Imagine the world

Chapter 476 Teacher Ding guessed it right

At 02:30 p.m. on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Huazhenxing and Manman came to Binjiang Road in the old town of Wucheng.This road was built along the Jushui River in ancient times. It is the most important material transportation terminal and a prosperous business district in the state capital.

Inland shipping has declined since modern times, but Binjiang Road is still full of shops. More than 30 years ago, Binjiang Road was remodeled, and the old wooden small buildings with great fire hazards were basically demolished, and townhouses were built on both sides of the road.

Most of these facade houses are on the second floor. The first floor is a store, the back is a warehouse, and the upper floor is a residence. Most of the operators are still the original commercial residents.Many years ago, local villagers went to the city to buy things and often visited here.

Since the beginning of the new century, with the development of the city and the prosperity of the market, this place is no longer a prosperous area, and many scattered small businesses have closed their doors one after another.In the past ten years, with the rise of online shopping, more and more original physical stores have closed down.

Although the city is expanding, the total population has peaked and started to decline.

The population of newborns is decreasing year by year, and those with consumption and competitiveness among the younger generation are also leaving to seek opportunities and dreams in larger and more prosperous cities.

The newly absorbed population from the surrounding towns and counties has gradually been unable to make up for the decline in the original population of the city.However, the surrounding towns and counties are hardly supplemented, and the decline in the fertility rate coexists with the one-way net outflow of population.

Some shops are closed and some are newly opened. On this about one kilometer-long Binjiang Road, most of the shops are always open, but the business items are constantly changing.

The reason why few shops are completely closed is also simple, because most of these facade houses are owned by households, and there is no rental cost.

Nowadays, many of the shops here are selling special local products, selling some things that are not easy to buy elsewhere, and also serving as the base of online stores, as well as some local manufacturers' retail stores and foreign merchants' service stores.

Traditional shops such as clothing, shoes and hats, tobacco and alcohol, daily miscellaneous goods, agricultural supplies, and small department stores are obviously much less, and many service shops such as specialty restaurants, real estate agencies, Internet cafes, foot baths, and manicures have emerged.

This road was built more than 30 years ago during the renovation of the old city. It has two directions and four lanes. It was quite high according to the standards at the time, but now it seems a bit narrow.There are often many cars parked on both sides of the road, leaving only the two-way two-lane in the middle.

The car is not fast here, it feels like a pedestrian street without traffic flow.

More than 30 years ago, when Binjiang Road was just remodeled, it felt very new and beautiful, prosperous and fashionable, but now it seems outdated, and even the tiles on the walls are mottled and dull.

The old urban areas in many places give people the same feeling. There are also new urban areas surrounded by high-rise buildings in Wucheng. The roads are smooth and the environment is clean, but most of them are not as popular as here.

The Zhiwei Building is somewhat different from the buildings on both sides. Although it was built in the same era, it has been well maintained, and some traditional decorations have been added one after another. It looks like it was built 300 years ago or three years ago. .

When Hua Zhenxing and Manman walked into Zhiwei Building side by side, the doorman opened the door politely, nodded and said, "Welcome!" Then he asked in surprise, "Director Hua?"

This sentence was spoken in the voice of spiritual consciousness, and ordinary people a little far away could not hear it.

The doorman was a young man, he looked older than Hua Zhenxing, and he looked like he was in his early twenties with delicate features. Hua Zhenxing didn't know him, and he was sure he had never seen him.

In today's information age, Hua Zhenxing has held public dinners at the Spring Festival for so many days, and the small video is probably spread all over the sky. It is normal for a Kunlun monk to recognize him.

Hua Zhenxing nodded and smiled, "It's me, may I ask you—?"

Doorman: "Ye Zhujing, a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect. You met my father Ye Zhifei at the Spring Banquet."

Hua Zhenxing: "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you! Let me introduce, this is Manman, the director of our Jili National Yang Yuanshu Center."

Before the words fell, there was only a faint scent of fragrance, and a pleasant voice came: "Oh, it's Chinese New Year, why did Director Hua come here? This is fellow Daoist Manman. !"

Looking up, I saw an acquaintance, who was actually Zhang Lanyi wearing a warm velvet cheongsam and a small white fur.

Manman took the initiative to go forward and said: "I am Manman, and I have heard of the fairy in blue. Xiaohua said that you are more beautiful than me, and it is true when I saw you today!"

Zhang Lanyi didn't know how to answer Manman's words, so he could only cover his mouth and say: "Director Hua is really humorous, he is duplicity, just teasing you!"

Walking into the lobby, this restaurant is not as big as imagined, and slightly smaller than the Spring Festival.

In the lobby on the first floor, there are six round tables, which can seat six to eight people, and twelve square tables, which are suitable for four people, are placed near the window and the walls on the left and right sides.

In addition to the two offices on the second floor, there are twelve private rooms, and the innermost private room cannot be checked by spiritual sense.Of course, Hua Zhenxing didn't dare to forcibly spy on anything with his spiritual sense, he just felt it a little bit.

Hua Zhenxing: "I didn't expect to meet fellow Taoist in blue again here!"

Zhang Lanyi smiled and said, "I'm the lobby manager here."

Manman: "When did it happen?"

Zhang Lanyi: "I just came here in January this year, and I finally got such an opportunity to stay in Zhiwei Building in Wucheng for half a year."

Manman: "That's it, can you still go to Jilidong Guocai on the ninth day of the ninth day?"

Zhang Lanyi smiled again: "Just take a leave of absence, then I will definitely come to the door with my head Xing! By the way, why are fellow Daoist Manman and classmate Hua here today?"

Hua Zhenxing: "We are here to visit Leader Mei, and I heard that he works as a cleaner here."

Manman: "Let's have a meal by the way."

Zhang Lanyi was startled, a little at a loss, but his tone quickly returned to normal: "Well, then you sit down first, and I'll go to the back to see if Leader Mei is there."

The time for them to enter the door is 02:30 in the afternoon, and Zhiweilou accepts the order at [-]:[-].The so-called receipt means that you can no longer order food, and the chef and waiter also need to rest for a while.

Although it is still possible to order more dishes now, it is already past lunch time, so there are not many guests still in the lobby, and there are only three dials left.One group is ready to pay the bill, and the other two groups should have drunk some wine, although they finished eating, they are still chatting there.

Hua Zhenxing and Manman sat down at a square table against the wall, and there was a menu on the table.Hua Zhenxing picked up the recipe and handed it to Manman, saying: "The recipe of Zhiweilou is worth learning."

Manman: "I heard that there is also a small cookbook, which is only provided to monks."

Hua Zhenxing: "I'll take a look later."

At this moment, a middle-aged man came out from behind, wearing an apron and sleeves, holding a bucket in his left hand, which contained half a bucket of clean water with detergent, a rag on the edge of the bucket, and a bucket in his right hand. He wears a T-shaped wiper and a white towel hangs over his arm.

Sleeves, aprons, and towels are all white and spotless.

This person is about 1.8 meters tall, and his appearance can remind people of the eight characters "thick eyebrows, big eyes, and regular features".

He came to the table and asked: "Fellow Daoist Hua, Fellow Daoist Man, I heard that you are looking for me?"

Hua Zhenxing and Manman quickly stood up, bowed and said, "Happy New Year, President Mei, we are here to wish you a happy New Year! I wish you all the best and good luck!"

Umenoshi smiled: "Thank you, thank you! Happy Chinese New Year, everyone... You haven't had lunch yet, have you?"

Manman: "Not yet."

Umenoshi: "Just order it, I'm treating you!"

Hua Zhenxing: "How dare you..."

Mei Yeshi: "The juniors come all the way from home to pay New Year's greetings, how can they ignore the food? What's more, I own a restaurant! Sit down, sit down first, don't be polite!"

As he spoke, Umenoishi put the wiper into the bucket, and was about to wipe the table with a white towel.

In fact, the table is quite clean, and there is no need to wipe it at all, but after the customer sits down, wipe it in person, and inadvertently show that the white towel is not dirty at all, which is also a service characteristic.

As soon as the towel was stretched out, Hua Zhenxing snatched it away.There are not many people in this world who can snatch things from him, so President Mei has no defense at all.

Hua Zhenxing: "You are an elder, how can I let you clean the table for us, I'll do it, I'll do it!" He didn't use a towel while talking, and he waved his hand secretly, not to mention that the table was clean, even if it was originally clean. No matter how dirty it is, it is now extremely clean.

Mei Yeshi smiled and took the towel back: "Then you sit down first, and I'll come back after I'm done."

Hua Zhenxing and Man Manqi bowed together and said, "You do your work first!"

Ding Qi told Hua Zhenxing that he can do whatever he wants when he comes here, it's really not nonsense.Hua Zhenxing came to pay New Year's greetings to Mei Yeshi. He and Shi Shuangcheng were friends and alumni, and Mei Yeshi was considered an elder.

This elder runs a restaurant, so of course he will take care of the meals when younger generations come to visit during Chinese New Year.Mei Yeshi works as a cleaner in his own restaurant, but how could Hua Zhenxing and Manman sit still and let the elder stand and bend over to wipe the table for him?

Of course you have to be polite. If you should grab a towel, you still have to grab a towel. If you should bow down, you have to bow down.

After Umenoshi turned and left, they sat down.Zhang Lanyi came over and handed over another small cookbook, and said with a smile: "What do you two want to order, let's take a look first."

In fact, the waiter in charge of ordering food in the lobby was not Zhang Lanyi, but at the moment, except for the doorman, no other waiter showed up, so Zhang Lanyi did it for him.

It happened that someone wanted to pay the bill, so Zhang Lanyi went to collect the money.Mei Yeshi pushed a small cart to clear the cups and dishes and wipe the table.

Zhang Lanyi went to the other two groups of guests, whispered a few words, and the guests at the two tables finally stopped chatting to waste time, and happily checked out and left.

At this time, there were no other customers in Zhiwei Building, Zhang Lanyi came over again and asked, "Is the order ready?"

Manman quickly ordered four dishes and one soup, four of which happened to be two cold and two hot, and the dishes were ready in a few minutes.

The four dishes and one soup came directly from the back kitchen, and they were not spilled on the table. Anyway, there were no outsiders at the moment.

Seeing these dishes, Hua Zhenxing knew why they were served so quickly.Regardless of the two cold dishes, the two hot dishes and soup that Manman ordered were actually cooked in pots with a stove.

The third day of the Lunar New Year is the best time for business, and these dishes are all ready at noon, just put them in the pot and light them on the fire.

Those talented back chefs can install the pots with a simple trick, and even burn them when they fly to the table.

Hua Zhenxing and Manman didn't move their chopsticks. Normally they should sit face to face, but now they sat shoulder to shoulder on one side of the table, leaving the opposite side free.

Mei Yeshi came out again pushing the cart and cleared the last two tables.Hua Zhenxing and Manman also got up and stepped forward to help, but Mei Yeshi smiled and persuaded them to go back to their seats.

The car pushed into the back kitchen, and when Mei Yeshi came out again, he had already taken off his sleeves and apron, turned his head and said to Zhang Lanyi at the counter: "The order has been accepted!"

It was not yet three o'clock, but Zhiweilou had received the bill in advance, and there were no other guests in the lobby.Except for Ye Zhujing and Zhang Lanyi, the other waiters did not show up in the lobby on the first floor.

But Hua Zhenxing could notice that many people were watching the movement in the lobby in the back kitchen and on the second floor, and the monks didn't need to come close to watch.

Mei Yeshi came over and said, "I'm sorry, I just finished my work."

Hua Zhenxing and Manman got up quickly: "We are sorry to bother you, and President Mei didn't have lunch, right?"

Umenoshi: "We all eat after receiving the order, so we can be together."

Hua Zhenxing: "Please sit down!"

Mei Yeshi sat down on the opposite side in a stable manner, and waved: "You guys sit too, do you want some wine, Hua Diao?"

Manman: "Drink, Xiaohua often uses it for cooking."

Mei Yeshi raised his head and said, "Xiaolan, take a box of old spring yellow."

Zhang Lanyi: "How old is it?"

Mei Yeshi: "Just according to the ages of these two children."

Both Hua Zhenxing and Manman are 19 years old this year, but they have not yet reached their birthdays, and strictly speaking, they are in their early years.

Wine does not get better with age. Different wines have different requirements under the condition of qualified storage.

For example, the best taste period of Luzhou-flavor liquor is between 50 and 100 years, while that of Maotai-flavor liquor is more than [-] years.

As for rice wine, the taste is usually at its best when it is close to 20 years old, and the taste will decline after more than 30 years.

Hua Zhenxing carried wine with him, but he didn't take it out after hearing what Mei Yeshi said.The so-called one box sounds scary, but it is actually just six catties of rice wine, and the three of them can drink it completely.

Without asking Zhang Lanyi to reach out to help, Hua Zhenxing took the initiative to unpack the bottle, poured all the wine glasses on the table, and then held the glass with Manman and said: "We are here to give you a New Year greeting, first I wish you good luck, Kunlun, Live forever!"

After drinking this cup, Hua Zhenxing said again: "Thank you for lending me that talisman!"

Mei Yeshi also drank the wine in his glass, waved his hand and said: "Sit down, sit down and talk, don't always stand up." He didn't seem to have any airs, and he didn't seem to need to put on airs.

After sitting down again, Manman took the lead and said, "On the ninth day of the first lunar month, we will host a banquet for fellow Taoists from various factions in Kunlun at the newly opened Jilidong National Cuisine in Pingjing City. On behalf of Yang Yuangu, we specially invite you to enjoy the feast!"

Mei Yeshi shook his head: "I won't join in the excitement. Shi Shuangcheng can represent Sanmengzong to attend, and I heard that Zhengyimen will also send Guangren as a representative. You are already old friends. How close are young people?" !"

This is a normal result, and Hua Zhenxing could have predicted it before coming here.Sanmengzong and Zhengyimen respectively sent Shi Shuangcheng and Guangren as representatives to attend, which was already a compliment to save face.

When he was in Jinghu, Hua Zhenxing of course also invited Teacher Ding.Ding Qi didn't want to go, and although Fang Waimen was not excluded among the Kunlun sects, they were regarded as different, and they didn't have much contact with each other.

But Zhu Shanxian thought that someone had to go. This had nothing to do with the Kunlun factions, but to support Yang Yuangu and Hua Zhenxing, so he sent two young deacons Shi Buquan and Shang Ni to represent Fang Waimen.

This is the same as the practice of Three Dreams.

Manman took advantage of the situation and asked: "I heard that the employees of Zhiweilou are all monks from different sects in rotation. How long will you be cleaning here?"

This sentence was a test, because Ding Qi guessed the day before yesterday that Mei Yeshi would be punished until Hua Zhenxing came to the door.

Mei Yeshi's tone was calm: "After finishing the busiest first month, I can change people to guard the Zhiwei Building. My predecessor Tao Ranke from West Kunlun will replace me."

Wucheng Zhiwei Building, in addition to the disciples of various sects taking turns guarding it, there are also senior seniors who take turns guarding it.The last guardian was Yu Cangwu, and now it is Ume Yeshi himself.The next one will be Tao Ranke, Hua Zhenxing has also heard of this name.

Tao Ranke came here to replace Mei Yeshi, of course not necessarily as a cleaner.

Hua Zhenxing couldn't help secretly praising in his heart, Teacher Ding really guessed right!As soon as he came to the door, it meant that Umenoshi's punishment was over.It's just that it's not easy to say this directly, and Mr. Feng probably won't let Leader Mei say it.

(End of this chapter)