From rejecting the beautiful female CEO to becoming extremely powerful

Pang Wei put his phone back in his jacket and gestured with his chin toward the back door of the rest area.

"Come with me to the side hall first; someone has been waiting for you for ages."

"Who?"

"You'll know once you go in."

The side hall door was pushed open, and the man sitting by the window stood up, supporting himself on the edge of the table.

He had broad shoulders and a thick back, his hair was cut close to his scalp, and his left trouser leg was stretched straight out.

The metal brace is locked to the outside of the knee, making two soft clicks when you stand up.

"Boatman, you've finally shown your face!"

Lu Yunzhou paused for a moment.

"Cheng Ye?"

Cheng Ye raised his fist and punched him on the shoulder, then stretched out his arms and hugged him.

"You still remember me? You have a conscience. How many times did I bring you breakfast during your four years of college? You wouldn't let me go even if you lost someone else."

Lu Yunzhou patted him on the back.

"Stop trying to make yourself look good. Eight out of ten times, you're using my meal card."

"You can't spend all the money on your meal card anyway, so I'll help you share the burden."

The two separated, and Lu Yunzhou's gaze fell on the support frame.

"How did you get your leg like that?"

Cheng Ye sat down again and patted his left knee.

"Six months ago, I was supervising construction at a site when a material unloading truck slid down a slope. I dodged most of it, but my left knee was still hit, and two pieces of bone were broken."

Pang Wei pulled out a chair.

"This guy was in the hospital for more than three months. The doctor told him to rest, and he went back to the construction site on crutches on the third day after he was discharged."

"If I don't go, who will pay the salaries of my dozen or so employees?"

Cheng Ye took the teapot from the table and filled the teapots for the three of them.

"My legs are still there, and I can still work, so don't put on that face. If anyone dares to use this to persuade me to drink less, I'll get angry with them first."

Lu Yunzhou picked up his teacup.

"Okay, I'll drink baijiu and beer with you."

Pang Wei then raised his glass.

"Our dorm is only missing the fourth member. He's in another province and can't make it back. He was just cursing us in the group chat."

Cheng Ye took a sip of tea and raised his cup towards Lu Yunzhou.

"Speaking of the group, you disappeared back then, which really angered us. We couldn't reach you by phone, you deleted me on WeChat, and you left the class group completely."

Lu Yunzhou put down his teacup.

"I didn't do those things."

"We only figured it out later."

Pang Wei pulled up a chair and sat closer.

"Lin Yuxuan replied to your message on WeChat, saying that you should go your own way from now on and that we should stop bothering you. Within two days, all of us in the dorm were blacklisted."

Cheng Ye took over the conversation.

"Last year I ran into her former roommate, and that girl let it slip. Lin Yuxuan was in charge of your phone, and she was the one who deleted your contacts. Back then, we thought you'd hooked up with the most beautiful girl at medical school and looked down on your poor roommates."

Lu Yunzhou gripped the teacup and paused for a few seconds.

"After I was discharged from the military, she took my phone a few times under the pretext of cleaning up spam calls. After I changed my number, she said that my old contacts hadn't been exported."

Cheng Ye slammed his hand on the table.

"If I'd known she was behind this, I should have waited for her at the medical school back then!"

"Her past mistakes are over."

Lu Yunzhou finished the tea in his cup.

"Tonight we'll just drink and not mention her."

Pang Wei stood up.

"That's right. Let's go back to the banquet hall; the food should be served soon."

The three of them went out side by side. Cheng Ye walked slowly, and the support made a sound every time it moved.

Lu Yunzhou and Pang Wei kept their pace slow, neither of them offering him a hand to help.

Two round tables were set up in the banquet hall, and more than twenty people attended.

Half of them were university classmates, and the rest were family members.

As soon as Cheng Ye entered the room, several male classmates surrounded him.

"Brother Ye, you've finally arrived."

"How is your leg recovering?"

"I heard you're back at the construction site. Are you feeling okay?"

Cheng Ye opened his coat and patted his stomach.

"I can eat, sleep, and even drink you all under the table. Whoever lies down first tonight pays the bill."

After a few laughs and playful banter, the tension in the hall eased considerably.

Lu Yunzhou had just sat down when the sound of high heels hitting the ground came from outside the door.

Sun Ting and Tang Li walked in first, one on each side of Bai Manning.

Bai Manning wore a dark blue haute couture gown with a cashmere shawl draped over her shoulders and the skirt trailing past her ankles.

Tang Li pulled out the chair for her, the one in the head seat.

"Manning, I've been waiting for this dress for three months, and it's finally ready for tonight."

Bai Manning handed the shawl to Sun Ting.

"The designer made two revisions, which almost made us late."

After she sat down, her gaze swept around the table and landed on Lu Yunzhou.

"This must be Lu Yunzhou, right? He's changed quite a bit; I didn't even recognize him just now."

"The vice class monitor hasn't changed much."

"It's been so many years since we graduated, why are you still calling me vice class monitor? Just call me Manning."

Bai Manning picked up her teacup, and the topic shifted accordingly.

"Sun Ting said you drove a Porsche here. What kind of work do you do now?"

"I do odd jobs for people and drive occasionally."

"Private driver?"

Bai Manning placed the teacup back on the table.

"Don't overthink it. I'm just worried that it might be hard for you to find a job after you just got out of the military. There's a big difference in driver's wages these days. Can you earn 10,000 a month?"

"My income is uncertain, but it's enough to get by."

Sun Ting leaned back in her chair and chuckled.

"Driving doesn't come with a fixed salary; are you paid per trip?"

Tang Li also chimed in.

"Manning is just concerned about you. Zhou Kai owns many companies, and arranging a car team job for you is just a matter of a word."

Bai Manning nodded.

"He happens to need a driver. Old classmates are always more reliable than strangers. I'll ask around for you later."

"No need, I don't need any work for the time being."

Pang Wei placed the teapot on the table.

"Yunzhou is doing quite well on his own and doesn't need anyone to make arrangements for him."

"I didn't say he was doing badly."

Bai Manning straightened her skirt.

"Having more opportunities is never a bad thing. Let's talk again when Zhou Kai arrives."

The waiter began serving the dishes, placing several hot dishes on a rotating tray, and the aroma quickly spread.

Squad leader Xu Tao picked up his chopsticks.

"Most of the people have arrived, let's eat first."

Bai Manning raised her hand to stop him.

"Wait a little longer, Zhou Kai is still on his way."

Xu Tao was stunned.

"How much longer?"

"About twenty minutes. He originally had a reception tonight, but he canceled it to come over. Zhou Kai has a special status, and his schedule is usually packed. Since he's willing to come to the party, we can't just make a mess of the table beforehand."

Pang Wei's chair creaked backward.

"A group of old classmates and we have to wait for him to come in before we dare to pick up our chopsticks?"

Bai Manning turned to look at him.

"Pang Wei, can't you even sit still for a little while? Zhou Kai knows a lot of racing team owners. If your repair shop wants to get long-term business, you can talk to him tonight."

Pang Wei swallowed his words, his face tense.

Cheng Ye also put down his wine glass.

"My leg hurts from sitting for too long. What time will he arrive?"

"It'll be soon. It's a rare opportunity for us to get together, so don't spoil the fun."

Lu Yunzhou raised his teacup.

"Just wait, it'll only take twenty minutes."

Pang Wei and Cheng Ye then leaned back in their chairs.

Time passed slowly, a thin film formed on the surface of the fish soup, and the beef stew lost its heat.

The waiter came in to ask if they wanted the food reheated, but Bai Manning still didn't ask anyone to remove it.

Lu Yunzhou twirled his empty teacup; no one at the table was talking about their university days anymore.

Sun Ting and Tang Li talked about Zhou Kai the whole time, while Bai Manning checked her phone every few minutes.

She called these classmates over just to fill a room with an audience for Zhou Kai.

Bai Manning put down her phone and looked up to greet everyone.

"Zhou Kai will be here a while. When he arrives, I have something important to announce. Nobody is leaving tonight."