Blind Spot
Chapter 136 - 125 contact 3 (Thank you Taiping, Alliance Hierarch for the reward)

Chapter 136: 125 contact 3 (Thank you Taiping, Alliance Hierarch for the reward)

Chen Xudong walked over and threw his arm around Li Chengyi’s shoulder.

"You little rascal, how long has it been, and you’ve bulked up so much?"

"Recently I’ve been training for explosive power, it’s normal." Seeing that it was an old acquaintance from childhood, Li Chengyi had no choice but to sit down speechless.

He glanced at the group slowly gathering behind Chen Xudong.

At a glance, there were at least thirty or forty people, most of whom were quite well-built. The men were sturdy, and the women were hot.

Most of them were middle-aged, though, with not many young people.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. Take another look, see who else has come?" Chen Xudong patted Li Chengyi’s shoulder and pointed to several people who were walking toward them.

Li Chengyi looked over, and at first, he didn’t recognize anyone, but soon, memories from his past life began to surge forth.

The few young people approaching were all childhood friends they had played with since they were little.

Although some had gotten fatter, some prettier, and some had a drastically changed demeanor, from their facial features and contours, he could still distinguish that these were the same people.

A rowdy group approached.

"That’s... Li Chengyi!" A refined-looking man with glasses pointed this way, as if he had just recognized him.

"It’s Li Chengyi, so grown up now, huh? Have you been working out?" One of the girls exclaimed in surprise.

"Long time no see, everyone." Li Chengyi saw that everyone had come over, and it would have been rude to ignore them, so he waved his hand as a greeting.

In reality, his memories from his former life were blurry, and looking at the group, he only remembered that the man with glasses was Li Qingpeng, who had some background, not much though.

In his childhood, he actually didn’t hang out with him much.

This group used to split into two and play separately.

One group was led by Li Qingpeng, who came from a good family and was academically strong, took the lead.

The other group was led by Chen Xudong, a little rich second-generation who was generous with money and good at gathering crowds.

And Li Chengyi, who was plain-looking and from an average family, was somewhat invisible.

There was also Lin Sang, who joined them later. He didn’t come this time.

Chen Xudong pointed at several people who were walking over and introduced them one by one.

"Zhao Sikai." He pointed at a somewhat shy, dark, and thin man and laughed, "He’s now working on a construction site, doing architectural design. Smiles more than he used to, you used to be so awkward."

"Get lost. Always roasting me." Zhao Sikai laughed and cursed back.

"This is Zhao Funing, our old neighborhood beauty, ah, the ’neighborhood beauty.’" Chen Xudong pointed at the second girl, wearing a pink tracksuit with a ponytail.

The girl had rosy lips, white teeth, big eyes, a tall figure, and flowing long hair. She was indeed beautiful, and a pair of plain washed white jeans sculpted her curvy hips and legs.

"What ’neighborhood beauty’? Drop it, I’ve gone downhill now." Zhao Funing reached out for a somewhat formal handshake with Li Chengyi.

Then the other two girls, one of whom Li Chengyi remembered was named Yuan Lai, seemed to have always liked Li Qingpeng, and he didn’t know how things were now.

The other girl he was completely unfamiliar with. He carefully flipped through his memories, but still had no impression.

"Yuan Lai doesn’t need an introduction, right? She used to lead us in rushing our summer homework." Chen Xudong laughed, to which Yuan Lai responded with a slap on his back.

The girl dressed like a boy, with ear-length short hair and was a bit chubby. She had an approachable smile when she laughed.

"Haven’t seen you in so many years, Li Chengyi, you’ve gotten so robust now, huh?" Yuan Lai stood in front of Li Chengyi and compared the width of their arms with her hands.

Although she was somewhat plump, her arms were still a good deal thinner than Li Chengyi’s.

"Exaggerated."

She shook her head and turned to look at the last girl.

"This is my bestie Zhuang Yijing. She’s been in a bad mood recently, so I dragged her along to make up the numbers and take her mind off things."

"Hello," Li Chengyi greeted with a smile.

That last girl had a very proper demeanor, dressed in a tender yellow long dress with a round straw hat. The simple combination still gave off a faintly genteel and literate aura.

"Hello, you look really safe up close." Zhuang Yijing teased with a smile.

"Thank you." Li Chengyi wasn’t in the mood for socializing at all, but since Chen Xudong had already brought people over, he just had to chat and socialize with the group.

Everyone stood together, seven people in total. They chatted casually and naturally split into two small groups with two tables, just like when they were children.

Chen Xudong, Li Chengyi, and Zhao Funing together.

Li Qingpeng, Yuan Lai, and Zhao Sikai together.

Zhuang Yijing, having said hello, sat to the side and started browsing on her phone.

Chen Xudong called over a waiter and pointed at everyone present.

"A bottle of watermelon juice for everyone here. Put it on the tab."

"You’re still as generous as ever, Brother Dong." Zhao Funing laughed. She was pretty but had a fiery temper. In the past, she often fought with Li Qingpeng because she couldn’t stand him, and that’s why they couldn’t play together.

The neighborhood was only so big, and when there was no one to play with, she would lean towards Li Chengyi and Chen Xudong.

"How have you been, Da Ning? I heard from your dad that you dropped out of school before?" Chen Xudong sat down and lowered his voice.

"I continued studying later on. I dropped out for two key years of high school and never caught up with my grades," Zhao Funing said with a shake of her head, smiling. "Now I run a small shop, dealing in clothes. It’s not as comfortable and laid-back as your rich second-generation life."

"Do I look like a trust-fund kid to you?" Chen Xudong waved his hand dismissively. "What I’m really sick of these days is people calling me a second-generation rich kid. Can we please drop the last two words?"

"You’ll have to be more successful than your dad to avoid that label," Li Chengyi added.

"I’m still young, aren’t I?" Chen Xudong said, exasperated. "In the future, definitely!"

"What about Xiao Yi? What’s he doing now?" Zhao Funing turned to Li Chengyi, curious.

Among those present, Li Chengyi had the most solid stature, even bigger than Chen Xudong’s build.

His body was truly close to that of a tiger’s back and a bear’s waist.

Sitting in his chair with an impassive expression, he exuded a calm and composed demeanor.

Upon hearing the question, he quickly organized his thoughts, remembering what his temporary job was.

"I work at a biopharmaceutical company as the boss’s assistant. Normally, I follow the boss’s orders, really busy at times and traveling all over the place. Other times, I’m as free as I am right now," Li Chengyi responded succinctly.

"That’s still better than us. At least you graduated from college. I didn’t get into university back then, and now I really... you know, it’s hard these days. Everything depends on your education. There are many places where I can’t even get my foot in the door," Zhao Funing sighed.

"It’s your own fault for dating too much back then," Chen Xudong concluded. "I told you to stop wasting your energy and just pick me, but you wouldn’t listen."

"Cut it out!"

The group chatted in hushed tones, and Li Chengyi threw in jokes from time to time, keeping the atmosphere amiable.

They learned a bit more about each other.

Surprisingly, Li Chengyi turned out to be the most successful among them. Earning twenty thousand a month, he was actually the one who made the most money on his own.

On the other hand, among the other few, Li Qingpeng had only graduated recently but had already joined a governmental electric power unit and became a small deputy head with real authority, advancing rapidly. He was still the leader among the group.

After chatting for a while, Li Chengyi’s parents, Li Zhao and Feng Yurong, arrived and exchanged greetings with everyone, and then the crowd dispersed.

Busy greeting everyone, Chen Xudong occasionally looked back and saw Li Chengyi sitting quietly in a corner of the grass, holding a phone but not really looking at it, just staring off into the distance somewhat distractedly.

For some reason, he sensed a faint weariness in Li Chengyi.

"He’s quieter than before," Zhao Funing noted from the side.

"He’s always been a man of few words. Even when he liked Lin Sang, he wouldn’t speak up. Just kept it all inside, thinking no one could tell," Chen Xudong said.

"You go ahead with your tasks; I’ll go check on him," Zhao Funing said with a smile.

There was a distinct aura about the tall and robust Li Chengyi.

The contrast between his new demeanor and his old, common image was striking, and for her, it was like finding a gem in the sand, a delightful surprise.

Without waiting for Chen Xudong to respond, she walked over to him.

"By the way, Xiao Yi, you’re still living in the old place, right?" She casually sat down on a chair next to Li Chengyi.

"Have you ever considered moving out of Suiyang to develop elsewhere? With your expertise in plant care, it seems like you’d have better job prospects in the warmer provinces in the south, right?"

"I didn’t think that much about it at the time," Li Chengyi said with a smile.

"That means your current job must be good for you to stay. You’re lucky to find such work in Suiyang, where jobs are scarce and opportunities are few," Zhao Funing noted with a smile. "By the way, this biopharmaceutical work—what do you actually do? Are you involved in drug research?"

"I have some interest in that area too," Li Qingpeng said, approaching out of nowhere.

"But, in terms of biopharmaceuticals, White Star is way ahead of us. The potential for development here is not great, right?" he asked Li Chengyi.

"Like Elston, Vigor, Xinlan Pharmaceuticals—they are all world-class companies of White Star. Especially Vigor, their cell vitality drug series called ’Life Tree’ is quite good. I even bought a box for my dad to try, and it worked well."

"This..." Li Chengyi didn’t know a damn thing about biopharmaceuticals. He was just there to make up the numbers for someone else.

Hearing Li Qingpeng’s showing off in front of Zhao Funing with a bunch of jargon, he was somewhat speechless and also helpless.

Seeing him not responding, Li Qingpeng glanced at Zhao Funing with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"It’s been over a decade in a blink of an eye. Thinking back to our childhood days, rushing through homework together, it seems so funny now."

"Life Tree... that sounds expensive, right? A box costs over a thousand," Zhao Funing said, her attention diverted.

"It’s to hope for our parents’ better health. What does the money matter as long as they are healthy?" Li Qingpeng said with a faint sigh. His primary motive for agreeing to this gathering was Zhao Funing, his childhood playmate.

Gatherings are just meant to show off and flirt, otherwise who would bother attending when they’re busy?

If the relationships were so good, they would meet up on their own often, without needing a special occasion to see each other.

"So, Pengge, you’re doing really well now. But the income from the power department can’t be that high, can it?" Zhao Funing asked curiously.

"Of course. I also own a share in my brother’s company, and I get a fixed dividend every year. Altogether, I make around fifty or sixty thousand annually. Of course, my income is not just based on salary," Li Qingpeng said, smiling.

"Of course, Xiao Yi is also doing quite well. I heard from Chen Xudong that he makes twenty thousand a month. Given the current tough job market, his income is really good," he said, his conversation constantly comparing himself to Li Chengyi.

"By the way, Xiao Yi, are you still living with your uncle and auntie?"

"Yeah, still living together," Li Chengyi replied, knowing exactly what he meant.

"With your income, you could consider buying an apartment in the provincial capital. Just gather enough for the down payment while you’re young. Otherwise, it’ll be harder to get a loan when you’re older," Li Qingpeng advised earnestly.

"Aren’t the houses pretty expensive there? If you take out a loan so early, wouldn’t that weigh you down for years to come?" Zhao Funing frowned.

"Not too bad. I bought mine when it was just over ten thousand per square meter. I was lucky; the price went up right after I bought it," Li Qingpeng said with a restrained smile, working up to this moment just to make this point.

He owned a house in the provincial capital, while Li Chengyi was still crammed in with his parents.

As peers and childhood playmates, this comparison suddenly highlighted the gap between them.