Chapter 33: The Wild Rose and the Scoundrel

Chapter 33: Wild Roses and the Scoundrel

Zhou Tian was the third to arrive. After coordinating with the residential complex security, Gao Yun went out to the villa entrance to welcome him.

Zhou Tian stood about 175 centimeters tall, with a stout, heavy-set build and a round face. He looked a bit like a slightly thinner version of Yue Yunpeng, though he insisted on tying his hair into a ponytail. It was quite a look; had he lost some weight, he might have been handsome, but alas, the extra pounds ruined the effect.

Zhou Tian parked his Volkswagen SUV in the space next to the Cayenne. He grabbed two paper bags and a small jug of water from the trunk. As they walked toward the villa, he said, "My relatives sent some tea, and I stopped by the Longyan Spring near the beach to fetch some water. Let's all have a taste after dinner. Is everyone else here?"

"Just Wang and A-Hua left."

As was custom, Gao Yun gave Zhou Tian a tour of the villa to satisfy his curiosity, then brought out the gifts he had bought for them in Hangzhou and online to return the favor.

Truth be told, choosing gifts for this group was effortless. Eight pairs of shoes for each person—Nike and Adidas basketball shoes, cross-training shoes, trendy sneakers, running shoes, gym shoes, you name it. Toss in a Huawei Mate 30 Pro Porsche Edition for each, and that was that.

With his own family, Gao Yun chose luxury goods that held more symbolic than practical value, hoping to shift their spending habits and encourage them to enjoy life rather than hoarding money. Judging by the results, it was working.

For his friends, however, Gao Yun didn't need to change their outlooks; he preferred to stick to the practical. While luxury gifts might seem grander, his friends would never sell them, and they would rarely get any use out of them, rendering the gifts meaningless.

As expected, his friends were thrilled with their haul, either trying on new shoes or tinkering with their new phones in the living room.

"Man, I've been wanting to upgrade from this Mate 20 Pro for so long. What was holding me back?" Liu Ximing sat on the sofa, unboxing his phone and shaking his head. "It was poverty! I'm still 160,000 in debt on my credit card. I'm paying it off over three years, five thousand a month!"

The other three were long accustomed to this "fake rich kid" playing the victim. Diao Jun, admiring the texture of his Yeezys, didn't even blink. "Give it a rest. Your dad lets you collect the rent on that storefront. That’s over 300,000 a year; you could pay it off whenever you wanted."

"And don't even bring up that 160,000 'tuition fee' for your love life. You have the nerve to mention it?"

Zhou Tian, testing out his new Nike LeBron XVII FP EPs, stomped his feet hard, trying to break them in with his weight to test the cushioning. He looked satisfied. "Everyone told you that woman was just using you as a sugar daddy, but you wouldn't listen. You paid for every trip, every meal, every shopping spree. But hey, you enjoyed it at the time, so just drop it now."

While the friends chatted and unboxed their gifts, Gao Yun picked up the potted plant Diao Jun had given him. It was lush with green leaves, clustered with white and soft-peach flowers with yellow centers. It smelled quite pleasant.

"What is this?" Gao Yun asked.

"A wild rose. Ever heard that song 'Wild Rose'?" Diao Jun looked up from his shoes, his tone heavy with meaning. "I am like a wild rose that bloomed after being washed by love; I am a wild rose that will never bow its head for love."

"I hope your future path in love is smooth and lasting, and that you have the same tenacious vitality as this wild rose."

"Oh, hehehehehe," Zhou Tian let out a strange, ambiguous cackle.

Liu Ximing joined in with a snicker. "How long is its lifespan?"

Diao Jun replied, "The rose family has a very long life. With no disease or disaster, they can last decades or even a century." He started laughing himself, and the other two slapped their thighs in hysterics.

"You're giving a scoundrel a plant? That's just cruel. It would normally live for decades, but in his hands, it won't last three months."

"Three months is generous. A-Yun, the longest relationship you've ever had was three and a half months, right? It’s gotta at least last that long—fifteen weeks."

What was wrong with short romances? Did being short make them "scoundrel" behavior? Besides, he was the one getting dumped! Gao Yun couldn't be bothered to argue. "Old Diao, what's its blooming season?"

Diao Jun added, "It blooms from May to September, and it withers in October."

Liu Ximing calculated, "It's the end of May now. That's a little over four months until October. I reckon in the remaining blooming season, our scoundrel here could go through at least two more girls."

Zhou Tian held up his fingers, looking convinced. "Two is a conservative estimate. You didn't factor in his current situation. Show some respect for that Ferrari—three is the minimum."

...

After joking around for a while, the group realized they were half an hour away from the agreed-upon time. Without waiting for the last two, they started tacitly skewering meat and lighting the charcoal.

Wang Xiaole drove his Passat with A-Hua in the passenger seat and pulled up to Gao Yun’s gate, parking in the last available space.

"Is this the one?" A-Hua asked, slightly hesitant.

"It's the right one. Don't you recognize that Cayenne? It’s Young Master Liu's."

"Right! Of course!"

Confirmed, they stepped out of the car. Wang Xiaole carried a guitar on his back and held some fruit in his hand. He looked at the villa's front garden with envy. "A-Yun has really made it. I always knew this kid wasn't simple and would make something of himself. I wasn't wrong."

At thirty-five, Wang Xiaole was struggling with a receding hairline, so he had just shaved his head. He had the standard build of a middle-aged man who had let himself go, though in his features, one could still see traces of his former handsomeness. His colorful hip-hop brand outfit seemed to be his way of insisting he wasn't old yet, but to those who knew him from the past, he was a walking testament to how cruel time could be.

A-Hua carried a hand drum and laughed. "Honestly, A-Yun is a good guy. I used to think he'd make it, but I figured he'd do it by finding a rich woman to catapult him to the top. I never expected this. I underestimated him."

A-Hua was exactly thirty, of medium height, with shoulder-length black hair streaked with grey. His appearance was plain, and his eyes were slightly clouded, reflecting the weariness of someone who had seen it all. His ripped jeans and white shirt fit his identity as an indie musician perfectly.

"Hahahaha," the two older men shared a lewd laugh.

Gao Yun stepped out of the villa and opened the gate. Seeing the look on their faces, he felt something was off. "What are you laughing at? Come on in and skewer the meat. You two are the last ones."

"Heh, alright."

Even though it was time to skewer the meat, Gao Yun gave them the customary tour of the villa, and the two men brought out the gifts they had prepared.