met free Chapter 121 Brother Zhang Qiang, Clown Jiang Minghui
Chapter 121 Brother Zhang Qiang, Clown Jiang Minghui
Inside the Crystal Private Room on the top floor of the Star River International Hotel, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol mingled with the noise.
Shen Yu pushed open the door, took Jiang Xinlan's hand, and slowly walked inside.
The sounds of clinking glasses and exchanging toasts abruptly ceased.
Dozens of eyes were fixed on the two of them, first on Jiang Xinlan's face.
She wore a minimalist off-white silk shirt and smoky gray wide-leg pants that made her legs look straight and long. Her long hair was loosely tied into a low bun, and her earring was a small diamond. There were no extra decorations, but she had an aloof and noble air that kept strangers at bay.
She is completely different from the stubborn and fragile pure school beauty of yesteryear who couldn't hold her head up at school because of an unmarried pregnancy.
After the initial amazement, the room erupted in chaos when people's gazes fell on Shen Yu beside her.
"Shen Yu?! He actually dares to come back?"
"My God, how did he end up with Jiang Xinlan? Didn't he suddenly disappear back then?"
"Need I say more? He's obviously here to freeload off Jiang Xinlan now that she's a top star. It's disgusting."
"What kind of taste does Jiang Xinlan have? She's so easygoing!"
"Shen Yu is so lucky. Jiang Xinlan is so famous now, a big star, and she still managed to fall for him..."
The whispers prickled like needles, and Jiang Xinlan's fingertips tightened slightly. Shen Yu noticed this and grabbed her hand even tighter. The warmth of his palm instantly calmed the turmoil in her heart.
"Xinlan! You really came!" A girl in a light blue dress squeezed through the crowd, her face showing a smile of surprise and joy. It was Du Lan.
Back then, she was the only one in the class who secretly slipped Jiang Xinlan hot milk, trying to speak up for her but was bullied instead.
"I've been watching your 'Wind from Chang'an' every day, and you played Shen Qinghe so cool!" Du Lan held her hand, her eyes full of sincerity. "About what happened back then... I'm sorry, I was too timid back then and didn't dare to stand up for you."
"It's all in the past." Jiang Xinlan smiled at her, feeling a warmth in her heart.
"It's over? How could it be over?" A sharp voice suddenly interrupted.
Chen Fangcao walked over, holding a wine glass and swaying her hips. Her face was covered in thick, cakey powder, and her designer dress was clearly ill-fitting.
She was Li Qianqian's most loyal follower back then. When Li Qianqian spread rumors, she jumped higher than anyone else, throwing trash into Jiang Xinlan's desk, tearing up textbooks, and spreading rumors everywhere that "Jiang Xinlan was being kept by an old man."
Over the years, he has been gossiping about Jiang Xinlan behind her back quite a bit.
She sized Jiang Xinlan up and down, her eyes practically overflowing with jealousy.
"Jiang Xinlan, you're really something. Back then, you were expelled from school while heavily pregnant, and the whole school was cursing you behind your back. Now you've transformed into a big star. What, is that old man who used to be your sugar daddy now investing in your movies?"
The moment those words were spoken, the private room fell silent. Many people wore gloating expressions, while some who had joined in the criticism years ago stood with their arms crossed, watching the spectacle unfold.
"Chen Fangcao, watch your mouth!" Du Lan's face turned red with anger. "Things back then weren't like that at all!"
"If not like that, then what is it?" Chen Fangcao rolled her eyes.
"Otherwise, how could she, penniless and pregnant out of wedlock, possibly become the lead actress? Such a great opportunity couldn't just fall from the sky, could it? Besides, if she wasn't being kept, why would she be involved with a man like Shen Yu?"
She glanced at Shen Yu sideways, her face full of disdain: "She's definitely using Shen Yu as a dumping ground, isn't she? Those who know, know, right?"
"Exactly!" Zhao Kai chimed in. He had liked Jiang Xinlan back then, but Jiang Xinlan actually liked Shen Yu and rejected him without hesitation. He had always held a grudge against her.
Now that he sees Jiang Xinlan has become a big star, yet she still chooses Shen Yu, he is even more jealous.
"When Shen Yu suddenly disappeared, he probably owed some high-interest loans or gambling debts, and was afraid that someone would chop off his hands or feet, so he ran away without even going to university..."
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhang Qiang interrupted him, unable to contain his anger, to speak up for his good brother.
After six years apart, Zhang Qiang looked much more haggard, and his once thick hair was now almost bald.
He was Shen Yu's best friend in college. After Shen Yu disappeared, everyone either cursed Shen Yu for being a scumbag and running away without taking responsibility, or thought that Shen Yu must have gone into debt to gamble and ran away to avoid his debts. Only he firmly believed that Shen Yu had an accident. He argued with most of the students for this and was isolated for four whole years.
He is now a regular programmer at Lu's Group, and his boss is Zhao Kai.
"Shen Yu must have encountered something back then! Otherwise, he wouldn't have abandoned Xinlan!" Zhang Qiang argued loudly, his face flushed.
He had barely finished speaking when his wife, Wang Hui, yanked his arm hard.
Wang Hui, dressed in an ordinary dress, looked uneasy and whispered in his ear:
"Don't cause trouble, we can't afford to mess with them. Have you forgotten about how you talked back to Zhao Kai last month and got half a month's bonus docked? The kid needs to pay for his extracurricular classes next month."
Zhang Qiang gritted his teeth, but still stubbornly insisted, "I just can't stand their nonsense!"
"Hey, Zhang Qiang, you're pretty loyal, huh?"
Zhao Kai strolled over slowly, holding a wine glass, and patted Zhang Qiang on the shoulder with such force that Zhang Qiang stumbled. His tone was full of sarcasm:
"What, you still want to stand up for Shen Yu? Let me tell you, Zhang Qiang, don't push your luck. Last week, the code you submitted had a bug, causing the entire department to work overtime until the early hours of the morning. If I hadn't helped you suppress it, you would have been fired long ago. Now you dare to talk back to me? Do you want to quit?"
"That bug wasn't written by me at all! You forced someone else's work on me, and then blamed it on me when things went wrong!" Zhang Qiang was trembling with anger.
"What I say is yours is yours." Zhao Kai sneered. "In the Lu family, I'm your boss, and what I say goes. If you're not happy, you can get lost now."
Wang Hui turned pale with fright and quickly pulled Zhang Qiang aside to apologize, "Manager Zhao, I'm so sorry, he was drunk and talking nonsense, please don't take it to heart." She then pinched Zhang Qiang hard, "Quickly apologize to Manager Zhao!"
Zhang Qiang clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms until his knuckles turned white, but he still lowered his head in the end, his voice muffled like thunder: "I'm sorry."
Zhao Kai smiled smugly, then turned to look at Jiang Xinlan, feigning regret:
"Xinlan, I'm not trying to be mean, but you're a big star now, how can you still hang out with a scumbag like him? He doesn't even have a college degree, and he's an orphan, what can he give you? Being with him will only embarrass you."
"That's right." A man with a beer belly came over; it was Jiang Minghui, the nouveau riche from our class back then.
After graduating from university, his sister married Jiang Tao, a third-generation member of the Jiang family. As a member of the Jiang family, Jiang Tao's family holds one percent of the shares in the Jiang Group, and receives tens of millions in dividends every year. Their family assets are well over 5 billion.
Thanks to this connection, Jiang Minghui's family secured several large orders from Jiang's subsidiary, and in just a few years, their assets increased more than tenfold, leading to an extravagant lifestyle.
Over the years, he has always mentioned being a "relative of the Jiang family" wherever he goes, and he acts arrogantly in the small business circle in Jiangcheng, with everyone giving him face.
He brandished his limited-edition Patek Philippe, the gold chain dazzling around his neck, and sized Shen Yu up and down, a smirk playing on his lips, his face full of disdain.
"Jiang Xinlan, your taste is terrible! You actually like someone like Shen Yu, a country bumpkin with no background? I thought you were a big star now and your standards would be incredibly high. Turns out you've found someone like this."
He patted his round belly, his tone full of superiority:
"Why don't you come with me? My brother-in-law is from the Jiang family in Beijing. You know the Jiang family in Beijing, right? They're a multi-billionaire family! His family owns shares in the Jiang Group and is worth over a billion yuan. I myself have over a billion yuan, drive a Bentley, and live in a riverside villa."
"If you come with me, I'll not only give you 500,000 every month, but I'll also drive you a Ferrari, and my brother-in-law can introduce you to even more resources, how about that? Anyway, your reputation was like that back then, so you won't lose out by coming with me, right?"