Chapter 131: The Impasse

"Long time no see, Brother Zhang."

Outside the Jiangling Hotel, a young man with a slicked-back hairstyle—the very picture of a successful professional—flashed a perfectly measured smile as he saw Zhang Hu approaching. It was as if they were long-lost friends reuniting.

Upon seeing this, the impatient expression Zhang Hu had been wearing while waiting vanished instantly. He mirrored the smile, hurried forward, and extended his hand.

"Minister Jin, I’ve been waiting for you," Zhang Hu said with a laugh.

Back in university, Jin Shen had been the head of the school's Diplomatic Department. He not only knew all the top talent in their year but also maintained connections with many accomplished seniors. The sheer volume of human resources at his disposal was enough to make anyone envious.

After a few pleasantries, Zhang Hu turned his attention to the group following Jin Shen. There were fewer than twenty of them, and he recognized most of them as the prominent figures of their graduating class. This filled Zhang Hu with a sense of immense pride, and his smile became all the more genuine.

Jin Shen, noticing that Zhang Hu recognized some of them, introduced them one by one:

"This is Qiu Hang, now an executive at Bailing Construction."

"This is Lin Xing, a top student currently pursuing advanced studies, with a promising future at the Academy of Sciences."

...

"And this is Yue Ren. He's still a senior, a year behind us, but don't underestimate him. He already holds several self-developed patents."

The person Jin Shen introduced last was a young man wearing glasses. This was the very same Yue Ren who had sold memory-shielding technology to Yin Jian. Hearing the introduction, Yue Ren spoke somewhat shyly, "Hello, Senior Jin."

"Hello. Let's add each other on social media. If you run into any trouble in the future, don't hesitate to come to me. As your senior, I can certainly help with the small things."

Zhang Hu’s eyes lit up at Jin Shen’s words. A student who could develop patented work before even graduating had limitless potential; it was best to get on his good side now.

Yue Ren nodded. His purpose in coming here was to network and find investors. After all, the research he wanted to pursue was costly. The money Yin Jian had given him last time had solved an immediate crisis, but in the world of research, a few million was barely a drop in the bucket.

Once the contact information was exchanged, Zhang Hu didn't dally. He turned to Jin Shen and said, "Minister Jin, let's head inside. The rest of my classmates are waiting for you."

"Right, let's go." Jin Shen nodded. He was used to Zhang Hu's attitude. There were simply too many people trying to latch onto him as a stepping stone. He had only come today out of respect for the Zhang family’s status; otherwise, he wouldn't have wasted a second of his time on someone with Zhang Hu's limited capabilities.

Zhang Hu was oblivious to Jin Shen’s private thoughts, and even if he had known, he would have maintained the facade anyway. Reality was, after all, a society of mutual benefit.

He led the group to the door of the private room on the seventh floor.

"Minister Jin, this is the place," Zhang Hu said with a smile, pushing the door open for him.

Jin Shen nodded and stepped into the room, his gaze instinctively sweeping across the interior. Then, his body stiffened. The smile on his face froze instantly. The others following behind him did the same.

When Zhang Hu, who had been closing the door after everyone entered, saw their reactions, he initially thought they were stunned by his elegant taste in decor. He was about to explain his design philosophy, but the words caught in his throat. He, too, had seen the bizarre scene inside the room.

"You have no idea what I've been through!"

"After graduation, a distant relative lied to me, saying there was a high-paying job that desperately needed talent like me. And the result? Damn it! I was almost dragged into a pyramid scheme." A male classmate said with a lingering look of fear.

"That's nothing! My neighbor almost tricked me into leaving the Xiahua Star Sector to go to the outer realms and be a breeding tool for a non-human race!"

"Is it that bad? Compared to you guys, my experience seems much better, though my company still keeps the ancient tradition of 'hostess culture.' They actually wanted me, a girl, to go drink with those greasy middle-aged men. It’s ridiculous."

The group surrounding Yin Jian were all recounting their experiences from the year since graduation. They were more fantastical and miserable than the last. As they spoke, some of the more sensitive girls even began to cry on the spot.

"Waaaah... what is wrong with this society? Why is there so much injustice against fresh graduates everywhere?"

Seeing this, Yin Jian quickly comforted them: "As long as life cannot defeat us all at once, it will only make us stronger."

"Yeah."

Watching this tearful confessional, Jin Shen and his group were baffled. Wasn't this supposed to be a class reunion? Did they walk into the wrong room?

With this doubt, Jin Shen looked toward Zhang Hu. The others who had followed him shared the same thought. They all suspected Zhang Hu had led them to the wrong place. This wasn't a reunion; it was more like a wake. Just look at how heartbroken those girls were crying.

Feeling the gaze of a dozen people beside him, Zhang Hu felt like he was having a mental breakdown. He didn't understand what was going on. Everything had been fine when he left. Why was it like this now? If he didn't know these people, he would have truly believed he had walked into the wrong place.

"Did I open the door the wrong way?" he wondered. But no, while reality was often stranger than fiction, opening a door the "wrong way" wasn't a real phenomenon.

He quickly apologized to Jin Shen and hurried over to the table where people were still pouring out their grievances, wanting to know what exactly was happening.

"Hiss—the Yin Man!"

As he approached, he saw Yin Jian sitting in the center of the crowd, his mouth curled into an insane grin. He didn't even need to think to know who the culprit was. The biggest pyramid-scheme mastermind of the school! Why the hell did I invite him here? This is just inviting trouble!

Zhang Hu felt like slapping himself. His original goal had been to show off his success to his former classmates and build his network. Instead, the reunion had turned into a grievance-airing session. It was absolutely absurd!

"Yin Jian, what did you say to them?" Zhang Hu pushed through the crowd, suppressing his anger.

Yin Jian, who was busy comforting a female classmate, turned to look at him and said nonchalantly, "I just bridged the gap in their somewhat distant relationships. Look at how close they are now, hugging and crying."

Zhang Hu looked at the people hugging. They were crying so hard snot was running down their faces, and they looked like they had lost all hope in the world. You call this "close"?

Zhang Hu’s fists clenched and unclenched. After a long moment, once he had calmed down, he wanted to lash out at the "Great Demon King," but seeing the group standing at the door out of the corner of his eye, he had to swallow his words.

*Composure, composure.* As a professional, one must have the right temperament. Otherwise, who would want to follow you?

Thinking of this, Zhang Hu forced a smile. "Brother Yin, you’re my big brother. I beg you, please just take a break. There are outsiders here." Zhang Hu put his hands together in a pleading gesture, signaling with his eyes toward Jin Shen.

Hearing this, Yin Jian finally noticed the group at the door. He gave a dry cough and put on an innocent look. "It’s not my fault. They were the ones who wanted to hear about my experiences after graduation. They just ended up like this after I finished." He spread his hands, feigning helplessness.

Lu Guo, sitting to the side, picked up a glass of water and took a sip, looking as if he knew nothing.

Zhang Hu was speechless, but relieved that Yin Jian wouldn't make more trouble. He hurriedly signaled to the classmates to let them know outsiders had arrived. The effect was immediate. Everyone pulled themselves together, realized their lack of composure, and returned to their seats with complex expressions.

*Yin Jian is still the same Yin Jian.* Even after graduation, nothing had changed. *Can't afford to offend him, can't afford to offend him.*

With the chaos settled, Zhang Hu wiped the sweat from his forehead. Damn it, this was a massive loss of face. A full-class social death. He glared at Yin Jian, though it was subtle enough that he hoped the guy wouldn't hold a grudge.

Having resolved the mini-drama, Zhang Hu didn't dare delay any longer and hurried to Jin Shen. "Sorry about that, Minister Jin. You must be laughing at us. My classmates hadn't seen each other for so long that their longing for one another was just too overwhelming, and they couldn't help themselves."

Behind Jin Shen, the group collectively leaned back. The nerve of this guy to lie with his eyes open. It was clearly a mutual complaint session; "overwhelming longing," my foot! Did he take them for fools?

Jin Shen inwardly scoffed at the explanation but put on an understanding, hearty smile. "Not at all, not at all. I should thank you for introducing me to so many genuine, talented people." He gave a thumbs up. Professional flattery cost nothing, so he said whatever sounded good.

Zhang Hu let out a dry laugh and moved on, leading Jin Shen and his group to the center table and introducing them to the classmates looking on: "This is Jin Shen, the former Minister of the Diplomatic Department."

"And this is..."

He introduced Jin Shen’s group one by one. The people at the table clapped in welcome. Then, Zhang Hu introduced several of the more capable classmates to Jin Shen’s group. Naturally, he chose to ignore the most famous one: Yin Jian.

Yin Jian didn't mind. After listening quietly to the introductions, he turned his gaze to Yue Ren. He hadn't expected their second meeting to happen this way. Was this fate? Truly mysterious.

*I'll find a chance to ask Yue Ren later which of these people are actually reliable.*

Yin Jian scanned the group following Jin Shen and looked away. He wanted to meet talent with substance, not people who only knew how to talk. Besides, when it came to smooth-talking, he didn't think many people could beat him. After all, he had become a campus legend based solely on his silver tongue.

"By the way, why hasn't Yu Jia arrived yet?" Yin Jian asked Lu Guo.

"How would I know? If you really want to know, go ask her yourself," Lu Guo shrugged.

Yin Jian didn't mind; he was just making conversation to pass the time, as the introductions seemed like they would take a while. He decided not to dwell on it and asked about Lu Guo's game: "Didn't your game release the week before last? How are the numbers looking?"

When Lu Guo heard about the game, he immediately perked up: "The numbers are blowing up!" He used his hands to gesture how well his game was doing.

"What's the retention rate?" Yin Jian raised an eyebrow.

"31%," Lu Guo said with a hint of pride. That was double the rate of his previous game. The difficulty of increasing retention wasn't as simple as earning 200 instead of 100; once retention reached a certain point, the difficulty of further growth increased geometrically.

"31%, huh?" Yin Jian shook his head. "What a pity. I'm almost at double that. Such a shame."

"You... you dog!" Lu Guo cursed as Yin Jian flexed on him. After swearing, he suddenly remembered something and stared at him. "I remember you promised me a designer recommendation! Where is it?"

"Uh..." Yin Jian blinked. "Did I say that?"

Lu Guo clenched his fist, causing his knuckles to crack.

"Just kidding, just kidding! I'll get it to you when I go back." Yin Jian laughed and pushed Lu Guo's fist down.

Just as they were messing around, the introductions concluded. Zhang Hu wanted to call the servers to start bringing out the food so they could continue socializing over drinks. But just then, the door was pushed open.

A petite figure walked in.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Yu Jia entered the room, looking embarrassed as everyone turned to look at her. She had been so engrossed in writing a report on her "Reality Game" that she had lost track of time. Otherwise, given her personality, she would have arrived early, not late.

"She's here," Lu Guo said to Yin Jian. His heart was pounding—this was not only his former class monitor but also his current operations manager.

He waited for a moment, but received no reply. He frowned and turned his head toward where Yin Jian had been sitting.

"I said, you..."

"Huh? What the—! Where did he go?"