Why Stand Up

This made Du Ya even more puzzled.

She remembered that Qin Ning grew up in an orphanage and did not have any special background.

How could he make Luo Ze and Lin Hongying seem so terrified of him?

Could it be that Qin Ning had found his biological family?

And his parents were domestic billionaires or some kind of big shots?

Even so, there was absolutely no need to be afraid, right?

If they just spoke about it openly, would someone actually eat Luo Ze and Lin Hongying alive?

Soon, the food was served, and Du Ya invited everyone to start eating.

The group chatted as they ate, the topics mostly revolving around amusing anecdotes from their school days.

Some people also talked about their current jobs, but it was mostly filled with complaints.

Either the work was too tiring and the hours too long, or the salary was simply too low.

It was obvious that very few of their classmates were actually doing well; an annual salary of one to two hundred thousand was already considered outstanding.

"Zhang Dongxi, I heard you are running your own startup now, and the scale seems pretty big. I even saw you driving a BMW earlier," someone suddenly said.

Hearing this, Zhang Dongxi smiled. "It is alright. The company is still in its startup phase. Just the equipment and such have already cost me nearly ten million in total."

"Wow! It seems the scale really is not small!" Someone stepped forward to toast him, wanting to seize the opportunity to curry favor.

Zhang Dongxi returned the toasts one by one. After downing a few glasses, his face flushed red.

He looked at Qin Ning. "Qin Ning, what kind of work are you doing now? I heard before that you were delivering takeout? Are you still doing that?"

As soon as these words came out, Su Xingwan's expression instantly darkened.

How could she not see that Zhang Dongxi was clearly looking for an opportunity to embarrass Qin Ning?

"I do not have a job right now," Qin Ning smiled faintly, not minding at all.

"Oh? Unemployed? Are you really living off our class monitor as a kept man? Just lying flat?" Zhang Dongxi sneered.

"Zhang Dongxi, what are you saying?"

Su Xingwan was truly angry. Her temper was not as good as Qin Ning's. "Do not blame me for not warning you, but watch your mouth!"

"I was just asking a casual question, why is the class monitor so angry?"

Seeing this, Zhang Dongxi immediately waved his hands, pretending to look innocent. "Besides, I am not wrong, am I? Was not Qin Ning delivering takeout before? A lot of classmates know that. And he just said himself that he does not have a job right now, so does not that make him unemployed?"

"The only reason I came here today is because of Teacher Du Ya, nothing else. But if you want to use me to boost your own ego, then I can only tell you that you have found the wrong person. Zhang Dongxi, since we were classmates, I will give you a piece of advice: drink more and speak less, otherwise..."

Qin Ning shifted his gaze, looking calmly at the other party.

With his state of mind having reached such a profound level, it was long impossible for him to feel the slightest emotion over these trivial matters.

"Alright, both of you, say less," Du Ya's expression darkened as she looked at Zhang Dongxi.

Obviously, she was the one who organized today's gathering, yet Zhang Dongxi repeatedly said things to embarrass Qin Ning. This was not just targeting Qin Ning; it was more of a slap in the face to her, their homeroom teacher.

Seeing that Du Ya had spoken, Zhang Dongxi stopped talking and simply gave a nonchalant shrug.

Soon, everyone resumed eating.

However, because of what had just happened, the gathering had completely split into two distinct circles.

On one side was the clique led by Zhang Dongxi. Those who wanted to curry favor with him would step forward from time to time to offer a toast.

On the other side were the classmates who were on good terms with Su Xingwan and Qin Ning, chatting about memories from their school days.

Just then, Zhang Dongxi received a call, stood up, and walked out of the private room.

Soon, when he returned, he was accompanied by a middle-aged man.

"Teacher Du, fellow classmates, let me introduce you. This is my second uncle, Zhang Xingyong, the chief of the Jiangling District Police Station here in Liu City," Zhang Dongxi announced with great fanfare.

Hearing this, everyone was quite surprised.

Obviously, they hadn't expected Zhang Dongxi's family to have such a prominent figure.

A police chief was a section-level official; to ordinary people like them, this was already a very impressive status.

"Hello, Teacher Du, and hello students. I happen to have a dinner engagement here today as well. I heard by chance that Dongxi was having his class reunion here, so I decided to come over and take a look."

Zhang Xingyong held his head slightly high, giving off a condescending air.

As he spoke, he took a glass of wine handed to him by Zhang Dongxi and raised it toward the crowd. "I toast this glass to all of you, as a token of my gratitude for the help you gave Dongxi back in school."

Seeing this, the crowd didn't dare to be negligent. They all quickly stood up and raised their glasses.

However, Qin Ning and Su Xingwan remained unmoved. They just sat there quietly, completely ignoring him.

Zhang Xingyong immediately frowned, a look of displeasure appearing on his face.

"Qin Ning, Su Xingwan, what are you doing? Didn't you see my second uncle proposing a toast? Stand up!" Zhang Dongxi's face likewise darkened.

He hadn't expected these two to be so daring as to deny him face like this.

"He can toast all he wants, I'm not stopping him. Why should I stand up?" Qin Ning raised his head slightly and spoke in a calm voice.

"Heh..."

Now, Zhang Xingyong was truly a bit angry. "You really don't know what's good for you!"

"Forget it, Second Uncle. He's just an orphan who used to deliver takeout. Don't lower yourself to the level of a nobody like him. Let me walk you back to your private room, don't let him ruin your mood. Later, I'll have someone come over to check his ID and see if he has any criminal record. If he does, we'll just have him taken in for interrogation."

Zhang Dongxi said, then shot a cold sneer at Qin Ning.

Obviously, since this guy had chosen to throw himself at the muzzle of a gun and provoke his second uncle, he wasn't going to have an easy time tonight. No matter what, he would have him locked up for the night.

With that, he escorted Zhang Xingyong out of the private room.

Just as they reached the door of the private room, Zhang Xingyong was about to make a phone call to summon his men, but he bumped into someone head-on.

Zhang Wei, Secretary Zhang, who worked by the side of Liu City's top official, Zhou De.

"Secretary Zhang, you're here too?"

He hurriedly went over to greet him with an obsequious smile on his face. Where was the arrogant and condescending attitude from just a moment ago?

"Oh, it's Chief Zhang. You have a dinner engagement too?" Secretary Zhang paused for a moment, recognizing the other party.

Then, he subconsciously glanced into the private room, wanting to see who was at Zhang Xingyong's dinner.

However, Zhang Xingyong's dinner wasn't actually in this private room. When Secretary Zhang saw that the people sitting inside were all just young adults, he was visibly taken aback.

However, Secretary Zhang soon spotted a familiar face among the group of young people. Startled, he hurriedly rushed over.

"Young Master Qin, you're here as well..."

Under the shocked and disbelieving gazes of the crowd, Secretary Zhang stopped in front of Qin Ning and bowed slightly in greeting. His incredibly respectful demeanor left everyone in the private room completely dumbfounded, rooted to the spot.

Even though they didn't know who Secretary Zhang was, they had all just witnessed how deferential Zhang Xingyong had been to him moments ago.

Yet now, this very man, someone who commanded the utmost respect even from Zhang Xingyong, was actually showing such profound reverence toward Qin Ning!