Zhang Dong was Chen Yang's junior at school. He used to admire Chen Yang a lot and was a loyal fan. Because they were from the same hometown, they had a good relationship.
Moreover, he himself was quite capable, being one of the preliminary members of the debate competition. After Chen Yang left, he also became a formal member, but the debate team failed to reach even half the level it had when Chen Yang led it.
"Senior, I didn't expect to see you here." He greeted him warmly.
Chen Yang smiled and said, "Just joining in the fun on the way."
It was a bit awkward to bump into them under these circumstances, since it was obvious that he and Li Su'er had come in to collect red envelopes.
Li Su'er winked at Chen Yang and then stuck out her tongue.
"This must be your sister-in-law. Come on, it's not convenient to talk here, let's go somewhere else."
Zhang Dongdao then said to one of the people in the group around him, "Chen, I'll leave this to you. I'm going to catch up with my senior first."
“Okay, Brother Dong, don’t worry,” Chen said.
Chen Yang and Li Su'er followed Zhang Dong into the inner courtyard.
"This is the house I just renovated this year. It's passable, but it's much more comfortable than my house in Shanghai," Zhang Dong said as he walked.
No, this house is nice, the interior is good, and it even has a patio. The land in this town isn't worth much, but even so, judging from the renovation, it couldn't have been built for less than a million.
While Zhang Dong seemed to be showing off the house, even Li Su'er could see the pride in his expression when he mentioned the house in Shanghai.
In Shanghai, where land is incredibly expensive and a working-class person's savings might only buy a toilet after decades of work, even living in a small apartment of less than 100 square meters is more worthy of showing off than a large villa in the countryside.
"It's pretty good," Chen Yang said.
Zhang Dong listened to Chen Yang's lukewarm comment and simply smiled without saying a word.
"Let's go sit in the tea room. I've got some Da Hong Pao tea from Wuyi Mountain. Although it's not from the original tree, it's still absolutely top-quality," Zhang Dong said.
“Sure, we both really enjoy drinking tea,” Chen Yang said.
After sitting down, Zhang Dong personally brewed tea for Chen Yang, saying, "Senior, what have you been doing these past two years? You must be doing much better than me."
"Open an inn." Chen Yang.
"Inn? Where is it? I'd like to visit sometime."
"The suburbs of HZ".
"It's great, you can relax and have a leisurely time. There aren't many people around usually."
"Fortunately, I don't manage it much, so I still have some time," Chen Yang said.
Zhang Dong's smile grew even brighter.
Although Hangzhou is a major metropolis, it's still far behind Shanghai, and the price difference is significant. Chen Yang is doing quite well to open a guesthouse in the suburbs of Hangzhou, but compared to Zhang Dong, he's nowhere near as successful.
Zhang Dong admitted that he truly admired Chen Yang back in school; Chen Yang was practically his idol at that time.
But after entering society, he realized how foolish he had been. Even the best students from the ivory tower would be worn down by the whetstone of society. Only those who dare to fight and have the means can become sharper and sharper.
Thinking back to Chen Yang's glorious days at school, and then looking at his current ordinary appearance with all his brilliance gone, Zhang Dong felt increasingly smug.
This time, he returned to his hometown to distribute red envelopes so that people in his hometown could see how well he, Zhang Dong, is doing now.
One hundred thousand yuan is not a lot of money for him, but it was worth it and could help him build a lot of connections in his hometown.
But to his surprise, he ran into Chen Yang again, and Chen Yang was actually squeezing in with that group of uncles and aunties to grab the red envelopes.
Chen Yang had basically lost contact with him since university, rarely replying to messages. Over the years, things had gradually faded away. He hadn't seen Chen Yang since he graduated.
Meeting under these circumstances would be somewhat awkward, but Zhang Dong believed that only Chen Yang would feel awkward.
“Senior, I also frequently travel to Hangzhou. I know a lot of people there. Would you like me to introduce you to a few?” Zhang Dong offered.
"No need, my inn is doing alright," Chen Yang said.
Zhang Dong sneered inwardly. "So you're even here to grab red envelopes, squeezing through a bunch of uncles and aunties for a hundred or so yuan?"
"Senior, if you have any difficulties, I will definitely help you because of our relationship. But please don't try to save face. We're like brothers, right?"
Chen Yang smiled wryly. He could easily see through Zhang Dong's thoughts, but he wasn't lying. He simply ran an inn, though it was a little unusual.
Li Su'er tugged at Chen Yang's sleeve and winked at him, her gloating expression quite obvious.
She remained quiet and well-behaved as soon as she entered the room, wanting to see Chen Yang's embarrassed expression.
She wanted to grab the red envelope, but she'd let Chen Yang lose face.
Chen Yang glared at Li Su'er, then said, "Zhang Dong, my family is still waiting for me. It's the New Year, so I won't stay any longer."
After finishing his tea, Chen Yang got up to leave.
"Then I won't study with you anymore. I'll treat you to a meal when I have time. I'm too busy these days."
Zhang Dong also said, then, as if remembering something, asked, "By the way, senior, what's the name of your inn?"
"Micro World Inn".
Chen Yang turned around and said that, then left.
Zhang Dong found it somewhat amusing to watch Chen Yang leave in such a hurry. It seemed that this senior still had some self-respect and knew that staying any longer would only make him look more embarrassed.
"Microworld Inn, why does it look so familiar?" Zhang Dong muttered.
He pondered as he added water to the freshly brewed tea leaves.
He was certain he had never stayed at this inn, but it sounded familiar.
"I did visit HZ's Ke Inn about two weeks ago... Did you hear about it from someone?"
He muttered to himself, then carefully recalled the people he had met in Hangzhou.
Before the Lunar New Year, he and a director of his company went to Hangzhou to discuss cooperation with a company. The cooperation was basically led by the other party, which was a well-known listed company in Zhejiang Province.
He had dinner with the company's chairman, and he had no chance to speak throughout the meal; he could only listen.
At that time, the chairman of the company said, "It's a real pity that we can't stay at the Micro World Inn tonight. Their new inn is very nice. Its style is unique in the whole country. It's a pity that it's fully booked today. It used to be fully booked when there were only a few rooms, and it's still the same now that there are dozens."
At that time, Zhang Dong chimed in, asking Old Dong what kind of inn would require him to queue.
"It's a very special inn, making people feel comfortable. Although some ignorant fools might not like it and complain about the price, they have no idea how capable the young owner of this inn is."
"Even a single decorative painting in this inn costs tens of thousands, and there are carvings worth millions. The inn itself is built with a mortise and tenon structure, and the total investment is estimated to be close to 100 million. But the owner still has a nonchalant attitude. You can imagine how rich he is. We can come up with hundreds of millions, but that's company funds. We can't just spend money like that. And more importantly, this inn has gathered a lot of people."
"What kind of people are they?"
"A group of refined and sophisticated people, most of whom are of average status, at most somewhat famous. However, there are also many remarkable individuals, including a few with higher status than me in Hangzhou, as well as some influential figures in Shanghai. I even saw Lu Lin, the president of Global United Jewelry, at their opening. Yet, the innkeeper didn't promote it at all, chatting normally with her like a friend. As a result, not many people knew that Lu Lin was there; her status was so high that people of average standing didn't even recognize her. So, going to the inn not only provides a comfortable stay but also allows you to build a terrifying network of connections."
At that time, when Zhang Dong saw the expression on Old Dong's face when he talked about Weijie Inn, which was full of appreciation and respect, he realized that it was genuine admiration.
Back then, he felt that this was something far removed from his own life; it was something only the truly elite discussed. He had managed to amass a fortune of several million, and although he hadn't paid for the apartment in Shanghai outright, he'd only been paying off the mortgage for five years. That was already quite remarkable. He could only look up to those who had hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars.
The owner of the Microworld Inn is someone he can only look up to.
But Chen Yang, his inn is called Micro World Inn?
(End of this chapter)
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