My Youth Began With Him

“Really?” Huo Mian said with a faint smile.

“Young Master Liu, you’re really a hoes-before-bros type of person, eh? Just now when you came in, you couldn’t say anyone’s name but Huo Mian… You recognized her immediately…” Some of the guys started to stir up the situation.

“Huo Mian was our class goddess. She was simply a genius and was one of the most famous people in our school. Of course I recognize her,” Liu Ze said with a smile as he walked back to his seat.

He was sitting at the center spot with Han Xu beside him. Huo Mian sat next to Han Xu while Zhu Lingling sat next to Huo Mian.

The private room could fit 20 people but only 18 came. It wasn’t a large number of people who came but it wasn’t a small number either.

The weird thing was how Wei Dong didn’t come. He used to be a very high profile. Before, Wei Dong would organize the class reunions and would pay for everyone.

“Huh? Where’s Wei Dong?” Zhu Lingling was a nosy person so she immediately noticed and asked.

“Don’t even bring it up. Wei Dong’s situation is kinda sad. He even left our group chat. I think only Han Xu still has his contact info. He’s in a rather desperate situation so he probably doesn’t have the face to come. Hey, Class Rep, did you invite him? Didn’t you tell him that he doesn’t have to pay? Mr. Liu will settle things!” someone said, gloating at Wei Dong’s misfortune.

Han Xu said, “I tried convincing him but he just won’t come.”

“What happened with Wei Dong? Did something happen in his family?” Zhu Lingling continued to be nosy.

“You don’t know? I heard that he went bankrupt. Last year, he used all his real estate as collateral to pay off the bank but he still owes a lot of money. His dad and his uncle were arrested. They probably committed some sort of crime. Now, Wei Dong is selling cars at a dealership. I saw him at a car convention at the end of last year, and he’s a lot more low-profile now. Apparently, his newly-wedded wife ran away with someone else soon after all those things happened to him. She left a baby daughter behind. Their daughter wasn’t even six months old yet, and he’s in a pretty desolate state,” some person who liked gossip summarized Wei Dong’s situation. Most of the people in that room were those who took pleasure in others’ misfortune. There were even a few girls who joked around about it as if it was some drama on television.

Suddenly, Huo Mian realized how bleak humans were. When Wei Dong was rich, he had treated everyone well. He used to pay for all the reunions. Even if someone was short on money, Wei Dong would also help out. Now that he was poor, no one was willing to lend him a hand.

More so, they were criticizing him and laughing at him. Huo Mian suddenly realized how sad the world had become. She realized she shouldn’t have come to this reunion today because these weren’t people she shared a common language with.

“Oh? What a pity… Life sure has its cycles…” Zhu Lingling sympathized with Wei Dong despite her never really like him.

They were still classmates after all. She did not feel good that he was now in such a desolate state.

“Oh, Huo Mian. Didn’t Wei Dong pursue you back then? You’re lucky that you didn’t choose him,” one girl said in an odd tone.

“Stop mentioning that. Wei Dong isn’t my Mian’s cup of tea,” Zhu Lingling domineeringly responded for Huo Mian.

“Huo Mian, I heard you’re South Side’s deputy director now?” Liu Ze looked at Huo Mian and asked, ignoring Han Xu who was in between them.

“Yeah.” Huo Mian nodded. She obviously didn’t want to engage in a further conversation with him.

“Can you introduce me to some people there? I want to work there,” Liu Ze said with a serious face.

The whole room was astonished. Even Huo Mian was slightly astonished.

“Young Master Liu, you’re joking, right? Don’t scare our goddess Huo,” Han Xu said to the rich boy, Liu Ze, who was sitting next to him.