1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 146 I'm a civilized person, I don't swear (Bonus chapter for 8500 monthly votes!)
“Yes, they met today and reconnected.” Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. “However, Old Mrs. Qiu’s love for Mr. Duan remains unwavering, and her feelings for Wang Yu have lost much of their romantic affection. Wang Yu, on the other hand, has no intention of possessing her.”

"They should have become good friends. Old Mrs. Qiu is preparing to go to Hong Kong to reunite with her children. She left a mailing address for Wang Yu so that they can contact each other by letter at any time."

“Wang Yu was very happy. He told me that he had found a new bond in this world and had no regrets.”

The old lady smiled with relief upon hearing this, and said with a touch of emotion, "It's wonderful. They are all decent people with feelings and integrity. It's so rare to be able to reunite after nearly fifty years."

“Yes, if we miss it, we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives.” Zhou Yan nodded in agreement.

"Could it be that you were the one who made the connection?" The old lady's gaze fell on Zhou Yan. "You asked me about this just the day before yesterday, and they met today. You even know so much inside information."

The old lady was indeed very wise; nothing could be hidden from her.

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded: "This is all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, those two might never have met in their lives."

"Me?" The old lady frowned.

Zhou Yan said without blushing or skipping a beat, "You said that Wang Yu often sends braised beef to his fiancée, and Qiu Qi happens to like braised beef. Grandpa Wang from the library has asked about the braised beef you make several times."

I just went to try it out randomly, and unexpectedly, I actually stumbled upon it by sheer luck! This Wang Yu changed his name to Wang Ran, and after a serving of braised beef and two glasses of wine, he told me everything.

I went to Jiaozhou yesterday afternoon to arrange a time for them, and we ran into each other in Suji this morning.

Tell me, if it weren't for your crucial clue, this whole thing definitely wouldn't have worked out, right?
Wang Yu is coming to thank you in a couple of days. If you don't understand, just nod. Yesterday, to get him to talk, I told him it was you who told him, so please don't let it slip.

"You little rascal, you're as clever as the King of Hell with pockmarks—you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve!" The old lady nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, don't worry, I definitely won't let you know anything."

"I'm just doing a good deed," Zhou Yan grinned. Talking to the clever old lady was so easy.

"But you're busy with business all day long, how do you still have the time to run around connecting them?" The old lady looked at him. "You must have gotten some benefits out of it, right?"

"Grandma Qiu's granddaughter said that once Grandma Qiu's knot in her heart is untied, she will persuade Grandma Qiu to sell the Qiu family's old house to me." Zhou Yan said with a smile, "You know that house, right? It faces Jiaozhou Port, and there's a lot of foot traffic. I want to buy it, save up money to demolish it and rebuild it, and then move to Jiaozhou. We can use the first floor to open a restaurant and the second floor to live in. It'll be very comfortable."

"You've got a plan, kid. From the village to the town, and now you're going to the city." The old lady laughed when she heard this, then thought for a moment and added, "The Qiu family's mansion is quite big, isn't it? It must have cost a lot of money to buy it."

"Ten thousand yuan."

"many?!"

"Ten thousand." Zhou Yan said with a smile, "The location is good, the land is spacious, and most importantly, the view is excellent. From the second floor, you can directly see the Minjiang River and the edge of the Buddha statue. It's very comfortable."

"It's good, but where are we going to find 10,000 yuan?" The old lady frowned slightly, her face showing some worry.

"Grandma, you don't need to worry about the money. I dare to even consider this because I'm confident I can earn it myself," Zhou Yan said quickly, feeling a warmth in his heart.

The old lady looked at Zhou Yan sitting on a small stool, reached out and touched his head, and said softly, "Xiao Yan, take it slow. Life is so long. Don't be anxious or impatient. Set your goals small, earn money one dollar at a time, and live each day one by one. That's how you can live a fulfilling life."

"Yes, I know." Zhou Yan felt the thin but warm hand gently stroking his head, and his nose suddenly felt a little stuffy.

The old lady always had a compassionate and caring heart towards the younger generation.

Zhou Yan sniffed and changed the subject with a smile: "Grandma, is there anywhere you'd like to go? When I make some money, I'll take you on a trip."

"Where should we go?" the old lady thought seriously for a moment and asked, "Is South Korea far? How much will it cost?"

"South Korea?" Zhou Yan was taken aback.

The old lady nodded: "Your grandfather died fighting there. He was a sniper who killed dozens of foreign devils, including a high-ranking officer. He was awarded a first-class merit. If I ever have the chance in this life, I would like to go and see the place where he fought."

Zhou Yan looked at her; the old lady's expression was calm, but her eyes were filled with turmoil.

Zhou Yan recalled the scene from his memory: the night before his grandfather returned to his unit, Zhang Shufen stuffed cloth shoes into his bag and told him to come back alive.

But on that rainy day, what she got back was a plaque.

The plaque recognizing her as a first-class meritorious official was hung in the main room, but she could never see her husband again, and the child in her womb would never see the old man in his lifetime.

Zhou Yan grasped the old lady's hand and said with a smile, "Grandma, as soon as China and South Korea establish diplomatic relations, I'll take you to South Korea to see it. I read in the newspaper that the international situation is getting better and better, and it won't be long before it's done. Then we'll take a plane there."

The old lady smiled upon hearing this and nodded, saying, "Okay."

Because he was worried that it wouldn't be safe for his uncle to ride a bicycle with his grandmother on one hand, Zhou Yan specially rode his bicycle to take his grandmother home.

……

"Dad, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" Duan Yuyan said, holding the phone in the Jiaozhou Post Office.

"Wow, you convinced your grandma? She's willing to come to Hong Kong?" Trump's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Duan Yuyan said with some pride, "That's right. The good news is that after my unremitting efforts and careful analysis, I finally resolved Grandma's inner conflict. She has just agreed to come back to Hong Kong with me for a while at the end of next month."

"That's great! Goodness, you're really something! Your uncle and aunt came to my house yesterday to discuss with me that if your grandma doesn't want to come, they'll bring the baby back to Jiaozhou next month to visit her." The voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became excited.

Duan Yuyan held the microphone a little further away from her ear, and waited for the sound to stop before saying, "Tell your aunt and uncle not to come. It's inconvenient for the whole family to travel back and forth. I'll bring Grandma back next month." "Okay! Okay!"

"Oh, by the way, what was the bad news you mentioned earlier?"

"I told you not to swear," Duan Yuyan said.

"You said it yourself, I'm a civilized person, I shouldn't swear."

Duan Yuyan glanced around, carefully considered her words, and whispered into the microphone, "Grandma's unresolved issue is Wang Yu, the young master of the Suji Wang family, with whom she was once engaged. I have already found him. Today, I even took Grandma to meet him. The old lady was so happy. She wore a new cheongsam and was all smiles on the way back."

"Worthy!"

A clanging sound came from the other end of the phone, like the noise of something falling to the ground.

After a while, a voice came through the phone again: "Are you talking about Wang Yu? Wang Yu from the Wang family of Suji? Where did you find him? Wasn't there no record of him?"

"Huh? Dad, you know him?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before he said, "Your grandfather mentioned in a letter to me a few years ago that his biggest regret was not finding Wang Yu. If he could meet your grandmother, she would be very happy."

"Your grandfather also said that Wang Yu is a hero who protects the country, but he doesn't have that kind of ability. He can only protect your grandmother."

“It’s a pity that your grandmother doesn’t even know whether Wang Yu is alive or dead. She must be worried about him. He always feels that he owes your grandmother something if he can’t find him.”

"Goodness, you did a great job. Your grandpa would be so happy if he knew."

The voice on the other end of the phone was choked with emotion.

Duan Yuyan gripped the microphone tightly, her mouth slightly open, her eyes glistening with tears, filled with shock and guilt.

grandfather……

They're so good to their grandma!

No wonder Grandma's eyes always sparkled when she talked about him, as if they were shining with light.

Only those who love deeply feel indebted.

"Sweetie, when you come back, I'll transfer that apartment in Central to your name. And that branch you mentioned before, just make her the general manager, no problem, do whatever you want. That president's been with me for decades, he can handle it..."

She didn't hear the rest of what was said clearly, but she felt her heart filled with love, like drinking a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter day, warming her heart.

"Dad, I think this world is a beautiful place."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then a man's laughter came through: "Sweetie, your mom and I are waiting for you to come home so we can have dinner together."

"Ah."

……

Su Ji.

The kitchen of the state-run restaurant in the town.

Director Yan Wenhe, along with head chef Fan Qingfeng and supervisor Wu Danzhen, huddled together, looking at the remaining dishes on the shelf with slightly somber expressions.

Yan Wenhe said, "Where did we go wrong? We usually have forty or fifty tables of guests a day on weekends, but today we only have thirty. This is the first time we've had so much food left over!"

"There's meat, vegetables, and fish fillets." Wu Danzhen thought for a moment and said, "Director, how should we divide this? My child said yesterday that he wanted to eat fish fillets. If you don't want them, I'll take them back."

"These ribs are alright today. They'll turn sour if I leave them out tomorrow. I'll take them home and make rib soup," Fan Qingfeng said.

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenhe stared at the piece of pork belly, which weighed about one and a half pounds, and nodded: "Okay, then I'll take this piece of pork belly."

The three of them divided the meat among themselves.

Yan Wenhe, carrying the pork belly, thought for a moment and then said, "I still feel something's not right. There are more than a dozen tables of customers gone all of a sudden. Where did they go? Did some new restaurant open in town and steal their business?"

"Oh, Director Yan! Two fewer tables is fine. Look how relaxed we are today. The guests aren't rushing us like crazy." Wu Danzhen said with a smile, "Anyway, we only get paid this much. Who can handle being too busy? Our hands will break from serving dishes."

“Xiao Wu makes a good point,” Fan Qingfeng nodded in agreement.

Yan Wenhe waved his hand impatiently upon hearing this: "Sure, I'm off work now."

When I left with the pork belly, I also took a cabbage from the shelf.

……

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)