Chapter 90

Worried about his grandfather's situation, Xia Tianqi was up all night, only managing to fall asleep at around five in the morning. But he hadn't slept for long when his mother yanked him out of bed by the ear:

"Are you still acting like a child, sleeping in? Get up quickly, the food is going to get cold!"

Xia Tianqi didn't dare mention that he had just fallen asleep a short while ago, as his mother would surely use the excuse that staying up late is bad for his health to give him an even more severe scolding.

After washing his face with cold water, Xia Tianqi sat down at the dining table in a daze. He looked up at his father, whose eyes were also somewhat vacant, and thought to himself that his father must have been forced out of bed by his mother as well.

After finishing breakfast, Xia Tianqi completely forgot what his mother had said to him at the table. Instead, he learned from his father that his grandfather indeed had a watch that he never took off.

As for when the watch first appeared, his father couldn't remember.

Both his parents went to work, leaving Xia Tianqi alone at home. He was quite happy about this, at least no one would be pulling his ear to force him to get up and eat.

He went back to bed and slept until it was already past 1 PM. After washing his face to refresh himself, he drove to the largest mall in Beian City, planning to buy something for his parents.

After all, this was the only thing he could do for them now.

When he arrived at the parking lot near the mall, Xia Tianqi had just parked his car and got out when he heard a woman's voice behind him:

"Xia Tianqi?"

"Hmm?" Hearing someone call his name, Xia Tianqi instinctively turned around, his face showing surprise:

"Dong Xue?"

Dong Xue was his classmate from high school, and at the time, she was very famous in their grade and even the entire school. Her family had significant influence, with investments in many cities across the country.

He had often relied on her to find people for fights with students from other schools, and they had a good relationship back then. However, after Dong Xue transferred to a school in another city, they lost contact.

After a few years, Dong Xue looked even better than before. He remembered that she used to have cute short hair, but now it was a brown wave.

Meeting an old classmate after so many years naturally led to some small talk, mostly about what they had been up to recently and who they were still in touch with from back then.

Although the feeling of youth was still there, the conversation revealed more of the unfamiliarity that comes with growing up.

"You're doing pretty well, aren't you? A typical rich and handsome guy."

"Cut it out, don't make fun of me... By the way, what did you say just now? I didn't hear you clearly."

"Haha, you're still as funny as ever. Do you have WeChat? Let's add each other and chat sometime."

"Sure..."

After they added each other on WeChat, Xia Tianqi excused himself, citing that he had things to do.

As he left the parking lot, Xia Tianqi's heart was pounding in his chest. The feeling of being praised by an old classmate, looking successful, was truly great.

This was why so many people wanted to achieve something before returning home.

"My vanity."

Xia Tianqi felt that he was indeed a common person, enjoying being praised, showing off in front of others, and being surrounded by a high-quality lifestyle.

But in return, he had to pay a high price.

The company-issued salary card and credit card had a limit of about 500,000 yuan, which could be overdrawn and cashed out with no fees.

Xia Tianqi thought that the limit for their supervisors must be even higher, at least 1 million yuan.

For the entire afternoon, Xia Tianqi played the role of a wealthy tycoon, only returning home with a large number of packages as evening approached.

His parents had two completely different reactions to his purchases. His mother didn't say much, but his father was a bit annoyed by his extravagant spending. However, to his relief, neither of them asked where the money came from, perhaps thinking he had bought cheap items.

Of course, he hadn't dared to leave the price tags, or his parents would have thought he had robbed a bank.

Xia Tianqi was also quite frustrated about this. He had money, but he couldn't show it too openly to his parents, which made him feel a bit drunk.

Perhaps because he had been in a state of high tension for a long time, the sudden relaxation made him feel very uncomfortable. So, after only three days at home, he left, citing that he needed to return to school to handle graduation matters.

During this time, he didn't contact Leng Yue at all, completely forgetting about that despicable person.

...

Yingcai Marketing College is a four-year undergraduate institution, more accurately described as a third-tier college.

Xia Tianqi spent three years here, doing nothing but eating, drinking, and playing.

Although the educational quality of Yingcai College is average, its significant contribution to economic development is still worth acknowledging.

Most students in the college are typical examples of skipping classes and cheating on exams, so over 99% of them can't find jobs in their fields after graduation. They have to rely on their families or start their own businesses, achieving good results in the small and medium-sized economic sectors.

Xia Tianqi, having mistakenly chosen the company path, didn't have to worry about finding a job, but the few people he lived with weren't as lucky.

In a private room of a small restaurant near Yingcai College, two men and two women were drinking and chatting.

One of the men, who had a large head and wore black-rimmed glasses, said:

"To be honest, I don't want to do an internship. I'll just keep hanging around until graduation, then go home and see if my family can help me get a public sector job.

I'm not as ambitious as you guys. As long as I have food to eat, a woman to sleep with, and a place to stay, I'm fine."

"Cao Jinhai, look at your lack of ambition!"

Hearing the man's slightly drunk words, the woman sitting next to him pinched him:

"You're going home? Do you want to break up with me?"

"Juan... No, I was just joking..."

"Oh, Mr. Hai, you said the wrong thing again. Why do you always do this?"

Seeing Cao Jinhai continuously apologizing to the woman, the man and woman sitting opposite them started clapping and teasing.

"Damn, this isn't the time for you two to have a quarrel."

Cao Jinhai glared at the two of them, then one of them suddenly remembered something and said:

"Is Changye okay? He's been acting strange lately."

"Who knows? He's been acting like he's possessed, telling me about his dreams every day! I'm sick of hearing about it."

"What kind of dreams? Nightmares? Tell us more."

One of the women said excitedly.