Trembling At A High Altitude

Alone, he watched the movie, and alone, he returned home.

Mother Li sat in the living room looking at music scores. Hearing the door, she dropped the score and sprang up from her seat, bouncing straight to the door.

"My dear son, how did it go?" Mother Li looked at Li Teng with eager anticipation.

"I did what you said, held her hand during the movie, hugged her, kissed her... Then, she got angry and ran away," Li Teng spread his hands.

"Did you go after her?"

"No."

"Why didn't you chase after her?"

"You didn't tell me to," Li Teng pushed the responsibility back to Mother Li.

"You..." Mother Li was at a loss for words.

"Alright, my dear mom, there's no possibility between her and me. Let's just drop the idea. I did everything as you instructed, so don't go back on your word regarding the rent and meal money, okay..." Li Teng was ready to go back to his room.

"How can you say it's impossible? Tell me everything in detail, and I'll help you analyze it."

Mother Li reluctantly pulled Li Teng down next to her on the sofa.

"At that time..." Li Teng had no choice but to recount the whole process to Mother Li.

"Is that what happened? How can you say there's no possibility? In my analysis, she must still like you, otherwise she wouldn't have let you hold her hand, hug her. It's just that you were too hasty and inexperienced, and you didn't get the timing right, which scared her off," Mother Li analyzed.

Li Teng rolled his eyes and didn't want to say much.

"This is all my fault for not explaining things properly, but it's still fixable. Send her a WeChat message now, to feel out her tone," Mother Li suggested to Li Teng.

"Send what?" Li Teng took out his phone.

"Send... Yin Yin, where are you? What are you busy with?" Mother Li thought for a moment and gave Li Teng a suggestion.

"She's really angry, she won't reply."

"Just send it as I told you!"

"Alright."

Li Teng sent the message with an indifferent face, as Mother Li had instructed.

As expected, there was no response.

Ten minutes later, still no response.

Half an hour later, still no response.

Mother Li sighed and had no choice but to let Li Teng return to his room.

...

Two hours later, right before going to sleep, Li Teng checked WeChat again.

Still no response.

"Heh, has the farce finally ended?"

Li Teng stared blankly at the phone screen.

Yet, he felt a sense of inexplicable loss.

"How can I lose what I've never possessed?"

Li Teng shook his head vigorously.

Turn off the screen, go to sleep.

...

In the following two days, Liu Yin still hadn't replied to Li Teng's WeChat message.

Remembering everything that happened at the movie that day, Li Teng still felt like he was dreaming.

He held her hand, hugged her, and she didn't refuse.

She didn't refuse—does that mean she really accepted him?

After all, she's the daughter of the city's richest man, and is considered quite the lady. She wouldn't be so easygoing, right?

If he hadn't tried to forcefully kiss her, she wouldn't have left like that, and then ignored all his WeChat messages.

But even now, Li Teng has never regretted what he did that day.

The less Liu Yin resisted that day, the more doubts he had in his heart.

Her reaction during the movie was definitely not what a normal girl's reaction should be.

Forget her rich girl status, even a girl from an ordinary family wouldn't react the way she did to what he did.

It was too abnormal.

Leaving her was the right thing to do. If he kept dating her, Li Teng worried that he would be bewildered by her charming naïveté and become her lapdog, willing to take the blame for a murder she committed.

"Yin Yin hasn't been to school for the past two days, but she usually only comes twice a week anyway, so it's normal for her not to show up these days. However, whenever I call her phone, it's always turned off.

"I don't know if something happened to her..."

After delivering the meal, Mother Li sighed and talked to Li Teng.

"Oh," Li Teng responded, trying to close the door of his room.

"Has she replied to your WeChat?" Mother Li blocked the door.

"No."

Mother Li sighed again, said nothing more, and walked away.

Li Teng closed the door, returned to his computer desk, and began to eat his lunch while browsing industry news.

Just then, a message popped up on his WeChat.

It wasn't a message from Liu Yin.

It was a message from the high school class group.

The message was sent by Elsa, the female class president from high school.

Elsa, with 'Ai' as her surname and 'Sha' as her given name, is not an English name but a purely Chinese name.

Just like Li Teng's sister Anna.

"There's a class reunion tonight. We'll eat dinner first, then find a place to hang out. Is anyone interested in joining?"

This message tagged everyone.

The class group was silent, with no responses.

A class reunion tonight? At least let everyone know in advance, right? What's the point of suddenly sending a message now? Everyone's working, without having arranged leave beforehand, who can just get up and go?

"Hahaha, all lurking without a word? This reunion isn't going Dutch, there's a sponsor paying for everyone to enjoy a free feast at Liuyun Grand Hotel, then we're heading to Wanhao Night Club for a show, with reimbursement for everyone's cab fare back and forth!" Elsa sent another message.

As soon as the second message appeared, the class group suddenly became lively.

Amidst everyone's inquiries about who the sponsor treating everyone to a meal at He City's most upscale Liuyun Grand Hotel and reimbursing cab fares was, Elsa only revealed a small amount of information.

Female, unmarried, very pretty, a well-known second-generation rich girl from He City.

On seeing this message, Li Teng couldn't help but be wary.

"Given what you're saying, could it be Chu Yunli?" Someone in the group suggested a name.

Chu Yunli's father is the largest furniture merchant in He City, the owner of Haimi Furniture City, with branches in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. The Chu family's assets are probably among the top ten in He City.

Someone suggested this name because Elsa is currently working at Haimi Furniture City.

"Guess again..." Elsa replied with a smirk emoji.

"Yao Xue?" Another person suggested a name.

Yao Xue's father, Yao Chengzhou, started with an auto repair shop and now owns an auto repair city. He has tens of thousands of acres of land in the northern development area, with his assets likely ranking in the top three in He City.

"Hehe... I don't know her," Elsa giggled behind her hand.

More names were thrown out by other group members, some of which were familiar to the rest, and some were completely unheard of.

Although most of these high school classmates came from ordinary families, at this moment, being able to mention a name showed off one's social network as higher-end than others, which was sort of an invisible way of showing off.

"Could it be the daughter of He City's richest man, Liu Hui, or Liu Yin?" Finally, some members of the group mentioned these two names.

Many people knew about Liu Qian, the richest man in He City, and a good number knew about his eldest daughter, Liu Hui, but not many knew that his younger daughter was Liu Yin. It was clear that this group member had relatively broad connections to know about Liu Yin.

Li Teng frowned, feeling that this matter might be targeting him again.

Liu Yin's motives for getting close to him were not pure to begin with. After the incident at the movie theater a few days ago, she probably felt that she had behaved too casually and it wasn't good, but she wasn't willing to give up easily. So, she joined the class group, attempting to get close to him again?

If he didn't go, what could she do?

"Stop guessing! She asked me to keep it a secret. You'll find out who she is when you come tonight," Elsa interrupted the speculation.

"Is she really a pretty second-generation rich girl? Then what's the purpose of inviting us to a big meal at Liuyun Grand Hotel? Don't tell me she has taken a liking to one of our male classmates, so..."

"The one she fancies must be me, hahaha, you know, I always have a charming presence..."

"Don't fight over it with me; I'm the handsomest guy in class!"

"I might not be handsome, but I'm talented, and women like men with talent..."

The atmosphere in the class group became thoroughly lively.

Everyone was a little curious, why would a young, beautiful, unmarried rich girl invite them to a big meal? There had to be some purpose, right?

So, what exactly was her purpose?

Elsa was unwilling to disclose it, so everything had to wait until the dinner at Liuyun Grand Hotel that evening.

"Do we need to sign up for the dinner tonight? Can we bring family and friends?" someone asked in the group.

"No need to sign up, anyone from our class can come. If you are bringing family and friends, out of courtesy, I hope everyone only brings their significant other," Elsa responded.

"Don't bring anyone, gentlemen, try your best to secure that wealthy patron!" a female student tagged everyone.

"Alright!"

"Leave it to me!"

"You guys go, I'll cheer for you!"

The group was once again buzzing.

"By the way, this patron also said that every male student who comes tonight will receive an additional gift, a brand-new original PSOX2 controller. She'll also choose the male student she likes best and give him a brand-new PSOX2 gaming console with a full set of VR equipment," Elsa added.

"Wow! A PSOX2 gaming console? That's over eight thousand bucks! A single original controller itself costs over five hundred."

"I don't play games, can I exchange the controller for money?"

"If you don't play games, just give me the controller. It would make a nice pair, and I can use it on my computer too."

Hearing what Elsa said, the male classmates began discussing.

"So, gentlemen, especially those of you who like to play games, don't miss out on the great opportunity tonight!

"We'll meet at Liuyun Grand Hotel at 6:30 this evening, don't miss it!" Elsa made the final mobilization.

Seeing Elsa's last few messages, Li Teng's mind buzzed.

A PSOX2 gaming console with a full set of VR equipment?

He had recently been saving up to buy a PSOX2 gaming console with a full set of VR equipment, but he hadn't mentioned it to anybody, nor had he mentioned it in any of his gaming videos.

He hadn't spoken about it with his family, parents, or sister either.

Now, suddenly, a 'Rich Girl' was inviting his class to a big meal.

And then, she deliberately used this as bait, as if she was worried he wouldn't go.

Li Teng strongly suspected that the patron was Liu Yin. After the incident at the cinema, she felt it inappropriate to contact him directly, so she tried to approach him again through this method.

But how did she know he wanted to save money to buy a PSOX2?

Well, let's not talk about that problem for now.

Should he go to tonight's banquet, or should he not?

If he didn't go, he might never know her true intentions and what purpose she had in getting close to him.

Only by going could he continue to unravel the hidden secrets behind it all.

And that game console...

He had to admit, its allure was quite significant.

If he didn't take it, some other male classmate would.

He might as well go.

...

Such a lack of ambition.

Poverty breeds short-sightedness, after all!

...

Evening, six-thirty.

Liuyun Grand Hotel.

Li Teng's high school class had a total of forty-six students.

In the spacious private dining room set for the buffet, more than eighty people turned up.

Out of the forty-six classmates, forty-one came, five were working out of town and couldn't make it, but nearly all of those who stayed in the city came.

The extra forty or so people were companions brought along.

Some brought two companions, others brought three.

The record was one person bringing five.

There were even quite a few who brought their children along.

Although Elsa specifically said to bring only one partner, some people just weren't that self-aware.

How could they refuse entry to those who brought extra people?

Elsa's face showed a bit of embarrassment, but she didn't say much about it.

The buffet started on time, the food was lavish, ordered at the standard of 888 yuan per person from Liuyun Grand Hotel. Basically, whatever you wanted to eat was available.

The classmates and their companions didn't hold back, each grabbing a plate and starting to feast.

"Wow! Even the senior homebody has shown up, showing just how tempting this gathering is."

Someone spotted Li Teng and couldn't help but express their amazement.

Of course, there was a hint of mockery in it.

After all, Li Teng had not attended several pay-your-own-way gatherings in the past.

This time, hearing about a free feast and a game controller giveaway, even such a homebody had shown up.

Li Teng pretended not to hear and went straight to get a plate and start choosing his meal.

"Where's the sponsor? When are they coming?" someone asked Elsa, the class president.

"They're still on the way! Everyone, just start eating, and we can wait while we eat," Elsa replied with a smile.

After Li Teng got his food, he headed to a table in a corner to sit down. Soon, a few classmates joined him at his table.

"Yo! Li Teng, what big deals have you been busy with recently?"

Among the classmates who came to sit down was a male classmate with the surname Wang who intentionally struck up a conversation with Li Teng.

This Mr. Wang and Li Teng didn't get along well in high school and had even had conflicts.

Now that he had opened an arcade and made some money, knowing that Li Teng was making game videos without much popularity, Mr. Wang's attempt at talking to Li Teng like this was somewhat showy.

"Haven't been doing any big business, I'm poor and reclusive. Can't compare with people like you, but you don't need to show off in front of me, it's meaningless. Because, I like my life the way it is now, and I'm not envious of yours," Li Teng cheerfully responded to Mr. Wang.

"Please! We're all classmates, who's showing off to you? Don't be so insecure. Not everything people say is meant badly. If we weren't classmates, who would care about you? We've been classmates for so long, I just want to give you some advice, don't always stay at home. The more reclusive you are, the more insecure you become. Get out more and see the world, and you won't feel so insecure..."

Mr. Wang kindly and loudly offered his advice to Li Teng.