half-baked life

Jiang He even knew that there were not many parking spaces near his store, so he parked his car smoothly in the parking lot of the opposite community by relying on the "secret signal" of a regular customer who flashed the left turn signal twice.

"I'm his super VIP. I can eat whenever I want without having to wait for a table. Isn't that awesome?"

When getting out of the car, Jiang Hebeier proudly raised his chin at Gu Xia and showed off.

"Me too." Gu Xia smiled and put her arm around Jiang He's shoulders.

As soon as the two people came out of the back door of the community, they turned east and walked along a narrow alley two people wide for 30 meters, when they smelled the familiar aroma of hot charcoal fire.

At the end of the narrow alley is the back kitchen of Xiaoxia Kebab Shop.

Gu Xia, who was walking in front, glanced in through the large open window of the back kitchen and saw his father and two apprentices barbecuing skewers there. Hot sweat dripped down Gu Jianhui's face, which had been roasted by the charcoal fire. The dark and strong body dripped down.

Gu Xia couldn't help but look down at her white arms, feeling that it was almost time to tan again.

"Xiao Guo, two portions of fried rice with fat intestines, and one fried wide noodles with eggs."

His mother followed the path of "hear the person before you see him". After shouting, he walked into the kitchen with a thick stack of orders.

His father's disciple Guo Zhen responded early, quickly opened the stove next to him, set up the wok first, then took the order and started distributing it.

"It would be nice to wear some clothes. Don't you mind getting too hot?"

Xia Yun took the towel lying aside, walked to Gu Jianhui and wiped the sweat off his body.

"Isn't it hot... Oops, get out quickly, it's so smoky, don't choke you."

Xia Yun was diagnosed with pulmonary nodules last month, and the doctor asked her to observe her first and then reexamine her in six months.

"During the observation period, be sure not to get angry, never smoke, not even second-hand smoke, and try to avoid entering the kitchen as much as possible."

Gu Jianhui followed the doctor's instructions more strictly than Xia Yun. He didn't want her to come to the store at first, but Xia Yun couldn't stay idle at all, so Gu Jianhui had to do the next best thing and keep her away from the kitchen.

"Okay, I'll leave now, I won't offend you!"

Xia Yun said this, but she had already filled Gu Jianhui's big teacup with water and placed it where he could reach it.

"Welcome, there are no tables in the room now, why don't we sit outside, it happens to be windy and cool."

Xia Yun was bending over to take disposable plastic tableware from the carton next to the door, when she noticed two people standing at the door of the store. She stood up while greeting them, and was stunned when she saw the appearance of the person.

Gu Xia gritted her teeth and waved to his mother. He was about to introduce Jiang He, but unexpectedly, his mother stuffed all the plastic dishes and chopsticks in his arms into his arms, and faced Jiang He with a face of surprise.

"Jiang He? Oh, it's really you. I thought I was deceived!"

Xia Yun grabbed Jiang He's hand and looked up and down, her tone not to mention warm.

"Are you feeling well? I'll just tell you that 'lucky people have their own destiny'. Minor illnesses and disasters are nothing to worry about here!"

"You... do you two know each other?" Gu Xia looked a little embarrassed and took out the two sets of bowls and chopsticks that his mother had stuffed into his overalls, "Jiang He, you..."

"What's 'Jiang He'? You can call 'Jiang He'? You're such a kid, you're called 'Sister'!"

Xia Yun grabbed the menu folder and slapped Gu Xia on the back of the head. Gu Xia turned her head slightly and just dodged. The tacit understanding seemed to have been "practiced" thousands of times.

A strange thought suddenly appeared in Jiang He's mind, and she subconsciously wanted to deny it, but Xia Yun's next words completely broke her fantasy. "Jiang He, this brat is my son, Gu Xia. Gu Xia, this is the 'Teacher Ke' I often told you before. Our store is still so prosperous because of her!"

"...Teacher Ke? Are you Teacher Ke?" Gu Xia was struck by lightning.

Before Gu Xia graduated from university, "Teacher Ke" had always been a figure mentioned by his parents from time to time. He had the supreme status in his family and was almost a "savior".

"If it weren't for Teacher Ke, our family would have a hard time drinking the northwest wind!" Gu Jianhui always ended with this sentence every time.

Ever since Gu Xia could remember, his family had been grilling skewers.

It's just that when he was a child, he had no reputation and was just a roadside stall. Every day when it was dark, Gu Jianhui would set up two rows of grills on the roadside.

The sparks of fat dripping on the red charcoal, the smoke of cumin-scented fireworks on the grill, and the noisy noise mixed with the crisp collision of wine bottles that continues into the dreamland, constitute most of Gu Xia's life. childhood memories.

By the time Gu Xia was in junior high school, her family's barbecue stall had been upgraded to a barbecue restaurant. There was a signboard with red letters on a white background hanging on the small front door, with five big characters "Xiao Xia Kebab Shop" written in flying colors. I heard that It was the vice president of the city's calligraphy association who helped bring it up, and he is also a regular customer of the store.

Before Gu Xia entered high school, he got help from the store every day to finish his homework, including winter and summer vacations. He was quite happy with it, after all, he could earn a lot of pocket money.

However, after entering high school, the academic pressure increased. He was so busy every day that he couldn't care about anything except eating, sleeping and going to school.

Despite this, Gu Xia still noticed that the pressure at home was getting lower and lower day by day, especially when he was in his senior year of high school.

"Dad, is our family in trouble?"

Gu Xia was on vacation once, and when he saw his father smoking like a chimney, he couldn't help but ask.

"Trouble? Our family doesn't have any at the moment, but if you don't get into college, Gu Xia, let me tell you, you will be in big trouble!"

Gu Jianhui held a cigarette in his mouth, narrowed his eyes, and replied to Gu Xia.

"Okay, I don't need to ask you more!"

This matter was quickly forgotten by Gu Xia. It was not until the college entrance examination was over and his mother mentioned it that Gu Xia realized that the store was indeed in big trouble at that time.

"Xiao Xia Kebab Restaurant" had been open for nearly 30 years at that time. It had an excellent reputation and was naturally famous. However, Gu Jianhui never thought about registering a trademark. He had no idea about it at all. As a result, he was hired by a fast-moving restaurant The company took advantage of this.

Lezhen Catering secretly registered the trademark "Xiaoxia Kebab Shop" and used it as a gimmick to attract investment and open stores. In less than three months, there were thirty or forty more "Xiaoxia Kebab Shops".

Many people who didn't know the truth thought it was Gu Jianhui who opened a branch, and happily ran to check in.

But these franchise stores are not serious business at all. They are all beautifully decorated, but the taste is terrible. For a time, there were overwhelming negative reviews about "Xiaoxia Kebab Shop" on the review website, and the reputation naturally plummeted.

And this is not the most troublesome thing. The barbecue restaurant's storefront is about to expire, and the landlord who has cooperated with it for nearly ten years has decided not to renew the contract.

"It's okay to increase the rent. Brother Qiu, please set a price."

Gu Jianhui invited the landlord to dinner and discussed with him in a friendly manner at the dinner table.

"Lao Gu, let me tell you the truth. Le Zhen Catering told me that no matter how much you pay, they will double it. They also said that if I rent it to you, it will be useless. Your store will not last for another half year at most. I can’t do it anymore.”

Gu Jianhui had never experienced such cowardice. He was naturally dissatisfied and ran to complain to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. As a result, people from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau came and wanted to take away his trademark!
"We can't help it. The trademark is in someone else's hands now. Otherwise, Boss Gu, you can discuss it with Lezhen Catering and see if we can reach some cooperation or something, even if we suffer a little loss."