Attending the Banquet

The Yanbei Grand Hotel was the best hotel in Yanbei City. A meal there would set you back eight or ten thousand, easily.

That alone showed that Wang Chaoyang came from money. Back at school, he had always worn designer clothes-a textbook rich kid.

Without the slightest hesitation, I nodded and said, "Sure, I'll be there."

"Great, it's settled, then." Wang Chaoyang looked delighted, then added, "Oh, right. How did you do on the exam?"

"I didn't take the college entrance exam."

Wang Chaoyang was asking a question he already knew the answer to. Everyone in our class knew I hadn't taken the exam, so there was no way he didn't. He was deliberately putting me down.

"Right, I almost forgot. Honestly, with your grades, the result would've been the same whether you took it or not. Not going to college doesn't mean you have no prospects. A living's a living, right? I hear you can make quite a bit every month collecting scrap these days. You're so young. I'm sure you'll find your way." Wang Chaoyang patted my shoulder with a show of solemn concern.

I smiled and said nothing.

But hot-tempered Uncle Huzi, sitting beside me, couldn't stand listening to another word. He slammed his chopsticks onto the table. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Who are you calling a scrap collector?"

"Hey, I'm talking to my classmate. What's it got to do with you?" Wang Chaoyang snapped.

Uncle Huzi had already rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach Wang Chaoyang a lesson. The brat hadn't said a single decent thing since we'd met, just one snide remark after another. Uncle Huzi had put up with him long enough.

But I stopped Uncle Huzi and signaled for him to calm down. After all the years we'd spent together, I knew he had real skills. If he started throwing punches, I was afraid he might beat Wang Chaoyang to death.

I didn't know much about Uncle Huzi's past. All I knew was that Master had once saved his life. Ever since then, he had stayed by Master's side, running errands and waiting on him. Master couldn't have driven him away if he tried.

"Don't forget, old classmate. Tomorrow afternoon, five thirty, at the Yanbei Grand Hotel. Be there." With that, he took Li Na's hand and headed out of the restaurant.

When they reached the door, Li Na glanced back at me. There was a plaintive look in her eyes, as though she had something she wanted to say.

Once the two of them had left, I sat down and went on eating. Uncle Huzi bristled with anger. "He's that kind of classmate, and you're still going to his banquet? All the others will have gotten into college, and you'll be the only one who didn't even take the entrance exam. He's obviously inviting you so he can embarrass you."

"I know," I said with a smile.

"You know, and you're still going? Besides, that meal won't be free. If someone's treating you, you'll have to bring some gift money, won't you? Even if you don't bring money, you'll at least need a little present or something. Given the state we're in, what do you think we can possibly give him?"

As he spoke, Huzi seemed to remember something, and his face instantly darkened. "Wait. How are we paying for this meal?"

I chuckled. "Uncle Huzi, we'll have to leave you here to work off the bill. Go wash dishes in the kitchen. Master said I could only make a living using the skills he taught me. I'm not allowed to do anything else."

"You little... So you've been scheming against me all along?" Uncle Huzi was utterly exasperated.

By then, I had already asked the owner for a few takeout bags and packed up all the leftovers. They would keep us going for another couple of days.

Wang Chaoyang really hadn't held back. He had ordered seven or eight dishes for me in one go.

While Uncle Huzi stood there in a daze, I grabbed the takeout bags and dashed out the door, leaving him standing there alone, utterly at a loss.

Uncle Huzi didn't get home until the middle of the night. He told me he'd washed more than eight hundred dishes before the restaurant owner finally let him leave.

Huzi said Master had been a bad influence on me. I'd practically mastered the essence of his talent for screwing people over.

There was nothing I could do about that. Master screwed me over, and Uncle Huzi was the only person I could screw over in turn.

Angry as he was, Uncle Huzi was still a little worried about the banquet the next day. If everyone else brought gift money or presents and I showed up empty-handed, it would look bad. I was sure to lose face in front of my classmates.

I wasn't worried about that at all, and I told Uncle Huzi not to worry either.

I also told him we'd be out of food the next day, so it was the perfect chance to enjoy a good meal at the Yanbei Grand Hotel.

The moment that glutton Uncle Huzi heard this, he perked right up. He was hopeless at everything else, but when it came to eating, he was number one.

The next day, Uncle Huzi and I reheated the food we'd brought home and scraped together two meals. That afternoon, I took him straight to the Yanbei Grand Hotel.

Only when we went inside did I realize just how wealthy Wang Chaoyang's family really was. They had booked the entire banquet hall on the third floor.

A huge banner hung at the entrance to the first-floor lobby, reading, "Congratulations to Wang Chaoyang of Class Two, Year Three, at Yanbei No. 1 High School on his admission to such-and-such prestigious university."

It was so conspicuous that we couldn't have missed the place if we'd tried.

Huzi curled his lip at the sight. "He only got into some lousy university. Does he really need to make such a big deal out of it? If he went abroad to study, would he invite the whole of Yanbei City to dinner?"

"Don't be so sour, Uncle Huzi. If Master hadn't made me focus on my training, I could've gotten into Tsinghua University or Peking University for you," I said.

"Oh, give me a break. I heard you always came dead last in your class when you were little."

"Don't bring up my sore spots. That was ages ago. By secondary school, I'd already moved up to second from last." With that, I led Uncle Huzi inside.

Once I entered the banquet hall, I finally understood what it meant to spare no expense. Wang Chaoyang's family had booked the whole third-floor banquet hall, and there were dozens of tables set out for the feast.

As one of Wang Chaoyang's classmates, I was assigned a seat near a corner.

My arrival drew no one's attention. After all, I'd always kept a low profile at school. I dozed through lessons, then went straight home after school to train with Master. I hadn't had many friends there, either.

I'd only come out of courtesy to a classmate. We'd been in the same class for several years, after all. I figured that after this gathering, I probably wouldn't have much to do with any of them again.

Once this meal was over, my classmates and I would go our separate ways.

We probably wouldn't see each other again for the rest of our lives.

No one would care about a classmate with terrible grades who hadn't even taken the college entrance exam.

After I sat down, Wang Chaoyang's father said a few words to the banquet hall. Everyone was cheerful, and the atmosphere was warm and harmonious.

Then the food was served.

I had to admit, the food at the Yanbei Grand Hotel was excellent, and Wang Chaoyang's family really was loaded. A whole table was filled with every kind of delicacy, from game birds and beasts to treasures of the mountains and sea. Uncle Huzi and I had been living on bland, meager fare for more than half a month, and the sight instantly whetted our appetites.

Uncle Huzi, especially, launched straight into a frenzy of eating and drinking, sweeping through the food as though he hadn't eaten in six months. His appetite left everyone at the table stunned.