"I once had a dream, but then grew lonelier; in the end, there's nothing we can keep..."
Listening to the music coming from the car stereo, Su Chen hummed along from time to time.
Su Chen was currently driving on the G50 expressway, heading from Shanghai to Wudu.
Originally, Su Chen had planned to fly back. It would have been more convenient and less of a hassle.
But driving back himself was a bit of an ordeal—it would take a full seventeen hours.
Besides, his Aston Martin was just too eye-catching. If he really drove it back... it would inevitably give his relatives some ideas.
But later, Su Chen came to a realization.
What's the point of being rich if you don't go home to show it off? It's like wearing a silk gown in the dark.
As time went on, he would only get richer. When that happened, things back home were bound to change in extraordinary ways.
It was better to manage the problem than to try and block it entirely. He might as well deal with any unstable elements from the very beginning.
In this age of the internet, Su Chen had seen plenty of drama online.
Some family would suddenly strike it rich, and all sorts of relatives would come swarming as if they could smell the money. Excuses like, "We're a little short for our home renovations," or "My son needs money for school," were everywhere.
Of course, this was all just Su Chen's own speculation. In his memory, his relatives had always been good people.
But there was always the chance of one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch.
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Wudu, Fuzhou!
Not many people might be familiar with the city of Fuzhou, but mention Wujiang pickled mustard greens, and most would know exactly where that is!
And Su Chen's hometown was a small city under Fuzhou's jurisdiction.
Su Chen had set off at 7:00 AM and rested for three hours at a service area along the way. By the time he got off the expressway at Fuzhou, it was already 3:00 AM.
Binjiang Road!
Exhaustion etched on his face, Su Chen looked at the towering high-rises, a flash of astonishment in his eyes.
'Has my hometown changed this much?'
Back when Su Chen left to find work, Fuzhou was still a poor district. Most of the urban area consisted of old-fashioned buildings, with hardly any high-end residential complexes.
How could it have transformed so completely in just over four years?
'Jinke Grand Hotel?'
Seeing the magnificent, brightly lit entrance, Su Chen didn't hesitate and drove straight in.
Perhaps because it was so late, there was no one at the main entrance.
After parking his car, Su Chen strode inside.
He wasn't sure if it was a testament to the hotel staff's professionalism or just his luck, but there was a young woman at the front desk, her head bowed as she played on her phone.
"Excuse me, Miss!"
Su Chen's sudden voice made the young woman jump. She flinched, and the phone in her hand even clattered onto the desk.
Seeing this, Su Chen scratched his head in embarrassment. He couldn't help but wonder, 'Was this girl watching some kind of action movie? She was so engrossed she didn't even hear me come in?'
The receptionist snapped back to reality. Seeing Su Chen leaning on the counter, she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you!"
"N-No, it's fine. Sir... are you looking for a room?" The receptionist seemed to have not yet recovered from the scare, her speech still a little halting.
"Yeah." Without the intense focus required for driving, all Su Chen wanted now was to lie down and get some proper sleep.
"Sir, the only rooms we have left are executive single rooms. The price is 888. Is that..."
Hearing this, Su Chen pulled out his ID and tossed it in front of her. He then took out his phone, scanned a QR code, and paid 2,000 yuan. "Please hurry up. I just want to sleep right now."
"Right away!"
With his room key in hand, Su Chen was led by the receptionist straight up to the fifteenth floor.
As soon as he entered the room, Su Chen didn't even bother to shower. He just kicked off his shoes and collapsed onto the bed.
A moment later... the sound of Su Chen's snoring filled the room.
.......
"Su Chen?"
Just as he stepped out of the elevator, he heard someone call his name. Su Chen looked toward the voice and saw a sturdily built man in a hotel uniform striding toward him.
"You are?" Looking at the man who had walked up to him, Su Chen frowned slightly. He didn't seem to recognize him.
But since this man knew his name, he must be an acquaintance.
The man seemed to notice the confusion in Su Chen's eyes and didn't beat around the bush. "Old classmate, has it been so few years that you don't recognize me? It's me, Li Yue!"
"Li Yue??" Su Chen's voice involuntarily rose a few notches.
It was no wonder Su Chen was so surprised. Li Yue was his high school classmate, and they had gotten along quite well.
But in Su Chen's memory, Li Yue was a beanpole, all skin and bones. He was a completely different person from the husky man standing before him!
"Heh heh... You know my family wasn't well-off back then, so..."
Su Chen naturally understood what he meant and playfully punched him lightly on the chest.
"Looks like you're doing pretty well for yourself now, huh? A manager already?"
"It's no big deal, just a regular lobby manager. By the way, Su Chen, when did you get back?"
"I got to Fuzhou at three this morning. And well... I slept until just now!" As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, his stomach let out an ill-timed growl.
Li Yue smacked his own forehead. "My bad, I'm keeping you from your meal. Come on, let's go to the buffet area. I get three free passes a month. Eat as much as you want."
Seeing the enthusiastic Li Yue, Su Chen didn't refuse, even though his suite included the lunch buffet.
Su Chen grabbed a few plates of food he liked, found an empty table, and sat down. Li Yue sat down opposite him.
"Ever since you went to Shanghai, you lost touch with everyone. How have the last few years been?"
"Mph... doin'... ot bad!"
Su Chen swallowed the chicken leg in his mouth and asked back, "How about you? Share your secrets to success!"
Hearing this, Li Yue visibly perked up and began to share his experiences from the past few years.
Like Su Chen, he hadn't gotten into university. After graduating, he found a job as an apprentice at the biggest restaurant in town and worked there for two years.
Li Yue got pretty damn lucky. Thanks to his diligence, he quickly caught the eye of the restaurant manager.
Later, when the four-star Jinke Grand Hotel opened, the manager took his team and jumped ship, and Li Yue managed to get on that fast track!
That manager became one of the hotel's senior executives. Seemingly to test Li Yue's mettle, he had him start as a doorman.
But Li Yue didn't give up. Instead, he seized the opportunity and, in two years, worked his way up from doorman to lobby manager.
After hearing Li Yue's story, Su Chen couldn't help but sigh. A person really needs opportunities. Without a patron to give you a leg up, it's hard for an ordinary person to get ahead.
Su Chen spent a full hour on that meal, most of which was spent listening to Li Yue gossip about their high school classmates.
Which female classmate got married and had kids?
Which male classmate got duped into a pyramid scheme?
Who messed up and was doing time now?
Which classmate was a secret rich kid, how successful they were now, and what luxury car they drove.
By the end of the meal, Su Chen had a rough idea of what his former classmates were up to.
Su Chen checked the time. It was already 2:00 PM.
"It's getting late, I should get going."
"Alright."
After checking out, Su Chen walked out of the hotel with Li Yue.
The moment he stepped outside, a blast of hot air hit him, and Su Chen immediately felt a sweltering heat.
A furnace city lives up to its name. It was only July, and it was already this scorching.
"Should I arrange a car to take you home?" Li Yue offered.
"No need, I drove back!"
Hearing this, Li Yue gave Su Chen a surprised glance but didn't ask any more questions, just nodding silently.
Seeing Su Chen walk toward the parking lot, Li Yue didn't turn to go back inside. He was also curious what kind of car Su Chen drove.
Soon, a yellow SUV pulled up in front of him. The window rolled down, and that familiar face appeared in Li Yue's line of sight.
"Old friend, I'm heading out! Let's catch up when we're free!" With that, Su Chen hit the gas and sped off, leaving a stunned Li Yue standing in his wake.
Having started as a doorman, he knew cars like the back of his hand. How could he not understand... his old classmate had made a name for himself in Shanghai.