Chapter 155: Smugness
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Mid-autumn Festival celebration of the People’s Hospital of Guangming Region was to be held in a popular hotel. As the hotel hosted many weddings regularly, the effort to set up and prepare for any events was kept at a minimum. By installing a temporary stage using steel frames and covering the stage floor with red carpet, it had been converted immediately to the venue for the Mid-autumn Festival celebration gala dinner.
By the time Xiao Luo and his three companions had arrived at the location, Xiao Ruyi, Sun Yu, and Tang Ren had already been waiting at the entrance of the hotel for a while.
“Brother, you all are finally here!” Xiao Ruyi greeted them.
“The traffic was congested along the way here, “Xiao Luo explained.
Xiao Ruyi pouted but accepted his excuse in good faith. “Okay.”
Seeing Xiao Luo, Sun Yu smiled joyfully and greeted him sweetly, “Brother Xiao Luo.”
Xiao Luo nodded and returned a smile.
Zhang Dashan immediately took charge of the other introductions as he called his companions over. “Come, come, Brother Feng, let me introduce them to you. This is Old Xiao’s younger sister, Ruyi, you can address her as Sister Luo, just like me. This toy-boy beside her… Ahem, I mean this handsome young man here is her husband, Tang Ren. As for this lady here, I must emphasize to you, this beautiful lady is Sun Yu, the future wife of Old Xiao.”
Sun Yu was shocked by Zhang Dashan’s straightforward introduction, and her pretty face blushed crimson from embarra.s.sment.
“h.e.l.lo, sister-in-law!”
Feng Wuhen and Little Five shouted in unison, their expressions very serious and their voices very loud.
This caused Sun Yu’s face to turn even redder, and she was so embarra.s.sed that she would have hidden into any cracks in the ground had there been any ones big enough. “I… I have to go backstage to get my makeup done. Brother Xiao Luo, why don’t you all follow Sister Ruyi. Please go in and find a seat.”
Having said so, she left almost as if she was trying to escape capture, and almost running into several people on her way backstage.
“Big-face Zhang, look at what you have done, you scared Yuyu away!” Xiao Ruyi admonished Zhang Dashan, giving him the evil eye.
“Well, how was I to know that the pretty lady Sun is so shy.”
Zhang Dashan spread his hands in a feigned gesture of innocence. Then he smiled cheekily and said in a more a.s.sertive tone, “But judging from the situation, the pretty lady Sun, doesn’t mind at all. Old Xiao, congratulations! You’ve successfully obtained a Maserati and can drive all you want in the future.”
Xiao Luo gruffly kicked him on the b.u.t.t and reprimanded him, “Speak properly, don’t make such lewd jokes[1] !”
…
The mid-autumn festival celebration was held on the third floor of the hotel. There were 30 to 40 tables in all, and the attendees were all doctors and nurses of the hospital. The place was bustling with patrons milling about, and murmurs of continuous chatter filled the air.
A serving of mooncakes was placed on each table along with several dishes. Upon taking a closer look, Xiao Luo realized that the mooncakes were manufactured by Luo’s Workshop. He felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart and smiled with satisfaction
Of course, Luo’s Workshop was also hosting its annual Mid-summers Festival celebration. Full authority was given to Xu Guansong and Li Zimeng to organize and host the event this year. He had heard that it was also a dinner party It would be without any performances this year, but a lucky draw would be held at the end of the dinner, with the top prize being ten thousand dollars. This generated a lot of interest among their workers, and they looked forward to the event with great antic.i.p.ation.
“Sister Luo, Tang Ren, don’t you all feel that I am different from before?” Zhang Dashan asked.
He had been holding in the question for very long. After all, he had more than 800 thousand fans on Weibo now; the live-streamed public trial had made him an internet sensation overnight. He felt like he already had celebrity status, and was disappointed with the reaction from the crowd present since he arrived. Even Xiao Ruyi had not mentioned anything about it till now.
Xiao Ruyi and Tang Ren exchanged glances and then asked, a little puzzled with where he was bringing this to, “Different? What difference? Isn’t your face as big as always?”
F*ck!
Zhang Dashan almost cursed out loud, but he persisted, “Didn’t you and Tang Ren watch the public trial that was all the rage recently?”
Tang Ren shook his head and replied bluntly, “Brother Shan, other than work, I spend all my time preparing to sit for the Medical Pract.i.tioner’s Qualification Certificate, and I have no time to watch television at all. Besides, I am not particularly interested in court affairs.”
“I’d rather watch a few more episodes of Korean drama if I have any spare time.” Xiao Ruyi agreed.
“Fine, fine, it appears I’ve been casting pearls before swine.”
Zhang Dashan sighed with a hint of disappointment, expecting his newfound reputation to precede him.
Xiao Ruyi was offended. She put down her chopsticks and glared at Zhang Dashan angrily. “Zhang Dashan, who are you calling a swine?”
Zhang Dashan quickly doubled back on his words, then casually pointed at Feng Wuhen and Little Five, who were both digging into the food, and said with disdain, “I said that they are swine, look at them, see how much they can eat, just like two greedy pigs.”
“Brother Zhang, Little Five and I are innocent, we’re not committing any crimes here!” Feng Wuhen lifted his head and laughed obligingly.
“Innocent your *ss, I’m praising how st.u.r.dy you are when I compare you to swine, you bunch of illiterate people.”
Zhang Dashan continued to rebuke him in jest, then changed the topic. “Oh yeah, Sister Luo, I must tell you something. Your brother, Old Xiao, is not how he used to be. He may have been a loser in the past, but has now become a CEO and is among the most successful people around.”
Xiao Luo rolled his eyes at him, “Watch what you are saying!”
He wasn’t about to keep a lid on his recent success, not his own sister. So he allowed Zhang Dashan to continue saying as he pleased.
“Am I not talking properly right now, can you not interrupt me?” Zhang Dashan shot back.
“Big-face Zhang, you haven’t even started drinking any alcohol, why have you already started talking nonsense?” Xiao Ruyi interjected, a.s.suming that it was all a bad joke.
“Why don’t you believe me! Am I am not telling the truth?”
Zhang Dashan couldn’t help feeling irked. Out of sheer frustration, he suddenly thought to take out his phone and immediately searched for the video footage of the public trial. “Well, after watching this clip, you will then know whether I am telling the truth.”
Xiao Ruyi and Tang Ren took the phone from Zhang Dashan, a little surprised with his conviction. They clicked on the clip and started watching.
“Brother Shan, why are you on the plaintiff’s seat? You are the representative of Luo’s Workshop?” Tang Ren said in surprise.
Enjoying his moment of fame, Zhang Dashan had his hand on his chin, smoothing out a nonexistent beard like a spiritual sage master that had left this dimension. Then, still stroking his beardless chin and acting the part, he squinted his eyes and said, “Continue watching, I will explain to you all after you’ve finished watching the whole clip.”
Xiao Luo quietly nibbled away at his food. He had noticed that besides establis.h.i.+ng the fact that Xiao Luo was now the boss of Luo’s Workshop, Zhang Dashan was also busy bragging about his exploits in court. He couldn’t help repeating every detail about his bold and impressive performance in court to Ruyi and Tang Ren.
As expected, after watching the condensed version of the public trial video, Xiao Ruyi saw Zhang Dashan in a new light. “Big-face Zhang, you are quite capable, I’m surprised that you can be the representative of Luo’s Workshop and anger the lawyer of the other party so much that he lost his head and was kicked out by the presiding judge directly. I must give you a “like: this time around.”
“I only had to deal with Fu Heyu, easy-peasy, haha…” Zhang Dashan said as he gestured with a wave of his hand.
“Fu Heyu? Oh, you mean the guy that you angered so much that he cursed in court, was Fu Heyu? I heard that he’s a top lawyer, at par with the likes of Ge Zhongtian.” Tang Ren said with a feigned expression of shock. But to be honest, he had his doubts about the video clip’s veracity, thinking it plausible that the sound and video feed had been edited with.
“In front of Brother Shan, Fu Heyu is nothing. It doesn’t matter what jade [2] they send, all of them must kneel on the ground and submit to me, haha…”
Zhang Dashan’s conceit was thoroughly appeased that day. He sat confidently, looking smug, unconsciously shaking his legs in excitement, as he continued to revel in unending bl.u.s.ter. As to why he mentioned Fu Heyu? It was purely to brag about how he put down one of the top attorneys in the city. And he took particular pleasure in showing off in front of Tang Ren and Xiao Ruyi.
Amid his ranting, a sharp, angry voice suddenly pierced the air.
“B*stard, what bullsh*t are you sprouting over there?”
He turned and saw that the voice belonged to a young man with a look of fury that matched his words.
[1] In Chinese, “driving a car” is slang for making lewd jokes or sharing/ creating obscene material, depending on the context.
[2] ‘Yu’ means jade in Chinese.