Chapter 5 The Fifth Day After Stopping Running The Fifth Day After Stopping Running

Chapter 5 The Fifth Day After Stopping Running The Fifth Day After Stopping Running

"Brother Zheng, eat, eat, don't be shy with me."

Xiao Dongbei drank a few glasses of wine, his face flushed, and he looked extremely excited, constantly urging everyone to eat seafood.

Wen Chan slowly sipped her porridge, glancing occasionally at Chen Bozheng, who was holding a cigarette beside her. Chen Bozheng's face was unreadable as he said to Xiao Dongbei, "I'm not being polite with you, I'm eating. By the way, why didn't your wife come?"

Logically speaking, when relatives and friends come to visit, even if they are not invited to your home, the couple should both show up to entertain the guests; only then can it be considered proper.

Chen Bozheng had always thought that Xiao Dongbei's wife would arrive later, but now they had eaten half of their meal and still hadn't seen her.

He had to ask this question, not only to give himself an explanation, but also to give Lin Qingfeng and the others an explanation.

A look of panic flashed across Xiao Dongbei's face. He coughed, picked up the wine glass on the table, and took a big gulp. "What is she doing here? She's a woman, and she can't drink or handle things. I was afraid that everyone would feel uncomfortable with her here, so I let her stay home to take care of the children."

Lin Qingfeng chuckled, a hint of sarcasm in his smile. "Little Northeast, this isn't our style. When we go out to eat, we never force women to drink with us. Zheng Ge isn't that kind of person either."

Xiao Dongbei waved his hand, making a large gesture in the air, "You don't understand, the women here in Shenzhen are different, unlike the generous and open-minded women in Beijing."

A cold smile flickered across Wen Chan's lips.

Although the others present remained silent, they all had a pretty good idea that Xiao Dongbei was just trying to fool them.

Shenzhen is now one of the best-performing economic centers in China. The women here are much more ambitious and capable than the men. Drinking contests and attending drinking parties are nothing compared to the old days when people were expected to stay at home all the time.

Chen Bo took a deep drag of his cigarette, looked at the monk, and the monk understood and took the things he had brought.

Chen Bo handed a large bag of gifts to Xiao Dongbei, saying, "We originally came to your house to give you the gifts, but since it's not convenient now, we'll just give them to you here. We bought you some things and some toys for your daughter. They're not worth much, so please take them."

Xiao Dongbei took the bag, glanced at it, and his eyes lit up when he saw Zhonghua and Wuliangye liquor inside. "Brother Zheng, why are you so polite? You came all this way, why did you bring anything?"

"It's not much money." Chen Bo stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and got down to business. "But I want to tell you something. I want to borrow 80,000 yuan from you. I'll pay you back in two months, and the interest will be calculated according to the market rate."

The smile on Xiao Dongbei's face froze.

The slight intoxication in his eyes dissipated like mist, only to gradually return. He let out a burp and said, "Brother Zheng, you really know how to joke with me. Who are you to need to borrow money from me?"

Lin Qingfeng sneered, "Didn't you brag before about living in a small villa, driving two Santanas, and your wife's family owning a factory? What, you don't even have 80,000 yuan?"

“Brother Feng, you said I was just bragging, how come you still believe me?” Xiao Dongbei hung on the chair like he had no bones. He raised his index finger. “This Santana and the factory are real, but they belong to my father-in-law. I’ve only saved one or two thousand yuan so far. This time, to entertain you, I’m going all out and have taken out all my savings. Otherwise, I could have helped Brother Zheng out.”

Lin Qingfeng and the others looked very grim.

The fat man slammed his hand on the table. "Just tell me if you're going to lend it or not. Why all the nonsense? When you ran away, you asked Brother Zheng for three thousand. Did he give you this much of a lecture?"

"Fatty." Chen Bo turned his head and gestured to Fatty, "We're all brothers, there's no need to say these things."

"Brother Zheng, but he's so disloyal!" The fat man was so angry that his face turned red, and the veins on his forehead bulged out, turning red all the way down to his neck.

Wen Chan watched from the side, worried that the fat man would explode with anger.

She couldn't tell that the fat man, who seemed to have the best temper, actually had the biggest reaction.

"Who says I'm not loyal? If I had the money, would I refuse to lend it?"

Xiao Dongbei got angry, "If I weren't loyal, would I have gone to such lengths to treat you to a meal that costs over a thousand yuan tonight?"

A cold smile flashed across Wen Chan's face.

Chen Bo pressed down on Xiao Dongbei, who was standing up. "Alright, what did I say? Since you're not available, there's nothing more to say. As your brother, I can't force you. Consider tonight's meal as a debt you owe me, and we'll call it even."

"Brother Zheng, I didn't..."

Xiao Dongbei seemed to want to say something more.

Chen Bo patted him on the shoulder, picked up the wine glass on the table, and said, "I won't say anything more, it's all in this wine."

He gulped it down in one go, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

For the rest of the meal, no one had much of an appetite.

After a while, Chen Bo looked at Wen Chan, and for some reason, Wen Chan understood what he meant and yawned.

A faint smile flickered in Chen Bozheng's eyes. He turned to Xiao Dongbei, who was eating peanuts with his head down, and said, "Your sister-in-law is sleepy, so we'll be going now. We'll contact you again when we have time."

Chen Bo stood up and waved to the crowd.

The monks all stood up as well.

Xiao Dongbei followed after them, carrying the bag of things. "Brother Zheng, let me see you off. You should take this bag of things back with you."

Seeing that the monk's face had darkened, Wen Chan stepped forward and took it directly.

Chen Bo waved his hand: "Alright, go back. This dinner was so expensive tonight, remember to pack it up."

They took the bus back.

The joy they had felt earlier vanished, replaced by a dark and angry expression. People on the bus avoided them.

After returning, Lin Qingfeng couldn't help but speak first: "I was wondering why that old codger was suddenly so generous. Zheng Ge, he must have guessed that we wanted something from him, so he pretended to be generous to shut us up!"

Wen Chan thought to herself, "Lin Qingfeng is quite clever."

As the saying goes, those who offer unsolicited favors are either treacherous or thieves.

Seafood restaurants are usually places you only go to when you're entertaining guests. If you really consider Chen Bozheng and the others your brothers, and Xiao Dongbei invites them home, even if you just cook a few simple home-style dishes, no one will say anything.

But he deliberately chose to set the event at a seafood restaurant and generously treated everyone to grouper, clearly indicating that he had no intention of helping and was therefore behaving generously in this matter.

"If it weren't for my older brother's help back then, would he be where he is today?" The fat man was still furious and punched the wall.

Chen Bozheng calmly said, "You can't force a cow to drink water if it doesn't want to. Forget it, just consider it a lesson learned. We'll stop having this brother from now on. Go to sleep, it's nothing serious."

"Brother Zheng, about the money..."

The stick was filled with worry.

Chen Bozheng said, "I'll take care of the money. Don't worry, we'll find a way."

Lin Qingfeng and the others seemed to trust Chen Bozheng and stopped asking questions. Although they were still cursing at Xiao Dongbei, the fat man even said he wanted to change his name, saying that he and Xiao Dongbei were both from Northeast China. He had given Xiao Dongbei this nickname back then, but now Xiao Dongbei didn't deserve to be called that name and should be called Little Japan.

Wen Chan, who was listening nearby, almost died laughing.

Chen Bo glared at her.

Wen Chan pursed her lips and said, "Well, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed."

Chen Bozheng hummed in agreement.

Before Wen Chan went to sleep, she saw Chen Bo peeling ginger for Fatty in the yard. When she got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she saw that he was still there.

Given Wen Chan's personality, she wouldn't normally be so talkative as to care about others; she has always believed in self-preservation. But now, for some reason, she suddenly became curious.

"Still awake? Aren't you afraid of heart pain tomorrow?"

Chen Bo asked the question without even turning his head.

He filled both buckets with peeled ginger.

Wen Chan pulled over a small stool next to him and sat down. "How did you know it was me?"

Chen Bo turned to look at her, then pointed to her feet, "Fatty and the others don't make as light a sound as you."

Wen Chan looked at her feet and thought about Fatty and the others. It was true; those men made a lot of noise when they talked and walked, as if they wanted the whole world to hear them.

Thankfully, Wen Chan sleeps well now; otherwise, living next to these people, how could she possibly fall asleep?

"Are you having trouble sleeping or what?" Wen Chan glanced at him. "It's already past one o'clock."

Chen Bozheng said directly, "I can't sleep."

Wen Chan glanced at him, unsure of Chen Bozheng's interpretation. He said calmly, "Don't worry, I have ideas about the money."

"What's your idea, underground boxing?" Wen Chan blurted out.

Chen Bozheng paused, looked at her in surprise, seemingly wondering how she knew, then nodded and said, "There are quite a few people in Shenzhen who like to watch boxing. It's not easy for me to borrow money, but if I go to a boxing match, I can earn at least five or six thousand per match. If I fight a few matches, I can raise enough. How about that? It's a quick way to make money, right? Go to sleep now and stop worrying."

If Wen Chan is truly the original form, she might have been fooled.

The original owner of this body had a heart condition since childhood and was initially well protected by her father, and later by her brother.

Although she wasn't exactly well-fed and clothed, she never had any worries or troubles growing up. Even when her brother got into a fight and was stabbed, he entrusted his sister to Chen Bozheng before he died.

But Wen Chan was different. In her previous life, she had a gambling father who had seen all sorts of messy and disgusting things. After studying abroad on a full scholarship and working on Wall Street, she witnessed the wonders of the world.

Fighting in underground boxing matches has been a common practice both domestically and internationally throughout history. It's a quick way to make money, but it's extremely risky and almost guaranteed to result in injury.

Some people inevitably break their arms and legs after fighting in an underground boxing match. If they run into some big boss with eccentric tastes who makes the boxer fight against vicious dogs or wolves, they might lose half their life.

Wen Chan knew that Chen Bozheng would eventually overcome this difficulty, but she didn't want to see him take the risk.

She knew Chen Bozheng's personality; there was nothing she could do about it. Even if she tried to stop him, he wouldn't listen.

That's just how this man is; once he's made up his mind, he'll never turn back.

Seemingly worried that Wen Chan might be in a bad mood, the next day when Wen Chan woke up, Fatty came to find her and said that Chen Bozheng wanted them to go buy soy milk and fried dough sticks together.

Around 7 a.m., the streets were already packed with people.

The Luohu District vegetable market was packed with vendors, with stalls even extending onto the road, leaving only a narrow aisle in the middle that could barely accommodate two motorcycles.

"Fruit, fresh fruit, come and buy some..."

"Pork belly, spare ribs, local pork, 2.5 yuan per pound..."

Wen Chan was intimidated by the sheer number of people in the market and said to the fat man, "Go in and buy what you need. I'll wait for you here."

The fat man knew she wasn't in good health, so he pointed to the newsstand and said, "Then, sister-in-law, you go wait over there. Watch out for pickpockets and motorcycle gangs."

"knew."

Wen Chan agreed and walked over to the newsstand. Newsstands gradually decreased in later generations, but in this era, they were a newly emerging blue ocean industry. A newsstand could earn at least 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a year by selling newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, and various other services.

This is an industry where you can make a fortune quietly. As for why Wen Chan knew this, it was because of her scumbag father, who regretted selling the newsstand business to someone else in his past life. He said that the person who bought the newsstand used this business to bring all his relatives to Beijing to open newsstands, buy houses and settle down in Beijing, and even benefited from the demolition and relocation in the early 2000s. Basically, they all became extremely rich.

At this time of day, there are quite a few people in front of the newsstand, mostly office workers, but also many who come to buy groceries and casually glance at the newspaper.

"What's in the newspaper today?" an older woman asked the shop owner as she carried groceries over, casually flipping through the newspaper.

The boss, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said, "What kind of news could there be? Well, the biggest news is that the newspapers are reminding people that the government bonds are about to mature, and citizens can use them to withdraw money and interest from the bank."

"Damn it, what government bonds? Our company made us buy a bunch of these, and we sold them off cheaply a long time ago. These deadbeat companies don't give out benefits, but they give out these worthless things. We only make 300 yuan a month, and they still insist on assigning us these tasks."

The older woman complained incessantly.

Wen Chan suddenly paused, and immediately said to the shopkeeper, "Which newspaper has news about government bonds? Please get it for me."

The shop owner paused for a moment, then looked down and found a newspaper, handing it to Wen Chan.

This newspaper was probably a tabloid, and there wasn't any particularly big news in it. Wen Chan quickly found the news article that notified citizens to exchange their government bonds.

Her eyes lit up.

"Sister-in-law, I'm back. Didn't you have to wait long?"

The fat man, panting, squeezed his way back through the crowd carrying a bag of soy milk and fried dough sticks.

He saw Wen Chan holding a newspaper and laughed, "Why are you buying a newspaper? What news is in it?"

"I have a secret recipe for getting rich, do you want it?" Wen Chan was in a great mood and even had the mood to joke with the fat man.

The fat man chuckled, "Such a good thing? If there really were a secret to getting rich, it would be in the newspapers."

Wen Chan smiled but didn't say anything.

A note from the author:

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