Li HaoChen took it and looked at it, his face darkened. These twenty yuan... well, he did win, he broke even and didn't lose money.
“HaoChen, come here for a moment, I have something to discuss with you.” While Murong YanRan went to take a shower, Xie BaoLian called Li HaoChen into the room.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Your father’s transfer order arrived today, and he’ll be taking office in Yuan City next Wednesday. YanRan and I were discussing having the house-warming ceremony in a couple of days. What do you think?”
“The day after tomorrow?” Li HaoChen thought for a moment and said, “That’s fine. I’ll call Uncle later to ask. If there are no inauspicious things, then the day after tomorrow is okay.”
“Okay, you also ask what things are needed for the house-warming. I don’t understand these things. It would be best if they could come and help with the arrangements.”
“Alright, I’ll tell him later.”
After leaving Xie BaoLian’s room, Li HaoChen called Li DeHai.
“Uncle, are you asleep yet?”
“Not yet, is something wrong?”
“It’s like this, I’m planning to have the house-warming the day after tomorrow. Could you see if it’s okay?”
“Is that so? Wait a moment, I’ll go and ask Uncle Hui.”
About half an hour later, Li DeHai called Li HaoChen back. The date was good and the ceremony could be held.
Since it was settled, preparations had to be made.
This was a proper house-warming, and it couldn’t be done carelessly. Li HaoChen didn’t sleep with Murong YanRan that night. He went into the study next door, thinking about what to prepare for the house-warming the day after tomorrow, and the guest list.
He wrote down everything he thought of, and soon, three pages were filled. When he finally couldn’t think of anything else he had missed, he had written five pages, which was quite exaggerated.
After checking it again and nodding with satisfaction, he went back to his small room to sleep.
The next morning, Li HaoChen showed the menu and list of items he had written the night before to Murong YanRan and Xie BaoLian for their review.
They looked at it very carefully, as if they were more concerned about it than he was.
“You forgot the stools, and we need to buy tables too.”
“We also need to buy disposable tablecloths and bowls and chopsticks. 5 tables are too many bowls and chopsticks, it would be exhausting to wash the dishes.”
Women are indeed women, with their delicate thoughts. In just a moment, they had made quite a few suggestions and pointed out essential items that were missed.
As the saying goes, one person’s thoughts are short, but two people’s thoughts are long. With their help, the list of items for the house-warming was soon completed.
After the two women went back to work, Li HaoChen first called his uncle Li DeHai and asked him to be responsible for notifying everyone in the village. Afterwards, he called Chen He and Liu ZiJun separately, and of course, he couldn’t forget to invite some good neighbors from Dalong Village.
He originally wanted to invite Liu QingHe and the others, but he thought better of it. They weren’t nearby, and it wouldn’t be very good to ask them to make a special trip.
After estimating the number of guests, at least four tables would be needed. However, Li HaoChen didn’t like this number, so he decided to set up two more tables, making it six tables in total.
This way, everyone wouldn’t be too crowded, and there would be plenty of food, so everyone could pack some to take back.
After notifying everyone one by one, Li HaoChen went to Village Chief Huang Haiyuan’s house to buy chickens and geese.
“HaoChen, why are you giving me money? Take it back quickly.”
Huang Haiyuan’s words were a bit disingenuous. Although he spoke beautifully, he didn’t let go of the three thousand yuan that Li HaoChen handed him.
“How can I do that, Uncle Yuan? These are what you worked so hard to raise. You can’t do this. I’m leaving now. Remember to come for a drink tomorrow night.”
8 chickens and 3 geese, all free-range farm animals. 3000 yuan was not expensive.
He threw the chickens and geese he bought into the chicken coop next to the vegetable patch, and picked a lot of old vegetables to throw in. However, these chickens and geese were unmoved, showing no desire to eat, and just huddled in the corner.
Perhaps they sensed their impending doom, as they didn’t have the same energy as they did at Huang Haiyuan’s house.
After closing the chicken coop tightly, Li HaoChen rode his bike to the furniture city in the North District. Only here could he find the round wooden tables he wanted.
When he arrived, he stated his purpose before the sales assistant could introduce anything. The originally enthusiastic sales girl’s enthusiasm immediately waned. Of course, she still maintained the basic etiquette of hospitality.
Five round wooden tables that could seat twelve people each, with glass lazy Susans and sixty thick-legged plastic stools. When Li HaoChen stated these quantities, the sales assistant became enthusiastic again. This added up to several thousand yuan, so it was a good order.
However, the delivery would be the day after tomorrow, and Li HaoChen couldn’t wait. He secretly slipped two hundred yuan to the sales assistant to cut in line. He had intended to try his luck, but he didn’t expect it to actually work. Looking at the sales assistant’s skilled movements as she put the money into her pocket, she probably did this often.
Since the delivery was in the afternoon, there was still plenty of time. Li HaoChen rushed to the Binhai Plaza supermarket. For a banquet, he naturally had to buy cigarettes, alcohol, and beverages.
Why did he travel all the way here? He had an 85% discount card, and it would be a waste not to use it.
He also came to check the sales of his bamboo products.
After observing for about half an hour, he sold a few packs of toothpicks, a bamboo cutting board, and two packs of bamboo skewers. Li HaoChen was quite satisfied.
A little over ten minutes later, Li HaoChen pushed a cart full of goods to the checkout. When he came out, he thought about saying hello to Huang Yuan, but decided against it. There would be plenty of time in the future.
Although the items were not many, the price was not low. The five bottles of wine alone cost nearly twenty thousand yuan, which had already exceeded the delivery standard. After handling the delivery procedures, Li HaoChen returned lightheartedly.
Upon returning to Butterfly Bay, he brought the ground cages he had thrown in yesterday into the space. The quantity was quite large, but they didn’t yield enough for a grand feast.
There were a few large yellow croakers in the fish cages. If these were used for hospitality, even Teacher Ma would have to bow in admiration. Unfortunately, there were too few, not even enough for everyone to have a bite.
The only things he could present were these green groupers. The quantity was also sufficient, and wild ones weighing about three catties each were also a good choice.
Li HaoChen naturally wanted to make this house-warming banquet perfect, so a precious ingredient was needed for this seafood main course.
After leaving the space, Li HaoChen called Murong YanRan and Xie BaoLian. He was going out to sea to try his luck.
When he arrived at the dock, he bought a few packs of Bai Xiang instant noodles at the convenience store and returned to the XingChen, which had only been out for one night. He didn’t need to refuel.
After filling the water tank, Li HaoChen set sail.
He sailed until dusk and finally arrived at his destination. Li HaoChen stopped the boat, broke off quite a few mussels from the space, and smashed them with a small hammer. Anyway, they were only used for bait boxes.
After loading them all, he put the bait boxes into the ground cages.
Returning to the cockpit, he started the engine and engaged a gear, slowly proceeding. Li HaoChen fixed the steering wheel with an object and ran out to cast the ground cages.
This time, he put the space’s divine bait inside, so the harvest should not be bad.