1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 214 This is what it feels like to count money until your hands cramp (6.2k words, two chapters combined)

Zhou Ming rode his bicycle back. With his physique, he rode a women's bicycle, pedaling very fast, which was somewhat comical, like Lu Bu riding a dog.

Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head, stretched his body, and started running along the riverbank.

Teacher Song Wanqing surprised him quite a bit; her emotional intelligence and IQ were exceptionally high. Even though their relationship was barely established, she had already begun to defend Zhou Ming.

In front of her, Zhou Ming was like a greenhorn.

Not all money is worth earning. If a few pounds of braised meat cause Zhou Ming's transfer back to No. 1 Middle School to fall through, how will he explain it to his third uncle and aunt?
If Teacher Song hadn't reminded him, Zhou Yan might not have even thought of this.

Never underestimate any workplace, not even a school that seems like an ivory tower.

That's good. Zhou Ming has practiced martial arts for many years and has always been in a very simple circle of people. He hasn't experienced the harsh realities of society, so his way of thinking is relatively simple.

Teacher Song is young, but she is very worldly-wise.

If the two of them get together, Uncle and Aunt's honest and simple family will have a new leader.

Anyway, he felt the chances of it happening were pretty high.

Although Ming didn't say it, his appreciation and admiration for Teacher Song were undeniable.

As the saying goes, it's easy for a woman to pursue a man.

Teacher Song took the initiative first, so where can Ming-ge retreat to?
"Uncle Lin!" Zhou Yan ran for a while, saw the familiar figure ahead, and quickly ran a few steps to catch up and greet him.

"Zhou Yan, I thought you weren't going to run today."

……

Leming Hotel, office.

"Is that so? I didn't expect him to run such a successful small restaurant in town, earning over a thousand a month! Even if our hotel made an exception, we couldn't pay him that salary. People with culinary skills really can thrive anywhere." Liu Ye said with some emotion after listening to Kong Guodong's report.

"That's right. Although it's a small, privately owned restaurant, so many workers come to eat that they have to wait in line for tables to be turned over. It's almost become the second canteen of the textile factory," Kong Guodong said with a laugh. In the afternoon, he went to Xiao Lei's place for a while, drinking tea and chatting for the whole afternoon, but Xiao Lei politely declined his invitation.

Xiao Lei earns quite a bit each month now, five or six hundred yuan a month, and the banquets at the market are already booked until next year, so it's hard to turn him down and he can't come anyway.

Zhou Yan reported half of his income to his superiors.

Earning a little over a thousand a month, and becoming a household with ten thousand a year, is quite an astonishing income.

But if he says he earns 30,000 to 50,000 yuan a year, he's afraid that someone with ulterior motives might target him, or that competitors might hear the news and come to the textile factory to engage in malicious competition.

This is the pride of their Confucian school. It's no big deal that he doesn't work at Leming Hotel; they're counting on him to carry forward the Confucian school in the future.

"Guodong, you're still quick-witted. Inviting Zhou Yan to cook a couple of dishes on certain occasions to elevate the banquet's level is indeed a good choice," Liu Ye said with a smile.

Kong Guodong said, "Zhou Yan is also a very loyal person. He said that Leming Restaurant is where the master and the founder worked for most of their lives. He has longed to come here for a long time, but now his whole family depends on the restaurant for a living. He has invested so much money and energy to revitalize the restaurant, so he really can't come. He asked me to tell you, the manager, that I'm sorry."

Liu Ye waved his hand and said, "It's alright. It's rare to see such a responsible young person who can shoulder the heavy responsibility of his family at such a young age. If there's an opportunity later, we can invite him to give a lecture at our Leming Hotel, or invite him to give two lectures to set an example for the young chefs."

“That’s a good idea. I’ll ask him about it later. Even my master praised his stir-fried pig liver, saying it had the style of Grandpa Kong back in the day,” Kong Guodong said.

……

Feiyan Restaurant, second-floor private room.

"Third Master Qiu, you're such a busy man, it wasn't easy to get you here." Huang He stood up and poured wine for a shrewd-looking old man with a goatee, wearing a gray long robe. "I wonder if there's any progress on the information I asked you to inquire about?"

Third Master Qiu picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and nodded with a smile: "The Qiu family's old house is definitely going to be sold. All of us relatives know about it. But I've been asking around for you these past few days, and the selling price depends on who can persuade the old lady to retire in Hong Kong. They say it's a flat price of ten thousand dollars."

"You're relatives, and Old Lady Qiu is your cousin. Is there any progress on this matter?" Huang He asked, looking at him.

"Well..." Third Master Qiu glanced at him, rubbing his index finger and thumb together on his right hand, which was resting on the table.

A hint of disgust flashed in Huang He's eyes, but he still took out three ten-yuan bills and placed them on the table.

Master Qiu got up to take it, but Huang He pressed his hand down and said with a smile, "Master Qiu, I need to hear your information first to see if it's worth the price."

Upon hearing this, Master Qiu sat back down, took another sip of wine, and said, "They say they're looking for an old friend. Before my cousin married my brother-in-law, there was actually a marriage agreement with the Wang family of Suji."

The Wang family was once a prominent family in Jiaozhou, and their Jiading silk was the most famous. Wang Yu, the young master of the Wang family, was engaged to my cousin, and they were almost at the point of discussing marriage when Wang Yu went to join the army to fight the Japanese.

After that, they were never heard from again. Later, my cousin's family encountered some misfortune and, out of desperation, they became in-laws with the Duan family. Of course, my cousin and her husband are a very loving couple, a model couple. Please don't spread this around.

However, my brother-in-law has been gone for two or three years now. She neither goes back to the Duan family's old house nor wants to go to Hong Kong to enjoy a life of luxury; instead, she stays at the Qiu residence. I think this might have something to do with that Wang Yu.”

Huang He's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He had asked someone about this matter before and heard a similar story. He then asked, "Wang Yu of the Wang family? Third Master Qiu, do you know where this Wang Yu is now?"

Uncle Qiu stopped talking, picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

Huang He pushed the three ten-yuan bills forward, smiling as he said, "Now you can talk, right?"

Master Qiu picked up his wine glass, took a sip, reached out and pulled the three large bills to his side, folded them neatly and put them in his pocket, and shook his head with a smile: "I really don't know, Boss Huang has to go to Suji to find out about this himself."

When I was young, I heard that the Wang family was attacked by bandits. The whole family, young and old, was killed and burned to the ground.

Wang Yu later became a high-ranking Kuomintang official. Upon his return, he wiped out the bandit gang in Gaomiao, refusing to accept surrender and causing a bloodbath. After that, no news of him was heard again.

Huang He's lips moved slightly after hearing this, but he swallowed back the words "damn it."

However, thirty yuan plus a table of good food is still a decent amount of news, so it's not too bad.

"Boss Huang, I heard you bought that dilapidated tile-roofed house behind the Qiu residence? And it cost eight hundred yuan." Third Master Qiu took a sip of wine and said with a smile, "What's the use of that dilapidated house? It's not on the street, so it can't be used as a storefront. The beams are rotten, and the walls are about to collapse. I wouldn't even want it if it were given to me."

"You don't understand." Huang He shook his head with a smile, got up and went out: "Third Master Qiu, take your time eating and drinking. If you have any news later, come find me. I won't let you come for nothing."

"If I can't finish it, can I pack it up and take it home to eat tomorrow?" Third Master Qiu asked with a smile.

Huang He's eyes twitched, and he nodded with a smile: "Go ahead and get it. Just ask the waiter to pack it for you in a bit."

After leaving the private room, Huang He shook his head helplessly, gave a brief explanation to the waiter standing outside, and then went downstairs.

"You bought a dilapidated tile-roofed house for 800, and now you want to spend another 10,000 to buy an old courtyard house. What exactly are you trying to do?" Zhao Shulan said with some dissatisfaction after listening to Huang He's words. "Our Feiyan Restaurant is doing just fine. If we have the money, we can hire a carpenter to repaint the exterior and make it look nice. We can still be known as a century-old establishment. Why do we have to open a new store?"

“Oh, honey, our Feiyan Restaurant building is over forty years old. The overall design and layout are outdated. Now people like tall, square concrete buildings, tiled exteriors, big windows, and neon lights—that’s so impressive!” Huang He exclaimed, gesturing wildly. “You know, when we went to Chengdu last time, the Chengdu Restaurant was so grand!”

Zhao Shulan rolled her eyes at him and pouted, "Do you know how much money the Rongcheng Restaurant cost? It's a building that the government paid for and provided the land for, used to entertain leaders and host large banquets. How much does cement cost per cubic meter? How expensive are the building materials? Huang He! Have you even done the math? I'm speechless! You just squander money, don't you?"

Huang He smiled and said, "I didn't intend to build such a big one. The Qiu family's old house is only a little over 300 square meters. With the foundation of the tile house we bought later, it's over 400 square meters. Let's build a small but exquisite branch of the Dangfeiyan Restaurant first."

The first floor will be a large lobby, and the second floor will be entirely private rooms, including riverside rooms with a glimpse of the large Buddha statue—a fantastic location. I've calculated it out; if we acquire the property first, we can earn money while simultaneously building the house. It should be ready in two or three years.”

"Have you thought it through?" Zhao Shulan looked at him.

"It's not something I can just decide to do now; it also depends on whether Grandma Qiu will agree," Huang He said, spreading his hands. "However, at least we have a direction, so we can give it a try. Tomorrow, you'll come with me to Suji to ask around."

"The Qiu family's old house is in such a prime location. Even if we don't renovate it ourselves, we can buy it for ten thousand yuan and sell it for a good price in a few years."

Zhao Shulan thought for a moment and nodded.

Huang Ying, who had almost finished a plate of melon seeds, said, "Old man, I support you! I think your judgment this time was reliable. The foot traffic at that location is really good. There are a lot of merchants coming and going at the dock every day. That braised meat shop is so bad, yet its business is so good."

Huang He smiled smugly: "Isn't that right? I knew you had the same taste as me, that's good."

……

After Zhou Yan finished his run, he played three games of chess with Old Zhou, then took a shower, made sure to keep track of the accounts, and pondered over the menu for Sunday's banquet.

The seven people indicate that in addition to familiar faces, there were two guests.

At a family dinner, the family's nanny and driver should not be seated at the table.

Old Mrs. Qiu was born into a wealthy family, and Duan Yuyan was also born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Although she doesn't follow the old-fashioned ways, she still maintains a sense of boundaries with her hired servants and drivers, which can be seen from their dining at the restaurant.

We still need to show some real skills; we can't let Old Lady Qiu lose face.

The braised meat needs to be prepared separately. On Sunday morning, a separate pot of braised meat will be prepared. The braised beef will be sliced ​​and placed on a separate plate. The braised pig ears and pig snout will be placed on a separate plate. The braised vegetables, including dried bean curd sticks, tofu skin, and lotus root, will be placed on a separate plate. That will make three cold dishes.

The cold chicken salad was not good enough; Zhou Yan's version wasn't perfect either.

We have to make a serving of Snowflake Chicken Noodles. This is the only dish Duan Yuyan ordered, and we definitely have to let her try it before she returns to Hong Kong.

For cooking, I make braised beef with dried bamboo shoots and braised pork ribs. The braised pork ribs are more to Duan Yuyan's liking, and she orders them almost every time she comes. They are also suitable for the elderly and children.

You can order a plate of Mapo Tofu. Tofu is a common food, but in Jiaozhou, the Mapo Tofu made here is the most authentic.

Next, we'll have a typical home-style dish, shredded pork with garlic sauce, and finally, the main dish, crucian carp with mint.

That makes nine dishes.

The traditional "baba banquet" features nine large bowls, which is the standard for a grand feast.

The fact that there were nine dishes at the family banquet is enough to prove that the host family attaches great importance to this meal.

This table of dishes is definitely impressive.

If I had to nitpick, it would be that one dish of soup was missing.

Zhou Yan's only good soup is braised beef with ribs, but he doesn't make it on Sundays, so he has to give up on that idea.

A family dinner that can include Zhou Momo is certainly of a high enough standard.

He finalized the menu, noting down the ingredients and quantities. He planned to buy them early Sunday morning, bringing them up from Suji, which was more reliable than aimlessly searching for groceries in Jiaozhou. The house purchase would be resolved soon, and thinking about it, he began to feel excited and elated.

Although there will be a lot of things to do after the reconstruction and renovation, and a lot of money to be spent, the thought that it will be their new home makes them feel completely different.

In an era when houses had not yet lost their function as places to live, he believed it was entirely worthwhile to spend more money to make himself more comfortable.

Moreover, he also wants to transform the Qiu family's old house into a new restaurant, and this investment will definitely not be a small amount.

It's okay for small restaurants in rural towns to be a bit shabby, with cement floors, exposed wires running from incandescent bulbs, and you have to walk fifty meters to a public toilet to use the facilities.

Once we get to Jiaozhou, we'll definitely have to upgrade everything.

Even if it doesn't rival the grand hotels of Chengdu, it should at least make wealthy people in Jiaozhou feel that dining here is a respectable affair.

Labor costs are not high, but building materials are probably not cheap.

No worries, there's no rush to move the shop anyway. Zhou Erwa's restaurant has only recently gotten on track, and now the income is stabilizing. I expect to earn 10,000 yuan a month. We can make money while we fix it up, so it won't take too long.

He has several design drafts in his notebook for planning the new store.

Zhou Yan closed his notebook, lay back on the bed, picked up the "Modern Chinese History" from the bedside table, and began to read it carefully. Today he read:

"On September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army stationed in Northeast China suddenly attacked Shenyang and forcibly occupied the Northeast..."

"Damn Japanese devils! The Chinese will settle this score with you sooner or later!" Zhou Yan closed the book and fell asleep with a heart full of anger.

……

In the following days, the restaurant saw an increase in customers who had come specifically to eat there after reading the report in the Jiaozhou Daily.

The guests came with high spirits and left satisfied, with many even packing up braised meat to take home or as gifts.

Zhou Yan smiled broadly, "Never underestimate the power of advertising."

I really need to treat Shen Shaohua, the reporter from Jiaozhou Daily, to a meal later. He's a really nice guy; his articles are excellent, and his trick of leaving his address was brilliant.

Everyone knows where Leming Hotel is, but if Zhou Erwa doesn't write down the address of his hotel, no one will know where to ask.

His master came once, and he still stir-fried the pork liver with gusto, but unfortunately, he still couldn't break through that 1%.

There's no way around it, perfection is just that difficult; the requirements for skill and form are too high.

Saturday night.

Zhou Yan didn't go for a run. After closing for the evening, the store was cleaned up, the doors and windows were locked, and the whole family went upstairs.

After Zhou Momo was coaxed to sleep, Zhou Yan pulled the wooden box containing the money out from under the bed, called over Aunt Zhao and Comrade Zhou, and slowly opened the box.

"Wow—" Aunt Zhao covered her mouth with one hand and Old Zhou's mouth with the other, staring in shock at the box full of money.

Comrade Lao Zhou's eyes also lit up.

They had a general idea of ​​the restaurant's revenue, and Zhou Yan would occasionally tell them about it.

But they were still somewhat shocked to see the box full of money.

That's ten thousand yuan!

A millionaire that everyone envies!

They're piled up in this box.

Aunt Zhao squatted down and waved to Zhou Yan and Comrade Lao Zhou.

The two of them, completely bewildered, squatted down as well.

Aunt Zhao leaned closer, covered her mouth, and whispered, "Zhou Yan, here's ten thousand yuan?"

Zhou Yan couldn't help but laugh. Why did he feel so guilty about stealing his own money when he was in his own home?

"It should be 10,700; I didn't include the change," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Ten thousand yuan? It doesn't seem like that much. How come it fits into such a big box?" Aunt Zhao muttered to herself, looking around.

"There aren't as many as you might imagine," Comrade Zhou nodded in agreement.

"It's just that the denominations are all small. If they were all large ten-yuan notes, it would only be this much." Zhou Yan smiled and gestured, looking at the two of them and said, "Tomorrow I need to give the money to Grandma Qiu and Duan Yuyan, so I need to count the amount to make sure that not a single penny is missing. Mom, Dad, are you tired? If you are, I'll count it myself."

"Not tired! Counting money is tiring? Counting money is my favorite thing to do in this life." Aunt Zhao waved her hand, pulled over a small stool and sat down, looking at Zhou Yan and asking, "How do you count it?"

Comrade Lao Zhou also brought over two small stools, one for Zhou Yan and the other for himself.

Zhou Yan picked up a bundle of money and said, "This bundle contains one hundred yuan. I counted it beforehand, just in case there was a mistake and people thought I was dishonest. So we need to unpack each bundle and count it again to make sure it's one hundred yuan. Then we'll tie it up with rubber bands and put it in the basket. We'll make up for any shortfalls and take out any extras. In the end, we'll count until we have ten thousand yuan."

"Okay, that's easy." Aunt Zhao nodded, took out a bundle of money tied with a rubber band from the box, counted it, and after confirming that it was correct, tied it with a rubber band and threw it into the basket next to her.

Comrade Lao Zhou also started counting the money.

"Six yuan and fifty cents"

"Ten taels and seven cents"

"Thirty-six yuan and eighty-two jiao..."

The three people's hushed voices rose and fell in turn.

Smelling the stench of money and doing the work of counting money, it's certainly not so easy to feel tired.

It took more than an hour to check all 107 bundles of money. Three of the bundles had errors: one was short 3 mao, one was short 2 fen, and one was extra 1 mao.

The error rate is very low.

Add what's missing and remove what's excessive, and there shouldn't be any problems.

"My hands are a little numb. I finally understand what it feels like to count money until your hands cramp up," Aunt Zhao laughed. "It's so awesome!"

"This is the first time I've ever counted so much money," Old Zhou grinned.

“There will be plenty of opportunities to count money in the future.” Zhou Yan took out the seven largest bundles of money and put them aside, then put the remaining one hundred bundles into a burlap sack.

The simpler the packaging, the less likely it is to be detected.

Aunt Zhao said, "Tomorrow your father and I will go with you to deliver the money. After you enter the Qiu family, the two of us will go and explore Jiaozhou."

“Okay.” Zhou Yan nodded with a smile, took two bundles of money, and then took out four large ten-yuan bills and handed them to Aunt Zhao: “Mom, I have enough money to buy a house. I’ll give you your salary first so you’ll have money to spend when you go out tomorrow.”

Aunt Zhao smiled and took the money, nodding and saying, "Okay, I'll keep it. I'll take your old man to Jiaozhou for a fun day tomorrow."

"I didn't expect you to save up 10,000 so quickly. You're quite the money-maker." Old Zhou looked at the bulging burlap sack, both happy and impressed.

“That’s right, if word got out, the whole village would envy us,” Aunt Zhao said with a smile, though tears glistened in her eyes.

Zhou Yan was somewhat infected by the emotion and said with a smile, "The best days are yet to come. Ten thousand is just the beginning. I will earn many more ten thousand in the future and make our lives better and better! We will move from the village to the town, and then to the city! We will settle down in the city in the future."

"Mom believes in you. I knew you could do it this time." Aunt Zhao nodded, then turned her face away to wipe away her tears.

Zhou Yan smiled as he tied up the burlap sack, then looked at the two of them and said, "Then go wash your hands and get some rest. I don't need to get up early tomorrow; I can buy all the dishes myself."

"Okay," the two replied.

Zhou Yan lay on the bed, glanced at the burlap sack on the box, turned on the light, and fell asleep with a smile on his lips.

In the next room, Aunt Zhao and Comrade Zhou were suffering from insomnia again.

"This is what it feels like to count ten thousand yuan. Counting money is such a happy feeling. My hands are a little numb, but I feel so comfortable," Zhao Tieying said with emotion.

“Exactly.” Zhou Miao nodded in agreement.

“Sanshui, Zhou Yan said he wants to settle down in the city. Should we go back to the village to build a house?” Zhao Tieying asked Old Zhou seriously. “He said he wants to send Momo to the factory-run kindergarten after the New Year, and then open a shop in Jiaozhou and buy a house there. Momo will definitely have to go to school in the city. Kindergarten, primary school, junior high school, high school, that’s more than ten years.”

“Momo wants to study, so we definitely need to go with her and take care of her,” Zhou Miao said without hesitation. “It’s not easy for Zhou Yan to open a shop. If he asks, we’ll go with him to Jiaozhou to open a shop and share some of the work with him.”

Regarding the house repair, I think we should save the money first. If we have enough money, we can come back and build a small house, so we'll have a place to sleep when we come back for holidays.

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking too.” Zhao Tieying nodded and calculated, “The two of us now earn over a thousand yuan a month, and we can save up ten thousand yuan a year. Next year, we can go back to the countryside to build a house for the Spring Festival.”

“I think it’s a good idea.” Zhou Miao nodded with a smile.

"When the house collapsed, I felt like the sky had fallen. I never imagined that Zhou Yan would be buying a house in Jiaozhou so soon. It's like a dream," Zhao Tieying said with a smile, her happiness shining through her smile.

"Would you like me to pinch you again?"

"I've been feeding you beef soup with braised pork belly every day lately, it's really been great, you've gained a lot more confidence."

"Why don't you give it a try?"

"So what? Who's afraid of who!"

……

(End of this chapter)