belly in pain.

"Him?" Nan Feng pointed at Wang Yan.

"Yeah."

"Dammit, he was asking for it!" Dongfang Yan immediately became angry, walked over, and gave a kick of his own.

"If you run your mouth again, I'll skin you alive!" Dongfang Yan warned coldly, with his temper flaring up due to Wang Yan's insolence towards Brother Yu.

"Brother Yu, let's go eat," Nan Feng said after Dongfang Yan had finished teaching the man a lesson, insisting that today they wouldn't stop until they were drunk.

"Okay." Ling Tianyu nodded and had just taken a couple of steps before he suddenly thought of something, turned around, and spoke to his old roommate, Li Yun, "Come, join me for drinks. We haven't seen each other in eight years. Let's make a night of it."

"Sure." Li Yun was more than happy to join, certainly preferring the company of Ling Tianyu to that of those fair-weather classmates, and he hurriedly followed Ling Tianyu into the hotel.