Chapter 1280: High School Classmates
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Seeing this beverage shop called “Hai Ke,” Yang Ming had a familiar feeling. Although it was not as famous as “Kuai Ke,” it was Donghai’s local brand.
There was also a franchise store near the Red Flag High School. It was one of Song Jiang’s first street drink shops. Su Ya and Yang Ming often bought some fruit tea there, but he didn’t know if there was any fruit tea on sale now.
Ever since the pearl milk tea had become popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, fruit teas were no longer selling well. Yang Ming was nostalgic. He didn’t think that this pearl milk tea was so delicious, but he missed the fruit tea taste.
The four people entered the Haike Milk Tea Beverage Shop together and found a four-person booth to sit down at. The expenditure in Carnival was much more expensive than the outside, especially now that it was spring with hot weather, so there were not many people in this beverage shop.
When the proprietress saw the four people coming in, she quickly and enthusiastically waited on the four people to sit down. Then, she took out the menu and handed it to the table of four.
“Sister Yang Xin, Brother Wu, you can order first.” Yang Ming pushed the menu to them and said.
Wu Yunsheng was very uncomfortable and did not turn down Yang Ming’s offer. He looked at the list and asked for a cold drink; Yang Xin requested for a cup of milk tea, then she handed the menu to Sun Jie and Yang Ming.
“Is there fruit tea?” Sun Jie hesitated and asked the boss.
“Yes! What flavor?” The proprietress nodded and smiled. “It seems that you are a Donghai native. Only local people know about fruit tea… but in these years, they are not as popular as before…”
“I would like to have lemon.” Sun Jie said, “Yeah, there are very few such things on the street recently. It can only be seen in the Haike shop…”
This was a drink that went viral once. At the time, Donghai, Song Jiang, and other places had the fruit tea juice produced by Haike Beverage Company, but it was later replaced by other carbonated drinks and vitamin C drinks.
The proprietress seemed to be very helpless. “Nowadays, children don’t like this taste. Now, there are only young people from your generation who will order this kind of fruit tea.”
“I want a cup of fruit tea, just like her.” Yang Ming said, “I used to buy it when I was in school.”
The proprietress nodded and went to prepare. Since there were few guests, the items that Yang Ming and others ordered were quickly served.
After Wu Yunsheng sipped the cold drink a few times, his face looked much better. Yang Xin was a little embarrassed. “If you were not comfortable sitting in it, just tell me about it… You just kept enduring despite the pain. Look at how uncomfortable you are…”
“Aren’t I afraid of you being angry?” Wu Yunsheng said with a bitter smile. “If you have fun, it doesn’t matter if I suffer a little…”
In the face of Yang Ming and Sun Jie, Yang Xin was embarrassed by Wu Yunsheng’s words which sounded as though she usually oppressed him. She quickly said, “Why do we need to be so polite between us?”
After listening to the words of the two people, Yang Ming smiled and said, “Sister Yang Xin, give Brother Wu a break. In fact, it is alright for us, men, to sacrifice. As long as you are happy, we are willing to do anything…”
As Yang Ming just finished, he felt pain in his leg instead. Then, when he saw Sun Jie smiling mischievously, Yang Ming knew that she had kicked him. Most probably, Yang Ming seemed overbearing with a tad bit of chauvinism in Sun Jie’s eyes. Yang Ming was merely speaking with his tongue in cheek.
But then again, Sun Jie liked Yang Ming being like this. If Yang Ming were a yes-man, Sun Jie most probably wouldn’t like Yang Ming anymore. Her powerful woman personality was different from Yang Xin. Sun Jie liked a man who was stronger than her; what Yang Xin needed was an obedient man.
Yang Ming smiled and knew that he had said too much, so he shut his mouth, but he was unrequitedly exposed by Yang Xin. “Brother, your words don’t seem right. Little Jie likes a more overbearing man than her. We grew up together. How can I not understand her temper? If you are like Wu Yunsheng, Little Jie might not like you…”
These words were a bit hurtful. Wu Yunsheng was somewhat uncomfortable after listening to it, but he did not dare to voice out. His face was painted with grievances. Yang Xin also knew her words were inappropriate, and she quickly added, “However, I like my considerate gentleman, Wu Yunsheng. You are destined to be my little brother…”
This sentence made Wu Yunsheng smile delightedly. Yang Ming shook his head helplessly. These two people were rather unique. It seemed that only people with similar temperaments could come together.
After they finished drinking, Yang Ming took the initiative to pay the bill. Yang Xin glared at Wu Yunsheng. “How can you let my little brother spend money?”
Wu Yunsheng was startled; he quickly took money from his pocket to give to Yang Ming. Yang Ming was a little amused and waved his hand. “Brother Wu, you can treat in a while!”
Listening to Yang Ming, Wu Yunsheng looked at Yang Xin. He was finally relieved when he saw Yang Xin nod.
Even Sun Jie thought that Wu Yunsheng was too obedient. If it were her, she couldn’t stand it. However, she couldn’t be helped, Yang Xin liked such a man. Sun Jie couldn’t interfere with people’s relationships.
The four people were about to leave. As they just walked to the door, they encountered two people who were coming in face to face. The two people who saw Yang Xin and Sun Jie had a slight surprise. Sun Jie and Yang Xin were also slightly stunned as well after seeing both of them.
These two people were called Qian Tangjiang and Yu Tianzhu; they were high school classmates of Sun Jie and Yang Xin. When they were in high school, they once pursued Sun Jie and Yang Xin. They vowed to conquer these two campus belles, but sadly none of them succeeded.
Qian Tangjiang was Sun Jie’s suitor; Yu Tianzhu was Yang Xin’s suitor. These two people were tarred with the same brush 1 [1]. After graduating from high school, they did not go to college, but they relied on their family power to mingle around.
The Carnival was contracted by Qian Tangjiang’s family, so Qian Tangjiang and Yu Tianzhu mingled in the Carnival with the identity of two staff members. Every day, they acted like tyrants around the merchants in the Carnival, living a pleasurable life.
Qian Tangjiang was responsible for the merchants’ leases at the Carnival, which just happened to hold the lifeblood of these merchants. Yu Tianzhu was responsible for the security department. He had a group of underlings under him. Those who worked in the Carnival were afraid to offend them.
After the two people finished their matters, they planned to come to Haike for a drink. Of course, they were the kind of people who did not pay. Since two people couldn’t drink too much, and the cost of the drinks was very low, the boss was able to cope with it.
What’s more, these two people were not stupid. They could not keep taking advantage of the merchant. They only came here once a week, so the bosses among these merchants would let them do whatever they wanted. The losses were not significant anyway, and there were things for which these bosses had to rely on them sometimes.
These two people used to be bad*ss in the Carnival. They were like the local tyrants in this small place, so naturally, their self-esteem swelled to the extreme, thinking that they were the boss.
When they saw the two girls, who they could not pursue during high school, were actually walking with other men, Qian Tangjiang and Yu Tianzhu were a little displeased. However, the two of them also knew Sun Jie’s and Yang Xin’s family backgrounds. They dared not to offend the girls arbitrarily, or else, they would have already raped the girls.
“Sun Jie, Yang Xin! What a coincidence!” Qian Tangjiang greeted Sun Jie and Yang Xin like the gentleman that he wasn’t.
Although Sun Jie and Yang Xin were unwilling to bother with these two people, the girls couldn’t ignore them, so they smiled and nodded. “Yes, it’s you both; what a coincidence…”
“These two are… Why don’t you introduce them to us?” Yu Tianzhu looked at Yang Ming and Wu Yunsheng as he asked. He still had a hope in his heart that these two people had nothing to do with Sun Jie or Yang Xin. Even if they had a relationship, he also hoped that they were relatives.
“This is my little brother, Yang Ming…” Yang Xin pointed out to Yang Ming and introduced him to Yu Tianzhu and Qian Tangjiang. The two of them suddenly breathed a sigh of relief after listening. So, he’s actually your brother. Then, you are coming out to play together with your family. But after listening to Yang Xin’s second half of the sentence, Qian Tangjiang almost vomited blood. “Little Jie’s boyfriend.”
When the two heard it, What is this relationship? Could it be that the closest person gets an advantage? But the two people thought in the wrong way, thinking that Yang Ming was Yang Xin’s blood-related younger brother.
“This is…” Yu Tianzhu was not Sun Jie’s suitor. He was not interested in Yang Ming, so he still had hope for the remaining man, thinking that he had nothing to do with Yang Xin.
“This is my brother-in-law, Wu Yunsheng.” Yang Ming smiled in a grimace. When he saw that the two men’s gazes were a little bit odd with Sun Jie and Yang Xin, he naturally knew the lecherous thoughts in their hearts, so he did not give them a chance.
Sure enough, Yu Tianzhu’s face turned ugly. He knew that his chances were slim, but he was not reconciled. However, it was inappropriate to say it out right now. He could only endure the dissatisfaction and pretend to smile. “It turns out that you are Yang Xin’s boyfriend. Hello!”
Wu Yunsheng was a more casual person; he naturally would not think about Yu Tianzhu’s other intentions, so he reached out and shook hands with Yu Tianzhu. Yu Tianzhu sighed coldly in his heart. Although I could not do anything to you on the surface, it is still necessary to display my dominance.
Thinking of this, he exerted more strength on the hand that was holding Wu Yunsheng’s hand. He gripped on Wu Yunsheng’s wrist like pliers.
Although Wu Yunsheng grew up in the army compound, he only had a better physique without any professional training. As the amusement park security department manager, Yu Tianzhu naturally had his own worth. First, he was a sportsman. Secondly, he had not been slacking off in these years. Otherwise, how could he discipline his young underlings?
Therefore, Yu Tianzhu’s strength was surprisingly great. Wu Yunsheng’s face suddenly became green, struggling for a moment, but he couldn’t take back his hand. His forehead began to sweat profusely. No matter how much Wu Yunsheng was a yes-man, he knew that Yu Tianzhu acted directly against him. However, Yang Xin was right beside him. He couldn’t show weakness, or else, his beloved woman would definitely lose face.
In front of Yang Xin, Wu Yunsheng could hunker down. It didn’t matter how she threw her temper, but Wu Yunsheng couldn’t be bullied easily if it were someone else. Although there his strength was not as great as Yu Tianzhu’s, Wu Yunsheng still clenched his teeth and held on.
Although his skill was not better off, the military compound graduates had endurance. Hence, despite being under Yu Tianzhu’s grip for so long, Wu Yunsheng’s face only changed slightly without uttering any sound.
How could Yu Tianzhu’s little trick escape Yang Ming’s eyes? These were tricks that Yang Ming played previously. Seeing that Wu Yunsheng suffered, this was not the way to go, so Yang Ming smiled slightly. “What’s the matter? Brother Tianzhu, you shook hands with my brother-in-law, and yet you don’t want to shake my hand?”
Yu Tianzhu originally wanted to punish this Wu Yunsheng a little, but as he heard Yang Ming said this, he thought, There is a fool taking the initiative to come to me? That is just right. I will teach you a lesson for Qian Tangjiang!
Therefore, Yu Tianzhu released Wu Yunsheng’s hand. He smiled at Wu Yunsheng with a meaningful smile, giving off a hint of ridicule. Wu Yunsheng’s anger swelled up, but it couldn’t be vented. At this time, if he were angry and turned his face, he would fall into Yu Tianzhu’s trap, letting Yang Xin and others see how uncourteous he was to get mad for being inferior to others in skill.
Therefore, Wu Yunsheng could only endure with grievances. He decided to have hard training on grips after returning home from today onward. Otherwise, if he did not get his face back, it was really tough for him to feel a balance in his heart.
After Yu Tianzhu released Wu Yunsheng’s hand, he held the hand that Yang Ming had extended. He smiled sullenly. “Yang Xin’s younger brother, nice to meet you!”
After that, Yu Tianzhu exerted strength on his hand and squeezed it, but unexpectedly, Yang Ming’s palm was not deformed. However, Yu Tianzhu didn’t think much because many people’s palm bones were hard. Even if the palm weren’t deformed, it would be in pain that was even more intense than the deformation! So thinking of this, Yu Tianzhu increased the strength in his hand.
However, Yu Tianzhu was happy too soon. When he increased his strength for the second time, he suddenly felt a powerful force pressing on his palm, deforming his palm instantly. Yu Tianzhu’s eyes bulged, and he almost shouted out!
If Yu Tianzhu himself were a pair of pliers, then Yang Ming was a robotic arm. Yu Tianzhu wanted to counterattack, but he couldn’t move at all under Yang Ming’s deadly grip.
Yu Tianzhu began to sweat on his forehead. Of course, he was not nervous, but he was in pain. Yang Ming easily demolished the tricks he tried and tested frequently and put him on the bitter end. Yu Tianzhu couldn’t speak of his suffering since he looked for trouble first. Obviously, his opponent was just fighting back!
Looking at Yang Ming’s face with a casual smile, it was as if the person who exerted force on the hand wasn’t him at all. What was even more exasperating was that Yang Ming actually said, “It seems that my first meeting with Brother Tian feels like meeting old friends. Brother Tian is still unwilling to let go of my hand!”
Sun Jie and Yang Xin didn’t know what the two were doing, and they didn’t think about it that way. They didn’t notice the hands they held. However, as the victim, Wu Yunsheng definitely knew that Yang Ming and Yu Tianzhu were competing on their grips! Looking at Yang Ming’s relaxed look and Yu Tianzhu’s sweaty look, it was apparent who had the upper hand!
While Wu Yunsheng felt happy deep down in his heart, he felt ashamed too. Yang Ming is really amazing! I’m still incapable. It seems that I have to strengthen my exercise in the future! But having Yang Ming avenge him, he felt a lot more at ease in his heart and less depressed than before.
Yu Tianzhu had suffered the bitter end that he could not speak off. He was really experiencing himself what is called, you reap what you sow. Fortunately, Yang Ming was not in the mood to continue to care about him, or else, it would be troublesome if he crippled his hand.
Hence, Yang Ming let go of his hand as he smiled and patted Yu Tianzhu’s shoulder. “Brother Tianzhu and I are really like old friends at our first encounter…”
“We are really making friends with each other so fast…” Yu Tianzhu almost bled internally because of Yang Ming. He wanted to imitate Yang Ming to pat Yang Ming, but his palm nearly exploded under Yang Ming’s grip. Could he really lift up his hand to pat the other?
“Are you two going to have a drink?” Yang Ming looked at the Haike shop as he asked Yu Tianzhu and Qian Tangjiang.
Others didn’t understand Yu Tianzhu, but Qian Tangjiang understood him. He was very familiar with Yu Tianzhu’s method to instill dominance, knowing that Yu Tianzhu had just suffered a big loss. He was also angry with Yang Ming in his heart. When he heard Yang Ming’s question, he thought that Yang Ming wanted to have a drink with them. When he sits down and hints at the Haike’s Shop proprietress to give Yang Ming something like laxatives, he would be able to mess Yang Ming up!
Thinking of this, Qian Tangjiang said quickly, “Yes, since Brother Yang and Tianzhu are such good friends, let’s have a drink together. I will treat!”
“No, thanks. We just finished drinking,” said Yang Ming faintly.
Initially, they thought that Yang Ming would agree, but they did not expect to get such a reply. Qian Tangjiang suddenly got annoyed, but he really couldn’t be helped, and he had to endure it. “Great, then next time it is. You all go ahead and have fun. If something happens, call me anytime. I can solve the trouble for you!”
As Qian Tangjiang said this, he took out a business card and gave one to Sun Jie, Yang Xin, Wu Yunsheng, and Yang Ming. Yang Ming took a look at the title: Donghai Carnival Amusement Park Business Development Manager.
It turns out to be a big shot. No wonder he is so arrogant. Yang Ming smiled faintly and put the business card into his pocket.
Since Qian Tangjiang and Yu Tianzhu said this, it was naturally inappropriate for them to hold back Sun Jie and Yang Xin. They watched the girls leave the Haike Shop. They could vent their anger on the Haike Shop’s proprietress; they bossed around, ordered a few drinks, sat down, and complained.
“Did you suffer a loss?” Qian Tangjiang asked Yu Tianzhu, who was still shaking his hand.
“That kid is a rustic fellow. His grip strength is very strong. I can’t get him.” Yu Tianzhu naturally did not hide from Qian Tangjiang and said with grievances.
“D*mn, this thing can’t be over just like that.” Qian Tangjiang hit the table in rage.
“Yeah, we can’t let them be!” Yu Tianzhu also echoed Qian Tangjiang.
In fact, they vented their anger on Yang Ming and Wu Yunsheng. This was only secondary for a reason. Their main goal was Sun Jie and Yang Xin.
Although they had improved their status and wealth in these two years, and they had played with several women, they couldn’t let go of their first crush. Especially what they didn’t get, they desired it more.
So, the two people were more attracted to Sun Jie and Yang Xin. Especially after seeing them today, they found out that the two were more beautiful and sexy. Qian Tangjiang and Yu Tianzhu couldn’t sit still, wanting to snatch Sun Jie and Yang Xin from Yang Ming and Wu Yunsheng.