Chapter Fifty-Eight: Reunion of Classmates

Chapter 58: Class Reunion

Hao Sheng Club was one of the better-known high-end venues in Polant City, boasting excellent facilities and a spacious layout. The clientele were mostly striking men and women, with many scions of wealthy families gathering there for leisure.

When Xia Zheng arrived at the club’s entrance in an ordinary trench coat, carrying a backpack nearly half his height and stepping out of a taxi, the tall, burly security guards in plain clothes were visibly tempted to stop him.

“Sir, this is a high-class club,” one of the guards reminded him kindly, both he and his partner sizing Xia Zheng up and down.

By now, Xia Zheng stood at 180 centimeters, his body well-proportioned and lean from years of training and adventure. His facial features had become more defined over time, and while he wasn’t classically handsome, his presence was striking. Still, his modest attire and the large backpack on his shoulders made him seem out of place among the impeccably dressed guests and elegant socialites.

Just as Xia Zheng was inwardly cursing their snobbery, Chen Xiu appeared, elegant and composed. Chen Xiu too had changed—though he was still shorter and slighter than Xia Zheng, his immersion in academia and research had lent him an air of scholarly refinement. The addition of finely crafted glasses made him look every bit the cultured elite.

“He’s with me—a classmate,” Chen Xiu said, and at once the security guards stepped aside.

Following Chen Xiu inside, Xia Zheng remarked, “You’ve changed a lot, Chen Xiu. Looks like you’re doing well at university.”

“Oh, hardly. I’m not even a fraction as accomplished as you. Did you just get off the train? Why come straight here with your backpack?” Chen Xiu teased.

Xia Zheng patted his bag with pride. “These are some rare and unusual materials I collected recently. I brought them for you to study—cultivate what you can, and make the most of the rest.”

Chen Xiu’s eyes lit up at once. He was still a novice, mostly engaged in theoretical study, and the materials he usually handled were either cheap or mundane. With Xia Zheng’s specimens, his practical skills would surely leap forward.

“Let me just say, I’m still an apprentice. Forget about making medicines or developing anything significant—your materials might end up wasted in my hands. Aren’t you worried?” Chen Xiu asked, uneasy.

But Xia Zheng waved it off. “Don’t worry. If they’re wasted, I’ll just find more. No pressure. Think of it as an investment in you—I believe in your potential.”

“Thank you, Xia Zheng.” Chen Xiu clapped him on the shoulder, their friendship growing even deeper.

They entered the elevator, and Chen Xiu pressed for the seventh floor. When they arrived, Xia Zheng realized the entire floor had been reserved for their class reunion.

“Wow, who could afford to book an entire floor? Don’t tell me it was you, Chen Xiu?” Though Xia Zheng had never visited such a place, he’d heard that even a small private room at Hao Sheng cost two thousand, a large one five to ten thousand. Booking a whole floor would exceed a hundred thousand, not including drinks and extras.

Chen Xiu shook his head. “I’m famously broke. Academia and wealth don’t mix, though few scholars are truly poor. It’s Delia from our class—she’s incredibly wealthy now, married to a tycoon supposedly ranked among the top two hundred in the Federation.”

“So that’s how it is,” Xia Zheng mused. Delia was the girl who had been the first to reach an AB-161 value of 0.1 during their testing days. If not for Xia Zheng, she would have been the school’s star. Her family background was already impressive, but it was still surprising that she chose marriage right after graduation.

As he pondered, a stunning, voluptuous lady dressed in lavish finery approached, surrounded by admirers.

In that instant, every pair of eyes—former classmates all—turned to Xia Zheng and Chen Xiu, but mostly to Xia Zheng.

“Well, if it isn’t our top scholar, Xia Zheng!” The elegant lady’s eyes sparkled as she greeted him.

Half a year had passed, and everyone had changed, but none more so than Delia and Xia Zheng.

Delia had blossomed into a radiant beauty, her extravagant attire making her shine like a queen.

Xia Zheng’s transformation, however, was in his newfound “ordinariness” and in his appearance. Where once he’d been a thin, unremarkable youth, now he was tall and striking. Though not a model, his masculine charm and rugged handsomeness set him apart—enough to stir feelings in several of the women.

Yet, as the class’s former star, the pride of the school, he now seemed to be working at an obscure company. Dressed in cheap clothes with a shabby, even grimy backpack, he instantly became an object of disappointment, scorn, and smug satisfaction for many.

“That outfit can’t be worth ten thousand together.”

“Didn’t they say his starting salary was at least half a million Federation credits?”

“Maybe no company wanted him—why else work for a small firm?”

“I thought he’d be something special. The top fifty from last year’s professional exams all landed at least VP positions. He’s the lowest of the lot.”

“Knew it—he just got lucky back then.”

Chen Xiu bristled with anger at these classmates’ shamelessness and opportunism. He almost felt ashamed to be among them.

Delia, too, was as spiteful as ever. Because of her failed recommendation to the military, she bore a deep grudge against Xia Zheng. Strictly speaking, she had no reason to hate him—her own lack of effort was to blame. Xia Zheng, delayed in his special recruitment, fought back through the professional exams. Delia, by contrast, was arrogant and unprepared, failed the exams, and after a failed re-examination, had to sell her youth for wealth and status. Chen Xiu doubted she’d found true love.

Chen Xiu was about to retort, but Xia Zheng stopped him with a look—don’t waste your breath. He’d long since learned he and these classmates were never truly on the same path.

Delia was elated—it was a moment she’d imagined for a long time: to publicly mock Xia Zheng and finally wash away the humiliation of the past.

Xia Zheng looked at her and sneered, “Chen Xiu, let’s go somewhere else. I’ve no interest in spending time with people who’ve sold their souls and their sycophants. The air here is toxic.”

Chen Xiu burst out laughing and left with him, deciding then and there that Xia Zheng was the only friend from school worth keeping.

“Stop right there! What right do you have to act high and mighty in front of me?” Delia exploded in fury, her chest heaving as she jabbed a finger at Xia Zheng’s back.

Her supporters chimed in, “Yeah, he still thinks he’s top of the class.”

“What’s he flaunting? Just a blue-collar nobody.”

“You’re being too polite. He doesn’t belong with us—just a pauper.”

“Hanging around people like him really is toxic!”

Laughter and jeers, just like before. Xia Zheng sighed, feeling as if he’d been transported back to that unforgettable day.

That day, the world had ridiculed him, but he hadn’t despaired. He’d fought back—and fortune had finally turned.

Suddenly, a commanding female voice rang out, cold and clear: “He has every right!”

Everyone, Xia Zheng and Chen Xiu included, turned to look. A group of seven or eight men and women in business attire surrounded a young woman in a cream-colored skirt suit, gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, exuding both competence and intelligence.

The woman strode up to Xia Zheng and asked respectfully, “Are you Mr. Xia Zheng, who completed the B-level mission—The Life-Saving Medicine?”

“Yes, that’s me. And you are?” Xia Zheng asked curiously.

She smiled radiantly. “I’m Shentu Wan Hua, daughter of the mission’s issuer. Thank you so much for saving my father’s life.”

“Oh, so you’re the client’s daughter. Then the medicine I found worked?” Xia Zheng brightened—his efforts hadn’t been in vain. The three herbs he’d procured were exceedingly rare; without the Dream Fox’s help, he’d never have gathered them all.

Shentu Wan Hua nodded, expressing her gratitude again.

“And who are you to interrupt our conversation?” Delia, thoroughly ignored, was incensed and stalked over to confront Shentu Wan Hua, barely restraining herself from slapping her.

Shentu Wan Hua cast a sidelong glance at Delia and her group and asked Xia Zheng, “Are these your friends?”

“We were classmates. Not anymore,” Xia Zheng replied coolly.

“Good. From this moment on, Hao Sheng Club no longer welcomes you. Please leave immediately.” Shentu Wan Hua looked straight at Delia and her entourage.

Delia shrieked, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, “How dare you! We’ve already paid—what right do you have to throw us out?”

“Refund their payment. Forget about their previous expenses,” Shentu Wan Hua instructed her staff.

Soon after, Delia received notification that her two hundred thousand pre-authorization had been canceled, making her face darken further.

“Do you know who you’re offending? My husband is Archibald!” Delia blurted out, some classmates shocked, others sneering. Archibald was notorious for his lechery and nearly seventy years old; the revelation that Delia had married him drew mixed reactions.

Disgust was plain in Shentu Wan Hua’s eyes. She called Archibald directly, exchanged a few words, and hung up. While most noticed nothing amiss, Delia’s face drained of color.

Moments later, Delia received a call herself—a torrent of abuse filled her ear, with words like “whore” and “worthless” and “get back here” thrown at her without mercy.

Delia left, shattered. The other classmates looked longingly at Xia Zheng and Chen Xiu.

“Mr. Xia, my father wishes to meet you. He’s in Polant City now,” Shentu Wan Hua said sincerely.

Xia Zheng nodded, handed his backpack to Chen Xiu, telling him to take it home first. He promised to meet with Chen Xiu privately tomorrow to discuss important matters.

As Xia Zheng was whisked away by the formidable woman, the sycophantic classmates were all ejected, their stylish self-styled elite airs crumbling as they were thrown out in public. Many felt humiliated, but the lesson was clear: never cross Xia Zheng again. Twice now, and never once had it ended well for them.