Chapter 22: Classmates Reunion (I)
Xuanmen has been very busy recently.
The cause was that Zong Qingchun claimed that he saw a drought demon on Xuan Mountain during the Zhongyuan Festival. Then Zong Chen and Zong Nian were called by the Two Worlds Department to take a statement. They said that the one who drove the drought demon that night was a young man in his early twenties.
It was simply a fantasy that a young man in his twenties could control the drought demon. The cultivation techniques in the world today had long been lost, and it was impossible for someone to reach this level of cultivation at such an age. The cultivation world was more inclined to believe that he was an old hermit from an old sect, who just practiced well and looked like a young man.
The appearance of Hanba is a big deal. After all, no one knows whether the senior who controls Hanba is a friend or an enemy. So the clan decided to hold a Xuanmen conference next month so that everyone can discuss what to do in the future and take precautions against any possible disaster.
Zong Yi was on his way to deliver invitations to various families. The Zong family had many contacts with the political and business circles, so although was only a branch of the Qi family, he was still able to benefit from it and was very successful. He was considered a descendant of a famous family. That day, he had just driven his brown Porsche out of the villa community of a branch of the Qi family when he saw an acquaintance on the side of the road.
The weather in August was at its hottest, and Lu Ren was sitting alone on the side of the road waiting for the bus. The midday sun was melting the asphalt road, and even if he hid in the shadow of a building, the ground was still emitting heat. The bus was late, and Lu Ren was sweating profusely at the bus stop.
At this moment, a high-end car stopped in front of him. The car window rolled down, and a face with yellow curly hair and big black sunglasses appeared in front of Lu Ren.
The curly-haired boy smiled and called out to him, "Are you Lu Ren from Class 3, Grade 1, Xuanhua No. 1 Middle School?"
Lu Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, and looked at the little yellow curly-haired boy in front of him with his eyes squinted by the sun, trying to search for bits and pieces about him in his memory.
"You are...Souichi?"
Hearing this, Zong Yi smiled happily: "It's really you. It's been six years since you graduated from high school. How come there is no news at all?"
Lu Ren is a person who doesn't like to socialize. In fact, he has some unknown inferiority complex. He doesn't like to be too close to people and doesn't want to intervene too much in other people's lives. Perhaps it has something to do with the environment he grew up in, he feels that he is a burden after all.
But in fact, Lu Ren is surprisingly popular. This may also be attributed to his non-aggressive social distance, which makes people feel comfortable like boiled water. He has been like this since he was a child, and the number of people willing to play with him has only increased instead of decreased.
After graduating from high school, Lu Ren lost contact with his former classmates.
On the one hand, he was busy working to make a living, and on the other hand, he was well aware that other classmates would not be in the same circle with him after entering college.
Zong Yi had already delivered the invitations and enthusiastically invited Lu Ren to get in the car: "Where are you going? I'll take you there."
Lu Ren hurriedly said no, "I live over at Xuanhua Street, it's too far and inconvenient."
Zong Yiyi slapped his thigh and said, "I was just about to go that way. Come on in the car."
If he refused again, it would seem that Lu Ren was not appreciative, so he got in the car. The T-shirt that Lu Ren bought at a discount in the supermarket was already soaked with sweat, and he tried to straighten his back to prevent the sweat from sticking to the leather sofa of Zong Yi's luxury car.
Zong Yi carefully noticed Lu Ren's embarrassment. He said nothing, but silently turned up the air conditioner and turned the air outlet towards Lu Ren.
Soichi is a talkative person. He can get along well in the upper class society with just his mouth, thanks to his smooth dealings with people and his ability to tell lies to different people. He even opened a new media account recently to answer some supernatural science questions for netizens. Due to his humorous conversation and clear analytical ability, Soichi has become a small Internet celebrity.
Zong Yi could tell that Lu Ren was not living a happy life. When he was in high school, he knew that Lu Ren's parents died early and he lived a life of dependence. Now, looking at his clothes and the way he risked heat stroke while waiting for the bus, he knew that things had not improved much. So he tactfully avoided these topics.
They talked about people and things in the past, as if they had briefly returned to their school days and briefly gained equal status.
…
"Yeah, at that time Qi Fan even had a fight with that troublemaker from the neighboring school for the class beauty. He always boasted that he came from a military compound and had taken private martial arts lessons since he was a child. As a result, he was beaten like a pig by a group of people from the neighboring school. I called him Qi Pig for a year, and the class beauty even reported him to the teacher for gang fighting. He almost got punished , hahahahahaha." Zong Yi said with a beaming face, and even his hands left the steering wheel.
Lu Ren was so scared that he quickly reminded him to be careful.
Zong Yi then realized the inappropriateness of his behavior, took a deep breath, and finally calmed down: "At that time, everyone was chasing after the class beauty, but she didn't want any of them. I don't know what kind of people she likes."
Lu Ren just smiled and said, "Girls' feelings are the hardest to grasp. Who knows?"
Zong Yi shrugged: "But she really got together with Qi Fan later. Oh, right!" Zong Yi said to Lu Ren as if he suddenly remembered: "Qi Fan's family has a small villa in the countryside. A few of us old classmates have planned to have a barbecue next weekend. We haven't seen each other for so many years. Why don't you come along?"
Just as Lu Ren was about to refuse, he saw Zong Yi take out his cell phone and send a voice message while driving. It seemed that he sent it to their small group: "Brothers, you will never guess who I met. It's Lu Ren! I plan to invite him to have a barbecue next Monday. What do you think!"
Then Lu Ren heard a series of notification sounds. Zong Yi casually swiped the screen of his phone and said to Lu Ren, "Everyone is looking forward to it. You must come and show up."
Fearing that Lu Ren would continue to refuse, Zong Yi added a sentence after sending him downstairs to Lu Ren's house: "I'll pick you up on time at 7 o'clock on Friday night."
So, Lu Ren reluctantly attended the class reunion.
On Friday, the weather forecast said that the typhoon would land on the weekend. The sky was as clear and blue as crystal, and the sun did not set until seven o'clock.
Lu Ren didn't have much luggage, just a small backpack with a set of spare clothes and some toiletries. He had just finished packing when he received a call from Zong Yi. Lu Ren looked down from the balcony and saw Zong Yi's Porsche parked downstairs. The exaggerated appearance of the car was very out of place in this old neighborhood. Lu Ren carefully checked the doors and windows of his house, watered the two pots of sycamore trees on the balcony, and then hurried downstairs.
Zong Yi was not impatient because of the waiting. He asked Lu Ren with a beaming face, "Are you ready for a crazy night?" Then he stepped on the accelerator and the Porsche sped out. With his little yellow curly hair, he looked very flamboyant.
Lu Ren looked out of the car window. The sunset had painted the sky a bright red, and a few low clouds dotted on it made the air seem very depressing.
In fact, Lu Ren was also a little agitated by Zong Yi, but this agitation disappeared without a trace after arriving at the villa.
Lu Ren identified the grown-up faces of his classmates one by one. Sheng Min, who used to be skinny, gained weight after working. Hu Xilin, who was always bullied, started to work out and became strong. Qi Fan, who had always been a troublemaker, now wore gold-rimmed glasses and a suit, looking like an elite.
Sitting on the sofa in the living room was a cool guy with a crew cut and phoenix eyes who never smiled. Zong Yi introduced him enthusiastically, "This is Xi He from our class. Didn't we have a very good relationship in the past? We finally got him here this time."
Lu Ren blinked at the cool guy wearing all black leather, with bandages on his palms, wounds on the corners of his mouth, and an indifferent look, and a question popped up in his mind: "Who is this?"
