Different Lives Across Different Classes

Huang Chong naturally knew Du Wei was joking and deliberately teasing him.

His family was definitely not poor by ordinary standards, but there was an obvious gap between them and this group.

As for whether he could stand on equal footing with them in the future, or even surpass them, that would depend on whether he could become a world-class rider and reach the pinnacle of cycling.

So in essence, he had only temporarily entered Zhou Ming and the others' circle because of Du Wei. He was not truly from the same social class as them.

Fortunately, Huang Chong was not weak-willed. When facing people from a higher class, he would not bow and scrape or flatter them.

Besides, with Du Wei bringing him into this kind of social scene, there was no need for him to do that.

These wealthy young men all possessed basic manners and would not crudely look down on him outright.

But it was one thing for others not to look down on him; he certainly could not be too showy himself.

For example, Du Wei telling him to find White Horse to boost his power was definitely just a joke between friends. He could not take it seriously.

She was someone else's harem. Stirring up that kind of trouble would be far too unwise.

But while he had no interest in riding White Horse, he was very interested in the champion's prize money Du Wei had just mentioned.

He and Du Wei had come to take the wind out of Zhou Ming's sails. They did not care whether this race was merely some extra entertainment arranged alongside business talks or a proper friendly competition among fellow enthusiasts—

This was 28,888 yuan.

It was indeed higher than the stage winner's prize money in many domestic amateur cycling races.

Judging by the distribution of the total prize money, Zhou Ming had only set rewards for the top three: 28,888, 18,888, and 8,888. It certainly could not compare to the total prize pool of an official cycling race.

But there were only a few people in their cycling group, even counting the wealthy guys invited separately.

And judging by the way these rich guys were indulging in luxury and drinking tonight, who knew how many of them would be able to crawl out of bed for tomorrow morning's race.

So the prize money Zhou Ming had set was really not low.

Huang Chong was badly short on money right now. Although winning here would not be enough to buy him a top-tier frame, he still had his salary.

As long as he entered other cycling races later and collected a few more championship prizes, he would definitely be able to scrape together enough for a UCI WorldTour-level machine before the end of the year.

No matter what, upgrading his cycling equipment was an urgent matter.

His current Ninth-Generation TCR was enough for daily training, but it definitely would not cut it in competition.

Leaving aside the fact that it was an all-round frame with external cable routing and terrible aerodynamics, all of its components were too basic. It would be hard to guarantee that it would not suffer a mechanical failure under high-intensity riding.

Worst of all, as an entry-level bike, its overall weight was simply too high.

An all-round bike weighing over 9 kg was practically a tank. That was more than 2 kg above the UCI's 6.8 kg maximum bike weight limit.

If he rode this bike in a serious race, he would definitely be at a huge disadvantage.

"Old Du, you finally made it. We've been waiting for you forever. Come sit down. Little Rice Grain, get President Du and his brother something to drink."

When Zhou Ming saw Du Wei and Huang Chong, he looked delighted and warmly welcomed them before adding, "Dinner will be ready soon. The chef is already getting things arranged!"

Du Wei smiled and nodded. He took the specially mixed cocktail handed over by the heavily made-up, flirtatious girl nicknamed Little Rice Grain, then gestured for Huang Chong not to be too reserved.

Huang Chong was no fool. In a setting like this, he certainly would not act too self-absorbed. He accepted the cocktail as well and took a small sip.

However, Du Wei, Zhou Ming, and the others were business partners after all, and they soon began discussing business matters.

Even throughout dinner, the young men discussed what businesses were worth investing in at the moment, casually suggesting that everyone pool some money and try some new venture for fun.

Du Wei did not lack money. At his level, it was impossible for him to only be involved in the bicycle business.

From where he stood, he understood things perfectly well.

The bicycle business that was booming across the country right now was not something that could last for long.

After all, road bikes were highly durable. Other than these young rich men present, who had enough money to casually replace their bikes whenever the products updated, who would so easily replace a road bike that cost tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand yuan?

Therefore, this was something that could only make quick money for the next couple of years.

Once the hype faded, even if the number of road cycling enthusiasts continued to grow, the equipment market would become saturated.

That did not even account for all the trend-followers who bought bikes, discovered their backs could not handle it, then listed them on Xianyu as secondhand after riding less than 50 km, slashing the price in hopes of recovering some of their costs—

Huang Chong was not interested in the business they were discussing. At least for now, he was broke. Even if he were interested, he would not be able to take part.

Not just anyone could get a slice of the cake these people made together.

So it was only after they finished talking business and began chatting about tomorrow's cycling event that he showed a little interest.

Zhou Ming, with his slicked-back hair and powdered face, gave Huang Chong a strange look and teased Du Wei, "Old Du, your brother looks a little familiar, but I'm not quite sure.

"He isn't the kid who was talking big when I picked up my bike from your shop before, saying he wanted to compete head-on with Pogačar and the others in the three Grand Tours, is he?"

Zhou Ming truly had not recognized Huang Chong. After all, the latter had weighed 75 kg before, while now he was under 65 kg.

Only about ten days had passed in between. Huang Chong had shed 1 kg a day. Who would believe that if he told them?

Moreover, as his weight dropped and his muscles strengthened, his physique and appearance had both changed drastically. Only his eyes and brows had not changed much.

He had previously been slightly overweight, with a chubby face. Now, not only had every bit of excess fat disappeared from his body, but his face had returned to the oval shape it had in middle school.

Paired with his sharply defined, refined features, he looked remarkably handsome.

If the cycling girls present had not found him a little too quiet, and if the brands of his clothes and bike had not been so ordinary compared to the Prada, Gucci, Givenchy, Trek, Specialized, Colnago, and Look sported by the other young men—

They really would have wanted to take the initiative to get to know him.

And after a few more drinks, while pleasantly tipsy, it would not have been impossible to find a hotel room and work on their core strength together.

"Brother Zhou, you've got sharp eyes. His name is Huang Chong. He was my university classmate and my best friend."

Du Wei had drunk quite a bit tonight. On top of that, he was mildly allergic to alcohol, so his face flushed the moment he drank. It was now as red as a monkey's butt.

But even though he was a little drunk, there was nothing to criticize about his brotherhood with Huang Chong.

Seeing that Zhou Ming did not take Huang Chong seriously, he immediately made their relationship clear before defending him. "Brother Zhou, I'm not bragging, but my brother here really wants to become a professional rider.

"You can see it yourself. To become a rider, he's lost so much weight in such a short time. That kind of determination is not something ordinary people have.

"I won't hide it from you. The reason I brought him to this cycling event was so he could prove his strength in front of you, Brother Zhou."

Zhou Ming heard the protectiveness and mockery in Du Wei's words, and he also understood that Du Wei had come to crash his party.

But he himself was also a die-hard cycling enthusiast. Otherwise, he would not have invested so much energy and money into cycling.

Although he was destined to never fulfill his personal dream of becoming a professional rider, because his parents disagreed and billions in family assets awaited their only son's inheritance—

Seeing Huang Chong work so hard for his dream suddenly moved him.

Who could understand the frustration and melancholy of someone whose life looked glamorous from childhood to adulthood, but whose every stage had actually been arranged in advance by his parents, whose personal interests were never taken seriously, and who was not even allowed to pursue them?

He knew he could not share such thoughts with others because they sounded too melodramatic.

But that long-standing feeling of being unable to fulfill his ambitions was entirely real.

That was why he now threw money into cycling with such compensatory abandon, buying top-tier road bikes, keeping cycling girls, even supporting an entire cycling group.

But he knew that while his parents allowed him to treat cycling as a hobby, and even disdained to control him as strictly as they had when he was young, there was absolutely no chance they would let him become a professional rider.

Yet precisely because he was a die-hard cycling enthusiast, he knew how difficult it was for a Chinese person to become a professional rider, and how vast the gap was compared to the white riders from Europe's traditional cycling powerhouses.

After thinking for a moment, he resumed his arrogant demeanor. Or perhaps he was venting the frustration buried deep within him, the frustration he could only keep hidden for so long and would ultimately never be able to resolve. With a cold sneer, he said:

"You make it sound better than a song. Do you think becoming a professional rider is that easy?

"Old Du, you don't think becoming a road rider just takes losing some weight and building a few muscles at the gym, do you?

"I know you value loyalty and can't stand others looking down on your brother. Honestly, I'm not deliberately targeting Brother Huang either.

"But I'll say it again: people can't just talk themselves up.

"Still, since you came to crash my party, I can't be stingy about it.

"Let's settle it tomorrow morning. I happen to want to see whether your little brother really has the hard strength he claims to have.

"If he can't even win the championship here, then he'd better stop spouting bullshit about the three Grand Tours and the five Monuments in the future. It's annoying to listen to."