Rebirth after the college entrance examination

Chapter 154 The Wealthy Family
“A few days ago, my mother called me and said that the fish fry in the pond are growing very well this year, and my grandparents dug another pond to grow lotus roots.”

“Dad has contracted out the tea garden on the back mountain, so he doesn’t have to work as hard as before. He also told me to bring him some Northeastern soybean paste when I go back for the New Year, because he’s become addicted to it.”

"Oh right, and there's Mao Mao. Do you remember Mao Mao? She was my classmate who took the postgraduate entrance exam with me. She's getting married next year and asked me to be her bridesmaid."

"The school gave me a bonus last month, saying that I did a very good job over the past two months."

"Wu Liang, I've grown up, and I'm doing very well now."

"I don't like you anymore. You should live your life well."

"Don't come looking for me anymore. It's really not good. You have to take responsibility for someone."

"Let me sing you a song, and then I'm going to play with my classmates. They helped me a lot, and I promised to treat them to some fun today."

"Wu Liang, it's cloudy outside, looks like it's going to snow. You can leave after I finish singing."

"Wu Liang, let's have a toast, to you, thank you."

Xu Wanying spoke each word with a smile, while Wu Liang across the table burst into tears, choking and unable to utter a single word.

Xu Wanying took a sip of wine, rinsed her mouth, smiled with narrowed eyes, stood up, and walked onto the stage.

The original resident singer was a seated guitarist, a very tall man. Xu Wanying was not tall, and she quietly swayed her body gracefully in front of the microphone with her hands behind her back.

From a distance, her delicate face looked like that of a middle school student in puberty.

She took off her down jacket, and Xia An stood up, took it from Wu Liang's table, and placed it on Le Ning's side.

Le Ning winked at Xia An, who smiled and shrugged.

Even without saying a word, everyone can tell something from it.

Moreover, although Xu Wanying wore the sweetest smile, her starry eyes were filled with a misty haze.

Lu Yao stared blankly ahead.

Then, Xu Wanying's clear and melodious voice began to sing a pure, masculine rock song.

...

Stop crying!

Wipe away your tears.

so be it

If we are destined to love each other again

Go and pack your things quickly.

If we keep going like this, it'll be dawn soon.

...

A few strands of hair swayed before her eyes, like windshield wipers brushing away the swirling mist. Xu Wanying swayed her hips, her jasmine-colored dress fluttering gracefully with her awkward steps.

—White Dragon Horse: You passerby, can you hear me? I am a returning traveler.

—Narrator: She can hear.

—Peddler: I can't hear you!
—Narrator: I heard it! I hurriedly left his side, carrying a past that wasn't mine, my gaze lingering on the tattered memories of the past. I was the one who was just passing through.

Wu Liang pulled his thoughts back to the past, stood up, and took two steps toward the door.

He turned back and walked towards Xia An.

This caused the oriole on stage to miss a beat in its song.

Wu Liang asked Xia An, who had sat back down next to Liu Xiao, "You should treat her well."

Xia An: "..."

Wu Liang: "Please, treat her well, she's special at heart..."

Even Liu Xiao didn't want to listen to this person's rambling anymore, so he confronted Xia An.

Xia An looked at Wu Liang and said, "Okay."

Wu Liang lowered his head and walked away.

I pushed open the door, and sure enough, it was snowing outside. The door closed automatically, and step by step, the singing gradually faded away.
-
For the first hour and a half, Xia An didn't really move around much; the table behind her was having a blast.

No one expected Xu Wanying to be such a good singer. Wang Yue had a sudden inspiration and said to Le Ning, "Now we have a lead singer for the band."

Xu Wanying giggled as she played cards and dice with her classmates, and even taught Le Ning how to play rock-paper-scissors.

Xu Wanying drank as much as Lu Yao drank.

Qi Buyang and Lu Fei were afraid that Lu Yao would act recklessly under the influence of alcohol and follow in the footsteps of their former class monitor, Wu Xun. When they went to pee, they both reminded him, "We're brothers in the same dormitory. Don't let everyone look down on you."

Lu Yao spat into the urinal and said, "If you've made up your mind, there's plenty of time. I'll wait until I graduate."

Upon hearing this, even Lu Fei nodded and gave him a thumbs-up in appreciation.

Xu Wanying's eyes grew brighter with each drink; at least for tonight, at this moment, her playful appearance shone, and even Le Ning thought she suddenly... became very beautiful.

Not just this table, but the entire bar was ignited by Xu Wanying's song.

Before long, one song after another was played, and many guests went up on stage to request songs.

Whether it was pleasant to listen to or unpleasant to listen to, it drew cheers from the crowd.

……

Liu Xiao asked Xia An, "This afternoon I heard the principal say that the small theater has been contracted out and it's doing well. So it was your business. But I really don't understand the movie theater business you mentioned. The required qualifications aren't under my department's jurisdiction, are they?"

The atmosphere became lively, and the three men at the table enjoyed the cheerful ambiance as they chatted casually.

Liu Xiao never mentioned Liu Fei's family background. Firstly, no one would reveal it on their first meeting, and secondly, given Li Xiaoru's connection, Xia An had already asked about it herself, so there was no need to go through the motions.

Xia An didn't have anything particularly important to do. His main purpose in meeting Liu Xiao was to find a different circle to have some fun. He never expected that the first person he would bring along to meet was Liu Fei.

He was able to glean some clues from Li Xiaoru's background.

It was only after graduation that he learned that Li Xiaoru's family was extremely wealthy. Her biological father managed two groups, one in Beijiang Province and the other in Southwest China. The two groups had a total of nine listed companies, three on the main board and six on the growth enterprise board.

To be honest, he guessed at the time that Li Xiaoru must have been risking her life at home, otherwise it would have been impossible for her and Lu Fei to get together.

So, aside from those two emergency rescues, what Xia An valued in Li Xiaoru was her... generosity and loyalty.

When someone as wealthy as Li Xiaoru's family becomes involved, many of their connections become impossible to hide, involving two provinces.

Li Xiaoru calls Liu Fei "uncle"...

Liu Fei just said that Li Xiaoru's branch of the family is of a lower generation.

Judging from Liu Fei's accent, the Liu and Li families were a powerful local clan through marriage...

Just now, Liu Xiao "casually" blurted out, "Your sister just went to Chengdu, is she used to the food...?"

Xia An felt a chill run down his spine, and two phrases immediately came to mind: rising rapidly to great heights and reaching the clouds.

Liu Xiao now seems to have the air of a "noble person".

Although he wanted to change circles, it was too presumptuous for him to jump from a freshman like Karami to the elite circle all at once, which made Xia An very uneasy.

I dare not say more, for fear of being seen as flattering.

Saying nothing seems a bit strange.

Then I can only be practical about it—what I'm tinkering with at school, and what I'm planning to tinker with.

Those who haven't done something, remain completely silent.

After five bottles of wine, Xia An observed that Liu Fei's smile remained unchanged, indicating that she probably hadn't thought much about him.

That's true. Even if I multiplied my current entourage tenfold, it still wouldn't catch anyone's eye.

For now, it's enough to be on good terms with Liu Xiao; we have absolutely no connection with the Liu family.

Xia An stole a few glances at Liu Xiao and thought to himself: With such resources at his disposal, and having lingered in a small development and reform commission in Binhai for so many years, he must be a... character.

Liu Feiqi opened the last dozen beers on the edge of the table and handed one to Xia An.

"I understand the qualifications for movie theaters, but how many schools do you need to get them from?"

(End of this chapter)