Xiang Bing looked at Evan Lin in front of him, his eyes full of curiosity.
He knew Ben Liang better than anyone—friends since they were in diapers. By rights, this guy would never just bring someone home on a whim.
Because the Liang family really isn’t easy to get along with.
Except for his childhood friends, Xiang Bing had rarely seen Ben Liang bring another guy home.
Let alone this time—Ben’s purpose for coming back was to bring his girlfriend home to meet the family.
"So... are you rivals in love?"
Xiang Bing raised his eyebrows and asked immediately.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Ben Liang shook his head. "This bro already has someone he likes—my girlfriend’s bestie. How could we be rivals? You’re just talking nonsense."
"Come on, let’s go—it’s getting late, and there’s a big show at the Shang house tonight, right?"
Ben Liang urged them on, helping open the door of the Audi.
He and Sisi Shao took the back seat, leaving the front passenger spot for Evan Lin.
Everyone got in the car.
Xiang Bing was driving.
His mind wasn’t on Evan Lin at all.
Since Ben Liang had explained Evan’s identity, Xiang Bing couldn’t be bothered to pay him any more attention.
"You really picked the right time to come back. Tangshan hasn’t seen anything this big in years. Honestly, just while I was waiting for you, I saw a bunch of people rushing home."
"That Cheng Shaoqing from the Cheng family—the guy who beat you up before—is a big deal now, third-grade Vajra! Word is he’s running with the Shang clan, used to be out of town, but he’s come back for this too."
In the car, Xiang Bing got more and more excited as he talked.
"So what’s actually going on? My family just happened to call me back, otherwise I wouldn’t even be here today."
Ben Liang nodded. "And the Shang clan—everyone’s talking about them. What happened to the Shang clan, anyway?"
"Oh, right—this bro’s pretty good at fighting. He’s planning to go to the Shang clan, says he’s got some business there."
As he spoke, Ben pointed to where Evan Lin was sitting.
"You’re heading to the Shang clan?"
Xiang Bing glanced at Evan Lin, a bit surprised. Seeing Evan nod, he forced a couple of awkward laughs. "You really picked the wrong time—the Shang clan’s a mess right now. Looks like someone pissed them off."
"If you’re trying to find someone at the Shang clan or hoping to get in with them, you’re out of luck. Without skills or background, the Shang clan won’t even notice you right now."
Xiang Bing shook his head.
Hearing Ben’s words, Xiang Bing naturally assumed Evan Lin was going to the Shang clan to look for a job.
People like that aren’t rare.
The Shang clan is huge. Thanks to their ties with the ancient-martial Rowe family, most of them are pretty strong, but they’re always recruiting capable people.
After all, there’s so much going on—the Shang clan can’t handle every little thing themselves.
There’s always dirty work and grunt work for others to handle.
Thinking this, Xiang Bing’s gaze toward Evan Lin unconsciously grew more contemptuous.
After all...
A guy trying to live off the Shang clan—even if he’s talented—is just rushing to be someone’s servant.
Ben Liang and Xiang Bing were different.
Their families, though tied to the Shang clan, were seen by outsiders as little more than the Shang clan’s dogs. But at least they had their own family as cover—in their own eyes, they were independent, not servants.
Especially toward those recruited by the Shang clan—the lowest tier of hired muscle—they looked down on them hard.
"A lot of people have come back to the Shang clan this time?"
Evan Lin asked.
"Yeah, definitely. Word is, someone from a big family in Beijing pissed them off—now the whole Shang clan is furious."
Xiang Bing nodded, sighing. "I just wonder which rich kid from Beijing was dumb enough to mess with the Shang clan."
"That guy must be an idiot—does he really think Tangshan clans can’t compete with Beijing ones?"
"Even under the imperial capital’s shadow, there are dragons and worms—Tangshan’s got its own dragons too."
Talking about this, Xiang Bing looked even more smug.
To Sisi Shao, all this sounded pretty confusing.
Ben Liang used to just say his family had some money, but now it seemed things here were way more complicated.
"Exactly—what kind of force is the Shang clan? They’ve got the ancient-martial Rowe family backing them!"
Ben Liang agreed wholeheartedly. "Even in Beijing, the Shang clan is a big name."
"I’m really curious which idiot has the guts—when he shows up and sees all the Shang clan masters together, he’ll probably piss himself."
Ben Liang laughed out loud, and Xiang Bing was grinning too.
After chatting about this for a bit, Xiang Bing glanced at Sisi Shao in the back seat, who’d been quiet the whole time. "Hey, Ben, why isn’t your girlfriend saying anything?"
"By the way, where’s she from? What does her family do?"
Ben paused at the question. "She’s from Seacrest, her family... runs a small business."
Ben’s answer was obviously perfunctory, not planning to go into detail.
Evan Lin only now noticed that since getting in the car, Sisi Shao’s expression had been a bit timid.
Back in Brightsea, Sisi’s family would count as comfortably middle-class, but here, it clearly wasn’t enough.
Out of Sisi, Yolanda Fang, and Lynn Chen, Yolanda’s family was best off, Lynn’s was next, and though Evan didn’t know Sisi’s exact situation, it definitely wasn’t as good as Lynn’s.
"Oh, small business."
Xiang Bing nodded meaningfully. "You’d better remind your girlfriend to be mentally prepared."
"You know how your family..."
At this, seeing Ben Liang didn’t respond, Xiang Bing dropped the subject.
That only made Sisi Shao feel even more nervous inside.
These days, guys usually know how broke they are—but a lot of girls don’t realize they’re not as pretty as they think.
That’s why you get girls who look down on the poor and try to climb up.
Ben Liang’s family couldn’t compare to the Shang clan, but they were still out of reach for ordinary folks.
"I’ll drop you off at home first, then head out. Later tonight, when we get to the Shang clan, we’ll meet up again."
"The Shang clan’s really fired up this time, called a bunch of people over. Getting to see a scene like this in my lifetime—man, I’ll have stories to brag about forever."