After calling everyone to their seats, Cheng Su asked Qi Taiguo to accompany the guests while she and Qiulan and He Yue kept busy, constantly pouring tea and serving soup bowls.
All familiar faces who didn’t stand on ceremony, the guests soon struck up conversations, the only one seemingly spinning like a top was Cheng Su.
Unable to stand idly by, Guiying stood up, intending to help—after all, there were no outsiders there.
"Hey, where are you going?" Hualing tugged at her.
"I’m going to help Cheng Su," Guiying said with innocent look.
"Sit down, sit down. We are guests today who have paid to be served. When have you ever seen guests helping out the host? Haven’t you dined out before? Don’t you know this?" Hualing said with a look of disdain: "We’re here to enjoy the service we paid for, not to work. You need to learn this. It’s okay here, but if you were outside, it would be embarrassing."
Guiying’s face instantly flushed a deep red.
The people around felt awkward and glanced at Hualing, wondering why she would say such a thing!
But Hualing, quite unbothered, deliberately looked at Cheng Su, who was pouring tea for their table, and asked, "Cheng Su, am I right or not?"
"Indeed, you are all guests, and it’s not a guest’s place to lift a hand here. Please take a seat, we can handle it," Cheng Su replied without a care, then went to serve drinks to another table.
Hualing looked smug and even shot Guiying a glance.
"Today we are indeed basking in Cheng Su’s generosity. With a budget of thirty yuan for three tables, the cost of this banquet is quite modest. Nowadays, with rising prices, in a high-end restaurant outside, we probably couldn’t get many dishes. Didn’t I hear there’s ten dishes and a soup today? Cheng Su, I think you might take a loss today," said Sister-in-law Zhou, Old Zhou’s wife, with a laugh.
Those present, knowing more or less the budget for today’s banquet, interpreted Sister-in-law Zhou’s words as a slight towards Hualing’s pretentiousness and began to express their gratitude.
Cheng Su, smiling, said, "Let’s not talk about losses today. Money lost can be earned back, otherwise where does the saying ’a hundred pieces of gold scattered and yet returned’ come from? But comradeship once gone would truly pain my heart. Sharing a meal to cement friendship is worth it, and not a loss at all. Today, let’s value our military comradeship, and after this meal, should any comrade or sister-in-law succeed in their civilian life, don’t forget my little restaurant and come support it often!"
Her words were hearty, and being mainly military people, they admired that sort of spirit, and immediately began clapping, saying, "We’ll take Sister-in-law Qi at her generous word!"
Qi Taiguo looked at Cheng Su, his eyes brimming with indescribable pride.
"I like the way you speak, sister. Come sit by me later, and we’ll have a few drinks," said Sister-in-law Zhou, who loved Cheng Su’s forthrightness. She was a straightforward person herself and naturally liked others who were direct—unlike Hualing, who acted superior and unpleasant.
"Sure, let’s not go home until we’re drunk," Cheng Su agreed cheerfully.
Qi Taiguo, hearing the phrase ’not go home until we’re drunk,’ remembered the affection he had shared with Cheng Su just days earlier and couldn’t help but smile broadly.
"What a ’hundred pieces of gold scattered and yet returned,’ Taiguo, you’ve married a good wife," Old Zhou laughed heartily, his eyes filled with admiration and approval.
The others also began to offer their compliments, and Qi Taiguo, unaccustomedly bashful, said, "To have such a wife is indeed my good fortune."
Cheng Su shot him a playful glare.
Watching their tender exchanges, Hualing felt a twist of jealousy, her face contorting with emotion. She glanced at Chen Shouwang, who sat beside her, head slightly bowed in silent tea-sipping contemplation, and tightly clenched her hand under the table.