Chapter 19: The Big Star

"Brother Xu is here!"

"Holy crap! Xu Heng? You look way too handsome."

"Impressive, Brother Xu. This outfit is worthy of a top student from a big city; it leaves us in the dust by several blocks."

"Did Xu Heng go to Korea for plastic surgery?"

The few people sitting facing the door were the first to see Xu Heng. At first, they didn't recognize who it was, but after taking a few careful looks, they exclaimed in surprise one after another.

Having let go of Ying Ziyun, Xu Heng learned self-management. With a little extra money on hand, he bought a few designer outfits to wear, kept his hairstyle clean and sharp, and wore a Patek Philippe worth nearly a hundred thousand. The whole person felt completely out of place among these young guys who were still going back and forth with perms and dyes.

The direct impression this change gave outsiders was that "Xu Heng has become handsome." In reality, Xu Heng was still the same Xu Heng; he hadn't had plastic surgery, nor had he eaten a Marrow Cleansing Pill.

The loud voices of the boys drew the attention of the girls. They looked at Xu Heng with surprised expressions, seemingly not expecting that the "wooden block" from high school could turn into something like the popular young actors on television.

Xu Heng smiled and found an empty seat to sit down.

"I just spent a little time dressing up, that's all. I don't have that much money for plastic surgery."

"You're being modest, Brother Xu. The watch on your wrist doesn't look cheap."

"A high-quality fake bought on the pedestrian street, fifty bucks a piece," Xu Heng said, pinching his Armani suit. "This is also a high-quality fake; wearing this to a bar is good for picking up girls."

Several boys who hadn't even watched the teachers' educational films were left dumbfounded.

"Holy crap! Brother, you know how to play!"

"Doesn't your girlfriend give you a hard time?" a little boy with a slanted fringe and a 'shamate' hairstyle asked.

He wasn't a street thug; it was just that this hairstyle was popular in this era.

Once the 'shamate' boy asked, the others became curious too.

Everyone present basically knew that Xu Heng was someone with a girlfriend, but could Ying Ziyun really tolerate Xu Heng's such open behavior?

Regarding this, Xu Heng did not hide anything: "We broke up a few months ago."

"Ah? You broke up?"

"Damn! I was hoping that if I came over, I might be able to see the goddess~"

"Scatter, scatter, everyone came to see Goddess Ying," someone said, half-jokingly, to diffuse the awkward atmosphere.

They knew no one wanted to be reminded of a breakup, so they stopped asking why Xu Heng and Ying Ziyun had split up.

Everyone had started university, scattered to the four corners of the country, and were no longer at the age from high school where they treated boys and girls dating like an idol drama to follow.

Xu Heng and Ying Ziyun dating might have been jaw-dropping big news to them.

But in their eyes, the two breaking up seemed rather mundane.

After all, Ying Ziyun was like the Seventh Fairy in the sky, unreachable. That she could have taken a liking to Xu Heng, this "Dong Yong," was already a miracle of ancestral smoke rising from the grave.

After teasing Xu Heng for a few sentences, the group's topic immediately shifted elsewhere.

For example, complaining about how miserable their university life was, with full class schedules every week.

There were also girls complaining about university clubs and roommates, saying there were many people with difficult personalities.

At this point, someone chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, I joined that Student Union thing. The sophomores and juniors just pick the dirty and tiring work for us freshmen to do, and they even call it 'training our abilities'."

A total of nine boys came to the scene.

Liberal arts classes naturally had few boys. Xu Heng's class was considered decent, with thirteen; four didn't show up today, some making excuses about having things to do, others having returned to school early.

Excluding these nine people, the remaining twenty-plus were all girls. Once they started chatting, it was like a ten-million-word tragic novel that wouldn't end until the food was served.

On the boys' side, the rich kid Cui Tianhua was the initiator of this gathering, and he was covering all the food and drinks today.

Xu Heng only knew this guy because his father had sponsored a city-wide essay competition back in the day. That year, Xu Heng won the first prize and received three thousand in prize money.

And Cui Tianhua was the only grand prize winner.

At the time, their head teacher comforted Xu Heng: "Don't be discouraged. Your essay had the level of a grand prize, but external forces cannot be resisted. Cui Tianhua's father is the chairman of Tong Gold..."

That was when Xu Heng understood what it meant to "rely on one's father."

Cui Tianhua had a good father; even if he didn't go to university, he could inherit the family business. While Xu Heng had no father, and even if he got into a good university, he could only end up as a civil servant in a small city.

Xu Heng wasn't very familiar with the remaining few boys; he didn't even remember some of their names.

As for the girls, there were too many, and Xu Heng only knew the few who had been his seatmates or sat in front of or behind him.

Among them, what surprised him more was a girl named Liu Yiyan. This girl was the only art student in their class. Xu Heng hadn't seen her many times in high school; his only impression was that she dressed gaudily, giving people the feeling of being loose.

Now, looking at her with the eyes of a thirty-something-year-old man, she was unexpectedly beautiful.

A melon-seed face, a slender and slim figure, golden curls; perhaps because she had applied foundation, the skin on her face was very white—white to the point of glowing.

Added to that was that pair of "big mountains," making her look extremely mature and sexy.

"Don't stare. Miss Liu is a big star now; she only came to give Brother Tianhua face," the round-faced boy sitting to Xu Heng's left nudged him with his elbow and reminded him.

The round-faced boy was named Chen Chen, known throughout high school for being well-informed and also very fond of snitching to teachers.

Any classmate eating snacks in class had to be on guard against being seen by him.

"Oh? Tell me more," Xu Heng asked in a low voice, head lowered.

He was indeed a bit curious about Liu Yiyan, but what he was curious about wasn't her as a person, but the watch on her wrist.

It was the same Patek Philippe, but the one on his wrist was only worth a hundred thousand, while the one on Liu Yiyan's wrist was a limited edition, worth over a million, which couldn't even be bought in a small place like Tong City.

"I don't know the details, but I heard that after graduating from high school, Liu Yiyan got into the Magic Arts Academy. In the first semester, she was spotted by a big director and acted in a movie. I reckon there are quite a few talent agencies waiting to groom her."

A big director? A movie?

Xu Heng flipped through the names of stars from his past life in his mind but couldn't find Liu Yiyan, so he became even more curious.

"What movie?"

"Don't know, just heard it," Chen Chen said in a low voice. "If you just broke up and want to find a substitute, you'd better not look for her. She's a woman Cui Tianhua has his eyes on."

After listening, Xu Heng stroked his chin in thought.

He roughly knew what this so-called "high school reunion" was.

A date between a woman wanting to climb the social ladder with her body and a rich second-generation heir who wanted to play around with a minor star after getting money.

As for these people, they were merely "actors" invited by the rich second generation to show off their financial strength.

In his past life, he had not noticed it in the slightest.

Interesting.