Chapter 1 Chen Xudong

Chen Xudong walked over and put his arm around Li Cheng颐's shoulder.

"Not bad, kid. How long has it been, and you've bulked up so much?"

"I've been working on explosive power lately. It's normal." Seeing it was a familiar childhood friend, Li Cheng颐 could only sit down speechlessly. He glanced at the group of people slowly gathering behind Chen Xudong.

At first glance, there were at least thirty or forty people, most of whom were in good shape. The men were strong, and the women were hot. But most of them were middle-aged; there weren't many young people.

"Long time no see. See who else is here," Chen Xudong patted Li Cheng颐 on the shoulder and pointed to a few people in the distance who were walking towards them.

Li Cheng颐 looked over. At first, he didn't recognize them, but soon, the memories of his past self began to surge up. These young people approaching were all childhood friends he had grown up with.

Although some had gained weight, some had become beautiful, and some had changed a lot, he could still vaguely recognize them from their eyebrows and contours. It was still the same person.

A group of people walked over excitedly.

"That's... Li Cheng颐!" A bespectacled, refined-looking man pointed over and said, as if he had just recognized him. "It's Li Cheng颐. He's so big now? Has he been working out?" A girl asked in surprise.

"Long time no see, everyone." Seeing everyone had come over, Li Cheng颐 couldn't ignore them, so he waved his hand as a greeting. In reality, his memories of his past self were vague. Looking at this group of people, he only remembered that the bespectacled man was called Li Qingpeng, and his family had some background, but not much.

His past self didn't really get along with him when they were kids.

This group of people used to play in two separate groups, each minding their own business.

One group was led by Li Qingpeng, who came from a good family and was good at studying.

The other group was led by Chen Xudong, who was a young, rich second-generation heir, generous, and able to attract people. Li Cheng颐, on the other hand, used to be unremarkable and came from an ordinary family, so he was a bit of a wallflower.

There was also Lin Sang, who joined later. He didn't come this time. Chen Xudong pointed to the few people walking over and introduced them one by one.

"Zhao Sikai." He pointed to a somewhat shy, dark, and thin man and laughed, "Now he's working on a construction site, doing architectural design. He smiles more than before. He used to be so taciturn."

"Get lost. All you do is make fun of me," Zhao Sikai said with a smile and a curse.

"This is Zhao Funing, our former district belle, ah, neighborhood belle," Chen Xudong pointed to the second girl in a pink tracksuit with a ponytail.

This girl had red lips, white teeth, and big eyes. She was tall and had long, flowing hair. She was indeed beautiful. A simple pair of washed-out white jeans outlined her tight, rounded hips and legs.

"What neighborhood belle? Stop talking nonsense. I'm all grown up now," Zhao Funing reached out and shook hands with Li Cheng颐 somewhat formally.

There were two other girls left. Li Cheng颐 remembered that one was called Yuan Lai, who seemed to have always liked Li Qingpeng. He wondered how she was doing now.

He wasn't familiar with the other one at all. He searched his memories carefully, but he still had no impression.

"No need to introduce Yuan Lai, right? The big sister who used to help us rush our summer homework," Chen Xudong said with a laugh, and Yuan Lai slapped him on the back.

This girl dressed like a boy, with short, shoulder-length hair. She was a little chubby and had a very approachable smile.

"It's been so many years. Li Cheng颐, you're so strong now?" Yuan Lai stood in front of Li Cheng颐 and compared the width of their arms with her hands.

Although she was a little chubby, her arm was still much thinner than Li Cheng颐's. "Exaggerating."

She shook her head and looked at the last girl.

"This is my best friend, Zhuang Yijing. She's been in a bad mood lately, so I dragged her here to join us and relax."

"Hello," Li Cheng颐 greeted with a smile.

The last girl had a very proper demeanor. She wore a light yellow dress and a round straw hat. The simple combination gave off a faint, quiet, and scholarly air.

"Hello. You look very safe up close," Zhuang Yijing joked with a smile.

"Thank you." Li Cheng颐 wasn't in the mood to socialize at all right now. But Chen Xudong had already brought people over, so he had no choice but to chat with them and make up the numbers.

Everyone stood together, a total of seven people. After chatting for a while, they naturally returned to the structure of two small groups and two tables, just like when they were kids.

Chen Xudong, Li Cheng颐, and Zhao Funing were together. Li Qingpeng, Yuan Lai, and Zhao Sikai were together.

Zhuang Yijing greeted everyone and then sat aside, scrolling through her phone. Chen Xudong called a waiter and pointed to everyone present.

"A bottle of watermelon juice for everyone here. Put it on my tab first."

"Dong-ge is so generous as always," Zhao Funing said with a smile. She had a pretty face, but her temper was fiery. She used to fight with Li Qingpeng because she couldn't stand him, so they couldn't play together.

The neighborhood was so big, and with no one else to play with, she could only rely on Li Cheng颐 and Chen Xudong.

"How are you doing now, Da Ning? I heard your dad say you dropped out of school before?" Chen Xudong sat down and lowered his voice.

"I continued studying later, but I didn't catch up after dropping out for two critical years of high school," Zhao Funing said with a smile and a shake of her head. "Now I run a small shop and do clothing business. Not as comfortable and carefree as you rich second-generation heirs."

"What rich second-generation heir am I?" Chen Xudong waved his hand. "These days, the thing I hate most is hearing people call me a rich second-generation heir. Can you leave off the last two words?"

"Then you have to be better than your dad," Li Cheng颐 added.

"Aren't I still young?" Chen Xudong said speechlessly. "Later, it'll definitely be better!"

"What about Xiao Yi? What are you doing now?" Zhao Funing looked at Li Cheng颐, a little curious.

Among the people present, Li Cheng颐 was the most robust, even bigger than Chen Xudong. His figure was truly approaching a broad back and thick waist.

Sitting in the chair, with an unmoving expression, he gave off an air of calmness and composure.

Hearing the question, he quickly sorted out his thoughts and remembered what his sinecure job was.

"I work in a biopharmaceutical company, as an assistant to the boss. Usually, I follow the boss's orders. I'm very busy when I'm busy, traveling everywhere on business. When I'm free, I'm like this now," Li Cheng颐 replied simply. www.

"That's better than us. At least you graduated from college. I didn't get into college back then, and now, really, a little… you know, these days, everything depends on education. There are many places I can't even get into," Zhao Funing sighed.

"That's because you spent too much time dating back then," Chen Xudong concluded. "I told you not to waste your energy and just choose me, but you wouldn't listen."

"Get lost!"

The few of them chatted quietly, and Li Cheng颐 occasionally chimed in, keeping the atmosphere relatively harmonious. After some getting to know each other,

He didn't expect that the person who was doing the best out of the three of them was actually Li Cheng颐. His income of 20,000 a month was actually considered the highest among those who earned money on their own.

On the other hand, among the other few people, Li Qingpeng had only graduated not long ago, but he had already entered the public electricity department and had become a deputy section chief with real power. He was rising rapidly. He was still the leader among the few of them.

After chatting for a while, Li Cheng颐's parents, Li Zhao and Feng Yurong, came over and greeted everyone, and the crowd dispersed.

Chen Xudong was busy greeting everyone. Occasionally, he would turn his head and see Li Cheng颐 sitting quietly in a corner of the lawn, holding his phone in his hand but not looking at it, just staring blankly into the distance.

For some reason, he inexplicably felt a faint sense of fatigue from Li Cheng颐.

"He's quieter than before," Zhao Funing said from the side.

"He's always been a man of few words. He liked Lin Sang before, but he didn't say anything. He just kept it bottled up inside, thinking no one could see it," Chen Xudong said.

"You go ahead and get busy. I'll watch over him," Zhao Funing said with a smile.

Looking at the tall and sturdy Li Cheng颐, she vaguely felt a special kind of temperament.

The sense of shock and surprise that was completely opposite to his previous ordinary image gave her the surprise of suddenly discovering a gemstone in the sand.

Without waiting for Chen Xudong to reply, she walked over.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Yi, you still live in the old place, right?" She sat down naturally on a chair next to Li Cheng颐.

"Aren't you considering leaving Suiyang and developing in other places? Your plant maintenance major would be better for employment in the southern provinces with warm climates, right?"

"I didn't think that much back then," Li Cheng颐 said with a smile.

"That's because your current job is good, that's why. You're lucky to be able to find this kind of job in Suiyang. There are few jobs and few opportunities here," Zhao Funing said with a smile. "By the way, what exactly does your biopharmaceutical company do? Do you do drug research and development?"

"I'm also a bit interested in that," Li Qingpeng didn't know when he had joined them.

"But Baixing is much stronger than us in biopharmaceuticals. The potential for development isn't great here, right?" He looked at Li Cheng颐.

"Companies like Ellestone, Vigali, and Xinlan Pharmaceutical are all world-class companies in Baixing. In particular, Vigali's cell activity drug, the Life Tree series, is very good. I bought a box for my dad to try, and the effect is very good."

"This..." Li Cheng颐 understood shit about biopharmaceuticals. He was just a fake to fool others into giving him a sinecure.

Hearing Li Qingpeng flaunting a bunch of exclusive names in front of Zhao Funing, he was a little speechless and helpless.

Seeing that he wasn't speaking, Li Qingpeng glanced at Zhao Funing, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.

"In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed. Looking back at the scene of everyone rushing their homework together when we were kids, I feel like laughing now."

"Life Tree... seems to be very expensive, right? More than a thousand for a box," Zhao Funing's attention was diverted.

"Isn't it just hoping that my parents will be healthier? As long as they're healthy, what does it matter how much money it costs?" Li Qingpeng sighed lightly. The biggest goal of coming to this gathering was Zhao Funing, his childhood playmate.

Gatherings are for showing off and flirting. Otherwise, who would be so busy that they would go to a gathering? If the relationship is really good, they would gather on their own every few days. There's no need to find an opportunity to meet once.

"Then, Peng-ge, you're doing very well now. But the income of the electricity department shouldn't be that high, right?" Zhao Funing asked curiously.

"Of course, I also have a share in my brother's company. There are some fixed dividends every year. It's still possible to get fifty or sixty thousand a year. Of course, the income can't just rely on a fixed salary," Li Qingpeng said with a smile.

"Of course, Xiao Yi is also doing well now. I heard Chen Xudong say that he also has 20,000 a month. Employment is so bad now, this income is already considered very good." His words were constantly comparing himself with Li Cheng颐.

"By the way, Xiao Yi, are you still living with your aunt and uncle now?"

"Yes, still together," Li Cheng颐 knew what he meant as soon as he heard it.

"Your income is also good. You can buy a house in the provincial capital. It's enough to save up for a down payment when you're young. Otherwise, it'll be difficult to get a loan when you're older," Li Qingpeng suggested kindly.

"Houses are very expensive in the provincial capital, right? Wouldn't it be exhausting to take out a loan so early?" Zhao Funing frowned.

"It's okay. I bought it early, so it was only a little over 10,000 per square meter. I was lucky. The price went up as soon as I bought it," Li Qingpeng said with a reserved smile. He had been building up to this sentence for a long time.

He had a house in the provincial capital, but Li Cheng颐 was still living with his parents.

They were both the same age and childhood playmates. Suddenly, when compared like this, the difference came out.