The Late-Night Snack Stand Assault (2)

Once everyone had sat down, Li Feng opened a bottle of beer and said, "Let's all start with one."

"Girls can have beer or soft drinks, whatever you like. Guys, beer is the baseline today."

"Li Feng, I need to report something first. I drove here today, so I can't drink," Zhao Hanwen said.

"You use that excuse every time, don't you, Hanwen? You're not getting away today. Doesn't your Qianqian know how to drive? Have her take you back later."

"Xu Tian, pour him one. Tonight, you've got to take good care of Hanwen." Li Feng shot a look at the guy beside Zhao Hanwen, giving him an expression that said, "You know what I mean."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he drinks to his heart's content." Xu Tian hooked an arm around Zhao Hanwen with one hand as he spoke.

"Come on, come on, stop talking. Let's get one down," Zhang Zhongjie said.

After everyone clinked glasses, they began taking turns offering toasts.

Though most of them were old classmates, every other sentence was "Director Zhang" or "Director Li." This was probably the special way the younger generation greeted one another over meals and drinks.

After several rounds of drinking, everyone started chatting.

At the table, other than Lin Yuan, they all worked locally, either in public institutions or as civil servants.

They often got together in ordinary times too.

After all, Hongyun City was only so big.

The things they talked about were either how some colleague in their unit was doing, what some leader's son had been up to, or bits of gossip about certain leaders' corruption.

It was basically old leftovers reheated, and after talking about it for long enough, they naturally got tired of it.

So the topic of conversation quickly shifted to Lin Yuan.

Among this group at the table, if anyone was especially curious about Lin Yuan, it was definitely Zhang Zhongjie.

Despite his calm, unruffled expression the whole time, deep down he was rather snobbish and strongly jealous.

Back in high school, Lin Yuan had better grades than him and was more popular in class, so he often played dirty behind his back.

Because he was the class study committee member and was close to the teachers, there had been several times when Lin Yuan got scolded because Zhang Zhongjie had secretly tattled on him.

He was the kind of person who was naturally unable to stand seeing others do better than him.

You could tell from his social circle too. He only got along well with people worse off than him.

Because that way, he could stay in the spotlight at all times and enjoy the feeling of being flattered by others.

Earlier, when Lin Yuan had arrived together with Han Shuyu and Xiao Li, he had already felt secretly unhappy.

And what made it even harder for him to accept was that when everyone had been chatting just now, Han Shuyu's gaze had stayed on Lin Yuan the entire time.

As soon as Lin Yuan opened his mouth to speak, Han Shuyu was either laughing or bickering with him.

At that moment, Lin Yuan, who was eating, seemed to sense that Zhang Zhongjie was secretly watching him.

But he did not pay it much mind. He simply continued helping himself to the barbecue, and before long there was a pile of bamboo skewers in front of him.

Watching him like that, Zhang Zhongjie could not help revealing a trace of disdain in his eyes.

Among the men at the table, only Li Feng and Xu Tian had more easygoing personalities and did not really care.

The others, including Zhao Hanwen and Du Jun, looked down on him a little.

When they ate, they only sampled a little, and even if something was delicious, they would not eat much of it.

So in their eyes, the way Lin Yuan ate was truly rather unpresentable.

Zhang Zhongjie took a sip of wine, looked at Lin Yuan, and said with a smile, "Lin Yuan, is there enough barbecue? If not, I'll order you some more."

Lin Yuan wiped his mouth and said, "Forget it. Barbecue doesn't feel very cost-effective. Just a little bit of meat costs dozens of yuan. Not worth it."

"What's that bit of money? If you want to eat, order it. I'm paying today." Zhang Zhongjie waved his hand grandly, speaking with lavish bravado.

He was very happy to see Lin Yuan acting like this, and even happier to see him embarrass himself in front of everyone.

Seeing how insistent he was, Lin Yuan could not help feeling a little puzzled too. In his impression, Zhang Zhongjie had always been stingy. Why was he suddenly being generous today? Could his personality have changed after not seeing him for several years?

In that case, he could only respectfully accept.

"Landlady, I'd like to order!"

"Coming right up."

Lin Yuan pointed at the menu and ordered a flurry of items, though in the end he still showed some restraint and did not go too overboard.

Even so, it was enough to make Zhang Zhongjie's heart ache.

He was only the son of an official, not the son of a rich businessman. Though his family was better off than many, it could not be called especially wealthy.

Zhang Zhongjie took a sip of wine and asked, "Lin Yuan, where are you working now?"

"Songping Township, Lin Family Courtyard."

"Lin Family Courtyard?" Zhang Zhongjie did not react right away, a slightly confused look on his face.

Lin Yuan smiled, showing a mouthful of white teeth, and said, "My house."

When everyone heard that, they all seemed a little surprised, thinking he was joking with them.

"Lin Yuan, come on. If you don't want to say it, then just don't say it. Why make up nonsense?" Zhao Hanwen said.

"Yeah, Lin Yuan, did you make a fortune out there or something? Looking down on your old classmates now?"

Lin Yuan ate his skewers as he said, "I really am unemployed right now. I'm just lazing around at home. Why else do you think I'm home now? It's not like it's vacation."

When Zhang Zhongjie heard that, he could not help feeling secretly delighted.

The Lin Yuan who had been better than him at everything back in school had amounted to nothing more than this.

He was an unemployed young man, while Zhang Zhongjie was a second-generation official with a bright future ahead of him. An insurmountable gulf had already opened up between the two of them.

In the future, he really ought to call him out more often, let him rein in that unruly attitude on his face, and make him understand the gap between them.

"Lin Yuan, do you have any plans now that you're back? My family has some connections. If you want to find a job, I can arrange something for you."

"No, I don't plan to work anytime soon."

"Lin Yuan, you're not planning to just lie flat, are you?" Xu Zhifang suddenly said.

The way the people at the table looked at Lin Yuan instantly revealed a trace of pity.

Lin Yuan, who had once been so spirited in school, had ended up washed out after only a few years in society.

Seeing everyone look at Lin Yuan like that, Han Shuyu worried it would hurt his pride, so she could not help smoothing things over for him.

"He must have his own plans. Lin Yuan, did you come back this time because you want to take the civil service exam?"

When Zhang Zhongjie saw Han Shuyu siding with Lin Yuan, a surge of anger immediately rose in his heart.

He said, "The civil service exam isn't that easy these days. Back when we'd just graduated, not that many people were taking it, but now everyone is trying to squeeze in. Besides, there are very few positions for Lin Yuan's major."

Lin Yuan looked at them in some bewilderment and said, "I mean, I'm not even worried, so what are you all worrying about?"

Li Feng laughed and said, "Exactly, exactly. What's the point worrying about that? Drink up, drink up."

At that moment, the landlady walked over carrying a large platter of barbecue and set it on the table.

"Lin Yuan, eat more. If you don't finish this today, you're not allowed to leave," Zhang Zhongjie said as he looked at the basin of barbecue.

"Don't worry, I can finish it. It's not every day Young Master Zhang treats us. I've got to eat and drink my fill," Lin Yuan said with a smile.

Zhao Hanwen and Du Jun seemed to be waiting for him to make a fool of himself, so they just watched and did not eat.

Han Shuyu, who usually did not eat much barbecue, suddenly picked up a handful of skewers, first giving Xiao Li a few, then eating on her own.

Xiao Li glanced at her best friend. How could she not know what she was thinking?

Though she did not really want to eat anymore, who asked her to be her best friend?

Just when everyone thought Lin Yuan was about to embarrass himself, they never expected that he really could eat.

One skewer after another, without stopping.

Very soon, he had eaten the entire basin of barbecue clean.

Han Shuyu, on the other hand, had her cheeks puffed out and was still eating a chicken wing. Seeing this, she immediately looked at Lin Yuan with some resentment.

As if saying, "If you could eat this much, why didn't you say so earlier?"

The barbecue was finished, but the few people at the table had mostly just watched the show.

The more they watched Lin Yuan eat like a starving ghost, the more they felt his past few years must not have been going well.

Everyone stopped focusing their attention on him and instead began chatting about other topics.

But just then, a racket suddenly came from the barbecue stall next door.

There were women's screams, the sound of beer bottles shattering, and also some curses.