Chapter 111: A Moment of Celebration

Just as the two were speaking, from a quiet corner of the empty cinema emerged a man and a woman, both clad in blue work uniforms. The man was broad and burly, with a square face framed by delicate gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. Though the glasses seemed somewhat incongruous on his rugged features, they gave away that he was no ordinary street wanderer.

The woman, by contrast, had a much more refined appearance, her delicate features strikingly handsome.

Chen Da glanced at them with a frown and whispered to Xu Fei, “Old Four, look.”

Xu Fei had already noticed them. Their attire was unmistakable—it was the official uniform of the court.

Xu Fei immediately guessed they had come looking for him. Sure enough, the man approached him.

“You must be Xu Fei?”

Xu Fei nodded.

“And you two are?”

The man glanced at the woman beside him. She took a white sheet of paper from the purse tucked under her arm.

The man took the paper and held it up toward Xu Fei.

“We’re from the Donghai Court. This is a summons. Tomorrow at nine in the morning, please be punctual at Civil Courtroom No. 2 for the trial involving you and Zhang Dajun. We hope to see you there on time.”

Xu Fei took the summons and looked at the bold red seal of the Donghai Court stamped on it.

He nodded and said, “Alright, I will be there.”

The man showed no expression and was about to turn away when the woman glanced at the television they had bought.

“Is this television for sale?”

“Yes,” Xu Fei replied, noticing she seemed interested in buying one.

“Thinking of getting one?”

The woman nodded.

“Yes, a few days ago I asked a classmate to help get a TV ticket, but…” She shook her head. “He said it would take two months to get one.”

The man smiled. “Televisions are indeed hard to come by these days. By the way, how much for this one?”

Chen Da grinned, “Five hundred and fifty.”

“What!” The woman was taken aback. “Isn’t this from Nanjing? Why is it so cheap?”

Chen Da looked at her. “We get these directly from the manufacturer. To put it simply, it’s exactly the same model sold in department stores, but here, you don’t have to wait in line.”

The woman looked at the man. “Judge Zhao, that’s fifty cheaper than department stores.”

The man was surprised. “Fifty?”

That amount was a whole month’s salary for him, and for the woman beside him, it was two months’ wages.

“My family has been clamoring to buy a TV. I even asked around, but they said it’s tough to get a ticket.”

He glanced at Xu Fei.

Hearing this, Xu Fei’s mind began to churn.

Smiling, he looked at the man.

“Brother, may I ask your surname?”

“I’m Zhao.”

“And your position at the court is…”

The woman quickly interjected, “This is Judge Zhao from our court. He handles civil cases, and your case is under his jurisdiction.”

Xu Fei was moved by her words.

“So it’s Judge Zhao. And since you kindly came all the way here to deliver the summons, it must be fate. If you both want to buy, I can give you a 20% discount.”

The woman’s face lit up at the mention of a discount.

“Really?”

Xu Fei nodded with a smile.

He then glanced at Judge Zhao in front of him.

“Xiao Zhang, this is a good deal, isn’t it?”

Judge Zhao looked at Xu Fei, then at the woman.

“Judge Zhao, Brother here is sincere; let’s not be shy.”

The woman turned to Xu Fei.

“Brother, we didn’t plan on buying a TV today, but…”

Xu Fei understood her meaning perfectly.

“Nonsense. You both have official jobs. Besides, we’re meeting tomorrow anyway. How about this—you take the TV now, and pay me later.”

The woman had been waiting to hear exactly this.

“Well then, we won’t be shy.”

She looked at the man.

“Judge Zhao, shall I arrange a vehicle to deliver this TV to our home?”

Xu Fei was surprised. Could these two be family? It didn’t seem so.

“No need to find a car. I have a vehicle. I’ll personally deliver it to your home later.”

The woman was delighted; this was quite a bargain.

Xu Fei took out a piece of paper.

“Please leave your address. When the car’s back, I’ll personally deliver it.”

The woman nodded enthusiastically, took the paper, and scribbled down the address.

The man remained silent, watching Xu Fei receive the address.

Then he smiled and nodded at Xu Fei.

“Thank you.”

“No trouble at all. It’s my duty.”

Xu Fei extended his hand. Surprisingly, Judge Zhao shook it before turning to leave.

Before departing, the woman looked back at Xu Fei.

“We finish work at 4:30. If you could deliver it by 5, that would be perfect.”

Xu Fei nodded.

After watching them leave, Chen Da smiled.

“Old Four, looks like your TV is going to come in handy.”

“Yeah.”

Xu Fei felt the same. Today’s TV sale was certainly worthwhile.

He glanced at the two remaining televisions.

“Boss, go call Third Brother. I’ll check on Old Third An and the others.”

When Zhang Mingyang and Chen Da returned, Xu Fei headed to the street where he had arranged to meet Old Third An.

Soon, Old Third An’s pickup truck lumbered toward him.

“Old Third An!”

Xu Fei waved.

Old Third An accelerated and quickly stopped beside him.

“What’s up?”

Wang Yiming poked his head out of the window.

“Packing up.”

Xu Fei smiled and climbed onto the truck.

“Is that so!”

Wang Yiming laughed and opened the door for Xu Fei to get in.

Before long, the truck reached the cinema.

“Aren’t there still two left?” Wang Yiming pointed at the two televisions in front of Chen Da.

Xu Fei jumped down.

“These two, I have a big plan for them.”

At that moment, Zhang Mingyang and Chen Da loaded the remaining TVs onto the truck.

Everyone got in.

“Let’s go, Li Old Four. Let’s grab a drink.”

Xu Fei laughed and called to Old Third An.

The pickup truck slowly pulled away from the cinema.

After a short while, they stopped in front of Li Old Four’s restaurant.

Old Third An parked, and they all got out.

They entered the restaurant.

Xu Fei ordered several meat dishes at the counter.

Chen Da and the others chose a window seat where they could see the pickup truck parked outside, still holding the two televisions.

Soon, the waiter brought over bowls, chopsticks, and wine.

“Old Four, looks like we sold quite a bit today?”

Zhang Mingyang shared out the dishes and poured wine into their cups.

Xu Fei smiled and raised his cup.

“Come on, let’s drink a toast to celebrate!”