Chapter 85: Compensating the Bill


    On the second day, Wu Hao spent the entire morning busy with the preparations for the banquet. After all, his family was hosting guests from the vige, with a total of nearly 20 tables for the feast.


    Although Wu Hao didn''t need to personally handle the cooking, there were still many misceneous tasks. It wasn''t until the noon banquet was over that Wu Hao finally felt relieved. By that time, it was almost 2 o''clock, so Wu Hao informed his parents and some close rtives and friends, and then prepared to go to the city.


    In rural areas during the Spring Festival, the activities of each household basically involved visiting rtives and friends, drinking, ying cards, and simr things every other day.


    As the saying goes, "You gain three pounds during every festival." This isn''t just a casual remark. Eating rich food every day for half a month, even if you don''t gain weight, you''ll get tired of it. After eating, there would bete-night card games. So, although everyone in the countryside aimed to have a good time during the Lunar New Year, such constant hustle and bustle for half a month was quite taxing on the body.


    Of course, Wu Hao''s parents weren''t interested in ying cards. Lack of interest was one factor, but the crucial reason was that their previous circumstances didn''t allow it. Wu Hao''s father, Wu Hongguo, would usually just drink alcohol and smoke. However, now Wu Hongguo couldn''t smoke or drink due to his health condition, and Wu Hao''s mother was keeping a close eye on him.


    After experiencing this illness, Wu Hongguo had quit smoking and drinking. Since returning from the provincial capitalst time, he hadn''t touched tobo or alcohol again. After all, Wu Hongguo understood his own situation.


    On the other hand, as Wu Hao drove through the town on his way to the city, he encountered an unfortunate traffic jam once again.


    "It looks like I''ll have to wait for quite some time before the traffic clears." Looking at the long line of cars ahead, Wu Hao felt somewhat helpless. He picked up his phone and called Hong Lei, who was already in the city. "Lao Hong, I''m stuck in traffic. It might take another hour or two before I can get through. Why don''t you go to the restaurant for tonight''s gathering first? We can meet up properly after the event."


    "No problem! I''ll go to the restaurant first." Originally, Wu Hao nned to arrive early in the city and have a private gathering with Hong Lei before going to the restaurant together. But now that he encountered a traffic jam on the road, that n naturally had to be canceled.


    "Forget it, it''s still early. I''ll go to a nearby inte cafe and y for a while!" After hanging up the phone, Hong Lei checked the time and realized it was still early. He didn''t rush to the restaurant. Although there were already people there at this time, Hong Lei felt a certain distance from his high school ssmates deep in his heart, so he had no intention of going early.


    Because if Hong Lei hadn''t nned to attend this so-called ss reunion in the first ce, the reason for his mentality might be that he feels a significant gap between himself and those original ssmates! After all, he dropped out of school without graduating, so it''s normal to feel a certain psychological distance.


    Meanwhile, Wu Hao, who was stuck in the traffic, received a call from Liu Ben shortly after finishing his conversation with Hong Lei. Liu Ben was also asking him about his whereabouts.


    After learning that Wu Hao was stuck in traffic again, Liu Ben, who had experienced a simr situation the day before, could roughly guess Wu Hao''s current situation.


    "How is it? Liu Ben, when will Wu Hao arrive?" Zhou Qin, the ss monitor who organized the reunion, asked Liu Ben.


    "Hey, there''s a traffic jam. It might take some more time to get there!" Liu Ben replied.


    "No problem! There are still quite a few ssmates who haven''t arrived yet. We can dy the meal at the restaurant a bit." Zhou Qin nodded. Since she organized the reunion, she naturally needed to keep track of how many ssmates attended and make arrangements ordingly.


    And so, as time passed, most of the people who had always attended the ss reunions had already arrived. Additionally, there were a few more individuals who hadn''t been able to attend in the past due to various reasons, including Hong Lei.


    After being stuck in traffic for nearly two hours, Wu Hao finally arrived at the private room in the restaurant at 7 o''clock.


    "Hao Ge, you really made us, the old ssmates, wait!" As soon as Wu Hao entered the room, Liu Benughed and said.


    "Yeah, we need properpensation," as Liu Ben''s words fell, several other male and female ssmates immediately chimed in.


    These people, like Liu Ben, were usually active in the group chat. Furthermore, with the incident of Wu Hao sending out red envelopes in the group, they had some knowledge of him. However, their agreement was meant more as a half-joking remark.


    "No problem!" Wu Hao smiled and naturally didn''t take this small matter to heart. He continued, "Let''s do this. We won''t split the bill this time. I''ll cover all the expenses." Wu Hao was already aware of the situation regarding this ss reunion. Although their beautiful ss monitor was the organizer, the expenses weren''t covered by any individual but rather shared by the attendees.


    This was how previous reunions had been conducted. Based on their past spending patterns, each participating ssmate would spend around 500 yuan.


    After all, although some of these ssmates came from well-off families, they didn''t belong to exceptionally wealthy households. Moreover, most of them had just graduated and started working.


    If any one of them had to bear the entire cost of the reunion alone, it would be quite a burden.


    "Haha! Hao Ge is really generous. Since our Hao Ge has spoken, I think we should elevate the level of this reunion," Liu Ben, who knew Wu Hao the best, said.


    Upon hearing this, Wu Hao didn''t say much. He directly instructed the nearby waiter to rece the originally ordered drinks. Since the dishes had been pre-ordered, Wu Hao didn''t ask the restaurant to change them, but rather added two more dishes.


    Seeing Wu Hao''s generosity, the atmosphere among the attendees became livelier. Although there were a few guys who felt a bit jealous deep down about Wu Hao''s show of generosity, they didn''t show it on the surface.


    They weren''t fools. They wouldn''t do anything to embarrass themselves. Besides, taking advantage of a good deal doesn''t make one a scoundrel. Since someone was treating and footing the bill, even if their own limelight might be overshadowed, it wasn''t a big deal.


    However, regardless of the mindset of the people present, Wu Hao didn''t care. His perspective had long surpassed trivial matters like these.