Chapter 178 Unwritten Rules



"Beer? Let's not drink it since there are female classmates around," Wang Chao frowned slightly.

He had just had drinks with his parents at home, and now he was here?

"It's okay, I can have a little beer too," Yang Mi nodded immediately and then waved to the barbecue vendor, "Boss, bring us a case of beer!"

"A case? That's a lot?" Wang Chao was taken aback.

"We're just classmates getting together, having fun. If you like it, drink more. Don't be polite, I'll pay," Yang Mi smiled.

"No, we invited you for dinner. How can we let you pay?" Song Henian refused.

"Okay, then let's order all the food we used to like," Yang Mi said.

"Aren't you on a diet?" Wang Chao was surprised.

"Forget about that. You need to eat well to have the energy to lose weight," Yang Mi said.

At first, the three of them felt a bit distant and restrained, but as the food was served and they ate, drank, and chatted, they quickly regained the familiar feeling they had when they were in school.

The tension between the three gradually dissipated, and they talked and laughed, creating a relaxed atmosphere.

They even discussed things and gossips about their classmates from their school days, and all of a sudden, they became closer to each other, and the conversation became very relaxed.

While Yang Mi ate barbecue and drank beer, she enjoyed herself.

"Aren't you on a diet?" Wang Chao and Song Henian were both speechless.

"I'm happy today, of course, I'll eat more. You don't know, my agent and assistant don't let me eat barbecue," Yang Mi complained as she ate, "It's really hard being a star. You can't eat many things, and you have to strictly control your figure."

Wang Chao and Song Henian didn't say anything.

Being a star is indeed not easy, especially when it comes to controlling your weight. However, in this society, who has it easy?

Wang Chao had gone through all kinds of hardships and near-death experiences to return to Canton.

After the company went bankrupt, Song Henian had to work on construction sites every day, braving the wind and rain, and doing his best just to have a meal.

The difficulties that Yang Mi had gone through were nothing compared to what they had experienced.

Yang Mi seemed to understand that her complaints were not appropriate and quickly changed the subject, "Do you still remember our homeroom teacher? Two years ago, when I had a concert in Canton, I went to see him."

"But I didn't expect that he had cancer and passed away last year."

"Before he left, he kept talking about you, Wang Chao, and wondered how you were doing overseas."

Wang Chao felt guilty when he heard this. The homeroom teacher had indeed taken good care of him when he was in high school.

Now that he had returned to China, the teacher who had helped him was no longer in this world.

"Well, the teacher's wife also misses you a lot. We should all go see her when we have time," Yang Mi said.

"Okay." Song Henian and Wang Chao nodded.

Yang Mi was pleased and arranged a time for them to visit the homeroom teacher's grave after they finished their meal.

As the three of them talked more and more, they went from talking about their high school years to their various paths after graduation, and finally they even discussed their future aspirations.

Song Henian's ideal future was very simple. He only hoped to return to a normal life, do some small business, make money, and eventually find a kind girl to marry and have children with.

Wang Chao did not know what his future held because he did not know what task his master would assign him.

However, as he watched Song Henian and Yang Mi's mood heat up, he also had to express his own desires for the future. He yearned for stability, for having his own family, and even more for having his own children.

In other words, he and Song Henian both longed to return to a normal life.

During his eight years as a mercenary, he had seen life and death so many times. Every day, he had to step over blood and bones, and every three to five days, he would move to a new location to complete his mission.

To be honest, he was already tired of being a mercenary and wanted to settle down and have a life with a wife and child to accompany him.

"So, you haven't had a girlfriend in all these years?" Yang Mi looked at Wang Chao.

"I've been single all along," Wang Chao shook his head.

During these eight years, he had been with women, with many beautiful and talented collaborators, such as European royal princesses, religious saints, passionate special agents, extremely wealthy housewives...

But they were only collaborators at best, and most of them were just one-night stands. They were completely unable to connect with him on a deeper level.

Moreover, most of these women approached him for impure purposes.

Wang Chao always maintained a guarded mentality towards these people and never really got close to them. At most, he would satisfy his own needs.

Three years ago, while on a mission, he had slept with a princess from a Middle Eastern oil country. The exotic princess treated him exceptionally well and even claimed to give up everything to live with him in seclusion.

Later, he pretended to be injured for three days and even instructed the doctor to tell the princess that he might be paralyzed in the future.

As soon as she heard this news, the foreign princess immediately changed her mind and abandoned him the next day without caring about his life or death.

Since then, Wang Chao had given up on these women.

These women were only attracted to his identity as a king of the dark night and wanted to use his intimidation to achieve their own goals.

Wang Chao longed for a woman who could ignore his identity and abilities and love him purely, someone who could be loyal to him through thick and thin.

Therefore, he never really considered any of the women he had been with before to be his girlfriend, at most, they were just one-night stands!

Upon hearing that Wang Chao was single, Yang Mi's eyes lit up, and she secretly rejoiced. She immediately raised her glass to Wang Chao and drank with him.

"Chuchu, no no no, I mean MiMi, what about you? What are your plans for the future?" Song Henian asked.

Yang Mi put down her glass, sighed, looked defeated, and said, "Being an actor is not a long-term solution. I have to take advantage of my youth. Once my backers find someone else, I may face the dilemma of not having any roles to play."

"So, I want to take the civil service exam for the theater." 

"Well, that's great. Go ahead and take it," said Song Henian. 

Talking about this matter, Yang Mi sighed even more, her eyes filled with disappointment and sadness as she said, "I did take it. I got the highest score in the written test, but during the interview, the sleazy examiner wanted to harass me. I refused, so he manipulated the results in secret and I didn't get the job."

"Not only did I fail to become a civil servant, but he also threatened me and said that I would never be able to enter the theater for the rest of my life."

She took a sip of beer and said self-deprecatingly, "Ever since I failed the civil service exam, that sleazy examiner has been targeting me. He badmouths me to the people who hold the purse strings behind my back and has pressured many directors to reduce my roles."

"In my latest drama, I was originally supposed to be the female lead, but in the end, the production company gave the role to an unknown actress!"

"It is said that woman offered her body willingly, which is why she got the role. She also willingly let that dirty old man harass her and became a civil servant at the theater."

"These days, working in the entertainment industry means having to rely on backstage connections to get resources. Without the support of the big shots, there are no roles to play. I'm having a hard time in the entertainment industry!"

Wang Chao and Song Henian didn't know what to say when they heard this.

Although they didn't work in the entertainment industry, they knew that it was especially chaotic.

Without a powerful background, it was impossible to keep oneself pure!

Trying to keep oneself pure and going against the financial capital behind the scenes meant losing everything.

It was normal for Yang Mi to be targeted for refusing to be harassed.

"If you have evidence, you can ruin that female star's reputation," Wang Chao said.

"I only heard rumors. I have no evidence," Yang Mi said with a bitter smile.

"Oh, Yang Mi, what are you doing here, little actress?" 

Just as Wang Chao and Song Henian were thinking about how to comfort Yang Mi, a woman's voice with a sarcastic tone rang out.

A Bentley had parked in front of the barbecue stall without them noticing, and a fashionable and elegant beauty walked out, looking down at Yang Mi with disdain and taunting, "Ha ha, you pretended to be so pure and noble before, but it turns out that you are also a promiscuous person."

"Wearing high school clothes to look younger, which sugar daddy are you trying to please?"