Chapter 58
Chapter 58: Making Peace with the Past, We Live for the Future
“How has everyone been doing lately?”
While waiting for the food to arrive, Lin Shen took the initiative to start a conversation and looked toward Guo Haoran.
“How come you didn’t bring Xiao Han along? Is she working overtime?”
“I broke up.”
Guo Haoran adjusted his glasses and said this with complete composure and calm, but it startled the other two besides Lin Shen.
“You broke up?”
Zhao Ye put down the sunflower seeds in his hand, his face full of disbelief.
After the waiter brought up a bucket of draft beer, he gestured for his girlfriend Sun Yue to help pour drinks for everyone, then put away his initial playful attitude and became unusually serious.
“How did you break up? Didn’t you two start dating in sophomore year? It’s been about six years now, right?”
“Yeah.”
Qi Junxian was also full of curiosity.
“I remember you saying last time that you were planning to talk marriage with Xiao Han. We were all waiting to drink at your wedding.”
“The talks fell through.”
Guo Haoran took the full glass of beer that Sun Yue handed him, quietly thanked her, then sighed softly.
“Xiao Han’s family demanded that I put down a deposit on a house in Shanghai, no less than 100 square meters, since we’ll have two kids in the future and need to give each of them their own private room.”
“If I can’t do that, then I have to move back to her hometown with her, because she won’t marry away from home. As for the bride price… 288,000 yuan.”
“See, I told you so!”
Zhao Ye was the type who spoke his mind directly, never thinking things through or considering the consequences.
“I’m not trying to discriminate against regions, but the more impoverished and remote the place, the more they nitpick about bride prices, afraid their daughter will be looked down upon compared to the neighbors’ daughters.”
“I warned you about this back then, but you wouldn’t listen and almost got into a fight with me. Now look how it turned out!”
“You’re right.”
Guo Haoran laughed at himself, then raised his glass to clink with Zhao Ye’s, before looking toward Lin Shen and Qi Junxian.
“Drink up!”
“Didn’t you drive here?”
Before Qi Junxian finished speaking, Guo Haoran had already downed a third of his beer.
However, because he drank too quickly, he choked and started coughing violently.
Seeing this, Sun Yue quickly pulled out tissues and handed them to him.
“Thank you.”
Guo Haoran wiped his mouth with the tissue, looking at Zhao Ye with envy in his eyes.
“Your girlfriend has such a nice personality! When are you planning to get married?”
“Still early.”
Zhao Ye pursed his lips.
“I failed both the graduate school exam and civil service exam this year. What marriage?”
Huh?
Qi Junxian looked completely bewildered.
“I remember you started taking those exams right after graduation, right? Still haven’t passed?”
“Yeah, this year my English didn’t meet the national cutoff for grad school. I did make it to the interview stage for civil service and even ranked second, but!”
Zhao Ye held up three fingers, with a sense of absurd frustration.
“They needed three people, and I ranked fourth.”
“That’s such a shame.”
Qi Junxian said sympathetically.
“Haven’t you thought about finding a job while studying?”
“I did.”
Zhao Ye took the grilled skewers from the waiter, placed them on the table, then spread his hands and shrugged.
“Got fired before the probation period was over.”
“Why?”
“That old bastard was such a piece of shit, always spouting nonsense in meetings and loved mocking people. I got into an argument with him right then and there.”
“…”
The three of them exchanged glances, surprised but not entirely unexpected.
Seeing this, Zhao Ye raised his glass irritably.
“Ah, let’s drink! Let’s not talk about this anymore!”
Gulp—!
After downing his beer and eating some skewers, Qi Junxian sighed helplessly.
“Actually, being unemployed isn’t so bad. What’s that saying? Those without jobs want to find work, and those with jobs want to be unemployed.”
“How come you’re starting to get philosophical too?”
Lin Shen teased.
“Didn’t you just sign a deal this afternoon?”
“What’s the use? People still look down on me. Insurance work just isn’t meant for humans.”
Qi Junxian complained bitterly.
“Never mind how tiring it is or how much pressure there is, you know what? The deals I run around everywhere working my ass off to sign, other people can get just by showing up, and even bigger ones!”
“How is that supposed to make me feel about fairness?”
Showing up?
The three of them looked puzzled.
But when they saw Qi Junxian glance at Sun Yue, the four men suddenly understood.
“There’s no helping it. Women naturally have advantages in jobs like insurance or bank sales.”
“Especially pretty women!”
Zhao Ye shrugged, his sharp complaint seeming like the last straw that broke the camel’s back, making Qi Junxian angrily raise his glass.
“I’m going to quit tomorrow! Cheers!”
Gulp—!
Lin Shen drank his beer, silently contemplating.
At this moment, he finally understood what “every family has its own troubles” meant.
It seemed everyone was having a hard time.
“Haoran’s having relationship troubles, I’m having academic troubles, and Xiao Xian, you’re having career troubles.”
Zhao Ye looked at Lin Shen, then couldn’t help but sigh.
“Looks like among the four of us, Lin Shen is doing the best.”
“He’s lost weight, become more handsome, his career is probably thriving somewhere, and most importantly, he’s dating a beautiful girlfriend like Gu Wanting.”
“Xiao Yue, do you know? Gu Wanting was like a campus goddess at our school. She caused quite a stir when she first enrolled.”
“When news broke that she was dating Lin Shen, our dorm was almost crushed by people from the surrounding dorms!”
“Really?”
Sun Yue curiously looked at Lin Shen, her big eyes not showing too much surprise.
After all, he was quite handsome himself, so dating the campus belle seemed like a good match.
“I broke up too.”
Suddenly, Lin Shen’s calm words truly shocked the three people present, and they all looked at him simultaneously.
“What happened?”
“I got cheated on.”
!!
As soon as Lin Shen finished speaking, a pack of tissues appeared in front of him.
Then, the three seemed to forget their own troubles and quickly gathered around Lin Shen, full of curiosity and ready to hear the gossip.
“Tell us!”
“Well…”
Lin Shen had long since made peace with his past experiences, so when telling the story, he didn’t inject much personal emotion, treating it completely as something unrelated to himself.
But after the other three put themselves in his shoes, they were furious.
“Three years of relationship couldn’t compete with some rich guy’s few days of pursuit? This was clearly premeditated! She probably cheated long ago.”
“Yeah! And that guy actually dared to come to your door to provoke you? If it weren’t for Lin Shen’s good temper, he probably wouldn’t have made it out the door.”
“Fuck!”
Zhao Ye was even more direct, his short and pure curse seeming to encompass all his emotions, then he stood up for Lin Shen.
“Don’t worry, bro. Think of it this way.”
Zhao Ye leaned close to Lin Shen’s ear and chuckled.
“You got to enjoy another guy’s girlfriend for three years, and she was even a virgin. That’s not a loss! You made out like a bandit!”
“…”
Although Zhao Ye’s way of comforting was crude, it made sense.
“Enough talk, let’s drink!”
Lin Shen raised his glass high, looking around at the three people present, suddenly showing a brilliant and confident smile.
“Let’s make peace with the past. We’re living for the future!”