Chapter 92

After comforting the fuming Old Wang, Wang Yong prepared to go to the village committee to discuss the installation of tap water and hot springs in the village with his uncle.

At this moment, his phone suddenly rang. Wang Yong answered the call while waving goodbye to Old Wang and walked out.

"Hey! Wang Yong, I’m getting married on the third of this month. Get your red envelope ready!"

Wang Yong was taken aback, then replied, "Sure, no problem. How much do you want?"

"Hehe, sure, you’re really turning over a new leaf, aren’t you? You’re being quite generous?"

"Cut the crap. I’ll come early to help you. How about the first?"

"No need. I’m planning to book a hotel in the city for a few tables. You can come early on the third or the second."

"Alright. Which hotel?"

"International Hotel. The boss has booked the whole place. We have fifty tables, but I doubt they’ll all be filled."

"Wow, the boss is really generous! That’s the best hotel around here, isn’t it? It’s hard to book, right?"

"Not really, it’s all arranged by the boss. Hey, wait a moment, I need to take another call."

After hanging up, Wang Yong thought about what else he could give the couple besides the red envelope. While thinking, he walked on.

He hadn’t walked far when he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Wang Yong!"

Wang Yong looked in the direction of the voice and saw Fatso waddling over. It wasn’t really running, more like a brisk walk.

When Fatso reached Wang Yong, he didn’t say anything at first, just panted heavily. After catching his breath, he finally spoke.

"Phew! I’m exhausted!"

Wang Yong, seeing Fatso still panting, shook his head and said, "Fatso, you really need to lose some weight. You’re out of breath after just a short walk. I wonder how you manage with Xiao Qiao at night..."

Fatso quickly covered Wang Yong’s mouth with his fat hand.

"How can you talk like that? You’re the village chief, a government official, and you have no manners?"

"Do you have manners? You’re always late and leave early. What are you doing here today? Did you run out of food at home?"

"Getting food was just a side task. Today, I mainly came to count how many households in your village want to install internet cables."

"Install internet cables?"

"Right. Your uncle called me and said many people in the village want to install internet cables. He asked me to come and discuss it, and also explain the costs and procedures. Didn’t you know about this? You’re really not doing your job properly. What do you do all day? Aren’t you letting down the state and the people’s trust?..." Fatso seized on Wang Yong’s mistake and started scolding him.

Wang Yong was about to retort when his phone rang again. It was Zhuang Yaosheng.

"It’s Zhuang Yaosheng, he’s getting married on the third." Wang Yong explained to Fatso before answering the call.

"Wang Yong, you and Fatso come to the city tomorrow. I’m entrusting you two with the task of picking up the bride."

"No problem, we’ll handle the wedding car! We’ll definitely give you face!" Fatso said loudly in Wang Yong’s ear, deliberately making a lot of noise that made Wang Yong’s ears ring.

Wang Yong glared at Fatso, who was still catching his breath, and heard Zhuang Yaosheng say, "Hehe, this fatso is really helpful! But no need. I’ve already found six Audis, and we’ll use the boss’s father’s Mercedes as the wedding car."

"Don’t regret it!" Fatso snatched the phone, walked to the side, and started talking to Zhuang Yaosheng, gesturing wildly. Wang Yong could guess he was boasting about his own cars.

Sure enough, after three minutes, Fatso came back, handed the phone to Wang Yong, and quickly hid to the side. Wang Yong, seeing his cautious demeanor, smiled bitterly and answered the call.

"Hey! Old Two."

"Old Three, is what Fatso said true? Did you really recognize a very rich godmother?"

This guy was more curious than surprised. Wang Yong hadn’t realized he was so gossipy.

"Cut the crap. On your wedding day, I’ll get my godmother’s Rolls-Royce to be your wedding car. It’s a custom-made, extended Silver Angel! How’s that for face?"

"Damn, why didn’t you say that earlier? It’s settled then! Bring the car tomorrow so I can experience it first!"

"Calm down! Why can’t you ever calm down? I’ll bring the car on your wedding day. Why the rush?"

"No way, you have to bring the car tomorrow. We need to familiarize ourselves with the route and do a rehearsal. Besides, it’s an extended version, and we need to check if it can pass through certain areas. If it can’t, you’ll be in trouble."

Wang Yong, hearing this, was also worried. If the car couldn’t pass through a certain intersection on the wedding day, they would really be in trouble.

After settling this, Wang Yong and Fatso went to the village committee. They were told that his uncle had already gone back, so they hurried to Wang Yong’s house. Fortunately, everyone was at home.

** and Xiao Xia were each holding a sloth and feeding them bananas. On the other side, his godmother, Auntie, and Aunt Li were taking care of the noisy Diao Zhu, Bao Bao, and Bei Bei. The old men, including Grandpa, were sitting on the side, watching the commotion with amusement.

Seeing Wang Yong and Fatso come in, his uncle quickly stood up and said, "Ah! You’re here. Come with me, I’ll make an announcement in the village to gather everyone at the village committee. You need to explain it to them."

Without giving Fatso a chance to rest, his uncle dragged him out. Seeing Fatso’s pitiful look, Wang Yong turned away and started talking to his godmother about Zhuang Yaosheng’s wedding car.

After hearing, his godmother made a call, said a few words, and hung up. "It’s settled. The driver will bring the car to the city tomorrow. You can contact him when the time comes. Now, go make dinner. I need to take care of these little ones."

Seeing her join the group of women, who were enthusiastically discussing family matters and gossip, Wang Yong couldn’t help but think how different she looked from the powerful businesswoman she usually was.

With a house full of people he couldn’t offend, Wang Yong had no choice but to go to the kitchen to prepare dinner for everyone. Fortunately, there were still many ingredients in the kitchen. Wang Yong also secretly picked some from the small world to give to Fatso and Xiao Xia later.

While he was busy, Zhuang Yaosheng called again to confirm. After Wang Yong reassured him, he hung up.

Wang Yong was showing off his cooking skills, using all the techniques he had learned over the years and from Old Zhang, to treat his future sister-in-law and her parents.

Thinking of Old Zhang, Wang Yong felt a bit resentful. The old man had taken Da Wei to a cooking competition and hadn’t returned after ten days, leaving Wang Yong to do all the cooking. However, the competition should be ending soon. With Da Wei, who was deeply in love, they would likely return as quickly as possible after the competition.

It was already dark by five o’clock, so they had to turn on the lights. When Fatso and his uncle returned, even Fatso, the foodie, couldn’t stop praising the abundance of the dinner.

The main dishes included steamed crabs (which Wang Yong had replaced with those from the small world), braised shrimp, sweet and sour carp, braised pork ribs, wild chicken stewed with mushrooms, and braised pork belly, which Wang Yong had learned from Old Zhang.

The braised pork belly was no simple dish. It was a deep red, emitting a rich aroma, and just by looking, you could tell it was tender and melt-in-your-mouth. Each piece of high-quality fatty pork had gone through five processes, with eighteen seasonings and three Chinese herbs, including ginseng, and had been stewed in a large iron pot for over two hours.

Besides these main dishes, there were also some home-style dishes: Kung Pao chicken, fish-flavored pork, stir-fried cabbage, mixed vegetables, stir-fried cured meat with garlic sprouts, pineapple sweet and sour pork, stir-fried eggs with bell peppers, Mapo tofu, wood ear mushrooms with pork, and Hangzhou-style beef with green peppers.

The table was filled with delicious dishes, and everyone ate heartily, especially with Fatso, the foodie, around. Even if you didn’t like a dish, seeing Fatso enjoy it so much, you couldn’t help but try it.

Even his godmother, who usually paid attention to her diet and ate little at night, overate.

After the meal, Wang Yong had to get Fatso to help clean up because everyone else was too full to move. They all lay on the sofas and chairs, like corpses. Fortunately, Wang Yong had prepared a bottle of hawthorn syrup to help everyone digest.

"How much should we give Zhuang Yaosheng for his wedding?" Wang Yong asked Fatso, who was washing the pots.

"Usually, it’s a hundred or two hundred. For closer relationships, it’s five hundred, and for the closest, a thousand. Given our relationship with him, especially you, who isn’t short of money, a thousand should be fine!" Fatso said without looking up, clearly having thought about it.

"Alright, a thousand it is. By the way, have you met his wife?"

"Met her. She’s just average, far from my wife’s level!" Fatso lifted his head, looking proud.

"Stop boasting! I don’t know what good fortune you had in a past life. How did Xiao Qiao end up with a pig like you?" Wang Yong said, feigning sympathy for Xiao Qiao.

Fatso glared at Wang Yong and said, "What’s wrong with me? I’m a high-quality, reliable man. Do you think it’s easy to find a man like me?"

"Ha!" Wang Yong couldn’t help but ridicule him. "You’re so conceited! Xiao Qiao must have been blind to marry you." (To be continued.)