"Oh dear, look at you, so timid. I experienced it firsthand, and I didn't suffer any lasting effects." Xiao Mengting never expected that Qin Xiaoyu, who seemed so daring, would have this problem.

"Go sit in the private room quickly," Uncle urged.

Qin Xiaoyu and the others were in a private box, and they were sitting in the one closest to the stage.

The curtain to the private room had not yet been lifted. Xiao Mengting liked to keep things mysterious. The four of them sat down, with Qin Xiaoyu arranged in the front row next to Xiao Mengting, and Tang Long and Xiao Pang in the back. There was also a small table with fruit platters and tea.

Qin Xiaoyu felt much better after leaving the backstage area. She drank a few sips of tea and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a small handkerchief. Suddenly, she saw the curtain in front of her open and the drums and gongs on the stage sounding loudly, indicating that the show had started.

Tang Long is well-versed in traditional culture and interested in opera, often exchanging ideas with Xiao Mengting. Qin Xiaoyu, however, felt exceptionally lonely in the bustling theater, her mind filled with the image of one person.

Because their martial uncle's performance was at the end, they couldn't leave early, and Qin Xiaoyu was already sitting on pins and needles.

"Auntie, why don't you go outside for some fresh air?" Tang Long noticed that Qin Xiaoyu couldn't sit still any longer.

"Okay, you see, I'll go out for a bit." Qin Xiaoyu felt like she had been granted a pardon and quickly ran out.

Tang Long was worried and was about to get up when Little Fatty stopped him.

"Go watch the show, I'm going out with Sister Xiaoyu, I can't sit still either."

The hall was empty; the staff had all locked the doors and gone inside to watch the play. Only a few large posters remained, with the one for my martial uncle standing out prominently.

Looking at his appearance, he bears a resemblance to Leslie Cheung. It turns out that men can be so alluring when playing women.

Qin Xiaoyu stood in front of the poster and looked at it carefully. When she saw Xiao Pang come out, she smiled.

"You don't need to come with me, I can manage on my own."

"I'm not keeping you company, I'm so bored. I don't understand it and I can't stand it." Little Fatty let out a long sigh.

"Little Fatty, you go wherever you can make money. You keep going back and forth, and in the end you ended up in the antique business. You don't even listen to operas. How do you know anything about cultural relics?" Qin Xiaoyu also found it amusing.

"It's all fate. I met Tang Long because of Xiao Li," the chubby boy said with a smile.

Xiaoli was the darling of the family, especially at her grandmother's house, where she held the absolute power. Her grandmother passed down a family heirloom ruby ​​ring to her, but the careless child lost it.

Later, when the old lady asked, she was afraid of being scolded, so she begged Xiao Pang to go and find one. Xiao Pang found Tang Long through a business friend, and surprisingly, he actually managed to get one that was pretty good.

“I thought this kid was pretty capable, and he looked familiar. Later, when we talked, I remembered that when I was selling color TVs, I went to Hengchang every day, and he was helping me out.”

"More than a year has passed in the blink of an eye." Qin Xiaoyu was stunned again when she thought of when A Lei helped her through the difficult time.

"Sister Xiaoyu, where did A Lei go? I went to your house later, but I didn't see him." Little Fatty was still thinking about A Lei.

"I'm home." Qin Xiaoyu didn't want to say more.

"This guy has a history of this; he's not simple," Little Fatty remarked.

"How so?" Qin Xiaoyu suddenly remembered that no one had told her in detail what had happened when she was locked up. When she asked A Lei, he only said it was a minor matter.

Little Fatty still feels lingering fear when he thinks about what happened that day.

At that time, he had a girlfriend. Although they weren't talking about marriage, they were both fashionable people and inevitably did some secretive things. That night, they slept at Xiao Pang's own house.

Startled awake by a knock on the door in the middle of the night, Xiao Pang's first thought was that someone had come to catch him cheating, most likely the woman's parents. He was terrified; if he hadn't lived on the third floor, he would have climbed out the window.

As the door was kicked open, he and his girlfriend managed to put on their clothes.

"You're Little Fatty?" A Lei held up a military flashlight, shining the bright light directly into Little Fatty's face, making him unable to open his eyes.

"It's me, let's talk this out, big brother!" The chubby boy was so scared that he was about to kneel down.

"Did you sell a batch of color TVs to Hengchang Department Store in 1984?" A Lei asked bluntly.

"Yes, I sold it." That was Little Fatty's first pot of gold, so of course he wouldn't forget it.

"Is the invoice fake?"

"Brother, aren't those invoices all fake? Everyone knows they're all counterfeit goods. But their products are good, and there are no quality issues." Little Fatty felt wronged upon hearing this.

"Stop talking nonsense and just tell me if it's fake or not!" A Lei said expressionlessly.

"It's fake." Little Fatty knew when to back down.

Without saying much to him, A Lei gave a wink, and the two men in black grabbed Little Fatty and headed outside.

Little Fatty has always been quick-witted. He's never gotten into any fights, but he often gets into trouble when he's reselling things. Director Zhang's biggest headache is this son. He's never short of money, so why is he so obsessed with money?

Fortunately, Director Zhang still needed to spend money to get people out of trouble, so when Little Fatty was brought into the Cherokee, he started muttering that his father was the director of the power bureau and could get people out of trouble, asking A Lei to spare him and to name his price.

A Lei was driving himself, so he ignored him.

The man in black, annoyed, punched him, and he quieted down.

Little Fatty was on tenterhooks the whole way to Lei Bingzheng's house. The old man was exhausted from all the commotion and was so sleepy he was practically swaying back and forth.

"A thousand invoices?" Upon hearing what A Lei wanted, Lei Bingzheng immediately sobered up.

“I really can’t help you with this. It’s not like it’s abroad. It’s a planned economy now. All resources are centrally allocated by the state. How many color TVs can a province have? You want an invoice for a thousand units?” Lei Bingzheng shook his head repeatedly.

"I really want it?" Aree asked solemnly.

Little Fatty's inner thoughts: You think you can just have whatever you want? You're dreaming.

"Anyway, I don't have any here. Why don't you call your uncle and see if your aunt can help?" Lei Bingzheng went back to sleep, muttering to himself as he walked to the door, "Is it really worth it for a woman?"

Without the slightest hesitation, A Lei dialed the number. The call was so short that Xiao Pang felt it was a joke; he simply said he needed a thousand invoices, and then... nothing more.

Little Fatty was placed under house arrest in Lei Bingzheng's villa. He was well-fed and cared for, and no one told him how long he would be kept there.

He vaguely heard that something had happened to Qin Xiaoyu, and that was all he knew.

The next evening, Little Fatty was sitting on the sofa, half asleep and half awake, when he suddenly heard a noise outside.

The door opened, and A Lei barged in. He slammed a folder on the table and said to Little Fatty, "Go, turn yourself in!"

Xiao Pang opened the folder and was stunned; inside were a thousand invoices with consecutive numbers.

There really are a thousand!

"Is this fake?" Little Fatty was a little smug.

These days, coming up with a million or ten million is easier than coming up with a thousand invoices, especially in such a short time. Little Fatty was impressed.

When Little Fatty told this story, his eyes sparkled with admiration. I guess he's a guy; if he were a woman, she would definitely adore A Lei.