"The classmates haven't even all arrived yet, and you've already started the banquet!"
Li Shiqi spoke up, saying, "I checked the time, and it seems I'm not late!"
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help feeling a bit awkward.
It was true that they had started eating early because, in their view, the important people had already arrived, while the few unimportant ones didn't really matter.
"I heard your Li Family collapsed three years ago?"
Zhang Hao said with a smile, "Without the protection of a family, it must be hard to get by. If you run into any trouble, you can come to me—after all, we were classmates!"
Qin Ruping also nodded and said, "Now Haozi is a senior corporate executive. If you really have any difficulties, just say the word!"
"No need!"
Li Shiqi shook his head, saying nothing more.
It seemed the atmosphere of this class reunion wasn't very pleasant.
If Zhang Dashan hadn't dragged him along, he probably wouldn't have come here at all.
"Did you guys get something wrong?"
Zhang Dashan piped up, "Our Shiqi isn't doing badly at all. Do you know who the owner of Longquan Villa is?"
"Don't tell me it's Li Shiqi?" a few male classmates joked.
"It really is!"
Seeing that nobody believed him, Zhang Dashan wore a deadly serious expression.
The rest of the crowd just laughed it off. The Li Family had gone bankrupt three years ago; how could Li Shiqi possibly be the owner of Longquan Villa?
Even if the Li Family hadn't gone bankrupt, the most expensive place in all of Longcheng would surely never be Li Shiqi's turn.
Zhang Dashan wanted to explain further, but Li Shiqi pressed a hand down on him to stop him.
There was no need to say much about such matters.
What's more, he had come to the class reunion simply out of nostalgia for their college friendship.
Yet seeing everyone's ugly faces, he knew there was no point to it at all.
"Long time no see, how have you been lately?"
Right at that moment, a young woman left her seat and walked over to Li Shiqi. She looked quite pure and innocent, her delicate facial features as if carved by a master.
"Wan Jiayi?"
Li Shiqi glanced at her, a hint of surprise in his heart.
The woman before him had been like an obedient little girl during their college days, terribly shy on ordinary days.
He hadn't expected her to take the initiative to speak with him today.
"You still remember me!" Wan Jiayi beamed with joy.
"Jiayi, you're a rising star now. It's one thing that he didn't toast you, but you actually went over to toast him?"
A few classmates spoke with sarcastic insinuation. Among all their classmates, Wan Jiayi was considered to be doing quite well.
Not only was she pretty, but she had also become a popular leading actress.
"We're all classmates, why must you be so petty?"
Wan Jiayi spoke frankly, clearly somewhat displeased with what the others had just said.
Back when they were in college, her family background wasn't very good, so very few people in the class were willing to give her the time of day.
Yet Li Shiqi, despite being the wealthy playboy of the class, had frequently looked out for her.
Therefore, she held a particularly good impression of Li Shiqi.
Even if the present-day Li Shiqi was no longer what he used to be, that didn't matter at all.
"It's a good thing Ruping didn't choose you back then, otherwise she'd probably be suffering right along with you!"
A bespectacled man laughed. "My Brother Hao is still the best!"
"What, is this going on endlessly today?"
Zhang Dashan said with dissatisfaction, "You guys are far too snobbish. Do you really think Shiqi is completely useless?"
"It's not that we think so. Just look at the way he's dressed—does he look like someone who's doing well?"
A few classmates bantered, looking at him with utter disdain.
Zhang Hao sat to the side, quietly sipping his wine with a meaningful look on his face, making no move to stop them.
Instead, the corners of his lips turned up slightly in a smug expression.
Back in college, his family had been poor, and he was like an invisible person in the class.
Li Shiqi, on the other hand, was dazzling and brilliant, leveraging his family's advantages to become the shining light of the classroom.
Yet now that Li Shiqi had fallen into decline, it only served to set off his own brilliance all the more.
"Right, this is a movie I acted in. You can go watch it when you have time!"
Wan Jiayi took out a promotional album, looking completely sincere.
"I'll go when I have time!"
Li Shiqi smiled. "I never expected that the little girl from back then would now have grown into such a poised young woman and even become a popular star!"
"I still have to thank you for your encouragement. If you hadn't kept encouraging me back then, I wouldn't have strived so hard to better myself!" Wan Jiayi smiled brightly.
Seeing Wan Jiayi treat Li Shiqi like this, Qin Ruping felt somewhat displeased, though she couldn't say much.
Just as everyone was chatting, however, the private room door was pushed open, and several burly men barged in. "This Emperor Number One private room has already been reserved. You lot can scram!"
Hearing this, several classmates instantly flared up.
This Emperor Number One private room was one they had pooled their money to book.
Midway through their gathering, someone actually wanted to chase them out.
"My brothers, did you make a mistake?"
Zhang Hao put on a gentlemanly demeanor. "We paid a deposit for this private room long ago!"
"Cut the fucking crap! Clear out right now and vacate the room!"
The burly men spoke harshly, appearing dead drunk.
Zhang Hao frowned. He at least held some clout in Longcheng, yet he hadn't expected these few individuals to be so unbridled.
"What should we do?" Qin Ruping frowned.
"Yo, this girl is quite pretty!"
One of the men fixed his gaze on Wan Jiayi and reached out to grope her.
As a popular star, Wan Jiayi naturally possessed exceptionally high looks.
Rumble...
Yet the moment the man drew near, Li Shiqi lashed out with a flying kick.
Seeing this, the other ruffians instantly turned hostile. "Does you little punk know who we are? How dare you lay a hand on us!"
"Who you are is none of my concern, but she is someone you cannot touch!" Li Shiqi's voice was ice-cold.
A warm current surged through Wan Jiayi's heart. She hadn't expected Li Shiqi to be so manly.
"You bastards just wait! None of you are leaving today!"
The bald man seemed to sober up a bit at this, and only then did he slink away in defeat.
Though the few of them were burly, there were quite a few people inside the private room; if a real fight broke out, they wouldn't necessarily come out ahead.
"Are you alright?" Li Shiqi asked.
"I'm fine, but..."
Wan Jiayi frowned. "These people don't have some sort of powerful backing, do they?"
"It doesn't matter, they're just a bunch of thugs!"
Li Shiqi shrugged, not paying it much mind.
Seeing this, Zhang Hao felt somewhat displeased inside.
He hadn't expected Li Shiqi to be the one to show off just now.
Playing the hero to save the damsel in distress in front of so many classmates—that was something he should have done.
Though his current girlfriend was Qin Ruping, he certainly wouldn't mind swapping her out for Wan Jiayi.
A contemporary leading actress still carried a lot of weight.
And a man who wanted to succeed naturally had to find a better woman.
"Shiqi, that kick you just did was way too cool!"
Zhang Dashan exclaimed, "I have to toast you a drink!"
Li Shiqi rolled his eyes at him, and only then drank a few cups.
Everyone ate and drank as if nothing had just happened.
Yet right at that moment, the manager of the White Tiger Restaurant ran in, panic written all over his face.