"This is my cousin," Zhang Feng said, "his na is Zhang Tianling."
"Oh!" Several people nodded.
After a brief introduction, Zhang Feng took Xiao Han and the others to his ho. Zhang Feng's house was a single-story brick and tile house. The house was quite old and severely damaged, with tiles that were long overdue for repairs, and a few places even leaked when it rained.
After they entered, they noticed the light was very dim, and there was a lot of firewood stacked inside.
"Mom, I'm back!" Zhang Feng shouted as he entered the house.
"Zhang Feng..." a weak woman's voice ca from inside the house.
Then, a man burst out from inside, a middle-aged man with gray hair dressed in very plain clothes, looking sowhat similar to Zhang Feng. Upon seeing Zhang Feng, he quickly said, "My son, you... you're back?"
"So classmates paid my bail!" Zhang Feng hastily said.
"Ah!" Zhang Dekai gratefully looked at Xiao Han and the others, saying, "Young brothers, thank you, thank you..."
Zhang Dekai repeated his thanks several tis.
"Uncle, it's nothing, really!" Liu Bin quickly shook his head, saying, "We are classmates with Zhang Feng, almost like brothers. We ought to help out with such things."
"Please have a seat for now," Zhang Feng hastened to say. "I'm going to take a shower, I'll be quick!"
After he spoke, Zhang Feng turned and entered the house.
Xiao Han and the others were left standing inside, without even a place to sit. Zhang Dekai quickly moved so stools and awkwardly said, "Have a seat, please sit..."
Only then did everyone find a place to sit.
Before long, Zhang Dekai brought so food. These were leftovers from the New Year celebrations. Looking at these items, Liu Bin had no desire to eat because these New Year goods were the cheapest available. The candies were sold by the pound and were exceedingly cheap. The sunflower seeds still had white mold spots on them. The oranges were all rotten.
"Young brothers, eat... please eat!" Zhang Dekai urged quickly.
Liu Bin looked at Xiao Han, who smiled and then picked up a handful of sunflower seeds.
This ho was very poor, much like Xiao Han's ho once was. After his father passed away, relatives fought over the house and divided the pension, and without any source of inco, his mother experienced years just like these, where the New Year's goods were no different from these.
Zhang Dagou peeled an orange—it was rotten.
Snap...
Zhang Dagou threw it aside. Seeing this, Zhang Dekai quickly said, "Let find a good one for you."
After he spoke, he found another orange for Zhang Dagou. Zhang Dagou peeled it, and it was also partially rotten. Just as he was about to throw it away, Xiao Han quickly snatched it from his hands, smiling, "Thanks for peeling the orange for ."
After that, Xiao Han peeled off the rotten segnt and stuffed most of the remaining orange into his mouth.
Liu Bin and Zhang Dagou looked at Xiao Han in astonishnt. Xiao Han, now worth millions, was actually eating... a rotten orange!
"It's quite sweet," Xiao Han comnted with a smile. "Won't you try?"
"I…" Liu Bin hesitated for a mont, quickly grabbed a candy, and then said, "I don't like oranges, they cause heatiness. I'll just have a candy instead."
After saying that, Liu Bin imdiately popped a candy into his mouth.
Zhang Dagou laughed, "I'll stick to seeds."
Xiao Han just smiled and said no more, while Zhang Dekai attended to his guests, serving tea and water. The tea was also very cheap.
Before long, Zhang Feng had taken a bath and co out in clean clothes.
"Let's go, we are heading out," Zhang Feng called out.
Liu Bin and Zhang Dagou stood up, obviously relieved.
They drove from Zhang Family Village to the urban-rural fringe. On that street, there were many restaurants, though they were mostly simple food stalls. There were low-end food stalls directly set up by the roadside with a stove and surrounded by tarp, having a few tables to form a makeshift restaurant. There were also high-end stalls, with lavishly decorated storefronts and large signs hanging at the entrance.
Zhang Feng chose a Hunan cuisine restaurant: "The food here is quite good."
"Let's go with this one then!" they imdiately went inside.
They opened a private room, and as it was the third day after the Lantern Festival, the new year had already passed and there were hardly any patrons, especially in such urban-rural fringes. Those who worked outside their townships had mostly left, turning the place into a veritable ghost town. They either moved to the city for work or went out to labor elsewhere.
The restaurant's business had significantly slowed.
Securing a small room for the four of them was easy. Once seated, Zhang Feng unhesitatingly ordered a table full of dishes.
"Enough, enough!" Liu Bin hurriedly said, "It's too much, don't waste it!"
"Right!" Xiao Han quickly added, "Don't waste, just enough to eat should do, how much can four guys eat."
"All of us are big guys here, we can eat a lot. Get so more," Zhang Feng chuckled and said, "You all ca to my house, how can I not treat you all well?"
"We're all brothers, why the formality?" Xiao Han laughed, "Liu Bin made so much money last year, he should be the one treating us to this al!"
"Absolutely!" Liu Bin nodded eagerly, saying, "I'll treat."
"No way!" Zhang Feng gave everyone a commanding look, then said, "Stop arguing with , today is my turf, I'm treating. If anyone dares to sneak off and pay, I'll sever ties with them!"
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.
Knowing Zhang Feng's character, if soone secretly paid, he would definitely cut ties with them.
So, the group could only sit there honestly. Xiao Han broke the awkward silence, "If Zhang Feng wants to treat, we've got to give him the chance."
"Haha..." Liu Bin and Zhang Dagou both burst into laughter.
The restaurant wasn't crowded, so the food was served quickly. They ordered six dishes, which were brought out one after another swiftly. The dishes looked appetizing, and Liu Bin and Zhang Dagou were starving.
"The food tastes good here," Zhang Dagou hurriedly said.
"Not bad!" Zhang Feng imdiately nodded, then added, "This restaurant does great business during the holidays. Made a lot of money!"
"These days, the catering business is profitable!" Liu Bin agreed, casting a aningful glance at Xiao Han as if saying, among the four of us, you're the richest, you own a restaurant.
The group ate and drank.
After a satisfying al, Zhang Feng quickly pulled out so money from his pocket, a pile of small change.
When paying, the cashier frowned, but eventually, the bill was settled.
At this point, Xiao Han asked, "Where did all this small change co from?"
"Earned it during the winter break doing odd jobs," Zhang Feng chuckled, "I worked several jobs during the holidays. Worked so shifts at a construction site, delivered takeout and water in the evenings..."
The group was stunned.
Not long after, Zhang Feng pulled out a stack of bills from his inside pocket and handed them to Xiao Han, saying, "Xiao Han, this is the money I borrowed from you last sester, I'm paying you back now."
"Huh?" Xiao Han was taken aback, "There's no rush, didn't I say you can pay back whenever?"
"It's only right to return what you borrow," Zhang Feng grinned and then said, "Last ti you lent five thousand, I only spent two thousand on dicine for my mom. Then I made a few thousand working over the winter break."
Everyone couldn't help but feel moved after hearing this.
Though Zhang Feng ca from a poor background, he was rich in spirit. He always strived to earn money through his abilities. He never relied on others, not even his good friends who were wealthy. His decision to borrow money from Xiao Han had taken a lot of courage, made only out of desperation, otherwise he would never have asked.
A smile curled the corners of Xiao Han's mouth as he said, "The people I respect most in life are those who are self-reliant."
" too!" Liu Bin and Zhang Dagou quickly agreed.
After expressing their sentints, the group set off on their return journey.
From Lin City back to the provincial city.
Zhang Feng's return gave Lan Yudie a sigh of relief; all the students were finally back, otherwise, she as the class advisor would have been worried.
The brothers from Dormitory 101 were finally gathered again.
Everyone was back to the starting point. School had only been in session a few days when the weekend quickly arrived.
Friday afternoon.
"By the way, guys, I'm treating you to dinner today!" Liu Bin hurriedly said.
"What's the occasion?" Zhang Feng asked curiously. He was trying to find a second-hand computer online because, from next sester, the school would start practical courses. As a student in the Finance Departnt, understanding stocks, currencies, and crude oil trading was essential, as they would be linked to their course. To study these, having a computer, whether a laptop or a desktop, was necessary to run those programs. The school was going to do simulated trading which would count towards their credits.
Whether it was trading stocks or currencies, analyzing the current international situation and market trends was a must, requiring extensive browsing of news and international affairs.
A sly smile spread across Xiao Han's face as he began to laugh, then said, "Guan Xiaotong has beco Liu Bin's girlfriend now. This guy is impressive; he managed to win over the goddess of the Business and Trade School so quickly."
"Haha..." Zhang Feng was overjoyed upon hearing this, "Really?"
"Of course, it's true!" Zhang Dagou chid in, nodding quickly.
"Damn, you're incredible," Zhang Feng said excitedly, "Looks like there will be good food and drink today."
"I've already made plans with her," Liu Bin chuckled, "Dagou, Xiao i and the others will be joining us too."
"Yeah!" Zhang Dagou nodded, saying, "I know!"
The guys busied themselves in the dormitory, waiting for a ssage from Guan Xiaotong and the other girls. After all, they were girls, and girls tend to dawdle a bit. Makeup, eyebrow grooming—it all takes ti, which is totally normal.
Soon, Liu Bin received a call. He imdiately closed his laptop, too lazy to play gas anymore.
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