Chapter 10

As night fell, Cheng Shi had already downed several cans of beer by himself. He eagerly awaited Sun Pengfei and Su Ningna's arrival, because once the couple came, Huang Ruoyu would have to put on a smiling face, chat with them, and then play cards with them; then Huang Ruoyu would also have to smile at Cheng Shi and affectionately call him "Stone." Most importantly—even if Cheng Shi didn't want to admit it—Sun Pengfei and Su Ningna always managed to bring out Huang Ruoyu's best and friendliest side.

However, to be honest, Cheng Shi often felt very impatient with the regular gatherings with Sun Pengfei and Sun Ningna, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Although he had lived in Central Park for almost three years, Cheng Shi, in the prime of his life, sometimes missed the days when he lived in the city. Back then, after work, he could easily meet up with friends to go to bars and nightclubs, enjoying the vibrant nightlife. But Cheng Shi hadn't enjoyed that kind of carefree nightlife in a long time, and he even felt that he was becoming more and more distant from his old classmates and friends.

But there's nothing he can do about it. Now that Chengshi's family lives in the suburbs, his daily commute has exhausted him. Even if classmates or friends invite him for a drink after work, he's too tired to do it. As for weekends, he's too lazy to drive half a day into the city. So, playing cards and chatting with the Sun couple on weekends has become Chengshi's main form of entertainment.

Another form of entertainment in his suburban life was spending most of the day at Beth's salon. Although the food and tea there were delicious, and the people were quite interesting, Narumi always felt that the atmosphere at Beth was strange, making him feel uneasy in that place. Therefore, going to Beth's salon once every two or three months was Narumi's limit.

Finally, after dinner, Sun Pengfei arrived at the door with his arm around Su Ningna, who barely reached his shoulder, and carrying a bottle of red wine.

Suningna leaned against the soft seat cushion, took off her slippers, and sat cross-legged on the chair—looking like she was squatting or kneeling at the same time—while laughing heartily as she played her cards.

However, what Su Ningna didn't know was that every time she left, Huang Ruoyu would thoroughly clean the cushions she had sat on before she was satisfied, because she hated Su Ningna walking barefoot on her clean furniture; she thought Su Ningna was dirty. Cheng Shi often felt that Huang Ruoyu, whose rising sign was Virgo, was even more obsessive about cleanliness than he, whose moon sign was Virgo.

Suningna is of Mongolian ethnicity and has typical Mongolian features: a large face, small eyes, and a stocky build, though not tall. Her breasts sway dramatically as she walks, drawing attention. Although Suningna has been in Beijing with Sun Feipeng for several years, she still has two persistent patches of redness on her face from the high altitude. However, Suningna has a very good personality and is very likable; she's always smiling and seems to have no worries.

Sitting next to Suningna at the card table was Chengshi, who was leaning back in his chair in a "Beijing slouch." Although his body appeared relaxed, Chengshi's eyes were wary, and the corners of his mouth were curved into a smile, because he was racking his brains to come up with something interesting.

Sitting on the other side of Chengshi High School, Sun Pengfei, though not as tall as Chengshi, was still above average in height. Most importantly, he was very muscular, clearly the result of years of dedicated weightlifting at the gym, and his full beard added to his masculine appearance. However, Sun Pengfei wasn't Mongolian; he was a true-blue Beijing man. At that moment, he was sitting casually with his legs spread wide, occasionally letting out a hearty laugh.

The last person to sit down at the card table was Huang Ruoyu. She sat upright with her shoulders ramrod straight, and even the smoke rings she exhaled towards the ceiling were so elegant, like Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." However, it was precisely because of this excessive elegance that Huang Ruoyu always seemed a bit "pretentious" and "fake," as if she could never relax her self-discipline and was always under the spotlight.

At first, the conversation at the card table was rather dull. However, after one round, the four of them started to have a more interesting discussion. They first talked about the "branch school" their children attended. Both sets of parents agreed that the school's teaching quality was actually quite good, even comparable to the prestigious schools in Haidian District. All four parents, especially the two highly educated fathers, opposed the "tiger parenting" approach. They preferred their children to have a more relaxed, "Buddhist" mindset from a young age, not needing to strive for first place in everything, so the "branch school" perfectly met their requirements. Then they discussed whether the second child in the Sun family had ADHD, ultimately concluding that the child was just very energetic and that letting him run around outside more often would solve the problem. Finally, they steered the conversation to the issue of prices. After discussing whether Hema and Sam's Club would go bankrupt, Su Ningna launched into a lengthy discussion about the price of beef and mutton.

In fact, these topics revolve around almost every week. After discussing beef and mutton prices, they'll typically move on to international politics, followed by summer travel plans. These plans often lead to discussions about when they'll achieve financial freedom, time freedom, social freedom, and spiritual freedom like Beth, and when they can travel whenever they want like her...

Of course, this topic was quite disheartening, and Beth's lifestyle seemed unattainable. So the four of them turned to talking about their eccentric neighbors.

"Do you know the family that lives next door? The family at No. 10 Palm Beach. The man works at some bank, I think he's a small manager, surnamed Hao. I always call him 'Good Guy.' Every time I run into him, he tells me which wealth management product at their bank is particularly good, and how to get a loan and what's the best way to buy a house. He kept urging me to buy that empty villa behind you. I heard that No. 10 is his eighth property. He has a house in the city, where he usually lives, only coming back on weekends. He also has houses in Sanya, Xishuangbanna, and even in Japan. But I heard recently that he went to jail for accepting bribes." Sun Pengfei said with a laugh.

"Oh? Really?" Huang Ruoyu asked, "How long was the sentence?"

"I don't know, the verdict hasn't been handed down yet. But I heard the amount is 'huge,' so I guess the sentence won't be light."

"Sigh, greed knows no bounds," Cheng Shi chimed in. "It seems that the villa behind us has already been sold. Grandma Xie has been coming all over here lately, bringing people to see the house every few days. Actually, there are 'good guys' everywhere these days. They seem like upright gentlemen on the surface, but behind the scenes they're all scoundrels. But these kinds of people, when they talk to you, they always have a lot of plausible stories, as if they're saying everything for your own good. But really, aren't they just setting you up for something? Like that 'good guy,' doesn't he just want you to put your money in their bank so he can get you to take out a loan to buy a house? That way, he'll have a..." "Operational space, huh? I know these people too well. These are the idiots who commute with me on the subway every day. Let me put it this way: these people never understand thinking, have no empathy, and never truly care about anything. Even if they take countless bribes or corrupt money, they won't feel guilty. Of course, they won't feel excited either, because they don't believe in anything. Truth, justice, fairness—to them, it's all bullshit. They only believe in their own ridiculous philosophy of life."

"A talented man is a talented man; his words are truly exceptional," Suningna praised Cheng Shi with a particularly sincere attitude.

Of course, everyone agreed with Suningna's words, which meant they agreed with Chengshi's words, because Chengshi's remarks implied a value system that they secretly smugly believed in: only they, these four people, were still painfully, tenaciously, and truly alive in such a terminally ill, dying culture, class, and even community. And it was precisely this resistance, and this response to this sense of loneliness, that made them guests of honor at the Beth Salon.