The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

"Open a restaurant?"

"No, I'm doing a good job as a permanent employee at the factory, earning just a few dozen yuan a month. Why would I open a restaurant? Are you kidding me?"

Yan Jiecheng looked at Yu Li as if she were a lunatic. Other factories were not doing well and could not pay wages, so they had all stopped operating.

At least at Hongxing Factory, there was work to do, and the monthly salary was paid without fail—something that other factory workers could only envy. Yet Yu Li actually told her to go into business and open a restaurant.

“You don’t know how expensive food is until you’re in charge of the household. Your monthly salary is only a little over sixty yuan, and even with mine, it’s still not enough to keep up with the prices of food sold outside. Food prices have gone up so much, while your salary has only increased by a few yuan.”

“Others run their own businesses and their businesses are booming. I’m still thinking about my family. Look at Xu Damao, he’s been in jail for so many years, and he’s only been out for a short time. I heard he’s already a millionaire now, and he can take more than three thousand yuan with him whenever he wants. You haven’t been in jail, but after all these years, you haven’t even bought a bicycle!”

"Everyone else is living in apartment buildings, but we're still living in this dilapidated tenement, crammed together with so many other families. Can't you be a little more ambitious? You see, the prices of food and housing are going to keep rising. With just our meager salaries, we'll be starving!"

Yan Jiecheng was indeed very good to Li, never hitting or scolding her, treating her like a precious treasure. It was only because Shazhu's wife couldn't stand it and ran off with another man that it served as a warning to the men in the courtyard.

He doesn't smoke or drink, doesn't go out with colleagues, and even helped take care of Yu Rong when she was little. He also helped with housework.

The only downside is that Yan Jiecheng is used to working in the factory and is staying in his comfort zone. Since he can no longer take the certification exam, whether he can make a living depends entirely on the factory's conscience. He'll be happy for a while if his salary increases a little.

In the eyes of the women, this is the epitome of a lack of ambition. Everyone else, including Ma Hua, got promoted, and Qin Jingru benefited from it, eating and dressing well, and even her child was outshone.

Yu Li couldn't compare to Li Feng's daughter, Li Hui, because she was born to the first wife. But she couldn't even compare to Qin Jingru, who came from the countryside. This only fueled Yu Li's competitive spirit.

Yan Jiecheng was now deflated. He knew that prices were rising as the reform and opening up progressed, and he always felt that his family's life was not good enough compared to the rich, but not bad enough compared to the poor.

Now, Yu Li and Xu Damao are using each other as examples. For Yan Jiecheng, being a "ten-thousand-yuan household" is far too far away. Even an apartment upstairs that costs three thousand yuan is something he has to look up at with longing.

"Xu Damao had no choice. He had been in prison for so many years, and no company wanted to hire him, so he had to resort to shady dealings. He just got incredibly lucky and actually managed to open a video arcade!"

Faced with Yu Li's relentless pursuit, Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to back him up and offer an explanation.

"It's not too late for us to start now. You know what kind of attitude those waiters at the state-run restaurants have. If you want to eat out, you have to put up with their attitude. Let's find a shop across from the state-run restaurants, open it up first, and focus on good service. If we stay open until 9 or 10 p.m., we can make those people at the state-run restaurants starve!"

“Look, I can quit working at the coal mine. I can handle being a waiter and cashier, but the key is to have a man to support me. As for the cook, we can start with someone with average skills. If all else fails, there’s always Sha Zhu. You know how good he is.”

"I've also spoken with Li Feng about the factory, and he agreed to keep your permanent job. You can take care of the restaurant for now, and if it really doesn't work out, you can go back to your job at the factory!"

This is for real, not a joke. Yan Jiecheng didn't expect that Yu Li had gone this far. Li Feng had already been contacted. It seemed like all that was left was for him to agree.

"A restaurant needs to rent a storefront, as well as tables, chairs, food, and drinks. All of these require investment. Didn't you say our family doesn't have any money?"

Yan Jiecheng was a bit timid. Although he was somewhat tempted by Yu Li's words, he began to hesitate when he thought about how much he had invested and what would happen if the business failed.

"Borrow, borrow your dad's. When Xu Damao asked Dad for the property certificate and keys to Qin Huairu's house, I asked him privately!" "Dad has money, he's just pretending. This time he partnered with Xu Damao in the cassette tape business, investing three thousand and making a thousand. Do you think he has nothing better to do than run around helping Xu Damao buy a house? He's helping him make money!"

Like a bolt from the blue, it struck Yan Jiecheng on the head. It was common knowledge that his father, Yan Bugui, was stingy. He had worn the same tattered undershirt for twenty years, and it was almost completely worn out.

He always says he has no money, but it's all an act. Yan Jie clenched his fist and slammed it against the edge of the bed. He grabbed a T-shirt and tried to pull it over his head, but Yu Li pulled him back.

"You have no idea what kind of person my father-in-law is. Until he kicks the bucket, none of you children can get any money out of him. You can only borrow from him and pay interest. We'll pay it back slowly. Once the money is in our hands, we'll see if he can live to see the day we pay it back!"

When Yu Li reminded Yan Jiecheng, he thought, "Hey, that makes a lot of sense. If I just ask for it without any real money, my dad won't give me a single hair. But if I really want to borrow it, there's a slight chance."

But then he thought about it... and his high spirits plummeted. With Xu Damao's ways of making money, why would his father lend them money?

"Dad, since you're not continuing business with Xu Damao, can you lend us that money?"

"The tape business is temporarily off. Xu Damao himself has taken a break. I heard that things are getting tense now, and they're cracking down on this area. It's hard to transport tapes over, and even if they do, no one dares to sell them. He's just speculating and making money based on opportunities. It's different for us to run a restaurant."

"His movie ticket only costs a few cents. Even if he doesn't do the cassette tape reselling business, he still has the video arcade to bring him income. It's the same with restaurants. Just think about it, once you open one, you can make a few cents or a dollar per dish. In a day, wouldn't that be more than what the video arcade makes?"

“We actually have this foundation. Li Feng lives in the front yard, Ma Hua lives in the back yard, and Xu Damao lives outside. All the cadres in the factory know that we live across the street from Li Feng, but they don’t know what the relationship between our two families is like. We can use this to our advantage and get to know the factory cadres better. As long as they bring people to our shop to eat, that’s money!”

Encouraged by Yu Li, Yan Jiecheng suddenly realized that this was the perfect opportunity. Otherwise, once Xu Damao was able to continue his work, he would never be able to get any money from his father.

"Jiefang and the others don't know that Dad has money yet. Once they find out, and they've got their eyes on this money, it'll be even harder to get it!"

"Do you really want to be self-employed and open this restaurant, or are you just looking for an excuse to swindle money from Dad?"

A sudden sense of urgency weighed on Yan Jiecheng's heart. He looked at Yu Li and felt that she seemed like a different person today.

"We'll open the restaurant, and we'll have to swindle money too. At worst, we'll go back and take care of them in their old age. Anyway, we still have a house in the compound. My parents are getting on in years. If we don't plan ahead now, it'll be too late once they're in their coffins!"

"I've already said all this, Yan Jiecheng, don't make me look down on you. Don't be even worse than Xu Damao. We're not talking about becoming millionaires, but if the factory's performance doesn't improve, at least we'll have something to rely on. If we wait until the day when they can't pay wages, then it'll really be too late!"

This provocation worked very well. Yan Jiecheng's face immediately turned red. What did she mean by saying that he was not even as good as Xu Damao? These words were spoken by his own wife. No matter how he listened to them, they felt awkward.

“We don’t know anything about doing business. Let me ask Xu Damao first to see where to start. Don’t be in such a hurry. We have to do this secretly and can’t let Lao Er and the others know!”

“Take him to Bianyifang for a Peking duck dinner. Offer him some at the table. Don’t let the regular employees look down on him because he’s a former prisoner. Xu Damao is rich now, so we should keep a low profile.”

"If you can keep him happy, he'll teach you. Anyway, the restaurant and his video arcade don't conflict. Maybe the customers watching TV will even order food from us!" (End of Chapter)