Restarting life by going to the countryside to support medical work

Chapter 702 Rumors
"What nonsense is this? Why are you celebrating the opening of your restaurant with me?" Zhu Yongyang's words completely baffled Li Yancheng. He recognized each word of the sentence individually, but he couldn't understand it when they were put together.

"Hey, hey, stop moving! What's the point of moving anything? Go back to your restaurant and celebrate by yourselves."

Seeing that as he was talking, Lao Zhu was still directing people to move the things on the tricycle into the kitchen, showing no sign of stopping, Li Yancheng became anxious.

"We planned to celebrate here today. We know it's inconvenient for you to come over, so we came here instead. Don't worry, there's no one else here, just me and Mr. Cheng. We didn't invite Mr. Fang. Actually, we just want you to try our chef's cooking and give us your feedback."

After speaking, Old Zhu turned to look at the cooks and assistants who were told not to work because of Li Yancheng's words.

"You guys keep doing your thing, no need to stop."

He made Li Yancheng laugh, making it seem like his own home.

However, he didn't stop them anymore. If it was just Lao Zhu and Cheng Jianwen coming over, it wouldn't matter if they ate at home, and it would save his wife the trouble of cooking.

Whenever Luo Min is home, she does the cooking. Over the years, her cooking skills have improved dramatically. The girl who couldn't even cook noodles properly back then can now whip up a table full of home-style dishes without any problem.

Seeing that Li Yancheng was no longer obstructing him, Zhu Yongyang first waved to the people he brought, signaling them to continue working. Then, he walked with a smile to the eaves of the main house. Before he even arrived, a cigarette was tossed over.

In the past two years, as Li Yancheng's position has risen higher and higher, he has fewer and fewer friends with whom he can joke around freely, and his old classmate Lao Zhu is one of them.

The reason I say he's half a classmate is because his years of experience in society have taught him when it's okay to joke around with this old classmate and when he must behave properly; he has a very good grasp of the appropriate boundaries and limits.

That's why he could only be considered half a friend by Li Yancheng.

But that's enough. After all, nowadays, many people can't even get a chance to meet Li Yancheng for a meal.

"Your wife isn't up yet?"

After the cigarette was tossed over, Zhu Yongyang stepped forward and lit it with his lighter.

"No, I was working overtime until 2 a.m. last night before I went to sleep."

Li Yancheng shook his head; the overtime he was referring to was legitimate overtime.

"hey-hey……"

Although he said it was legitimate overtime work, Zhu Yongyang interpreted it differently, and his laughter was full of hidden meaning.

"Stop with your inappropriate thoughts." Li Yancheng rolled his eyes at him. "My wife was working overtime at her company last night."

"Uh... Hey, Da Cheng, your sister-in-law is so busy as the head of the confidential section, she seems to be working overtime all the time. Why don't you help her get a less demanding position?"

"How dare you say that? She works at the Social Affairs Bureau, not the Public Security Bureau. Do you think I can just transfer her like that?"

"Come on, we've been brothers for decades, stop giving me that official airs." Old Zhu didn't hold back, rolling his eyes and pursing his lips as he spoke.

“You came from the Social Affairs Bureau, or even the headquarters. I remember that the current director of the Municipal Bureau has a very good relationship with you. It seems that you used to be in the same department. I don’t believe that if you make a call, they won’t do it for you.”

Li Yancheng chuckled.

"My wife is no longer the head of the confidential section."

"Huh?" Zhu Yongyang was stunned for a moment, but then he grinned.

"So, your wife got promoted?"

Although Zhu Yongyang was classmates with Li Yancheng and Jin Zhihai in school, he was more than two years older than the latter two, so it was perfectly fine for him to call Luo Min his younger brother and sister-in-law.

"She's been promoted, by half a rank. She's now the deputy director of the office."

"Wow, not bad." Zhu Yongyang raised an eyebrow.

"Then why do we still have to work overtime?"

“There’s been a lot going on in their department lately, and they’ll occasionally have to work overtime. She was just promoted and wasn’t supposed to have to work overtime, but she didn’t want to see others busy and didn’t want to do anything herself, so she stayed to help out.”

"That explains it. When did your sister-in-law get promoted? I never heard you mention it."

"What's there to say? It's not a big deal." Li Yancheng waved his hand dismissively.

"You've really got this guy all figured out."

As expected, Li Yancheng's words made Zhu Yongyang roll his eyes again.

After rolling their eyes, the two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

While laughing, Li Yancheng put his arm around Zhu Yongyang's shoulder and patted him.

Old Zhu glanced at his old classmate and asked, "You must be exhausted, aren't you?"

"There's nothing I can do," Li Yancheng shook his head helplessly.

"There's nothing I can do about it," Zhu Yongyang blurted out, swearing.

"Sometimes I feel tired for you. You hardly have any time or space for yourself. I just wonder, how high do you have to climb to be considered high?"

In Lao Zhu's eyes, Li Yancheng's status and position were already high enough at this point, and he couldn't understand why his old classmate still had to work so hard.

Within his circle of connections, this old classmate was already at the pinnacle of his abilities. Although he had never used Li Yancheng's name to commit any illegal or criminal acts over the years, because of this relationship, many things that seemed extremely difficult to others became effortless for him.

Just like those years when he was dealing in large quantities of scarce resources, he was actually taking food from the mouths of certain generations. But because Li Yancheng was there, those people basically turned a blind eye to his behavior. As long as he didn't go too far, they didn't bother with him.

In addition, Zhu Yongyang is a perceptive and shrewd person who doesn't hoard his own resources or do anything drastic. So, for many years, except for one time when he offended someone he couldn't afford to offend, it was only through Li Yancheng's intervention that he was able to pay a fine and avoid further trouble. Otherwise, he has had a relatively smooth life.

"And what about you?" Li Yancheng turned to look at his old classmate, smiling as he asked, "How much money do you earn, and is that enough?"

Li Yancheng didn't know the exact amount of money Zhu Yongyang had, but he was certain it was much more than the two million his family had.

In recent years, thanks to the Cheng family's import and export trading company, he has almost monopolized the northern market for imported goods and made a fortune.

In an era where being able to afford three turns and one ring for a wedding, and having seventy-two legs, indicates a particularly good family background, he was already riding in an imported car, and not just one.

Comrade Lao Zhu is now a car owner. This guy is quite the show-off. When the car first came back, he drove it himself, but after a few days he got tired of it and found a brother who had been with him for a long time to drive for him.

Later, he felt that this wasn't impressive enough, so he hired several bodyguards. Every time he went out, there were three cars: his car in the middle, and the two in front and behind were filled with bodyguards. The style was... wow... simply amazing.

"Money is never enough! Let me tell you, Da Cheng, after I went to Europe and America, I realized that our place is really too backward. It can't compare with them at all."

Goodness, over there... He went on and on about all the good things about Europe and America, he was incredibly eloquent.

Li Yancheng didn't interrupt him, and just stood there with a smile on his face, listening for a long time.

"So, the mission of the previous generation, like my father-in-law's generation, was to conquer the country and defend it, while our generation..."

At this point, Li Yancheng raised his hand, first pointing at Zhu Yongyang with his index finger, then pointing at himself with his thumb.

"Our generation's mission is to build this country. Western countries are indeed good, and there are many things we can learn from them. We should humbly learn from them, learn their strengths and advantages, and discard their dross in order to build our China."

Every year, our country sends so many government-funded students abroad to learn advanced technologies from developed countries, so they can return and use those technologies to build our nation.

"Wait a moment..."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yongyang interrupted Li Yancheng.

“Dacheng, although I don’t care much about those things, I do know that not all of the many people who go abroad to study each year come back. And as far as I know, most of them stay abroad after completing their studies and are unwilling to return.”

"That's what investment is all about. If even one out of ten people goes out is willing to come back, then the investment is successful."

"Uh... so if what you're saying is true, the country actually knows that with so many people sent out every year, it's impossible for them all to come back?"

"That's right. Human nature is the hardest thing to fathom. It's instinctive to seek advantage and avoid harm. After going out and seeing the dazzling world, it's normal to yearn for a better life there. So it's perfectly normal for some people to choose to stay there after graduation."

Perhaps he was a little tired from standing for so long, Li Yancheng walked over to the benches against the wall, pulled one over and sat down, and also pushed a bench over to Zhu Yongyang, gesturing for him to sit down as well.

"Don't worry about those who don't want to come back after they go abroad. We should pay more attention to those who are willing to return after they have completed their studies. Let's not talk about that anymore, Lao Zhu."

Li Yancheng waved his hand, indicating that he didn't want to continue discussing this topic; it was an unsolvable problem.

"Your restaurant will be officially open for business starting tomorrow, right?"

"Hmm," Zhu Yongyang nodded and said, "We've already booked three tables. Mr. Cheng, Mr. Fang, and I have discussed it, and we've decided that no matter how good business is in the future, we'll only serve a maximum of five tables a day, two at noon and three in the evening."

And it's not something anyone can just book; we're planning to follow the example of some restaurants in Europe and America and offer... what's it called again...?

At this point, Zhu Yongyang hesitated for a moment, rolling his eyes and thinking for a long time, but he still couldn't figure out what that thing was.

Are you referring to the membership card?

Li Yancheng, however, figured out what he was going to say after a little thought.

"Yes, yes, it's a membership card."

Snapped

Zhu Yongyang slapped his thigh.

"Look at my memory, some high-end restaurants in Europe and America issue membership cards to premium customers, and only cardholders are qualified to eat there."

Mr. Cheng's point is that we should do the same, and this membership card shouldn't be something just anyone can apply for; we have to actively invite people to it.

"I don't care how you run your business, but there's one thing I need to make clear: don't do any shady things there. If I ever hear any bad rumors, I won't hesitate to personally lead a team over and shut your place down."

"Don't worry about that, Da Cheng. Neither I nor President Cheng would ever cause you any trouble."

"Where is that Boss Fang?"

"He doesn't know how either. He only owns 15% of the shares in Wangfu Restaurant, and he only has the right to receive dividends. He doesn't participate in the management. He himself said that he just wants to use this platform to make some useful connections."

"Anyway, you just need to keep it within a certain limit. Also, since your restaurant is members-only, don't advertise it to the outside world. It's enough for a specific circle to know about it."

"Huh? What...what does this mean?"

"What I mean is, don't make it so that everyone knows what kind of place it is. Try to maintain a sense of mystery, since you don't plan to receive ordinary people anyway."

"Oh, you mean this?" Zhu Yongyang nodded in sudden realization.

“That was our original plan. It’s not open to the public, and we didn’t even have a storefront. From the outside, no one would know what’s inside.”

"That's fine, that's fine. You sit down first, I'll go wash up."

"Hey, hey, wait a minute, wait a minute."

As soon as Li Yancheng stood up, Zhu Yongyang grabbed his arm.

"Don't rush me, I have something to ask you."

"What's the matter?" Seeing this, Li Yancheng sat back down on the stool.

Zhu Yongyang glanced at the kitchen. The chef and assistants he had brought had already moved all the ingredients into the kitchen and were busy working inside.

After confirming that the other end couldn't hear him, Old Zhu lowered his voice and said, "Dacheng, I've heard these past two days that you're planning something, is that right?"

!!!

Old Zhu's words startled Li Yancheng slightly. Goodness, the underground personnel department's information network is too good!
"Who told you this?" he asked calmly.

“I had dinner with Dong Laosi last week, and that’s what he told me.”

Dong Laosi?

The name lingered in Li Yancheng's mind, but he couldn't find a suitable person to represent it.

Seeing a hint of confusion in his eyes, Old Zhu explained, "His brother is Dong Yaowu."

"Dong... Oh, you mean Dong Yaowen from the Dong family?" Li Yancheng finally realized who it was.

"Yes, that's him. Isn't he the fourth oldest? We all call him Dong the Fourth."

"You're something else, Lao Zhu, you can make friends with anyone."

What Zhu Yongyang called Dong Laosi was nothing special, but his brother Dong Yaowu was no less powerful than Li Yancheng. However, he was not currently serving in Beijing, but rather in a local position as a deputy leader in a province on the southeast coast. He was only 48 years old this year and belonged to the younger generation.

If ranked within the organization, he is above Li Yancheng.

(End of this chapter)