A class reunion

Ye Huan drove to the bank, where the lobby manager was already waiting for him. The manager breathed a sigh of relief when he arrived, then took him to swipe his card and withdraw the money. Five million in cash only fit into the very large canvas bag Ye Huan had brought.

He put it on the back seat and said goodbye to everyone. Once inside the car, he stored the canvas bag in his space. Following the plan he had made yesterday, he drove to several gold shops. Gold prices were decent at the moment, around five hundred yuan a gram. Across several shops, he bought five kilograms of gold bars for roughly two and a half million, paying directly by card.

Including the money he had left before, he now had a balance of around 7.3 million on his card, enough to cover his expenses. He checked the time, turned straight around, and headed onto the expressway.

He had a boxed meal at a service area for dinner, drove another stretch, then dozed in the car for three or four hours at the next service area. Once dawn began to break, he washed his face and crossed into Jiangsu.

He reached Jinling a little after eleven on Saturday morning, then followed the navigation straight to the vicinity of his hotel. First, he found a small restaurant and ordered two dishes, a soup, and a large bowl of rice. After eating and drinking his fill, he went to check in.

He set his alarm and went to sleep. When he woke, he was completely groggy. "I'd better leave myself more time next time. This is exhausting," Ye Huan muttered.

He showered and changed into something casual. All his clothes were ordinary, off-brand items; he was not particular about that sort of thing.

Seeing that it was four forty, he set the navigation and drove to the Lehe Hotel. It was not yet five, and there were still few cars in its parking lot. After parking, Ye Huan stayed in the car, picked up his phone, and messaged Chen Xixi.

"Almost there. Have you guys arrived?"

"Several people are here already. Private rooms 207 and 208. Come straight up," Chen Xixi replied.

"Okay, I'll come find you when I get there." Ye Huan put down his phone, sat in the car for another seven or eight minutes, then got out.

Pushing open the private room door, Ye Huan saw a dozen or so people gathered together, chatting. They had only been apart a few years, not long enough to stop recognizing one another. "Hi, everyone. I'm here."

"Haha, Ye's here. Xixi, who are we still missing?" someone asked with a laugh.

Those close to him came up to give him a hug, while those he was less familiar with exchanged nods with him by way of greeting.

Ye Huan sat straight down beside his old roommate Xiaoshuai. "How come you're here too?"

"My hometown's Zhenjiang. It's so close, only an hour away," Xiaoshuai said with a smile.

"One person left. He'll be here any minute. Just give it another two minutes, everyone." Chen Xixi raised her phone with a smile.

They had all been out in society for several years and had grown much steadier. No one was making a racket; they simply split into small circles, chatting about themselves or their friends.

Ye Huan, Xiaoshuai, and a girl he had been on fairly good terms with back then chatted together.

"Brother Huan, weren't you doing well working in Shenzhen? How come I heard you went back home to the Sichuan and Guizhou area?" asked Lin Li, the girl who had been fairly close to Ye Huan during college.

"Yeah, Xiao Huan, you went back home?" Xiaoshuai asked too.

"Yeah. I wasn't happy at work, so I went back. You know how it is with computers-a new generation every three years. You finally hang on long enough to be due a raise, and the company tells you they've hired a batch of newcomers at 4,500 a month. What can you do?" Ye Huan said with a smile.

"Ah, tell me about it." Xiaoshuai nodded. When he went home, his family had some connections and arranged a job for him. He would not become fabulously wealthy, but in a small city like Zhenjiang, he had no worries about putting food on the table.

"What about you, Little Sister Lin? You went back to Jinling right after graduation. What are you doing now?" Ye Huan asked.

"Following in my father's footsteps. I joined the tobacco company," Lin Li said, lowering her voice. She only told them because they were close; she really would not tell the others.

Ye Huan and Xiaoshuai knew how to be discreet. They glanced around, nodded, and gave her a thumbs-up. The three exchanged smiles; everything went without saying.

"So what are you doing back home now?" Lin Li asked.

"Farming. What else can you do in the countryside? My place is at the foot of a million mountains. We couldn't even get tourism going if we wanted to. Right now, I'm in the village working on organic vegetables." Ye Huan did not hide it. They were good buddies; there was no need.

"Holy shit, bro, send me some in the future. The vegetables out there now are expensive and lousy, all grown by soaking them in nutrient solution," Xiaoshuai said.

"Sure. Whenever you want some, just let me know. I'll mail them to you," Ye Huan said with a smile. Talk money? That would only hurt their friendship.

Before they could say anything else, the door was pushed open again, and a stylishly dressed man walked in, cupping his hands in greeting as he said, "Sorry I'm late. A contract held me up a little. My apologies, everyone."

Chen Xixi stood and told the server, "Start serving the dishes."

Then she told everyone, "All right, everyone who said they'd come is here. Let's all sit down."

Ye Huan and the other two stayed where they were. They were at the secondary table, so they did not go over to join the bustle. The classmates seated over there were all somewhat accomplished, and everyone knew where to place themselves.

"Let's raise our glasses to celebrate our first reunion. We're a little short on people, but it can't be helped. Things aren't like they used to be; we all have our own jobs and lives now. From now on, let's try to get together at least once a year. Cheers!" Once all the dishes had arrived, Chen Xixi stood with her glass of red wine and spoke.

"Cheers!" All the classmates stood and happily raised their glasses to drink together.

After that, everyone went their own way. Those who were close, like Ye Huan, Xiaoshuai, and Lin Li, drank and chatted among themselves. Those who thought they had done well carried their glasses around, offering toasts and handing out business cards, satisfying their vanity by hearing others address them as Manager So-and-so or Section Chief So-and-so.

Chen Xixi and the young man who had arrived last came over to Ye Huan's table with their glasses. "Long time no see, Ye Huan. Let's have a proper chat later," Chen Xixi said. "Come on, let's all have a drink. Thank you all for letting me organize this reunion."

"Ye Huan, long time no see. Doing all right these days?" The young man clinked glasses with Ye Huan too.

"Pretty good. How about you? Looks like you've struck it rich?" Ye Huan said with a smile. Li Zifei had been an impressive guy back in college, starting a company of his own. Now, word was that he had secured venture capital.

"Ah, don't you guys know my situation? It's just small potatoes. I'm planning to get it on track, then sell the whole package and go travel the world," Li Zifei said with a smile.

"Then here's to your success. Bottoms up." Ye Huan smiled. There was nothing mercenary about it; they were classmates on reasonably good terms, so there was no need for any of that nonsense.

"Thanks. Same to you all. May everything go your way. Bottoms up!" Li Zifei said with a smile. He had learned in their class group chat that Ye Huan had gone back home and had felt a little regret at the time. Back in their year, Ye Huan had been nicknamed "the big shot." His computer skills had been seriously awesome.

Unfortunately, after entering society, that was all he had amounted to, fading into the crowd.

Tap to nudge for updates...