Chapter Twenty-Two: Inviting Guests

  "What do you want, Zhang Ge?" Chu Chen thought of Zhang Guo's usual character of taking advantage of others and couldn't help but tease him.

  "That's for sure, it's rare to have such good jade, and it just happens to match the grade of my store. I'll give you 650,000, just transfer it to me." Zhang Guosheng pleaded with a bow.

  When it comes to price, Chu Chen stopped teasing him and thought for a while, feeling that the price was reasonable. If it were a finished carving work, the price should be around 750,000 to 800,000 yuan. Although the difference of 150,000 yuan seems like a lot, after calculating labor costs, store rent, and other miscellaneous expenses, the profit wouldn't be as much as imagined.

  Zhang Guosheng is a man who, although usually quite stingy and fond of taking advantage of others, is not hesitant to spend money when it comes to buying things. As he puts it himself, "good steel should be used on the blade", just like how Chu Chen won the jade from him through gambling, which was also something he had bought.

  Zhang Guosheng blinked his eyes and stared at Chu Chen, seeing him nodding his head, immediately beaming with joy and pulling him to the front desk to sign the transfer contract. Afterwards, he rushed to the bank to transfer the account, fortunately they made it in time, or else the bank would have closed.

  "After the transaction was completed, Chu Chen said to Li Guodong: "Li Ge, are you free tonight? Let's go have dinner together, I'll treat."

  Li Guodong hesitated and said: "Well, let me make a phone call first."

  After finishing speaking, he took out his mobile phone and stood in the corner to make a call. That exceptionally gentle appearance made Chu Chen's skin crawl with goosebumps.

  After about fifteen minutes, Li Guodong finally hung up the phone and walked in front of Chu Chen with a satisfied expression, saying: "Alright, let's go. Tonight, I'll make sure to bankrupt this country bumpkin."

  Chu Chen somewhat helplessly said to him: "I'm saying, you don't have to make a call like this, can't you consider other people's feelings? And after making such a long phone call, you didn't even invite her over together, are we still brothers or not?"

  Li Guodong heard him say that and felt a bit embarrassed: "This is not me being afraid of strangers, I'll definitely call her over after some time."

  "Look at you, you're not even sincere. And judging from the way you're on the phone, in the future you'll definitely be a hen-pecked husband. Who knows when you'll be able to take charge and invite her out to socialize with everyone?"

  Li Guodong did not accept Chu Chen's statement, so he argued with him, and the two of them walked to the private restaurant they had agreed on, laughing and talking.

  Chu Chen and the other person followed the waiter to a private room he had booked in advance, where Zhou Wenping and the others were already gathered, drinking tea and chatting.

  "Sorry for keeping everyone waiting." Chu Chen apologized as soon as he came in.

  Zhou Wenping smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, isn't it said that the host is always the last to arrive? However, since you're late, you'll have to drink three cups of wine as a penalty later."

  "That's right, penalty!" Old Five shouted from the side

  Chu Chen waved his hand and laughed: "No problem, we won't leave tonight until we're drunk."

  "No, Mom said Dad got drunk and will get angry!" a little girl on the side shouted.

  Li Guodong burst out laughing and said: "Haha, Old Five, it seems that even your daughter knows all about your drinking habits!"

  That little girl just now is Old Five's daughter, named Xiao Yi, who is only four years old this year.

  Lao Wu awkwardly said: "Little girl is talking nonsense."

  "I didn't!" Little Yi pouted and said angrily, that expression was really too cute.

  "Alright, alright, don't be angry with your dad anymore, look what this is?" After finishing speaking, Chu Chen smiled and took out three fluffy toys.

  "Oh! How cute little bear (little pig)!" The three children present all ran to him as they were quite familiar with Chu Chen.

  Apart from Lao Wu's daughter Xiao Yi, the other two children are Zhou Wenping's twins, a boy and a girl, both five years old. The boy is called Wen Cong and the girl is called Wen Hui.

  "Hey, Wen Cong holds Little Pig, Xi and Wen Hui hold Little Bear."

  Zhou Wencong said with some resentment after receiving the little pig: "Little Xun uncle, why do I have to take the little pig?"

  Chu Chen smiled and stroked Zhou Wencong's head, saying: "Little Cong, you're really too thin. Look at your small arms and legs. A man should be strong, so Uncle will give you a little pig to raise. You can eat more like the little pig and become stronger."

  The real situation was not what Chu Chen said, but at the time he bought toys, he thought a boy holding a small bear was too girly, and a small pig would be more suitable.

  Children are more easily deceived. Zhou Wenchong looked at his own arms and legs, with a thoughtful expression, and then seemed to have understood, excitedly saying: "So that's how it is! From now on, I must learn from Little Pig."

  Everyone present burst out laughing at this, and Zhou Wen pretended to be angry, saying: "Good, when my son really becomes a pig, I'll settle the score with you."

  "Then let him lose weight at that time."

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

  "Zhou Sao, I bought you a few stalks of wild ginseng, take it often to supplement your health."

  After giving birth to two children, Zhou Shu fell seriously ill and after recovering, she developed a disease due to low immunity. Because of her low immunity, she would easily fall ill with various diseases. In the past, no matter what season it was, she had to wear a mask when going out. Zhou Wenping took her to many hospitals, but none of them could cure her.

  Later, she found a hospital in Beijing and finally had a treatment plan. After several years of treatment, she improved a lot, was rarely sick, and no longer needed to wear a mask when going out. However, the doctor suggested that she should take some immune-boosting supplements regularly.

  He had to bear the medical expenses, the cost of daily supplements, and the necessary living expenses for his family, all of which weighed heavily on Zhou Wenping's shoulders. So, Chu Chen would occasionally send some supplements, buy toys for the two children, and offer help within her power as a friend.

  Then Chu Chen took out a small gift box and handed it to Lao Wu's wife, jokingly saying: "Sister-in-law, you also have a share, otherwise Lao Wu will say that I am thick-skinned and thin-hearted again."

  The two ladies declined repeatedly, and finally had no choice but to accept with some embarrassment, saying: "How can we possibly accept this!"

  "Don't be shy, he just won 650,000 yuan from betting on stones, now he's a small-time rich guy."

  Li Guodong sipped his tea while recounting the scene of Chu Chen's good luck in gambling on stones, and everyone was amazed by Chu Chen's good fortune.

  "Wow, Xiao Chuan, you're on a roll! Yesterday, you just picked up a windfall of 500,000 and today you won another 650,000 from betting on stones. You're not just rich, you're filthy rich now!" Lao Wu said with envy.

  "Ah, Xiao Chuan, you actually picked up 500,000 yuan earlier and didn't tell me, are you afraid that I'll make you go bankrupt today?!" Li Guodong said with an exaggerated expression, gesticulating wildly.

  "It's all luck! It's all luck!" Chu Chen waved his hand and then told everyone about the process of picking up the leak.

  "Xiao Chen, your luck is one aspect, but the most important thing is that you are good at thinking. If it were me, I wouldn't have noticed those details." Zhou Wenping said calmly.

  Everyone listened to what Zhou Wenping said and nodded in agreement.

  "I'm telling you all, we're here to eat, not to chat, hurry up and order!" Chu Chen reminded everyone afterwards, seeing that no one had mentioned ordering yet.

  This reminder caused everyone to react and laugh as they took over the menu and started looking at it.

  Everyone opened the menu and was shocked by the prices, which were in the hundreds or even thousands of yuan. Even Li Guodong, who had been shouting about eating Chu Quan to bankruptcy just now, was also stunned.

  "Xiao Chen, isn't this place a bit too expensive? Why don't we change to another place?" Zhou Shu said.

  Chu Chen smiled and said to everyone: "Don't worry, please have a meal, I can still afford it. At worst, I'll just eat back the money I won earlier. Come on, everyone order a dish."

  Everyone saw Chu Chen's words, but couldn't help but pick and choose dishes, finally adding up the total, as expected, they were all relatively cheap dishes. So Chu Chen ordered a few more expensive dishes, some desserts that kids like to eat, and brought out a few bottles of drinks and Maotai.

  After the waiter left, Li Guodong smiled and said: "Well done, Xiao Chuan, you're sending yourself to our doorstep to fight against local tyrants and landlords!"

  Chu Chen joked: "No way, I have too much money and don't know what to do."

  Everyone who heard it couldn't help but laugh happily.

  Chu Chen liked this private dish restaurant for two reasons, one is that the price is reasonable, and the other is that the dishes are served quickly. The waiters went down for a few minutes, and the dishes they ordered were on the table one after another.

  Chu Chen poured wine, water and drinks for everyone, raised his glass and said: "It's rare for everyone to gather like this. I just wish you all good health, smooth careers, everything goes as desired, cheers!" After finishing, he took the lead and drank it in one gulp.

  "Good wine! It's indeed the national liquor, truly mellow and fragrant, soft and smooth to the palate. Such good wine, tonight I must drink till I'm drunk!" Old Five exclaimed with a shake of his head.

  Sister-in-law saw this and went up to pinch Old Five's ear, saying: "I told you not to get drunk and come back! What did you promise me before!"

  "Ow! Ow! Madam, I'm sure you'll notice in a moment, can't you please let go of my hand? Everyone is watching." Lao Wu said with a pained expression.

  "Alright, remember what you said. Otherwise, don't blame me for being strict with household rules."

  Lao Wu nodded repeatedly with a gloomy face, and everyone who saw this couldn't help but secretly laugh.

  The dishes here are indeed extraordinary, and everyone who has eaten them can't help but praise them. They eat while chatting, and the atmosphere is very lively.