Chapter 112: The Boss

The five men drank the wine in their cups.

Xu Fei set his glass down on the table, glanced at the others, and said, “Brothers, tell me, how many did we sell today?”

Chen Da laughed and replied, “Thirty sets, each at two hundred. Haha, I’m telling you, Fourth Brother, even if we give a 20% discount to a couple of buyers, that’s nearly six thousand!”

Everyone nodded and laughed in agreement.

“Six thousand? My goodness, that’s like my salary for years!” Wang Yiming exclaimed in surprise.

“Second Brother, don’t forget we still have seventy sets left to sell,” Zhang Mingyang said with a smile as he refilled their cups.

“Here’s to our Third Brother An—congratulations, brothers! This business is going to boom!” An Lao San raised his glass.

Xu Fei quickly smiled, “My Third Brother An, I already told you, you have a share in this business.”

“Right, right, An Brother, don’t be so formal with us,” others chimed in.

“Exactly,” Chen Da lifted his glass.

“Let’s welcome An Brother into the partnership!”

At this suggestion, everyone immediately agreed.

“Partnership?” An Lao San shook his head with a laugh.

“I feel like we’re joining some kind of gang,” he joked.

Laughter filled the room again.

They all took another drink. Xu Fei then picked up the wine jug and filled the cups of the other four.

“I want to say something with this cup,” Xu Fei said seriously.

Seeing his solemn expression, everyone quieted down and looked at him intently.

“Brothers, I took it upon myself today to sell two TVs to two people from the court at a 20% discount. For this, I want to apologize.”

Upon hearing this, the others waved their hands dismissively.

Chen Da even looked a bit angry, saying, “Fourth Brother, are you trying to compete? What’s the big deal?”

“That’s right, what happens to you is our business too,” Wang Yiming added, frowning.

Zhang Mingyang then stood up, walked over to Xu Fei, and slapped him lightly on the back.

“Take it easy!”

An Lao San laughed and made a protective gesture.

“Don’t worry, Third Brother, I was just scaring him a bit.”

Zhang Mingyang smiled at An Lao San, then his expression turned serious.

He looked at Xu Fei and said, “Your back got hurt for us brothers. Now if you keep balancing the books with us like this, should we all be hurting our backs like you?”

Xu Fei shook his head.

“Good, you still know how to shake your head. Fourth Brother, stop talking nonsense. We all know why you gave those two court guys a discount today.”

Zhang Mingyang lowered his voice and said, “No, just give those TVs to them.”

“Yeah, what Third Brother said. If he can help us out, what’s two TVs between friends?”

Xu Fei remained silent.

Raising his glass, he looked at them gratefully and said, “Xu Fei thanks you all here!”

He downed the wine in one gulp.

Zhang Mingyang finally smiled.

“Now that’s more like our brother!”

After several rounds, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon.

Chen Da and Wang Yiming headed home first, while Zhang Mingyang and An Lao San accompanied Xu Fei to deliver the TVs.

***

At the East Sea Court’s staff housing complex.

Xu Fei had An Lao San park the car outside the courtyard.

He glanced at the time—it was just minutes before five o’clock.

Looking through the rearview mirror, he saw the street growing busier with pedestrians as the workday ended.

“Fourth Brother, what are we waiting for? Why aren’t we going inside?” An Lao San asked, puzzled by Xu Fei’s plan.

“Wait a little longer, Brother An,” Xu Fei said, eyes fixed on the courtyard entrance.

Sitting on a wicker chair there was an elderly man in a dark blue Zhongshan suit, about sixty years old, holding a folding fan.

No matter how one looked at him, he didn’t seem like a mere gatekeeper.

In front of him was a thin rope tied to a wooden pole blocking the gate.

With a tug of the rope, the pole could be lifted.

At that moment, voices arose from nearby.

Xu Fei glanced again.

Four or five men and women in court uniforms appeared, among them Judge Zhao and his wife, Xiao Zhang.

Xu Fei quickly got out of the car and waved to Judge Zhao, who had already approached.

“It’s him,” Xiao Zhang said sharply, smiling as she got off her bicycle.

The other colleagues with her also got off, looking curiously as Xiao Zhang walked over to Xu Fei.

“Comrade, the TVs you bought have been delivered,” Xu Fei said with a smile, nodding at Xiao Zhang.

“Old Zhao, buying TVs now?” someone teased.

“Hey, Old Zhao, you’re the first in our court, huh?”

Xu Fei winked at Zhang Mingyang, who understood and asked from inside the car, “Comrade, shall we carry both TVs upstairs for you?”

“Two sets?!”

“Old Zhao, you bought two?”

“Oh my god, I’m guessing one for the living room and one for the bedroom?”

“Yeah, we can’t even get one, and you buy two. Are you trying to make us jealous?”

Judge Zhao smiled.

“Well, my wife insisted on buying one for my parents too.”

“See, Old Zhao’s wife is truly a virtuous woman!”

Xiao Zhang beamed at Xu Fei, clearly pleased.

“Big Brother, please help us carry them upstairs.”

“All right,” Xu Fei nodded with a smile.

He stood on the truck while An Lao San started the engine and drove the vehicle into the courtyard.

“Sir, excuse me, we’re here to deliver TVs for Judge Zhao,” Xu Fei called out loudly from the truck.

In fact, the elderly gatekeeper had already overheard their conversation.

He stood up from his chair and waved to Judge Zhao.

“Judge Zhao, buying TVs, eh?”

“Yes, Grandpa Liu,” Judge Zhao and Xiao Zhang pushed the carts inside.

The truck slowly entered the court staff courtyard.

Inside, others had also heard Xu Fei’s words and came forward.

Several children playing nearby even followed behind the truck.

Standing on the truck, Xu Fei called out loudly, “Judge Zhao, will you carry both TVs upstairs?”

“Yes, yes, carry them all up,” Judge Zhao said with a broad smile, clearly delighted.

The truck stopped in front of the third building entrance.

Zhang Mingyang and An Lao San got out and began lifting the TVs.

Xu Fei helped from the side.

The three of them carried the TVs ahead, followed by Judge Zhao and his wife, delivering the sets to the third floor.

“Xiao Zhang, go pour some water for these gentlemen,” Xu Fei said, looking at Zhang Mingyang and giving him a nod.

“Forget it, we have other business. Boss Xu, we’ll take our leave first,” Zhang Mingyang said, pulling An Lao San away.

Judge Zhao looked at Xu Fei.

“How come you’re so young and already a boss?”