Chapter 132 of "1008 New Urban Farmers": The Wedding! Distinguished Guests! First Update, Please Subscribe!
On the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the village of Longcun was filled with the sounds of gongs, drums, and firecrackers. The village was bustling with activity.
"Old Huang's daughter is getting married. They've invited the whole village! So extravagant!" a villager remarked, looking in the direction of Old Huang's house. There were over twenty cars parked there, many too large to navigate the bend, so they had to be parked in the yard. And each car was worth over a million!
"Not only that, even tourists can enjoy wedding candies and desserts!" someone said.
Indeed. On the roadside, children and adults dressed in wedding attire were blocking passing vehicles. Were they looking for trouble? Those who stopped the cars were immediately offered a handful of wedding candies and desserts. The person distributing the candies and desserts was so charming that even the tourists happily offered their blessings!
Everyone lost their joy!
At the village entrance, Zhang Guodong and several of his elder brother's college classmates and friends set up a table with drinks and a banner that read "Zhang Guozheng and Huang Yi Wedding Reception Center." Among them were his elder brother's college classmates and friends, as well as close work colleagues such as Sun Chengnan, Lou Jianhui, Zhao Xingchuan, and a tall, beautiful young woman named Gao Xiaoya. These four were also his elder brother's college classmates and friends. Of course, this was only a part of the group. There were also about ten helpers in the Huang family courtyard. Another work colleague was a woman in her thirties named Sister Zhou, a mature and generous woman.
A six-person reception team was formed to coordinate the transportation and destinations for visitors, with the experienced Sister Zhou taking the lead. If Zhang Guodong and his team were to handle these arrangements, things would likely be chaotic. Now that someone is in charge, they can learn and make things much easier.
After receiving more than a dozen groups, Zhang Guodong gave a wry smile. This kind of reception work wasn't suitable for him; it made him stay in one place for hours on end, and he felt uncomfortable all over under the sun. But it was his older brother's wedding, so he had to persevere no matter how awkward it was, right?
"Another customer must have arrived!" Sun Chengnan chuckled as he stood up when he saw a yellow van driving towards them. "Shall I take this customer home?"
"I think you're just greedy, aren't you? I always see you rushing to bring guests back, covered in the smell of food and wine. You don't even bother to clean it up!" Gao Xiaoya said bluntly.
"Oh, Cheng Nan went off to steal food and drinks? No wonder he's so eager! No way, I'll go this time!" Lou Jianhui exclaimed, suddenly realizing what was going on.
Zhang Guodong smiled slightly, "My brother's classmates are quite interesting."
Zhang Guodong frowned as he looked at the yellow van, then said to Sister Zhou, "This little guy must be from the village, but he's moved to the city to do business. I'll go check on him."
"Go ahead!" Sister Zhou said with a slight smile, holding her pen.
Zhang Guodong was dressed in a black suit with a small red flower on his chest, a gold and red dragon-patterned tie, and his leather shoes were polished to a high shine. He even had his hair re-trimmed.
The person who got off the yellow bread was Xiao Gangben. When he saw Zhang Guodong smiling at him, he felt that the person in front of him looked familiar, but he couldn't remember him for a moment.
"Is Xiao Gang here to attend my older brother's wedding?" Zhang Guodong asked first.
Xiao Gangben felt displeased when Zhang Guodong called him by his nickname, but he felt a little uneasy under the young man's gaze and didn't dare to act rashly.
"Who are you?" Bu Gangben asked cautiously.
"How come you don't recognize me after buying a bucket of fish from me?"
Xiao Gangben'er's mouth dropped open: "It's you! It's you, little brother! I was wondering why you looked so familiar!"
Zhang Guodong disliked this person very much. However, today was his elder brother's wedding, and he couldn't allow any unpleasantness to occur. As long as he gave a monetary gift, ate at the wedding banquet, and offered his blessings to the newlyweds, then he would welcome him.
"It's good that you remembered. How much do you plan to give as a gift? It can't be too little, after all, you run a restaurant and make a lot of money!" Zhang Guodong said with a smile.
“A hundred yuan is the most you'd normally give as a wedding gift,” Zhang Guodong whispered, leaning closer to him. “Three thousand yuan is too good for you. If it weren’t for my older brother’s wedding today, the things you did for Liu Neng would have made me break your legs!”
Xiao Gangben saw a flash of ferocity in Zhang Guodong's eyes. Upon hearing this, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and broke out in a cold sweat.
He's a miser and a coward. He only came to Huang Laosan's daughter's wedding out of necessity; after all, he had sharp ears and managed to find out that Liu Neng was bringing Huang Shuli and his son Liu Jun to the wedding.
He thought this was Liu Daneng's plan to disrupt the wedding. But it turned out this wasn't the first time Liu Daneng had warned Huang Shuli, the wife of a woman with a sallow complexion: "Let's drop the matter about our son and stop causing trouble at Huang Laosan's house. We can't afford to offend them this time!"
Huang Shu naturally wouldn't stand for this coward. Her daughter-in-law had been stolen, and he was trying to cower like a turtle? She pointed her finger at Liu Neng and called him "incompetent."
But this time, Liu Neng became a sensation.
"Shut up!" Liu Neng lost his temper for the first time. He stunned Huang Shuli. He actually yelled at me?
After shouting, Liu Neng felt his back was soaked and quickly explained, "The Zhang family isn't just a bunch of outsiders. They have connections with the executive vice mayor of Chuandu City. Don't even mention us, we can't afford to offend the district party secretary or the district head. If we really offend them, our Liu family is finished."
Liu Neng was serious when he said that.
How could Zhang Guodong's warnings and forceful seizure possibly make him submit? Liu Neng wanted to immediately find someone to deal with Zhang Guodong, but when he thought of the fat man Zhang Ju wiping away cold sweat, he lost his nerve and truly submitted.
The Zhang family actually has a connection with Mayor Li?
Therefore, not only could he not offend Zhang Guodong, but he also had to attend his elder brother's wedding and get along with them. However, he accidentally found out about this.
Huang Shuli was dumbfounded. Seeing that even the most unruly fifth brother had actually agreed to attend the wedding of the third brother's daughter, the other Huang siblings were all incredulous. They realized that even the fifth brother was attending instead of causing trouble, so they naturally had no reason to refuse.
Moreover, the entire village received invitations. That's quite a sum! A wedding like that would cost at least two or three hundred thousand yuan.
"Can you lower the price a bit?" Xiao Gangben asked, his heart aching at the thought of three thousand.
"Hmph, what do you think? You're already being lenient by not making you cough up the 10,000 yuan bribe you took from Liu Neng. You figure it out yourself!" Zhang Guodong bluffed him.
This was naturally Zhang Guodong's doing, targeting this guy who was at best a small-time miser. Making him cough up some money would sting him. It was a form of punishment.
Xiao Gangben wiped his sweat and nodded hurriedly: "I'll pay, I'll pay!"
Seeing that Sun Chengnan was the one to take Xiao Gangben to the car, Zhang Guodong laughed. Dealing with such a small fry was pointless; seeing Xiao Gangben's pained expression was much more satisfying than physical punishment.
This was Zhang Guodong's prank.
After Xiao Gang'er, even more people arrived. And they all stunned everyone. Good heavens, wasn't that Xia Ming, the executive deputy district head of the district, who got out of the car? There were also the district public security bureau chief, the industry and commerce bureau chief, the forestry bureau chief, and the finance bureau chief.
"District Chief Xia, is this a wedding celebration? What luck! We've stumbled upon a joyous occasion!" Tao Ji, the director of the district government office, chuckled, his eyes darting around.
The police chief standing nearby also asked, "District Chief Xia, shall we continue this inspection today?"
It turns out this group of people came under the guise of conducting research, and "coincidentally" stumbled upon a wedding being prepared in the village.
Hearing this, Zhang Guodong was taken aback, then stepped forward and smiled, "Greetings, leaders! Today is my elder brother's wedding. I never expected to meet such distinguished guests today. You must all attend!"
This put District Chief Xia in a somewhat "difficult" position.
Director Tao said, "It's quite a coincidence that we're here today. But it's also a joyous occasion that the host invited our District Chief Xia to visit the community and get closer to the people!"
That being said, the combination of the inspection and the happy occasion has become a wonderful story.
District Chief Xia said, "Since that's the case, everyone is contributing money as gifts. We're here to investigate, but we can't take advantage of the public or disrupt their happy occasion!"
Everyone agreed.
Zhang Guodong personally received them, which surprised them greatly, but these leaders were giving them so much face. It was naturally a great thing, as it would be much more convenient for their elder brother to handle things here in the future! Such a small happy event actually attracted the executive deputy district head and the heads of various bureaus to participate, which was indeed a big event for Dinosaur Village.
They rushed to register the wedding gift money in Huang Laosan's courtyard. Director Tao preemptively said, "It's quite convenient that District Chief Xia and the directors of various bureaus are here today for an inspection. We happened to run into your wedding, and at the invitation of this young comrade Zhang Guodong, in the spirit of sharing the joy with the people, we shamelessly came to attend our fellow villager's wedding. But we will still offer our proper gifts. Please treat us as ordinary people; you go about your business."
This government office director is very eloquent.
The Zhang and Huang families were naturally delighted! Having such a high-ranking official in attendance for their celebration was a double blessing. Some people's gaze towards Huang Laosan and the "outsider" Zhang family changed noticeably; they no longer looked down on them.
After arranging for District Chief Xia and the others to chat with the people and serve drinks and cold dishes, Ye Cuihua pulled Zhang Guodong aside and questioned him: "Son, what's going on? Why is the District Chief attending your brother's wedding? And so many bureau chiefs too!"
My mother felt uneasy.
She was a little dizzy, having never seen such a high-ranking official up close before, especially since he was attending her eldest son's wedding.
Seeing his mother's nervous expression, Zhang Guodong chuckled and comforted her, saying, "What's the big deal? He's just the executive deputy district head. Mom, treat him the same way you would any other person. Don't give them any special treatment. These leaders are on an inspection tour, talking to the people. Giving them too much special treatment wouldn't be appropriate, so just ignore them. Today, my eldest brother and sister-in-law are the most important people, haha."
"Is that really all there is to it?" Mom asked skeptically. She was just worried about how to entertain these leaders!
Zhang Guodong nodded and smiled, "Of course, this is Sichuan. If this were the provincial capital, I could invite not only the deputy district head but even the district head to come and congratulate you, brother!"
My mom immediately smiled and stopped being nervous.
"You brat. All you do is talk nonsense. Hurry up and go greet the guests. It's almost time."
"Okay!"
There are still some people who haven't arrived today, like little Ya Ya and her parents. The invitations were sent the day after that meeting. Zhang Guodong also brought Ya Ya toys and gifts. The little girl was so happy that she even kissed Zhang Guodong. They were so affectionate!
What an adorable little girl! She and Zhang Guodong hit it off immediately.
Li Daolin and his wife Lin Hui promised to arrive on time, so they would definitely come. Up to this point, Zhang Guodong still didn't know Li Daolin's true identity, and of course, Zhang Guodong wasn't particularly saddened.
"Guodong, this is Lin Hui. Ya Ya, her dad, and I have arrived!" Just as Zhang Guodong was about to reach the reception desk, the phone rang. Li Daolin, his wife, and their daughter had finally arrived.
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