30: Chapter 30: When you're poor, no one cares even in the bustling city; when you're rich, even distant relatives come calling.

Looking at Old Yu's wild and animated expression on the screen, Chen Sheng smiled, a bold and unrestrained grin. "No problem! Roadside BBQ, let's feast."

As for this 'frenemy' from his university days, it had indeed been a while since they last met.

"You..."

Old Yu hadn't expected Chen Sheng to be so agreeable this time.

According to their usual routine, shouldn't he have made excuses first, then rambled about their 'father-son' bond, and only then reluctantly agreed?

This kid...

He wasn't playing by the rules.

It left Old Yu with a stomach full of crooked arguments and nowhere to vent them, making him feel quite stifled. After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "You said it yourself, kid. See you at the usual spot tonight."

Leaving it at that, Old Yu was the first to hang up the video call without hesitation.

Chen Sheng wasn't annoyed!

No, it should be said he had already put Old Yu out of his mind, because An Xiaonuan's video call followed immediately.

It was still about him pulling cards worth tens of thousands.

However, compared to his 'frenemy' who 'feared a friend's suffering but feared a friend's success even more,' An Xiaonuan, as his wife, was full of praise and admiration.

"Hubby! You're amazing!"

"Are they really worth tens of thousands?" Having received confirmation, An Xiaonuan, her eyes sparkling with stars, immediately added, "Wow! Hubby, you're the best!"

Old Yu?

Who's that?

Don't know him!

After finishing the video call with An Xiaonuan, Chen Sheng picked out a few people he frequently contacted in the comments section and replied to them.

But what happened next truly illustrated the saying, 'When poor, no one asks in the busy market; when rich, distant relatives visit in the deep mountains.'

With a 'ding,' a notification popped up at the top of the screen. Chen Sheng tapped his finger, and the screen jumped to the message interface.

The unfamiliar name made him think for a long time, yet he still couldn't recall who it was or when he had added such a person.

Until he saw the content.

"Sheng Zi! It's Bin Zi, Zhang Bin from our high school class. Money's a bit tight lately, could you help me out with a small loan? Not much, just two or three thousand will do."

Chen Sheng thought for a long time before finally extracting a blurry figure from the depths of his memory.

Then, Chen Sheng decisively closed the message page and casually dragged the contact into his blacklist.

This kind of person who hadn't been in touch for eight hundred years and immediately asked for money without even mentioning a repayment date—regardless of whether they were truly in trouble—he might have lent it in his early twenties. But now, at twenty-eight, he absolutely would not lend this money.

After blacklisting Zhang Bin, Chen Sheng exited the green bubble, opened his ride-hailing app, and began his daily routine as a ride-hailing driver.

Even though he had already earned 16,800 yuan today, who would complain about having too much money?

Besides, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Perhaps it was the luck brought by the '168,' but until 5:30 PM, he didn't encounter a single eccentric customer along the way.

After seeing off the last customer, Chen Sheng closed the platform and drove to the office building where An Xiaonuan worked. After picking her up, they headed straight for the roadside BBQ near the University of Electronic Science and Technology.

Perhaps it was a lingering student sentiment, or perhaps because his life after graduation had been mediocre, even though he had been graduated for years, every time Chen Sheng met up with classmates, he would subconsciously choose restaurants near his alma mater.

It wasn't just that it was cheap; it had a flavor that other restaurants lacked.

When the two of them arrived at the roadside BBQ, Old Yu—Yu Yu—had already arrived and had even pre-ordered everything.

It was just...

"WTF! Old Yu, did you go mining for coal? If the lights were any dimmer, I swear I might not have even spotted you, kid." Chen Sheng punched Old Yu in the chest.

It was a greeting, and also revenge for the blackmail.

"Damn it! Don't even mention it. A fishing group shared a spot for giants earlier, saying there were hundred-pounders. In the end, I camped there for a week and didn't catch a single damn thing."

"Impressive~"

Don't misunderstand!

This wasn't said by Chen Sheng, but a compliment from An Xiaonuan next to him.

An Xiaonuan gave a thumbs up and asked very curiously, "You went home looking like this, and your old man didn't break your legs?"

Old Yu was a 'second-generation' who didn't quite count as one. A Shu City native, his family had been involved in a demolition and relocation project long ago. However, Shu City wasn't the new first-tier city it was today back then, so despite the demolition, the compensation wasn't that much.

Two apartments near the Third Ring Road and a sum of money that wasn't considered large.

Of the two apartments, Old Yu's family lived in one, and the other was reserved for Old Yu's marriage.

That modest sum of money was used by Old Yu's father to buy two small storefronts near their allotted apartment. One was for their own use, where they opened a convenience store, and the other was rented out.

After graduation, because he had his family as a safety net, Old Yu worked sporadically, a typical representative of the modern 'salted fish' who refused to join the rat race. Finally, Old Yu's parents discussed it and simply had him come home to inherit the family business. Once liberated, The elderly couple's life—square dancing, joining tour groups with old friends—became incredibly carefree.

Equally carefree was Old Yu.

Once his parents began focusing their energy on enjoying life and Old Yu moved into the new apartment alone, he completely 'laid flat' once he was free of their constraints.

At first, he managed the supermarket himself, but later he became obsessed with fishing. He directly hired a clerk for his small supermarket. Out of 30 days in a month, for 25 of them, he was either fishing or on his way to fish.

Fortunately, he still knew to set aside five days for irregular spot checks.

Otherwise, Chen Sheng feared the clerk might empty out the supermarket one day.

But truly, to have been admitted to the University of Electronic Science and Technology, Old Yu did have some brains. At least with the supermarket in his hands, even with a hired clerk, the monthly net income wasn't lower than when The elderly couple ran it; in fact, most of the time, it was significantly higher.

This was also the main reason The elderly couple didn't care about Old Yu fishing every day.

Of course, that was in the past.

Now, a very serious problem faced The elderly couple: Old Yu was already approaching thirty. Not to mention that children of his peers were already old enough to run errands, at least most people his age were married.

And Old Yu?

Looking at his current state, it felt like he might spend his whole life with fish.

Thus, all sorts of marriage pressures and blind dates came one after another.

At first, Old Yu would cooperate, but over time, he learned to use fishing as a way to avoid the hassle. However, as the saying goes, 'you have your clever plan, I have my way around it.' Old Yu could fish to avoid the hassle, but he had to come home eventually, so The elderly couple would wait until the day he returned to corner him.

Just a few days ago, while they were chatting, Old Yu complained that The elderly couple had arranged another blind date for him. He heard the other party worked in a bank and he'd have to go as soon as he got back.

No matter the location, if a woman was a Staff Member in a government agency, bank, or school, she was definitely a 'hot commodity.'

But now, with Old Yu looking like he'd gone mining in Africa, in this age of judging by looks, this blind date...

Tsk tsk~

Putting himself in their shoes, if he and An Xiaonuan were in The elderly couple's position, only breaking two of Old Yu's legs instead of three would be out of consideration for having to answer to the ancestors in a hundred years, and for the fact that the Yu family lineage hadn't ended in his hands.

Chen Sheng added, "Exactly! Didn't you say you had to go on a blind date as soon as you got back? Looking like this, aren't you really afraid your dad will break your legs?"

...