Power and Wealth

Afternoon.

The flight was bumpy.

Dong Xuebing was not used to flying on a small plane. He was used to first-class or business-class cabins. Although Zhen Shui County is far from Beijing, they can reach it in a few hours by plane. He knew he got to get used to it, as the County was paying for their flight tickets. The planes here do not have first-class cabins either, and he got to adapt.

One hour….

Three hours….

The plane touched down in Beijing.

Dong Xuebing, Yan Yizhi, and Chen Xiaomei entered the airport lobby.

Dong Xuebing left for the toilet when they were at the airport.

Dong Xuebing called Xie Huilan. “Hello, Huilan. It’s me.”

“I know it’s you. Don’t tell me you have gotten into trouble again. Hahaha….” Xie Huilan laughed.

Dong Xuebing was speechless. “What are you talking about? I am in Beijing now for work. I had touched down and might be staying here for a few days. Are you free to visit me?”

Xie Huilan laughed. “Why can’t you come and visit me?”

“I have no time. I also don’t have a car, and I had brought some people with me.”

“So, you are asking a pregnant woman to travel so far to visit you?!”

“Anyway, I am in Beijing. You can come if you miss me. Don’t come if you don’t miss me.”

“Huh? You are getting mad at me?! You had just left last week.”

Dong Xuebing was speechless and remembered he had left Beijing not long ago. “Fine. Don’t come and visit me. How are you?”

“Good. I went for a body checkup recently, and everything is good.”

“Great. How is mum?”

“Mum is staying with me, taking care of me and my meals. It is making me feel bad. Oh, can you tell her not to worry about me? I am fine alone. Don’t let her tire herself out.”

“You are pregnant. Haha…. You are our family’s treasure now.”

“Shut up. I can take care of myself. Remember to speak to Mum. Alright. I got to attend a meeting. Bye.”

“Ok. Go and do your work.”

“Come back when you are free.”

“I might not have the time to do that. Let’s talk about it another time.”

Dong Xuebing walked out of the toilet after hanging up and brought Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei out of the airport.

They waited for a taxi at the taxi stand.

They got into a taxi a while later.

Dong Xuebing looked at them and asked. “It’s almost dinner time. What do you all want to eat?”

Yan Yizhi replied. “It’s fine. I will listen to you.”

Chen Xiaomei did not dare to have any requests. “I am fine with anything.”

Dong Xuebing replied. “Let’s have dinner first before we look for a hotel. I think the Finance Department staff had gone home. We will go there tomorrow.”

“Let’s eat something simple.”

Although both of them did not say anything, they looked listless.

Dong Xuebing knew both of them were unwilling to come.

The leaders had ordered Chen Xiaomei to visit Beijing several times because of her relative working in the Finance Department. Her relative and she were frustrated because her relative is a staff member. She could not make any decisions, and Chen Xiaomei had to ask her for favors every time. She knew they would not get any money from the Central Government this time, and they would be wasting their time. Because of the County’s financial situation, they would stay in the worst hotel and eat at the worst restaurant.

Dong Xuebing shook his head and said to the driver. “Please send us to Wang Fu Restaurant.”

The driver replied. “Sure!”

Chen Xiaomei was shocked. “Wang Fu Restaurant?!”

Yan Yizhi was also surprised. “Mayor Dong…. We…. We are on a budget, and it is difficult to reimburse anything above 500 RMB.”

Dong Xuebing smiled. “It’s fine. I will treat you all.”

Yan Yizhi quickly replied. “How can we let you treat us to dinner?”

Dong Xuebing replied. “I must be a good host when we are in Beijing.”

Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei’s salaries were very low compared to Beijing civil servants. The County rarely pay them on time, and they are not well off. They could not even afford some better restaurants, let alone Wang Fu Restaurant. The cost of living in Beijing is much higher than in Zhen Shui County, and they were shocked with they heard they would be having dinner at Wang Fu Restaurant. A dinner at Wang Fu Restaurant is nothing to Dong Xuebing, and he can afford to dine there every day.

Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei do not know about Dong Xuebing’s assets.

Wang Fu Jing.

Wang Fu Restaurant.

Chen Xiaomei said. “Mayor Dong…. Let’s forget it.”

Yan Yizhi does not want Dong Xuebing to spend lavishly. “That restaurant over that is not bad.”

“Alright. Let’s go. I said I will be treating you all to dinner.” Dong Xuebing said and entered the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant.

Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei looked around the restaurant curiously.

Dong Xuebing got a private room and took the menu from the waitress. He ordered a few dishes. He had not eaten anything good in Zhen Shui County besides the meal Mayor Jiang prepared. He wanted to eat something good.

The menu was passed to Yan Yizhi.

Yan YIzhi looked at the menu and was speechless by the prices. The cheapest dish is equivalent to a feast at another restaurant, and one of the dishes Dong Xuebing ordered costs 9,999 RMB. It was several times his monthly salary, and he did not dare to order any more food. “Mayor Dong…. I think it’s enough.”

Dong Xuebing replied. “The portion here is small and not enough for us. Just order a few more dishes.”

“It’s fine.” Yan Yizhi said.

Dong Xuebing turned to Chen Xiaomei. “Chief Chen, order something.”

Yan Yizhi passed the menu to Chen Xiaomei. “Chief Chen.”

Chen Xiaomei’s face changed when she saw the menu. She flipped the pages and dared not order anything. But she saw Dong Xuebing looking at her and ordering a cheaper dish. “Err…. I will order a Sautéed Sweet Corn with Pine Nuts.”

Dong Xuebing asked. “What else?”

Chen Xiaomei quickly replied. “That’s all. This is enough.”

Dong Xuebing turned to the waitress. “Alright. Let’s have these first. We will order if it is not enough.”

The food was served quickly, and they started eating. Dong Xuebing had not eaten anything so delicious for over a week.

Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei ate cautiously at first, and they slowly opened up after seeing Dong Xuebing eating heartily.

“Oh, let’s have some drinks.” Dong Xuebing said.

Yan Yizhi replied. “I will listen to you.”

“Alright.” Dong Xuebing called the waitress and ordered a bottle of Maotai.

After dinner.

Dong Xuebing did not bring so much cash and followed the waitress out to pay.

Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei knew this meal cost tens of thousands of RMB, and they worried that Dong Xuebing could not afford it.

Outside of the private room.

Dong Xuebing asked the waitress. “Don’t you all have POS machines for credit card payments? Why do I need to pay at the counter?”

Before the waitress could answer, a middle-aged man walked over with a smile. Dong Xuebing had not met him before.

“Mr. Dong.” That man shook Dong Xuebing’s hand. “I am Wang Fu Restaurant’s, Assistant Manager. Our manager is not in Beijing, but he heard your wife is pregnant. He asked me to congratulate you, and this meal is on him. He had settled the bill.”

Dong Xuebing smiled. “How do you know it’s me?”

That man replied. “Our floor manager recognized you when you entered.”

Dong Xuebing recalled. He did meet someone familiar when he entered the restaurant. He had visited Wang Fu restaurant several times and was not surprised the staff recognized him.

Dong Xuebing thanked the assistant manager. “Thank you for the meal. Let your General Manager know that Huilan and I will treat him to dinner again.”

That middle-aged man replied. “Sure. I will let him know.”

Dong Xuebing added. “I will pay for our rooms. Give us three rooms. Hmm…. I will book it for five days and let you know if we need to extend our stay.”

“Sure. Give us a few minutes. I will arrange it now.”

“Ok. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”