Chapter 151: The Birthday Banquet

An Nan and Gu Zhiyu arrived late; by the time they entered, the place was already almost full.

The two bosses hadn’t arrived yet, so everyone was gathered in small groups, chatting quietly. No one had touched their chopsticks.

An Nan glanced at the table. Not only was the food of a higher standard than at the last celebration banquet, but each table also had an extra box of cigarettes.

That was quite a generous gesture.

After the apocalypse, tobacco had become a rare commodity. Even the cheapest brands from before could now drive smokers to ruin just to get their hands on them.

There were ten people at each table, and a box contained twenty cigarettes—so everyone could get two.

Those who liked to smoke treated them like treasure. Even those who didn’t smoke could stash them away and use them as currency.

Besides the cigarettes, there was also a plate of vegetables on each table.

Although the plate was particularly small, the value of vegetables now far surpassed that of king crab or Australian lobster from before.

In the past, at banquets, people would eye the big plates of meat and seafood, but now, all these brothers had their eyes fixed on that plate of vegetables.

This time, An Nan and Gu Zhiyu didn’t sit in a corner, but instead chose the table closest to the bosses.

As soon as they sat down, someone came over to distribute the cigarettes.

The bosses hadn’t arrived yet, so no one dared touch the food or drink, but the cigarettes on the table were already being eagerly divided up.

An Nan politely declined, “Thanks, but no. I don’t smoke.”

Two loose cigarettes like that—she’d lose them in her storage space.

Gu Zhiyu also waved them off.

The man distributing the cigarettes was delighted. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then quietly pocketed the four cigarettes meant for them.

He secretly laughed at their foolishness.

How was this any different from turning down free money?

An Nan noticed his expression but didn’t say anything.

A five-yuan pack of Hongqiqu, and he was this happy.

She had more Huazi cigarettes in her space than she could count—was she showing off?

She couldn’t help but silently mock Hou Jianming’s fake generosity again.

She’d seen the warehouse when she toured it that day—there were countless good cigarettes inside. Yet he’d gone to all the trouble of picking out these cheap ones, like sifting sand from a mountain of gold.

Throwing out what he didn’t want to placate his men, and they were all so grateful, as if he’d given them a fortune.

Gu Zhiyu watched her from the side, lips curving up, and leaned over to whisper, “Who are you cursing in your heart this time?”

An Nan jumped, scooted away a little, and shot him a look. “You’re not a worm in my stomach. Why do you keep trying to guess what I’m thinking?”

As she spoke, she touched her own face.

What was going on? She was sure she’d kept a straight face—how did this man always know what she was thinking?

Gu Zhiyu’s eyes sparkled. He was about to say something when a burst of hearty laughter rang out:

“Hahaha! Today’s a good day—thank you all for coming!”

Hou Jianming strode out of the villa, beaming, with the burly Zhu Dazhuang following behind.

An Nan and Gu Zhiyu exchanged a glance.

They’re here.

As soon as the two bosses appeared, everyone stopped chatting and stood up.

The room instantly fell silent, with only Hou Jianming’s voice ringing out: “No need to be formal, brothers! Please, everyone, sit!”

Only then did everyone take their seats.

Second-in-command Zhu Dazhuang stood beside him, also grinning from ear to ear. “Big Brother, everyone’s prepared birthday gifts for you in advance. We’ve all been looking forward to giving them to you today!”

Hou Jianming’s smile deepened, wrinkles crinkling at the corners of his eyes. “Oh? Really? You’ve all gone to so much trouble.”

Zhu Dazhuang waved his hand, and people immediately began lining up to present their gifts, one after another.

“Happy birthday, Boss! May everything go your way!”

“Wishing you good health and a long, long life!”

“May all your wishes come true! May every year be as joyful as today!”

An Nan looked at the long line of people waiting to give gifts and couldn’t help but marvel. What kind of custom was this—hundreds of people lining up to give gifts one by one?

She’d thought it would be like a wedding, where you just write your name on your gift and hand them all in together.

This kind of gift-giving line was a nightmare for anyone with social anxiety!

But it seemed there was no social anxiety in this base—everyone was outgoing and talkative.

Even the blessings were all different, making these burly men seem almost cultured.

An Nan looked at Hou Jianming, who was grinning from ear to ear.

This little black monkey—he wasn’t “sharing his birthday joy with everyone” out of generosity. He was clearly enjoying the thrill of power and collecting gifts while he was at it.

The food on the table had long been served, but everyone was busy currying favor with the boss. By the time the gift-giving was over, the dishes would be cold.

Gu Zhiyu, noticing An Nan staring at the food, teased, “Hungry?”

An Nan shot him a look. “Do I look crazy to you?”

Gu Zhiyu chuckled and stopped teasing. “Don’t worry, let them have their fun for a while.”

After a pause, he added, “If you like, we can take all those gifts with us when we leave.”

An Nan looked at him. “If you put it that way, suddenly I feel much more patient.”

Go ahead, let them give more.

Gu Zhiyu smiled at her. “Little money-grubber.”

An Nan ignored him and turned her gaze back to Hou Jianming and Zhu Dazhuang.

Both had obvious bulges at their waists.

“They won’t let us carry weapons, but they’re fully armed themselves.”

Gu Zhiyu glanced over as well. “No matter. We’ll take those too when we leave.”

An Nan gave him a half-smile. “You’re quite the bandit, aren’t you?”

Gu Zhiyu grinned. “Right back at you.”

After a while, Hou Jianming had received almost all the gifts, and the underlings returned to their seats.

He looked down and spotted “An Meili” and “Gu Youcai” sitting below, chatting and laughing.

He frowned and interrupted, “Meili, why aren’t you up here with me? What are you chatting about down there?”

An Nan sneered inwardly. This guy used to call her “Miss An” or “Miss Meili,” but now he was just calling her “Meili.”

Did he really think that after this birthday banquet, something would happen between them?

She replied bluntly, “Boss, are you asking me for a gift?”

What a thing to say!

Hou Jianming was momentarily at a loss.

With one sentence, this woman made him look like a greedy little man!

He wanted to scold her, but was afraid of scaring her off, so he was stuck, not knowing what to say.

An Nan didn’t let him stew for long and added, “I’ll give you my gift after the banquet.”

It’ll be a real surprise.

Hou Jianming’s face immediately brightened.

He laughed and slapped the armrest. “Great! I’ll be waiting!”

As soon as he said this, everyone around looked at An Nan with meaningful glances.

They all assumed she was going to offer herself to the boss for wealth and status."