Cao Dayong naturally recognized the former campus belle Wu Fei'er. He just hadn't expected that Old Fourth, Chen Xiao, would be with Wu Fei'er.
"Old Fourth, what's the situation? Hurry up and introduce us!"
Cao Dayong asked with a sly grin, his meaning clear.
Chen Xiao smiled and said, "Fei'er and I are colleagues now. We just went to her place to handle some business, and when we heard you were here, we came to see you together."
The sly grin on Cao Dayong's face widened. Handle some business? Heh, that was a rather subtle way of putting it.
Seeing his grin, Chen Xiao knew he wasn't thinking of anything good. He immediately threw a punch and asked with a smile, "I haven't asked you yet. Why didn't you let me know you were coming? You even staged a surprise attack."
"I originally wanted to give you a surprise, but I didn't expect you to move..."
Cao Dayong winced in pain, clutching his chest. He thought to himself, how did Old Fourth get so strong!
Although Chen Xiao was just joking with him, the force of this punch was something an ordinary person couldn't withstand.
Chen Xiao, in his excitement, had forgotten about this.
Seeing Cao Dayong's state, Chen Xiao realized he had hit too hard. He gave an awkward smile and changed the subject, "Alright, let's go eat first. We can talk while we eat."
The three of them went to the roadside to hail a taxi. Chen Xiao's own car was too flashy, so he had been taking taxis to and from work recently to keep a low profile.
Cao Dayong took the opportunity to pull Chen Xiao aside, glancing at Wu Fei'er. "Old Fourth, tell me honestly, what's your relationship with the campus belle?"
Chen Xiao smiled slightly. "Honestly?"
"Mmm-hmm, honestly. We're good friends, don't play games with me..."
"We're colleagues."
"..."
Just then, a taxi arrived, and Cao Dayong had no choice but to drop the matter.
To recapture the feeling of their college days, the three returned to the vicinity of the university town.
Xu Ji Hot Pot, a place where they used to drink together often.
As the swirling steam rose from the copper hot pot, the old friends, who hadn't seen each other for years, opened up.
The three clinked their glasses. Cao Dayong said, "Old Fourth, where are you working now? To be colleagues with Wu Fei'er, it must be a good place!"
"It's just so-so. I'm at Jiangcheng Hospital!"
Chen Xiao said with a hint of pride, his words betraying a bit of showing off.
This was because he had once told Cao Dayong that working at Jiangcheng Hospital was his dream. Now that his dream had come true, he naturally wanted to show off to his old friend.
As expected, upon hearing Chen Xiao's words, Cao Dayong's face was filled with surprise. "Damn, you're something else, man! You've made it to Jiangcheng Hospital, and you call it so-so?"
He looked genuinely excited, showing that he was truly happy for his brother.
Chen Xiao laughed heartily. "What about you, Third Brother? How have you been lately? I haven't heard from you in a while. You must be at least an associate chief physician by now!"
Cao Dayong paused slightly at this, then said indifferently, "I resigned a long time ago. I'm working in sales for a pharmaceutical company now."
Chen Xiao was stunned. "Third Brother, why did you quit? Wasn't that hospital pretty good? Its ranking in the provincial capital was quite high..."
"Heh, the hospital was indeed good."
Cao Dayong gave a wry smile. "It just didn't pay enough. I had no choice, had to make a living, so I made a change!"
Cao Dayong raised his wine glass to Chen Xiao, and Wu Fei'er also silently raised hers.
From Cao Dayong, she seemed to see her own reflection.
Chen Xiao, however, felt it was a great pity. Cao Dayong had achieved excellent results during his time as a doctor, and his personality, being both bold and meticulous, made him very suitable to be a surgeon.
If he had continued to be a doctor, his future prospects would have been much brighter than those of a pharmaceutical salesperson.
After finishing the drink, Chen Xiao couldn't help but advise, "Third Brother, I think being a doctor suits you better. If you encounter any trouble, you can tell me..."
Cao Dayong gave a self-deprecating smile. "It's all in the past, and I can't turn back now..."
After a moment of silence, he said wistfully, "I had a girlfriend back then, but because I didn't have a car or a house, and couldn't afford the bride price of 300,000 yuan, she eventually left me and married an old man in his fifties. Brother, can you imagine how that feels? It was all forced by life."
Chen Xiao couldn't help but sigh. "Alas, I didn't expect you to go through something like that. Why didn't you tell me!"
"What good would it do to tell you? You had just graduated not long ago yourself. Forget it, let's not talk about it... Come, let's drink."
Cao Dayong took another large gulp of wine, as if to comfort himself. "Besides, I'm doing well now. I have a car, a house, and savings. Although I have many loan payments every month, at least I've made something of myself."
Chen Xiao felt the atmosphere becoming a bit somber and proactively ended the topic, asking, "By the way, Third Brother, why did you suddenly come to Jiangcheng? Are you here on business?"
Cao Dayong blinked, looking genuinely surprised. "You don't know?"
Chen Xiao looked confused. "Know what?"
"There's a class reunion tomorrow. Didn't anyone notify you?"
Cao Dayong asked, tilting his head.
"No one notified me..."
Chen Xiao said, then looked at Wu Fei'er. "Did anyone notify you?"
"You're already like this after just a few drinks. I'm not in your class, why would they notify me..."
Wu Fei'er gave him a glare.
Chen Xiao then realized that Wu Fei'er was just a fellow student from the same department, but not in the same class.
At this, Cao Dayong, reeking of alcohol, said, "Such a big event, they couldn't possibly not notify you. Maybe they forgot. I'll ask for you later. The reunion is tomorrow evening at seven, at the Dragon Phoenix Grand Hotel. You should prepare yourself, and we'll go together."
Tomorrow was the weekend, so the reunion was scheduled for tomorrow to make it convenient for classmates who were out of town to attend.
"Alright, it's been a while since I've seen those old classmates. It'll be good to catch up."
Chen Xiao agreed, though he was actually agreeing out of consideration for Cao Dayong.
This was because a few months ago, he had already attended a gathering with some of the classmates who stayed in Jiangcheng.
That class reunion had left Chen Xiao with unforgettable memories.
It was at that class reunion that Sun Li met Long Yaoyang, and they later got together. Chen Xiao's life trajectory had changed because of it...
In just a few months, everything had changed.
Long Yaoyang and Sun Li were no longer in this world.
As they were talking, two men and one woman, three customers, walked into the hot pot restaurant.
The hot pot restaurant wasn't large, so as soon as the three entered, they could see Chen Xiao's table.
One of them immediately showed a surprised expression. "Hey! Look, isn't that Chen Xiao and Cao Dayong!"