Chapter Eleven: And Now?

“What does it have to do with you?” Xiao Chen said impassively, and without another word, walked straight into the Galaxy KTV and entered the private room that Wu Hui had mentioned.

Inside, quite a few people had already gathered. Seeing Xiao Chen enter, only the class monitor, Wu Hui, greeted him. “Xiao Chen, you’re here! Long time no see.”

As for the others, their gazes merely flitted over him before pretending not to notice his arrival.

Soon after, Li Xiang and his group arrived as well.

At once, the others’ attitudes changed dramatically, becoming effusively warm. “Brother Xiang, you’re finally here!”

“Hurry, hurry, Brother Xiang, sit here.”

A crowd hurried to welcome Li Xiang, surrounding him as he took his seat.

Back in school, none of them understood the hardships of life. They thought Li Xiang was just a little better off in terms of family background—nothing worth fussing over. Some even secretly looked down on him, thinking he lacked ambition.

But now, after graduation, they realized the gap between families was something that no amount of effort—ten or twenty years—could ever close.

So now, they were all eager to ingratiate themselves with Li Xiang. If he could give them a hand, nothing could be better.

The girls, in particular, sidled up to Li Xiang and batted their eyes at him.

Li Xiang, full of pride, glanced at Xiao Chen with a smug expression.

Even Wu Hui, the class monitor, couldn’t stand it anymore and quickly interrupted, “Alright, I think everyone is here now, right?”

Only then did the group quiet down a bit. After a moment, someone said, “Not yet, Liu Feifei isn’t here.”

At the mention of Liu Feifei, every boy present felt their heart skip a beat.

She was the class beauty, the prettiest girl in their year. Even in high school, she was breathtakingly lovely. Who knew how much more stunning she’d become?

As they were thinking of her, a graceful silhouette suddenly appeared at the entrance.

A tall woman with long, slender legs in a tight-fitting short skirt—a sight that made many of the boys’ eyes freeze.

Who else could it be but Liu Feifei?

Clicking along in high heels, her already long, shapely legs seemed even more sculpted. Swaying her willow waist, she strode into the room.

Only then did the others react, launching into a flurry of flattery. “Isn’t this Liu Feifei? For a second there, I thought she was some celebrity!”

“Feifei’s always been as stunning as any star.”

Even Li Xiang’s gaze grew heated. He chuckled, “You guys may not know—Liu Feifei is now a signed artist with Hongyu Entertainment. In other words, she’s a celebrity, just as you say.”

At this, the group gasped in astonishment. “No way—a celebrity came out of our class!”

“We’ve got to get a photo later. If she really makes it big, we won’t get another chance.”

Everyone crowded around Liu Feifei as though she were the moon among stars.

Liu Feifei, face full of pride, swept her gaze around before walking up to Xiao Chen. She said coolly, “Excuse me, I’d like to sit here.”

She pointed at Xiao Chen’s seat.

Xiao Chen was immediately displeased. “There are so many empty seats next to me. Why don’t you pick one of those?”

At his attitude, the others quickly spoke up, dissatisfied. “What’s wrong with you, Xiao Chen? It’s an honor for Feifei to want your seat. Aren’t you going to move?”

“Yeah, are you even a man? Just a loser, aren’t you?”

A flash of contempt appeared in Liu Feifei’s eyes as well.

Xiao Chen let out a cold laugh. It was obvious they only wanted to curry favor with Liu Feifei. She might be beautiful, but in Xiao Chen’s eyes, she was far inferior to his wife, Xu Qingran.

He had no intention of flattering her, nor would he indulge her. He spat out two words, “No way.”

“You—!” Liu Feifei hadn’t expected Xiao Chen to show her up like this. She glared at him, fuming.

Li Xiang quickly stepped up, “Don’t be angry, Feifei. You can take my seat.”

Liu Feifei snorted coldly and sat down in Li Xiang’s place, though she spared little kindness for his attentions.

Clearly, even Li Xiang failed to impress her.

Soon, the group began chatting. Naturally, the conversation revolved around Li Xiang and Liu Feifei.

But before long, the topic shifted to Xiao Chen. “Did you know Xiao Chen married into the Xu family as a live-in son-in-law? I hear he’s utterly henpecked at home, does nothing all day, and lives off his wife’s allowance. And despite having a pretty wife, he’s apparently never even touched her hand.”

“Trash is trash. I could tell back in school,” someone sneered.

One of them even added venomously, “Who knows, maybe his wife’s got someone else outside. His head’s probably greener than a meadow in spring.”

Xiao Chen couldn’t be bothered to engage with their sour grapes.

At that moment, a girl looked at him and asked, “By the way, Xiao Chen, didn’t Young Master Li say you bought an antique calligraphy piece? Why not show us, so we can all have a look?”

She was one of the girls who had mocked him downstairs.

The others were eager to see him embarrassed and chimed in. “Yeah, yeah, that two-thousand-yuan ‘authentic Yan Zhenqing’—we’re dying to see what it looks like.”

A boy pushed up his glasses and stepped forward. “Oh? An authentic Yan Zhenqing? I majored in relic authentication in college. I could appraise it for you.”

“If you’re all so curious, that’s fine,” said Xiao Chen, fully aware of their intentions but unconcerned. He nodded and took out the piece of calligraphy from a black plastic bag.

At the sight, the whole room erupted in laughter.

“I think we should forget it and just sing,” Wu Hui said, trying to spare Xiao Chen further embarrassment.

Li Xiang grinned, “What’s the rush? Let’s take a look at Xiao Chen’s ‘antique’ first.”

The others agreed, eager for a laugh at Xiao Chen’s expense. Wu Hui could only look at Xiao Chen with sympathy.

“Fake,” announced the self-proclaimed relics expert, Liang Yong, after barely glancing at the piece. He shook his head and snickered, “Even as a copy, this is awful. It’s not worth two hundred yuan.”

“You’d be better off using it as toilet paper—though that’d be a waste of stiff paper.”

Everyone burst into laughter—even Liu Feifei shot Xiao Chen a mocking look.

Xiao Chen wasn’t angry. He casually picked up a toothpick, lightly slit the edge of the scroll, and pulled out a sheet of paper, which he placed before Liang Yong, his gaze faintly amused.

“What about now?”