CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: BAI YUEGUANG’S STAND-IN

"Wow——"

This sentence drew envious sighs from the surrounding female classmates.

"Jiang Lai is really lucky. Did you see the watch on her boyfriend’s wrist? My boss has the same brand, worth over 700,000."

"It might be fake, who knows. A watch worth over 700,000, you’d have to be really rich. Her boyfriend looks only about twenty-five or twenty-six, doesn’t seem like a rich second generation..."

The two female classmates sitting across were whispering, when the door of the private room was pushed open again. In came a fashionable young girl with a man in a brand-name t-shirt beside her, greeting everyone enthusiastically in the room.

"Yo, isn’t it Gao Peipei!"

"You two... what’s going on with you two?"

"Wow, Han Jing and Gao Peipei, I suspected something was up in high school. Turns out, turns out I was right!"

Han Jing helped Gao Peipei pull out a chair, then took out some tissues from his bag to wipe her part of the table, and finally poured her a cup of hot water after finishing up, before sitting down himself.

"Wow, so considerate, our class president!"

Gao Peipei smiled and placed her brand-name bag on the chair behind her.

"Back then, one of you got into Qing University and the other into Jingkeda. You two were the big celebrities of our class. Our high school teacher was talking about you two in the group chat not long ago."

Gao Peipei adjusted her hair, an indifferent expression on her face.

"That was a long time ago. Since I went abroad, I haven’t been back much. This time, it’s just that my dad plans to buy me a house here, so I came back to take a look, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet everyone."

"Wow, which school abroad are you studying at?"

"University of Edinburgh."

"I know! It’s ranked in the top thirty universities in the world, quite a good school. What’s the IELTS score required for application?"

"Seven."

"Seven, while I was almost failing my university’s English level four; I can only look up to you top students."

Talking about student days, Gao Peipei and Han Jing were the stars, after all, they were the notable figures since high school, excelling academically and coming from well-off families.

Han Jing’s family ran a business. After graduation, he didn’t have much ambition and directly opened a cake shop at home, living by collecting rents and selling desserts.

Gao Peipei was even more outstanding. Her parents were both leaders in government sectors. After graduating from college, she went abroad for further studies, yet even before graduation, her parents already prepared a car and a house for her.

As for Jiang Lai, the only difference between her and the two was her family background.

Jiang Lai’s family sold fruits, which everyone in the class knew. The conditions were generally average, but she was pretty and had good grades, making her the goddess of many boys in the class.

The most dramatic part was the relationships among these three.

The specifics were unclear, but basically, Jiang Lai liked Han Jing, Gao Peipei also liked Han Jing, but Han Jing’s attitude was always quite ambiguous. It was always a hot topic in class as to who Han Jing would end up with.

Now this topic was concluded, Han Jing ultimately chose the more eligible Gao Peipei, while Jiang Lai also found a boyfriend.

Everyone was engaged in small talk, having not seen each other for about five or six years since graduation. Some people had changed a lot, while others seemed to have changed very little.

Jiang Lai was among those who hadn’t changed much. Just as in high school, she remained the fairest and most beautiful in the room. Even with her hair casually draped, female classmates beside her couldn’t help but gauge and speculate on where she got her hairstyle done, just like back in high school when all the girls secretly mimicked Jiang Lai’s braided hairstyles.

After sitting down, Gao Peipei was chatting with old friends, when suddenly one of the boys called out to Han Jing.

"Class president! This is our Jiang University’s campus queen’s boyfriend. Oh right, Jiang Lai, what does your boyfriend do?"

Jiang Lai was eating sunflower seeds and got suddenly mentioned. Over twenty people in the room all turned to look at her. She smiled slightly.

"My boyfriend works in Jiang City."

"Jiang City? Funny enough, many of our classmates are in Jiang City too, with which company in Jiang City?"

"Oh, the Longheng Group."

"Longheng? Is it the branch or the headquarters?"

Jiang Lai looked at Shen Liao.

"Hmm, the headquarters."

Upon hearing Jiang Lai, the male classmates looked at Shen Liao with admiration.

"Longheng isn’t easy to get into. The headquarters usually only recruit top graduates from Qing University or Jing University. Which school did your partner graduate from?"

This question Jiang Lai didn’t know, she looked at him with curiosity just like all the classmates.

Shen Liao was drinking water, noticed Jiang Lai’s gaze, and replied calmly.

"Both my undergraduate and master’s were done at Yale University."

"Whoa!! Yale?!"

Was it the Yale they were thinking of?

It sounded as dreamy as Harvard and Cambridge.

After he said this, the always phone-glued Gao Peipei glanced at Shen Liao, her eyes brightening as if she just noticed him, setting aside her phone naturally to ask him.

"Then you went to school with my aunt, and I’ve heard you’re at Longheng? You probably know her. My aunt is the HR Director at Longheng’s headquarters; maybe she even handled your hiring paperwork."

In one simple sentence, she managed to clearly introduce her influential background.

Those working in Jiang City hearing that her aunt held such an important position at Longheng, their attitude shifted from envy to flattery.

After all, being the HR Director, if Gao Peipei wanted to join Longheng after graduation, it would be a matter of her aunt’s say-so.

Once you join Longheng, the income would be incomparable to that of an ordinary worker.

Previously, there was even a heated online discussion about the average salary of Longheng employees.

"Then Peipei, after you graduate, you won’t have to worry about finding a job. Just ask your aunt to place you in a relaxed position at Longheng."

Gao Peipei shook her head.

"With or without my aunt, I can join Longheng. I might even get to work with Jiang Lai’s boyfriend."

Casually, it seemed like she placed herself in a position similar to Shen Liao’s.

For a moment, everyone felt Gao Peipei was indeed still more remarkable than Jiang Lai. Considering Jiang Lai, she seemed to want to bring her Longheng-working boyfriend to gain some face, to flaunt, yet Longheng was seemingly a place Gao Peipei could easily enter after graduation.

Bringing this up, someone gave Jiang Lai a look.

"Then Jiang Lai should toast with Gao Peipei, it’ll be easier to talk and do things in the future at the same workplace."

This implied Jiang Lai should try to cozy up.

After all, Gao Peipei’s relative was in a high position at Longheng, establishing friendly terms would be beneficial for Shen Liao’s future career development too.

Jiang Lai, who hadn’t spoken much throughout, smiled helplessly.