Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 69 Birthday Celebration
Master Chuan Longci saw Manager Liu and his group from afar, and hurriedly took a few steps forward and bowed to welcome them in.
Wu Chengjian had given Chuan Longci enough money for the birthday banquet, so the preparations were very thorough. As soon as you entered the gate, the courtyard was filled with banquets. Wu Chengjian gave a general idea, and Chuan Longci arranged it properly. When guests arrived, there were servants to lead them to the reserved seats. Even for uninvited guests, there were reserved seats for banquets in the courtyard.
When the Wu family was in decline, Master Chuan Longci thought that there was nothing wrong with such a grand ceremony. But later, when the Wu family was in decline and Yihe Bank's momentum took a sharp turn for the worse, Master Chuan Longci felt that with such a grand ceremony, if no one came to celebrate the birthday, the scene would be awkward, so he suggested cutting down some seats.
Unexpectedly, Wu Chengjian not only did not allow him to cut the number of seats, but also asked him to arrange more seats. Sure enough, many creditors and suppliers came to "celebrate the birthday" with their families today. If it were not for the early preparation, the original arrangement would probably be insufficient. Therefore, he was more convinced of Wu Chengjian's vision - he thought to himself: "The Third Young Master has foreseen even such a small matter, it is impossible that he cannot see through the overall situation."
When he went to the Left Courtyard to discuss the details of the birthday banquet with Wu Chengjian these two days, he often saw Wu Chengjian flirting with Xia Qing. He felt that the Third Young Master was so casual and must be confident he could turn the current situation around.
Manager Liu was welcomed by Master Chuan Longci and sat in the central hall. He glanced at the people along the way and saw that the eyes of those who came to pay their respects were flickering and they kept looking into the hall as if they were waiting for someone to come out. He knew that these people were in name only , but actually had ulterior motives.
Even Ou Jiafu saw it and thought, "These people are not here to celebrate birthdays, they are here to collect debts."
Old man Wu Guoying had been having trouble sleeping these days, but for some reason, he slept very well last night. He fell asleep shortly after nightfall and slept until dawn, feeling surprisingly energetic.
Aunt Yang brought clothes to help her put on the clothes, but she frowned and looked miserable, almost crying.
Wu Guoying thought that today was a good day for her, so she resisted the urge to say anything to her.
He found it funny when he thought about it. He had been prosperous for more than twenty years and had been busy since he became rich, but he had never prepared a decent birthday gift. He didn't expect that today, when the Wu family was facing the disaster of being wiped out, his birthday banquet would be held so grandly.
Perhaps this will be the Wu family's farewell banquet, or perhaps after this disaster the Wu family will be reborn. No matter which outcome it is, Wu Guoying is ready to accept it - perhaps that is why he slept so soundly last night.
After washing up, she opened the door and saw Cai Qiaozhu standing outside. She greeted him and said, "I am the new bride, here to serve you breakfast."
In the past few years, Wu Guoying's daily life was taken care of by Aunt Yang, but today when Cai Qiaozhu came, no one thought it was inappropriate. Many servants thought in their hearts: "This is the daughter-in-law coming to show her last bit of filial piety to her father-in-law."
Cai Qiaozhu added a bowl of porridge to Wu Guoying, and Wu Guoying asked, "How is Chengjun?"
Cai Qiaozhu thought about it and told the truth: "He was coughing all night. My wife took care of him all night. Fortunately, he didn't cough when he woke up this morning."
Wu Guoying saw the dark circles under her eyes and knew that she probably hadn't slept all night, so she said, "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's my duty." Cai Qiaozhu said, and added some pickles to her father-in-law.
The porridge eaten by Fujianese people is different from that eaten by Cantonese people. The porridge eaten by Fujianese people is always cooked with whole rice grains, while the porridge eaten by Cantonese people is cooked with flat rice grains. According to ancient language, the porridge eaten by Fujianese people should actually be called "mi" - this is an older method of cooking. The "meat paste" in Emperor Hui of Jin's "Why not eat meat paste" refers to the Fujian-style porridge.
The Wu family has settled in Guangzhou for decades. Wu Chengjian has become accustomed to drinking Cantonese porridge, but Wu Guoying still cannot change her breakfast of white porridge with pickles.
Wu Guoying felt refreshed after drinking a big bowl of good rice. He asked about the situation outside. Cai Qiaozhu said, "There has always been a person guarding the gate outside the gate, day or night. As soon as the middle gate was opened today, someone came in to pay his respects. Now the banquet is already 30% to 40% full. Third uncle said that we should wait until 70% to 80% of the guests are seated before we go out."
Wu Guoying laughed: "Good morning, really early!" He naturally guessed what it meant for him to come so early.
The old man was waiting in the backyard. Cai Qiaozhu went to the front to count the birthday gifts. It is a Chinese custom not to go to someone's house empty-handed, especially when visiting a birthday. The host will try to return the favor after receiving the gift, so they have to count and make an order. As a result, there are piles of cheap goods bought at the last minute, and there is not a single gift that was carefully prepared. The birthday gifts prepared by Ou Jiafu and other employees are indeed thoughtful. Although the value is not very high, Cai Qiaozhu has kept it in mind.
Among all the birthday gifts, the most eye-catching one is a coral sent by Pan Youjie. The coral is five feet tall. What's more rare is that its shape when viewed from the side looks like Wu Guoying's zodiac sign - like a tiger - this is something that you can only encounter by chance. Most likely, Pan Youjie got this thing by chance and kept it in mind, so he specially sent it today.
Cai Qiaozhu thought to herself, "Among the eleven insurance companies, they have all been eager to cut ties with my family since the second round of insurance company investment. Only the Pan family can still maintain this dignity and kindness. It is indeed not a fluke that Tonghe Bank can become the best in the world."
In addition to Pan Youjie, the birthday gift sent by the Lu family was also quite generous. Although it was not as thoughtful as that of the Pan family, it was also worthy of the Lu family's status.
The news that the Wu family's door was open spread throughout Xiguan, and before noon, the Wu family's house was packed with people.
When General Cai heard the news, he was afraid of accidents, so he urgently asked the Guangdong Customs for help. Jishan temporarily transferred 50 banner soldiers and 200 green camp soldiers. Although they did not stop people from entering the house to pay their respects, they had to prevent people from taking the opportunity to cause trouble. With these banner soldiers and green camp soldiers watching, the creditors and merchants would not dare to act .
But with so many people it was impossible to keep quiet. Once they opened their mouths they found the soldiers ignored them so they gradually became noisier and finally the noise reached the backyard.
Wu Guoying could not wait any longer and said, "Let's go, let's go." He had already prepared for this birthday banquet to be a busy one, so he was supported by Wu Chenggou and Wu Erliang and went to the central hall. The tables and chairs were cleared and four banquet tables were set up - those who could enter here were the most important guests - one for relatives, one for friends, one for officials, and one for servants.
As a result, the tables for friends and officials were almost empty, but the tables for relatives and colleagues were full.
Wu Guoying met the relatives first and bowed, saying, "Sixth uncle, fifteenth uncle." Sixth uncle and fifteenth uncle returned the greetings with all the relatives. Sixth uncle was older than Wu Guoying, and fifteenth uncle was younger than Wu Guoying, but both of them were in very good health.
Then he came to see the shop assistants. He saw Liu Da, Dai Er, Ou Jiafu and others. Liu Da said, "Old Boss, today we old guys have come together to celebrate your birthday and ask for a drink."
Ou Jiafu also stepped forward and said, "Old Boss, we have pooled our money to make a golden longevity peach for you. Because we were in such a hurry, there are still a few leaves that have not been made, so the golden longevity peach is temporarily placed at my house. When it is convenient, you can send someone to my house to get it."
This was a strange thing to say, and Aunt Yang couldn't help but grumble, thinking, how can you keep birthday gifts at home when you come to visit? It was clearly just empty talk, but Wu Guoying understood it all at once. He knew that Ou Jiafu was a loyal person, steady and calculating. If he really sent a precious birthday gift today, if the Wu family raided the house tomorrow, the golden birthday peach would not be able to be kept. This was a secret to Wu Guoying: the guys have collected a sum of money for the Wu family. If something goes wrong, this money may be used for emergency purposes. Wu Guoying can send someone to get it when it is convenient.
He patted Ou Jiafu on the shoulder and said, "You are so thoughtful! You are so thoughtful! With good partners like you, my life as Wu Guoying has not been lived in vain, and Yihe Bank has not been opened in vain!"
Ou Jiafu said: "The old master is as blessed as the East Sea and as long-lived as the Southern Mountains. The Wu family will definitely take it in stride and turn misfortune into blessing."
The twenty or so waiters outside the door said in unison: "May the old boss be blessed as vast as the East Sea and live as long as the Southern Mountains! The Wu family will take us over with a big stride, and turn disaster into blessing!"
Although the last two sentences were not birthday greetings, they were the true intentions of the guys, so Wu Guoying gladly accepted them. He raised his glass and said, "Although my Wu family has suffered a setback today, I have relatives and friends in this hall. Regardless of the wind and rain outside, they can come to accompany Wu Guoying to drink this birthday wine. That means God has not treated me badly. Although the Wu family does not know what will happen tomorrow, this birthday wine today is enough to comfort me. Wu Guoying will lend this glass of light wine here, thank you all for coming."
He couldn't drink alcohol, and just as he touched his lips, Wu Chenggou next to him snatched it away and drank it.
Everyone inside and outside the hall raised their glasses to celebrate his birthday - this is an etiquette that cannot be abolished.
Wu Guoying nodded and said, "Please forgive me for the light wine and bland dishes. Please enjoy. Please enjoy."
I sat down. According to custom, this is the beginning of the feast. But how many people who came here to celebrate the birthday today are in the mood to eat? Especially those outside, they are all absent-minded. Many debt collectors have been stopped outside the gate for several days. Today, I finally saw Wu Guoying by chance during the birthday celebration. But I saw that everyone around me was worried and pretended to drink and eat. The hall was full of Wu family members. If I went in and said something to spoil the mood, I was afraid I would be kicked out. It was difficult to go in for a while. But how could I be willing to just eat a meal and leave? They were just waiting to see who would take the lead so that they could put pressure on him.
Those who were looking for trouble couldn't find a good opportunity to come in, but those who came to wish him a happy birthday came forward one by one to toast. Wu Guoying responded to them one by one, and then Wu Chenggou toasted him a glass.
After moving his chopsticks for a few times, Manager Liu looked around and thought, "This formation is well arranged. The close people gather around the old boss, and those people outside dare not come in even if they have bad intentions."
Before I could finish the thought, I saw an old man in his seventies or eighties, walking in tremblingly with a cane, holding a child of seven or eight years old in his hand.
Wu Guoying was startled when he saw him, and quickly stood up and said, "Uncle Siyou, why are you here?"
