100 – Invest in a good suit

"Why am I here again?" Li Yun asked himself as he arrived at the lobby of a fancy hotel.

"I don't have a date, so you have to come as my only other friend who's still single," Bufu replied. "I can't come here with Fatty bringing Mu Lian along."

"Should I tell Bufu about Rouxi?" Li Yun thought to himself. "Nah, I want to see the ass**** reaction when he finds out later."

"F*** you,” Bufu remarked after seeing no response from Li Yun. “Every time you stay silent, you're cursing me in your head. But couldn't you dress in something more fitting?"

Li Yun was dressed in his only suit, the same suit he wore for his interview. He wasn't being cheap, he was being practical. He didn't normally wear a suit, so what was the point of wasting time on buying more than one? The suit was a bit loose since he had lost some weight running around in the ER and his clinic.

"I don't have money like you do," Li Yun replied.

"What do you mean? It's not like I can cash in any of my stocks. A good suit is one of the best investments you can make. People are shallow, you should know that by now."

Out of everyone, Bufu knew the most about computers, but it somehow translated into wealth with the explosion of cryptocurrency. Bufu had been mining Itcoin since high school. Since then, he had already accumulated 1,800, or almost 13 million yuan.

"Should I also invest in Gucce dress and makeup?" Li Yun asked sarcastically.

"Oh man, that would have been better, why didn't you dress up?"

"You bastard, you could have brought any random girl," Li Yun sneered as they started to walk toward the hallway where the arrow for Kaishi High School reunion was pointing to.

Inside the large banquet hall, everything was decorated with blue and white lanterns, the school colors. Bufu and Li Yun found their seats and sat down. They both immediately noticed that the nameplate included Li Yun ex-girlfriend was also arranged to sit at their table with a plus one.

Li Yun looked at Bufu. "You f***** bastard, who set up the table arrangement?"

Bufu laughed, "I thought that would be your reaction, but I swear it's not me."

Li Yun chugged down the water. His fake anger subsided with the arrival of Fatty Fang and Mu Liam. They sat at the same table next to Li Yun.

"Oh, hey, isn't that your ex?" Fatty Fang asked as he noticed the seating assignments.

"It was you, wasn't it, you bastard!" Li Yun glared at Fatty Fang.

"Hey, you never told us what happened with your first girlfriend,” Fatty Fang defended himself. “I wouldn’t risk pissing you off, so it wasn't me who set this table up. Who do you think is on the reunion committee?"

"That b****!" Li Yun suddenly remembered Xuxu was their class president. "She's not even here."

After joking around, Bufu huddled closer to Li Yun. "Li Yun, I think I was able to prove that your lucky charm works…"

Li Yun nodded. After their trip to Macau, he made a plan with Bufu to test the lucky charm. Bufu had been running a team of card players in Las Vages; technically two teams. One wearing the lucky charms, and one without. They were tracking their winnings on a software Bufu had designed. It had been slightly over half a year since they had started testing it out.

"So far, the team with the lucky charms had a consistently better winning rate of 1% more compared to the control," Bufu continued to explain. "I can't say it definitively with the experiment size, but if we increase the investment, we could get millions every year."

The initial two teams had 4 people with a $25k USD bankroll for each counters. They must play at least 30 hours a week. The most difficult part was vetting the players. Some of the players Bufu had found by playing online.

Typically, after the vetting process, they could find players who could gain between $40/hour to $50/hour. For using Bufu's bankroll as a loan, the professional card counters were paid 15% of the profit. From the scheme, Bufu and Li Yun were able to generate 200k yuan, or 100k between them.

“So, how about expanding our operation?” Bufu suggested.

Li Yun knew Bufu wasn't looking for  investment, since Bufu was independently wealthier than Ju De. Bufu needed more lucky charms. The materials needed to make the charm wasn't much, but only Li Yun could make it. Thinking about it, they would really make a lot of money just by finding good card counters and creating more teams.

After agreeing to the deal, the celebration kicked off with the reunion association introducing the members. Xuxu, as the alumni committee president, said hello to everyone over the live stream. She was in Magic City and wished everyone a wonderful time.

Reunions were simple, it was simply a time for everyone to catch up, brag, and party. The people who usually hadn't accomplished much or had no friends didn't normally attend reunions.

The class of Kaishi High was a bit unusual, they didn't have any bullies and there weren't anyone who was bullied. Although not everyone was friends, they were amicable with each other, even with the delinquents.

Li Yun and Fatty Fang weren't considered popular, but they were well known in high school. Only Bufu could be considered popular, but mostly with the female population. Bufu said that Li Yun could have been more popular if it wasn't for the scar and the threatening aura he kept on projecting in high school. Li Yun toned most of it down in college, but more to blend in and not to cause a scene.

"Hi everyone," a pretty young woman with a sturdy man approached the table.

The man sat next to Bufu and the woman sat beside him.

"Oh, Minli, you look as beautiful as ever!" Bufu greeted the incoming woman. "And your boyfriend Tao Jie?"

Bufu had seen them last year at the five year reunion. Off year reunions were usually smaller, and usually only attended by the local alumni.

"Now fiance," Minli replied with a smile.

Li Yun could tell she felt a bit uncomfortable being at the same table. When Li Yun was 15, it was Minli who asked him out first. It was flattering back then since he had just slimmed down around that time. He never had any sort of female attention until Minli. Usually, the girls would be interested in Bufu first. However, Minli liked Li Yun. Li Yun hadn't perfected Mien Shiang, but he was knowledgeable enough to know that she was truly interested in him and not using him.

Li Yun showered her with gifts and flowers whenever he could. He was going to be a good boyfriend. He adored and loved her like any puppy first love. She was kind and funny, and at the time, he even thought that she would be the one he would eventually marry. Silly high school romance.

However, when high school began, Minli suddenly became more popular and had more friends. Li Yun could sense her becoming more distant. He was also becoming increasingly aware of human nature. When she finally called it quit, Li Yun nodded and agreed. He was only sad in a sense that his first love had ended.

At that moment he lost more than just his first girlfriend, he lost a sense of innocence and hope. He no longer thought it was possible for him to have a healthy relationship with another woman. Shouldn't he at least feel sad and angry that she broke up with him because of her friends? But he didn't.

Li Yun felt the scar below his eye, the lost love line. He knew that losing Elder Pei had caused the scar, but the moment he began to lose a part of his humanity, was when his scar deepened. Even with his unusual healing, the scar had always remained.

His second girlfriend, Xiaxia, was his first attempt to be normal. They enjoyed each other's company for the first five months, but as she went to college, she naturally found someone else. It wasn't just because their connection wasn't strong, but because she was increasingly becoming afraid of him. All his other girlfriends followed the same pattern.

"How have you been?" Li Yun asked Minli.

Out of all his exes, Minli was the only one who he had lost contact with. He was still friendly with all his other exes.

"Ah, good," Minli responded. "How are you?"

"Good," Li Yun responded and turned to shake hands with Tao Jie. "I don't think we have met, I'm Li Yun."

"Oh, hi," Tao Jie responded.

Li Yun laughed inside. Tao Jie was soft-spoken. The man was different from whom he thought was suitable for Minli, but he guessed he didn't know his first girlfriend too well. Judging from the couple's interaction, it seemed like they dated in college and decided to marry afterward.

Li Yun smiled, it was good to be wrong once in a while. If he wasn't wrong about Rouxi, maybe he wouldn't have tried to hit on her. He would have avoided her at all costs.

After the party, Li Yun returned to Dong Xuan Clinic. It was close to midnight, but Rouxi was still awake reading a book in bed.

"Hey! You're back," Rouxi said as she laid down her book. "How was it?"

"It was good, did you ask Xuxu to put my ex at the same table?" Li Yun asked.

"Why would I do that?" Rouxi coyly asked.

Li Yun slowly approached her and lifted her up until her face was close to him. "It's unusual for you to read a book."

"Why? It's not like every book is online and it's easier on the eye."

He thought before that he fell in love with her simply because of his inability to read her. He was frightened that once he knew her better, he would eventually fall out of love. But despite knowing more about her, he was falling deeper into a hole.

"Rouxi, I love you."

Rouxi blushed. He never said anything before, but she knew that he did. It made her heart skip a beat to hear him say it. "I love you too."

He wrapped his arms around her tightly as they snuggled in bed. It was difficult to be so near her and not touch her more intimately, but he needed to talk to her.

"Rouxi, remember when you asked me whether I felt like I had a choice to be with you?"

Rouxi nodded.

He had loved his previous girlfriends, or loved them in a way he knew how. He had always selected a girlfriend based on their motivation. They were people who would pick their careers over relationships. It made it easier for them to accept after knowing he placed more importance on his mission and work.

Falling in love with Rouxi wasn't his choice. It was something against his better judgment. But she made a trap he willingly fell into.

"I chose to be trapped," Li Yun answered.