Chapter 28: Old Classmate

Words : 1564 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Old ClassmateChen Feng ultimately didn’t take Wu Mengting back home for a meal, choosing the same restaurant as last time, where he ordered several dishes they hadn’t tried the day before. This time, both of them were much quieter. Other than occasionally introducing the local dishes that were served, Chen Feng barely spoke. Wu Mengting would occasionally nod and flash a brief smile, barely saying a few words throughout the meal. The meal felt very oppressive. After finishing, Chen Feng paid the bill and escorted her to her room. "Rest well. I won’t come to see you off tomorrow morning. Let’s meet next time I return to Xiu Zhou. Drive carefully tomorrow, have a safe trip." Standing at the door of the room, Chen Feng didn’t enter. After saying this, he waved at her, then turned and left. Wu Mengting pursed her lips, watching Chen Feng disappear around the staircase corner before turning with a complex expression and entering the room. The next morning, true to his word, Chen Feng didn’t come to see her off. Around noon, he received a WeChat message from Wu Mengting. "I’m back in Xiu Zhou, thanks for your hospitality these past few days." Following this message was a red envelope. Chen Feng hesitated only a moment before clicking on the red envelope, to find 1000 yuan inside. The agreement had been 300 per day as a guide, for a total of 600, so she obviously gave too much. Thinking this, Chen Feng sent back 400 yuan in a red envelope. He accepted 600 yuan initially to avoid Wu Mengting misunderstanding, and returned 400 not wanting to take advantage. Meanwhile, Wu Mengting, after sending the red envelope, waited quietly. Upon hearing a notification sound, she eagerly checked WeChat and saw a bright red envelope. Wu Mengting couldn’t help but smile as she quickly opened it, only to find 400 yuan inside; her smile instantly stiffened. It wasn’t the missing 600 yuan that troubled her, but rather that she had hoped Chen Feng would return the entire envelope, as that would confirm he had special feelings for her. Now, his returning only 400 suggested he had no such feelings. However, she found some comfort in believing that Chen Feng still considered her a friend. But that clearly wasn’t what she wanted. Her attempt to gauge his feelings had ultimately ended in failure, leaving Wu Mengting with a bitter smile. Shortly after, Chen Feng also sent a message. "We agreed on 300 a day, 600 for the two days. No need to give extra. If it’s for the meals, that’s even less necessary, we should be friends, right? When you visited my hometown, as the host, I naturally had to treat you to meals." Wu Mengting pondered for a long time, typing a lengthy message, but hesitated at the send button and ultimately pressed delete, erasing the long message and instead sending a simple "Thank you." Chen Feng did not respond again. Wu Mengting held her phone for a while, finally sighing deeply, putting the phone away, and starting her car heading towards the highway to Xiu Zhou. Chen Feng also waited for a while, eventually sighing deeply before suddenly pounding his pillow several times with his fist, then got out of bed to get dressed. He had tossed and turned unable to sleep all night, finally waking in late morning. After washing up, he came downstairs just in time for lunch. As the family sat together eating and chatting, Chen Rui, prompted by their mother’s suggestive gaze, asked, "Little Feng, why didn’t you go out with that girl on a date today?" Chen Feng shot a glance at his older brother, said irritably, "I told you, it wasn’t a date. I was guiding her. She went back home today." "Oh." The others exchanged glances but didn’t inquire further. However, everyone felt in their hearts that Chen Feng had broken up with that girl. Zhao Xiaolan’s face even showed a hint of worry. After dinner, Chen Feng went upstairs, took his parents’ ID cards without telling them, and left. For more than a decade, the place where the IDs were kept had almost always been the same, so Chen Feng found them easily. He sent a WeChat message, and after waiting at the street corner for a few minutes, a car stopped next to him. "Old classmate, long time no see," the car window rolled down to reveal a plump, round face, a woman with a friendly smile. This was his high school classmate, Wang Fang, who sold insurance. Back in school, their relationship wasn’t particularly close, but it wasn’t bad either. Because Wang Fang was outgoing and loved to play basketball, she got along well with the boys in the class, including Chen Feng, the quiet one back then, because he also loved basketball. They played together occasionally, and both being from Qingpu Town, they gradually became familiar with each other. "Hello, Little Fang." Chen Feng smiled and naturally opened the car door, sitting in the passenger seat. "We probably haven’t seen each other for three or four years, right? Yeah, about three years, it was the National Day three years ago at the reunion." Wang Fang started the car while talking. "Yeah, it’s been three years," Chen Feng said, slightly emotional. Three years ago, during the National Day, he had returned to his hometown and happened to go to the county town for a reunion. At that time, he had a top-quality girlfriend, Shen Lin, and his career was thriving, truly the prime time of his life. "Did you not bring your wife this time?" Wang Fang casually asked. "No. How are you doing now?" Chen Feng naturally did not want to talk about his divorce. "The same old, not starving, not stuffed. My husband is nothing to boast about, lost hundreds of thousands in business last year. Sigh, if it weren’t for my two kids, I would have left him long ago." Wang Fang went straight into a bout of complaining. Chen Feng curiously asked, "When did you have another one?" Wang Fang sighed, "Last year, just turned one. I’m too soft-hearted, was fine with just one, but couldn’t withstand the continuous persuasion from both our parents and my husband, ended up having a second child, hoping for a daughter, but ended up with another son. Tell me, isn’t that just asking for my life? It’s already tough enough to buy a house and get one son married off, let alone two sons." Chen Feng could only offer comforting words, "The future is still far off, twenty years from now, things might not be the same, maybe houses will become much cheaper." Wang Fang shook her head, "That possibility is almost zero." Chen Feng chuckled; he also thought that was unlikely. "By the way, Fengzi, did you make a fortune? You came straight forward about buying high-value insurance, and not just one policy either." Previously, they had only talked on the phone briefly and then arranged the time and place to meet. "I guess so. But not much really. Can’t even afford a house in Xiu Zhou." "Come on, don’t be so modest. I heard you were making tens of thousands a month a few years back in Xiu Zhou, must be making several tens of thousands by now, easily earning hundreds of thousands a year." Chen Feng had isolated himself two years ago and had basically lost contact with these old classmates, so it was normal for them not to know the specifics. Thus, at that moment, Wang Fang’s face showed envy. Chen Feng just smiled noncommittally, changing the subject to talk about high school and some of their classmates, and the two of them ended up chatting more and more enjoyably. Before they knew it, they had arrived at Wang Fang’s company in the county town. After a series of consultations, Chen Feng swiftly bought critical illness and pension insurance for his parents, making a one-time purchase of nearly 500,000 yuan. Although rural areas now have something similar to social security, it’s far inferior to urban areas. Medical insurance is slightly better, but serious illnesses still require selling off assets; as for the pension, as farmers, they would get only a few hundred yuan a year after turning sixty, just a few dozen yuan a month. So, if one has the money, it might be better to just buy commercial insurance. Consider it financial planning. Before coming, Chen Feng had searched online for a long time and consulted many people. Eventually, he turned to his old classmate, Wang Fang. Not to say she was totally reliable, but she probably wouldn’t set traps for him intentionally. His parents now had four policies between them, with a one-time expense of several hundred thousand yuan, but Chen Feng certainly didn’t mind. With these two policies, both his parents could receive a monthly pension of 3,000 yuan each after turning sixty, enough for their expenses. His parents were 57 and 55 now, so it would be a few years before they could collect. And if they fell ill in the future, they would have critical illness insurance to reimburse most of the expenses. Of course, they were both still healthy now, and Chen Feng hoped they would never need to use this insurance.

Chapter 28: Old Classmate

Comments (0)