"You little rascal!" Grandpa Hong laughed heartily.
"But Mr. Chen is still the most promising young man in our alley," another uncle praised.
"No, Mr. Lu is much better off than me," Chen Hansheng chimed in. "More than half the year has passed, and I've only made about fifty cents this year!"
"Fifty? How much is that?"
"More than half a million!"
"Oh my, this is incredible! Come on, Hansheng, let me toast you."
Chen Hansheng drank a glass of wine, while Xiuer sat next to him eating and chatting with a group of women, her expression revealing her smugness.
"Lu Feng, you've been working hard for half a year now, how much have you earned?" Xiu'er asked deliberately.
"Me?" Lu Feng thought for a moment and said, "People are fifty, but I'm not even fifty."
Everyone burst into laughter, and Chen Hansheng seized the opportunity to tease, "Didn't you say you were doing business worth hundreds of millions?"
"The business involves hundreds of millions, but the profit margin is low. I won't go into details; it's all bitter experience." Lu Feng waved his hand, unwilling to discuss further.
Zhang Fengxia was eating her meal when she whispered to Jiang Xiaoyan, "You asked him to make you look good, but he didn't do it."
"That's just how he is. He's afraid that if others find out, they'll start pulling strings and asking him for favors." Jiang Xiaoyan knew Lu Feng well. He would pretend to be poor when he met ordinary people, but flaunt his wealth when he met rich people.
Let alone Lu Feng, even Jiang Xiaoyan is afraid of showing off her wealth now. When she goes home for the New Year, there are layers upon layers of people. If she doesn't help, it's all because of their connections; if she does help, she can't.
"Let's have a drink!" Chen Hansheng said, raising his glass.
Everyone clinked their glasses, and Chen Hansheng suggested, "Let Grandpa Hong say a few words to everyone, and everyone applaud."
A sparse round of applause rang out. Grandpa Hong stood up, cleared his throat, and, with the air of a retired cadre, began, "Um... that..."
"It's fate that we've all come together. Although this alley isn't part of the staff housing area, our hearts are with the postal staff housing area. We're all united and working together."
"To help and love each other, we must improve hygiene, family traditions, and neighborly relations. We must adhere to three principles: we must live in harmony, we must unite, and we must... um..."
"Good!!" Chen Hansheng led the applause.
The crowd cheered, and Lu Feng simply smiled and clapped.
Grandpa Hong sat down, picked up his wine glass and said, "Even now, just a few years ago when I was giving a speech, there were thousands of people below me."
"You're a leader, the mere sight of you exudes authority," Chen Hansheng flattered. "You may have stepped down, but that air of leadership still lingers around you."
"That's right!"
"Hansheng is right!"
Everyone chimed in, and Grandpa Hong laughed heartily. He took a sip of baijiu, his features scrunched up, picked up a piece of cold dish and put it in his mouth, asking, "Hansheng, your logistics company is doing quite well, isn't it?"
"Thanks to you, it's easier to get things done under the guise of the postal service. Otherwise, we would have to pay so much in road maintenance fees alone, not to mention the roadblocks in remote areas," Chen Hansheng muttered.
"Hansheng is in the logistics business, right?" Lu Feng asked.
"Ah!" Chen Hansheng glanced at Lu Feng and said, "It's a small company, not comparable to your business worth hundreds of millions. It only has a few dozen trucks and a few hundred people."
"There are already several hundred people?"
"Weren't there only about a hundred people last year?"
Xiuer couldn't hold back any longer and said, "We've expanded this year, setting up several unloading points in Changzhou and Lianyungang. Of course, we need to increase our manpower. This year, we'll expand to Shanghai. Soon we'll be a big company."
"Hansheng is quite capable. He'll be a big boss soon, living in a villa." A middle-aged man raised his glass and said, "Come on, let me toast you."
To be looked up to by everyone in the alley is a real honor. Chen Hansheng then engaged in another round of self-deprecation, glancing at Lu Feng and saying, "I'm not as good as President Lu. He's in business worth hundreds of millions."
"Mr. Chen, please don't mention it," Lu Feng said with a smile. "Otherwise, I won't be able to eat."
Xiuer put down her chopsticks, looked at Jiang Xiaoyan's satisfied expression, and said, "You know, comparing yourself to others is just asking for trouble, isn't it?"
Jiang Xiaoyan was quite used to this kind of comparison among neighbors, as she had grown up in such an environment. She smiled but didn't say anything, while Zhang Fengxia, standing to the side, couldn't help but chime in.
She came from a family of retired cadres and had never been bullied like this by her neighbors before. But she wasn't from this alley either, so she couldn't help but mutter, "Ignorance is sometimes a kind of happiness!"
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