Ye Chen, Xiao Churan, and Dong Ruolin sat down together, and Wang Tengfei promptly followed, taking a seat right next to Dong Ruolin.


As soon as he sat down, he smiled and asked, “Ruolin, I heard you’re working at the Emgrand Group now?”


Dong Ruolin nodded. “I just joined recently.”


Wang Tengfei grinned smugly. “What a coincidence! My dad works at the Emgrand Group as a deputy general manager. I can ask him to look after you.”


At this, several classmates at the table gasped. “Tengfei, your dad is a deputy general manager at the Emgrand Group?”


“Yeah,” Wang Tengfei replied with a nod. “He got promoted last year.”


One classmate eagerly flattered him, “A deputy GM must earn millions annually! No wonder your family is so well-off!”


Wang Tengfei chuckled. “The salary is just a few million a year. But my dad’s position grants him significant authority, so there are other benefits too. For instance, the Emgrand Group is currently developing a hotel project. If it goes through, my dad will earn at least 10 or 20 million from it.”


A male classmate sitting opposite quickly asked, “Tengfei, I’ve been trying to get into the Emgrand Group for a while now but haven’t heard back. Could you talk to your dad and see if he can recommend me?”


Wang Tengfei readily agreed. “Sure, just send me your resume on WeChat later, and I’ll speak to him.”


Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, amused. He didn’t know that Wang Tengfei’s father was a senior executive at the Emgrand Group. This piqued his interest. Perhaps he’d text Wang Dongxue later and have Wang Tengfei’s father removed from his position.


Feigning curiosity, Ye Chen asked, “Tengfei, since your dad is so influential at the Emgrand Group, why didn’t he get you a job there?”


Wang Tengfei scoffed, “You wouldn’t understand. There’s no point in me working there. Everyone would know I’m the boss’s son, and I’d be under constant scrutiny.”


With an air of superiority, he added, “So I’ve decided not to join the Emgrand Group. Instead, I started my own construction materials company. Through my dad, I’ll collaborate with the Emgrand Group and supply materials for their projects.”


“Wow!” someone exclaimed. “That’s a goldmine for sure!”


Wang Tengfei smirked. “It’s alright. I should make at least a couple of million a year.”


He then turned to Ye Chen with a mocking grin and asked, “What about you, Ye Chen? What are you doing now? Don’t tell me you’ve just been cooking and doing laundry since you married into the family?”


The table erupted into laughter.


Ye Chen said calmly, “Apart from cooking and doing laundry, I also chauffeur my wife to work, give her massages, and help relieve her stress. Life’s great.”


Wang Tengfei nearly choked on his own fury. This shameless loser had the nerve to look so satisfied?


Suppressing his anger, Wang Tengfei gritted his teeth. “Ye Chen, I didn’t think you’d be so proud of living off a woman.”


“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ye Chen said nonchalantly. “I didn’t steal or rob anyone. I earned the right to live off my wife fair and square. What’s there to be ashamed of?”


The classmates were stunned.


They had seen shameless people before, but Ye Chen took it to a whole new level.


What was worse was that they secretly envied him! Xiao Churan was so stunning. To be a live-in husband to a goddess like her was a dream come true for most men!


If they could live such a life, who cared about pride? Being a live-in son-in-law to someone like Xiao Churan would make anyone a winner in life!


Wang Tengfei felt utterly humiliated.


At this moment, Wang Daokun’s fiancée, Liu Lili, stepped onto the small stage with a microphone. Smiling, she thanked everyone for coming and then said, “To express our gratitude for your support, we’d like to announce the gifts we’ve received from everyone.”


Since this was both a restaurant opening and a reunion, announcing gifts seemed like a natural part of the festivities. While Wang Daokun had initially been against the idea, Liu Lili insisted.


Liu Lili began to read the list:

“Thank you, Zhang Jie, for the 1,000-yuan cash gift!”

“Thank you, Wang Bei, for the pair of gold ingots!”

“Thank you, Xu Oou, for the jade pixiu!”

“Thank you, Wang Tengfei, for the 10,000-yuan cash gift!”


The previous gifts were modest, mostly around 1,000 yuan in value. But Wang Tengfei’s 10,000-yuan cash gift stunned the crowd.


A 10,000-yuan gift for an opening? That was extravagant!


Classmates looked at Wang Tengfei with admiration, showering him with praise.


Wang Tengfei basked in the attention, feeling like he was undoubtedly the most generous and successful among his peers.


Then, Liu Lili continued, “Thank you, Ye Chen and Xiao Churan, for the old painting.”


The room erupted in laughter.


An old painting? Was it even worth 100 yuan?


Everyone thought Ye Chen and Xiao Churan were miserly. Attending a grand opening banquet where each meal likely cost several hundred yuan, and they brought a useless old painting as a gift?


Wang Tengfei sneered, “Ye Chen, you can afford a BMW 520 and even spent money modifying it, yet you brought this junk as a gift?”


Ye Chen replied calmly, “You don’t know its origins. Why do you call it junk?”


Wang Tengfei laughed mockingly. “Come on, you probably picked up some cheap fake antique, hoping no one could figure out its worth. How much did you pay for it? A hundred? Maybe eighty?”


Ye Chen smiled faintly. “This painting is worth more than all the gifts here combined.”


“Ha!” Wang Tengfei burst into laughter. “You’re saying that raggedy painting is worth more than my 10,000-yuan cash gift, plus the thousands in other gifts? You think it’s worth over 30,000?”


Ye Chen replied, “You underestimated it.”


The entire room roared with laughter.


Everyone thought Ye Chen was trying too hard to show off. A valuable painting? Who was he fooling?


On stage, Liu Lili smirked. “Ye Chen, who’s the artist of this ‘ancient masterpiece’? Let’s hear it.”


Ye Chen said nonchalantly, “A Qing Dynasty artist, not very famous.”


Liu Lili chuckled. “Well, isn’t this interesting! My father is Liu Yuesheng, a renowned artifact appraiser. You might’ve heard of him—he’s been on CCTV!”


Dong Ruolin gasped. “Liu Yuesheng? The famous artifact expert? He’s your father?”


“Exactly,” Liu Lili boasted. “He’s upstairs right now. Shall I invite him to come and appraise Ye Chen’s painting?”


Wang Tengfei stood up eagerly. “Please do, Liu Lili. If Ye Chen’s painting turns out to be worth more than all the gifts combined, I’ll eat this table on the spot!”