The boss naturally sent a box over and was busy cutting the braised dishes. Luo Yuzhu had already gone over to pick the vegetables.

"I really can't drink. I've quit drinking. I'll definitely get drunk after drinking a box of wine." The fat man said seriously.

Tang Xiaobao laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? If you get drunk, just come back to the hotel with me. I won't throw you out on the street."

The fat man wanted to say something else.

"Hey Fatty, we're still brothers, aren't we? How did you become like this? You weren't so fussy before!"

The fat man hesitated and finally muttered, "I didn't have enough money at that time, so you paid the bill."

"When did I say that you must pay the bill? We are brothers, so I have to pay for this." Tang Xiaobao smiled.

Luo Yuzhu came back and chuckled, "I think I should pay the bill."

"No, that won't work. You are my brother's wife. How can I let you pay the bill?" said the fat man.

Luo Yuzhu's face turned red.

Tang Xiaobao quickly said, "Hey, hey, hey, don't mess around with me. This is the niece of a friend of mine. She happens to be traveling here these days."

"Hehe, Brother Tang is my adopted brother, and I am his adopted sister. Brother Xiang, please don't misunderstand." Luo Yuzhu also said.

Sister?

The fat man looked at Tang Xiaobao with contempt.

Tang Xiaobao felt very aggrieved, but he could not explain any more, so he could only nod and agree.

"Come on, come on, drink." Tang Xiaobao poured the wine and asked Luo Yuzhu, "Do you want to drink?"

"No." Luo Yuzhu smiled and said, "It looks like you'll all be drunk soon. I have to stay sober. By the way, Brother Tang, you drank with Secretary Yuan last night, so don't drink too much."

The fat man was stunned: "Which Secretary Yuan?"

Tang Xiaobao smiled and said, "The secretary of the county government."

The fat man said "oh" with an unnatural expression.

"Don't worry, although I drank a little, these few bottles of beer are still fine. Even if I get drunk, it's worth it to accompany my brothers." Tang Xiaobao raised his glass with a smile: "Come on, let's go first."

The two of them had a drink.

The fat man kept coughing.

"Have a cold?"

"Yes, my throat feels a little uncomfortable, so why don't I not drink?" the fat man said quickly.

Tang Xiaobao rolled his eyes at the fat man and said, "Get lost. Even if you are sick, come back to me and I promise to cure you." Wow, the miracle doctor spoke so confidently.

After that, he started pouring wine again and urged the fat man: "Hurry up and pour the wine. You are the master, and you have to let me pour you wine. Damn it, don't even think about slipping away tonight. Six bottles of wine each, not a single bottle less."

"Do you really want to drink?" The fat man said with a bitter face.

“You must drink it!”

"Okay, I'll drink with you then!"

The fat man also became generous. Maybe he had something on his mind. This was a rare opportunity, so he took the initiative to pour wine and drank a glass with Tang Xiaobao.

Next, the food arrived.

The three of them ate and chatted, and of course, they didn't stop drinking.

Tang Xiaobao knew the fat man's alcohol tolerance. He could only drink four bottles of wine at most, and now he had six bottles, which was just enough to make him drunk.

It’s good to be drunk, because only when you are drunk can you speak the truth.

Tang Xiaobao naturally wanted to help his brother when he was in trouble, but the fat man refused to say anything, so he had no choice but to use this method.

Sure enough, after four bottles of wine, the fat man's face turned red and he started talking more.

Tang Xiaobao laughed inwardly, then he started to change the subject to Fatty, and casually asked, "Have you been selling books all year?"

"No, it's only been sold for a few months." said the fat man.

"Why don't you help your parents take care of the business? Isn't your family business doing well?"

"Bullshit! That was in the past. Now we are heavily in debt. The creditors are going to come and close the store these days." The fat man complained.

After saying that, he took the initiative to pour the wine and said, "Come, drink!"

Tang Xiaobao drank another bottle with him.

"Why did your business suddenly go bad and you still owe others money?" Tang Xiaobao asked curiously.

The fat man curled his lips and said, "I was tricked by someone. It was all that Lu Liang's fault."

"Green light?"

"Green Bright Decoration and Building Materials Company!"

"Failed the competition?"

“Shit!”

The fat man said dissatisfiedly: "Luliang is a newly opened building materials company. How can our business be as good as ours? After all, we are also locals in Tongjiang. After all these years, our network of contacts is much stronger than his."

"Then how could he be tricked?" Tang Xiaobao asked curiously.

"The boss of Luliang is called Peng Hui. He's related to Liu Qiang from our school. Originally, our two families kept to themselves, but one night, when we were out for a late-night snack, we ran into him. Liu Qiang was there too, and we ended up fighting after a disagreement. The police station later mediated the matter, and my parents came too. Seeing that they were acquaintances, they didn't bother with them and ended up settling the matter privately."

"Then what?"

The fat man took a sip of his wine and said, "Then I thought the matter was over, but who knew that not long after, a boss from the Shiniuzui Development Zone came to my dad and said he wanted to purchase a batch of materials. He didn't bargain with us and the two parties even signed a contract. It was a big deal. In the end, my dad had no choice but to borrow one million yuan with interest to buy the goods back. But who knew that they would find an excuse to break the contract."

Tang Xiaobao frowned: "Is there any penalty for breach of contract?"

"At the time, I didn't expect them to break the contract. They drafted the contract, and the penalty for breach of contract was only a symbolic 10,000 yuan. As a result, the goods were held up, and I couldn't return them. It wasn't a big deal at first, but since then, several of our family's original long-term customers have suddenly stopped buying our products. My dad asked about it, but they were vague and finally said that someone was putting pressure on them and there was nothing they could do."

The fat man drank a glass of wine, lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and started coughing again. He coughed non-stop, and his face turned red from coughing.

Tang Xiaobao quickly patted his back and took the cigarette and put it out: "If you can't smoke, then don't smoke."

"I'm fine." The fat man said, biting his lip.

Tang Xiaobao thought for a moment and said, "And then the bank started coming to collect the money?"

"Yes, at that time I was just thinking of a short-term loan. According to the contract, I would get the payment in a week. But who knew that I would be tricked and the creditor would come to collect the money. Oh, tomorrow, tomorrow morning. If I can't come up with another one million, they said that the store will belong to them. That's what was written in the agreement at that time." said the fat man.

Tang Xiaobao frowned and said, "It's not a big deal. You can't think of a solution with one million?"

"It's not easy to borrow money these days." The fat man smiled bitterly.

Tang Xiaobao was speechless.

Only then did he realize that ever since he became rich, he really had no concept of money. It seemed like his family couldn't even borrow a thousand yuan from anywhere before.

Sighing inwardly, Tang Xiaobao asked, "By the way, is your store still in the South Gate Building Materials Market?"

"Yes, Xiang's Building Materials." The fat man said casually.

Tang Xiaobao didn't ask any more questions and said, "Come on, have a drink."