Chapter 13

"Eleven thousand two hundred and one..."

Stopping in his tracks, Chen Yang halted his steps.

After more than an hour of heavy rain, it still showed no signs of stopping. The sky gradually turned gray, and visibility was less than a hundred meters.

The name "Big Stomach King Hotpot Buffet" appeared in Chen Yang's eyes, as if he had just woken from a dream, he slowly came to his senses.

Did he hear it?

He wanted to ask his right hand, but after calling out "Screw Chief" a few times cautiously, he received no response.

Fell asleep again?

Chen Yang let out a sigh of relief. With the strict supervision lifted, he could finally enjoy a bit of the pleasure of being human. Although it seemed that this pleasure could only be enjoyed for a short time each day, it made him cherish it all the more.

After walking for more than an hour, Chen Yang felt even hungrier. He hesitated for a moment, then held his umbrella and walked into the hotpot restaurant.

"Sir, how many people?"

A young waitress in her twenties immediately asked upon seeing a customer.

"Um, my friend should have arrived earlier."

He scanned the room, and in the dining hall of the hotpot restaurant, there were already seven or eight tables occupied by customers. A solitary man sitting by the window stood out prominently.

That was Zhu Junchen, who had invited him to dinner this time.

At twenty-five years old, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, he was slightly overweight and was touching his phone, lost in thought.

Chen Yang walked over with his umbrella. "Old Pig, you came first?"

Zhu Junchen looked up. "Damn, why are you so late?"

"Got held up a bit."

Chen Yang closed his umbrella and placed it aside, then sat down.

"Alright, this time I'm treating you to a buffet hotpot. Help yourself to whatever you like."

There were already several dishes on the table. Seeing that Chen Yang had finally arrived, Zhu Junchen poured several plates of food into the hotpot.

"It's been a while since we last met, right?"

"Yeah, it has been a while." Chen Yang nodded slightly.

"What have you been up to these days? Found a stable job yet?"

Zhu Junchen picked up a dipping sauce and handed it to Chen Yang.

"Looked for a few jobs, but none of them were satisfactory, so I quit and stayed at home."

Chen Yang took the dipping sauce. "I opened a small noodle shop, just getting by."

"Hey, you opened a noodle shop?"

Zhu Junchen was surprised. "Not bad, you even have the capital to open a noodle shop."

"It depends on where it's located. In my place..."

Chen Yang shook his head.

"Hehe, being your own boss isn't bad. At least you don't have to put up with the crap we office workers do. You might not know how intense the job competition is these days..."

Zhu Junchen got fired up and started complaining.

Chen Yang remained calm, nodding along with Zhu Junchen while quickly picking food from the pot. By the time Zhu Junchen realized it, the crispy sausages and tripe in the pot were already gone.

"Good one, you're really sly, didn't even leave me any."

Zhu Junchen laughed and scolded, then picked up another plate of food and added it to the pot.

He could still laugh now, but after a while, he couldn't anymore.

Seeing Chen Yang wolf down the food, Zhu Junchen put down his chopsticks. "Old Chen, how long has it been since you last ate?"

"What, what?"

Chen Yang was too focused on eating to pay much attention to what Zhu Junchen said.

"I mean, did you go to an African slum or something? You look like a starving ghost."

At a buffet hotpot, guests can take food freely, which seems generous, but in reality, the owner doesn't lose much. Not everyone can eat enough to make up for the fifty yuan wholesale cost of the food.

Many people come to the buffet hotpot with the intention of getting their money's worth. They are confident before entering, but after half an hour, their bellies are full, and they can't eat any more, often regretting drinking too much. Even without drinking, most people can only eat about seven or eight plates.

But if someone eats twenty plates and continues to eat as if it were just two plates, no one can ignore it.

Zhu Junchen was relieved that it was a buffet. If it were a regular hotpot restaurant, Chen Yang's eating would have cost at least five hundred yuan.

The manager, who happened to see this, was not so relieved. His eyes twitched, and he cursed under his breath, "Damn, we really have a big eater today."

"Hey, the food here is really good."

After finishing the twenty-fifth plate, Chen Yang took a sip of beer and patted his not-so-full belly, praising it. Well, that was a lie. At this point, he could eat seven or eight bowls of plain rice without breaking a sweat.

"Really? Then next time I'll treat you to something else..."

Zhu Junchen's words lacked confidence, and he felt a bit uneasy.

"Alright, Old Pig, let's get to the point. What's the real reason you invited me here?"

Chen Yang put down his cup and looked at Zhu Junchen. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and he didn't think Zhu Junchen, whom he hadn't seen for over half a year, would suddenly invite him to dinner on a whim.

"Um, it's not much, I just need to borrow some money."

Zhu Junchen hesitated.

"Borrow money?"

Chen Yang frowned, feeling a bad vibe. If it were just a few hundred or a few thousand, there would be no need to invite him to dinner to borrow such a small amount.

"How much do you need?"

"Not much, a hundred thousand."

A hundred thousand?

Chen Yang felt a bitter smile. Not to mention that his bank card only had a few thousand left after his right hand's expenses, even without those expenses, he couldn't come up with a hundred thousand.

Seeing Chen Yang fall silent, Zhu Junchen understood. He took a bitter sip of beer. "Damn, a hundred thousand, a hundred thousand, what a mess. Why do you have to buy a house to get married now? If you don't buy a house, they won't marry you..."

"You're getting married?"

Chen Yang frowned.

"Yeah, the girl's family said they need a house to agree. I've managed to gather one and a half million, but I'm still short by five hundred thousand."

Chen Yang smiled bitterly. "Sorry, Old Pig, I've run into some trouble recently and can't come up with that much money."

"It's fine. I'm still short by five hundred thousand. Even if you lent me a hundred thousand, I wouldn't know where to get the rest."

Zhu Junchen didn't seem to mind.

"Actually, you could consider a mortgage."

Chen Yang suggested.

"Hehe, a mortgage..."

Zhu Junchen seemed reluctant to delve into the topic and changed the subject. "By the way, there's a high school reunion next Saturday. Are you going?"

A high school reunion?

Chen Yang recalled, uh, sorry, he had almost forgotten the faces of most of his high school classmates, and even their names.

"Why... suddenly have a reunion?"

Chen Yang asked, puzzled.

"That's what I'm saying, sigh."

Zhu Junchen said helplessly. "Most of our high school classmates have been in society for two years now. Do you think they're having a reunion just to catch up? They want to see if they can help each other. Besides that, do you really think it's about reconnecting emotionally? Emotions don't pay the bills."

Chen Yang suddenly understood. Since he hadn't truly entered the workforce, he hadn't thought of it that way.

"Then I won't go. I'm just a poor guy, no one will pay attention to me."

Chen Yang continued to eat and refused.

"Hehe, I remember you had a crush on Lin Qingyue in high school, right? How come you didn't confess before graduation, and now you don't want to see how she's doing?"

Zhu Junchen was confident.

Lin Qingyue, the name brought back a shadow in Chen Yang's mind.

"Time and place?"

Chen Yang put down the dipping sauce and asked straightforwardly.

"Hmph, I knew you couldn't resist."

Zhu Junchen said. "Next Saturday at seven in the evening, at Ziyun Hotel. I'll contact you later."

Chen Yang couldn't quite describe his feelings. Six years had passed, and it was impossible to still have the same crush on Lin Qingyue as he did back then. People tend to forget, especially when it comes to hormone-driven love. Over time, the passion fades, and they part ways.

It was impossible to still like her, but since she was his first crush, a complex emotion made him want to see her again.

Maybe, the high school goddess had forgotten his name by now. (If you like the story, please recommend it. Many readers have added it to their collections but haven't given recommendations. I'm not asking for much, but if you have spare votes, please give me a few. Thank you.)