130: Chapter 130 Jealousy

Zhao Yang had always kept this favor in mind.

"Hello, Teacher Huang."

Zhao Yang answered the phone.

"Hey, Zhao Yang! Are you back from the break yet?"

Class Teacher Huang's voice was still full of vigor, speaking Mandarin with a thick accent.

"I'm back, I'm at home."

"That's good! Tomorrow night, our Class 3-8 is holding a class reunion at Juxian Tower. Everyone is coming, and you have to come too!"

"A reunion?" Zhao Yang paused for a moment.

To be honest, he had no interest in this kind of class reunion.

His past life experience told him that such gatherings had no real substance, aside from drinking contests, bragging, and comparing jobs and partners.

Those doing well came to show off, while those doing poorly came for a free meal or to borrow money.

Besides, he had been quite withdrawn during high school, spending almost every day studying, and he had almost no friends in class.

He was even more repelled by this kind of reunion.

But it was Class Teacher Huang on the other end of the line.

Zhao Yang frowned, hesitated for a moment, and said.

"Alright, Teacher Huang. Since you're organizing it, I'll definitely be there."

"Haha, that's great! Tomorrow at six, see you there!"

After hanging up, Zhao Yang shook his head and continued to bury himself in deriving formulas.

...

The next evening, at six o'clock.

Changcheng, Juxian Tower.

This was one of the best restaurants in the city, and its opulent decoration style was considered quite grand for this era.

Zhao Yang was wearing an ordinary black down jacket, strolling leisurely as he walked inside.

Pushing open the door to the "Peony Hall," a wave of heat mixed with the smell of smoke, alcohol, and noisy human voices rushed towards him.

Three large round tables were already filled with people.

"Oh! Isn't this our straight-A student Zhao Yang? Come sit over here! You were number one in our class! A big scholar!"

A slightly exaggerated voice rang out.

It was Li Jun speaking. He was wearing a suit, his hair pretentiously slicked back with hair wax, shiny and greasy, and he was putting on an act of handing out Zhonghua cigarettes.

It was easy to see that he was imitating the appearance of an adult, and it was quite deliberate.

Li Jun's family did business in the county town; in the words of later generations, his family could be considered the Brahmins of the county.

Unfortunately, this guy was a die-hard simp for Song Xi.

That was why he had always disliked Zhao Yang. The reason was simple—the school beauty, Song Xi, looked at Zhao Yang differently, and even back in class, she was always asking Zhao Yang for help with problems.

This made Li Jun, that simp, extremely jealous of Zhao Yang.

Zhao Yang nodded indifferently, didn't take the cigarette, couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Li Jun, and walked straight to an empty seat in the corner to sit down.

Next to that seat sat a few classmates who usually had low presence in class, drinking tea somewhat reservedly. Seeing Zhao Yang come over, they were a bit surprised, but they greeted him in a friendly manner.

He scanned the room.

Except for a few who went to school in other places and hadn't returned, the people from Class 3-8 had basically all arrived.

At the main table, Class Teacher Huang was being surrounded by a few students who were doing relatively "well" in life, offering him toasts, his face flushed from drinking.

And at the girls' table on the other side, two particularly conspicuous figures were sitting.

Song Xi and Wang Ya.

Today, as usual, Song Xi wore natural makeup, dressed in an off-white cashmere coat, with her long hair draped over her shoulders, her temperament outstanding.

As the former school beauty, she was still the focus of the entire room. Even in this noisy setting, she maintained a reserved smile.

Beside her, Wang Ya was holding Song Xi's hand, whispering something, her eyes drifting toward Zhao Yang from time to time.

Zhao Yang only took one look and then withdrew his gaze.

Living life again, Zhao Yang had long lost any filter for her, leaving only the indifference one would have for a passerby.

After several courses and rounds of drinks.

The atmosphere gradually became heated. Everyone started toasting each other, and the initial pleasantries turned into bragging and comparing.

"Oh, my Changcheng University is just like that. Two thousand a month for living expenses isn't even enough, I still have to ask my family for more."

"My school is alright, just too far from the city center. But I'm dating someone, a local, and their family has two apartments."

"Brother Li, I heard your AJ sneakers are limited edition? How much did you buy them for?"

Li Jun had essentially become the center of attention. He held up his wine glass, his face glowing, and said: "It wasn't much money, just over two thousand. The main thing is that these shoes are hard to buy; I had to pull a lot of strings to get them."

Envious exclamations of admiration rang out all around.

In an era where the average living expense was only five or six hundred, a pair of shoes costing over two thousand was indeed capital for showing off.

Li Jun enjoyed the admiration of the crowd, but his eyes drifted toward Song Xi from time to time. Seeing that Song Xi was only smiling politely and didn't show much reaction, he felt a bit annoyed.

He glanced again at Zhao Yang, who was silently eating in the corner.

Zhao Yang was wearing that old down jacket which clearly looked like it had been worn for several years, and he was bowing his head, peeling a large shrimp, completely uninvolved in the surrounding excitement, as if he were out of place in this world.

But Song Xi, sitting nearby, was the same as before, her gaze sweeping over Zhao Yang in the corner from time to time.

A nameless anger rose inexplicably in Li Jun's heart.

"What are you acting so high and mighty for?" Li Jun cursed inwardly.

He picked up his wine glass and staggered over to Zhao Yang's table.

"Yo, isn't this our class's great talent, Zhao Yang! How come you're here eating silently by yourself? Won't you have a drink with everyone?"

Li Jun slammed his wine glass down on the table, causing a few drops of wine to spill out.

"What? After getting into Beijing Forestry University, do you look down on us old classmates?"

He deliberately said "Beijing Forestry University" in an exaggerated way; after all, everyone knew back then that Zhao Yang getting into Beijing Forestry University was a last resort in itself.

Originally, he could have easily gotten into a 985 university, but because of a fever, he almost didn't even make it into a 211, and Beijing Forestry University was just a lucky catch.

Li Jun's words were full of mockery.

This shout attracted everyone's attention.

The originally noisy hall instantly became much quieter.

Zhao Yang put down the shrimp in his hand, pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands, looked up, and calmly looked at Li Jun.

"I don't drink, I'm allergic to alcohol."

"Allergic? Heh, isn't that a bit too disrespectful?"

Li Jun laughed exaggeratedly.

"I never heard you were allergic before? Do you think our wine is too cheap, and doesn't match your status as a 211 high-achieving student?"

Li Jun deliberately emphasized the phrase "211 high-achieving student."

"Come, come, waiter, bring our talent Zhao the best bottle of Moutai! I'm treating everyone to this meal today, there's plenty to go around!"

A few boys who were close with Li Jun also joined in the heckling: "Exactly, Zhao Yang, have a drink, it's New Year's, once a year."

The classmates nearby saw this scene and all frowned.

Everyone felt that Li Jun had gone too far.

After all, with Zhao Yang's original grades, he could have at least gotten into a 985, yet Li Jun kept emphasizing the 211, seeming to want to remind Zhao Yang that a 211 gotten by luck had no real value; the mockery in this was just too strong.

However, they didn't have much of a friendship with Zhao Yang, so they didn't say anything.

After all, Li Jun's family was quite wealthy, and he was very popular in class, unlike Zhao Yang, who was almost the epitome of a bookworm at school, usually not talking much to people, and was quite withdrawn.