Today Joy Zheng cooked a huge spread. At dawn she rushed to the east side of the market and picked out the fattest, tenderest chicken from the coop, made a dish of braised chicken, another of braised pork, plus marinated beef and roast duck. The whole table was packed with meat—barely a green veggie in sight.
"Come on, eat up, don't be shy!" Joy Zheng set the last bowl of soup on the table, beaming as she welcomed Ken and Hank Chu to sit down.
"No way, we're definitely not shy! I always say, Auntie Zheng, your braised pork is the best—rich but never greasy. My mom just can't do it, hers is so oily it's killer!" Ken rubbed his hands, grabbed his chopsticks, and reached over.
On the plate, the braised pork glistened golden, perfectly tender and rich but not greasy. The reddish meat gave off waves of mouthwatering aroma.
Ken scooped up a piece, popped it in his mouth, and looked blissed out. "Oh man, Auntie Zheng, I'm serious—your skills are wasted teaching! If you opened a restaurant, you'd be packed every day!"
"You kid, always so good at flattery." Joy Zheng laughed at Ken's words, her face lit up with a smile.
"I'm just telling the truth!" Ken chuckled.
Hank Chu grabbed a few pieces of meat, chewed thoughtfully, and nodded hard. "Seriously, Auntie Zheng, your cooking is amazing. Ken talks a lot of nonsense, but on this one, he's totally right."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? How am I 'nonsense' about everything else?" Ken protested, looking offended.
Evan Lin watched them bicker, smiling. He picked up his chopsticks and ate a few pieces of meat. Tasting Joy Zheng's cooking again, Evan felt a swirl of complicated emotions and ate slowly.
After lunch, Joy Zheng cleared the table. Evan and the guys tried to help, but she shooed them back to his room.
Ken was fiddling with his phone when he suddenly saw a message in the QQ group, froze for a second, then looked up at Hank Chu and Evan, hesitation all over his face.
"What's up? You look weird."
Hank Chu saw Ken hesitating and frowned.
"Chloe Cheng messaged me." Ken glanced at Evan, saw his expression was calm, and finally relaxed a bit.
He hadn't expected it—just after they'd mentioned Chloe Cheng, she actually reached out.
"Chloe Cheng?" Hank Chu blinked, then turned to look at Evan. Seeing Evan's normal face, he glared at Ken, annoyed: "Why do you even have her on QQ?"
He looked just like someone staring at a traitor.
Chloe Cheng hurt Evan Lin pretty badly. Hank Chu had always been on Evan's side, so even though he'd run into Chloe a few times over the years, he'd never spoken to her.
"It's not like I wanted to—she messaged me through the class group." Ken held out his phone.
Back in junior high, the three of them were in neighboring classes—Ken and Evan Lin in one, Hank Chu in the other. Their homeroom teachers got along well and organized joint class activities, so everyone between the two classes knew each other pretty well.
"What does she want with you?" Hank Chu frowned, clearly annoyed.
"She says there's a junior-high classmates' reunion and wants us to go." Ken said carefully.
Evan's phone was so old it couldn't even run QQ, so he'd never seen the message. Hank Chu had long since muted the group, so he hadn't gotten it either.
"Class reunion."
Hank Chu paused at that, just about to say no when Evan suddenly asked, "Did she say when?"
"Next Monday."
Seeing Evan wasn't upset, Ken relaxed a bit and said, "Honestly, Evan, I think the past is the past. Chloe Cheng's got issues, her character sucks, and that whole junior-high crowd? Not worth it. There's barely anyone in that group I'd bother with."
"How about we just skip it? Let's hit the internet café later, try a new game. They can do their reunion, we'll do our thing. Sound good?"
"Or, that day, we could go swimming? I know a new pool that just opened—it's nice, and there are tons of girls in swimsuits, all way better than Chloe Cheng!"
Hank Chu nodded along. "I think Ken's idea works. No need to go to some dumb reunion. It's just a bunch of people flattering each other—what's the point?"
"You guys worried I'll get looked down on again?"
Seeing Hank Chu and Ken tag-teaming their routine, Evan couldn't help but give a wry smile.
Back in junior high, Evan Lin was just a pushover.
After the Chloe Cheng incident, he couldn't hold his head up anywhere—always the butt of jokes. People who knew the story called Evan the 'scapegoat'; those who didn't figured he was just a loser chasing girls out of his league.
Honestly, Chloe wasn't the prettiest in class, but she was cute enough—and compared to Evan, she was way more popular. A few boys even had a thing for her.
Hank Chu and Ken knew all about this. They wanted to stick up for Evan, but there was no way to actually beat up Chloe Cheng, which just made it more frustrating.
When Evan said that, Hank Chu and Ken both looked awkward.
"Don't worry about it, seriously. It's just a class reunion. This time, I'm actually looking forward to it." Evan smiled, clapped them on the shoulder. "So, what are we doing this afternoon? Internet café or basketball?"
"Internet café, for sure! Didn't get enough last time—let's go another round!" Ken rubbed his hands, itching to play.
That afternoon, Evan Lin, Hank Chu, and Ken hit the internet café again, gaming until after five before heading home.
When Evan got home, Joy Zheng still wasn't back—she had afternoon classes to teach.
With nothing to do, Evan decided to head over to Mooncrest Manor in the county.
That development is the most luxurious in all of Whitewood County, filled with hillside villas. The cheapest place there goes for over 2.5 million yuan, with the average price at 10,000 a square meter.
In Whitewood County, regular housing runs between 5,000 and 7,000 per square meter. Mooncrest Manor is way ahead of the pack.
Even though it was almost evening, the sales center at Mooncrest Manor was still wide open.
The development's been open over a year. They've sold plenty of villas, but lots are still empty—after all, not many people in Whitewood County can afford a place like that.
Evan Lin looked up at the Mooncrest Manor sign, then strode right in.
With over ten million yuan in hand, Evan planned to spend it all on a house—finally upgrading their living conditions.