Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 74 Party

Xiao Wei said, "My wife will pick me up at 6:30. You're dressed a bit lightly. Do you live around here?"

Chen Xiao smiled and glanced at Chen Hui, who was looking at her expectantly, and said, "Yeah, my home is on Zhenxing Street, just a little past here, not far. I wouldn't dare come if it were too far, it's dark, and there might be people with bad intentions."

The little girl who came with him burst out laughing, and Xiao Wei's group of people also laughed. Chen Hui blushed, but pretended not to hear and said, "Have you had dinner yet? If not, go to Xiao Wei's house for a bite before you come back. It's in the Dianli residential area. We both live there. He lives in Building *, apartment 301, and I live in apartment 501. We live upstairs and downstairs."

Chen Xiao was taken aback for a moment, then turned to Xiao Wei and asked, "Really?"

Xiao Wei smiled and nodded, saying, "It's true, I moved here later. He's a formal employee of the power bureau, and his house is located here. He's in charge of checking meters in this area. Wait a minute, Hui Zi, you check meters every day, but you've never run into Chen Xiao before?"

Chen Xiao glanced at Chen Hui and said, "Then I might as well go home. My home is on Zhenxing Street, isn't that closer than yours?"

Chen Hui scratched his head and said, "I've never seen it before. What's your house number?"

Chen Xiao said, "I'm at the mall all day and don't get back until five or six in the evening. It would be a miracle if you ran into me."

Chen Hui shook his head and said, "That's easy. I'll start checking the table at night from now on. I don't believe this nonsense."

Everyone laughed again. Chen Xiao pulled the girl up and said, "This is Wang Lu, she lives downstairs from me, she's my classmate. Aren't you going to introduce yourselves? You all know each other now."

Xiao Wei said, "We're all classmates from the Cultural Palace's chef class. This is Xia Maosheng, you've met him a few times, he's from Beipiao, he's influential there. This is Yang Tiebin, from Suizhong. This is Li Guangzhao, from Fushun. This is Qi Guangjun, from Kaiyuan. This is Yang Changjiu, from Beixi. This is Luo Qinghe, from Xinmin. My hometown is Beixi, a small town. This is Chen Hui, a local from Nanhu, a full-time employee of the power bureau, youthful and energetic, he's influential around here. Oh, Hui is currently single, has zero dating history, comes from a wealthy family, just a bit overweight."

Laughter broke out again, and Chen Xiao joined in. Chen Hui glared at Xiao Wei and asked, "Where am I fat? Pfft, where am I fat? I'm strong, you know?"

Xiao Wei said, "Come on, last night when the power went out on Taiyuan Street, my legs were shaking from being down there. I'm a farmer by trade, I worked as a bricklayer for several years, do you think I'm weak?"

Chen Xiao asked curiously, "Why are you shaking when he went to cut off the power?"

Xia Maosheng chimed in, "Last night a group of us went to the Taiyuan Street night market, but we got ripped off."

Luo Qinghe said, "I, I was just being nosy and tried to light a lighter a few times, but they blocked my way and wouldn't let me leave without buying it. They demanded 300 yuan, and then Xiaowei and they got into a fight."

Qi Guangjun said from the side, "Those street vendors are such bastards. The day before yesterday, I went there by myself and they blocked my way and beat me up. They charged me two hundred for a lighter. If it weren't for Brother Hui last night, we would have just left it there."

Yang Changjiu chimed in: "Later, all sorts of directors from the management office came, demanding money from us as soon as they opened their mouths, and even wanted to take us to the police station."

Xiao Wei said, "Back then, they were arresting people. The station chief was so arrogant. He didn't even ask what happened, and he immediately sided with the vendors who were bullying us. Then Hui Zi got angry and went over and cut off the power to that area. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't be out today. There was nowhere to reason with them."

Qi Guangjun laughed and said, "Brother Hui is awesome. The director's face turned green and he was dumbfounded. He then took down the stall. It was so satisfying."

Chen Xiao turned her head and gave Chen Hui a deep look, then asked Xiao Wei, "And then what happened?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's how it happened. The director softened, took down the stall, and sent the stall owner back for investigation. Then Hui Zi's dad went over, and the head of the market management office also went. His dad didn't give them any face and directly confronted them. Although the electricity was later restored, it was mainly because the area had too much of an impact. I guess the director can't continue working there and will definitely have to be dismissed."

Wang Lu, standing nearby, said, "We have to teach them a lesson. There are too many infuriating things in that lousy place. I lost fifty yuan there last time."

Chen Xiao nodded and said, "We have to be careful when we go to that area in the future. Many of the vendors there are thieves, my dad said."

Chen Hui asked, "What's your dad doing?"

Chen Xiao glanced at him and said, "My dad works at the post office. What's up? Need something?"

Chen Hui scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, saying, "It's okay, my dad works for the power company, they might know him. I'll go back and ask him what his last name is... oops, what's his first name?"

Everyone was amused by Chen Hui's silly appearance. Chen Xiao glared at him and said, "What start time? Aren't you going in yet?"

Xia Maosheng said, "His wife has to come out. Oh, here she comes, the tall one."

Xiao Hong and Chen Shulan walked out of the school gate hand in hand and called out, "What are you doing here? Come in." Chen Shulan went over and said a few words to the gatekeeper, who then glanced over.

A group of people walked over, and Xiao Hong came over and took Xiao Wei's arm, looking at Chen Xiao and Wang Lu curiously. Xiao Wei introduced them, "Chen Xiao, this is my girlfriend Wang Xiao Hong. Xiao Hong, this is Hui Zi's friend Chen Xiao, and this is Chen Xiao's classmate Wang Lu. They came together today since they had nothing to do. They live next door, in the post office building."

Xiao Hong nodded to Chen Xiao and said, "Hello." She then nodded to Wang Lu, and the two of them responded with smiles. Chen Xiao said, "Xiao Hong, you're amazing! You actually got to study here. I really envy you. I didn't do well in school and didn't get in."

Xiao Hong blushed and said, "I was just lucky. Let's go, it's about to start. There's a way around it, it's over in the auditorium."

A group of people entered the school gate and walked towards the auditorium while talking. Halfway there, Chen Xiao and Xiao Hong went together, with Wang Lu accompanying them. The three girls walked in front, and a group of men followed behind.

Chen Hui whispered to Xiao Wei from behind, "Make sure Xiao Hong and she get along well. We're counting on you guys this time." Xiao Wei nodded at Chen Xiao.

Upon entering the auditorium, a wave of energy hit me. Outside, it was so quiet I could hear breathing, but inside, it was like a pot of boiling water, with students sitting or standing in small groups, excitedly discussing and chattering. They were a group of carefree, energetic people.

Xiao Hong led everyone to her class's side. After everyone sat down, she told Xiao Wei and went backstage with Chen Shulan. Chen Shulan was a student council member, and Xiao Hong was probably close to that as well, since she was also the class monitor and they had a good relationship.

At 7 o'clock sharp, the party began. As the music played, the host walked onto the stage. Xiao Wei opened his mouth in surprise, while Xia Maosheng and Chen Hui clapped and shouted "Oh~~ Oh~~". With this, a round of applause rang out in the auditorium.

The female host turned out to be Xiao Hong. This girl is really good at keeping quiet; she didn't tell everyone beforehand.

Xiao Wei nudged Chen Hui, who was yelling and straining his neck, and pointed to the camera hanging around Chen Hui's neck. Chen Hui immediately reacted, stood up, raised the camera, and the flash illuminated the entire venue, capturing Xiao Hong's beautiful image on her first stage appearance.

Back then, cameras were still a luxury item. There were only three or four cameras in the entire auditorium, including those from the school. And the 200mm lens was nearly 20 centimeters long, which was quite impressive. The students sitting on the side turned their heads enviously to look at these awesome people who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.