Urban Martial Saint

This voice sounded somewhat familiar; Ye Qing hesitated slightly and suddenly laughed, ”You’re Zhou Yong!”

”Hahaha...” Zhou Yong on the other end of the phone burst into laughter and said, ”Old classmate, I really couldn’t hide from you. I deliberately disguised my voice, yet you still recognized it. How are you? Busy with something?”

”Not really, just relaxing.” Ye Qing replied with a faint smile, surprised that Zhou Yong called him. In reality, his relationship with Zhou Yong wasn’t that great; among these classmates, the only one Ye Qing acknowledged was Gao Shibao.

”That’s good!” Zhou Yong laughed, ”I was afraid you’d be busy. Well, your old classmate’s in Shenchuan City, want to have a couple of drinks together?”

”You’re in Shenchuan City?” Ye Qing was very surprised and asked, ”When did you arrive?”

”Just arrived, just turned my phone on and wanted to call an old classmate first.” Zhou Yong laughed, ”I tried calling you this afternoon, but your phone was off; I thought you were busy with something. Luckily, I got through now. Are you free tonight? If you are, let’s have dinner, I’ve contacted a few classmates from Shenchuan City, we can all sit together?”

When Ye Qing was in the Capital, Zhou Yong had treated him to a meal. Now that Zhou Yong is in Shenchuan City, Ye Qing couldn’t easily refuse. He didn’t decline at that moment; he agreed immediately and also sent Da Fei to the airport to bring Zhou Yong to the city. After all, they were old classmates; even though they didn’t get along well during school, a classmate relationship is still better than an ordinary one.

While someone went to pick up Zhou Yong, on the other side, Ye Qing also called Li Lianshan to arrange dinner. Upon hearing it was Ye Qing’s classmate visiting, Li Lianshan immediately invited Ye Qing to his newly opened hotel in the suburb. Although the hotel hadn’t officially opened, everyone in Shenchuan City knew it was undoubtedly the most luxurious hotel there.

Ye Qing directly vetoed Li Lianshan’s proposal; going to such a place might be too ostentatious. Ye Qing didn’t want to overly stand out in front of these classmates. Besides, everyone is a classmate, putting on such a grand celebration might make others think he’s flaunting wealth, which isn’t nice.

Ultimately, Ye Qing had Li Lianshan book an ordinary hotel. In fact, booking meant making a call; the hotel was naturally owned by Li Lianshan.

Since Li Lianshan controlled the underground forces in Shenchuan City, he also managed many businesses, especially in hotel and accommodation industries. Roughly a third were related to Li Lianshan, so arranging these things was effortless for him.

After booking the hotel, Da Fei also picked up Zhou Yong and the others. Ye Qing directly instructed Da Fei to drive to the hotel, and Ye Qing himself went there in advance to wait for Zhou Yong and his group.

Upon hearing that Ye Qing had booked the hotel, Zhou Yong was naturally very pleased. He contacted a few classmates here to meet directly at the hotel.

Ye Qing knew he had a few classmates in Shenchuan City. However, after serving in the military for five years, he lost touch with his classmates. Moreover, during school, most classmates didn’t regard him as a friend, so Ye Qing hadn’t planned to contact them. If Zhou Yong hadn’t come to Shenchuan City and gathered these classmates, Ye Qing wouldn’t have prepared to meet them.

There were five classmates in Shenchuan City, three men and two women. Among them, two men and one woman were married, while one man and one woman remained unmarried. Upon receiving Zhou Yong’s call, they arrived at the hotel earlier and happened to meet Ye Qing already there.

Actually, these five people occasionally met each other in Shenchuan City. Therefore, they were fairly familiar with each other. However, none of them knew Ye Qing was also in Shenchuan City. If it weren’t for Zhou Yong’s call, they wouldn’t have known even now.

Seeing Ye Qing, all five were surprised, but quickly became busy chatting. One man named Lu Jun had shared a dormitory with Ye Qing during university. Although their relationship wasn’t great back in school, it had been five to six years since they last met, so upon seeing Ye Qing, he immediately patted Ye Qing on the shoulder and laughed, ”You rascal, when did you come to Shenchuan City? You didn’t even mention it!”

After having an unhappy gathering with classmates in the Capital, Ye Qing honestly had little sentiment towards classmates anymore. For tonight’s gathering, he was prepared to be teased. Surprisingly, arriving here, no one teased him; instead, they were all quite joyful, filling his heart with warmth.

During college, Lu Jun and Ye Qing were bunkmates, with occasional bickering. However, those were five or six years ago, stories of youthful frivolity. Now meeting again, there were inevitably feelings, holding onto the old classmate’s hand, reluctant to let go.

Everyone sat down separately, chatted casually, and briefly introduced their current situations. Among these five classmates, aside from Lu Jun, there were two men and two women, where one man and one woman worked as civil servants in government departments. Especially one male named He Guoen, turned out to be a police officer, now serving as a deputy captain in the criminal police force, which greatly surprised Ye Qing. The woman named Ding Ling worked at the Environmental Protection Bureau, her husband serving as the vice mayor’s secretary, making her the one with the strongest connections among these people.

The other man and woman, the woman named Yuan Yuan, worked in a foreign company, considered a white-collar worker. The man named Wang Tong owned his own company, but judging by his tone, the company’s situation didn’t seem good, with a mix of sighs and sentiments in his voice.

As for Lu Jun, he worked as a lecturer at a university, living quite comfortably.

During the casual chat, everyone asked Ye Qing about the situation in Shenchuan City. Although they were in Shenchuan City, they’d heard of Ye Qing’s name. However, none of them thought the famously notable Ye Qing could actually be their classmate.

Ye Qing didn’t directly divulge his situation, casually mentioning that he was in the alcohol business, as he’d always told Zhou Yong. The five didn’t ask further, though looking at the hotel’s level and room situation, they vaguely felt Ye Qing’s situation might not be good. Since the hotel’s level was merely midsize in Shenchuan City.

”Ye Qing, the hotel you chose is really nice!” After some casual chatting, Ding Ling suddenly laughed, ”This hotel, although it hasn’t quite made a name for itself in Shenchuan City, it sure maintains a significant status!”

”Oh? What do you mean by that?” Wang Tong immediately turned his head, always alert towards He Guoen and Ding Ling, frequently dealing with governmental people and eager to catch every word they said since walking in.

”Indeed!” He Guoen raised his teacup with a gentle smile, and said, ”Although this hotel doesn’t seem high-end, it’s very favored by many leaders in Shenchuan City. Dining here, you might randomly meet city leaders you’ve only seen on TV!”

”Ah?” Wang Tong suddenly got animated and said, ”Really? The leaders come here for meals?”

”What’s so strange about that.” Observing the attention, He Guoen smugly laughed, ”When leaders dine, they naturally won’t choose the highest-end places, excessively showy. Such mid-high-grade options are their first choice. This hotel’s meals are genuinely excellent, gradually becoming a typical venue for leaders hosting business meals. Ordinary people trying to book a room here will find it not easy; don’t you believe me, ask Ye Qing if booking this room was difficult.”

Wang Tong immediately looked towards Ye Qing, who was speechless. He certainly didn’t know this hotel had such a reputation, and booking this room wasn’t difficult at all; a call to Li Lianshan sorted it.

Seeing Wang Tong staring at him, Ye Qing couldn’t stay silent and nodded, saying, ”I booked in advance.”

”That’s what I said.” He Guoen laughed, ”If you come late, you can’t book it. I’ve heard even captains struggle to book when I arrived.”

”Wow, I wasn’t aware of these things.” Wang Tong, showing excitement, said, ”Today has truly been informative!”

He Guoen smiled lightly, casting a deep glance at Ye Qing. He and Ding Ling knew about this hotel’s situation, so to them, Ye Qing choosing to book a room here for dinner likely had intentions.

Both of them maneuver through public offices vigorously, causing numerous close associates to have ulterior motives, including old classmates. Like Wang Tong, often seeking favors, so they were especially cautious regarding such matters.

Ye Qing didn’t mind, actually feeling slightly awkward internally, wondering why Li Lianshan set up such a hotel for dinner. Listening to He Guoen’s explanation, he felt rather embarrassed staying there.

Fortunately, before long, Da Fei brought Zhou Yong here.

Upon seeing Zhou Yong arrive, the classmates quickly gathered around while Da Fei came in to greet Ye Qing, preparing to leave the private room.

”Hey buddy, don’t go!” Zhou Yong hurriedly grabbed Da Fei, saying, ”Since you’re here, join us for a simple meal, huh? Sorry for troubling you earlier!”

Zhou Yong and his wife brought quite a lot of stuff, all handled by Da Fei, so they felt thankful. Moreover, he assumed Da Fei was Ye Qing’s friend and wanted to keep Da Fei for a meal.

Da Fei politely declined, usually being a buddy with Ye Qing, but an event for Ye Qing’s classmates wasn’t his place to stay.

Seeing he couldn’t keep Da Fei, Zhou Yong didn’t insist, instead praised Da Fei repeatedly to Ye Qing, ”Ye Zi, your friend really is something. Late-night, he drove to pick us up and even loaded our luggage, very impressive!”