Astral Apostle

Chapter 45: Childhood Friends (2)

“Brother, brother, I’m here!”

Zhou Jing took a look and saw a handsome man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. However, his chin was covered in sparse stubble that he was too lazy to shave, and he exuded a dispirited and lazy aura.

It was his childhood friend, Xu Lingyun.

Zhou Jing walked over. “What about the other two?”

“Those two still aren’t here. I was the first to come.” Xu Lingyun was still squatting on the ground as he raised his head and replied.

Seeing this, Zhou Jing also squatted down and as he curiously asked.

“Normally, you are always the last to arrive. Why are you the earliest today?”

Xu Lingyun grumbled, “I’ve been hungry all day. I’m just waiting to freeload. Of course I had to come early.”

“It’s just a meal. Must you do this…”

“Well, not really, but my savings have their own thoughts.” Xu Lingyun shrugged.

Zhou Jing’s face twitched when he heard this.

He had almost forgotten that Xu Lingyun’s life was quite stable—stably poor.

His childhood friend’s life had been rough. His parents couldn’t max out the three spots in the fertility welfare fund because one of their children had some defects. In the end, they couldn’t take it anymore and divorced.

His mother formed a new family with someone else, and his father targeted the immigration welfare allowance and participated in the previous batches of interstellar immigrants. Xu Lingyun was abandoned, and from then on, he lived alone.

Xu Lingyun did not choose to go to the orphanage. He grew up casually by himself, and no one cared about him.

He had made an effort to change the current situation, but it had never been possible to immediately reverse the situation with determination. Many times, he didn’t even know how to start. Life in poverty and hardship was sometimes like seaweed—even if one wanted to break free, they would only find themselves falling deeper and deeper into a vicious cycle.

In the end, Xu Lingyun just got by. More than once, he said that his plan was to receive welfare benefits. In any case, he would not starve to death in this era. He could just be a salted fish.

Zhou Jing shook his head and shook off these thoughts.

He patted Xu Lingyun’s shoulder and joked, “It’s fine. With your looks, you can just clean yourself up a bit and hook up a rich woman.”

“Forget it.” Xu Lingyun rolled his eyes and curled his lips. “I’m not interested in doing physical work.”

After a pause, Xu Lingyun suddenly elbowed Zhou Jing and laughed evilly.

“Then how have you been recently? I know that there are many big sisters who like refined young and fresh meat like you. Hurry up and tell me the truth. Have you been in a relationship recently? Have you been corrupted by the beauty and lust of the world?”

“I don’t have such thoughts.” Zhou Jing shook his head and laughed.

“That’s true. I almost forgot. When those female classmates confessed in school, half of them were for you, and the other half were for me. I agreed at least two or three times, but you didn’t agree once…”

Xu Lingyun hesitated for a moment before asking in a soft tone.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like girls?”

“I think you’re an eagle burping—you’ve eaten too many chickens and all that’s coming out of your mouth is their farts.”

Zhou Jing snapped back.

I was just focused on my studies, okay!

Xu Lingyun shook his head and pretended to sigh. “There’s definitely something wrong with you. With our looks, it’s hard for us to remain clean in this era.”

Zhou Jing rolled his eyes. “Stop pretending. Do you think I don’t know? You’ll blush if you hold a girl’s hand. Are you still pretending to be a casanova?”

“What do you mean by blushing… I just have a lot of blood vessels on my face, and they accidentally got congested!”

Xu Lingyun was embarrassed at being exposed.

However, Zhou Jing couldn’t be bothered to expose him further. He stood up and kicked Xu Lingyun’s butt.

“I’m not going to chat with you anymore. Don’t squat here. Go wait in the restaurant. I’m a little cold.”

After saying that, he was about to take a step forward when he realized that Xu Lingyun was still squatting on the ground and looking up at him.

“Why are you still squatting? Let’s go.” Zhou Jing was puzzled.

“Help me up. I don’t have the strength to stand up.” Xu Lingyun reached out for a hug.

Nonsense, it would be strange if he had the strength after starving for an entire day…

Zhou Jing was helpless. Just as he was about to reach out and grab Xu Lingyun, he suddenly stopped.

“Speaking of which, you didn’t go to the restaurant before and kept squatting here. Don’t tell me you were waiting for someone to arrive and help you up?”

“If you’re so smart, then hurry up!”

Zhou Jing’s face twitched once more. He grabbed Xu Lingyun’s hand and pulled him up from the ground.

Xu Lingyun looked like he had been saved. His legs were numb from squatting for too long, so he could only hold onto Zhou Jing and slowly shuffle forward.

Not long after, the two of them finally arrived at the restaurant they had agreed on. They found a corner booth and ordered drinks while waiting.

About five minutes later, a man and a woman walked into the restaurant. They were the other two childhood friends.

The man’s name was Zhang Xiao. He was a round little fatty, clad in a woolen trench coat, a beige scarf around his neck, and a well-made mechanical watch on his wrist. With one look, anyone could tell that he came from a good family.

The other woman was Li Xiaoyin. Her clothes were simple. She wore a wide white and green striped short-sleeved shirt, casual blue pants, and black and white flat canvas shoes. She didn’t wear accessories on her.

Her skin was fair, her neck was long, and her face wasn’t that stunning. However, she looked clean and lively. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and it swayed from side to side as she walked.

Li Xiaoyin surveyed the restaurant and quickly noticed Zhou Jing and Xu Lingyun. Her eyes lit up, and she greeted them loudly.

“Yo, brothers!”

Her voice was indeed a little loud. The other customers in the restaurant could not help but turn their heads and look at her strangely.

Li Xiaoyin was not embarrassed at all. She smiled brightly and calmly raised her hand to gesture an apology to the other customers. Then, she ignored the gazes of others and ran all the way to Zhou Jing’s seat before sitting down.

Zhang Xiao was a little embarrassed and pretended not to notice the gazes of the other customers. He kept his expression straight and followed behind Li Xiaoyin.

“You two came together?” Zhou Jing was a little curious.

“Haha, doesn’t this guy have a car? My house is too far away, so I asked him to drive me here.”

Li Xiaoyin laughed and casually patted Zhang Xiao’s back, making a muffled sound with each smack.

Zhang Xiao bared his teeth and moved his aching back away in annoyance, “Let’s order first.”

“Order whatever you want! It’s my treat today!”

Li Xiaoyin waved her hand and said generously.

Xu Lingyun chuckled. “No wonder you’re so beautiful today. You attracted everyone’s attention the moment you came in.”

“What’s the connection?” Zhang Xiao could not help but question.

“Those who treat are always the best-looking!” Xu Lingyun gave a thumbs up.

Zhang Xiao immediately became indignant. “I’ve treated you many times, but none of you praised me.”

“That’s on the premise that you look like a human. Otherwise, praise will also sound like mockery. Do you fulfill this condition? Obviously not.”

“Hey, I’m not convinced. You…”

Zhang Xiao rolled up his sleeves and was about to argue.

Zhou Jing rolled his eyes, not wanting to argue with the two of them. He looked at Li Xiaoyin curiously.

“Have you found a job? Why are you so happy today?”

Li Xiaoyin waved her hand and chuckled. “That’s not it. I haven’t looked for a job in the past few months after graduation.”

“Then what are you doing? What’s the good news you spoke about in our group?” Zhou Jing was surprised.

“Hmph, don’t be frightened.”

Li Xiaoyin smiled proudly and placed her thumb on her chest.

“I’m a Super now!”

The atmosphere froze.