Chapter 3 Past and Present

  Ye Fan, although not particularly successful in his career, has some capital due to certain reasons and experiences. Recently, he bought a Mercedes-Benz, which is more expensive than Liu Yunzhi's Toyota, but if judging social status by this, he feels it's quite vulgar.

  Ten minutes later, Ye Fan drove to the gathering place - Hai Shang Ming Yue Cheng.

  This is a super entertainment city that integrates catering and leisure, located in the golden area, surrounded by prosperity, and the main consumer can be seen from the various mid-to-high-end cars in the parking lot.

  Just three years after graduating from university, most of his classmates were still far from achieving success in their careers, and Ye Fan felt that choosing such a luxurious venue for the gathering was somewhat extravagant.

  As he walked out of the parking lot and arrived in front of the Sea Bright Moon City, he quickly saw several familiar figures, all of whom were classmates who had come to attend the gathering. Among them were some people he hadn't seen for three years.

  "Yue Fan!" At this time, a young man with a gentle and elegant appearance discovered him, with a smile on his face, and said: "This is your fault, as the lord of this city, you should have appeared earlier. It's only right that you initiate and organize this gathering."

  This elegant young man named Wang Ziwu is one of the organizers and initiators of this gathering. He was a very active figure in college, and it's said that he has developed extremely smoothly in another city over the past three years, with assets that are quite considerable.

  Several others also came over, although it had been a long time since they last met, everyone was very enthusiastic.

  It's obvious that Wang Ziwu is waiting for someone here, and the person who can make him stand in front of Mingyue City on the sea to welcome him specially is limited to only two or three people, it's easy to guess.

  Wang Ziwen is a clever person, and instead of staying here alone waiting for others, he leads the way while chatting and laughing, accompanying everyone into the Sea and Moon City. The fifth floor has a small business center that can accommodate 30 to 50 people for meetings, which has already been booked.

  It's already dark outside now, and almost all the classmates who are attending the gathering have arrived.

  The arrival of a few people suddenly made the atmosphere on the scene lively, and many people came to greet them. Being able to gather together again gave a sense of time passing by and space shifting, and for a moment it overlapped with some scenes from college days.

  It's been three years since graduation, everyone is already 25 or 26 years old, some people are already married, and two of them have become mothers.

  Everyone has their own different life trajectory, but generally speaking, most classmates are ordinary people, and yesterday's ideals and ambitions have been ground away by time to the point of almost complete disappearance, returning to ordinariness in a dull life.

  Dreams have gone far away, and the vast majority of people are clearly aware that they are just ordinary people.

  Ye Fan was taken by Wang Ziwu to the other side, carefully observing that the classmates on this side were either successful in their careers or had some family background.

  "Yefan, you're so late, I'm going to have to fine you three cups."

  "Three cups are too little, you also underestimate Ye Fan's capacity for wine." Lin Jia sat on this side, Dan Feng's eyes slanted, her figure slender and curvy, sexy and charming.

  "Which beauty wants to punish me?" Ye Fan also classified several male classmates as beauties.

  "As soon as you arrive, you take advantage of us and fine us. We must severely punish you!" A group of men and women unite to confront the outside world, beginning to "sharpen their knives".

  Liu Yunzhi has a certain background in this city, and naturally also in this small group. He said casually: "I thought you would be delayed for a while waiting for the taxi."

  As soon as this was said, the atmosphere suddenly became a bit chilly. Everyone present knew about Liu Yunzhi's grudge with Ye Fan in college, and now he was developing very smoothly in this city, but at this moment, unintentionally pointing out that Ye Fan had taken a taxi to get here, his tone was somewhat obvious.

  Other classmates also noticed the situation here and looked over, but Ye Fan just smiled indifferently and didn't say anything.

  "I'm going outside to pick up Zhou Yi." Wang Ziwen changed the subject and then turned around to leave.

  Lin Jia and two female classmates talked about cosmetics, and then mentioned several famous clothing brands. Others also talked about some interesting things from the past, and the brief cold scene just passed, and it became lively again for a while.

  However, after what just happened, the atmosphere was somewhat subtle, and no one mentioned punishing Ye Fan again, but there were more words surrounding Liu Yunzhi.

  Yue Fan was a big shot in college, but after graduation, none of that matters anymore. What's most valued now is whether one has achieved success in their career or not.

  Occasional glances are cast over here, and it seems to be a special little circle, with everyone present being well-developed classmates at the moment, but Ye Fan is now having an ******** trend.

  Yu Fan had always been calm about this, but in the end he still got up and left, sitting with some other classmates. He didn't want to be labeled as a special group by his peers.

  Cosmetics and branded clothing are always the favorite topics of female classmates, while male classmates chat from football to current events, with a wider range of topics.

  Twenty-five people who came to the party arrived after half an hour. There are thirty-three classmates in total, three of whom are studying abroad and five others failed to arrive for some special reasons.

  Several initiators and organizers of this gathering gave speeches one after another, the atmosphere was very warm, then everyone split into several small circles, chatting freely.

  It wasn't until much later that the crowd finally left the small business center, ready to raise their glasses in celebration of this reunion. Without any deliberate arrangement, the distinction between the noble and humble, the close and distant, was revealed at each table.

  Ye Fan didn't sit with Lin Jia and Liu Yunzhi's small group, but instead sat naturally at another table.

  After another round of toasts, things became more casual, with some people going around the tables offering drinks and others being surrounded at their table, unable to move a step, and being toasted repeatedly.

  A lot of things have happened in the past three years, and everyone has changed a great deal. Perhaps due to the stimulation of alcohol, many classmates talked about their own lives, some with pride and others with disappointment.

  Some people hate their boss for being extremely demanding, always asking them to work overtime while paying a meager salary.

  One female classmate said that her boyfriend was a department manager at a well-known company, another classmate said that her husband had been promoted to deputy general manager of the company, and someone else said that his fiancée was the niece of a senior executive at a certain bank.

  But more people are silent after listening, and many people's lives are not very satisfactory.

  Among them, a female classmate looked particularly haggard. Some people said she married someone she didn't like and wasn't happy after marriage. Her husband was drunk every day, and when classmates passed through her city to visit her, they saw bruises on her body.

  "If there's anything I can help with, feel free to ask..." For this very haggard female classmate, Ye Fan had a soft spot in his heart and still remembered her shy and innocent appearance when she stood outside the football field cheering him on with all her might.

  It was clear that her life was really not going well, she nodded silently and gratefully, and softly said thank you.

  "Yefan, you'd better change yourself first..." The female classmate who claimed her husband had been promoted to deputy general manager of the company said somewhat rudely under the influence of alcohol: "Look at Liu Yunzhi's career development, it's going so smoothly."

  All the classmates at this table looked at Ye Fan simultaneously, and then looked at the table where Liu Yunzhi was not far away, where they were all doing very well now.

  "Yue Fan, it's not what I said to you. In college, you were indeed a big shot, but once you leave campus, everything will change. You must work hard." The classmate at this table, who claimed his fiancée was the niece of a high-ranking executive at a certain bank, also had a lecturing tone.

  When mentioning Liu Yunzhi and his table of people, some classmates on this side sighed and said that the people who were with them when they were in school were far inferior to themselves at that time, but now they can't be compared.

  Some people are also resentful and extreme, speaking wildly and saying that those who return home in luxury clothes show off their wealth.

  What's more, a female classmate joked with Ye Fan, saying that fortunately, when they were in school, she had only secretly liked him, and now she regretted rejecting Liu Yunzhi's pursuit back then.

  It's still the same city, still the same people, but after reuniting again, everyone's state of mind is vastly different.