Chapter 1300: Chapter 677: Self-Respect and Self-Love (Part 2)

"Alright, if you say you won’t come, then you won’t. Anyway, thank you for your kindness. I’ll treat you next time. I have things to do, so I’ll hang up now."

Chen Feng couldn’t be bothered to talk to him further and directly hung up the phone.

Yang Jiayu heard the busy tone from the phone and was so angry he nearly smashed it.

Chen Feng really didn’t give face to his old classmate.

"What? Couldn’t get him to come?"

The secretary beside him asked with a look of disappointment.

Seeing her expression, Yang Jiayu got even angrier and couldn’t help but curse, "Do you really want to get him to come that badly? Are you that eager to find a new partner? Let me tell you, he doesn’t have as much money as I do."

"Are you sure he doesn’t have as much money as you?" the secretary asked with a faint smile.

Yang Jiayu frowned and said, "What, do you think he has a lot of money?"

The secretary smiled lightly, "I only know that the woman around him is very pretty, with great temperament, and his demeanor shows that he’s someone who isn’t short of money. Besides, with such a beautiful woman by his side, do you think he’d be short of money?"

Yang Jiayu said grumpily, "He may have some money, but it’s definitely not much, at most just a few million. And I’m running a construction company now with assets over ten million; you know that."

The secretary laughed, "You have money, but you can’t always treat me so well. I’m very self-aware, so I’d rather find a new partner before you dump me."

"Damn, I didn’t mean to dump you, don’t wrong me."

The secretary just smiled and changed the subject, "Are you so shameless? Didn’t you say you and he were old classmates? You can’t even get him to have a meal with you."

"If you have the ability, you go invite him. As a woman, you might just be able to get him to agree."

"Sure, give me his phone number. I’ll add him on WeChat and see if I can invite him out."

While they were talking, Yang Jiayu’s phone suddenly rang. Seeing the incoming number, he frowned and quickly answered.

A moment later, Yang Jiayu’s expression changed completely. He stood up and cursed loudly, "Damn it, didn’t I tell you to be careful again and again? Hell, which hospital were they sent to? Okay, I’m heading over right now."

After hanging up, Yang Jiayu’s face looked even worse, and he couldn’t help but curse a few times.

The secretary asked, "What’s going on?"

"Damn it! There was an accident at the construction site. Three workers fell off the scaffolding. Damn it, one of them wasn’t wearing a helmet and was seriously injured, don’t know if he can be saved. The other two are slightly better, but might still end up disabled. Damn, all the money I earned this year might go up in smoke."

"Isn’t there insurance?"

"Insurance isn’t enough to cover it! Damn it, you’re coming with me to check out the hospital."

Yang Jiayu started as a contractor and gradually became the owner of his own construction company, even partnering with others to develop some small housing projects in rural areas, steadily accumulating assets over tens of millions.

But in the past two years, the real estate industry hasn’t been doing well and competition is fierce; business isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Plus, this line of work is high-risk, and the biggest fear is an accident on the site, just like this time.

An accident means not only losing money but also being ordered by relevant departments to stop work for rectification, which delays the schedule, and every day of halted work means losing a day’s income.

What’s more, if the project can’t be completed on time, he’s in breach of contract and has to pay a hefty penalty.

In short, making a living in this line of work is not easy. He’s considering switching industries.

...

On the other side, at Li Chao’s request, Wang Fang called Guo Mengyao.

"Mengyao, are you free tonight? A few of us old classmates are getting together for a meal."

Upon hearing Wang Fang’s words, Guo Mengyao asked, "Which few?"

"There’s Li Chao, the class monitor, and Yang Jiayu. You’re the first one I called, then I’ll contact the others."

"Haven’t the class monitor and Li Chao returned to Beijing and Shanghai yet?"

"No, they’re planning to start a business together and are still preparing. You, as a lady boss, can come out tonight and chat with them about business matters."

"Anyone else?"

"Not for now. Even if we called others, they wouldn’t join in the conversation, so might as well not call them."

"I have to work overtime at the factory tonight, and it’ll be pretty late. Then, I have to take care of the kid, so I can’t make it. Let’s talk next time when I’m free."

"Ah, you’re not coming?"

"Not this time. I’m not interested in their startup project anyway. Let’s talk next time. I have things to do, so that’s it for now."

After Guo Mengyao finished speaking, she hung up.

Wang Fang put down her phone with some frustration, looked at Li Chao beside her, and said, "You heard her, she’s too busy to come."

Li Chao said irritably, "You believe that? I think it’s because you didn’t invite Chen Feng, so she’s not coming either."

Wang Fang also replied irritably, "You said yourself it was just a trick to get her here, no one else was invited. If I had said Chen Feng would be there, wouldn’t it have been exposed?"

Li Chao slightly shook his head and said, "Forget it, next time. Let’s go have dinner first." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

At this moment, they were in Wang Fang’s car.

Li Chao had settled in Shanghai, and had flown back earlier for Qin Zhen’s wedding, so he hadn’t driven over. Now, he was just catching rides with Wang Fang back in their hometown.

Earlier that morning, they had parted at the Yujing Hotel and had just met again at the open-air parking lot by Hundred Square.

Just as they were getting out of the car and Li Chao was about to ask Wang Fang what to eat, he sensed something behind him. When he slightly turned, he suddenly felt a strong force hitting his lower back.

Someone had ambushed him from behind, landing a heavy kick on his lower back, the impact so strong it made him scream out in pain and stagger forward, losing his balance and falling hard to the ground.

When Li Chao turned his head, he finally saw the attacker clearly—it was Wang Fang’s husband.

He had already seen her husband’s photo before, and considering the fiery, aggressive look in her husband’s eyes, it had to be him.

"What are you doing?! What do you want to do?"

Wang Fang finally reacted, and quickly ran over to shield her husband.

"You whore! Get the hell out of my way!"

Having discovered his wife’s infidelity, Wang Fang’s husband couldn’t contain his anger.

He forcefully pushed Wang Fang aside and kicked Li Chao, who was trying to get up, knocking him back down, then continued to kick and punch him.

Wang Fang tried once more to stop her husband from his violent actions, but was slapped back by him.

It wasn’t until someone called the police and the officers arrived that they managed to stop him.

By then, Li Chao was already bruised and battered, his whole body hurt.

Fortunately, he wasn’t knocked unconscious; Wang Fang’s husband was careful not to take it too far, or he wouldn’t be moaning and groaning now.

Although he was in pain and kept groaning, the onlookers who understood the situation didn’t have much sympathy for him. It was his own fault.