Xu Neng felt extremely distressed, but dared not say anything under his wife's fierce authority.
Therefore, all the old tables and broken stools that had been with the family for many years were cleared out, waiting for the furniture Xu Zhengyang bought to arrive so they could be replaced.
Let's go back to the story of Xu Zhengyang buying furniture that day.
The "Juran Home Furnishing City" at the intersection of South Ring Road and Huamao Street in Fuhe City is the largest home decoration and furniture sales center in Fuhe City, offering a wide range of furniture and decorative items from high-end to low-end.
Around 8 a.m., just as "Juran Home" opened, Xu Zhengyang and Chen Chaojiang entered the home furnishing store.
Xu Zhengyang spent half a day wandering around the three floors of the furniture mall, but he still couldn't find any furniture that caught his eye. He didn't care about the price of the items; he just wanted to buy something that matched his vision and suited the decor of his old house.
After walking around for a while, Xu Zhengyang did indeed like some of the furniture's colors and styles. However, they were either too big or too small; no matter how he looked at it, they wouldn't fit into his home. This was unavoidable; nowadays, furniture manufacturers incorporate the layout and color schemes of modern urban rooms, so most of the furniture simply wouldn't suit Xu Zhengyang's rural hometown house.
When Xu Zhengyang wandered over to the East Zone, he immediately noticed that the furniture there was completely different from that in the West and Central Zones. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but he just felt that it was different.
He quickly realized something was wrong...
The price is too high, ridiculously high.
Damn it, a seemingly ordinary desk costs over four thousand yuan, and a wooden chair that looks unremarkable costs over two thousand yuan... Is this shop owner selling all his furniture as antiques? Why doesn't he just rob a bank? Xu Zhengyang thought to himself, but he didn't turn around and leave, because the furniture here was indeed... quite pleasing to the eye.
The feeling it gives is that no matter what kind of family room you have, these pieces of furniture won't look out of place; they just create a sense of harmony.
Of course, Xu Zhengyang still wanted to choose furniture that he liked, considering factors like color and style. "Look," he thought, "the furniture over there is nice, all wooden, and one section is entirely made of natural wood colors—greenish-yellow, pale yellow, light brown…"
Xu Zhengyang strode over there, with Chen Chaojiang following behind with a cold expression.
Because it was morning, there weren't many people buying furniture in the market yet, so the pretty saleswomen seemed rather idle. When they saw Xu Zhengyang and Chen Chaojiang, they didn't offer their usual polite welcome or introduce the various furniture items. The reason was simple: in their eyes, Xu Zhengyang and Chen Chaojiang were not only young, but their tacky and tasteless clothing alone showed that they weren't wealthy at all, and... most likely, they were from the countryside.
Hmm, maybe that young man in the light gray jacket is getting married? Why didn't he buy furniture in your town? He came all the way to "Juran Home Furnishings" and, stupidly, went to the high-end section. He probably doesn't know anything about furniture. I reckon he'll slink away after a short while. The prices of all this furniture alone will scare him away.
Xu Zhengyang naturally noticed the disdain and contempt in the eyes of the saleswomen. It wasn't that he harbored any impure motives or was paying extra attention to these pretty young women in uniforms; rather, in the West and Central sections, the saleswomen always greeted them politely and introduced furniture styles. But in the East section, practically no one paid them any attention. They were greeted with stiff smiles, devoid of any genuine politeness whatsoever.
However, Xu Zhengyang didn't care much about these things. He wasn't about to fuss over someone's eyes and expression.
As he walked over to the pieces of natural wood furniture, he felt a certain fondness for them and strolled slowly, examining them closely. He touched this one, looked at that one, and as he made his decision, a tall, short-haired saleswoman approached and casually reminded him, "Hello, this is the high-end furniture section."
Xu Zhengyang turned his head, looked at the saleswoman's pretty face with a hint of disdain and dissatisfaction, then smiled calmly and nodded, saying, "Yes, I know."
After saying that, Xu Zhengyang turned his head as if nothing had happened and continued to stare at the single-door, double-layered wardrobe in front of him. The light yellow color with brown wood grain was smooth and natural. Xu Zhengyang thought to himself, "Not bad, not bad. It's not too big. I can buy three sets and put one in each of the three bedrooms, against the corner of the wall..." As he thought this, Xu Zhengyang reached out and stroked the smooth surface of the wardrobe, then opened the wardrobe door and looked inside.
"Don't touch anything." The saleswoman felt annoyed that her well-intentioned reminder had been ignored, and said with a stern face, "Check the price first."
Xu Zhengyang frowned slightly, then smiled and looked at the price tag on a small glass table next to him, which read: 18,800 yuan.
"Oh, I see clearly now." Xu Zhengyang smiled calmly and nodded to the sales clerk, then squatted down, opened the bottom door of the wardrobe, and reached inside to feel around.
"Hey, didn't I tell you not to move around?"
Xu Zhengyang squinted and looked up, saying, "You don't allow people to look at or touch the furniture here? Is that a rule?"
The saleswoman paused, a slight embarrassment creeping onto her pretty face. Looking at Xu Zhengyang's squinting eyes and calm, thin face, she realized that what she had said was indeed inappropriate, but... the saleswoman kept a straight face and said nothing more.
Xu Zhengyang smiled, showing no sign of anger. He got up and continued to examine the other furniture, making some calculations in his mind. "Hmm, this bed isn't bad; it matches the wardrobe's color well." "Hmm? These two stools look nice; they'd be good for the living room..." "Eh? A dressing table; the girl's bedroom needs one." "Tsk tsk, this round table is nice and big; it can seat seven or eight people without feeling crowded..."
His seemingly calm and casual stroll infuriated the saleswoman. "This country bumpkin seems to be deliberately trying to make things difficult for me, doesn't he?"
Another saleswoman had been eyeing this area for a while, and she was genuinely annoyed. These two country bumpkins strolled around leisurely, looking at this and touching that, but showing no intention of buying anything. Well, it wasn't that they could tell Xu Zhengyang didn't want to buy, but rather that they genuinely felt that people like him couldn't afford it. They weren't there to buy furniture; they were simply there to see something new and satisfy their yearning for the future.
"Hey, are you going to buy it or not?" The saleswoman finally couldn't stand it anymore and blocked Xu Zhengyang's way. The other saleswoman also walked over.
Xu Zhengyang frowned slightly, narrowed his eyes, and said calmly, "Can't I even take a look if I don't want to buy?"
The saleswoman raised an eyebrow, her almond-shaped eyes widening, and said coldly, "You can look around if you don't want to buy, but please don't touch these pieces of furniture."
"Is this furniture of poor quality? I'm afraid it might get damaged?" Xu Zhengyang asked with a calm smile.
"You..." The saleswoman was furious.
The sales clerk from before came over, her face stern, but she was suppressing her anger and trying to remain polite as she said, "Sir, we just hope you won't touch these things carelessly. These are all high-end furniture items. If there is any damage, we will be responsible, and you... will also have to bear the loss, won't you?"
"Oh, that's a nice thing to say." Xu Zhengyang smiled and nodded slightly. Although he knew that the other party was being polite on the surface but was actually angry and looked down on him from the bottom of his heart, Xu Zhengyang would not make things difficult for the other party. He was not the kind of person who held grudges, so he said indifferently, "Alright, you've seen enough. I won't make things difficult for you anymore."
The two sales clerks looked at Xu Zhengyang with icy indifference, thinking to themselves that he had better leave quickly, as he was an eyesore.
Unexpectedly, Xu Zhengyang raised his right hand and began to walk slowly in front of the various pieces of furniture, pointing at them with his fingers as he spoke calmly and unhurriedly: "Well, I'll take one of these dining tables, and bring all eight chairs in the set; one of these dressing tables; two of these double beds; one of those bunk beds, and two of these, let's change the double bed into one; two of these desks..."
Xu Zhengyang spoke calmly as he walked, looking as if he were picking watermelons in a watermelon patch.
Originally, I came here with the intention of replacing all the furniture in my house.
After walking a short distance, Xu Zhengyang realized that the sales clerks hadn't followed him. He stopped, turned around, frowned, and said in a deep voice to the two surprised sales clerks, "Did you write it down?"
"Huh?" The two sales clerks snapped out of their surprise and hurried over. One of them said awkwardly, "Excuse me, sir, what would you like to buy? Please repeat it so we can write it down..."
Xu Zhengyang frowned, looking slightly displeased, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, remember this time." Then Xu Zhengyang started pointing casually as he walked.
Chen Chaojiang remained unchanged, coldly following beside him.
After walking around the store, Xu Zhengyang stroked his chin with his right hand, frowning. His calm expression was completely at odds with his age. He pondered for a moment, thinking that he probably didn't need anything. During this time, he definitely wasn't deliberately putting on a profound act for others; rather, he genuinely had no intention of acting like a tycoon and throwing money at the two sales clerks just because of their attitude.
In short: It's not worth it.
"Sir, do you need anything else?" a sales clerk asked.
"It seems there's nothing else..." Xu Zhengyang nodded, then asked, "Let's calculate it, how much is it in total?"
One of the sales clerks had been calculating the items on the order form, and then looked up with a sincere and polite smile, saying, "The total is 133,800."
"Oh." Xu Zhengyang paused for a moment, then lost his previous composure and muttered to himself, "Why is it so expensive?"
The two saleswomen's pretty, smiling faces instantly turned frosty: You country bumpkin, are you kidding us?
Xu Zhengyang didn't notice the expressions on the two men's faces, but looked at Chen Chaojiang and said, "You didn't bring enough money, did you? Sigh... Let's go get some more money."
Indeed, Chen Chaojiang's briefcase contained only a little over 20,000 yuan in cash.
"We accept credit cards here," a sales clerk said coldly, thinking to herself, "Don't pretend, let's see how this country bumpkin gets out of this!"
"Oh, right, I forgot about that, sorry." Xu Zhengyang nodded apologetically. He hadn't really thought about these kinds of things much, how could he have forgotten about using his credit card when he and his sister went on a shopping spree in Fuhe City? His sister had even told him that he wouldn't need to carry so much cash when shopping in the city, as most shopping malls and large supermarkets accepted credit cards... Thinking about this, Xu Zhengyang's expression didn't show much embarrassment. He smiled and said, "You deliver goods here, right? My home is in the countryside, quite far away."
Another salesperson sneered, "Of course we offer delivery, and it's free, no charge at all." He thought to himself, "Let's see what other tricks you have up your sleeve to refuse."
Xu Zhengyang nodded and smiled with satisfaction, "That's good. Let's go. Where do we pay?"
The two sales clerks were stunned...
Chen Chaojiang said coldly from the side, "Don't just stand there, our boss doesn't have that much free time."
The two sales clerks snapped out of their daze, hurriedly nodding and apologizing with polite smiles, and asked Xu Zhengyang and Chen Chaojiang to accompany them to the cashier to complete the payment. Inwardly, they cursed themselves for their poor judgment. This young man was composed, generous, and even had a cold-faced man like a bodyguard by his side. They felt increasingly guilty and fearful. How could they have looked down on someone based on their clothes? If this boss complained about them later, they would lose their jobs.
Xu Zhengyang walked calmly, showing no sign of anger, which truly impressed and moved the two sales clerks.
Next, the two pretty saleswomen completely changed their previous disdainful attitude. They became polite and friendly, their faces full of genuine smiles as they bustled around, calling people to fetch the goods from the warehouse, preparing the vehicle, and delivering the furniture to the owner's home. They also reminded the delivery team to send several people, to be responsible for unloading the furniture after delivery, and to pack it up properly for the owner to ensure nothing went wrong.
Even though these were all things they were supposed to do and didn't need to be specifically reminded, they still tried their best to make Xu Zhengyang happy.
Seeing Xu Zhengyang's calm face and the faint smile in his slightly narrowed eyes, the two saleswomen felt much more at ease. Hopefully, he wouldn't complain later.
After arranging everything, the two sales clerks, smiling and respectfully seeing Xu Zhengyang and Chen Chaojiang downstairs, muttered a few complaints to each other in low voices before silently reminding themselves that they should never judge people by their appearance again.
Little did they know that after leaving the furniture store, Xu Zhengyang patted Chen Chaojiang on the shoulder with a cheerful smile, saying gratefully and with a hint of praise, "Chaojiang, not bad! You're good at talking! You really made your buddy proud!"
Where is that composed and elegant demeanor from just now?
Volume Three, Judge Chapter 108: Visitors from the Capital, Making Friends Across a Thousand Miles
This ordinary, even somewhat dilapidated, farmhouse courtyard has finally been transformed with a unique sense of freshness.
The red bricks in the courtyard were washed several times with clean water and then vigorously swept several times with a broom. The old dirt and grime on the bricks were basically removed, and their original muddy red color reappeared. The old-fashioned house walls and courtyard walls, where the bricks had lost their mortar and mud, making them look pitted and uneven, were also repaired yesterday with cement to fill the gaps between the bricks. This made the house, which had no tiles, look simple and elegant from the outside. The doors and windows were not repainted, but they were cleaned several times. Although they were old and mottled, they were bright and clean. Even the grape trellis on the east side of the courtyard was washed with clean water many times. The green grapevines and leaves with a slight yellow tinge looked much more vibrant.
Inside, the walls, which hadn't had time to be repainted, were uniformly covered with white wallpaper, making them appear pristine and clean. The cement floor was meticulously scrubbed clean, though its color was dull and occasionally uneven. Yet, it possessed a simple and refreshing charm. All the furniture had been replaced with new pieces in elegant, light colors, perfectly complementing the rustic, old-fashioned farmhouse. The parents' bedroom was on the west side of the main house, the living room was in the middle, and Xu Zhengyang's bedroom was on the east side. Xu Rouyue's bedroom, however, was in the west wing next to the main house, and it had also been newly furnished.
Finally finished with their busy work, the family of three sat down at the stone table under the grape trellis, drinking tea and resting.
Looking at her newly renovated home, Yuan Suqin was in a good mood and said with a smile, "If I had known that our dilapidated home could be tidied up like this, I wouldn't have bothered with that new house."
"But it cost so much money..." Xu Neng muttered, but a satisfied smile was on his face.
Yuan Suqin rolled her eyes at her husband and muttered, "Silly old man!"
Xu Zhengyang smoked a cigarette and laughed, "It wasn't a waste of time to work this day and a half. The house doesn't look so shabby anymore. Rouyue's classmate and her cousin are from wealthy families in the city. We can't let them come and make a fool of our house. Rouyue would lose face too."
As they spoke, the distinctive, deep roar of a Yamaha 250 could be heard from outside. Chen Chaojiang drove his motorcycle into the courtyard through the newly paved gravel gate and parked it against the wall of the west wing. Two bulging cloth bags were slung over the back of the motorcycle, and Chen Chaojiang was also carrying a liquor box in his arms.
The family of three quickly got up to help unload the items.
Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and we have guests coming today, so we need to buy some food, drinks, fruits, meat, mooncakes, and the like. Xu Zhengyang had been busy tidying up the house, so he asked Chen Chaojiang to help him buy these things in town.
After moving the purchased items inside, Yuan Suqin shooed them out to rest in the yard. Organizing and settling these things was a woman's job.
Sitting under the grape trellis, Xu Zhengyang took out a cigarette and offered one to Chen Chaojiang, saying, "Didn't you buy anything for the family?"
"Hmm?" Chen Chaojiang paused slightly, then said, "I forgot."
"Go and buy some quickly, so your uncle and aunt will be happier," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
Chen Chaojiang nodded, then opened his briefcase, counted out five thousand yuan, and said, "Take one month's worth first."
Xu Zhengyang smiled and nodded, without saying anything more polite, as that would seem pretentious.
"Call me if anything happens," Chen Chaojiang said, then got up and walked out without a trace of anger. Chen Chaojiang bought his own phone with his salary, saying it was for easy communication, since he couldn't be with Xu Zhengyang all the time.
After Chen Chaojiang left, Xu Neng muttered, "Why did they pay him so much?"
"Not much..." Xu Zhengyang replied with a smile, without saying anything more. He knew that because of his father's personality, he was just saying it casually, and he wouldn't really care about Xu Zhengyang's affairs.
Xu Neng wouldn't really bother with that, after all, the family's current good conditions were all earned by Xu Zhengyang, right? This kid is better than his father; he knows what's good for him.
The phone rang, and Xu Zhengyang took it out to check. It was his sister calling. After answering, he asked:
"Rouyue, where are you?"
"Brother, we've exited the highway, we'll be there in a bit."
"So fast?"
"Uh-huh."
After hanging up, Xu Zhengyang checked the time; it was exactly 11:00 AM. Smiling, he called into the house, "Mom, Rouyue and the others will be here soon."
"Okay, I'll start cooking right away... That's quick, what's the rush, girl?" Yuan Suqin walked out of the main room with a happy expression, heading towards the kitchen in the west room, saying, "I wonder what time those three kids got up..."
A dozen minutes later, Xu Rouyue sent a text message indicating that she had entered the village. After reading it, Xu Zhengyang smiled and got up to go outside. He should at least go to the alley entrance to greet her; his parents, of course, didn't need to come out to meet him.
As soon as I stepped out of the alley and looked south, I saw a black Jeep Wrangler speeding towards me from the south, its horn blaring, causing the children playing on the street to scatter in a chaotic mess.
The driver was none other than Diao Yishi, who called himself Master Diao.