I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

The fifth day of the Lunar New Year,

6 PM.

Chen Mo got dressed and stepped out of his house.

Just yesterday, he’d received word that today was the class reunion.

He headed straight to the parking lot in his residential complex. The restaurant they’d agreed on was about four kilometers away—too far to walk, especially in the dead of winter after a heavy snowfall just a couple of days ago.

He started the car and drove toward the restaurant.

A short while later, he found a parking spot a little distance from the venue. After all, it was a class reunion—some classmates had done well for themselves, others not so much.

If he pulled up right to the front door in his car and got spotted by classmates waiting outside, it’d be easy for people to think he was showing off.

To avoid that kind of gossip, he figured it was better to play it safe.

After walking a few minutes, he spotted a few figures standing at the restaurant entrance, scanning the crowd. Among them was a familiar face—Wang Bin, whom he’d run into before the New Year.

Clearly, these were his old classmates, though he couldn’t recognize all of them by name anymore.

Wang Bin noticed him and waved enthusiastically. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

“Chen Mo! Over here!”

Chen Mo lifted his hand in response.

As he approached, Wang Bin took on the role of the middleman, introducing everyone around.

Listening to the introductions, Chen Mo tried to recall faces and names. Some rang a bell, others drew a complete blank.

It made sense—back in school, he’d always kept to himself, never really hung out with the group.

But that wasn’t exactly his fault.

With the soul of a grown man, how was he supposed to fit in with a bunch of kids?

He sighed inwardly and greeted his former classmates.

“Scholar Chen, you haven’t changed a bit after all these years—still just as handsome.”

“Totally! Back in the day, not only was Scholar Chen top of the class, he was also a total heartthrob. Tons of girls had crushes on him.”

“No kidding. He got his fair share of love letters too.”

“...”

A few female classmates gathered around, teasing him playfully.

Chen Mo rubbed his nose awkwardly, not daring to respond.

He vaguely remembered getting a few love letters back then, but the contents had been so childish. Still, he hadn’t wanted to shatter those girls’ romantic fantasies, so he’d just pretended he never saw them.

As the saying goes, the best love is the one you never quite had.

Soon, a few more classmates arrived.

“Looks like most of us are here. Let’s head inside—no point waiting out here in the cold.”

“A few folks are still on the way, but they live pretty far. Might take them a while to get here.”

Wang Bin did a quick headcount and started organizing everyone to go in.

Chen Mo followed behind, mentally counting heads. About twenty people had shown up for the reunion.

Back then, their class had over forty students—so more than half had made it. That was already pretty impressive after all these years.

They entered a private dining room in the restaurant. After speaking with the server and deciding to order later, everyone settled in and began chatting.

Most of the conversation revolved around funny memories from school or updates on their current jobs.

A few single guys and girls sat together, laughing and joking—maybe a new romance would blossom after the reunion.

Chen Mo sat quietly off to the side, listening but not joining in.

“Chen Mo, what do you do in Jiangcheng? I forgot to ask last time,” Wang Bin said suddenly.

A few nearby classmates turned to look, clearly curious about what their former star student was up to these days.

“Oh, after graduation, I started a clothing factory with a friend,” Chen Mo replied, using the same story he’d told his family.

It wasn’t a lie—he did run a clothing factory. He just left out the other companies he owned.

“A real scholar—starting your own business right out of school,” Wang Bin said admiringly, though his eyes dimmed a little.

Among all the classmates, he was probably doing the worst.

But that was on him. He’d insisted on becoming an actor.

After graduation, instead of finding a regular job, he’d gone straight to Hengdian to work as an extra, hoping some big-shot director would notice him and give him a real role.

But dreams are one thing, reality another.

He’d worked as an extra for over a year, but no director ever gave him a second glance. In the end, he had no choice but to return home and look for a stable job this year.

Still, when organizing the reunion, he’d heard that their old classmate Luo Xiao had become a director. That got him thinking—maybe he could ask Luo Xiao for a small part? Nothing major, just a few lines would be enough.

He’d loved acting since school, but his grades weren’t good enough to get into a drama academy.

Even so, he’d read tons of books on acting, and while working as an extra, he’d try to apply what he learned, hoping a director might notice his talent.

But he was disappointed. Directors didn’t care how extras performed.

This time, he hoped Luo Xiao would be willing to give an old classmate a shot—maybe help him fulfill his dream of becoming an actor.

“Scholar Chen, I heard clothing factories make a lot of money. You must’ve made a killing this year, huh?” another classmate chimed in.

“The factory’s not doing so great. We haven’t had many orders these past few months,” Chen Mo replied with a shake of his head, being honest.

Lately, aside from a batch of orders Luo Yuan had placed through his own company, there hadn’t been much business.

Even those were just agent fees. Whether the clothes actually sold or not was a whole other matter.

“Yeah, the economy’s been rough these past couple of years. Starting a business isn’t easy. A lot of companies have shut down,” the classmate sighed.

Chen Mo echoed the sigh in his heart.

Yeah...

If the economy’s going down, could it at least not take his money with it?

Hearing Chen Mo’s response, the classmates who’d been interested in him earlier quietly turned their attention elsewhere.

Chen Mo didn’t mind. He enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Not long after, a few more classmates arrived. The last one to show up caused quite a stir in the room.

“Sorry I’m late—traffic was a mess,” said Luo Xiao with a hint of apology as he looked around at the familiar faces.

“No worries! We’ve just been catching up.”

“Come on, Director Luo, we saved you the best seat—right in the center!”

“Let’s all give a warm welcome to Director Luo!”

“...”

A few classmates cheered and whooped as Luo Xiao made his entrance.

Luo Xiao looked at his enthusiastic classmates, his expression slightly stiff as he sat down awkwardly in his seat.