My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

As he said this, he nodded vigorously, as if afraid that if he nodded too slowly, Su Ming would change his mind.

Su Ming nodded in satisfaction, picked up his wine glass, turned around and walked back to his seat. As he passed the flea's table, he casually patted their table and said with a smile, "Brothers, eat and drink well, order more if you're not full."

Flea and his henchmen immediately stood up, raised their glasses, and shouted "Thank you, Brother Ming!" in unison. They were all beaming, even happier than during the New Year.

Su Ming sat back down next to Lin Shumei. Lin Shumei leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "The exam is next Monday. Are you confident?" Su Ming picked up his wine glass and replied with a smile, "You taught me for two hours today. I think it was more effective than two months of instruction from a driving school instructor."

Lin Shumei smiled, her eyes sparkling, and gently kicked him under the table.

After lunch, Su Ming got up and casually grabbed two unopened bottles of Moutai, asking the waiter to put them in a bag. He walked over to Flea's table, smiling and waving goodbye to Flea and his gang. Flea and his henchmen stood up and shouted in unison, "Take care, Brother Ming!" in a grand manner, like gangsters leaving a banquet. Boss Gao and Coach Gao, standing nearby, were ashen-faced, forced to force smiles and bow. They stood bent over by the table, their smiles stiff and unnatural, their eyes bloodshot.

Seeing that Su Mingren had already walked to the door and stepped out of the restaurant, Boss Gao straightened up and squeezed out a low curse through gritted teeth: "Damn it, this meal is probably going to cost more than 30,000 yuan."

Coach Gao gritted his teeth, leaned close to his brother's ear, and whispered, "Brother, are you really going to pay for everything with them?" As he said this, he deliberately pointed to the onlookers. Some of the diners at those tables, who had nothing to do with them, were still clinking glasses, while others were eating heartily, their mouths greasy, their faces all showing expressions of "It's so great to eat and drink for free today."

Boss Gao snorted coldly, his eyes darting around, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Buy my ass. That kid surnamed Su is gone. We'll stick to the fact that we're only paying for his and Flea's tables. What can the rest do to me? They don't know me, and I don't know them. Why should I pay for them?"

Coach Gao laughed smugly, his swollen cheeks squeezing his eyes into slits, making him look both comical and lewd: "Brother's absolutely right. Flea knows you, you're practically a friend. He stood up for Su Ming just now because Su Ming is his older brother's friend, but he might not stand up for those onlookers. As long as Flea keeps quiet, what trouble can those freeloaders cause?"

Boss Gao smiled smugly, patted his brother on the shoulder, and said with a shrewd calculation in his tone, "Of course. So I won't pay a penny for the meals these random people eat. That way, if we only pay for two tables, plus the Moutai, it'll only cost around ten thousand yuan at most, saving us several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan. I've been in business for so many years, I still have that kind of brain."

The two brothers exchanged a glance and were laughing heartily. Before their smiles could fully bloom on their faces, the light at the doorway suddenly dimmed again, and Su Ming stepped back inside.

He stood at the door, carrying a package of Moutai in one hand and with his other arm around Lin Shumei's waist. He cleared his throat and called out to Boss Gao, "Well, Boss Gao, I've eaten and drunk my fill. Thank you for the treat. Now, could you please settle the bills for everyone here?"

After saying that, he waved to the group of people who were eating and raised his voice to say, "Everyone, if you still want to order food or drinks, hurry up and pay the bill first, so that Boss Gao won't renege on the debt after I leave."

Upon hearing this, everyone present responded enthusiastically. The shirtless, burly man immediately waved to the waiter and shouted, "Waiter, another order of boiled beef, and a takeaway of spicy chicken!" Several other tables also raised their hands to order more food and drinks. Someone shouted, "Another bottle of Wuliangye!" and someone else shouted, "Another bottle of Moutai!" A tall, thin man stood up, raised his glass to Su Ming, and gave him a thumbs-up, praising, "Brother Ming, what a good man! He's generous and considerate!" Everyone echoed his sentiments, and for a moment, the restaurant was filled with praises like "Brother Ming is a good man!" and "Thank you, Brother Ming!"

Only Boss Gao's face was ashen. He stood there, the flesh on his cheeks twitching, his back teeth grinding together, wanting to explode with anger, but his eyes swept back and forth between Su Ming and Flea, and in the end he suppressed his anger, forcing a smile that was more like a grimace on his face.

The proprietress, a shrewd woman, had already seen through Mr. Gao's intention to renege on the bill. As soon as Su Ming finished speaking, she immediately pulled a calculator from under the counter, slung her fanny pack over her shoulder, and began calculating the bills table by table. Her fingers flew across the calculator, muttering to herself, from the first table by the window to the last table near the kitchen. She was shocked by what she found: there were thirteen tables in total, and the bill amounted to 36,000 yuan. Almost every table had ordered Moutai, and even the female customers at several tables who didn't usually drink had each ordered one or two bottles, saying they couldn't finish them and would take them home since someone else was paying. The proprietress handed the bill to Mr. Gao, smiling broadly: "Boss, that's 36,000 yuan in total. Will you be paying in cash or by card?"

Boss Gao was in agony. He stared at the bill, his eyelids twitching, his fingers gripping the edge until his knuckles turned white. He desperately wanted to renege on the bill, but he didn't dare in front of Su Ming—Flea and his gang were still sitting at the next table, Steel Pipe leaning against the chair leg, Flea picking his teeth with a toothpick, glancing sideways in their direction.

Boss Gao gritted his teeth, finally pulled out his wallet from his pocket, took out a bank card, and handed it to his wife, his voice hoarse as if he had swallowed sand: "Swipe the card!"

The POS machine hissed and spat out a receipt, 36,000 yuan, not a penny less, all of it was deducted from Boss Gao's card.

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Su Ming nodded in satisfaction, smiled, put his arm around Lin Shumei's slender waist, and said, "Let's go!"

Lin Shumei leaned against him, and the two left the house chatting and laughing. Behind them, Boss Gao slumped into a chair, clutching his chest, his face contorted as if someone had ripped a piece of his flesh from his body. Coach Gao cowered beside him, barely daring to breathe, afraid his brother would take his anger out on him.

Stepping out of the restaurant, the midday sun shone brightly on the parking lot. Lin Shumei's Buick Regal was parked in the shade of a tree, a few leaves falling onto its roof. She took out her car keys, pressed the unlock button, the headlights flashed twice, then winked at Su Ming and smiled, "Get in, sit tight, I'll drive."