After lunch, Chen Na volunteered to wash the dishes, but was persuaded by Li Hongjuan to stay out of the kitchen, "You’re pregnant now, just take good care of yourself, there’s no need for you to do these chores."
"Shen Xuan! Come here and wash the dishes!"
Shen Xuan was hoping to sneak back to her bedroom to slack off, but upon hearing the call, she had to reluctantly and poutingly come to the kitchen.
Shen Yuan had planned to take Chen Na home after lunch, but Li Hongjuan convinced him to stay for dinner before heading back.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hit it off from the start and chatted endlessly.
It wasn’t until after 8 PM that Li Hongjuan let them leave, not only preparing two full bags of food for them to take back but also handing Chen Na a paper bag.
Shen Yuan looked inside and saw it was full of bright red banknotes.
He estimated there was at least 88,000, maybe even 108,000.
By the time they got back to Songhu Tiandi, it was already close to 9 PM. Shen Yuan helped Chen Na carry the things upstairs, then prepared to go to the speakeasy.
As he was leaving, Chen Na hugged Shen Yuan and murmured, "Shen Yuan, try not to drink too much."
"Mm, don’t worry."
Shen Yuan patted Chen Na’s back, the couple shared a tender moment, and then he left.
.....
Although Shen Yuan was a shareholder of the speakeasy, he had only been there once, and the other details were all handled by Li Yuhang and Siao Siyao.
Li Yuhang would occasionally post renovation videos in the group chat. A week ago, the sign was completed, named "Tipsy".
Since Shen Yuan used to hang out around Yudai Street and Liberation West, he didn’t need a map and easily found his way to "Tipsy".
"Tipsy" actually stood out on Yudai Street because, while the surrounding bars or speakeasies were either vintage or British-themed, only Tipsy had an industrial style.
Walking into the uniquely decorated Tipsy, Shen Yuan found that it was quite crowded, at 10 PM the place was nearly 80 to 90 percent full.
Most of these were probably friends Li Yuhang had invited to support the place.
Moreover, the atmosphere was lively. A band was invited to play Liang Bo’s songs on stage, and the crowd, both men and women, was flushed and merry.
Shen Yuan looked around but didn’t spot Li Yuhang, so he started checking table by table.
"Shen Yuan?"
Just then, a hand suddenly landed on Shen Yuan’s shoulder, and he turned to see a young man looking at him in surprise.
The young man was slightly chubby, with a round face and glasses.
He thought the man looked somewhat familiar but couldn’t recall his name right away.
"It’s me, Jin Kangwen."
Hearing the name, Shen Yuan instantly remembered – his middle school classmate, a decent student who later went to Yanjing for university.
Shen Yuan faintly remembered that Jin’s family was in the furniture business.
Since middle school graduation, except for Li Yuhang, he hadn’t really kept in touch with other classmates, so it wasn’t surprising he didn’t recognize most of them.
Back then, Jin Kangwen was much chubbier than now, although his face was still round.
"Kangwen!"
Shen Yuan greeted him with a smile.
"Come on, our middle school classmates are all sitting over here."
Jin Kangwen, being quite familiar, hooked Shen Yuan’s shoulder and said as they walked, "It’s been so many years, we must have a good drink tonight."
"Sure."
Shen Yuan followed Jin Kangwen to a booth on the side. There were about eight or nine people sitting, both men and women.
The men looked familiar, presumably all middle school classmates.
The women, however, were strangers to him, though all were dressed lightly and had good figures, but with rather heavy makeup, seemingly their female companions for the night.
These female companions, however, were much higher quality than usual bar hostesses.
Shen Yuan heard from Li Yuhang that when they went out, they generally wouldn’t pick up girls from venues but would have already invited the best ones to dinner.
After giving tips at the restaurant, they would directly take them to the bar or club.
By nine or ten o’clock, the only girls available would likely be leftovers from others.
This is to say money corresponds to resources.
It’s not just a game plan that average people wouldn’t think of; even if they did, they couldn’t execute it.
Seeing Shen Yuan, the classmates present were momentarily stunned by how much he had changed.
Back then, he was somewhat thin, now he appeared like a walking clothes hanger.
Well-proportioned, with contours of pectoral muscles visible under his shirt, and his arms also looked very stylish.
"Shen Yuan, long time no see."
"Long time no see, you’ve gotten even more handsome."
"Shen Yuan, as expected, the best looking in our class is still you."
"....."
A group of male classmates enthusiastically greeted Shen Yuan, and he responded to each.
It was said to support Li Yuhang, but it was effectively a small class reunion without snobbish and pretentious people, and everyone seemed quite harmonious.
In the eyes of his male classmates, the first thing they noticed was Shen Yuan’s change in figure.
However, to the peripheral women in attendance, they saw something else.
Shen Yuan was not only good-looking and stylish but also wore an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on his wrist.
The keen-eyed girls spotted it as the frost gold 2640 model, costing over 800,000 if bought.
Tsk tsk, originally thought everyone at this table was rich, turns out the richest just arrived.
After settling down, Shen Yuan clinked glasses with everyone and then asked, "How long have you been here? Is Li Yuhang not around?"
"We just arrived a while ago. Li Yuhang said he’s dealing with some matters, but he’ll be here soon," replied Jin Kangwen, smiling beamingly like a Maitreya Buddha.
This guy had been quite composed since middle school, speaking kindly to everyone.
"Shen Yuan, come on, let’s have a drink."
At that moment, a refined-looking guy approached with a glass of wine.
Shen Yuan turned his head to look at him. His name was Cherng Xian, and his family was also in business. He had heard that he was currently attending university in Zhejiang Province.
Shen Yuan vaguely remembered that Cherng Xian was also one of Luo Bingying’s admirers.
In fact, at that time, many boys liked Luo Bingying, but during middle school, very few dared to show it publicly.
Cherng Xian was one of them.
However, after Shen Yuan had a brush with fame, Cherng Xian gave up.
There was no deep-seated grudge, and it seemed he had moved on a long time ago.
"Sure."
Shen Yuan clinked glasses with him, then silently drank the wine in his cup.
All their middle school classmates were wealthy, and to support Li Yuhang’s event, a grand Shenlong Set had already been served on the table.
Six bottles in total: Blancs de Noirs, Gold, Rosé, Brut Green....
Speaking of which, by spending like this, part of the money ended up in his own pocket.
At that thought, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but smile.
In novels, tycoons always splurged in bars, but here he was, having these rich second-generation classmates spending in his own bar.
Cherng Xian put down his glass and leaned in to whisper to Shen Yuan, "Shen Yuan, it’s just the two of us without female companions. The girls from the International campus must be decent, right? Shouldn’t we call a couple over?"
Shen Yuan replied with a smile, "That’s unnecessary. There are plenty of beautiful girls in the bar tonight. If you’re interested, why don’t you try talking to one of them?"
"Alright then."
Cherng Xian grew interested: "Help me check, which girl is pretty and I’ll go talk to her."
Shen Yuan didn’t expect him to be serious, but since Cherng Xian was interested, Shen Yuan still scanned around to help him pick one.
When his gaze reached the central area, Shen Yuan paused for a moment because there were two girls live streaming there.
One of the girls, with big wavy hair, was enthusiastically waving at the audience in her live stream using a selfie stick.
The big wavy-haired girl was dressed in a black crop top and black shorts, with over half her skin exposed.
Her incredibly white legs were especially eye-catching in the center of the bar, and a pair of robust headlights filled her top to the brim.
For a moment, Shen Yuan couldn’t tell if it was natural or the result of some technological enhancement.
But the girl beside her, though dressed more conservatively...
Wait a minute?
Why is she here?
Shen Yuan had just seen her at an exam recently because she was a member of the prospective harem team.
One of the leading members of the entrepreneurship hub, a cosplay enthusiast, Qiao Lei.
Today, Qiao Lei had her hair in a bun, which, combined with her round face, looked very cute.
She was wearing a simple black T-shirt and denim shorts today.
Apart from her long, straight white legs, her upper half didn’t reveal much scenery.
But Shen Yuan had seen her Shiranui Mai costume and knew she had the goods.
What impressed Shen Yuan most was her skin tone.
She was very pale, with that kind of cold white skin where you could even see the blue veins under her skin up close.
The camera mainly focused on the big wavy-haired girl, while Qiao Lei occasionally appeared next to her, also checking the backstage data, probably playing a role like an assistant.
Suddenly, Shen Yuan wanted to see Qiao Lei’s reaction to being asked for her WeChat. He pointed in that direction and said, "Those two seem nice, why don’t you give it a try?"
"Alright."
Cherng Xian had also noticed the two girls and was eager to try. Casually, he lifted his left hand and rubbed his wrist with his right hand, revealing an IWC Big Pilot’s Watch.
That seemed to be his confidence booster.
This Big Pilot’s model, priced at 268,000 yuan, usually impressed girls familiar with luxury goods, so it made a good impression.
Cherng Xian took swift steps and approached the two girls, whispering something.
From too far away, Shen Yuan couldn’t hear a thing.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.
Then, the big wavy-haired girl took out another phone and added Cherng Xian on WeChat.
When Cherng Xian tried to scan Qiao Lei’s WeChat, she apologetically shook her head.
Cherng Xian said a few more words, but Qiao Lei still shook her head.
Cherng Xian had no choice but to give up and return to their VIP area, telling Shen Yuan:
"The internet celebrity said she’ll come over and have a drink with us after she finishes her live stream."
"But the other girl said her WeChat account was blocked, clearly just an excuse to reject me. However, she also promised to come over for a drink with her friend after the live stream is done."
Toward the end, Cherng Xian’s expression was slightly dejected.
Shen Yuan chuckled, a blocked WeChat account, what a peculiar excuse.
Shen Yuan hadn’t expected Qiao Lei to refuse; in the entrepreneurship hub, except for Lu Xinyue, most are rather vain and materialistic; there should’ve been no reason to reject someone like Cherng Xian.
Shen Yuan got up to go to the restroom, but just as he was about to enter, someone called out to him.
"Hey, Shen Yuan!"
Shen Yuan turned his head and, to his surprise, it was Qiao Lei.
Upon closer contact, he realized her skin was even paler, kind of like a morbid pallor.
"You deliberately had someone test me, didn’t you?"
Qiao Lei raised her chin slightly: "Actually, I saw you as soon as you entered the bar. It just took you a while to notice me."