Xie Runfa's wife stood there with a sullen face, clearly disdainful of her husband's actions.
"Head of the village, one pack is enough for me. Don't be polite," Luo Yang declined.
"Niu Zai, if you don't accept it, you're not giving me face. Take it," Xie Runfa insisted, stuffing the cigarettes into Luo Yang's hand.
In Luo Yang's impression, Xie Runfa was not a generous person.
His unsolicited kindness now must have a reason.
Luo Yang guessed that the head of the village needed his help with a tricky matter.
Accept people's money, help them out of disasters.
As long as he didn't accept the gift, he could decide based on the situation whether to help or not.
"Head of the village, we're all our own people here. Don't be like this," Luo Yang declined again, stepping outside.
"Niu Zai, I've watched you grow up from a boy. You won't even give me this much face?" Xie Runfa spoke with the air of an elder.
First, the village head's wife was looking pitifully at the pack of cigarettes.
Second, it was Luo Yang's guess that Xie Runfa's offering of cigarettes was mostly to get him to do some work.
Considering these two reasons, Luo Yang felt it was better not to take them.
But at this moment, Xie Runfa got serious, and further refusal would make the head of the village lose face.
"Head of the village, then I'll buy it at half price," Luo Yang offered to pay.
"If you keep this up, you're still not giving me face. Go get the job done, and remember to come over tonight. We'll have a good long talk," Xie Runfa pushed Luo Yang out of the store.
So Luo Yang had no choice but to accept a pack of cigarettes.
Once outside the store, he still couldn't figure out what exactly the head of the village wanted him to do.
After Luo Yang and others had walked a distance, the village head's wife complained, "Doesn't it cost money to stock up? Just giving it away for free?"
Xie Runfa sneered, "You know nothing; only Niu Zai can help us!"
…
…
When passing by his house, Luo Yang first took the pack of cigarettes home, handed it to his father, and invited his family to have lunch together at Xiaoshulin Market.
Luo Yang's family had already tried the taste of four kinds of fish, so they decided not to join the crowd.
At that time, the giant tuna, yellow lip fish, Yangtze shad, and Yangtze River swordfish kept in the big tank were ready to be served.
The giant tuna already weighed several dozen kilograms and was later moved to a pond for growing because the tank couldn't hold it.
People say that the giant tuna can grow up to over 200 kilograms.
Luo Yang wasn't in a rush to eat the giant tuna; he only planned to take the yellow lip fish, Yangtze shad, and Yangtze River swordfish to the restaurant.
The family had already filled three buckets with the three types of fish; Luo Yang just needed to take them when he left.
What remained was to call the classmates and friends who were invited to ensure they arrived on time. This task was taken care of by Hong Jiaxin and Luo Yang.
Hong Jiaxin was responsible for notifying the girls from the Sorority, while Luo Yang took care of inviting his good friends.
This time, since the main guests were a group of girls, Luo Yang didn't find it suitable to invite too many boys over, only calling Xiao Daniu and Dai Bao Jian to come for the meal.
Before leaving, Luo Yang received a call from Guan Changxing, stating that the fire safety issue at the Jingwu Gate Martial Arts School was resolved.
After ending the call, Luo Yang immediately phoned Shi Long to go open up the martial arts school and tidy up the place.
Right after hanging up, he received another call from Tan Shengmei, the deputy director of Renmin Hospital.
All Tan Shengmei said was, "Niu Zai, your department request has come through, do you want to stop by Renmin Hospital today?"
He was indeed planning to go to the county town in the afternoon.
Luo Yang replied with a smile, "I'll head there after lunch. Sister Tan, can you come to the countryside this noon?"
Upon hearing that Luo Yang was having a feast, Tan Shengmei was quite interested.
"Then wait for me. I want to try those three types of fish; I've heard they taste excellent and they're quite pricey," Tan Shengmei cautioned.
"Sister Tan, just call me when you get to Xiaoshulin Market in Hongyun Town. Is Sister Lin coming?" Luo Yang asked.
"I'm calling her now. Don't hang up," Tan Shengmei said.
She used another phone to call Lin Xixin.
After a while, Tan Shengmei spoke again, "She said she'd also like to come. She's asking if you've prepared the beauty stream water?"
Luo Yang laughed, "It's ready. You'll have it when you get here. We'll talk more when you arrive."
After finishing the call, Luo Yang was in a good mood.
The issue with the martial arts school was settled, and starting from today, he would also become a specially appointed doctor at Renmin Hospital; this was also a cause for celebration, so it was just right to celebrate at the restaurant as well.
Before leaving, each beautiful lady took turns dressing up, spending a lot of time on their appearance.
They wouldn't step out until they looked perfectly gorgeous from head to toe.
Luo Yang brought two buckets of fish from home, not taking the giant tuna but only the yellow lip fish, Yangtze River swordfish, and Yangtze shad.
The buckets were placed in the trunk of the car.
Each beautiful lady was neatly dressed, vying for beauty, each with their unique charm, quite a feast for the eyes.
Actually, there were three cars.
However, they dared not drive Tang Guihua's Peugeot 308.
Better safe than sorry.
The Lin Family had set their eyes on the Peugeot 308, and driving it out would make it very likely to get hit.
Before settling the issue with the Lin Family, Luo Yang also didn't want the other beauties to drive the Peugeot 308 out of town.
Two cars were to carry 12 people, which actually wasn't enough seats.
But Luo Yang invented a method of two people squeezing into one seat, which just barely worked.
Actually, delivering part of the beauties to Xiaoshulin Market first and then coming back for the rest was also feasible.
But since all the beauties wanted to reach the destination as soon as possible, they just had to squeeze in a bit.
The drivers were Qiao Yousi and Tang Guihua.
Luo Yang, An Yuying, Hong Jiaxin, Suyun, and Shi Yun rode in the car driven by Tang Guihua, while the rest of the beauties took the car driven by Qiao Yousi.
Both cars were Volkswagen Lavidas, indistinguishable in quality.
"Everyone, get in the car," Luo Yang called out with a wave of his hand.
The ladies joyfully piled into the cars.
If Zhang Jing had not been there, Luo Yang thought this scenario would have been quite heartwarming.
But with the mysterious beauty Zhang Jing mixed in, Luo Yang's mind was always filled with many thoughts.
Suyun, as usual, sat in the passenger seat.
In the rear seats were Luo Yang, Hong Jiaxin, An Yuying, and Shi Yun.
After Hong Jiaxin got into the car, Luo Yang followed.
Once An Yuying was seated, Shi Yun took his seat.
"Sister Guihua, let's go," Luo Yang said.
Then Tang Guihua slowly drove the car forward.