Treating Guests

"Brother Zhang, you want it?" Thinking of Zhang Guosheng's usual habit of plucking every feather from a passing goose, Chu Chen couldn't resist teasing him.

"Of course I do. It's rare to find such fine jade, and it suits the price range of my shop perfectly. I'll give you sixty-five thousand. Just transfer it to me." Zhang Guosheng clasped his hands and pleaded.

Once they started discussing the price, Chu Chen stopped teasing him. He thought it over in silence and decided that the offer was reasonable. If it had been a finished carving, it should have sold for around seventy-five to eighty thousand. Though the difference of fifteen thousand seemed substantial, once labor, rent, and all the miscellaneous expenses were included, the profit would not be as high as one might imagine.

Although Zhang Guosheng was usually stingy and liked to pluck every feather from a passing goose, he was not tightfisted when it came to purchase prices. As he put it, good steel had to be used on the edge of the blade. The jade Chu Chen had previously gambled out through him had also been bought by Zhang Guosheng.

Zhang Guosheng blinked at Chu Chen. The moment Chu Chen nodded, he beamed and dragged him to the front desk to sign the transfer contract. Then he hurried to the bank to make the payment. Fortunately, they had arrived in time; if they had been any later, the bank would have closed.

After the transaction was completed, Chu Chen said to Li Guodong, "Brother Li, are you free tonight? Let's go have a meal together. It's on me."

Li Guodong said hesitantly, "Well, let me make a call first."

With that, he took out his phone and went to a corner to make the call. The extraordinarily gentle look on his face gave Chu Chen goosebumps all over.

About fifteen minutes later, Li Guodong finally put away his phone and walked over to Chu Chen, looking thoroughly satisfied. "All right, let's go. Tonight, we'll definitely eat this nouveau riche into poverty."

Chu Chen looked at him speechlessly. "You didn't have to act like that just to make a call. Could you spare a thought for other people's feelings? And after talking for so long, you didn't even invite her along. Are we still brothers or not?"

Hearing that, Li Guodong looked a little embarrassed. "Well, she's a little shy around strangers. I'll bring her over another time."

Chu Chen glared at him. "I think you simply weren't sincere. Besides, judging by how you talked on the phone, you're clearly going to be henpecked in the future. By the time you can make decisions for yourself and bring her out to meet everyone, who knows how long it'll take?"

Li Guodong naturally refused to accept Chu Chen's claim, so he argued his case with him. The two of them then walked toward the private restaurant they had arranged to visit, chatting and laughing all the way.

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Led by a waiter, the two arrived at the private room Chu Chen had reserved in advance. Zhou Wenping and the others had already arrived and were drinking tea and chatting inside.

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting." As soon as Chu Chen entered, he apologized to everyone.

Zhou Wenping smiled. "It's fine. Aren't sponsors always the last to arrive? But since you're late, you'll have to drink three penalty cups later."

"That's right, punish him!" Old Wu shouted from the side.

Chu Chen waved his hand grandly and laughed. "No problem. Tonight, we drink until we're all drunk."

"No! Mommy said Daddy goes crazy when he gets drunk!" a little girl shouted from the side.

Li Guodong burst out laughing. "Hahaha, Old Wu, even your daughter knows exactly how you hold your liquor."

That little girl was Old Wu's daughter, Xiao Yi. She had just turned four that year.

Old Wu said awkwardly, "The little rascal is talking nonsense."

"I'm not!" Xiao Yi pouted angrily. She looked unbelievably adorable.

"All right, all right. Xiao Yi, don't be mad at your dad. Look, what's this?" Chu Chen smiled and took out three plush toys.

"Wow! Such cute little bears—and a pig!" The three children present were all quite familiar with Chu Chen, so they ran toward him one after another.

Apart from Old Wu's daughter, Xiao Yi, the other two children were Zhou Wenping's son and daughter. They were fraternal twins, five years old that year. The boy was named Wen Cong, and the girl was named Wen Hui.

"Here, Wen Cong, you take the pig. Xiao Yi and Wen Hui can take the bears."

After receiving the pig, Zhou Wencong said aggrievedly, "Uncle Xiao Chen, why do I have to take the pig?"

Chu Chen smiled and rubbed Zhou Wencong's head. "Xiao Cong, you're simply too thin. Look at your skinny arms and legs. Men should be stronger, so Uncle is giving you a little pig. You should eat more like a pig, and then you'll grow strong."

Of course, that was not the real reason. When Chu Chen had bought the toys, he had simply felt that it would look too girlish for a boy to carry a bear. The pig seemed more suitable.

Children were easy to fool. Zhou Wencong looked at his arms and legs with a thoughtful expression. Then, as though he had figured it out, he said excitedly, "So that's why! From now on, I'll definitely follow the pig's example."

The people present secretly laughed. Zhou Wenping pretended to be angry. "Oh, really? If my son actually turns into a pig, I'll come after you."

"Then just put him on a diet when the time comes."

Chu Chen joked with Zhou Wenping, then took out a gift box and handed it to Zhou Wenping's wife.

"Sister-in-law Zhou, I bought you a few wild ginseng roots. Take them regularly to nourish your health."

After giving birth to her two children, Sister-in-law Zhou had suffered from a serious illness. Though she recovered, it left her with a severe immune deficiency. Because her immunity was so weak, she was constantly falling ill with one problem or another. In the past, whenever she went outside, regardless of the season, she had to wear a mask. Zhou Wenping had taken her to many hospitals, but none had been able to cure her.

Later, they found a hospital in the capital that finally came up with a treatment plan. After several years of treatment, she had improved considerably. She rarely fell ill, and she no longer had to wear a mask whenever she went out. However, the doctor had advised her to regularly take supplements that could improve her immunity.

The medical expenses, the cost of her supplements, and the family's everyday living expenses all rested on Zhou Wenping's shoulders. It was easy to imagine how great the pressure on him was. That was why Chu Chen would occasionally send them nourishing supplements and buy toys for the two children, doing what little he could to help his friend.

Afterward, Chu Chen took out another small gift box and handed it to Old Wu's wife. He joked, "Sister-in-law, you have a share too. Otherwise, Old Wu will accuse me of favoring one over the other later."

The two wives declined several times, but in the end, they could not refuse and accepted the gifts somewhat awkwardly. "How could we accept this?"

"Don't feel embarrassed. He just won sixty-five thousand from gambling on jade. He's a little nouveau riche now."

As Li Guodong drank tea, he eloquently recounted the recent jade gamble to everyone. They all marveled at Chu Chen's good luck.

"Not bad, Xiao Chen. The stars of fortune are shining on you! Yesterday, you made five hundred thousand by spotting a bargain, and today you won another sixty-five thousand from jade gambling. You're not a nouveau riche anymore—you're a tycoon!" Old Wu said enviously.

"Wait, Xiao Chen, you actually made five hundred thousand by spotting a bargain earlier and didn't tell me? Were you afraid I'd eat you into poverty today?" Li Guodong said with an exaggerated expression, waving his hands about.

"Luck. It was all luck!" Chu Chen waved his hand, then recounted how he had spotted the bargain earlier.

"Xiao Chen, luck is one part of it, but the most important thing is that you're good at thinking things through. If it had been me, I probably wouldn't have noticed those details." Zhou Wenping nodded knowingly.

After hearing Zhou Wenping's words, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Everyone, we're here to eat, not chat. Hurry up and order," Chu Chen reminded them when he saw that no one had mentioned ordering food.

The reminder brought everyone back to their senses. Laughing, they picked up the menus and began looking through them.

When everyone opened the menus, they were stunned by the prices, which easily ran into several hundred or even over a thousand yuan per dish. Even Li Guodong, who had been shouting about eating Chu Chen into poverty, clicked his tongue at the sight.

"Xiao Chen, isn't this a little too extravagant? Why don't we go somewhere else?" Sister-in-law Zhou asked.

Chu Chen smiled at everyone. "Don't worry. I can still afford to treat everyone to a meal. At worst, we'll eat back the money I just won. Come on, everyone order one dish."

Seeing that Chu Chen was so insistent, they could not go against him. They carefully picked out their dishes, and when everything was tallied, they had unsurprisingly chosen mostly cheaper ones. Chu Chen then ordered several premium dishes, some desserts the children liked, and several bottles of soft drinks and Maotai.

After the waiter left, Li Guodong laughed. "Not bad, Xiao Chen. You're delivering yourself right to us so we can crack down on this local tyrant and play Fight the Landlord!"

Chu Chen joked, "I can't help it. Having too much money is giving me a headache."

Everyone burst into cheerful laughter.

The reason Chu Chen had chosen this private restaurant was, first, that it offered good value for money, and second, that the dishes were served quickly. Only a few minutes after the waiter left, the food they had ordered began arriving one dish after another.

Chu Chen poured wine and soft drinks for everyone and raised his cup. "It's rare for everyone to get together like this, so I wish you all good health, success in your careers, and that everything goes your way. Cheers!" With that, he led them in draining his cup.

"Good wine! No wonder it's the national liquor. It's so rich and fragrant, yet smooth and mellow on the tongue. With wine this good, we absolutely have to drink until we're drunk tonight!" Old Wu exclaimed, swaying his head.

Sister-in-law Wu immediately reached over and twisted Old Wu's ear. "I'll have you drink until you're drunk! What did you promise me before?"

"Ow! Ow! My dear wife, I'll definitely be careful later. Could you let go first? Look, everyone's watching." Old Wu grimaced in pain.

Sister-in-law Wu released his ear and said sternly, "Fine. Remember what you said. Otherwise, don't blame me for enforcing the family rules."

Old Wu nodded repeatedly with a thoroughly depressed look. Seeing this, everyone secretly laughed.

The dishes here were indeed exceptional. Everyone praised them enthusiastically as they ate. They chatted over their meal, and the atmosphere was lively throughout.