The Wedding Feast

After paying Ren Tianxue her wages, Shen Qiong still had more than sixty thousand yuan in his account. In other words, he had earned nearly eighty thousand yuan that month.

And that didn't even factor in the days he'd lost because Yuan Jiancheng's situation had kept him from opening his shop to tell fortunes.

He figured his income might break a hundred thousand next month. For Shen Qiong, that was a huge leap.

Yesterday, that young woman had said her best friend was sick and asked for time off to take her to the doctor. Shen Qiong had of course agreed, and had taken the opportunity to give himself a day off too. He was going to attend a classmate's wedding banquet.

The wedding banquet was naturally Lu Caishuang's. Back then, Lu Caishuang hadn't invited him because they weren't that close, but things were different now. Shen Qiong had become something of a local celebrity, so of course she had to invite him.

Lu Caishuang hadn't expected Shen Qiong to agree right away. She was so pleased that she even discussed it with her husband.

Shen Qiong wondered how much to put in the red envelope, then casually filled it with three thousand yuan. He muttered, "That should be enough, right? We're just ordinary classmates, and we're not even close."

The news that Shen Qiong was attending the wedding banquet naturally spread through their university WeChat group. His former roommate, Zhu Zhengzhi, was the most excited.

The most awkward person was Jiang Lekang. Back then, he'd said plenty of bad things about Shen Qiong.

But Dong Yanshan's feelings were the most complicated. She was still single. Although she'd had another relationship after breaking up with Shen Qiong, it had ended quickly.

As for the other classmates, they were all delighted. They were already thinking of finding a chance to ask Shen Qiong for a fortune reading.

After graduating, his university classmates had scattered far and wide. There weren't many in Lingxi City, only seven or eight, and Shen Qiong thought classmates from other places might come too. That was why he'd agreed to attend the wedding banquet. He also had a little selfish reason: he'd made something of himself and wanted his classmates to see.

Class reunions had long since lost their original meaning. After graduation, people entered the working world and couldn't help being influenced by worldly values. Many showed off their wealth or their boyfriends and girlfriends as soon as they met.

Shen Qiong didn't deny that he was going to the wedding banquet with the same mindset. He was a worldly man and had no desire to pretend otherwise.

He might not have been the most successful of his university classmates, but he was definitely the one currently attracting the most attention. So when Shen Qiong arrived, he found himself the center of attention. His classmates were all waiting for him at the entrance.

Shen Qiong had taken a taxi there. He hadn't bought a car yet, and now things were awkward: Jiang Lekang had just happened to arrive at the hotel entrance in his car.

Shen Qiong got out and paid the driver. Sitting in his car, Jiang Lekang said with a grin, "Well, if it isn't our big-shot Master Shen! Why'd you take a taxi? If you don't have a car, you could've told me ahead of time. I would've picked you up."

Shen Qiong had been prepared for this kind of thing, but it still bothered him. He smiled and replied, "Stop messing around!"

"Oh, Shen Qiong's here, and Jiang Lekang too!"

"Jiang Lekang's doing pretty well. Isn't that car worth almost two hundred thousand?" one classmate remarked with a laugh.

"It's the high-end model, worth over three hundred thousand. Looks like Lekang really is doing well," the others said.

Someone watched Shen Qiong walk over and teased, "Why didn't Master Shen drive here? Was he afraid his luxury car would scare us?"

"Most likely! Master Shen's being considerate of us!" two men joked to each other.

That kind of joking was perfectly normal among classmates, but Shen Qiong felt there was a hidden meaning behind their words.

Shen Qiong was perfectly honest. "Actually, I haven't bought a car yet."

He glanced at Dong Yanshan, standing in a corner. She still looked the way he remembered, though after two years of being out in the world, she seemed a little more mature.

Zhu Zhengzhi came over with a grin and put an arm around Shen Qiong's shoulder. "We've been waiting for you! Come on, let's go in and talk..."

Of the three roommates, Zhu Zhengzhi was the rich second-generation son. He often took the other two out to have fun. He and Shen Qiong weren't exactly best friends, but they were closer than ordinary classmates.

"Shen Qiong, you're a little different from what I expected," Zhu Zhengzhi whispered in his ear.

Shen Qiong smiled. "Not doing as well as you thought?"

"To be honest, they were just joking earlier. Don't take it to heart," Zhu Zhengzhi reassured him.

Shen Qiong pursed his lips. Who knew? Still, he wasn't going to brood over something like that all day.

Seeing Shen Qiong's expression, Zhu Zhengzhi knew it was still bothering him. He could only smile wryly. "You still pay so much attention to the little things!"

"Great men don't sweat the small stuff. I know..." Shen Qiong murmured.

"Exactly! Don't stoop to their level. I saw you glance at Yanshan when you arrived. Don't tell me you're still single?" Zhu Zhengzhi joked.

Shen Qiong rolled his eyes. This guy really knew how to bring up the one thing he shouldn't.

"Come on! Don't say I never look out for you. If you still have feelings for her, make your move while she's single."

Shen Qiong looked at him in surprise. "How do you know?"

"She asked me about you the other day, so we talked for a bit." Zhu Zhengzhi led Shen Qiong to a chair in the corner.

Shen Qiong furrowed his brow, then sighed. "Forget it. We broke up because our feelings had faded. Maybe we really weren't right for each other."

"Fair enough! With the reputation you've got as Master Shen, it'll be easy for me to set you up with someone. I know plenty of women from good families, with great figures and pretty faces." Zhu Zhengzhi lit a cigarette and offered it to Shen Qiong.

Shen Qiong shook his head to show he didn't smoke, then smiled. "Can I have all of them?"

"Damn, you're still as greedy as ever!" Zhu Zhengzhi grinned.

The two chatted for a little while longer. By then, most of their classmates had arrived, and they settled around a table.

The two tables next to them seemed to be filled with the groom's classmates and friends. Shen Qiong didn't recognize anyone there.

Before he'd even warmed his seat, Xu Hongchang joked, "Shen Qiong's a master now. We're lucky Caishuang invited us, or we wouldn't have gotten to see him. It's hard to get an appointment with him otherwise."

Shen Qiong smiled politely. He wasn't good at handling this kind of situation, so he didn't say much.

"I hear your fortune-telling is really accurate! Why not read our fortunes too, for a few of your old classmates?" someone seized the opportunity to ask.

Shen Qiong's brow immediately furrowed. He really hadn't considered that. If he had, he probably wouldn't have come.

The moment Jiang Lekang saw Shen Qiong frown, he jumped in. "You're not going to refuse your own classmates, are you? It's rare for us to get together. We haven't seen each other in two years."

Shen Qiong glanced at him. When he'd first arrived, Lekang had pretended to kindly offer him a ride, but really he'd been mocking him for not having a car.

Shen Qiong replied, "I don't usually tell fortunes outside my shop's business hours."

"That's not right, Shen Qiong! Look how eager everyone is," Jiang Lekang said pointedly.

Zhu Zhengzhi stepped in to smooth things over with a smile. "How about everyone eats something first? There's no rush to get our fortunes read."

Jiang Lekang could tell Shen Qiong clearly didn't want to do it. In the group chat, Zhu Zhengzhi had already snapped at him once for saying Shen Qiong didn't care about his classmates. This was a perfect chance to get back at him, and he wasn't about to miss it.

"Boss Zhu, we can eat any time. If we have to, we can pick another day and get together as classmates. But it's rare to have Master Shen here!" Jiang Lekang said, then deliberately called out to Shen Qiong, "Master Shen, don't you agree?"

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Shen Qiong.

Jiang Lekang enjoyed the feeling, looking at Shen Qiong like a victorious opponent.

Dong Yanshan could see how uncomfortable Shen Qiong was, so she spoke up for him. "I don't think you should pressure him. Fortune-telling isn't something you can just do on the spot. You need some tools, and there's nothing like that here. It really wouldn't be convenient."

Shen Qiong gave her a grateful look, then continued, "That's exactly it. I don't have the tools I use for fortune-telling here. If I read your fortunes, I'd just be cheating you. We're all classmates, and I don't want to deceive anyone."

Jiang Lekang's eyes darted around. Did Shen Qiong think he could get out of this so easily? Not a chance. He put on a regretful expression. "Looks like there's nothing we can do. We all want you to read our fortunes, but we can't force you. How about we come visit you in a couple of days? Don't turn us away then, Shen Qiong!"

At that, everyone immediately chimed in. "Exactly, we can go to your shop. That'll be fine!"

How shameless could they be? Shen Qiong shot Jiang Lekang a cold glance. So this guy was really determined to make an issue of it?

The more displeased Shen Qiong looked, the happier Jiang Lekang became. He laughed. "Then it's settled. We'll all go see Shen Qiong." He looked at Shen Qiong and asked, "We don't need appointments, do we? We're classmates, after all. You can make an exception for us, right?"

The corner of Shen Qiong's mouth twitched. He could have made an exception for them; the tedious appointment process was only there to keep up appearances. After all, to tell someone's fortune, they had to appear in his "People nearby" list. Otherwise, none of it would work.

Jiang Lekang gave a mocking laugh. "You mean we have to make appointments like everyone else?"

"Yes," Shen Qiong said, forcing the word out.

Everyone's expressions changed at once. Even Dong Yanshan, who had just spoken up for him, called out in displeasure, "Shen Qiong!"

The atmosphere turned terribly awkward...