October 3, 2025 — 2:04 pm

Chapter 85: Introduction

At the Fiery Red food stall.

Chen Feng and Qin Zhen sat across from each other. Before the grilled skewers even arrived, the two had already finished a can of beer.

Then they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Qin Zhen wiped his mouth and said with a smile, “You’ve gotten fatter. Back at the station, I almost didn’t recognize you at first. How much do you weigh now?”

“About 170 pounds, I guess,” Chen Feng said frankly. “I’ve gained some weight, but it shouldn’t be considered too fat.”

Qin Zhen shook his head. “You’re only five-foot-ten, and you weigh 170 pounds. That’s already severely obese. I’m telling you, lose the weight now, or you’ll be riddled with health problems by the time you’re fifty or sixty.”

“Get lost! Are you trying to curse me?” Chen Feng retorted with a laugh.

“I’m just telling you the truth. Listen to me, it’s for your own good.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll lose weight. Eat less, exercise more, I get it.”

“Who doesn’t know that? The point is to actually do it and stick with it. Why don’t you come running with me every morning?”

“Thanks, but I’m not a freak like you. You run six kilometers at a time.”

“I run ten kilometers now. If I miss a day, I feel awful.”

“Go on, stop showing off in front of me, acting like you’re so capable. The most important thing for a man isn’t how far he can run, but how good his kidneys are. When it comes to that, I don’t think I’m any worse than you. You used to say your longest was half an hour; I can go for more than half an hour now.”

“Screw you! Is driving a sports car for half an hour the same as driving a tractor for half an hour? The engine power is different. Even the fuel is different.”

“Get lost!”

“Hahaha~”

…

It was the same familiar banter and atmosphere. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in nearly three years, they still chatted as comfortably as ever, with no awkwardness or distance brought on by their changed circumstances.

Only when the grilled skewers were brought to the table did they stop their joking and start talking about what they had been up to over the past few years.

Qin Zhen first gave a general overview of his situation. He had joined the army in his sophomore year of college and had been discharged and transferred to a job in this neighborhood’s sub-district office just over three months ago.

Chen Feng wasn’t overly curious to pry into his military life, but he was very interested in his current love life and asked about it.

This wasn’t a secret, so Qin Zhen spoke about it naturally. “I had a girlfriend when I was in the army, but because of my service, we were often apart. After our relationship went on and off for four or five years, we broke up.”

“Is that the one you mentioned last time we were drinking back home? I remember you seemed pretty happy with her then, didn’t you?” Chen Feng asked, a bit surprised.

He remembered how smug Qin Zhen had been, completely satisfied with this girlfriend. He had gone on and on about how great she was, making Chen Feng incredibly envious. Back then, Chen Feng had been single for quite a while.

Qin Zhen gave a bitter smile. “Yeah, I was in the honeymoon phase, wasn’t I? But many things in a relationship can’t stand the test of time. After we were together for two or three years, plus the fact that we couldn’t see each other often… she’s such an outstanding and independent woman, she slowly grew distant from me. To not make things difficult for her, I was the one who suggested breaking up, and she agreed readily.”

“Ah, what a shame.”

Chen Feng could only sigh with him. Many relationships were like that; it wasn’t that the love was gone, but that the distance grew too great, and they just faded away.

Chen Feng knew that Qin Zhen had been truly in love with her. Three years ago, when they were drinking together, he had even shown him a picture. She was beautiful, with a heroic and dashing air. He had even been planning where they would buy a house and settle down in the future.

Qin Zhen smiled. “Some people are just meant to be missed. I’m doing pretty well now, though. I have a new girlfriend who’s five years younger than me, works at a bank. I’ll bring her out to meet you sometime.”

Chen Feng wasn’t surprised by this news. The guy’s luck with women sometimes made even him jealous.

Besides, he had a great job now. Not even thirty, and he was already at the section-chief level, which could be considered young and promising.

“Sure. Let’s set up a time to meet.”

Chen Feng agreed.

“Now it’s your turn,” Qin Zhen said after finishing a skewer. “I remember last time we were drinking back home, you said you were about to get married. How are things now? Do you have kids already? And don’t blame me for not coming to your wedding.”

This time, it was Chen Feng’s turn to smile bitterly. “What kids? As for a wife, she’s gone too. We just got divorced not long ago.”

“What? Divorced? Why?” Now it was Qin Zhen’s turn to feel sorry for Chen Feng.

“Why else? No money,” Chen Feng said, taking a frustrated gulp of beer. Then he smiled and said, “But I have money now. As soon as I got divorced, good luck started rolling in, especially with money. I guess you could say I’m pretty well-off now.”

He had to hide his wealth from others, but with Qin Zhen, one of his few good friends, Chen Feng had no intention of deliberately concealing it.

“You didn’t buy a house here, did you?” Qin Zhen asked, his eyes wide.

Chen Feng nodded smugly. “Of course. Why else would I say I’m well-off?”

“Damn! I’m still living in the company dorm. Comparisons really are the thief of joy,” Qin Zhen said with a look of frustration, then added resentfully, “No, from now on, whenever we go out to eat, you have to pay.”

Chen Feng laughed and waved his hand grandly. “No problem. It wouldn’t even be a problem if you asked me to support you from now on.”

Qin Zhen laughingly gave him the middle finger. Chen Feng just smiled calmly and continued smugly, “I’m seeing two women right now. One is six years younger than me, and the other is four years younger.”

“You beast!” Qin Zhen spat out the two words with a righteous expression.

“You’re just jealous!”

“What’s there to be jealous about?” Qin Zhen shook his head. “With my looks, if I really wanted to find two girlfriends, wouldn’t it be easy? But you know I’m not that kind of person. I treat every relationship with the utmost seriousness and never mess around. I would certainly never two-time anyone.”

“Alright. I know you’ve always followed the principle of quality over quantity, but maybe your standards for a partner are too high, which is why things often don’t end well.”

“Sigh! Maybe you’re right. All these years, every time I’ve genuinely invested myself in a relationship, it still ends in a breakup. I can’t figure out the specific reason.”

“I think you just like the new and get tired of the old. After a while, the novelty wears off, and then the passion is gone.”

Qin Zhen fell silent.

The two had known each other since they were sixteen or seventeen. Even after not seeing each other for so long, they still understood each other quite well. It was clear Chen Feng had hit the nail on the head.

“You’re right. That’s my problem. I can’t stay in love for long. Thinking back now, maybe I was the one who let them down.”

“Love is rarely long-lasting. After a while, it becomes a kind of familial affection. You’re twenty-eight now, and your job is stable. I think you should consider settling down. If you think your current girlfriend is suitable, why not just commit?”

Chen Feng was offering advice from the perspective of someone who had been through it. Qin Zhen was a year younger than him, also approaching thirty, and an only son. Getting married at this age was already considered late.

“I’m really not sure about this one,” Qin Zhen didn’t hide anything from Chen Feng. “My current girlfriend was the one who pursued me. She’s a local, and her family has some money, but I always feel like something is missing.”

“Is she not pretty?” Chen Feng asked.

“She’s very pretty. Five-foot-three, not fat, not thin, great figure, graduated from a top-tier university. Good job, good family background, and she’s an only child. Although her personality is a bit pampered, she’s very gentle with me.”

Chen Feng said, annoyed, “Are you showing off?”

Qin Zhen smiled bitterly. “I’m just stating the facts, what’s there to show off? It’s just that, you know, she only started pursuing me after she found out about my job and position. Her intentions are too obvious.

“And she even told me that her parents have already prepared a wedding house for her as a dowry. I can’t afford a house right now, and I’m not a local. If I marry her, wouldn’t it be a case of the woman being stronger than the man? That’s something I find a bit hard to accept.”

Chen Feng thought for a moment and said, “I think you just don’t love her enough. If that’s the case, you should probably break up with her soon to avoid wasting both your time and hers. If you need someone you can settle down with, I can introduce you to someone. You met her today, actually.”

Qin Zhen’s eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, “Is it that Wu Mengting?”

Hearing this, Chen Feng’s heart skipped a beat.