◇ 【131】 High School Reunion (2)
Two young men walked in, their attire striking. The one on the left wore a bright red jacket and a black cashmere scarf. His long legs were draped in black jeans, making him look taller and more energetic. The man on the right had a calm demeanor, wearing a black jacket and the same scarf as the man next to him, only bright red, paired with black jeans. They were clearly dressed as a couple!
The room was extremely quiet for a moment.
Liao Tianming was the first to react. He smiled and went forward to greet them, "Gu Juan, Mr. Xi, you're here."
The other students also responded quickly and greeted Gu Juan one after another.
"Happy New Year, everyone." Gu Juan patted Xi Lang's shoulder and introduced him, "This is my wife, Xi Lang."
Xi Lang nodded and said, "Nice to meet you. Sorry to bother you."
Everyone looked at him and Gu Juan in surprise, and remained silent for a long time.
A hint of mockery flashed across Liao Tianming's eyes as he passed over Gu Juan, and he was just waiting to see a joke.
The squad leader stepped forward and said, "Everyone, please sit down first. Almost everyone is here."
The awkward atmosphere was finally broken, and everyone sat down around the big round table. It was still very dull, and everyone looked at each other, stealing glances at Gu Juan and Xi Lang from time to time.
Xi Lang naturally picked up the teapot on the table and poured a cup of hot tea for Gu Juan, and then poured a cup for himself.
"Gu Juan, are you and your lover married?" Xu Yang sat next to Gu Juan, nodding his chin at the hands of him and Xi Lang, "Congratulations." He and Gu Juan were deskmates for two years in high school. To be honest, ever since Gu Juan became a good student who loved to study, he once hated Gu Juan very much, or to be more precise, was jealous. Because of his poor grades, after graduating from high school, he went to the south to work. Because of his low education, he suffered a lot, and then he regretted not studying hard before. Later, when he learned that Gu Juan had his own business before graduating from college, he could no longer be jealous of Gu Juan, but only sincerely admired him. Among the students who came today, it can be said that he was the worst off. But he no longer felt inferior. He was still young and there was still time for many things.
Gu Juan thanked him and introduced Xi Lang as his high school deskmate.
"Oh, right." Xi Lang seemed to have just remembered. He took out a business card bag from his pocket and handed it to Xu Yang. "This is my business card. If you need any help in the future, you can come to me."
Xu Yang saw the title on the business card clearly, his pupils suddenly shrank, his face changed slightly, and he solemnly put the business card away and said to Xi Lang, "Then I would like to thank Brother Xi first."
Many people saw the change in Xu Yang's expression and were very curious about the business card. They wanted to know what kind of business card made Xu Yang's expression change so drastically and become even more enthusiastic towards Gu Juan and Xi Lang.
Liao Tianming saw that everyone's attention was focused on Gu Juan again, and he felt dissatisfied. Just as he was about to speak, the door was pushed open and a tall and thin young man in an orange down jacket walked in quickly.
"Hi, everyone's here? Happy New Year!"
Liao Tianming felt unfamiliar with the man at first glance, wondering if he had walked into the wrong room. Then, he saw the young man glance around, then saw Gu Juan's eyes light up, and he quickly walked over.
"Juanzi, Brother Xi. Happy New Year!"
Gu Juan turned around and saw that it was Liu Guang. He smiled slightly and said, "Happy New Year. Why are you so late?"
"Don't mention it. I saw someone get into a car accident on the way here. I was almost scared to death." Liu Guang saw that the seat next to Xi Lang was empty, so he sat down directly.
"Liu Guang?" The other students stared at him in disbelief. Are you kidding? Liu Guang was a notorious short kid in their school. When did he get so tall? He used to be only about 5 feet 4 inches tall, but now he's at least 5 feet 4 inches tall. Even taking hormones wouldn't have had such a positive effect.
Liu Guang was talking to Gu Juan and Xi Lang when he heard someone calling his name. He looked up, smiled, and waved, "Hi."
"Liu Guang, did you go to Korea for plastic surgery? How come you suddenly became so tall?" asked the class beauty in surprise.
Liu Guang's mouth twitched. "What plastic surgery? Class Beauty makes it sound like I was really ugly before. As for my height, didn't I tell you? Juanzi cured me. How come you don't know? Juanzi studied Traditional Chinese Medicine. Many of Langming Pharmaceutical's special medicines have formulas provided by Juanzi, and he's also a specially-appointed physician for celebrities in the Imperial Capital." He'd sensed something was amiss when he entered, and it wasn't hard to guess it had something to do with Gu Juan and Xi Lang. Naturally, he wanted to make his old classmate and good friend proud. Juanzi wasn't one to show off, so he'd do the talking for him.
Gu Juan understood that he meant well and shook his head with amusement.
Langming Pharmaceutical! Langming Pharmaceutical was an emerging pharmaceutical company, a household name for them. Many people's expressions changed. If Gu Juan's identity was so unique, then his lover's identity must be equally extraordinary. No wonder Xu Yang had transformed himself after receiving Xi Lang's business card. University was a small society, and these students had long understood the importance of networking. Now that they knew they had two remarkable figures close to them, they would be foolish not to seize the opportunity. Students sitting close to Gu Juan and Xi Lang immediately engaged in enthusiastic small talk.
Xi Lang kept smiling and handled the situation with ease, but he never took out another business card.
Liao Tianming's face nearly turned pale as he watched the lively atmosphere over there. He secretly cursed those people for being ungrateful. He was the one paying for the meal, yet they didn't come to curry favor with him but instead went to curry favor with Gu Juan. He shouted, "Squad leader, is everyone here? If they are, I'll have the food served."
The squad leader glanced at him and said, "Everyone is here, serve the food."
Liao Tianming's eyes twitched. Previously, he had thought he was the one paying, the owner, but now he felt like he was just running errands for the squad leader. But at this point, he couldn't say anything more, so he just went to ring the bell for the food to be served.
After the food and wine were served, everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding and toasted Gu Juan and Xi Lang one after another, even Liu Guang was not left out.
Several classmates who were also studying in the capital were particularly enthusiastic about Gu Juan. They asked Gu Juan to take care of them when they were looking for jobs in the future. Even if they couldn't help them find jobs, it would be good to be able to help them make some connections.
Those flattering words were so flattering yet so unresponsive that they felt like flattery. This was also a skill. Gu Juan didn't mind. After all, they were classmates, and if he could help them in the future, he would definitely do so. He accepted all their toasts, and with his skill, he wouldn't get drunk.
Liao Tianming sat there coldly. He wanted to get close to Gu Juan, but he couldn't bring himself to do so, so his face turned blue and red.
The meal lasted nearly two hours, and most people had flushed faces from drinking.
Gu Juan and Xi Lang looked calm, and everyone admired their drinking capacity.
Liao Tianming clapped his hands. "Everyone, everyone, we old classmates finally get together. How about we go to KTV to sing songs first? After singing, we can go for a midnight snack together. What do you think?"
"Okay, let's go sing."
Everyone agreed, and some even planned to find an opportunity to talk to Liu Guang and Xu Yang while singing. They were really curious about Xi Lang's identity.
"I'll treat you later. It's just that..." Liao Tianming touched his head with an embarrassed look on his face, "I'm really embarrassed to say it out loud, but I don't have enough money today. Gu Juan, can you lend me some first?"
Several classmates' expressions changed, and they looked at Gu Juan. Liao Tianming's words were too rude.
Gu Juan smiled as he looked at Liao Tianming with a hint of mockery in his eyes. He had originally thought Liao Tianming was a smart man, but he hadn't expected him to resort to such a shameful method.
He smiled and said to the others, "I'll treat you later. Let's go to Huangting KTV to sing. After two or three hours, it'll be almost midnight, which is perfect for a late-night snack. We'll have it at Chenxiang Garden. After dinner, if you're tired, we can go directly to the nearby Xiangyuan Hotel to stay overnight. Whether you live far or nearby, you don't have to worry about getting home late and being unsafe. What do you think of this arrangement?"
Everyone was shocked.
Liao Tianming forced a smile with difficulty.
The squad leader opened his mouth, then calmed down. "Gu Juan, there are thirty or forty of us. The prices at the Royal Court, Chenxiang Garden, and Xiangyuan Hotels are among the highest in the industry. If this continues, it will be a considerable expense."
Another classmate quickly said, "Yeah, let's just find a place to play."
Gu Juan patted Xi Lang's shoulder heavily, "What are you afraid of? There's a local tyrant here. Let's fight him today. If we want to play, we must have fun."
Xi Lang chuckled, glanced at Liao Tianming, and flicked his lover's forehead with his finger. "Do you really need to hit a rich man like me? Not to mention the flower base, you own 20% of "Langming Pharmaceuticals."
Gu Juan held his hand and said with a smile: "Just tell me whether you are willing to let me fight you or not? Everyone is waiting."
"Yes, of course." Xi Lang rubbed his head. "I'll call and book a room first."
Gu Juan asked the squad leader, "Sir, how many couples are there among us?"
After the squad leader answered, Xi Lang immediately called the hotel and booked enough rooms.
When everyone saw that he was serious, they looked at each other and thought that this was really a big deal.
Liao Tianming felt that the gazes falling on him were like thorns, and he became more and more jealous of Gu Juan, but there was no point in being jealous.
"Squad leader, please greet everyone." Gu Juan said to the squad leader.
The squad leader pushed his glasses up and nodded, "Let's go."
The students were not pretentious and left the hotel chatting and laughing.
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