Chapter 33

«Uh... »

«Not much! »

Liu Dongxu instinctively shook his head.

But he immediately realized he'd been led into a trap.

When did foot washing become so noble?

No, it really is that noble!

With such a noble reason, he wouldn't feel any guilt when he tried it himself.

«Dong Xu, I've got another experience card here—you've been exhausted preparing for your wedding, take it and try it when you have time. »

Zhang Xian pulled out another experience card and handed it to Liu Dongxu.

This cigarette wasn't free—you've got to give back to your brother, right?

«Alright, I'll go and bring hope to broken families when I have time! »

Liu Dongxu gladly took the experience card; with this noble excuse, he now had zero guilt.

«Xian Ge, Dong Xu, you two out for a stroll? »

As the two chatted, Pang Fei walked over, wearing a plaid shirt and carrying a briefcase—he'd clearly just gotten off work; though his company was a foreign enterprise, after coming to China, he'd learned to adapt, and overtime had become routine.

But his company was relatively legit—overtime paid overtime wages, unlike some companies that just exploited workers for free and still had the nerve to call overtime a "blessing," shameless as hell!

«Fei Ge, it's already nine—did you just get off work? »

Liu Dongxu glanced at his phone—the time was past nine; he couldn't help sighing, getting home at nine at night was pure ox-and-horse labor.

No, worse than ox-and-horse labor—even oxen and horses don't finish work at nine at night!

«Company overtime. »

Pang Fei shook his head; this was standard for him.

«Your company is way too ruthless! »

«Next time I interview, I'll make sure to ask—any job requiring overtime? I won't take it! »

Liu Dongxu added another condition to his ideal job.

Overtime stretching to nine or ten every night—when do you have time for yourself? Don't you need to spend time with your wife and kids?

Don't you need personal leisure time?

«With today's job market, unless you go into the system, it's nearly impossible to find a company that doesn't demand overtime! »

Pang Fei sighed and shook his head.

«So you're saying if I want no overtime, I have to take the civil service exam? » Liu Dongxu frowned.

«You couldn't even take the civil service exam! »

«Why not? »

«Beijing's latest rule: overseas returnees are barred from taking the national civil service exam—though many provinces haven't implemented this policy yet. »

As he spoke, Pang Fei lightly patted Liu Dongxu's shoulder: «So if you want to take the exam, you'll have to go to other provinces. »

«There's a rule like that? »

Liu Dongxu was stunned. He hadn't planned to take the exam, but not wanting to and being disqualified were two different things—this was blatant discrimination.

Before studying abroad, Liu Dongxu had always believed that after being "gold-plated" overseas, he'd return as an elite, with major companies fighting to hire him.

But after returning, he discovered the promised perks didn't exist at all—instead, he faced discrimination; many top-tier firms wouldn't even give him an interview, and his few attempts ended in failure—none passed the first round.

Now Pang Fei told him he didn't even qualify to take the civil service exam.

If he'd known this, why bother studying abroad at all!

What Liu Dongxu didn't know was that not all returnees suffered his fate—those who'd attended top Chinese universities like 985s and then elite foreign schools were still welcomed by many employers.

Domestic companies targeted guys like him: those who couldn't get into decent Chinese universities, then went abroad to earn a "water degree."

Years ago, when China wasn't as developed, a foreign degree still carried weight—but now employers had caught on; a foreign water degree was worth less than a regular domestic undergraduate degree, and these returnees demanded higher salaries since they'd spent so much on studying abroad—naturally, no employment agreement could be reached.

«Still, Zhang Xiaoxian has it easy—he doesn't even have to think about work. »

Pang Fei looked at Zhang Xian with envy: «I heard after 'Apple Fragrance' went viral, Uncle Zhang's appearance fee jumped to hundreds of thousands—is that true? »

«Impossible! That's just self-media bloggers trying to grab attention! »

Zhang Xian quickly denied it—earning too much money invites hatred; better to stay modest. Besides, his father's appearance fee wasn't even close to hundreds of thousands—currently it was just two hundred thousand.

Hearing Zhang Xian deny it, both Pang Fei and Liu Dongxu felt slightly better—how could anyone live if it were true!

They'd all grown up in the same alley—yet suddenly, you became a "rich second generation," doing nothing all day yet living well—it was too envious.

«Laopang, I've got one more Water Transfer experience card—your job's so tiring, go relax when you have time. »

Zhang Xian handed Pang Fei the last Shui Zhi Yun experience card.

Brothers share good things.

«Uh... a foot bath experience card? »

Pang Fei looked baffled—he'd been to foot bath places with coworkers, knew they were in the "gray zone," and what service you got depended entirely on how much cash you had.

But he never expected Zhang Xian to hand him a foot bath experience card.

«New shop at the alley entrance—I tried it for you, service was pretty good. »

Zhang Xian smiled.

«Alright, thanks. »

Pang Fei chuckled, slipped the card into his pocket—he was a programmer, sat at a computer all day, a massage at a foot bath place would definitely help him relax.

«We 'Six Alley Three Heroes' haven't hung out in ages—when you've got time, bring your girlfriends and get together. »

Pang Fei added—he was the oldest of the three, one year older than Zhang Xian, who was a few months older than Liu Dongxu.

«Why wait for time? I'm getting married next week! »

"Fei Ge, you should bring your girlfriend too."

Liu Dongxu picked up the thread.

"Yeah, we forgot about that."

"I'll ask my girlfriend if she's free later."

Pang Fei was very satisfied with his internet-famous girlfriend, especially her looks—though she couldn't compare to a big star like Chu Yourong, among ordinary people she stood out like a crane among chickens, and Pang Fei was content.

"Xiao Xian, won't you bring your big-star girlfriend too?"

Pang Fei turned to look at Zhang Xian.

"Of course she's coming—she's the witness."

Zhang Xian shrugged lightly.

"Nice! Dong Xu, you've really got face now!"

Pang Fei couldn't help but remark.

"It's all thanks to Xian Ge—if it weren't for him, how could I ever get her to come?"

Liu Dongxu grinned foolishly.

"Xiao Xian, you'd better treat her well—when I get married, I want your Chu Yourong to be my witness too!"

"Let's lock it in now!"

Pang Fei had been utterly smitten with his internet-famous girlfriend and was already planning their wedding.

"Then you'd better hurry up and marry her—she might break up with you any day," Zhang Xian said, spreading his hands.

"What? Your girlfriend's Chu Yourong—and you're talking about breaking up?"

Pang Fei looked utterly incredulous.

"Fei Ge, you don't get what Xian Ge means—breaking up is entirely up to Chu Yourong!"

"In my opinion, men should focus on their own careers—living off a woman's money always makes you look inferior!"

Liu Dongxu took over, then patted Zhang Xian's arm reassuringly: "Xian Ge, don't be so pessimistic—even if Chu Yourong breaks up with you, there's still Lin Xiwei!"

"You two have emotional roots—nurture it, maybe you can get back together."

Hearing this, Zhang Xian fell silent. Yesterday, Liu Dongxu had warned him not to get back together with Lin Xiwei at his wedding—and now, just one day later, this guy had changed his tune.

The three chatted a while longer, then each went home.

At this moment, Wang Shulan and Wang Jiajia were still chatting at the Liu household, mainly discussing wedding details—but the main speakers were the three elders: Wang Shulan, Sun Fengyan, and Liu Fusheng. As the "daughter-in-law," Wang Jiajia sat quietly beside them, listening without making demands, behaving very well-mannered.

After returning, Liu Dongxu sat beside his fiancée and whispered: "Jiajia, I'm telling you, Zhang Xian is beyond saving—he not only hasn't regretted going to the foot spa, he's actually trying to get me to go too!"

"You absolutely cannot go—the technicians at foot spas aren't good people!"

Wang Jiajia immediately frowned.

"Don't worry—I'm nothing like Zhang Xian!"

Liu Dongxu swore firmly, but he suddenly felt something was off. After a moment, he realized: why was his fiancée so certain foot spas had no good people?

Hmm, probably just a stereotype!

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Saturday.

Rongsheng Jiudian.

Liu Dongxu and Wang Jiajia's wedding arrived as scheduled.

The banquet hall was lively—Liu's family were locals of Beijing, and they had over twenty tables of relatives and friends alone.

Zhang Xian sat at the classmate table. Originally, Liu Dongxu had wanted him as best man, but since Zhang Xian looked better and was taller, he kindly replaced him, saying Zhang Xian needed to accompany Chu Yourong.

How could the best man steal the groom's spotlight!

"Zhang Xian, I heard Lin Xiwei is coming too—you two will meet again."

Sitting to Zhang Xian's left was a fat guy named Zhao Peng—he'd been the sports monitor in high school, the class athlete, but now weighed two hundred jin.

"Xian Ge, have you kept in touch since you broke up?"

Before Zhang Xian could answer, Xu Zhiyang beside him on the right chimed in.

"No contact at all."

Zhang Xian shook his head—had it not been for running into her while shooting wedding photos a few days ago, they'd have had zero contact.

"Then today's a perfect chance—I heard Lin Xiwei's still single!" Xu Zhiyang chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that too—rekindling an old flame—that'd be a lovely story!"

Zhao Peng agreed. He and Xu Zhiyang had been decent friends with Zhang Xian in high school, but after entering different universities, they'd lost touch.

As the three chatted, a tall, thin guy with a head of curly hair sidled up.

"Guys, I'm here!"

"On a weekend, traffic was terrible—drove over forty minutes for just ten kilometers—all because of these out-of-towners!"

As Hu Chuan complained, he absentmindedly placed his BMW keys on the table.

He was Hu Chuan, who'd always loved showing off in high school—they'd nicknamed him "Bi Ge." Who would've thought that after all these years, the guy was still the same, showing off his big Benz the moment he showed up. 【114】 "Whoa, Bi Ge's driving a BMW now!"

"Whoa, Brother Bing's driving a big Benz now!"

"Young talent driving a Benz!"

Zhang Xian chuckled teasingly. Though Hu Chuan called himself "Bi Ge," he was one of those goofy guys who weren't annoying—in high school, Zhang Xian had gotten along well with him.

"Xian Ge, you're the only one who gets it! Look at these two—they completely miss the point!"

Hu Chuan pointed at Zhao Peng and Xu Zhiyang, then rolled up his shirt sleeves to reveal a large gold watch on his wrist.

"Alright, Bi Ge, put away your magic already!"

Zhao Peng sneered: "Even if you drive a BMW and wear a gold watch, what's the point? Liu Dongxu's already married—you're still a lonely dog!"

'Shit!'

'That hurts!'

Hu Chuan dramatically clutched his chest, then turned to Zhang Xian and said, 'Big Brother Xian, what's going on with you lately? Got a girlfriend?'

'Uh, I've got one.'

Zhang Xian hesitated slightly, then gave a definite answer.

Chu Yourong will be arriving soon as a witness to the wedding; for now, she'll attend Liu Dongxu's wedding as his girlfriend.

Upon hearing Zhang Xian had a girlfriend, Hu Chuan's eyes lit up: 'Where is she? Didn't you bring her?'

'What the hell are you excited about? I'm dating someone—why are you so hyped?'

Zhang Xian was speechless.

'Of course I'm excited! If you're dating, it means I've got a shot at Lin Xiwei!'

'You beat me to it back in high school—now I finally have a chance!'

'Big Brother Xian, you're not mad if I go after Lin Xiwei, right?'

Hu Chuan had one good trait: he always said everything outright. Like his pursuit of Lin Xiwei—in fact, back in high school, he was one of her many suitors, and a very loud one at that.

But Lin Xiwei never gave him a second glance, and all these years later, the guy still hadn't given up—probably the power of a 'white moonlight'.

"If you can win her, that's your skill."

Zhang Xian smiled and shrugged.

As the campus beauty, Lin Xiwei was the white moonlight to many boys. Hu Chuan had spoken it aloud, but among the guys attending Zhang Xian's wedding today, there were surely others who felt the same.

'Here she comes! Here she comes!'

'Speak of the devil!'

At that moment, Xu Zhiyang shouted out.

Everyone turned toward the direction he pointed and saw two girls walking hand in hand—one with short hair and a round, plump face, the other with long flowing hair, delicate features, and a graceful figure.

Clearly, the latter was Lin Xiwei.

She wore a light blue embroidered long dress, adorned with a few pale pink cherry blossoms at the collar, tied at the waist with a white silk sash in a butterfly knot, swaying gently with each step.

Her outfit today exuded the gentle charm of southern Jiangnan—not at all like the bold, spirited girls of Beijing!

'No wonder she's my goddess—still this beautiful!'

Hu Chuan's gaze locked onto Lin Xiwei and wouldn't let go.

After a moment, he turned back to Zhang Xian and grumbled: 'Zhang Xian, I'm not saying this to be mean, but you're really clueless—how could you break up with a girlfriend like Lin Xiwei?'

'If I were you, I'd have a kid running around buying soy sauce by now!'

Zhang Xian smiled without replying—love was something no one could truly explain.

Besides, when he broke up with Lin Xiwei, he was only nineteen—what did he know back then?

Not just then—even now, Zhang Xian was only twenty-two. He'd barely turned the first pages of life's book; his understanding of so many things was still far from complete.

As they spoke, Lin Xiwei had already approached. Her eyes instinctively fell on Zhang Xian, then flicked to Zhao Peng and Xu Zhiyang on either side of him. She asked: 'Aren't your girlfriend coming today?'

'She'll be here later—should be on the way.'

About twenty minutes ago, Chu Yourong had sent Zhang Xian a message saying she'd left.

'Lin Xiwei, stop thinking about Zhang Xian.'

'Look at me—I've been waiting for you all these years!'

Hu Chuan jumped in, pulling out the chair beside him: 'Come, sit next to me!'

'Hu Chuan, get a grip—you've changed girlfriends three or four times just on your social media!'

'Is this how you wait for someone?'

Before Lin Xiwei could speak, her companion Xu Yuanyuan shot back.

Exposed as a liar, Hu Chuan wasn't embarrassed—he laughed heartily: 'When a taxi is waiting for a fare, if another passenger wants a ride, you take them, right?'