This group of people seemed to naturally forget about Zhang Yang; no one mentioned him anymore.

On the other side, Zhang Yang had been patiently waiting in line for half an hour, but there were still more than ten people ahead of him. He figured Lin Nianwei should be arriving soon, so he sent her a message on his phone.

"Have you started heading this way? There are only about ten people ahead of us!"

"Just came downstairs, coming right up!"

Unknowingly, another twenty minutes passed. Zhang Yang finally got a booth on the first floor as he wished, but Lin Nianwei hadn't arrived yet. It was just the evening rush hour with a traffic accident ahead, so the taxis were stuck on the road.

It was almost seven o'clock by the time Lin Nianwei finally arrived at Haidilao. She asked the staff for the approximate location and walked straight towards Zhang Yang.

Lin Nianwei had changed her clothes, wearing faded jeans and a goose-yellow round-neck long-sleeve top with a small jacket over it, her high ponytail making her look like an innocent college student. Ever since she entered the restaurant, she drew a lot of attention.

In a booth that could seat four, Zhang Yang sat there all alone. The waiter thoughtfully placed a teddy bear on the opposite seat, and the Yuanyang pot was already boiling.

"I didn't know what you'd like to eat, so I ordered randomly. Just add anything else you want!" Zhang Yang said casually.

"Then I won't hold back! I didn't eat much for lunch, and I've been stuck in traffic for so long that I'm starving. I'm going all out!"

Lin Nianwei discarded her usual gentle image and eagerly made selections from the tablet menu.

This person, despite looking gentle and refined, turned out to be a carnivore. She didn't order any vegetables, just all kinds of meat, which surprised Zhang Yang.

"Wow, you're really here to feast like a big shot!" Zhang Yang joked with a smile.

"What do you think? I don't have many friends in W City, and there aren't any good places to eat near where I live. I've been working in W City for so long that I've starved myself thin!" Lin Nianwei pouted cutely.

"Let go and eat, order more if it's not enough!" Zhang Yang said as he casually put a piece of tripe into the pot.

"You're no fun at all!" Lin Nianwei was a bit at a loss for words.

This guy seemed smart, but he was completely clueless when it came to important topics, a typical late-stage straight man.

"Not getting along well with your colleagues at the company?"

Zhang Yang might be a bit of a straight shooter, but that didn't mean he's dumb. He quickly shifted the topic to the main point.

"Not really! Our surface relationship is okay, but we don't interact privately. There are more than ten people in the office, and no one ever invites me to lunch after work!"

"Wow, that's serious!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yang was taken aback; logically, it shouldn't be like that.

"That's because my work is the easiest, and the salary's not low either! If I didn't actively find things to do, I could easily do this work remotely from home!"

What Lin Nianwei said isn't wrong. Being a social media operations director sounds fancy, but the actual work is just monitoring the social media accounts. The collaborative project, Black Pit Jianghu, is already on track, and other forums and channels are small-scale, not much work.

"So, you increased the content requirements for the new Wild Fishing Jianghu section?" Zhang Yang continued to ask.

"You could say that! Unlike the other positions that have performance targets, my work can't be quantified, so I have to show some results!

Some people privately say I got the job through connections, and I don't want to carry that label at work!"

Zhang Yang glanced at her with a smile: "Since Old Zhao recruited you, he has his reasons! No need to overthink this!

I have a feeling that before long, the social media sector will start to ramp up! When that happens, you'll have plenty of opportunities to prove yourself!"

"Social media ramping up? Where's that coming from?"

Hearing Zhang Yang's perspective, Lin Nianwei was intrigued, stopping her action of grabbing meat, and looking at Zhang Yang with her beautiful eyes.

"It used to be 2G3G networks, mobile surfing was just browsing web pages, but what will happen once 4G speeds are fully upgraded? It's an obvious logic!"

"You mean watching videos on mobile will be more convenient?" Lin Nianwei's eyes sparkled as she spoke.

"Yes! And possibly not just short videos, but other forms like live streaming on mobile devices! As internet speeds increase, many technologies will surely iterate!"

"Like similar to YY live streaming?"

"Exactly!"

"Hearing it like this, it does seem quite possible!"

Zhang Yang casually tossed out a concept about the development of social media, completely steering the conversation. Lin Nianwei looked at Zhang Yang with different eyes than before.

With the conversation flow stabilized, they continued with some casual exchanges. Lin Nianwei, actually quite smart, managed to vent some work-related frustrations through the chat, subsequently increasing her appetite significantly.

The two foodies indulged vigorously, quickly finishing most of the ordered food, joking and chatting now and then, looking like a real couple on a date in the eyes of others.

However, this pleasant atmosphere didn't last until the checkout. When Zhang Yang went to the restroom, a small incident occurred.

After drinking a lot of cola, Zhang Yang strolled to the restroom, where he ran into Ma Chang, who was also there.

Ma Chang had clearly drunk a lot of beer, the strong smell of alcohol detectable even from a few steps away. Seeing Zhang Yang again, he grumbled a bit discontentedly: "Well, Zhang Yang, we've been waiting for you the whole time, and you never showed up. Do you look down on us?"

Zhang Yang shook his head: "What are you talking about? I just got a seat here for a bit! I'll be up there next!"

"We'll wait for you! Don't make us come down and grab you!"

"Got it!"

After leaving the restroom, Zhang Yang dried his hands and returned to the booth.

"I have a classmate who's dining in a private room on the second floor. I ran into him and need to go up for a drink and a quick greeting!" Zhang Yang explained honestly.

"A classmate? The kind you're close to? Do you want me to go with you?" Lin Nianwei asked softly.

"No need, just a regular classmate! You stay here for a bit; I'll be back in ten minutes at most!"

"Alright then, I'll take a break before taking on the Little Fatty Beef again!"

After saying hello, Zhang Yang grabbed a bottle of cola and went back upstairs.

Before even entering the room, he could hear the obvious noise from outside, the group was loud and rowdy, especially Ma Chang who was particularly loud.

Zhang Yang hesitated, unsure if he should go in.

After all, in this state, entering meant definite drinking, and he had driven, not planning to drink and drive.

While he was hesitating, another classmate, Liu Kai, returned from the restroom and immediately recognized Zhang Yang.

"Zhang Yang, what are you doing at the door? Come in for a drink!"

Zhang Yang was half-dragged into the VIP room.

"Zhang Yang's here! This guy was standing guard outside just now!" Liu Kai shouted.

Immediately, everyone's attention turned to Zhang Yang as he entered.

"Hey everyone, I heard from Ma Chang that you're eating up here, so I came to say hi!" Zhang Yang nodded with a smile.

"Hey man, where have you been? Never see you pop up in the class group chat!"

"Today's a special day; you can't just say hi and leave!

Ma Chang brought his girlfriend; they're getting engaged by the end of the year! The class monitor just joined the Tobacco Bureau! Also, Feng Bo got into the city government chauffeur team!

These are all our classmates and brothers!

Zhang Yang, where are you working now? Got any good news to share with everyone?"

Faced with this overt comparison, Zhang Yang remained calm, casually answering, "I'm just muddling through, opened a small fishing tackle shop in town."

"A fishing tackle shop, nice! Our chauffeur team leader loves fishing! I'll introduce you guys!" Feng Bo added nonchalantly.

"Fishing ruins three generations, playing with birds destroys a lifetime. At such a young age, why would you choose such a path?"

Xue Yang expressed extreme disdain for Zhang Yang's job, using a condescending tone to criticize.