"Cousin Wu Jun, what’s the theme of our dinner today?" Bian Xuedao asked, putting on an official air after taking the seat directly across from Wu Jun.
"Let’s eat first. We can talk while we eat." Wu Jun smiled, setting a few glasses in front of himself. He picked up a bottle of liquor and, with a CLICK, twisted off the cap to pour.
"You’re so clumsy. Give it here." Hearing the bottle open, Ma Siyu turned and took the bottle from Wu Jun’s hands, then began to pour the drinks.
"Qian Na, you have a driver’s license, so you can drive home. Let Bian Xuedao have some."
"Chao Yun, you drink too. I’ll drive your car and take you and your wife home later."
"Xingyang, and you two brothers-in-law—if you’re a man, you drink! The more the merrier. We ladies will stick to soft drinks." Ma Siyu poured a glass of liquor for every man at the table, leaving no one out.
"Alright, we’ll listen to Little Auntie!" Chen Xingyang’s eyes lit up at the sight of the expensive liquor. He’d been wondering how to ask Duan Xiangyan for permission, so he seized the opportunity Ma Siyu had given him and was the first to agree.
"Look at you, so eager." Duan Xiangyan laughed. "I don’t let you drink with just anyone, but you can have as much as you want with Wu Jun."
Chen Xingyang was slightly henpecked. Everyone present was family and knew this, but no one was laughing at him.
Duan Xiangyan was capable both at home and at work. In their seven or eight years of marriage, she had always worked hard without complaint. She’d endured many hardships with Chen Xingyang and was also devoted to his parents. You couldn’t find a single fault with her.
Chen Xingyang was honest but quiet and socially awkward, a man who only knew how to work. Duan Xiangyan, on the other hand, had a cheerful personality and handled social situations with grace. She was better suited to run the household than he was.
Wu Jun smiled and teased, "Well then, thank you, sister, for making an exception."
Ma Chaoyun and the other men at the table had no objections. They each took a glass and set it in front of them.
"In that case, I’ll have a little today too." Bian Xuedao had been planning to go night fishing later and wasn’t going to drink. But after seeing the expensive liquor, which must have cost over a thousand yuan, all thoughts of fishing vanished from his mind.
After pouring the liquor, Ma Siyu poured soft drinks for the women, taking on the role of hostess for the evening’s host, Wu Jun.
"Come on, come on, don’t just stare. Let’s all raise our glasses and claim our drinks." After pouring for everyone, Ma Siyu got the drinking started.
Duan Xiangyan raised her glass and said, "For the first toast, let’s thank Wu Jun for his hospitality today."
"Yes, thank you, Wu Jun, for your hospitality," Dong Lizhu seconded.
Wu Jun said, "No need for all the formalities. Everyone’s usually so busy, and it’s rare for us to get together like this. Treat it like a family visit during the New Year. Don’t be formal. Aside from Chen Meng, I’m the youngest one here, so I’ll show my respect by finishing my glass first. The rest of you can drink as you please."
After speaking, Wu Jun tilted his chin up slightly and downed his glass in one go.
Everyone present knew Wu Jun could hold his liquor. Even though it was good stuff, no one dared to down their first glass like he did. They all took sips of varying sizes, according to their own tolerance.
"Uncle Wu Jun, cheers!" Chen Meng raised her bottle of Minute Maid Pulpy and clinked it with Wu Jun’s glass from afar.
"You little rascal, so precocious. What’s this ’cheers’ business? Drink less of that. You’re only allowed one bottle tonight, and that’s it when it’s gone." Ma Chunmei laughed and patted her granddaughter on the back, exposing her little scheme. Everyone roared with laughter. The little girl stuck out her tongue and took a small sip.
"Eat, eat! There’s a whole table full of food. If we don’t get started, we won’t be able to finish it all." After the laughter died down, Ma Siyu urged everyone to start eating.
"Old Auntie, I want some lotus root! I love lotus root the most!" Chen Meng stretched out her little arm, pointing at the sweet and sour lotus root slices in front of Ma Siyu.
Hearing Chen Meng call her that, Ma Siyu broke into a cold sweat. ’I’m a beautiful young maiden who’s never even had a boyfriend, and she’s calling me *Old Auntie*!’
"What lotus root? Don’t you know eating it will make you ugly?" Wu Jun, who was sitting right next to Ma Siyu, fell prey to her. Poking his cheek with her finger, she began to scare the little girl. "Look at him. He used to be adorable when he was little, a real heartthrob. And look at him now! This is what happens when you eat this stuff."
"What happened to him?" Little Chen Meng blinked her big, round eyes and said with a serious expression, "Uncle Wu Jun grew up to be one of those rich, handsome guys from the TV dramas."
"HAHAHA..." The little girl’s words made everyone howl with laughter. Duan Xiangyan lovingly stroked her daughter’s head. ’Kids sure do say the darndest things.’
"See? Our Meng Meng is the honest one. This dish is yours. No one is allowed to take it from Meng Meng tonight." Wu Jun swatted away the finger on his cheek with a look of disgust. Wiping his face with a napkin, he spun the plate of sweet and sour lotus root slices over to Chen Meng. "Meng Meng, take the dish."
"Thank you, Uncle Wu Jun." Chen Meng’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. She reached out her little hands to take the dish, then turned to Duan Xiangyan and asked, "Mom, can I?"
"Uncle Wu Jun has spoken, so of course you can." Duan Xiangyan wasn’t about to disrespect Wu Jun’s gesture. She smiled and helped her daughter move the dish in front of her.
The sweet and sour lotus root was a delicate dish, and the portion was small. Chen Meng loved lotus root, and despite her small size, she could easily finish the whole plate by herself so it wouldn’t go to waste.
"Sigh, sigh, sigh," Ma Siyu let out three sighs in a row. "The aesthetic sense of kids born after 2010 is just... it’s just so bizarre!"
Little Chen Meng’s interruption made the atmosphere even more lighthearted and cheerful.
The men—Wu Jun, Chen Xingyang, and their uncles and brothers-in-law—kept the drinks flowing, while Ma Siyu made sure everyone else had their soft drinks.
After a few rounds of drinks and several courses, Wu Jun got to the point. "I’ve called everyone here today for just one thing."
Hearing that Wu Jun was about to get down to business, everyone stopped eating. Even little Chen Meng stared at Wu Jun without blinking, as quiet as a student in a classroom.
Seeing everyone waiting for him to continue, Wu Jun didn’t keep them in suspense. "Tomorrow, those of you who need to quit your jobs, quit. Those who need to close your shops, close them. From now on, you’ll all work with me. I guarantee every one of you will earn more money than you’re making now."
Thanks to Chen Xingyang and Duan Xiangyan, his first aunt’s family all knew what Wu Jun had been up to recently. They also knew his business was booming, so his words were very tempting.
Ma Chunmei and her husband, Chen Xuehai, ran a breakfast shop, working from dawn till dusk. Together, they didn’t make much in a month. Their own son and daughter-in-law had been working with Wu Jun, and in less than a month, his daughter-in-law calculated that they had already earned nearly 50,000 yuan. It was much more than they made at their old jobs. Working for Wu Jun would definitely be better than running the breakfast shop.
"Alright, Wu Jun. Auntie will listen to you. I’ll close the breakfast shop tomorrow and work with you." Ma Chunmei was decisive. Without even asking what the work was, she agreed on the spot.
"Count me in, too." Dong Lizhu had been unemployed for a while and hadn’t found a suitable job yet. Seeing Wu Jun recruiting everyone, she took the opportunity to agree as well.
His second aunt’s family had had less contact with Wu Jun recently. Only his cousin Qian Na knew he was distributing a certain brand of rice; the others knew nothing. They were a bit hesitant about his proposal.
Her husband, Bian Xuedao, in particular, strongly disagreed with Wu Jun’s words.
’Did I not fight my way through an army of thousands, practically beating my head against a wall to get into the system? It wasn’t easy! And you want me to just quit with a single word?’
’Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into the system?!’
"Wu Jun, what exactly is it we’d be doing with you?" Bian Xuedao took a cigarette from his pack, lit it, and asked casually.
Wu Jun said, "You’d be selling rice with me."
Bian Xuedao: "..."
’Give up a perfectly good civil servant job to go sell rice with you?’
’You’ve got to be kidding me!’