Half an hour later, the taxi stopped at the entrance of an upscale villa community.
After getting out of the car, Wang Rongfeng sized up the community's main gate, which was as magnificent as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and clicked his tongue in amazement. "Lin Xue lives here? I never would've thought she was a bona fide rich beauty." He nudged Zhao Yuan with his elbow and teased, "So, feeling the pressure now?"
Zhao Yuan rolled his eyes and spat out two words irritably, "Get lost!"
The four of them walked to the main gate and explained their purpose to the community security guard.
The security guard here was very thorough. He first used the landline to call Lin Xue's house, and only after receiving confirmation did he open the gate to let the four of them into the community. Immediately after, a property management staff member drove up in an electric golf cart and took the four of them directly to the entrance of Lin Xue's villa.
Just as they got out, a Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan drove up and stopped in the parking area outside the villa.
The car door had just opened, and before they could even see who it was, a caustic voice drifted out. "Well, well, isn't it student Zhao Yuan? You're here for Lin Xue's birthday party too? Honestly, couldn't you have splurged on some decent clothes? Showing up in that cheap junk... aren't you afraid of making a fool of yourself?"
Zhao Yuan raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the Mercedes S-Class, where he saw a young man with a bruised face getting out of the car with a middle-aged couple.
The one who had spoken was that very young man.
Zhao Yuan felt the young man looked a bit familiar, but his face was so black and blue it was hard to tell who he was. So he asked, "Who are you?"
The young man was taken aback, then said, "I'm Ye Feng!"
Zhao Yuan said in surprise, "You're Ye Feng? How did you end up looking like this? For a second there, I thought a pig had escaped its sty."
Ye Feng's expression instantly turned grim, and a monstrous wave of hatred surged in his heart.
'Isn't it all thanks to you that I look like this? Your fans are nothing but a mob of thugs!'
Recalling the beating, Ye Feng couldn't help but shiver as he felt his wounds begin to ache again.
"Fengfeng, who are these people?" the elegantly dressed middle-aged woman asked.
Ye Feng replied, "Mom, they're all students from West Hua Medical University. Technically, they're my juniors!"
He deliberately stressed the word 'juniors,' intending to remind Zhao Yuan's group that as underclassmen, they should be more respectful to him, their senior.
Zhao Yuan heard the hidden meaning in his words and couldn't help but scoff.
'Li Heping, Qiao Zhixue, Professor Tu, and the other great masters of medicine are leagues above you in both skill and status, and I chat and joke with them freely. You think you're worthy of my respect? First, show me some skill and achievements that are actually respectable!'
Liu Zhu, Wang Rongfeng, and Wu Yan also had looks of contempt on their faces, showing Ye Feng no courtesy.
Their reaction made Ye Feng's expression turn even uglier.
Fortunately, his mother spoke up at that moment, bailing him out. "What is West Hua Medical University thinking? Accepting such ill-mannered students? Fengfeng, dear, you must never learn from them."
Liu Zhu couldn't stand seeing someone mock his brother, so he immediately shot back, "He couldn't learn from him even if he wanted to. Our Zhao Yuan defeated a member of a Medical Noble Family! His medical skills and ethics have been praised by numerous famous professors and seniors! As for your son, I'm afraid he's more likely to fail his final exams and have to retake the classes, right?"
Now, not only did Ye Feng's face look awful, but his parents' expressions were just as sour.
You have to consider the master before you beat the dog, as the saying goes. To have their son criticized right in front of them—of course they weren't going to be happy about it!
Zhao Yuan and his friends, however, were feeling great.
Mrs. Ye glared and huffed, "What's with the way you talk? Have you no manners at all?"
"What can I do? People like you seem to have cornered the market on 'manners'," Liu Zhu said, spreading his hands with a helpless look on his face.
Zhao Yuan and the other two looked on, amazed. They never realized Liu Zhu's tongue was so sharp when he started roasting someone.
Mrs. Ye's face flushed with anger, and she was about to fire back when Father Ye grabbed her arm and chided, "That's enough! Why are you bickering with a bunch of kids? The Lin Family is coming out. Don't let them see us making a scene!"
Mrs. Ye turned her head and saw that someone was indeed coming out of the villa to greet them. After shooting a vicious glare at Zhao Yuan's group, she instantly put on a smile, took Ye Feng by the arm, and followed Father Ye to meet them.
The person who walked out of the villa was none other than Lin Xue's father, Lin Liqiang.
This was a man in his forties, at the peak of his career, who exuded an air of powerful confidence with every move.
He had come out to welcome Zhao Yuan's group, but he paused when he saw Ye Feng's family of three.
Lin Liqiang knew Father Ye and said in surprise, "Old Ye, what are you doing here?"
Father Ye chuckled. "President Lin, we heard it was Lin Xue's birthday today, so we shamelessly decided to drop by. You're not going to kick us out, are you?"
Lin Liqiang smiled wryly, grumbling to himself, 'You're already at my doorstep. How could I possibly kick you out now?'
On the surface, however, he didn't reveal any of his inner thoughts and said politely, "Old Ye, you must be joking. I couldn't be happier that you've come to wish my daughter a happy birthday. Why would I ever turn you away? Please, come in and have a seat. Old Huang and the others are already here. You can chat with them for a bit, and I'll join you after I've taken care of things here."
"Old Huang and the others are here too?" Father Ye was taken aback and muttered to himself, 'Those guys sure are fast. It seems they have the same idea as us. Looks like there's going to be a fierce competition today!'
It turned out that Lin Liqiang ran several large supermarket chains in Rongcheng City. Father Ye and the others were his business partners, and since they all happened to have sons around Lin Xue's age, they were always trying to set them up with her. Naturally, they couldn't miss an opportunity like Lin Xue's birthday party!
In the eyes of Father Ye and the others, nothing would be better than their sons getting a chance to grow closer to Lin Xue. Although Lin Xue had gone off to study nursing, the Lin Family's fortune would ultimately be hers to inherit. If his son could win her over, wouldn't the Lin Family's entire fortune become his?
Initially, Ye Feng had pursued Lin Xue purely for her beauty. It was only later that he found out she was the daughter of his father's biggest business partner—a textbook case of a rich, beautiful heiress. That made him even more determined to win her over!
'Getting Lin Xue into bed... that would be way more satisfying than messing around with some internet celebrity or 18th-tier starlet! And on top of that, there's the Lin Family's immense fortune, which is far beyond what my own family has!'
Mrs. Ye didn't know who this "Old Huang" was. She was busy showing off to her son. "Fengfeng, did you see that? Your father is clearly very important in Uncle Lin's eyes. He even came out to greet him personally."
Ye Feng nodded emphatically, his face full of pride and smugness.
Just then, Lin Liqiang spoke again. "Old Ye, why don't you all head inside first? I still have other guests to welcome."
The expressions on Mrs. Ye and Ye Feng's faces instantly turned awkward.
'So he didn't come out specifically to welcome us?'
'Damn, that's a total slap in the face.'
Both of them snapped their heads around, wanting to see who Lin Liqiang was welcoming.
They saw him walk straight up to Zhao Yuan, extend his hand with a warm smile, and say, "You must be student Zhao Yuan. Welcome."
The person Lin Liqiang was welcoming... was actually Zhao Yuan?!
Mrs. Ye and Ye Feng's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.