Power and Wealth

Chapter 1951

Villa.

Living room on the first floor.

Just as they were discussing how heaven could drop a pie, a pie actually fell from the sky into the Fang family’s living room, causing all the elders and younger members in the room to stare in shock.

“Hey!”

“Scared me half to death!”

“This...this fell?”

“Where did this pie come from?”

“Hey, why does this pie look so familiar? Isn’t this the one I made at noon and didn’t finish? I left it in the kitchen.”

“Third Aunt, this is the one you made?”

Several women in the Fang family immediately started discussing it, surprised at the turn of events.

Yes, this was indeed the pie made by the Fang family’s third aunt. When Dong Xuebing first entered Grandpa Fang’s room earlier in the afternoon, he had smelled the scent of leek-filled pies and seen plates with leek leaves on them. So when the second daughter-in-law mentioned it, Dong Xuebing’s mind immediately connected the dots.

With so many people at Fang’s house for lunch today, making enough food was a given—it wouldn’t be appropriate otherwise. Even though today’s society advocates thrift and saving, and leftover food might contain harmful nitrites if not eaten within four hours, in a large family like the Fangs, it’s a rare occasion for both the younger and older generations to gather with Grandpa for a meal. It’s a part of the country’s customs and traditional thoughts; you can’t just let people go without enough to eat. So, they cooked more, and the extra portions were bound to feel like a waste. But if there weren’t enough to eat, that would be a basic etiquette issue. Dong Xuebing is used to seeing leftovers on tables when he goes out for gatherings or social engagements, so he figured it out after snapping his fingers and used STOP to stop time. He quickly went to the kitchen and found a pie—a pretty big one. Then, he brought it back and held it up in the air for the “heavenly pie drop” theatrics.

The effect was excellent.

Look, it shocked everyone.

Some of the younger members were still craning their necks, staring at the empty ceiling as if expecting to see something. But after staring for a long time, nothing appeared, making no sense at all.

“Wait, I remember!” the little girl who played cards with Dong Xuebing in the afternoon called out.

“What is it, Xiao Mei? What did you remember?” her older brother from the younger generation asked, looking at her.

The little girl, Xiao Mei, immediately pointed at Dong Xuebing and said, “Brother Dong can do magic! I saw it on the internet last month at that investment cultural event.”

She wasn’t the only one who saw it.

Another younger member slapped his forehead, “I remember too.”

The relationship between the Fang family and the Xie family was tense—both families were bitter rivals. Consequently, their mutual attention was more intense.

Hearing this, the other elders, who had been unclear on the situation, suddenly realized. So it was magic! Although they couldn’t quite figure out how that pie suddenly appeared from the kitchen or how Dong Xuebing knew that the second daughter-in-law could be so sharp-tongued to make such a comment about the “heavenly pie drop” leading to this act, if they could understand it, then what kind of magic would that be?

Dong Xuebing just laughed cheerfully, “What kind of magic is this? Haha, this is not magic at all. Second Aunt just mentioned the ‘heavenly pie drop,’ and look, it dropped from the sky! This is destiny—a divine arrangement! A great happy event! The heavens can no longer bear it and are helping Xiaoling and Xiao Ran arrange their fate. What a huge destiny! The heavens have destined them to be a couple, they can’t run away from it!” Dong Xuebing excitedly waved the pie on the plate in front of everyone, speaking grandly and happily, much like the pyramid scheme speakers of a few years ago.

Second Aunt said nothing.

Everyone else ignored him.

“Destiny, your grandfather! You just used some tricks.”

At that moment, Grandpa Fang slowly walked into the living room, looking at Dong Xuebing, and suddenly burst into laughter, getting louder and louder, “Hahahahaha!”

The eldest son of the Fang family was slightly taken aback, “Dad.”

Dong Xuebing laughed, “Grandpa Fang, isn’t this how it is?”

Grandpa Fang smiled at him, “Indeed, the son-in-law of the Xie family is truly as renowned as they say.”

“You’re too kind, too kind.” Dong Xuebing humbly replied, “What reputation? I don’t have any reputation, and if I do, it’s only a bad one, haha.”

The second aunt of the Fang family sneered, thinking, “So you know your reputation isn’t good.”

“The God of Plague” Dong Xuebing—a title many people had heard of, referring to the eldest son-in-law of the Xie family. They were all in the same circles, so there was nothing they couldn’t hear about. Dong Xuebing had a notorious reputation, and the Fang family had a daughter known as the “Female Rascal,” Fang Wenping, as well. Dong Xuebing and Fang Wenping were equally notorious figures in that field, both infamous for being people you didn’t want to encounter.

Fang Wenping wasn’t mentioned, but within their family, everyone knew. Their younger sister could even personally send her husband to jail. Even people from their faction would say, “He’s being disciplined,” without a second thought, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do. Grandpa Fang sometimes had a headache because of his youngest daughter. Now, seeing Dong Xuebing, who was as notorious as Fang Wenping, the Fang family gained a deeper understanding.

“A hundred hears don’t match seeing once.”

It was indeed true.

Then everyone more or less understood why the Xie family would entrust such an important betrothal task entirely to Dong Xuebing—because of his reputation and the way he handled things. And secondly, because of his cunning and capabilities. The eldest son-in-law of the Xie family was indeed rumored to possess some skills.

Grandpa Fang waved his hand, “Enough talk, let’s eat.”

“Oh, Dad, you sit here.” The eldest daughter-in-law of the Fang family went to pull out a chair.

Second Aunt and Third Aunt helped Grandpa Fang, but he waved his hand, refusing. He walked over briskly and sat down by himself. He had excellent health and was in high spirits.

Grandpa Fang belonged to the oldest class of central leaders in the system. There weren’t many in their age group still holding front-line positions. But Grandpa Fang was the head of the State Council; if he didn’t have this health, he would have retired long ago. For their level of political standing, there wasn’t any strict retirement age. Unlike lower-level officials, who were subject to regulations stating they must retire if they hadn’t advanced to a higher level by a certain age. It was based on one’s physical condition. In theory, if Grandpa Fang stepped down after a change in leadership, he could hold a position elsewhere without violating any regulations. Of course, no one would do that—just a hypothetical scenario.

Once Grandpa Fang sat down, the eldest, second, and third sons, and others all took their seats in turn. No one invited Dong Xuebing, and then the younger generation also took their seats in order.

With that, it became clear how thick Dong Xuebing's skin was. Even if no one invited him, he still cheerfully moved over, grabbing a chair from beside and squeezing it between two younger family members, awkwardly sitting down. Oh, the dinner is truly lavish tonight, a feast! Hey, Grandpa Fang, is it alright if I join you for dinner here?” he said, standing up as if embarrassed. “I’m being too familiar, huh? Just smelling the food, and I came over. Hey, maybe I shouldn’t eat after all.” He stood up, but Dong Xuebing didn’t budge, remaining standing there.

“Not eating anymore?”

“Damn, you’ve already sat down.”

“Are you not planning on eating?”

The Fang family members were all very impressed by Dong Xuebing’s mouth, thinking he could outtalk anyone. If Dong Xuebing were rude from the start, it would have been easier for them to drive him away; they were in the right, no need to argue. However, with Dong Xuebing smiling and acting politely, the Fang family members were at a loss. If they scolded him, he pretended not to understand; if they were polite, he climbed all over them. They had never encountered someone like him.

Grandpa Fang waved his hand, “Sit down, Xiao Dong. Eat with us. I don’t know if you’ll like our family’s food, haha.”

Dong Xuebing immediately sat back down and replied, “You’re too polite. Of course, I’ll like it! Just smelling the aroma is enough.” He picked up some food with his chopsticks and nodded approvingly, “Delicious! Hey, it’s delicious. No wonder everyone in our family is so healthy; eating like this every day, who wouldn’t be fit?”

Second Aunt was annoyed, whispering, “Who said we were your family?”

People in Beijing are generally more polite and warm in their speech and actions, which is also reflected in their language. For instance, when buying scallions, people in other places might directly ask, “How much are your scallions?” but in Beijing, many are still accustomed to asking, “How much are our scallions?” to sound close and familiar. Dong Xuebing’s words were actually along those lines, but many in the Fang family found it awkward and uncomfortable, unable to tolerate Dong Xuebing’s warm enthusiasm.

Dong Xuebing overheard her and smiled, “Second Aunt, why not our family? You see, Xiao Ling and Xiao Ran are about to get engaged and married, so we’ll all be family from now on.”

Second Aunt’s face darkened, “Who agreed to that?”

Dong Xuebing was confused, “Our family agreed, didn’t you say it earlier? Didn’t you say that as long as a pie fell from the sky, Xiao Ran and Xiao Ling could get engaged whenever they wanted? Everyone saw it, didn’t they? And look, the bun did fall from the sky.”

Second Aunt didn’t know what to say.

The rest of the Fang family also kept quiet.

The words indeed caught Second Aunt off guard. What she just said was a reaction to the heat of the moment, an angry and irrational response. Who would have thought that Dong Xuebing would make a ‘pie fall from the sky’? She didn’t know how to respond.

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