The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 86 Best Man Reservation
Yang Tao's living room.

Su Qing washed a plate of grapes and placed it on the coffee table.

Yang Tao sat cross-legged on the sofa, with a cushion in her arms, playing on her phone.

Su Qing's mother, Xue Sumei, was looking at the wedding photos stored on Su Qing's phone and occasionally offering her opinions.

"By the way, Qing'er, you and Xifeng are getting married on National Day. What's going on with his best man? I heard he has to find someone else?"

Xue Sumei put down her phone and asked.

Yang Tao, who was standing nearby, was also drawn to the topic and looked up from her phone screen.

"Sis, when your husband invited you to dinner last time, didn't he say he wanted one of his best friends from college to be his best man?"

Su Qing sighed.

"Don't even mention it. They had already agreed, and Xifeng and I had even picked out the best man's clothes. But guess what? He went to the mountains to hunt birds and broke his leg."

Xue Sumei frowned: "What kind of classmate is he? How dare he be so bold? Doesn't he know that hunting wild animals is illegal?"

“Mom, my sister said that bird hunting is not the same as what you think of it. It’s more like being a photographer, taking a telephoto lens to take pictures of birds.”

Yang Tao reached out and picked a grape, then popped it into her mouth.

Xue Sumei continued to complain, "They must have been quite idle. There are so many beautiful landscapes to photograph, yet they insisted on going to the mountains to make a fuss."

Yang Tao casually replied, "Not only do you need to have free time, but you also need to have money. Photography can bankrupt three generations, and a DSLR can ruin a lifetime. Anyway, it's quite expensive."

Upon hearing this, Xue Sumei immediately warned Yang Tao: "When you look for a partner in the future, you're not allowed to date someone who's into photography, they're too unreliable!"

Not to mention Yang Tao, even Su Qing couldn't stand it anymore.

"Auntie, Xifeng's classmate isn't as bad as you say. He has a legitimate job in a public institution in Beijing, a secure job, and his work isn't too busy. Can't he be allowed to have a hobby?"

Xue Sumei pouted: "Anyway, Taozi is not allowed to date someone like that in the future."

Su Qing glanced at Yang Tao, who had picked up her phone again and didn't want to get involved in the conversation, and moved closer to Xue Sumei.

"Auntie, what kind of boyfriend do you hope Taozi will find in the future?"

Before Xue Sumei could speak, Su Qing interrupted, "Besides these three things, are there any other requirements for a tall, rich, and handsome man?"

Xue Sumei laughed: "Actually, the requirements aren't as high as you say. As long as the young man is good-looking and not too short, that's fine. But we do have to be picky about his financial situation. At least he should have a house and a car in Yanjing, right?"

Su Qing nodded and continued to ask, "What about other aspects? For example, education level, age, and so on?"

Xue Sumei thought for a moment and replied, "It has to be at least a bachelor's degree, right? The age can't be too big, I think five or six years older is the limit."

Su Qing then asked, "What if it's smaller than a peach?"

"Small--"

Xue Sumei was about to speak when Yang Tao interrupted her with a protest:

"Stop! I have no intention of dating a younger woman."

Xue Sumei and Su Qing exchanged a glance, about to have a proper discussion about the matter, when Yang Tao suddenly became agitated.

After glancing at the caller's name on the screen, Yang Tao immediately picked up her phone, got up, went back to her room, and closed the door behind her.

Xue Sumei hadn't noticed anything unusual at first, but then Su Qing said, "Auntie, do you see? I think there's something wrong with Taozi."

"what's the situation?"

"Didn't she come with me to try on wedding dresses today? She also got a phone call and we talked for a full half hour. We were so affectionate."

"What if they are friends?"

"I've tested it, and it's most likely a man."

Xue Sumei was startled and immediately sat up straight, asking:
"Really?"

"Anyway, I think Peach and the other person seemed to be having a good time chatting."

"Should I sound her out again later?"

"No, Auntie, if you speak up, Peach might become suspicious and deliberately keep quiet."

Xue Sumei looked at Su Qing in confusion: "Then what should we do?"

Su Qing leaned close to Xue Sumei's ear and whispered a few words.

Xue Sumei nodded after listening.

"Okay, I'll do as you say."

In the bedroom.

Yang Tao locked the door before answering the phone.

"Senior, you're still awake, aren't you?"

Yang Muye's voice came through the receiver.

Yang Tao lay face down on the pillow, her phone next to her ear.

"What's up?"

"It's about the same thing that happened during the day."

"Didn't you meet with someone?"

"Yes, we met, and then something went wrong. I'm in the hospital now."

"what?"

Yang Tao sat up abruptly from the bed.

"What happened?"

“One of my roommates got beaten up, and I accompanied him to the hospital for a medical examination to assess his injuries.”

"Because of Liu Qing's fight?"

"what?"

Now it was Yang Muye's turn to be dumbfounded on the other end of the phone.

"No, senior, you must have misunderstood. We're talking about He Yueyue, what does she have to do with Liu Qing?"

Yang Tao raised her hand and smoothed her hair.

"He Yueyue"

Yang Muye briefly explained the situation over the phone.

There was a lot of information, and it took Yang Tao several seconds to sort it all out.

"You mean He Yueyue has become the secretary of the Youth League Committee in charge of student affairs at the School of International Business?"

"You're not bad either, senior. You've already become the lobby manager of a four-star hotel."

"He's the deputy manager," Yang Tao corrected.

And that's not what she really wanted to say.

If Yang Tao remembers correctly, the secretary of the Youth League Committee of a college in a general university should have at least a master's degree.

In a top-tier 211 university like Yanjingmao, all the secretaries of the Youth League Committees of the colleges Yang Tao knew of had at least a doctorate.

How did He Yueyue, a master's student, end up in this position?

At this moment, Yang Muye's voice came through the phone:

"It's not surprising. With He Yueyue's family connections, it's quite normal for them to get her a job at the School of International Business. She can start accumulating experience early, and then go on to get a PhD. Becoming an associate professor by the age of thirty will be a piece of cake."

Although her tone was full of sarcasm, Yang Tao still felt a little uncomfortable.

She might not become a front office manager until she turns thirty.

He Yueyue was born into a good family, and she achieved more than an ordinary person would in ten years of hard work just by lying down.

Yang Tao's silence was enough for Yang Muye to guess what she was thinking over the phone, so he offered her words of comfort:

"Actually, if we're talking about reincarnation, I still think the senior is more capable. I think He Yueyue would be 100% willing to switch places with you."

"She'd be crazy to switch places with me."

"That's not necessarily true. Take tonight's incident for example. My roommate just muttered 'fat head and big ears,' and she got all defensive. People tend to care more about what they lack."

"To be honest, your roommate has a pretty sharp tongue," Yang Tao said with a laugh.

"Yes, lies don't hurt people, but the truth is the sharpest knife."

"So, your roommate really plans to send He Yueyue to jail?" "He Yueyue went too far. The assessment result might even be more than a minor injury, which is why he can't swallow his anger."

"Why don't you advise your roommate to think more positively? With He Yueyue's temper, even a few days in detention would be enough to make her suffer."

"Yes, for someone like He Yueyue, even a few days in detention would be a huge setback and humiliation for her. The only fear is that she won't learn her lesson."

"Celestial Dragons?" Yang Tao was hearing this term for the first time and found it quite novel.

"Senior, you watch One Piece too?"

"I like watching Detective Conan."

"So, senior, you must have a lot of 'criminal experience'. Why don't you give my roommate some advice on how to deal with someone like He Yueyue in a way that's satisfying without causing more trouble?"

Stop flattering me, just say what you want to know.

"Does He Yueyue have any embarrassing history during her undergraduate studies?"

"I remember when she was applying for graduate school, she was reported for allegedly using connections to add her name to other people's competition projects to gain extra points, and that she manipulated and bought her way into publishing journal articles. Some of her articles were even ghostwritten by others. It's true that she added her name to other people's award-winning competition projects, and it's also highly likely that she had her papers ghostwritten, but there's no concrete evidence, and it's impossible."

"That's it?"

The disdainful tone made Yang Tao laugh in exasperation.

"Do you think I'm a mind reader and know everything? Besides, you've met He Yueyue yourself. Even if we weren't in the same class, we wouldn't be that close."

"Does the senior mean that people in He Yueyue's class might know more about things?"

"I never said that."

Just after denying it, Yang Tao suddenly remembered something.

"You know what, I actually know a girl from He Yueyue's class. She's the class monitor of their accounting class."

"Isn't He Yueyue the class monitor?" Yang Muye asked curiously.

"That's not true. She wasn't elected to any class committee, and she doesn't get along well with her classmates."

"Now that you mention it, I'm suddenly looking forward to the dirt their class monitor has on them."

"I think you shouldn't get your hopes up too high. It's very likely that their class monitor is just overthinking things."

After receiving the warning, Yang Tao finally revealed what had happened.

During her freshman year, the college required each class to compile the college entrance examination scores of their classmates. Everyone else had scores, but He Yueyue's scores were blank.

The class monitor asked He Yueyue, and the answer she received was that the college teacher had told her to leave it blank.

After the form was submitted, the college didn't ask any questions.

Later, when they learned that He Yueyue's maternal grandfather was the vice principal, their class monitor suspected that He Yueyue might not have taken the college entrance examination at all and had entered the school through connections.

After listening, Yang Muyi asked, "Will it be a special admission?"

"Of course not. If it's a special admission, the school's official website will publish the list, and they mainly recruit students with athletic talents."

Yang Tao said with great certainty.

Although, given He Yueyue's family connections, pursuing a special sports admission route is indeed an option.

However, there are strict conditions and restrictions for using back channels.

Good universities require students admitted through special programs to have a national first-class athlete certificate, or at the very least, to be able to do aerobics like the "Milk Tea Sister" (Zhang Zetian).

As for He Yueyue's physique, even if her family dared to do something so mindless as to perform aerobics, someone would have to believe it.

"Anyway, I think there's something fishy about how He Yueyue got into our school, but I don't know exactly how it was done."

Yang Tao concluded.

Actually, it's quite simple to figure this out; just check He Yueyue's college entrance exam scores and you'll know what happened.

Yang Muyi immediately made up his mind.

"Senior, I know what to do."

"Take it easy. He Yueyue is quite vengeful, so it's best not to go too far unless you're absolutely sure," Yang Tao advised.

"That's what I was thinking too. Once the injury assessment results come out, if it doesn't meet the standard for minor injury, I'll persuade my roommate to settle. It'll just mean that He Yueyue will have to pay more money."

Yang Tao was relieved to hear that Yang Muye's tone didn't sound like he was joking.

"Okay, I'll hang up now if there's nothing else."

"Good night, Senior."

"You too, be careful on your way back."

Just as I hung up the phone, there was a loud knocking on the door.

Su Qing stood outside Yang Tao's bedroom door.

"Peach, your auntie asked if you still want to eat grapes? If you do, she'll save some for you."

Before he could finish speaking, the door opened.

"Eat up, I'm coming right now."

Yang Tao followed Su Qing back to the living room, sat cross-legged on the sofa again, and picked up a grape to eat when Xue Sumei moved her body closer to her.

"Peach, who were you talking to on the phone just now?"

"friend."

"Male and female."

Yang Tao put down the grapes and protested loudly, "Mom, can you please stop asking about everything?"

Xue Sumei waved her hand: "Alright, alright, I won't ask anymore. Qing'er, just tell Xifeng that Taozi doesn't have any suitable male friends who can be his best man. Let him figure it out himself."

Yang Tao turned to Su Qing: "Can't your brother-in-law find anyone to be his best man?"

Su Qing said with a bitter face, "That's right, we're worried about this. His friends and classmates are either married or have something to do, so they can't be his best man."

"Can't my brother-in-law's colleagues be accepted?"

"It's feasible, but—"

"Are you not close to the person, or are you just too shy to ask?"

"A little of both, but mainly—"

"If colleagues aren't suitable, then just hire someone. It's that simple."

As soon as Yang Tao finished speaking, Xue Sumei immediately objected: "Qing'er just told me that in Xifeng's hometown, the custom is that they don't tease the bride and groom during the wedding procession, they only tease the bridesmaids and groomsmen. You're going to be Qing'er's bridesmaid, and then spend money to find a complete stranger to be the groomsman. That's definitely not acceptable. I don't agree."

Yang Tao originally wanted to suggest that the bridesmaids and groomsmen should just pay for their own services, but then she thought about how she and Su Qing had grown up together since childhood and were closer than sisters. It just wouldn't be right for her not to be a bridesmaid at Su Qing's wedding.

"What should we do?"

Xue Sumei offered an idea: "Why don't you just find a male friend you know to be your best man? It's more reliable than hiring someone, right?"

Just as Yang Tao was about to say that she didn't really have any suitable male friends to be her best man, someone suddenly flashed into her mind.

If we disregard age, Yang Muyi is quite suitable.

The key point is that there are no age restrictions for being a groomsman.

Seeing that Yang Tao remained silent, Xue Sumei and Su Qing exchanged a glance.

This has potential!

in the hospital.

Cheng Feng completed all the tests, and it would take more than an hour to get the results.

During this time, Cheng Zhenen called again, having already asked a friend to find out about He Yueyue's family situation.

He's father was the director of a research institute at an ordinary university, and his mother was the deputy general manager of a second-tier state-owned enterprise. In addition, his maternal grandfather, who had retired as a vice president, could at most be considered "middle class" in Beijing.

Cheng Zhenen is, after all, the CEO of a listed company, and the connections he has made over the years mean he has nothing to fear from the He family.

However, Cheng Zhenen's idea was to wait for the injury assessment results first.

If the minor injury constitutes a criminal offense, then there's nothing more to say; just follow the legal procedures and send He Yueyue straight to jail, and that's it.

If it's a minor injury, the most severe punishment would be administrative detention for five to ten days, which wouldn't achieve the goal of venting anger and would only completely offend the He family, so it's not worth it.

If the other party sincerely admits their mistake, it's best to reconcile.

Of course, these are just suggestions. Anyway, a lawyer has been found, and it's up to Cheng Feng to decide whether to go to court or settle.

(End of this chapter)