1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 210 No, Bro, are you serious? (6.4k combined)

“I’ll quit my job first, find a shop to open a small restaurant, and have my son work for me. If the business is good and we make money, then you can quit your job and come help. What do you think of my idea?” Old Luo asked his wife, who was reading the newspaper beside him, as he lay in bed.

"Luo, I know you're excited about learning about Snowflake Chicken Noodles, but I think you should be more cautious about resigning." Zeng Fang put down her newspaper and looked at him seriously, analyzing the situation.

“Your monthly salary is 108 yuan. Feiyu is an apprentice, but he also earns 18 yuan a month. My salary was just raised this month, and I earn 46 yuan a month. That makes a total of 172 yuan.”

This income is higher than that of most working-class families, and they can make a decent living. As a dual-income family, they are considered reliable and respectable by others.

Feiyu is almost at the age to get married. If you help him get a formal position in the next couple of years, he'll be able to find a wife soon.

"If you open a restaurant and squander all the money we've painstakingly saved over the years, how will Feiyu get married? It's not that I don't trust your cooking skills, but I don't really trust your business acumen."

Upon hearing this, Lao Luo fell silent. What Zeng Fang said was exactly what was troubling him.

“Zhou Yan also quit his job to start his own business, and now he earns at least two or three thousand a month.” Lao Luo said in a low voice, “I just feel that our lives are neither good nor bad right now. It’s hard for me to help Fei Yu get a permanent position. Even if he does, his monthly salary will only be thirty yuan. The restaurant doesn’t provide dormitories anymore. When will we be able to save money to buy a house?”

“Old Luo, if you’ve thought it through, then go for it, I won’t stop you. But I absolutely will not quit my job until your business is stable. This family needs someone to work, at least to ensure that the family doesn’t go hungry.” Zeng Fang looked at him with a firm attitude and said, “Qiaoyun has a year and a half left before the college entrance examination. I want to ensure that there won’t be any major changes in the family before her college entrance examination, at least that our life and her studies won’t be affected.”

“You’re right, we should prioritize Qiaoyun’s studies.” Lao Luo nodded. “I’ll think about it some more. When I have time, I’ll go for a walk around the streets and see if there are any cheap shops I can rent.”

"If you don't understand, ask more questions. Our two families have been farmers and cooks for generations. What do we know about doing business? Don't just do things based on your own assumptions," Zeng Fang advised.

"Okay." Old Luo nodded.

……

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Zhou Yan went downstairs early. After waiting for a while, the always punctual Old Zhou arrived late, leaning on the stairs.

"Old man, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Zhou Yan asked with concern.

"No...it's nothing!" Old Zhou straightened up immediately, coughed twice and said, "Come on, let's go buy groceries. There were a lot of mosquitoes last night, so I didn't sleep well."

Zhou Yan glanced at Old Zhou's trembling legs and smiled meaningfully, "Oh, then you should restrain yourself next time."

It's good that the rooms are far apart; he slept soundly last night and didn't hear a thing.

From now on, all new houses should be built to this standard. Soundproofing must be done well, and every room must have its own bathroom! This is very important.

Living with open-minded parents is fine, but you still need your own private space.

Huang Ying and Huang Bing arrived early and parked their bicycles in front of the restaurant.

"Boss Zhou, you're in the Jiaozhou Daily! You're a celebrity in Jiaozhou now!" Huang Ying said with a smile as she looked at Zhou Yan leaning against the door.

"What celebrity? He's just a cook," Zhou Yan said with a laugh.

“Brother Yan, you’re being too modest. I think it’ll be a while before someone comes all the way from Jiaozhou to Suji specifically to try your food,” Huang Bing said seriously.

"Boss Zhou, the noodles shouldn't be extra expensive, right?" A regular customer happened to walk into the shop and asked casually.

Other regular customers also joined in the banter, expressing deep concern about the price.

"Don't worry, the price of noodles won't be increased," Zhou Yan replied with a smile, addressing the question everyone was most concerned about.

"Boss Zhou, you've added so many new dishes, when are you going to add new toppings for the noodles?" Huang Ying asked again.

Now all the guests turned to look at Zhou Yan with concern.

Zhou Yan's noodles are indeed delicious, without a doubt.

However, the selection is really too limited. I crave it if I don't eat it. I come here often, but it's always the same three dishes over and over again.

"Yes, I'll be seriously considering adding one or two new toppings soon." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile; this was indeed something that should be put on the agenda.

"Great! I'm already looking forward to it!" Huang Ying said with a smile, stepping into the restaurant.

Zhou Yan also went into the kitchen to get busy.

He mentally reviewed the dishes on the menu but couldn't find a single one suitable as a topping, which was a bit of a problem.

"Braised pork intestines?" An option suddenly popped into Zhou Yan's mind.

The stray pig products that slipped through the net were always kept on a shelf by him.

Cleaning pork intestines is a rather troublesome task. Nowadays, the restaurant's workload is already at its maximum, so he has never dared to consider adding braised pork intestines as an option.

Braised pork intestine noodles are a very common option in Sichuan noodle shops, and there are even noodle shops that specialize in braised pork intestine noodles, which are quite popular.

Braised pork intestine noodles are usually made with braised pork intestines. The braised pork intestines used as a topping are usually spicy. The two pots of braising liquid in Zhou Yan's shop are old braising liquid with five-spice flavor. I wonder how well people will accept it.

In addition, the strong flavor of pork intestines makes Zhou Yan wonder whether he should prepare a separate pot of braising liquid specifically for them.

If a little bit of pork intestines ruins a whole pot of old braising liquid, he wouldn't know where to turn to complain.

He still needs to consult the old lady about this matter.

The old lady knows how to braise beef intestines; the taste of those is no less than that of pork intestines, so she must know what she's doing.

Of course, braised beef is also an option.

Lanzhou ramen is worth considering. When slicing beef, close the doors and windows. As long as it's not blown away by the wind, you can make ten bowls from one ounce of beef. You're guaranteed to make a profit.

Zhou Yanxin wasn't that greedy. Selling a bowl of beef cut into half an ounce for six cents wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

However, in this case, the beef needs to be braised the night before so that it can be sliced ​​fresh the next morning.

Zhou Yan actually quite likes chicken giblet noodles. The stir-fried chicken giblets are used as a topping, and they taste pretty good whether it's mixed noodles or soup noodles.

However, Zhou Yan can't get that many chicken giblets yet.

Moreover, the difficulty of processing this stuff is no less than that of pork intestines; washing chicken intestines can drive a person crazy.

Let's decide on adding more types of noodles later.

As soon as business closes in the morning, Zhou Yan immediately starts braising meat, as the morning is the busiest time of day.

Put the beef and pig's trotters into the pot first. Keep track of the time on your watch. When the time comes, add the pig's head meat and pig's ears.

Turn off the heat when the time is up and let the meat simmer in the pot to allow the braising liquid to fully penetrate the meat and achieve the desired flavor.

Aunt Zhao and Zhao Hong had almost finished peeling the potatoes and lotus roots, while Comrade Zhou was slicing potatoes on the side. The large wooden bucket at his feet was already half full of well water to ensure that the potato slices would not turn black.

Zhou Yan changed the water in the bucket for the dried bean curd sticks, saying it wouldn't hurt to soak them for a while longer.

"Zhou Yan!" At that moment, a familiar voice rang out from outside the door.

"Ming-guo-guo~~ You're here!" Zhou Momo's voice rang out as she was painting in the hall.

Zhou Yan came out of the kitchen and saw Zhou Ming coming in. A women's bicycle was parked at the door.

"Ming-ge, aren't you in class today?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

"I don't have any classes this morning, but I'll be teaching two math classes this afternoon," Zhou Ming said with a smile.

"Aren't you a PE teacher? You teach math?" Zhou Yan frowned.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. The math teacher went to a training meeting, and since I was relatively free, he asked me to fill in for him and teach two self-study periods." Zhou Ming placed a sketchbook he was holding on the table where Zhou Momo was sitting and said with a smile, "Momo, I brought you a sketchbook."

"Wow!" Zhou Momo's eyes lit up. She leaned forward and flipped through the large sketchbook, which contained a thick stack of drawing paper, enough for her to draw for a long time. She happily said, "Thank you, Ming-gege!"

Zhou Ming grinned and said, "You're welcome. Just keep drawing, and I'll buy it for you when you're done."

"Mmm." Zhou Momo nodded, sat back down, and continued drawing.

"Did you come here specifically to deliver the picture book to Momo?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

"I'd like to bring some braised meat for Teacher Song's lunch. What do you think would be suitable?" Zhou Ming scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"Huh? Ming-ge! You can't do this!" Zhou Yan pleaded earnestly, "The warm-hearted guys are behind the dogs, wake up!"

“You don’t understand, Teacher Song is different,” Zhou Ming said, shaking his head.

"Look at you, acting impulsively again," Zhou Yan sighed.

“Teacher Song is really different.” Zhou Ming’s tone became more firm: “In the few days I’ve been at No. 1 High School, she has taken me to the cafeteria for meals every day, and she always shares half of her meat with me. Seeing that I walk to work, she even lent me her bicycle, saying that she lives nearby and walks to work every day as a kind of stroll. Knowing that I was one bicycle ticket short, she was still trying to find a way to help me.”

Zhou Yan: ? ?

This plot doesn't sound quite right, does it?
No, bro, are you serious?

Is this right?
So, he's already living off a woman?
He peeked at the women's bicycle parked by the door; it looked quite new.

“Well… Teacher Song is indeed quite different.” Zhou Yan stroked his chin, still unable to understand.

Different versions, different answers?
“Yes, she took good care of me. It would have been quite difficult for me if I hadn’t been here.” Zhou Ming nodded in agreement. “But it’s not good for her to always be like this. She’s a girl, and I’m eating her food every day and riding her bicycle. I thought I’d bring her some food too.”

“Okay.” Zhou Yan nodded and said, “The braised meat is still soaking in the pot. Wait another hour, and I’ll cut you a platter of braised pig’s head and braised pig’s ears, and also a plate of braised beef.”

Zhou Ming smiled and nodded: "It's okay, it's still early. Taking the braised meat will be just in time for lunch, since she has class this morning."

"Is there any progress on your apprenticeship?" Zhou Yan asked.

Zhou Ming shook his head, looking worried, and said, "Teacher Song said that Mr. Song Changhe does not accept disciples and is unwilling to be interviewed. I think this matter is a bit uncertain."

I don't know why the old man is so stubborn. The Emei Spear, one of the four famous spear styles, is now in decline. As a master of spear techniques, it would be a real pity if he couldn't leave behind a legacy.

[Ding! Side quest triggered: Zhou Ming's Emei Spear Inheritance! Emei martial arts, a treasure of Chinese culture, is now facing the crisis of being lost. Please help Zhou Ming successfully become an apprentice and pass on the Emei spear!]

[Task Reward: Unknown! Accept: Yes/No]

Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised by the sudden system task that popped up.

How can a cook like him have any say in matters of martial arts inheritance? His words don't carry any weight either.
"Zhou Yan, you're quick-witted. Tell me what I should do?" Zhou Ming asked, looking at Zhou Yan.

Alright, we're brothers anyway, so whether we take the mission or not, we have to figure something out for him.

Zhou Yan decisively accepted, and after thinking for a moment, said, "I think we should start with Teacher Song. If you can win over Teacher Song, once you enter the Song family and have a voice in front of the old man, everything will be much easier."

"What do you mean by 'winning over Teacher Song and getting into the Song family'?" Zhou Ming asked, looking at him.

"The literal meaning," Zhou Yan said.

“This…” Zhou Ming scratched his head, “Isn’t this a bit inappropriate? I’ve only known Teacher Song for a short time.”

“Brother, you met him through legitimate channels, don’t be shy.” Zhou Yan rolled her eyes at him. “But…”

"Besides, you two eat together every day and go to get off work together. It's not like those matchmakers who arrange marriages after just one meeting, or those 'marriage first, love later' schemes. Don't be a blockhead; you should actively respond to what others do," Zhou Yan said earnestly.

"However, you also need to be mindful of boundaries. Although Teacher Song is very kind to you, she may just be kind-hearted and caring towards a new colleague. If you maintain a good relationship, one day when you take her home, if she invites you in for a cup of tea, just go in with her. That way, you might be able to meet Master Song Changhe."

“That makes sense.” Zhou Ming nodded repeatedly, almost taking out his notebook to write it down.

After a while, Zhou Ming looked at Zhou Yan and said, "Zhou Yan, you're quite knowledgeable. Have you been in a relationship?"

Zhou Yan: ...

Which pot does not open which pot.

Although he has never been in a relationship, is he someone who lacks love?

There were so many people on the internet who wanted to date him in his past life, but he never managed to get one!

She is pure and virtuous in the online celebrity circle, and is the number one person who keeps herself clean.

This doesn't include girls I occasionally meet offline.

In his view, sincerity is always the most effective way to connect with others.

Zhou Ming is a sincere and simple person; it's enough for him to just be himself.

But being too naive won't work either; some things need to be pushed forward appropriately, otherwise we won't even dare to enter the Song family's gate. Master Song's age is not to be underestimated.

After chatting for a few minutes, Zhou Yan returned to the kitchen to prepare braised vegetarian dishes.

Zhou Ming followed them into the kitchen, greeted Aunt Zhao and the others, and sat down on a small stool to chat.

In this day and age, without cell phones, people love to get together and chat.

"Is Zhou Ming being transferred back to No. 1 Middle School? Will he go back to Emei Middle School later?" Aunt Zhao asked.

"This is a temporary assignment; I should be returning to Emei after the New Year," Zhou Ming replied.

"It would be great if you could be transferred back, closer to home. Auntie San is always asking when you two brothers will get married," Zhao Hong said with a smile.

"There's no need to worry about Zhou Ming. He's handsome, a national martial arts champion, and a teacher. Finding a match for him will be a piece of cake." Aunt Zhao smiled at Zhou Ming and said, "How about some girls from Emei? I'll ask around for you later."

"No need, no need, I'm still young, no rush." ​​Zhou Ming waved his hands repeatedly, beginning to feel overwhelmed by the aunt's enthusiasm.

After the braised meat has soaked for a sufficient amount of time, it is gradually taken out of the pot.

Zhou Yan picked out a pig's ear and a piece of pig's snout and cut them into a platter. He also cut half a pound of pig's head meat and put it into the lunchbox prepared by Zhou Ming.

"Isn't this a bit too much? Especially this braised pig's head meat, she doesn't seem to like fatty meat." Zhou Ming hesitated as he looked at the two aluminum lunch boxes that were packed full.

"It's good that you don't like fatty meat. Eat less later, and if you can't finish it, have Teacher Song pack it up and take it home." Zhou Yan looked at him and instructed, "As long as we can get Grandpa Song to eat this braised meat, it might create some other bonds. Generally, people who like to drink can't resist a bite of braised pig's head."

"Okay, whatever you say." Zhou Ming nodded, carefully put the lunchbox into the mesh bag and tied it tightly. Looking at the pile of braised pig's trotters in the winnowing basket next to him, he asked, "Do you want to bring another braised pig's trotter?"

"Are you even going to live your life? How about a braised pig's trotter and half a pound of beef?" Zhou Yan said helplessly, "Good things should be shown to people slowly. A proper sense of boundaries is what makes people feel comfortable and not put too much pressure on them."

"You're right, I was presumptuous," Zhou Ming reflected deeply.

"Bring it out every now and then, it's fine as long as there's some give and take."

"How much?" Zhou Ming took out his wallet.

"No money needed," Zhou Yan waved his hand.

"No, that won't do. I'll come back to buy other things next time." Zhou Ming glanced at the menu, took out three yuan and put it on the table, then picked up his lunchbox and walked towards the door. "I'm leaving."

Zhou Yan reluctantly put the money into the cash box and went back to the kitchen.

"For a little girl?"

"girlfriend?"

"Have you been talking for a long time?"

As soon as Zhou Yan entered the kitchen, he was stared at by three pairs of eyes, their gossip instincts burning brightly.

"She's a colleague, not my girlfriend," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"She's a female teacher, huh? Not bad, not bad. Zhou Ming has finally come to his senses." Aunt Zhao said with a smile, "Maybe he can even attend a wedding banquet during the New Year."

"Huh?" Zhou Yan exclaimed in surprise, "The New Year is just over a month away, how come we're already attending a wedding banquet?"

Aunt Zhao laughed and said, "What's so strange about that? I introduced you to your husband through the matchmaker, and we got engaged within a week. We picked a good date, and we got married the following month."

Zhao Hong laughed and said, "I'm the same as Zhou Fei. My fourth aunt brought Zhou Fei to my house to meet me, and we hit it off. We got our marriage certificate the following month and had the wedding. Before we knew it, sixteen or seventeen years had passed."

Looking at the smiles on their faces, Zhou Yan couldn't help but smile as well.

This is how most love stories in this era begin.

Old Xu simply nodded and got a beautiful wife.

Xiuzhi fled the famine, taking away 97% of the gentleness of Sichuan women, leaving me with only three.

Although not every marriage is happy, at least the women who married into the Zhou family are doing well.

Zhou Yan didn't say much about Teacher Song's matter. It concerned the young lady's reputation, and he dared not make any irresponsible remarks.

Whether this matter will succeed or not depends on Teacher Song's wishes.

Ming has practiced his virginity for over twenty years; asking him to flirt with girls would be too much of a challenge.

After a busy morning, Comrade Zhou carried the custom-made long table out the door, with bowls of braised vegetables and a basket full of braised meat laid out on the small square table. It looked dazzling and very eye-catching.

Business has stabilized recently. He knows exactly how much braised meat and vegetables he can sell each day at noon. He sells almost all of what he takes out, and then puts the rest in a cool, covered place to keep them fresh when he sells them in the evening.

Kong Guodong rode his bicycle to the entrance of the textile factory, looked around, and his eyes fell on the sign of Zhou Erwa Restaurant. It was the first shop at the entrance of the textile factory, and the location was indeed easy to find.

The man tidying up the knives in front of the door was Zhou Yan's old man, Zhou Miao.

"Master Zhou," Kong Guodong greeted with a smile as he pushed his bicycle over.

“Master Kong.” Zhou Miao remembered Kong Guodong and was somewhat surprised. He turned around and called out, “Zhou Yan, your Uncle Kong is here.”

Zhou Yan had just finished preparing the dishes when he heard the noise. He put down the cleaver, wiped his hands, and came out of the kitchen. He saw Aunt Zhao and Old Zhou welcoming Kong Guodong into the store. He quickly smiled and went up to them, "Uncle Kong, what brings you here?"

"Everyone's been saying you opened a restaurant, but I haven't been able to get around to it. I just happened to have some free time today, so I came to take a look," Kong Guodong said with a smile.

"Of course, you elders in the sect have taken good care of Zhou Yan and nurtured him into a talented person." Aunt Zhao brewed a cup of tea and brought it over.

"That's all thanks to Xiao Lei. He trained him well, and Zhou Yan is also very talented. We all benefited from his success." Kong Guodong shook his head and looked around the restaurant.

A large stove stood at the entrance, with beef bone soup simmering in the pot. The aroma, along with the steam, wafted over, smelling especially delicious. It must be the beef soup with braised beef bones that Zhou Yan made.

I could smell it from right outside the factory gate. The weather is getting colder, and the aroma reminds me of that hot soup. My bicycle would unconsciously turn towards the shop.

This is much more effective than having ten people stand at the door and shout!

Zhou Yan's mind is really quick-witted.

The shop isn't small; the main hall alone is about a hundred square meters, with nearly twenty tables arranged a bit too close together, but the flow of movement is well planned. It should be quite lively when it's full.

This is a proper eight-immortal table, made of solid materials. This table with four benches is not cheap.

These tables and chairs alone probably cost five or six hundred yuan.

Is it really necessary to invest so much to open a small restaurant in a rural town?

The floor is made of cement, there's no false ceiling, just eight incandescent light bulbs. The decor is simple, but it's clean and refreshing.

The menu is written on both sides of a wooden sign and hung on the wall. Once a dish is sold out, the sign is taken down and hung in the clearance section. This practice is quite common in restaurants in Chengdu.

In a small town, this would be considered a large restaurant.

He has only average talent for cooking, so he started transitioning to restaurant management more than ten years ago. Now he is the deputy manager of Leming Hotel. You can tell the difference at a glance.

Zhou Yan's restaurant is small, but it's very well-maintained.

"Uncle Kong, you probably haven't eaten yet, have you? You didn't even give us a heads-up before you came. We've already eaten lunch because we're too busy to eat with guests right away," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "Why don't you order a couple of dishes and have a simple meal here?"

“It’s alright, I’m not hungry right now, I have…” Kong Guodong shook his head with a smile, but was interrupted halfway through his sentence.

"Aunt Zhao, I'd like a twice-cooked pork and a Mapo tofu." Two customers walked in and ordered their food before even sitting down.

"Okay, just a moment," Aunt Zhao replied with a smile, picking up a pen and paper and quickly jotting down notes.

"Aunt Zhao, I'd like a vegetarian platter for four cents, with extra dried bean curd sticks, and a bowl of braised beef with tofu skin."

"Auntie, I'd like a serving of shredded pork with garlic sauce..."

As soon as the guests arrived, they followed one by one. Aunt Zhao greeted them with a smile while taking their orders.

Comrade Lao Zhou is also busy selling braised food.

Zhou Yan said somewhat helplessly, "Uncle Kong, why don't you sit down for a while? We can talk about it later."

Kong Guodong smiled and nodded: "Guests come first, you go ahead and get busy. I'll order a couple of dishes to have lunch first, and try your braised beef. We can chat more after you're done."

"Okay," Zhou Yan replied, turning and walking towards the kitchen.

Kong Guodong ordered a bowl of braised beef with pork belly, a plate of Mapo Tofu, and leisurely sipped his tea.

It's lunchtime now, but there are only a few customers here and there, so business isn't doing very well.

He felt a little more at ease, which meant there was still a chance to persuade Zhou Yan to work at Leming.

Just then, the textile factory's closing bell rang, and the workers filed out of the factory gate and poured directly into Zhou Erwa Restaurant.

Kong Guodong's hand trembled, and tea spilled all over his pants.

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)