My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 429: A Spectacular Wedding Banquet

Just as Yang Maixiang's parents were settled in, He Wenyuan ran in with his younger siblings, followed by their mother, Yu Qiuhua.

He Wenhui was overjoyed to see her mother, younger brother and sister.

Zhang Lei followed He Wenhui, warmly welcoming them and leading them to the seats that had been arranged in advance.

Yu Qiuhua smiled and waved her hand, "No rush, let's check on the child first."

He Wenhui then led Yu Qiuhua into the master bedroom. Seeing the room packed full of people and bustling with activity, Yu Qiuhua smiled sincerely and said, "It's so nice, so lively."

He Wenyuan, standing to the side, was speechless with astonishment at the extravagance of Zhang Lei's family's full moon celebration.

She quietly pulled Zhang Lei aside and whispered, "Brother-in-law, how much did this cost?"

Zhang Lei chuckled and teased her, "Guess."

He Wenyuan immediately became somewhat displeased: "Brother-in-law, you're really annoying."

Zhang Lei reached out and gently pinched her nose: "Alright, just eat and drink well later, don't think too much. I'll bring you something when you go back."

He Wenyuan's eyes lit up, and he said happily, "Thank you, brother-in-law!"

Taking advantage of the fact that no one around her was paying attention, she quickly kissed Zhang Lei on the cheek.

Zhang Lei was taken aback by this sudden turn of events, then shook his head helplessly, inwardly mocking himself, "Sigh, my damn charm."

Just then, he noticed Lou Xiao'e looking towards the door, so he quickly went over to comfort her: "Xiao'e, don't worry, your parents will definitely come. They were probably just delayed on the way."

Lou Xiao'e had just nodded when Lou's parents appeared at the door, followed by the housekeeper carrying many gifts, and they walked quickly toward her.

Lou Xiao'e immediately stood up happily and was about to go forward to greet her.

Zhang Lei quickly helped her up, saying, "Slow down, slow down, be careful."

He greeted Lou's parents warmly, "Mom and Dad, you've finally arrived! If you hadn't come, Xiao'e would have come looking for you herself."

Lou's mother smiled and scolded, "I was just preparing gifts for you all. I even got the number of your wives wrong at first. Who knew you, you rascal, had married so many wives?"

Zhang Lei smiled awkwardly and quickly stepped aside to make way: "Please come in, please come in. Take a look at the child first, and Xiao'e and I will keep you company for a while."

Seeing Zhang Lei's embarrassed expression, Lou's father smiled and said, "Alright, you don't need to take care of us here. Go and take care of the others."

Zhang Lei nodded in agreement. Just as he finished his work here, the leaders of the steel rolling mill arrived one after another. The head of the purchasing department, Deputy Director Li, along with his secretary and a group of colleagues from the purchasing department, greeted Zhang Lei warmly.

Seeing that Deputy Factory Director Li had his secretary present a 100-yuan gift, Zhang Lei was filled with admiration, thinking to himself that Li Huaide really knew how to handle things. Seeing this, the others around him followed suit, each offering their own gifts. Zhang Lei glanced at the amounts everyone had given; the smallest was 10 yuan, and he felt a little embarrassed. After all, these days, ordinary families would only give a few cents, at most a yuan, and even those with better means would only give a few yuan in such situations. A scene like today was truly rare.

Looking at the amounts of money others were giving as gifts, Liu Haizhong suddenly felt embarrassed by his own 10 yuan. He gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, pulled out another 10 yuan from his pocket, and loudly proclaimed in front of Deputy Factory Director Li and Zhang Lei, "Here, I, Liu Haizhong, will give you 20!"

Hearing Liu Haizhong's words, everyone turned to look at him. Deputy Factory Director Li smiled and said, "Liu Haizhong, you're a level seven forging worker in our factory, right?"

Upon hearing that Deputy Factory Director Li still remembered him, Liu Haizhong beamed with joy and quickly said, "Director Li, you still remember me? I've been a long-time employee of our factory."

Seeing Liu Haizhong's enthusiastic expression, Li Huaide smiled and said, "Alright, alright, you're a treasure in our factory, keep up the good work."

Hearing Li Huaide's words, Liu Haizhong was overjoyed. After Li Huaide and Zhang Lei left, Liu Haizhong immediately said to his wife, "Honey, did you see that? Tell me, to meet such a high-ranking leader in our compound, look at Zhang Lei! I told you we made the right choice coming here, didn't I?"

Liu Haizhong's wife looked at him and said with a happy smile, "Yes, yes, Lao Liu, you did the right thing. With a word from the leader, you might become a leader too."

Liu Haizhong was feeling very pleased with himself, thinking that the money he spent today was well worth it.

Soon, Director Wang from the subdistrict office arrived with several staff members and greeted Zhang Lei warmly. Zhang Lei reciprocated their greeting.

Director Wang said with a smile, "Zhang Lei, this is the first celebratory banquet in our neighborhood after the disaster. It's a great event, adding to the joy."

Zhang Lei looked at Director Wang and said with a smile, "Director Wang, this is all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to hold such a smooth one-month celebration for my child."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ye Shuqin's older brother, Ye Jianjun, approached Zhang Lei and said, "Zhang Lei, it's almost time. Shouldn't we set off the firecrackers?"

Zhang Lei replied, "Alright, brother, you can set off the firecrackers. After that, we'll prepare for the feast."

Ye Jianjun nodded in agreement. Upon hearing that firecrackers were going to be set off, the Ye family boys were overjoyed. Zhang Lei prepared over a dozen strings of ten-thousand-shot firecrackers; each child received a string, and they began lighting and setting them off.

As the crackling sound of firecrackers echoed through the courtyard, Liu Hongchang shouted, "Let the feast begin!" All the kitchen helpers, along with Zhang Lei's unemployed postpartum nanny, immediately started serving the dishes.

Soon, each table was set with 8 cold dishes, 12 hot dishes, and four soups as a base, making a total of 24 dishes, piling the tables full.

In courtyard number 95, adults and children from every household were all seated at the table. Looking at the various dishes—chicken, duck, fish, braised pork hock, and more—they were dazzled and exclaimed how abundant the feast was.

Jia Zhangshi, with a stick in her hand, stood to the side, drooling with envy. She held two chopsticks and used both hands to scoop food into her bowl. The people around her were dumbfounded, no one had expected that the Jia family had such a way of eating.

The dishes on the main table were even more abundant. Lou's father helped to find the best sea cucumber, abalone, lobster and other ingredients, which were all served. This was specially prepared by Zhang Lei for the leaders and the families of his wives.

Passersby in Nanluoguxiang saw that the banquet was set up from courtyard number 90 all the way to the entrance of courtyard number 95, and then extended into courtyard number 95, with a total of 30 tables, a truly spectacular sight.