The neighbors' first visit did not last long. Both sides exchanged friendly, cordial pleasantries, and aside from the little whiskey incident, everything seemed to be going smoothly.
But after Hu Xiaoniu and the others returned home, the four of them sat silently on the sofa.
Because all of them knew perfectly well that beneath that warmth and friendliness lay an impassable politeness.
In Jiang Xue's eyes, they were guests, not friends.
But if they were merely guests, there was no way they could receive her help in City No. 18.
Of the group, Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen were comparatively calm and rational. Whether it was transferring schools or traveling from City No. 7 to City No. 18, both plans had been proposed by them.
Hu Xiaoniu looked at everyone and said seriously, "Perhaps we were wrong. Wrong from the start."
Everyone looked at him.
Pointing at their sofa, Hu Xiaoniu said, "We came all the way from Haicheng to Luocheng, yet we had genuine leather sofas flown in by air freight. Now look across the way—an old fabric sofa. I'm not talking about the gap between rich and poor. I'm saying that we need to cast off the pride ingrained in our bones."
Zhang Tianzhen took off his black-rimmed glasses. "I'm with Xiaoniu."
"And we have nothing to be proud of anyway," Hu Xiaoniu said. "Did you notice Jiang Xue's mechanical hand? The details were incredibly refined. It was probably something only a consortium could afford. We may possess wealth in the Outer World, but in the Inner World, Jiang Xue is the one with wealth."
Hu Xiaoniu continued, "And precisely because we carry that pride deep in our bones, we can't become friends with people like Qing Chen, Jiang Xue, Li Tongyun, and Liu Dezhu."
"But we really