Wu Qi's unspoken meaning was clear: he thought Li Se wouldn't dare to show up.
This was quite normal; at class reunions, those who had achieved success generally attended, while those who hadn't would naturally be too embarrassed to come.
Obviously, Wu Qi was aware of Li Se's recent circumstances.
"Section Chief Wu, I apologize for disappointing you. I've decided to attend this class reunion after all," Li Se said with a show of apology.
Wu Qi said, "Li Se, I heard you're delivering food. There's no room for advancement in that line of work. How about this, our industry and commerce bureau is currently short of someone to do cleaning. Would you be interested? The salary and benefits are quite good, and more importantly, there's room for advancement. Who knows, after a few years, you might even become the head of cleaning."
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but stifle their laughter. Who couldn't tell that Wu Qi was mocking Li Se? Cleaning? There was nothing more humiliating than that.
"Section Chief Wu, Li Se is quite something nowadays. Why would he look down on such a job? He even has a villa in Clear Water Bay," Yu Hongwei chimed in.
"Haha..." someone finally couldn't hold back their laughter.
Zhang Yunyun sneered, "Li Se, is this fun for you? You're desperately trying to get the 300,000 yuan back from me, yet you claim to be so successful, even owning a villa in Clear Water Bay. I was with you for so many years, why didn't you ever take me to visit your villa?"
As she spoke, she looked at Wu Qi and said, "Section Chief Wu, don't listen to his bragging. He's just a delivery guy."
"Zhang Yunyun, are you ready with the 300,000 yuan?" Seeing Zhang Yunyun reminded Li Se of the time his mother needed surgery and she refused to return the 300,000 yuan. Even though he was wealthy now, he was determined to make Zhang Yunyun return it.
"Li Se, people have been with you for so many years, giving you their best youth. It's one thing not to ask for a 'youth fee' after breaking up, but you're still asking for 300,000 yuan. That doesn't seem right, does it?" Wu Qi said with a hint of disdain.
Chen Bin was getting annoyed. "Zhang Yunyun, Li Se scraped together 300,000 yuan as a betrothal gift for you, but you used it for your brother's business. His mother needed 300,000 yuan for surgery. What's wrong with asking for it back? Besides, you aren't even married yet, and you still haven't returned the 300,000 yuan. How can you have the nerve?"
Zhang Yunyun quickly defended herself, "With a pauper like Li Se, could he even afford a 300,000 yuan betrothal gift? He even severely injured my brother over this matter, and he's still in the hospital."
"Li Se, that's where you're wrong. How could you hit someone?" Wu Qi frowned.
Li Se sneered, "Section Chief Wu, I call you Section Chief Wu out of respect for your title. Without that respect, you're nothing. This is between me and Zhang Yunyun. Why are you so nosy? You talk about serving the people, but you're just a section chief. What's so great about that?"
Wu Qi's face turned pale and then flushed at Li Se's words. While "Section Chief" sounded good, the position wasn't that high. But no matter what, he was someone Li Se couldn't possibly reach. Now, being so belittled by him, he felt very displeased.
However, before Wu Qi could retort, Yu Hongwei, standing nearby, angrily shouted, "Li Se, you're just a delivery guy, what's with the attitude? Do you look down on others?"
"Oh, forget it, forget it. Yu Hongwei, Section Chief Wu, please don't bother with him. It's all my fault," Zhang Yunyun said, looking very sad. "I was the one who misjudged him, to have been with him for so many years."
Wu Qi patted Zhang Yunyun's shoulder. "It's alright, the future will be better. How about this, I'll pay the money for you."
"Really?" Zhang Yunyun was a little excited, as she genuinely couldn't come up with the 300,000 yuan.
Wu Qi took out his wallet, which contained a considerable amount of cash. He pulled out about ten thousand yuan in cash and threw it at Li Se, saying, "Here's ten thousand cash. Don't bother Zhang Yunyun anymore. We're all classmates, let's part on good terms and save some face for yourselves."
However, Li Se didn't even touch the ten thousand yuan, not even glancing at it.
Yu Hongwei began to mock him again. "Section Chief Wu, he has a villa in Clear Water Bay now. Why would he care about ten thousand yuan?"
Yuan Jiating chimed in, "Indeed. He has a villa worth tens of millions. He probably won't even look at anything less than 300,000 yuan."
But everyone thought that it would be fine to just take the ten thousand and be done with it, no need to stubbornly cling to pride.
However, before Li Se could say anything, Chen Bin, standing beside him, picked up the ten thousand yuan and threw it back. "Wu Qi, who are you looking down on?"
Wu Qi had been annoyed by Chen Bin for a long time. While others might be wary of Chen Bin's status, he wasn't. He said coldly, "Chen Bin, what does this have to do with you?"
"Then Li Se and Zhang Yunyun's matter also has nothing to do with you, right?" Chen Bin sneered.
"Chen Bin, let's go." Li Se decided to leave. There was no point in coming to such a class reunion.
"Li Se, we must get that 300,000 yuan from Zhang Yunyun today," Chen Bin said resolutely.
Li Se looked at Zhang Yunyun. "Zhang Yunyun, you've already delayed for a long time. If you still can't produce it, I'll really have to sue you in court."
"Sue?" Cheng Mengsi found Li Se's thinking amusing. "Will suing you do any good? Perhaps the court will even think you're being unreasonable."
"Whether Zhang Yunyun took my 300,000 yuan and refuses to return it, she knows best," Li Se said calmly.
Zhang Yunyun's expression turned somewhat ugly, and everyone noticed her expression, immediately understanding something. In fact, regarding Li Se demanding the money he'd spent over the years back from Zhang Yunyun, it was somewhat exaggerated. The situation was likely not like that.
However, for Yu Hongwei and the others, did the truth of the matter matter? Not at all. What mattered was that they could mock Li Se, and that was their goal.
Wu Qi, being a section chief, didn't want Li Se to leave like this. He hadn't had enough humiliation, so he chose to take a step back, acting as a peacemaker. "Alright, alright, we're all classmates. There's no need to make things unpleasant. After dinner, I'll take you to visit a villa in Clear Water Bay."
"Section Chief Wu, did you buy a villa there?" Yu Hongwei asked in surprise.
Wu Qi shook his head. "Not yet. That villa costs tens of millions, and I can't afford it yet. But it won't be a problem in a few more years. A friend invited me to visit, and since you're all here, we can go together."
Everyone became expectant. This was the most expensive and luxurious villa in Qingyun City, and ordinary people couldn't get in. Who wouldn't want to visit it?
"Section Chief Wu, didn't someone here claim to have a villa in Clear Water Bay? Why don't you let him take us to visit?" Yu Hongwei immediately understood Wu Qi's intention. The villa visit was secondary; the main purpose was to humiliate Li Se.
"You claimed you have a villa in Clear Water Bay, right? Fine, take us to see it."
Seeing that his objective was achieved, Wu Qi looked at Li Se and said, "Would that be too difficult?"
Difficult?
Of course not.
Li Se let out a cold laugh. "Not difficult."
Wu Qi and Yu Hongwei both revealed smug smiles, anticipating how Li Se would extricate himself from this situation.