252: Chapter 252 She is usually very understanding.

"You said your family grows vegetables, why didn't you say so earlier? And these vegetables are so cheap. If I had known sooner, our factory canteen would have been using your family's produce long ago!"

After making the agreement with Song Xiaoqin, Wang Chao seemed very happy. Because he often helped out with whatever he could at home during his holidays, he had a certain degree of understanding about many things at the factory, such as the procurement channels and prices for the factory canteen. Therefore, after asking about the prices of the vegetables grown on Song Xiaoqin's land and comparing them with the procurement prices at his own factory, he knew just how cheap they were. Moreover, he had carefully looked at the appearance of the vegetables in Song Xiaoqin's mobile phone photo album; every vegetable was big, green, and growing neatly in the field, so one could tell at a glance that the quality was definitely not bad.

Song Xiaoqin was also very happy, and the other classmates were happy for him as well. It could be said that almost everyone present was beaming with joy, except for one person who was now very unhappy, and that was Cai Miner.

Cai Miner had originally wanted to take this opportunity to embarrass Song Xiaoqin in public, but she hadn't expected that it would instead lead to Song Xiaoqin connecting with Wang Chao's family.

Cai Miner didn't know Wang Chao before this, but she had heard Ye Chen mention that Wang Chao's family ran a factory and was very wealthy. This could be seen from the black Mercedes commercial van Wang Chao drove, as its market price was at least three million. Of course, through subtle inquiries, Cai Miner found out that the black Mercedes commercial van didn't belong to Wang Chao himself, but was one of the assets of his father's factory. It usually served as his father's vehicle and was also responsible for picking up distinguished guests. Wang Chao had only gotten it from his father to drive for fun after his exams were over and he was on holiday. However, even so, it was enough to show the immense wealth of his family; otherwise, how could they dare to trust a novice driver like Wang Chao, who had just graduated from high school and had no driving experience, with a black Mercedes commercial van worth over three million?

And now that Song Xiaoqin had established a connection with Wang Chao's family, it seemed that becoming rich was just around the corner for him...

The more Cai Miner thought about it, the angrier she became. Watching everyone at the table congratulating Song Xiaoqin and Wang Chao on the business cooperation between their families, she finally revealed an expression of disdain to vent her dissatisfaction, saying, "With such cheap vegetables, only factory workers would eat them."

Cai Miner didn't say this very loudly. After all, she knew today was a class reunion, and although she was Ye Chen's girlfriend, she didn't know anyone here. No matter what they were talking about, she couldn't join in, and she felt a bit like an outsider.

But perhaps precisely because of this, she seemed somewhat conspicuous in the current setting, so her every move was easily noticed by everyone. Even though the sentence she had just said wasn't very loud, many people still heard it, and countless gazes immediately turned towards her.

"W-what's wrong?" Cai Miner, suddenly being stared at by so many people, couldn't help but reveal a look of guilt.

"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by that? What's wrong with factory workers? And what's wrong with Song Xiaoqin's family selling their vegetables cheaply?"

The first to challenge Cai Miner wasn't Song Xiaoqin, but Wang Chao. By addressing her as "Sister-in-law," he had elevated her status significantly. Upon hearing this form of address, Cai Miner couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then a faint, reserved, and smug smile appeared on her face. However, the words that followed were undoubtedly Wang Chao's questioning of Cai Miner.

Cai Miner's expression darkened again, and she said to Wang Chao with an unpleasant look, "What's wrong? It's nothing, I'm just stating the truth."

"First of all, factory workers are the lowest-level personnel maintaining the operation of this society. This is something everyone, including all of us, knows. Otherwise, why do we study so hard? Isn't it just so we don't have to go into a factory and become workers? Right?"

"Secondly, the vegetables grown by Song Xiaoqin's family are so cheap in price, and they are irrigated with manure water; the sanitary conditions are simply unimaginable. In any case, even if these vegetables were given to me for free, I wouldn't want them. Song Xiaoqin, don't mind me; I'm criticizing the matter, not the person. I don't mean to look down on you; I'm just saying that your family's vegetables are indeed cheap. That is an indisputable fact."

When she said this, Cai Miner looked at Song Xiaoqin and released a friendly smile. After finishing, she turned her gaze back to Wang Chao. Her previously unpleasant expression had improved somewhat after venting the pent-up frustration in her heart, and she looked quite smug as she asked Wang Chao, "Cheap vegetables go with cheap people, isn't that only natural? So, Wang Chao, what is wrong with what I just said?"

Just when Cai Miner thought her theory was very reasonable and well-founded and would surely leave everyone present speechless, she found that after she finished speaking, almost everyone's gaze was fixed on her, and all with a strange look. It made Cai Miner feel a bit guilty. 'Did I say something wrong? No, didn't I just say the truth?' Cai Miner recalled what she had just said and didn't find any issues with it. She really couldn't understand why these people were looking at her with such strange eyes, as if they were looking at an enemy.

She didn't know, however, that although the people present were classmates of Ye Chen and Wang Chao in the same class, not everyone's family situation was the same as Ye Chen's and Wang Chao's. In fact, the vast majority of their families were ordinary wage earners; some sold labor in factories or on construction sites, and some sold their time in enterprises. Regardless of their position or income, ultimately, they were all working for others—exactly the kind of "workers" Cai Miner had spoken of. Therefore, Cai Miner's words had essentially triggered a blanket attack, offending the vast majority of people present, which was why everyone was glaring at her as if she were an enemy.

"Everything we wear and use, isn't it all produced by workers? If workers are cheap, then those of us who don't produce anything and only know how to enjoy the goods produced by others, wouldn't we be even less than cheap, just a waste of money?" Wang Chao said, staring at Cai Miner with a half-smile in a joking tone.

Although he didn't name names and used the term "we," how could Cai Miner not hear that Ye Chen was calling her a waste of money!

At this time, the other classmates also understood the implication of Wang Chao's words and spoke pointedly one after another: "Yes, yes, we are the waste of money." "Sigh, it's really shameful; we only know how to study but haven't participated in production at all." "It's okay, it's okay, the division of labor is different. After studying well, we can exert greater labor value in the future." "That's right, that's right, as long as we aren't like some people who don't work themselves yet still look down on the broad working class..."

Cai Miner was so angry listening to these people's comments that her lungs were about to explode, but she couldn't possibly argue with so many people alone. She had no choice but to tug at Ye Chen's arm and give him a look, wanting Ye Chen to vent her anger for her.

In Cai Miner's view, Ye Chen was paying for the entire meal today, and these people were all freeloaders. It would be one thing if they didn't show gratitude, but they actually dared to overstep their bounds and gang up to bully her. It really infuriated Miner!

However, Ye Chen didn't think it was a big deal. Although Cai Miner was clearly in the wrong in this matter—if the previous conflict between Cai Miner and Song Xiaoqin was because Cai Miner was thinking of him, fearing that if he gave away cheap vegetables as gifts, the recipients would feel slighted, which was why she rejected Song Xiaoqin's kindness, so Ye Chen couldn't say anything to Cai Miner at the time and had to tactfully decline Song Xiaoqin's kindness—but now, Cai Miner was saying things like workers were cheap and only deserved to eat cheap vegetables, which had offended many people present, and in this matter, Cai Miner was completely in the wrong. Even if he wanted to help Cai Miner, he couldn't possibly agree with her. Fortunately, in Ye Chen's view, this wasn't a big deal. Everyone had received different educations, their concepts were different, so when some ideas clashed, it would produce some conflicts, which was completely understandable.

However, Ye Chen didn't want to see everyone fall out, so after a light sigh, he said, "Everyone, let's stop for now. Today it was indeed Miner's fault; she was hot-tempered and extreme, and said some inappropriate things that made everyone unhappy. But please forgive her; she is on her period today, so her temper is a bit bad, but in fact, she is usually very gentle and very understanding."

Cai Miner's face flushed red. Both ashamed and angry, she pinched Ye Chen's arm and whispered through gritted teeth in his ear, "I told you to help me vent my anger, why did you tell them about me being on my period?"

Ye Chen smiled happily and also whispered, "I was just afraid everyone would misunderstand. Those who didn't know might think what kind of girlfriend I, Ye Chen, had found."

After hearing Ye Chen's explanation, everyone suddenly realized. No wonder this Cai Miner was so annoying; it turned out she was in her special physiological period. As such, everyone felt embarrassed to target such a weak woman again and stopped their verbal attacks on her one after another.

Even the simple-natured classmate, who was the very Song Xiaoqin who had had a conflict with Cai Miner earlier, couldn't help but say to Cai Miner with an apologetic look, "Um... Sister Miner, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were... and I still made you angry. Sorry, sorry."

Cai Miner rolled her eyes at Song Xiaoqin upon hearing this, but the expression on her face no longer held anger or contempt. She said, "It's fine. But let me tell you the truth, those vegetables your family grows are indeed..."

Cai Miner had just said this when she was hurriedly pulled back by Ye Chen. "Aren't you on your period? Eat more of this." Ye Chen picked up a particularly large piece of ginger and put it into Cai Miner's bowl, telling her to hurry up and stop talking.

After that, the atmosphere in the private room became harmonious. Everyone ate and chatted. Unknowingly, they didn't know how many bottles of Huanghe Daqu they had drunk, and everyone started to feel a bit dizzy. However, Wang Chao carefully noticed that Chen Mo was still as sober as usual. "Brother Mo, have you really never drunk Baijiu before?" Wang Chao asked curiously.

At the beginning, when Ye Chen poured wine for Chen Mo, Chen Mo said he had never drunk this before, so he could only try drinking a little bit. But as they drank, they found that Chen Mo didn't refuse whoever poured the wine. Whenever someone said "Cheers," after clinking glasses, he would really down it in one gulp. He truly drank everything in his glass every time. Now that everyone had drunk enough, even some female classmates who hadn't drunk much were feeling a bit tipsy from the smell of alcohol in the room. But in contrast, Chen Mo was incomparably sober, his chopsticks never stopping, specifically picking at nutritious foods like turtle and shrimp on the table. So Wang Chao really couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Really, I've really never drunk it." Chen Mo answered with a sincere face, and what he said was indeed the truth. Why would a student like him drink Baijiu for no reason? It was just that the atmosphere was right today, so he didn't mind trying it. However, after trying it, he found that the tipsy feeling after drinking was actually a little bit nice. Of course, if he drank too much, he would still feel uncomfortable. It was just that his Basic Internal Energy had long reached Perfection, and his Internal Energy was circulating in his body on its own. Excessive alcohol and methanol were automatically refined into gas and evaporated through the gaps in his skin. So although he had drunk quite a lot of alcohol now, if he were to blow into an alcohol tester, it was estimated that the alcohol content would be at most a dozen milligrams.

"Amazing, Brother Mo is truly amazing. Then, I see you've eaten quite a lot of food today; is your appetite usually this big?" Wang Chao noticed the plate piled high with food scraps like a small mountain in front of Chen Mo. Although the Huanghe Hotel was a high-end dining place, considering that the upper-class people dining here needed to maintain an elegant demeanor at all times, the dishes were designed to exclude foods that required gnawing, such as large pork knuckles or roasted chicken. Even steamed Phoenix claws had their tiny bones removed and were steamed until soft and sticky, melting with a single suck, making them very convenient to eat without producing too many food scraps. However, even so, in front of Chen Mo was a pile of turtle shells and lobster shells. One could imagine how much food he had consumed alone. In Wang Chao's view, the food Chen Mo had eaten today was probably the amount of food for three to five normal boys, yet Chen Mo's physique didn't look like he could hold that much food, which was why Wang Chao couldn't help but ask this question.