Chapter 6: A Different Life
Chapter 6: Chapter 6: A Different Life
In the evening, four young men came to a halt in front of a bustling barbecue restaurant.
"Brother Ying, are you sure this is a proper barbecue joint?"
Speaking of this nickname, it was the darkest Chapter of Zhang Yan’s past that he regretted the most. When he had first met his classmates in the dorm and they introduced themselves, he didn’t know if his brain had short-circuited or if he just wanted to be a bit cheeky. He had said:
"I’m Zhang Yan. ’Zhang’ as in Zhang Fei, and ’Yan’ as in rock—the very hard kind."
Ever since then, his roommates had called him Brother Ying. Later, a roommate who also liked playing basketball spread this nickname to the court, so much so that almost all of Zhang Yan’s friends called him that now.
Zhang Yan nodded with absolute certainty. "Don’t worry, it’s completely legit."
The other guys weren’t entirely convinced. What kind of proper barbecue place was named "Joyful Union Sect"?
Zhang Yan really wasn’t spouting nonsense; this was indeed a proper barbecue restaurant. The name and everything else had a registered trademark, making it official in every sense of the word. It was just that this place did have a few peculiar touches. For example, the large Pill Furnace decoration inside the restaurant, and the large wine vats filled with various Spiritual Liquids (liquor infused with ginseng, antler, Huang Jing, and so on) made people feel like this place really had something special going on.
"Hello there, a table for four? May I ask if you have a reservation? We’re quite packed right now, so if you don’t have one, you might have to wait a bit."
"I called ahead to book a table. The last name is Zhang, phone number ending in 6391."
"Let me check that for you... Yes, we do have that reservation. Right this way, Mr. Zhang."
The restaurant was indeed booming, which probably had something to do with the owner being a minor internet celebrity, but the service was still quite attentive.
Brother Gan had been staring at one of the vats of Spiritual Liquid since they walked in. Unable to hold back any longer, he asked, "How do you sell this Spiritual Liquid of yours? Like that vat with the deer pizzle?"
"Ours is complimentary, but it’s limited in quantity."
"That’s great then. Pour me a glass later."
Since Zhang Yan wasn’t a regular, he couldn’t book a private room, so the four of them sat in a corner of the main hall. Although the voices were noisy, it carried a lively, down-to-earth atmosphere unique to the city streets.
At the neighboring table sat four beautiful, youthful girls. Two were above average in looks, while the other two had their backs turned so their faces couldn’t be seen. However, their occasional laughter sounded quite pleasant.
Zhang Yan had invited a total of three people this time. After all, most of their classmates who were leaving had already left; the only ones remaining whom he was on decent terms with were these few.
Among the three, Brother Gan—whose real name was Si Mingcheng—was a senior from the art academy, known on the basketball court for his three-pointers.
Jia Qian was Zhang Yan’s roommate who slept in the top bunk. They had the best relationship. On the court, he excelled at playing guard and had a highly agile build. Everyone usually called him "Add Money" as a pun on his name.
Li Chao was a classmate from the dorm next door. He was the tallest, nearly 190 centimeters, and because he was great at rebounds, his nickname was Da Ban.
"I have to say, this stuff is actually pretty good. My whole body feels hot after drinking it." Brother Gan took a sip of the deer pizzle Spiritual Liquid, and feeling quite satisfied, he downed the rest in one gulp.
Zhang Yan grabbed the menu and scanned it. There were indeed many dishes that other barbecue joints didn’t offer, so he definitely had to pick a few to try.
"Ten scallion beef skewers, four signature air-dried meats, four Northeast pork skirt steaks, four each of beef and lamb pizzle and tendon... four honey-roasted ginsengs, four seaweed shrimp pastes, and four pork neck steaks. Take a look and see what else you guys want to order."
Hearing several dishes with an extremely high pizzle content, Jia Qian couldn’t help but laugh. "Brother Ying, what are you trying to do? Loading up on so much stamina—do you have another round with Cheng Lu tonight?"
He wasn’t in the habit of checking his Friends Circle, so he still didn’t know that Zhang Yan and Cheng Lu had broken up.
Li Chao hurriedly nudged Jia Qian’s arm. "You really have a knack for bringing up the worst topics. Brother Ying just went through a breakup."
"Ah, this..." Jia Qian looked instantly embarrassed.
Brother Gan chimed in, "Hey! I was wondering why you kept pestering me for Xia Xiqing’s WeChat. So it turns out you broke up. But isn’t your next target set a bit too high?"
The slightly awkward atmosphere was instantly ignited by the spirit of gossip. Li Chao asked in astonishment, "Xia Xiqing!? The legendary number one campus belle since the founding of our school?"
"Is it really that exaggerated? If she’s that pretty, why doesn’t she become a celebrity?" Jia Qian usually just buried his head in his studies and didn’t pay much attention to this sort of thing.
Brother Gan was displeased the moment he heard this. He immediately gave this country bumpkin a crash course on Xia Xiqing’s legendary, status-cementing moments.
Jia Qian was left completely dumbfounded. It seemed that compared to the legendary beauties of ancient times, she wasn’t lacking in the slightest. "Is she really that unbelievable? I don’t buy it anyway."
It was also Zhang Yan’s first time hearing the full version of the Xia Xiqing legends, and even he felt it was a bit overblown. Although Xia Xiqing was already the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in real life, not losing out in the slightest to those meticulously dressed national goddesses on the silver screen, the things Brother Gan was saying were along the lines of:
"Come summer, as long as she walks past a flowerbed, she’ll draw a whole cloud of butterflies away with her.
"On her way to class every day, seniors and juniors end up walking straight into trees.
"She once smiled during a sketching class, causing a highly experienced professor to lose his train of thought for a long time."
Things like that were clearly exaggerated flattery.
Before long, the various grilled foods were served one after another.
"Today is the last time the few of us are getting together. Brother Gan and Brother Ying might still be able to meet up, but the two of us won’t have the time anymore. So, should we have a drink?"
Zhang Yan only hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding. It would only deduct one percent of his task progress. Compared to friends who were about to go their separate ways, it wasn’t worth mentioning.
"Brave the world! Cheers!"
Zhang Yan downed a glass of beer. He truly didn’t like the taste of this stuff; it couldn’t even compare to a single drop of cola. However, since his classmates wanted to drink, he wouldn’t be a wet blanket. Keeping them company for a few bottles wouldn’t be a problem.
"I haven’t asked for the details yet, but what are all your plans?" Zhang Yan ate a skewer of what was either beef or lamb tendon. It tasted pretty good.
"My most preferred offer right now is from Ali, but Byte is offering a higher salary, so I’m still considering it."
Jia Qian’s single sentence plunged the other two and a half people into silence. He was from Shandong, not very tall, and the type to focus heavily on his studies. Over his four years in college, he had barely touched any video games, only occasionally playing basketball. Jia Qian’s family background was very average. He was the classic example of a top student changing his destiny through studying. In major tech companies like those, as long as he could work until middle age, he would at least secure a spot in the middle class.
"I’m not as badass as ’Add Money’, and I haven’t found a job I’m satisfied with. Rather than working like a horse for a fixed, meager salary, I plan to head back to my hometown and try for the civil service exam first. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll just stay home and live off my parents."
Li Chao’s family was from Wuxi. According to him, the people over there "all had a few properties to their name." Basically, he would have no worries about food or clothing for the rest of his life, with no pressure, allowing him to slack off in peace.
There was naturally no need to ask Si Mingcheng. He had the best family background among them. Studying painting all the way to a master’s degree was entirely out of personal interest; he had never once considered the issue of employment.
The four of them here perfectly represented four different kinds of lives. And Zhang Yan was supposed to be the one toiling like a beast of burden, struggling bitterly without ever making a name for himself in his entire life.
"What about you, Brother Ying? I heard you gave up on grad school before so you could start working as soon as possible to marry Cheng Lu. Are you going to retake the entrance exam now?" Jia Qian still cared quite a bit about Zhang Yan as his roommate.
"If you ask me, it’s better for Brother Ying to just go straight to work," Li Chao chimed in. "Degrees are depreciating in value significantly right now, and the situation will probably be even worse in a few years. Or you could try for a government job like me."
Zhang Yan took a sip of beer to moisten his throat and smiled faintly.