Reborn as Zhao Ruilong of Handong, I will defy fate.

Jingle bell~

The blue landline phone suddenly rang.

Dai Pingwei, who was chatting with Zhong Xiaoai, was startled.

Upon seeing that it was Dou Jiansheng calling, he immediately answered the call with a bad attitude.

"Secretary Dai, this is Dou Jiansheng. I was just wondering if my father-in-law will be working overtime tonight?"

Dai Pingwei glanced at the desk calendar on the table.

Zeng Wensheng would simply jot down his important schedule on his calendar to constantly remind himself.

"There won't be a general meeting, but I don't know if there will be a follow-up meeting. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Dou Jiansheng laughed and said, "Isn't it because Wei Li's older brother has returned to China? You even went to the airport to pick him up yourself. I'd like to arrange a dinner together tonight to welcome my brother-in-law back home."

Dai Pingwei chuckled.

"Understood. Then you can make the arrangements. I reckon that even if Director Zeng has something to do, he won't work overtime tonight. After all, no matter how busy he is, he won't be in such a hurry, right?"

Dou Jiansheng chuckled and said, "I guessed so. His own son has come all the way back to China. How could he not eat together when he's working overtime and having a meeting?"

"Alright then, I'll arrange the place directly. I'll send you the address via text message. After you bring my father-in-law over, we can have dinner together."

Dai Pingwei quickly said, "I won't eat. This is a family reunion dinner for you. I'd rather wait to drink at your and Weili's wedding!"

Dou Jiansheng burst into laughter.

"Sure, sure, there will be plenty! But speaking of the wedding banquet, my parents suggested last night that we keep it low-key."

"They say that after Zhao Lichun was transferred from Handong to Yanjing, he has been cracking down on corruption and misconduct. We must be careful not to run into trouble."

"So it's okay to serve Moutai and Lafite to the guests on the wedding day, but it's best to open the bottles and pour the wine into regular bottles and put them on the table."

Dai Pingwei immediately retorted, "How can you do that? If you don't put bottles of Moutai and Lafite on the table, how will the guests at the banquet know that they are drinking Moutai and Lafite?"

"Besides, you and Vili will only get married once in your lives, and it's a legal marriage with all the proper formalities. Why be low-key? It's not like you didn't spend money. What do you have to be afraid of?"

Dou Jiansheng hurriedly said, "My parents are worried that this is going too far! A table full of delicacies is already very extravagant, and adding Moutai and Lafite on top of that, an ordinary person's income after a year of hard work wouldn't even cover the cost of one such banquet!"

"Oh, it's nothing!"

Dai Pingwei said in a calm tone, "It's rare for you two to finally get married, and both of your families are quite extraordinary. What's wrong with having a high-class wedding?"

"It's a good thing you told me first. If you had told Vili and her family directly, they would definitely have been unhappy and would have thought that your family was cowardly and that you had to sneak around to get married."

Dai Pingwei was thinking that if he didn't put famous cigarettes, liquors, and delicacies on the table, how could he achieve the effect of showing off his wealth?

If you don't flaunt your wealth, how can we easily conclude that your wedding banquet exceeded the standards and seriously violated relevant regulations?

"But with Moutai, Lafite, and delicacies on the table, isn't that a bit too ostentatious? After all, both our families are public officials, and now Zhao Shuji is cracking down hard on anti-corruption..."

"What's wrong with public officials? Can't public officials get married and hold wedding banquets?"

Dai Pingwei raised his voice and said very seriously:

"Think about it, what kind of family background and connections do your two families have? No matter how much anti-corruption efforts are implemented, they definitely won't be able to trace it back to you!"

"Think about it again. If we really do as you say, the people who drink that day will know that you are treating them with Moutai and Lafite, so the class is not low."

"But you have to understand that most guests don't drink alcohol at wedding banquets. If they see that there isn't a single bottle of good wine on the table, what do you think they'll think?"

"And what will your old colleagues, classmates, and good brothers think of you? You're a vice president of a state-owned enterprise, yet you can't even afford to put a bottle of good wine on the table for your wedding."

“Especially the bride’s guests, if they don’t know the truth and find out that the wedding banquet is so shabby, they will definitely think that your Dou family is stingy and miserly, and they may mistreat Weili in the future.”

"If you don't believe me, go out and ask any random person on the street if this is appropriate, or ask your good friends and brothers if there are any problems with such a low-key wedding."

When it comes to making sweeping generalizations, Dai Pingwei certainly has his own methods.

With just a few words, Dou Jiansheng was rendered speechless.

After a long pause, Dou Jiansheng muttered to himself:

“You’re right. If I attend someone’s wedding and give a lot of money as a gift, but they don’t get to eat or drink well, even if I don’t complain to their face, I’ll definitely feel unhappy.”

"Isn't that right!"

Dai Pingwei said earnestly, "You and Weili are not ordinary people. You will both be working in Beijing's social circles in the future. It's better to be called extravagant than stingy!"

"Besides, it's a wedding. What's the waste in drinking Moutai and Lafite on such a joyous occasion? Aren't all the invited guests people who frequently use public funds for meals and drink, treating Moutai like mouthwash?"

"We didn't arrange a luxury car fleet to parade through the city to pick up the bride, nor did we invite several popular celebrities to sing and perform at the wedding. We've already been very low-key. What else do you have to worry about?"

"Most importantly, everyone invited to your wedding is a close friend or relative you both know well. Who would be so foolish as to report you for accepting lavish gifts and having an extravagant wedding?"

These three questions completely dispelled Dou Jiansheng's concerns.

"That's true. The hotel will be closed to the public on the wedding day, and the guests invited to the wedding were all carefully considered by both sides before we sent out the invitations. What's there to worry about?"

"Moreover, the guests invited are not only close relatives and friends, but most of them are prominent figures from various organizations and industries. I can't afford to lose face if the wedding is too shabby!"

"That's right!!"

Dai Pingwei continued to encourage him, "Don't forget, you are the deputy general manager of Yanjing Automobile Company, and you are going to marry the precious daughter of Director Zeng Wensheng!"

"If this wedding is shabby, will you ever be able to hold your head high in Yanjing for the rest of your life? Countless people might not say anything to your face, but they'll definitely talk behind your back and curse you for being dishonest!"

Having said all he could say, Dai Pingwei had no further intention of saying anything more.

What if we keep talking and arouse Dou Jiansheng's suspicion?

Some words are like sparks; just throw them into a pile of weeds and it's fine.

No further fanning the flames was needed to ignite a raging inferno.

Especially after Dou Jiansheng and Zeng Weili decided to get married, and Dai Pingwei was determined to take this opportunity to bring down Zeng Wensheng, he specifically inquired about Dou Jiansheng.

I've known for a long time that this seemingly upright young master is no good person. He often eats, drinks, and has fun with Wei Guanghong, Gu Maoyuan, Ye Guanghui, and others, living a very carefree and frivolous life.

The reason he is now willing to marry Zeng Weili is not because he has had enough fun, but because he is not young and is not married, so the organization cannot think he is mature and stable enough to continue to entrust him with important responsibilities.

In addition, his father, Mr. Dou, who had made outstanding military achievements, was old, frail, and sickly, and could pass away at any time. Even though his parents had held high-ranking positions in the past, they had both been retired for many years.

To ensure a smooth career path, the best approach is naturally a political marriage. Coincidentally, Zeng Wensheng, who holds a high position of power, has a young daughter, Zeng Weili, who is over thirty years old and still unmarried. The two parties can easily reach an agreement.

This way.

A playboy who has been indulging in pleasure and being a womanizer for many years marries a young lady who is equally addicted to pleasure and loves chasing stars. Can their wedding be low-key and shabby?

Dou Jiansheng was definitely unwilling!

As a young master from Beijing's elite circles, how could he not care about his reputation?

He didn't want to directly contradict his parents, but he was also unwilling to accept it.

So all Dai Pingwei needed to do was to light a fire for him.

It ignited his resentment and unwillingness to accept defeat, which naturally strengthened his resolve.

The more his parents objected, the more he wanted to be high-profile and extravagant.

"Okay, I'll call my mom in a bit and tell her to stop coming up with those terrible ideas!"

"Oh, by the way, I have a small question I'd like to ask. Wei Li and her father both said that the bride price should be just a symbolic amount."

“Some of my friends say we should give more, at least several million, while others say that since it’s just a symbolic gesture, we should give a few hundred thousand. Even my parents disagree.”

“I believe that Vili doesn’t really care much about the bride price, but it’s hard to say about my father-in-law. And you, Brother Wei, are my father-in-law’s trusted confidant and secretary, so you must know him very well. How much bride price do you think I should give?”

Upon hearing Dou Jiansheng's words, Dai Pingwei almost burst out laughing.

The trusted confidant?

Ever since I spread the virus by donating medical supplies, causing many of your father-in-law's relatives and friends to get sick, be hospitalized, and suffer terribly, I have long been a major concern for him!

Moreover, since we're going to use your extravagant wedding to bring down Zeng Wensheng, the bride price definitely can't be too ordinary.

"I think the bride price should be generous, the more the better!"

"The more dowry you give, the more it shows that your family values ​​and likes Weili. It also demonstrates your family's strong economic strength, making the woman's family and relatives believe that Weili will have no worries about food and clothing after marrying you!"

Dou Jiansheng said urgently, "But the wedding banquet is already extravagant and beyond our means. If we give another several hundred thousand yuan in betrothal gifts, wouldn't that be clearly inconsistent with our family's income?"

"After all, my grandfather and my parents' combined monthly pension is only a little over 40,000 yuan, while my salary and bonuses average only a little over 20,000 yuan per month."

“Our family’s legal income is less than a million a year. After deducting all kinds of expenses, we’re lucky if we can save half of it. To suddenly pull out several million…isn’t that just telling everyone that our family has shady income?”

Dai Pingwei was immediately very unhappy.

Dou Jiansheng's words clearly indicated that he felt their family's legal income was too low.

But is a family of five with a legal annual income of several hundred thousand really a small amount?

Do you know how many working-class and farming families struggle to earn even tens of thousands of yuan a year?

Many people earn less than a thousand a month!

Your grandfather and parents receive more than 40,000 yuan a month in pension alone!

Of course, it is reasonable for a veteran general with outstanding military achievements, plus a former director of the Machinery Industry Administration and the Director of the Asia-Pacific Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to have a retirement pension of more than 40,000.

Especially Mr. Dou, who fought all his life and made so many military achievements. Even now, there are still shrapnel fragments in his body. Such a war hero deserves no amount of retirement pay.

"It's alright. Your family's legal annual income is several hundred thousand yuan. You've saved up for many years, so it's normal for you to be able to come up with several million yuan as a bride price. Who would dare say that this is gray income?"

“If you think that several million in cash is too high-profile, then buy Weili an apartment, a luxury car, and 880,000 in cash. That won’t be high-profile.”

At this point, Dai Pingwei quickly added another sentence.

"However, you'll definitely have to buy the gold jewelry and wedding ring!"

Dou Jiansheng responded with two "uh-huhs".

"I know that. I will definitely buy what I need and I will never shortchange Vili."

"Then tonight I'll do as you said and propose to their family that I buy a house and a car, plus 880,000 yuan as a bride price."