Soon, everyone was chatting and laughing as they walked toward the hotel.
As for Lin Mo, they simply ignored him.
One by one, they clustered around Zhong Yuchen.
Lin Mo didn't care; he had experienced all this human warmth and coldness two years ago.
Besides, even the most incredible Zhong Yuchen was nothing more than a tiny ant to Lin Mo.
As for Yue Hongxin, she pulled Jiang Yingxue aside with strange and accusatory glances, staring at her:
"Yingxue, have you gone mad? Why would you pick such a young boy? A May-December romance is one thing but—"
"You should at least choose someone like a rich second-generation heir, right? That guy's entire outfit, I estimate, isn't even worth two thousand, and he doesn't fit in well with us, does he?"
"I don't care about family background or any of that; as long as I like him, that's enough."
Jiang Yingxue shook her head with a light chuckle, thinking that if Lin Mo were truly her boyfriend, she might actually be very happy!
"I really don't know what to say to you! Leaving a goldmine behind and falling for a poor guy," Yue Hongxin said, clearly disappointed.
Jiang Yingxue gave her a somewhat cold look; suddenly, she felt her best friend had changed.
Back in university, they had saved and studied hard together.
At that time, Yue Hongxin, like her, was pure and kind-hearted. But to her surprise, having met her again today, Yue Hongxin had become so worldly and realistic.
The group entered the hotel's Ninth Layer and arrived at the private room.
Upon entering, all sorts of admiring glances were thrown at Zhong Yuchen.
After all, this class reunion had been paid for and arranged by Zhong Yuchen.
They hadn't expected that Zhong Yuchen would actually use the Supreme Emperor's private room for the reunion!
Soon, everyone sat down and began ordering food.
While waiting for the dishes to come, they struck up conversations:
"Xu Dong, I heard you're making over a million a year now?"
"It's nothing, nothing; the person next to me makes a million a month."
While everyone boasted, Zhong Yuchen looked at Lin Mo with an air of provocation, "I don't know what Yingxue's boyfriend does?"
Jiang Yingxue was about to say something, but Lin Mo spoke up indifferently, "Nothing much, just an unemployed drifter."
"An unemployed drifter?"
Hearing this, the men and women present all sneered:
"No wonder, that outfit of his probably took several years of scrimping and saving to afford."
"Hahaha…"
"That's a bit harsh! There are some unemployed drifters who do quite well for themselves, making five or six thousand a month!"
"Please, just look at him; he'd be doing well to make two or three thousand a month."
After the men mocked him, the women continued with a cold laugh:
"Yingxue was our class beauty back in the day, with so many suitors. I really didn't expect that our Jiang University's school beauty would end up with such a poor and plain youngster."
"Yeah, I thought she would be living a life many times more glamorous than us, tsk tsk. Now that I see, I feel much more at peace."
Jiang Yingxue's pretty face showed a trace of anger and distaste, and then she turned to Lin Mo, with an apologetic voice, "I'm sorry, Lin Mo, I didn't expect that just after two or three years, they would become so power-hungry, teacher…"
She hadn't finished speaking when Lin Mo calmly said:
"It's okay, if they like showing off, let them continue for a little while longer."
The dishes arrived quickly, but Yue Hongxin's distaste for Lin Mo grew stronger by the second. She said to Jiang Yingxue,
"Yingxue, I think he's not right for you!"
"He's younger than you, and from the looks of it, his family background isn't great either."
"In the future, he won't possibly be able to provide you with a happy life. Besides, with such different lifestyles and statuses, you'll have even fewer topics in common. Living together will only be torturous."
Although Yue Hongxin's words were realistic, everyone present nodded in agreement.
Indeed, how could a penniless guy possibly afford to take care of a beauty like Jiang Yingxue?
Especially since Jiang Yingxue graduated from a well-known university, and this guy is nothing but an unemployed drifter.
Even communication might be an issue!
"I think so too."
Zhong Yuchen also joined the conversation. He smiled and said, "As Hongxin mentioned, if two people's values and social statuses are incompatible, being together will only add to each other's troubles and won't bring any happiness."
As he spoke, Zhong Yuchen also looked at Lin Mo with a provocative gaze, "Yingxue's little boyfriend, don't you agree with me?"
Unexpectedly, Lin Mo didn't care about the looks others were giving him. He calmly continued eating his meal, "You're absolutely right."
Everyone was stunned. Could it be that Lin Mo was willing to give Jiang Yingxue up to Zhong Yuchen?
Zhong Yuchen's eyes lit up. This was a great opportunity!
Then, Zhong Yuchen turned to Lin Mo, picked up a bottle of red wine, and, pointing at it with a mimicking smile, said,
"Take this bottle of wine, for instance. Do you understand it? Can you appreciate and discuss it with Yingxue?"
Everyone was shocked because they heard Zhong Yuchen speaking English, and his pronunciation was remarkably standard.
Truly the mark of someone who had studied abroad!
After speaking, Zhong Yuchen looked at Lin Mo with disdain, then, slapping his forehead, said,
"Oh, right, I forgot you're an unemployed drifter, so you obviously don't understand English. Shall I translate it into Chinese for you?"
"Ha ha ha ha..."
Hearing this, everyone present laughed.
However, the next second, their laughter ceased abruptly; they looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"I don't like red wine. In fact, I prefer our Hua Country's baijiu, even Jiang Xiaobai, which I find has a fuller flavor and is more intoxicating than those foreigners' red wine."
"As for the bottle of wine in your hand, it was produced in Boston, brewed in '89. Hmm, from production to cellaring, it probably went through about three rainy seasons."
Everyone's minds went blank!
Because Lin Mo wasn't speaking English; he was speaking German, which is even harder than English.
Everyone's jaws dropped in shock, but that wasn't all.
Lin Mo then continued in Japanese, Russian, French, Italian...
And everything Lin Mo talked about was related to wine knowledge. Moreover, his languages flowed even more smoothly and were more standard than Zhong Yuchen's English!
In an instant, everyone's faces turned as red as could be.
They could never have imagined that the unemployed drifter they looked down upon and found disagreeable knew so many more languages than they did—several times more!!
And Jiang Yingxue's mouth was agape in an exaggerated fashion. She was genuinely shocked; Lin Mo actually knew so many languages, and he spoke them with such seamless fluency and ease.
"This guy can't possibly know more languages than I do. Impossible! Impossible!"
Zhong Yuchen's face turned as dark as a deep pool; he couldn't believe it was true, but the shocked expressions around him left him no choice but to accept it.
Grinding his teeth, Zhong Yuchen looked at Lin Mo again, his eyes filled with deep hostility and hatred, "Pretending to be a pig in order to eat a tiger, right? Well done!! You just wait!!"
(The author is working hard to write more, but really who doesn't want to update more—it's all about time, time. There will be at least three updates tonight, possibly around twelve or so for the third one.)