Douglas’s restaurant was located at a new redevelopment zone of Aurous Hill. It was quite a distance from the city and was sparsely populated. Charlie felt a little peculiar as to why Douglas chose to open a restaurant here.Claire told him that several large manufacturing companies would set up their companies and factories in the redevelopment zone including multinational companies like Foxconn, so the area would prosper and flourish in no time.In other words, it was quite a wise and clever choice for Douglas to open a restaurant here now.Douglas’s restaurant, named The Charm, was at the corner of a wide new street. From the exterior, it looked quite big, occupying two floors. The name of the restaurant suggested an artistic conception.When Charlie drove the car to the door of the restaurant, there was already a row of cars parked near the entrance and several people were standing in front of a golden BMW, smoking and chatting.Charlie recognized them. They were his classmate

Claire and Loreen greeted everyone warmly. Clinton gritted his teeth in great dismay as he looked at Claire, who was getting more radiant and beautiful.When they were in college, he desperately tried to win her heart, but she simply ignored him.However, she chose to marry a deadbeat loser who mooched off her.D*mn it, why?!God must have been blind!He squinted his eyes in agitation and sneered. “Hey, Charlie, you seem to live a good life after marrying Claire! You can even drive a BMW now! Did Claire buy it for you? You really are the role model of a toyboy!”Claire was annoyed by his remark while Loreen quickly said, “Clinton, you’re wrong, it’s not Claire who bought the car but Charlie who had bought it himself!”“Wow!” Clinton twitched his lips. “Awesome, you can even afford a BMW 5 Series now!”Then, he said in a provocative tone, “Hey, the streets are very quiet here and also very straight and wide, how about we have a race down the street to see who can drive faster?”

Clinton couldn’t hold back his thrill when he heard the term of their bet.His car was the 540 model while Charlie’s was the 520. The loser could not possibly win even if he tried. He was impressed by Charlie’s audacity to make such a big bet with him!His car would be a total waste when the three-meter fireworks were ignited in his car. Everything—the interior, seats, and dashboard—would be ruined in an instant.Charlie was digging his own grave, so he might as well give him a good push!Clinton nodded without hesitation and shouted, “Guys, you’ll be our witnesses! We’ll race to see whose car is faster. Whoever loses, put the fireworks inside his car and ignite it!”Then, he added, “If anyone dares to violate the bet, his whole family will die!”The guys standing at the side of the road cheered loudly. The rest of the classmates who were inside the restaurant rushed out after hearing what was going on. About twenty to thirty people gathered around the door, waiting for the rac

Charlie’s 520 had a mere 184-horsepower engine while his 540 had 340 horsepower. His car should be much faster and powerful than Charlie’s! How could he overtake him so easily?!Similarly, the people watching the race were dumbfounded!No one would have thought that Charlie, whom they assumed was bound to lose, would overtake Clinton in a swift motion like an arrow released from the bow! In fact, Charlie’s car sped off and left Clinton far behind instantly!Clinton wasn’t even halfway through the race and Charlie had already turned around at the intersection at the end of the road!When Clinton reached the intersection, Charlie had already driven the car back to the starting line!Charlie had won!A landslide victory at that!After turning around at the intersection, Clinton saw Charlie already at the finish line and he almost fainted!What was going on!What the h*ck was going on!Since when could the BMW 520 surpass the 540 so much?No, it couldn’t be! That b*stard must ha

Clinton had lost his mind at this moment.He didn’t want to be humiliated by Charlie the loser in front of his friends.So, he bit his lips, grabbed the fireworks from Douglas, and threw them into his car.Then, as he picked up a lighter and grabbed the end of the firework, he shouted, “Look here, all of you! I’m not a sore loser! I don’t need Charlie’s sympathy!”Then, he lit the lighter and lit the fireworks!In an instant, the fireworks were ignited and burst into cracks in the car!At first, flames were burning inside the car, but very soon, the car was filled with thick white smoke. The sound of the constantly exploding fireworks made Clinton’s heart bleeding in agony, but it made the onlookers extremely excited and thrilled.Many of them took out their phones to record the bizarre scene. They planned to post these videos online to share it with the netizens.The 3-meter fireworks continuously exploded and popped and soon, the cushion seats of the BMW 540 were blown up. Th

Many guests gave Douglas their gifts. With the painting in tow, Charlie walked towards Douglas and said, “Congratulations, buddy. This is a little gift from us to celebrate your opening ceremony.”Claire said with a smile, “Douglas, congratulations and best wishes on your grand opening. May your business be prosperous with many years to come!”“Thank you, thank you!” Douglas said hurriedly. Then, he leaned to Charlie’s ear and whispered with a mischievous smirk, “Hey, I see that you and our belle have a pretty close relationship, unlike what the rumors say! When do you plan to have a baby?”Claire blushed timidly when she heard the whisper. Charlie answered, “Stop it. If we are pregnant, you’ll be the first to know and I expect a gift from you!”“Of course!” Douglas laughed and nodded. “I’ll give the kid a big present!”At this moment, an average-looking woman with heavy makeup came up to Douglas and asked, “Douglas, who are they?”“This is my college buddy, Charlie! This is Clai

Charlie, Claire, and Loreen sat together at the same table. Clinton joined them and sat beside Loreen.He asked Loreen with a wide smile as soon as he sat down, “Loreen, I heard that you’ve come to Aurous Hill to work for Emgrand Group, is that true?”Loreen nodded. “Yes, I just started.”Clinton smiled even wider. “What a coincidence! My dad is the deputy general manager of a department in Emgrand! I’ll ask him to look after you at work.”Many people exclaimed in surprise, “Wow, Clinton, your dad is the deputy general manager of Emgrand Group?”“Yup!” Clinton nodded proudly. “He was promoted last year.”Someone quickly said in a flattering tone, “The annual salary of a deputy general manager must be several million dollars, right? That’s amazing! It’s no wonder your family is so rich!”Clinton laughed and said, “That’s just the wages. My dad has quite a vast authority and a lot of side incomes. You guys must have heard about the luxurious hotel project from Emgrand Group, right

Douglas had no intention to do such a thing, but Lily was overpowering his decision and he had no choice but to compromise to her shenanigans.However, the attendees were not surprised at all. When she announced how much each gift was worth, they could judge how well or bad their old classmates were doing after graduation. After all, comparison and jealousy were human nature.Then, Lily started the announcement.“Thank you, Jack Brown, for your one thousand dollars!”“Thank you, Bella Walsh, for the pair of gold ingots!”“Thank you, Ola Rivers, for the beautiful vase!”“Thank you, Clinton Tucker, for your ten thousand dollars!”The first few gifts, whether money or physical items, were mostly worth around one thousand dollars. Suddenly, when it came to Clinton, his ten thousand dollar monetary gift sent a shock wave across the restaurant.Ten thousand dollars were a big amount for the opening ceremony!Many people looked at Clinton with amazement and praised his generosity.C

When everyone heard that Lily’s father was a cultural relic appraiser, they immediately cast a contemptuous and sympathetic gaze at Charlie.All of them shared the same thought—Charlie was so unlucky!His show-off moment was interrupted by the presence of an expert! It was like a slap right across his own face!It would be so humiliating if Lawson Lewis, Lily’s father, came downstairs!Claire blushed timidly. She leaned closer to Charlie and whispered, “So many people are watching you. You’d better not be stubborn, it would be so embarrassing otherwise!”On their way here, Charlie did tell her about the painting he bought but he said that it didn’t cost him a lot of money. Right now, however, he changed his attitude and claimed that it was very expensive. His sudden change of reaction made Claire a little doubtful and skeptical, figuring that Charlie might have lied for the sake of his reputation.On the contrary, Charlie was indifferent. He blurted, “If you don’t believe me, let

“Yes,” Lily answered. “They’ve been buddies since college!”As she was saying this, in her mind, she was thinking, ‘Charlie, you and Douglas are good buddies but you have the nerve to give him a worthless piece of sh*t, let my dad expose and humiliate you in front of everyone!’However, beyond everyone’s expectation, Lawson said with a grateful sigh, “Indeed, it seems that he is a good friend! Why would one give such a precious gift otherwise?”Everyone was dumbfounded upon the statement!What did he mean by ‘precious’? Was he saying that the yellowish drawing was expensive?Exasperated, Clinton cursed inside his head, ‘F*ck you! I can go to Antique Street, buy a fake painting, pee on it to make it look old and yellowish, and it will still look more authentic than that piece of sh*t!’Lawson cleared his throat and said in an earnest tone, “This is the authentic work of Rachel Ruysch, a painter from the Dutch Golden Age. Although she is not as famous nowadays, she was one of the m