This bear hug left Shen Qiang bewildered. After a good three seconds, Shen Qiang suddenly came to his senses: "Fat Buddha! Zhang Ye."

At this moment, Li Wei, who was at the staircase nearby, saw Shen Qiang's shocked expression and came over laughing: "Isn't it him, back then he was a tall guy, skinny as a bamboo stick, everyone called him Fat Buddha after the TV show, now look at him, over two hundred pounds."

Shen Qiang also laughed: "Like blowing up a balloon, I wouldn't recognize him anywhere else."

He laughed: "You're no different, back in high school you weren't even 1.7 meters tall, everyone called you 'Three-Inch Nail' behind your back."

Shen Qiang was embarrassed: "I'm not short now, that's all in the past."

Fat Buddha chuckled,

At this time, a similarly hefty woman, around 1.7 meters tall, came over, standing there smiling.

Li Wei raised an eyebrow: "This is Zhang Ye's wife, come on, don't just stand around here, let's go upstairs, I'll introduce everyone slowly."

Shen Qiang exchanged a glance with Lv Shuyao and followed them upstairs.

Upstairs, Li Wei's girlfriend Tang Meng was already there, everyone greeted each other with smiles, and Li Wei was on the phone.

"Hurry up, everyone's here and it's just you missing, are you coming after we finish eating?"

"Stop the nonsense, everyone else is here, you're the slow one."

"What's going on, we're all here, are you a snail? If you don't come, forget it, don't give me any excuses."

He made three calls in a row.

The tone was particularly direct.

After hanging up the phone, soon, the room became lively.

But the actual high school classmates, only five came in total.

Li Wei brought Tang Meng, Fat Buddha married and brought his wife, Shen Qiang brought Lv Shuyao, the other three came alone.

After a brief introduction,

Everyone started eating.

Nothing extravagant, just hotpot, but the atmosphere was very lively.

They chatted about what everyone was doing.

Li Wei studied education in college, came back and used connections to get a job as a teacher in a town middle school. Tang Meng is a teacher at the county primary school.

Fat Buddha Zhang Ye didn't go to college, he got a truck driving license after high school graduation and has been driving trucks since then, the income is decent but not very free, his wife was introduced to him by someone, they married after knowing each other for three months, they have a son who is two and a half years old, being taken care of by the grandparents at home.

Among the remaining three, one was actually quite familiar, he was a close friend from high school, he studied architecture and bridges, works for a company out of town, came back for the Spring Festival and will leave after the new year.

The other two had a good relationship with Li Wei in high school, but were just average with Shen Qiang.

It's just that five years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Meeting again, there is still warmth.

Laughing and joking, drinking, chatting about their situations.

To be honest, they were all quite genuine, those who weren't didn't show up.

As Li Wei put it: "Each and every one of them is fake, back in school days, when calling for food and drinks, they'd come running, now you call them, it's either they don't have time or they have something going on, it's getting harder to gather together."

Eating hotpot and drinking.

It was inevitable that they talked about Shen Qiang.

When asked what Shen Qiang was doing, he just told them he holds a position at the Medical University Affiliated hospital, is pursuing a graduate degree, and does some small business, getting by.

The response was quite standard.

Not really a lie, but not the full truth either.

After all, Heshenghe now has assets in the hundreds of billions, if the truth was shared, Shen Qiang worried it'd be impossible to enjoy the drinks.

Because sometimes, one has to admit, when wealth and status differ too greatly, it becomes very hard to play together, as their viewpoints, the people and things they encounter are different, leading to a lack of common language.

Everyone at the table was ordinary, the drinking capacity was average, after a glass of white liquor, Li Wei lit a cigarette and said: "Ah, nothing is easy, I feel like my life will be this way, working, teaching, earning a fixed salary, not starving but nowhere near wealthy."

Shen Qiang laughed: "Don't be discontent, who isn't like that."

Fat Buddha earnestly agreed: "If I were that kind of material, able to be a teacher, I wouldn't be driving trucks, be content."

Li Wei laughed, looking at Tang Meng who was talking with Lv Shuyao, lowered his voice grinning: "My Tang Meng may not be as pretty as your girlfriend, nor does she have the same aura, but now I feel quite happy, last month, we bought a house in the new district, made a down payment, when the new year is over, we'll get it ready and marry."

Shen Qiang laughed: "Let me know when, I'll come to the wedding."

Li Wei laughed: "You won't run away."

Fat Buddha laughed: "You're doing alright, I haven't bought a house yet, still living in the old yards."

Li Wei laughed: "You drive big trucks for a month, earning more than me, not buying a house is your problem, don't clutter my ears with nonsense, I don't like hearing it."

Fat Buddha laughed: "Crap, I tell others, I got used to living in the old yards and don't want to move, but really, it's just one word, lacking money, just in our county, a house costs several hundred thousand, your sister-in-law doesn't work, the parents are old, they're all farmers, I seem to earn a lot in a year, but for a family of four's food, drink, and life necessities, savings of twenty thousand a year is good."

Li Wei laughed.

Others chimed in.

"It's even harder for me outside, now over five thousand a month, after the cost for renting, eating, and transportation, the remaining one or two thousand is alright."

"Don't mention it, I'm worse off, working far away from home, parents are forcing me to buy a house there, after paying the mortgage with my salary, only five hundred left, if mom and dad don't help out, I'd be eating dirt."

"Haha, you guys can still save some and buy a house, that's already quite good. I've been working a short time, earning less, barely making ends meet every month, have to be thrifty, can't even think about dating, too luxurious, just have to keep going or else what can you do?"

Shen Qiang just listened from the side, not showing off.

After all, if it wasn't for receiving divine favor.

Then Shen Qiang wouldn't be different from them either.

Back to the county, the best scenario would be working at the county hospital, worst case at a town hospital.

Earning a few thousand a month.

Then like they said, slowly endure it, with qualifications, experience, gradually advancing, by the time some success is achieved, probably already bald.

Honestly speaking, Shen Qiang never was someone who having a bit of money thought everyone around him was inferior, because Shen Qiang wasn't that snobbish.

Because having been through many things Shen Qiang understood, even if others didn't have money, it doesn't affect his own life, there's no need to be superior in front of them.

If others think they're great, I ignore them, they aren't even worth a fart!

Thus throughout the hotpot meal, Shen Qiang never mentioned his house and car, never spoke of Heshenghe, because there's truly no necessity.

"Come on." Li Wei lifted his glass smiling: "Sometimes I feel suffocated, smoking cigarettes under twenty bucks, buying Lining, 362°, and feeling pretty good, back in school the dream was to travel the world, yet in these five years never traveled, seeing others flaunting this and that on social media, never worn shoes over eight hundred."

Looking at Tang Meng who smiled silently beside him, Li Wei laughed: "But with buddies around, anywhere is the most beautiful scenery, come on, down this glass."

Everyone laughed and lifted their glasses.

Just then, the private room door was slammed open.

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