Chapter 81 That’s it
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival.

On such a special day, in order to vigorously promote the construction of four modern spiritual civilization cities, enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the grassroots people, and create a strong festive cultural atmosphere, the Jiangchuan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government held a variety of folk activities in Meihu Park to celebrate, including watching lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, eating Yuanxiao, visiting temple fairs, and setting off fireworks.

On this evening, Meihu Park was crowded with people and colorful lanterns. The Lantern Festival market, which consisted of more than 40 traditional time-honored stalls from Jiangchuan, stretched several hundred meters inward from the park entrance. Big red lanterns were hung high on roof beams, bridge piers, and treetops. Everywhere was full of lights and flowers, and the scene was filled with joy and peace, and the authentic flavor of the New Year.

That evening, Li Yufei, Zhao Yingying, Liu Zicheng and a few friends also came to Meihu Park to play. They came for the fireworks tonight. As young boys and girls with spring in their hearts, they love this romantic and lively atmosphere the most.

The fireworks would not start until eight o'clock in the evening, so Li Yufei and her friends went to the Lantern Festival market. They released sky lanterns and then found a barbecue stall to sit together and eat charcoal-grilled squid, grilled leeks, grilled eggplant, stinky tofu, glutinous rice cakes...all kinds of local specialties were their favorites.

Halfway through the meal, Zhao Yingying, who liked to look around and watch the fun, happened to see an old acquaintance, Zhang Yunqi, who was sitting alone under an old locust tree, doing no one knew what he was doing.

Zhao Yingying stretched out her hand and called out, "Zhang Yunqi, why are you here?"

Zhang Yunqi heard someone calling him and turned around to see a group of men and women of his age sitting lively in an open-air barbecue restaurant not far away. In addition to old acquaintances Li Yufei, Liu Zicheng and Zhao Yingying, there were also a few boys and girls he didn't know very well. However, there was a tall and handsome boy among them who left a very deep impression on him.

During the National Day holiday last year, he was selling handheld games in a convenience store at No. 7 Middle School and met this handsome boy once. At that time, this boy and Li Yufei went to No. 7 Middle School to play and met him by chance, which led to some unpleasantness.

Later, he met him several times in school. Wang Xiaokai, who had a wide network of contacts, told him that this guy was called Gao Ming, a sophomore in high school, and a well-known figure in the senior grade.

The group of people over there noticed Zhang Yunqi. Seeing that he didn't respond, Zhao Yingying thought he didn't hear her, so she came over and said with a smile, "Are you here to watch the fireworks alone?"

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "No, there is another person, she is busy with something."

"Zhang Yunqi, would you like to come over and sit down and have something to eat?" The speaker was Li Yufei, who was still biting a straw in her mouth and looking at Zhang Yunqi with a smile.

Zhang Yunqi thought about it. Li Yufei had taken the initiative to invite him. He had no reason to refuse, both morally and logically, as well as to protect the girl's self-esteem. Besides, it was okay to just sit for a while. Ji Ling would be able to find him when she came back later.

Of course, eating and drinking for free is not a good idea, so he took a hundred dollars and asked the boss to pick the best food. Several people who didn't know Zhang Yunqi didn't expect that Zhang Yunqi would be so generous as soon as he arrived, and they immediately had a good impression of him. Several girls were also paying attention to him silently, and seeing that Li Yufei was always looking for topics to chat with him, they were even more amazed in their hearts that Li Yufei, who was always arrogant and calm and was at the level of the school beauty of No. 1 Middle School in the city, would actually favor this seemingly unremarkable boy.

On the contrary, Liu Zicheng, who was the most noisy just now, suddenly became silent, with his head tilted and he just focused on eating. Zhao Yingying was very rude in front of Zhang Yunqi, holding the bill and ordering a lot of expensive and good things, and turned to ask Li Yufei who was chatting with Zhang Yunqi: "Yufei, what do you want to eat?"

"Have a grilled banana."

Li Yufei smiled calmly and asked Gao Ming, who was sitting opposite her: "Do you want to eat anything else?"

"No, I'm almost done eating." Gao Ming smiled but glanced at Zhang Yunqi from time to time. He couldn't understand why Liu Zicheng, who had always been high-profile and eager to fight, suddenly became a taciturn person after this guy came over. He seemed a little afraid of him, and the arrogant Li Yufei's particularly enthusiastic attitude towards this kid was even more worthy of study.

He still remembered the scene when he met this kid in a convenience store of No. 7 Middle School during the National Day last year. He was carrying a bag and selling handheld game consoles door to door. In the end, he was shooed out like a fly by the convenience store owner. He was a typical peddler who was hated by everyone. How could such a guy be favored by Li Yufei, a little princess who was doted on by everyone?

Holding a glass of wine, Gao Ming said to Zhang Yunqi with a smile: "Brother, you have so much free time to stroll in the park today, why don't you go and sell handheld games? It's just after the Chinese New Year, and the students have a lot of money in their pockets. Look at how good the business of the small vendors on the street is. It's a pity to waste it."

Liu Zicheng, who had been concentrating on eating, suddenly burst out laughing.

This Gao Ming is really mean. He equates Zhang Yunqi with those street vendors. What he said seems to be caring, but in fact it is full of contempt and humiliation. However, what he said is not wrong. In the realistic circle of No. 1 Middle School in the city, people only compete with their parents, money and grades. Zhang Yunqi, a vendor who often goes to the classroom to disturb everyone's study, is a disgusting person.

Gao Ming is the leader of their circle. His family is in business, his father is quite powerful in Jiangchuan City, and he is also a top figure in the city's No. 1 Middle School. He looks low-key and easy-going, but he is actually quite domineering and aggressive. Recently, he has been paying special attention to Li Yufei. Today, it is obvious that he saw that Zhang Yunqi, who suddenly appeared, was favored by Li Yufei, and he was a little jealous and wanted to find a reason to dampen Zhang Yunqi's spirit. Several girls stared at Zhang Yunqi seriously, and Li Yufei glanced at Gao Ming with a displeased expression.

Zhang Yunqi was smiling all the time, not angry. He smiled and said, "I just came to the city, and I haven't prepared the goods yet."

Zhao Yingying was a little surprised: "Zhang Yunqi, are you really selling handheld games?"

Zhang Yunqi nodded: "I bought some goods from others and sell them when I have nothing to do to earn some living expenses."

Zhao Yingying immediately asked: "What brand?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "King in the palm of your hand."

"Wow! That's perfect. I wanted to buy this King of Palms last semester, but I didn't have that much money at the time. I thought I'd buy it after the New Year's gift money. Zhang Yunqi, we are good friends, right? Hehe, how about I buy it from you and give you a discount?"

Zhang Yunqi said with a smile.

The other people present who didn't know about the King in the Palm were quite curious and asked Zhao Yingying if it was fun. Zhao Yingying immediately introduced it to them in vivid detail. After listening to it, several people were quite interested and asked Zhang Yunqi if there was any discount if they bought it from him.

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "No problem, all are discounted."

Gao Ming never expected that his words not only failed to dampen Zhang Yunqi's spirit, but also helped him to make a business deal. He felt very unhappy. Perhaps it was because he was too young and competitive. He said to everyone with a smile: "That thing called King of Palms is only 50 yuan per unit. It is probably a pirated copy. Since everyone wants to play a handheld game console, I will give each of you a GB one day."

This statement is a bit like a slap in the face.

Saying in front of everyone that Zhang Yunqi was selling cheap pirated products, and giving away expensive GB when everyone was about to buy the King of Palm, it was clear that they were targeting Zhang Yunqi and wanted to embarrass him.

The atmosphere suddenly became very awkward and no one responded. After all, many people in front had already said that they wanted to buy Zhang Yunqi's discounted handheld game console. It would be a bit snobbish to respond to Gao Ming at this time, so the smiles of many girls paused, and the expressions of several easy-going boys became awkward. Liu Zicheng looked at Zhang Yunqi with the corner of his mouth raised strangely.

"Gao Ming, you are so arrogant. Didn't your father tell you to behave yourself a few days ago at my house? How long has it been since you started to behave like a human being?"

Everyone turned their heads and saw a girl walking towards them with two cups of hot coffee. She had delicate short hair, clear eyebrows and features, and fair skin. She wore black leggings with a white hoodie, and a pair of white Nike shoes that were relatively rare in that era. Her long legs were slender and straight, but the most eye-catching thing was her pair of eyes with distinct black and white, which were clean and clear.

Gao Ming stood up in surprise: "Ji Ling, why are you here?"

"Sit down, sit down, don't talk, I'm not familiar with you."

Ji Ling walked directly to Zhang Yunqi and handed him a cup of hot coffee. Although she was smiling all the time, the words she said not only embarrassed Gao Ming, who always looked down on others, but also shocked everyone. Compared with the gorgeously dressed girls present, her dress was much simpler and cleaner, but when it came to aura, no one could suppress this majestic girl.

Ji Ling is like this, majestic and awe-inspiring.

　Thank you for your support. I have been writing since 6 o'clock tonight. This is the first update today, which is to make up for yesterday. I will continue to write the second update. If I am fast, I can update it at 12 o'clock, but I write very slowly. It often takes five or six hours to write a chapter. So if I am slow, I will not be able to write and update it until 3 o'clock tonight. So don't wait until then. I have a deep understanding of staying up late to write books every day. It is very bad for your health.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)