After lunch, Li Hao Chen went to the pedestrian street, naturally not empty-handed, buying plenty of fruits and cigarettes.
During this period, Xiao Nian and the other two had managed the branch store very well. Li Hao Chen, while making a lot of money, did not forget his hardworking employees; rewards were certainly in order.
This time, there was no salary increase, just a reward of 1000 yuan for each person. Salary increases couldn't be too frequent; it was sufficient to add them at appropriate times. Increasing it too much could backfire.
He didn't stay long at the branch store. After a brief conversation and distributing the rewards, he headed to the main store. It was Saturday, and everyone was at the shop. Li Hao Chen's arrival surprised them, and they immediately rushed forward, giving him a hearty hug.
Liang Min Feng came up and punched Li Hao Chen, "You rascal, I thought you'd forgotten about us."
Li Hao Chen immediately put his arm around Liang Min Feng's shoulders, "What, miss me? How about a kiss?"
Saying this, he puckered his lips and moved towards Liang Min Feng, scaring the latter into pushing Li Hao Chen away instantly and jumping behind Zhang Gui Fang, "Damn it, third brother, I didn't expect you to be into this. I have a wife, you... you go find those two."
"Slap~"
As soon as Liang Min Feng finished speaking, he received slaps from Chen He and Liu De Hui, "Go, go, go, we also have families, you know. Be careful or your sister-in-law might reduce your meal portions."
"Wife, they're bullying me," Liang Min Feng looked pitifully at Zhang Gui Fang, pretending to be wronged.
"Alright, it's a good opportunity for you to lose some weight, and save money too. Brother He, Brother Hui, I'm fine with it. It's best to give them only half a bowl of rice a day, hee hee!"
"Uh..."
"Hahaha..."
Li Hao Chen genuinely missed such scenes after so long.
"Let's have dinner together tonight. I really miss everyone."
"Okay, I'll arrange it tonight. No one snatch the task from me," Liang Min Feng, upon hearing about food, darted out again, shouting boisterously.
"Fourth brother, it's not going to be the Shaxian dumplings from across the street again, is it?"
"Second brother, am I that kind of person? Tonight, I'll definitely treat you to a big meal, Roujiamo with Shaxian dumplings, enough to stuff your bellies. Generous enough, right? Hehe."
"Tsk..."
Li Hao Chen and the others, with a shared understanding, gave Liang Min Feng a universally understood gesture. Even Zhang Gui Fang couldn't stand it and directly gave him a 360-degree divine twist.
After all the commotion, their brotherly affection remained unchanged by Li Hao Chen's newfound wealth. They still did whatever they wanted, which was truly commendable.
"Ring ring ring~"
"Hello, Sister Xuan. Oh, okay, I'll be right there."
"Something up?" Liu De Hui asked.
"A bit. I'll be leaving then. Let's all go to Yanran's place for dinner tonight. I've made the arrangements."
After leaving the pedestrian street, Li Hao Chen rushed back to Dalong Village without delay. Upon his return, Liu Xuan and the others were already at the village entrance.
He walked over to her car, apologizing slightly, "Sister Xuan, sorry, the electric scooter is a bit slow, hehe!"
Liu Xuan opened the car door with a smile, her hand covering her leg. She gracefully stepped out of the car. Seeing no hint of that mysterious aura, Li Hao Chen secretly thought it was a pity.
"Hao Chen, I saw you accepting the award yesterday. Handsome and capable. I'm smitten, sister. If I weren't already taken by a big pig, I'd be chasing you, hee hee!"
"Uh... Sister Xuan, can I interpret this as sexual harassment? Hehe!" Having dealt with devils like Liu Zi Jun and Xie Bao Lian for so long, Li Hao Chen found it easy to handle such teasing.
Liu Xuan gave him a flirtatious eye-roll, making Li Hao Chen flustered. He cursed her as a siren internally and quickly averted his gaze.
She pulled Li Hao Chen to the side at the back, "Hao Chen, let me introduce you. This is Captain Wang Lun Hao, the chief supervisor for the construction. The ones behind are the construction crew."
Li Hao Chen quickly walked over, handed out a round of cigarettes, and shook hands warmly. "Team Leader Wang, we'll be bothering you with the house. I've booked a room at Binhai Hotel for tonight, and we can all have a casual meal together."
Wang Lun Hao and the others looked embarrassed and didn't dare to agree. Instead, Liu Xuan made the decision, "Old Wang, bring your families too. Don't be polite with him. That hotel belongs to Hao Chen's girlfriend. Eat as much as you can, hahaha!"
"Team Leader Wang, it's decided then. It's just a casual meal, no other burdens."
"Alright, then we won't refuse." With it put that way, refusing again would seem pretentious. Wang Lun Hao agreed without much thought.
"Hao Chen, the reason I called you back is to inform the village. Our large equipment will be going to your plot of land, and it must pass through this village road, which will cause some damage to the road surface. Don't worry, we will restore it to its original condition afterward and it won't be affected."
"This matter, no problem. Wait for me for a moment, I'll go and inform the village head." With that, Li Hao Chen turned and rode his electric scooter to Village Head Huang Haiyuan's house.
"Uncle Yuan, are you home?"
At the door, Li Hao Chen knocked on the tin gate and called out.
"Hey, coming, coming... Hao Chen, come in and sit." Huang Haiyuan came out somewhat hurriedly, his hands covered in black grime, and his hair disheveled.
"Uncle Yuan, what are you doing? You're all dirty."
"Since I have free time, I'm tidying up this doghouse. My brat said he's bringing his girlfriend home for dinner tomorrow, hehe!" Huang Haiyuan couldn't stop smiling when he mentioned this. This old father must have been wanting to be a grandfather for a long time.
"Congratulations then. I guess we'll be drinking wedding wine soon. I'll bring over some fish from Butterfly Bay for you later."
"You're the thoughtful one. Tell me, what's up?"
"It's like this, the village road is also quite old. My house starts construction tomorrow, and the excavators will be going in and out. This road will probably be ruined. I plan to repair this road too and pave it with asphalt. What do you think?"
Originally, Li Hao Chen was going to speak as Liu Xuan had instructed, but upon arriving at Huang Haiyuan's house, he changed his mind. He was a member of Dalong Village after all, and it was only right to improve the village environment now that he had the ability, especially since it would be more convenient for him to travel in and out in the future.
Most importantly, the road was neither wide nor long. Li Hao Chen estimated that it would only cost around ten thousand yuan, which was a worthwhile investment for a good reputation, and the village would support him in whatever he did in the future.
Huang Haiyuan had wanted to repair this village road for a long time, but his applications had never been approved. The village account had money, but not many people were willing to use their own money to repair the road. Li Hao Chen's suggestion was exactly what he wished for. How could he not agree? He immediately laughed excitedly, "No problem, of course, no problem! I'll report it to the district and inform the village."
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Haiyuan rushed out.
"Hey, Uncle Yuan, why are you running so fast..."
At this moment, Huang Haiyuan was nowhere to be seen.