Chapter 130 Hello, Uncle

"If I just sweep you away right under everyone's noses, won't I face your colleagues' revenge?"

As soon as Wang Ying got into the car, Yang Jieka couldn't help teasing. Moments ago, as Wang Ying climbed into his vehicle, quite a few of the surrounding police officers had glared at him with wide-open eyes.

"As if you'd ever be afraid of revenge!" Wang Ying chuckled as she looked at him. "Honestly, I never imagined there was anything in this world that could scare you."

Yang Jieka curled his lips. "I'm not Superman, you know. There are plenty of things I'm afraid of. By the way, what's the occasion today? You're dressed up so formally, and you even dragged me along to play your boyfriend."

After pondering for a moment, Wang Ying finally decided to come clean. "Fine, I won't keep it from you. Among the friends arriving today is my ex-boyfriend."

"What the heck?" Yang Jieka asked in astonishment. "Your ex-boyfriend?"

Wang Ying sighed softly and nodded. "It's all in the past now, but today you need to help me play the part well."

"That's not a problem at all," Yang Jieka nodded. "I just have one question."

"Go ahead," Wang Ying replied.

"Your ex is coming—why on earth did you have to drag me into this?" he asked.

Wang Ying opened her mouth, unsure of where to begin. Finally, she let out a sigh. "It's a long story, so don't ask. Just consider this doing me a favor today, and I'll treat you to dinner later."

"Understood!" Hearing her put it that way, Yang Jieka dropped the matter and stopped probing.

Chatting along the way, they arrived at their destination before they knew it. The moment they stepped out of the car, a man in a brown suit hurried over to greet them warmly.

"Xiao Ying is here! Long time no see."

Wang Ying nodded lightly at him. "It really has been a while. Are all the classmates here?"

The man in the brown suit nodded. "Everyone has arrived. We were just waiting for you."

Seemingly remembering something, he quickly reached out and pulled a flashily dressed woman from his side, introducing her with a beaming smile. "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you. This is my girlfriend, Wang Qiuyue."

"Hello."

Wang Ying politely extended a hand, hoping to shake hers, but the woman didn't even spare her a glance. Clinging tightly to the brown-suited man's arm, she said impatiently, "Let's head upstairs first. It's pretty chilly down here, and I don't want to catch a cold."

Wang Ying's hand remained suspended in mid-air, looking rather awkward. The man in the brown suit just offered a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. Qiuyue just has this kind of temper."

Wang Ying smiled awkwardly. "It's fine. Let's go up."

Right at that moment, a cool voice drifted over from the side. "What the hell kind of temper is that? That's just being completely ill-bred!"

As soon as those words dropped, everyone's expression shifted. The woman called Wang Qiuyue turned pitch black instantly, glaring furiously at Yang Jieka who had spoken. "Who the hell do you think you are? Is that any way to talk?"

"Jieka..."

Wang Ying started to intervene, but Yang Jieka pulled her firmly into his arms and looked right at Wang Qiuyue. "Didn't your mother teach you to be a bit more proactive when someone offers to shake hands?"

He had witnessed the entire exchange just moments ago, and he utterly despised the woman's discourteous behavior.

At the same time, he finally figured out why Wang Ying had brought him along to play her boyfriend today.

Reading people's expressions and sizing up situations had always been Yang Jieka's strong suit. Although Wang Ying and the brown-suited man had only exchanged a few brief sentences, Yang Jieka could tell from their eyes and body language that this man was undoubtedly her ex-boyfriend.

And while Wang Ying was a police officer, she was a woman first. Women naturally possessed a certain degree of vanity, which was why she had brought Yang Jieka along to pose as her partner.

"Who are you?!"

The brown-suited man asked a question with an obvious answer, glaring at Yang Jieka. "Do you have any idea how rude you sounded just now?"

Yang Jieka shrugged, locking eyes with him. "I'm Wang Ying's boyfriend. My personal rule is that I treat people the exact way they treat me. Your girlfriend started the rudeness. What, looking for trouble?"

"Jieka, stop it!"

Knowing Yang Jieka's temper all too well, Wang Ying quickly stepped in to smooth things over. She knew that if he kept going with his attitude, a physical fight might actually break out.

"Du Kang, let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend, Yang Jieka. He loves to joke around and never talks seriously, so please don't take it to heart."

The brown-suited man, addressed as Du Kang, tossed his head back and put on a magnanimous expression. "Well, since Xiao Ying has spoken, we'll let it go. Come on, let's head upstairs. The classmates are all waiting."

Once upstairs, Yang Jieka cast his gaze across the room and saw five or six tables filled with people in various attire.

Taking advantage of a moment when nobody was around, Yang Jieka finally asked Wang Ying for a full explanation.

As it turned out, today was a reunion for Wang Ying's police academy classmates. The guy named Du Kang had been her boyfriend back in the academy before they somehow broke up. Wang Ying hadn't wanted to come at all, but she couldn't resist the persuasion of a few close girlfriends, so she reluctantly agreed. To give herself peace of mind, she had brought Yang Jieka along.

Although these people had graduated from the police academy, most of them hadn't actually become police officers and were now scattered across various industries. The moment Yang Jieka and Wang Ying sat down at the table, they could hear everyone chattering away nonstop, mostly bragging about how well they were currently doing in life.

"Wang Ying!"

A heavily made-up woman called out. Wang Ying stared at her for a few seconds before a look of recognition crossed her face, and she cried out happily, "Zhou Qiqi!"

The woman called Zhou Qiqi smiled. "Oh, looks like our class beauty hasn't forgotten me after all. She still remembers my name."

Wang Ying smiled back. "We're all classmates, how could I forget?"

She hadn't seen these people in a long time and had originally intended to have a nice, long chat with everyone, but before she even had the chance to speak, Zhou Qiqi blurted out, "I heard you became a cop. How's it going? How much do you make a month?"

Wang Ying smiled. "It's alright. A few thousand yuan a month, enough to feed myself."

"What?!"

Zhou Qiqi widened her eyes as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "A few thousand yuan? How on earth do you even survive?!"

Wang Ying opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.

Paying no mind to Wang Ying's expression, Zhou Qiqi waved one of her hands, showing off the rings and bracelet she wore. "Look at this! My ring and bracelet together cost hundreds of thousands!"

With that, she picked up a pink handbag and waved it in front of Wang Ying's face. "See this? It's an Hermès bag, costs tens of thousands each. A global limited edition."

Faced with this display, Wang Ying felt her face grow slightly warm. It wasn't because she felt inferior, but rather a sense of sorrow in her heart. Back in school, she and Zhou Qiqi had been known as the two campus beauties, and they used to be on decent terms. She never expected that after just a few years apart, her old classmate would turn into this kind of person.

In truth, tens or hundreds of thousands meant nothing to Wang Ying. Her monthly salary really was only a few thousand yuan, but she had always kept a secret hidden away—her family background.

If Wang Ying cared about money, she could spend as much as her family had. It was just that she never cared for wealth and threw herself wholeheartedly into the police career she loved.

"By the way, Wang Ying, what does your boyfriend do?"

Zhou Qiqi asked, glancing at Yang Jieka, who was devouring the food on the table like a country bumpkin who had just arrived in the city.

Before Wang Ying could say anything, Yang Jieka casually grabbed a tissue, wiped the corner of his mouth, and replied without even lifting his head, "Used to be a security guard, now laid-off, just picking up odd jobs."

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone at the table froze slightly before bursting into loud laughter.

"A security guard? Haha!"

Zhou Qiqi laughed so hard she doubled over. "Wang Ying, you used to be our class beauty at least. How on earth did you end up with a security guard for a boyfriend? When did you go blind?"

"What the hell do you know?!"

Yang Jieka, now fully fed and satisfied, wiped his mouth and looked at Zhou Qiqi. "If you don't know shit, don't flap your gums. Security guards and public security officers are practically the same thing by nature. My little Yingying and I are a match made in heaven. Got a problem with that?"

"Hahaha..."

His words caused the table to erupt in even wilder laughter.

Zhou Qiqi was laughing so hard her waist was bent over. Just as she was about to retort, Yang Jieka pointed at a potbellied, middle-aged man sitting next to her and said loudly, "Hello, sir! Is this your daughter? She's doing really well for herself, draped in gold and silver. You must be loaded!"

As soon as he said that, Zhou Qiqi's face instantly went dark.

The potbellied man looked rather awkward as well, giving a dry laugh. "She's... my girlfriend."

"What the heck?"

Yang Jieka put on a look of utter shock. "At your age, you could be her father!"

Then, wearing a deeply serious expression as if deep in thought, he suddenly slapped his thigh as though a realization had just struck him. He looked straight at Zhou Qiqi and exclaimed, "Oh, I get it now! You're somebody's kept mistress, aren't you? No wonder you've got so much money. A humble security guard like me really can't compete with you."

He purposely raised his voice while saying this. Although Wang Ying had been repeatedly provoked, she still felt Yang Jieka was going a bit too far, so she quietly tugged at the corner of his shirt under the table.

Yang Jieka completely ignored her. He kept droning on about mistresses and kept women until the middle-aged man and Zhou Qiqi were so furious that they angrily stormed off, at which point he finally stopped.

Only then did he rub his hands together in satisfaction and look at the dumbfounded table of people. "Don't just sit there staring, everyone dig in! Such a good spread of food, don't waste it."

Just then, Du Kang stared at Yang Jieka and said, "Mr. Yang, I have a few words for you. I wonder if I should share them."

Tearing into a chicken leg, Yang Jieka mumbled, "Then don't. I don't like the smell of bad breath."

Du Kang's old face darkened. Clenching his teeth and suppressing his anger, he slammed a set of Mercedes-Benz car keys onto the table with a loud slap, turning to Wang Ying. "Xiao Ying, I drove here today. Let me give you a ride home later."

Before Wang Ying could reply, Yang Jieka shouted out, "That's fantastic! A free ride! Tell me, does your car charge a fare? Is it more expensive than a regular taxi?"