40

Here we go again. Zhou Chaosheng let out a cold snort, keeping his reaction to Jiang Yuanye’s sudden phone call off his face. Instead, he said, “Have you disappeared for the past three months, or did something happen to you? You’re only thinking of calling me now, doesn’t seem like you like me that much.”

Jiang Yuanye’s mouth opened in surprise, but he quickly shut it and chuckled. “I sent you messages. You ignored me, so how is this my fault?”

These days, aside from XX Bank, XX Telecom, and 10010’s scheduled messages, who even uses SMS? No one checks those.

Seeing Jiang Yuanye’s “you didn’t see it, so you can’t blame me” innocent expression, Zhou Chaosheng nearly lost his temper. He forced himself to hold it in and said with a fake smile, “So what exactly do you want?”

“Do I have to have a reason to call you?”

Jiang Yuanye asked while shifting and lying on the bed. As the phone moved, the background was briefly revealed, it was clearly a five-star hotel room. The rustling of fabric against the bed could be heard through the speaker.

Click. That was the sound of a charger being plugged into the socket.

Zhou Chaosheng had no patience for nonsense. He still had stacks of documents waiting to be reviewed. Chatting on the phone with Jiang Yuanye right now was just wasting his time.

“If there’s nothing important, I’m hanging up.”

“Aiya, aiya.” Just as Zhou Chaosheng’s finger was about to press the red button, Jiang Yuanye panicked. “It’s only been three months, and you’re already so impatient when talking to me?”

He lowered his eyelashes, putting on a pitiful expression. “I get it… You must have someone else out there.”

Zhou Chaosheng’s expression cracked: “…”

What kind of nonsense is this?!

“Jiang Yuanye, no one’s stopping you from keeping your mouth shut.”

“If I don’t speak, you’ll just treat me like some abandoned original spouse who got cheated on.”

“…I didn’t cheat on you.”

“Then why do you sound so impatient when you talk to me?”

Zhou Chaosheng nearly lost his composure, he actually let Jiang Yuanye drag him into this ridiculous conversation!

“I’m not impatient. I just have a lot of work and a lot on my mind,” Zhou Chaosheng explained for once. The key was that if he didn’t, he’d be labeled a ‘scumbag’ for no reason.

“Oh, so that’s how it is. Then I forgive you.” Jiang Yuanye put on an expression of great generosity and said considerately.

Anyone else would call him a living bodhisattva at a glance. But only Zhou Chaosheng knew, this guy was definitely doing it on purpose. He knew Zhou Chaosheng was busy, yet he just had to come and cause trouble.

The reason? Probably because he suffered setbacks in Jinzhou and wanted to use him for entertainment.

To be honest, Zhou Chaosheng had expected Jiang Yuanye to call, but he didn’t expect it to be this soon. He thought the guy would at least keep quiet for a few more days.

A month ago, besides dealing with the unreasonable compensation demands from the U.S. side, he also intercepted Junge’s latest drone release and issued an announcement in Huajie’s authorized stores: Anyone who purchases an Air25 and pays the final installment will receive an immediate price deduction equivalent to Junge’s non-refundable ¥10,000 deposit for locking in a drone order.

Because Huajie’s newly developed product had powerful features, a global marketing frenzy, and a price that had more than tripled compared to previous models,

If buyers could offset ¥10,000, it meant the final price increase was only around ¥2,000 more than before.

Most consumers, after comparison, ultimately decided to buy Huajie’s drone, which had strong functions, brand assurance, and a significant discount, while Junge’s drone sales were utterly dismal.

After this incident, there was no way Jiang Yuanye wouldn’t hold a grudge against him.

“I’m really going to hang up now,” Zhou Chaosheng said.

“Wait, I haven’t finished talking.” Jiang Yuanye stopped him.

What was so important that it had to be said today? Zhou Chaosheng was puzzled. Junge’s main business was mobile phones, losing to Huajie in the drone market was a completely normal outcome.

Even if their technology was superior, launching a product at the same time as Huajie’s latest release meant they were doomed to fail.

This was just another ordinary business competition between them, not something worth pestering him about.

“What is it?” Zhou Chaosheng asked.

“Half a month from now is Youqi and Qingyun’s wedding. Are you planning to go?” Jiang Yuanye got straight to the point. 

“Xu Qingyun was your senior-year class monitor, and Zhang Youqi was our first-year class monitor. The two of them started secretly dating behind our backs in first year. Now, after a ten-year relationship, they’re finally getting married.”

Zhou Chaosheng hadn’t lost his memory, so of course, he remembered that petite girl with round glasses who sat at the podium every night during self-study, watching over the class.

In his memory, she had always been well-behaved, a model student in the eyes of teachers and classmates alike. He never expected that she had engaged in a secret high school romance in her youth.

Ten years...

That was two years longer than his and Jiang Yuanye’s eight-year history.

He actually knew about this. Not long ago, Zhao Xiaohui had been talking about it, but Zhou Chaosheng had been too busy with work and declined the invitation. When Zhao Xiaohui saw that he wasn’t going, he lost interest too and even sighed, “This wedding is basically a class reunion. After all these years apart, things probably won’t be the same anymore.”

Zhou Chaosheng could tell that Zhao Xiaohui wanted to go, but without his close friend by his side, it didn’t seem worth it. Plus, given their status, if they were overly fawned upon at the event, they wouldn’t feel comfortable anywhere.

To be honest, Zhou Chaosheng felt the same way. He had never liked these kinds of social occasions and would avoid them whenever possible. Moreover, he had only been in Class Two for a year and wasn’t particularly close to most of his classmates. There simply wasn’t a deep enough bond to justify attending.

But Zhao Xiaohui and Jiang Yuanye were different.

Zhao Xiaohui was a social butterfly, outgoing, straightforward, and generous. He had plenty of friends, and back in high school, nearly every boy in the class liked to hang around him. As for Jiang Yuanye, he was deeply sentimental. He never openly expressed it, but he would always protect his friends through actions rather than words. Even when everyone knew his family was struggling financially, no one ever mocked him for it. In fact, some even secretly pooled money to help him pay off part of his debts.

Maybe that’s why Jiang Yuanye had always felt such a strong attachment to his high school classmates. Even after being betrayed by his closest friend after stepping into the real world, he had never sought revenge or retaliated harshly.

“…It’s rare for everyone to get together. If you and Zhao Xiaohui could come, that would be great.” Jiang Yuanye’s expression was slightly uneasy, as if asking Zhou Chaosheng for a favor was particularly difficult for him.

Zhou Chaosheng raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise. This was the first time Jiang Yuanye had ever asked him for anything.

He figured it was probably because the guys from Class Two had been goofing around in the class group chat, tagging Zhao Xiaohui and urging him to attend. But after Zhao Xiaohui declined, the enthusiasm in the group chat noticeably died down.

And since Zhang Youqi was one of Jiang Yuanye’s closest friends in high school, he likely didn’t want to let Xu Qingyun down either, so he came to ask Zhou Chaosheng for help.

Zhou Chaosheng could guess why they had asked Jiang Yuanye instead of someone else. Even though everyone knew they were lifelong rivals who couldn’t stand each other, the most successful people after graduation were just him, Jiang Yuanye, and Zhao Xiaohui. They were in the same circle, so at least they could communicate easily.

But even if they could talk, there was no way he would agree to Jiang Yuanye’s request. Given how terrible their relationship was, how did Zhang Youqi even come up with this idea?

“Why didn’t they invite me directly and instead sent you to say this?” Zhou Chaosheng raised an eyebrow. Even now, he hadn’t received a wedding invitation from Xu Qingyun. What, were they deliberately excluding him from Class Two?

Jiang Yuanye rolled over, leaned against the headboard with a pillow behind him, looking relaxed. Hearing this, he quickly explained, “It’s not like that. Qingyun just couldn’t find a way to contact you. Plus, you’re a busy man, how would they dare disturb you?”

“Oh? But they dare disturb you?”

“I’m not the same as you. I’m close with Youqi.”

“So, according to you, since I’m not that close to them, I don’t have to go?”

“I never said that! Don’t twist my words, okay?”

Zhou Chaosheng stopped twirling his pen, leaned back in his chair, and faced Jiang Yuanye directly over the phone. “Then why are you the one telling me?”

Jiang Yuanye ran a hand through his hair but avoided looking at Zhou Chaosheng on the screen. “Because you’re my boyfriend.”

Zhou Chaosheng didn’t buy it. “Tell me the truth.”

“…Fine. It’s because when I went out to sea with Youqi and the others, I overheard Xu Qingyun’s best friend complaining about it. That’s when I found out that in the Class Two group chat, they kept tagging Zhao Xiaohui, but he refused to go. A bunch of people started spamming the chat, saying how disappointed they were…”

“So you just took on this job yourself?”

“…Yeah.”

Just as he expected. Jiang Yuanye just couldn’t help meddling in other people’s business.

Come to think of it, he had never even been added to Class Two’s group chat, he had only ever heard a few things about it from Zhao Xiaohui.

“If they’re so uninterested, why not just invite Class One? Wouldn’t that be fine?” Zhou Chaosheng asked.

“You know about the bandwagon effect, right? If most people aren’t enthusiastic about something, they’ll influence others in the group, making everyone even less interested,” Jiang Yuanye explained.

Zhou Chaosheng knew that Xu Qingyun had a great relationship with her classmates, so of course, she wanted her wedding to be witnessed by old friends. He had also heard from Xu Hao that before he and Zhao Xiaohui transferred in, Class One and Class Two shared the same math teacher and were very close, they would often hang out together after school to play basketball.

It was only after he and Zhao Xiaohui transferred in that the relationship between the two classes suddenly became tense.

“When is it?” Zhou Chaosheng asked.

Jiang Yuanye’s eyes widened instantly. “You’re agreeing to go?”

“Otherwise? You don’t want me to go?”

“No, no, I do! I really do! It’d be great if you could come. Oh, right, what about Zhao Xiaohui? Is he free?”

“…So, you’re more eager for Zhao Xiaohui to go than me?”

Jiang Yuanye paused, then gave a dry laugh. “What? No way. I want you there the most. Zhao Xiaohui is just… a bonus.”

Zhou Chaosheng barely nodded. “Alright. When?”

“The singles’ gathering is on March 22nd, but the wedding is on the 23rd. See if you can make it on the 23rd,” Jiang Yuanye said.

“Got it.”

“So… that’s it for now?”

“Yeah. Bye.”

After hanging up, Zhou Chaosheng immediately dialed Zhao Xiaohui.

After two rings, his childhood friend’s lazy voice was amplified countless times through the receiver.

Zhou Chaosheng: “…”

Zhao Xiaohui let go of the woman in his arms and answered, “Hello?”

Zhou Chaosheng couldn’t care less about his friend’s personal life and got straight to the point. “That class reunion you mentioned, I’m going.”

Zhao Xiaohui was stunned for a moment. “Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

“No reason. Carry on. I’m hanging up.”

Without hesitation, Zhou Chaosheng ended the call.

Zhao Xiaohui: "...."

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