After the song finished, applause thundered from the audience. Watching Wang Xiaoqiang and Xu Jiyue sing together, Ye Junzi felt a wave of jealousy. Now that their singing had won the applause of all the classmates, he grew even more depressed.

"Impossible, why would Xu Jiyue favor that bumpkin Wang Xiaoqiang so much?" Ye Junzi muttered to himself with envy.

In his confusion, Ye Junzi asked around among the classmates, and one of them said to him, "Fellow Student Ye, you just need to do a Baidu search, and you'll know."

Ye Junzi immediately took out his phone, searched for Wang Xiaoqiang's name on Baidu, and was stunned by what he found—hundreds of thousands of search results related to Wang Xiaoqiang. There were stories about the young and successful entrepreneur Wang Xiaoqiang, the overseas farm owner Wang Xiaoqiang, the American vegetable industry's Great King Wang Xiaoqiang, the international movie star Wang Xiaoqiang, and information about Wang Xiaoqiang on the world's list of billionaires.

Seeing all this information made Ye Junzi's face turn red. He felt like he was slapping his own face. The reunion had not even ended yet, and he beat an early retreat.

After the gathering, Wang Xiaoqiang extended an invitation to Xu Jiyue, "Classmate Jiyue, it's still early. How about we find a place to sit and talk some more...?"

"Sure," Xu Jiyue didn't refuse and agreed on the spot.

Wang Xiaoqiang took Xu Jiyue to a coffee shop named Decade.

The coffee shop had an elegant environment. Tall floor-to-ceiling glass windows were covered with lush green vines. At a glance, one might think they were fake, but upon closer inspection, they were all alive. The expanse of green made the air feel as if it too had turned green. Taking a deep breath brought the distinct fragrance of plants, giving a sensation of being in the midst of a green field.

"This place is really nice. What would you like to drink?" Xu Jiyue took a deep breath and asked. "Let's have coffee..." Wang Xiaoqiang replied.

There were just a few tables of customers, mostly couples.

Sipping coffee and whispering sweet nothings was one of life's great pleasures.

Xu Jiyue didn't like the bitterness of coffee and thought about adding another cube of sugar, but she feared it would make her fat, so she gave up the idea.

Noticing this, Wang Xiaoqiang said, "If you like it sweet, just add some!"

"No no, eating too much sweet stuff can make you fat. If I get chubby, no one will dare to want me!"

"What's there to be afraid of? If no one wants you, I will!"

Xu Jiyue smiled sweetly, "Now, among all my colleagues, I'm the heaviest."

"That can't be right. Then your colleagues must be skin and bones!" Wang Xiaoqiang chuckled.

"The skinny beauty trend is in these days."

"I, on the other hand, like them a bit more full-figured."

Just then, a sharp female voice abruptly rang out, "You old fool, how dare you be so ungrateful!"

Both of them turned their heads, only to see a tall woman shouting near the window. She had a statuesque figure, sunglasses covering her eyes, furiously hitting the table with her bag,

Li Chunmei.

She was the clerk from Shunfeng Driving School, and good friends with Zheng Shuang and Feng Xiaoyu.

Wang Xiaoqiang's gaze sharpened. He really hadn't expected to run into Li Chunmei here. And this usually peaceful girl had changed, now arguing with a man. Moreover, the man was quite elderly. Furthermore, this man was a foreigner. As Li Chunmei continued her tirade, the foreign old man responded with remarkable composure. He tried to explain calmly at first, then with a resigned gesture, he spread his hands and said in halting Chinese, "I don't need to fight with you, call your father here. I need to talk to him face-to-face."

Li Chunmei held back her anger and frowned, "My father is not someone just anyone can meet. Besides, he won't see you."

"Your father is looking for excuses. Three months ago, your brother lost five million in our casino. I let him go, and that was already very generous!"

Li Chunmei suddenly stood up, glaring at him, "Foreigner... get this straight, go after the one who owes the money... Don't drag my father into this!"

With that, she turned and left the coffee shop.

Wang Xiaoqiang glanced at the foreign man, noticing two burly men with long braided hair approach the foreign old man. One of them, with a pointy nose, seemed to be mixed-race. He leaned close to the foreign old man, who whispered a few words to him. He nodded his head, a hint of murderous intent on his face, and then both men also left the coffee shop.

Wang Xiaoqiang watched through the bright floor-to-ceiling windows as the two men followed Li Chunmei. She got into a red sedan, turned the steering wheel, and drove away. The two men chased after her in a black sedan.

Wang Xiaoqiang said, "Let's go..."

Xu Jiyue nodded her head.

After paying the bill, Wang Xiaoqiang opened the car door, smiled, and said, "Come on... let me take you for a ride!"

Xu Jiyue smiled happily and climbed in.

Wang Xiaoqiang chased after Li Chunmei in his car. To catch up with her quickly, he sped up.

"Little Qiang, don't drive so fast! There's an intersection ahead!"

"It's fine... You can trust my driving skills."

The red light came on, signaling to stop. Wang Xiaoqiang cursed under his breath and, seeing the road was clear with no pedestrians, he hit the gas and ran the red light.

Xu Jiyue was shocked and warned, "Little Qiang... what are you doing? Aren't you afraid of getting a ticket?"

Li Chunmei had not noticed someone was following her, so she wasn't driving fast. After crossing the red light, they saw the black car still trailing Li Chunmei's red one. Wang Xiaoqiang caught up to the two men in the car and maintained a certain distance from them.

The chase continued like this for about ten minutes until Li Chunmei's car stopped at Kempinski.

Then, Li Chunmei got out of her car and walked into Kempinski.

The following black car also stopped, but the two men did not get out.

It seemed they had no intention of confronting Li Chunmei but were merely stalking her.

Realizing this, Wang Xiaoqiang eased his mind and also parked his car.

"Let's go, get out... let's get something to eat."

"Eating again? We'll turn into rice barrels." Xu Jiyue said with a laugh.

"If a rice barrel I become..." Wang Xiaoqiang pulled Xu Jiyue out of the car. They entered the hotel.

With five stars to its name, Kempinski was deserving of the title, spacious and lavishly decorated, where the service made the difference—with greeters, consultants, waiters, all beautiful women whose smiles dazzled and whose laughter intoxicated.

As they entered, Xu Jiyue looped her arm through Wang Xiaoqiang's elbow. Proud to have a beautiful companion for a meal, Wang Xiaoqiang chose not to ask for a private room. They sat down at a table in the grand hall. A waiter immediately came over with tea and handed them the menu. Wang Xiaoqiang asked Xu Jiyue to pick the dishes. After ordering two, she pushed the menu to Wang Xiaoqiang, who chuckled, "So you're saving me money, huh?"

Xu Jiyue saw the waiter by their side and just smiled without responding.

After Wang Xiaoqiang finished ordering, he handed the menu back to the waiter, who smiled and retreated.

It was only then that Xu Jiyue whispered, "The food here is so expensive... I wouldn't have come if I'd known!"

Wang Xiaoqiang stared at her, a smile breaking on his face, "From your words... I can tell you're someone who knows how to live life. Whoever marries you will certainly be happy!"

Xu Jiyue's face flushed, and she looked down, smiling, dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth.

Her bowed head was the epitome of tenderness, like a delicate water lily shivering in the cool breeze.

Wang Xiaoqiang thought that Xu Jiyue's smile, as she looked down, was worthy of a line of poetry. He gazed at her, unwittingly mesmerized.

Glancing around, Wang Xiaoqiang noticed Li Chunmei was sitting at a table with a man in a white suit, his back to them, so Wang Xiaoqiang couldn't see his face. The two seemed to be arguing about something; their voices were getting louder, especially Li Chunmei's. She was gesticulating and speaking sharply, almost like a shrew. Although he couldn't see the man's expression, he could tell from the tone that he was also quick-tempered. The clash of their wills seemed to want to overpower each other. The argument drew the sidelong glances of other diners, but no hotel staff seemed to intervene.

Suddenly, Li Chunmei stood up, removed her sunglasses in one motion, smashed them on the table in anger, and pointed at the man, shouting, "A surname like Wang… forget about it! Even if I were to marry a construction worker, I wouldn't marry you…!"

With that, she picked up her bag and turned to leave.

The man quickly stood up, caught up with her, and grabbed her, pressing her back into the seat while cursing viciously, "You b*tch… stop acting all high and mighty in front of me. You owe the Great King for injuring me; you'll pay with your body. Do you think I actually want to marry you? Don't kid yourself, I wouldn't even want you for a lay…"

"Scumbag, get away from me…"

Either the man was weak, or Li Chunmei was strong, but she managed to shove him quite a distance away, spat at him in disdain, "Look at yourself… like some soft egg, dreaming about me… even if I were to give in, could you handle it?"

The spectators all watched the quarreling couple, with some laughing out loud at her quip.

The man glanced around and saw everyone looking at him, his face burning with embarrassment. He hesitated, then lunged at Li Chunmei again, trying to pin her down to the seat. Li Chunmei looked at him with contempt, neither dodging nor making noise, her face set in a cold smile as she grabbed his collar and resisted. After a brief scuffle, Li Chunmei furrowed her brow and shoved him hard, sending him crashing onto the table. The dishes clattered to the floor, spilling food and drinks everywhere. The man's face got smeared with the mess, and after flailing on the table like a capsized bug, he managed to stand up. Enraged, he lunged for Li Chunmei again, but his feet slipped on the spilled oil, and he fell face-first on the floor.

There was another round of laughter from the guests. The Chinese love to watch a spectacle and are less likely to intervene. Finding entertainment during a dull meal, a free show was something no one would decline. Presumably, they all hoped the fight would go on.

By this time, two security guards in suits had arrived, but for some reason, they just stood there, not intervening.

(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote and support it with your recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to continue reading.)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.