"Wow, Rex, you're very star-like today!"

Brady and Donna walked into the Wang family's garden hand in hand. When they received Wang Lei's invitation, they came together. Wang Lei, who was standing nearby, hurriedly came up to greet them and expressed their welcome.

Wang Lei was wearing a dark blue, vertical striped suit, a white shirt, and a bow tie that was also dark blue. His hair was worn with hair spray, making him look meticulous and extremely handsome.

Brady spread her hands and leaned back exaggeratedly. Donna handed over a packaged gift and said with a smile: "Happy birthday, Rex, from today on, you will be an adult!"

"Thank you, I have to see what this is first." Wang Lei took the gift box and opened it with a smile. There was a blue twill tie inside. He immediately showed a surprise expression: "Wow, the very beautiful tie, I'm thinking about whether to change it immediately."

"Hey, Rex, I think you should stop at the right time. You are dressed very handsome today. I am starting to worry about my baby Emily!" Brady smiled and joked, and Wang Lei blinked at him: "Uncle Brady, don't worry, I am already eighteen years old, I will be responsible for my actions."

"You little brat, don't think so!" Brady raised his arm, slapped Wang Lei, and then burst into laughter together. Wang Lei reached out and asked them to sit inside. They had already spent ten dollars to buy tickets for the dinner at the door, and also prepared a special gift, which was considered as support and congratulations to Wang Lei.

Just this morning, Wang Lei had already registered with the Braddock Election Commission with dozens of signatures collected and officially became the candidate for the next mayor.

So far, only he and the former mayor Hawk registered for the election, and if no accidents occur, the competition will take place between the two of them.

In the past two days, Hawke's campaign offensive has been in full swing, and his photos have even been on the Pittsburgh Post, the largest local circulation. Such publicity and large-scale investment can almost make his competitors feel desperate.

But this did not affect Wang Lei. He was confident in his philosophy and plan. He believed that he had found the key to solve Braddock's problem, that is the community. He wanted to unite Braddock, and money could not be replaced.

Of course, Wang Lei also needs money. Only with money can he carry out the most basic publicity activities, so that more people can know and accept his ideas, so whether he can raise money tonight is also very important to him.

Wang Lei looked normal on the surface and warmly welcomed every guest, but in the reception space, he always walked around nervously, with his fingers crossing his chest, begging God for blessing.

"Lei, don't worry, everyone will come to support you!" Emily walked over quietly, grabbed Wang Lei's palm with one hand, and clenched the other hand into a fist, and waved it in front of her.

"I know..." Wang Lei smiled at Emily, a little unnatural. He spread his hands: "I just want to know how many people will come and who else will come."

If you can come tonight, it will be very likely to vote for him. Wang Lei thinks there should be more than 20 people. He has visited many people in the past two days and has successfully reversed some people's views on him and won some support.

However, at the beginning of the dinner, except for Wang Lei's parents and sister Wang Hua, not including members of the campaign team, there were only thirteen other guests, which was more than a dozen fewer than Wang Lei had expected.

Brady, Donna, Walker, Judd, Eric, Grace, and Brady's angler Jaxson, Bud, Colin's sister Amanda, Wang Yang's parents, Aunt Bella, Carnegie Library volunteer Aunt Bella, the little boy Matthew and his mother - Matthew said he wanted to support Wang Lei, because Sister Emily said that, so he pulled his mother here.

Matthew's arrival also caused a lot of trouble. Wang Lei originally thought that Matthew was a child and did not need to spend money to buy tickets, but Matthew's mother Delia insisted on buying. She believed that voters should not accept any benefits of the candidate, otherwise they would not be able to maintain the fairness of the vote.

Finally, it was Brady's friend, Jaxon, who had been a lawyer, pointed out that Delia's words made sense. If Matthew's ticket was exempted, it would likely lead to a bribery lawsuit.

These legal provisions are really annoying, but no one complained, including Wang Lei, Delia and others. Only strict regulations can ensure the fairness of the election. Otherwise, Hawke could have tried different ways to benefit the children in the town and exchange votes from their parents.

So, strictly speaking, Wang Lei sold a total of 14 admission tickets for his birthday and fundraising party, totaling 140 US dollars, which was not enough to spend the dinner.

Damn it, why are there so many people? Wang Lei was very disappointed. He felt that more people should come. But he quickly cheered up and devoted himself to the dinner. The few people came, which means that his work has not been done well and he still needs to continue working hard. He must not be discouraged in the middle of the journey, and he will lose watermelon and sesame seeds.

The dinner is open air, but it is different from the traditional cold dinner. There are two steaming soup pots on the table, which are heated by an alcohol stove. Next to it are some vegetables, beef rolls and thin fish fillets, which can be put in the pot and eaten. This is a special way for Chinese people to eat, called hot pot. The bottom of the pot is made of old sauerkraut and fish bone soup. One pot contains heavy-tasting chili peppers, and the other one is not, but the taste is very delicious.

Wang Lei, Wang Jiaming and Hu Shuying greeted everyone to start dining. Wang Lei kept wandering among the crowd and talked to everyone, congratulating him on his 18th birthday, and he thanked everyone for his support. He rarely talked about specific things, and the atmosphere was warm and friendly.

There are only soft drinks on the table, and there is no alcohol or alcohol-containing beverages, because although Wang Lei, the owner of the banquet today, has grown up, according to Pennsylvania laws, he can only drink alcohol at the age of 21, and Wang Lei cannot violate this regulation.

Wang Jiaming and Hu Shuying kept bringing out new dishes from the kitchen, including chopped pepper fish heads, Gongbao shrimp, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised eggplant, fried shredded potatoes...all of them are delicious with Chinese characteristics.

After everyone had almost eaten, Wang Lei found an opportunity to stand in front of everyone and signaled that he had something to say.

The guests who attended the banquet put down their tableware and focused their eyes on Wang Lei. They had long been told about the nature of the party and were looking forward to Wang Lei's performance.

Wang Lei first thanked everyone for coming, and then he smiled and said, "Today is my 18th birthday. Participating in the mayor's election is my coming-of-age ceremony. I think this is great, because becoming an adult means responsibility. I think it's time for us to take responsibility!"

"Eighteen years old...I know everyone has doubts about this, but I have to say that this is not a problem at all!"

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Chapter completed!