Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 180 Shop
The following afternoon, on the second floor of the Mona Lisa Restaurant.

Shen Yanan sat at the bar, her right arm propped on the bar, looking at Su Mingyuan next to her: "Do you not want to work here anymore? If you don't want to work here, just say so, don't cause trouble for me."

“Boss, you’re wronging me,” Su Mingyuan protested. “I never said I didn’t want to work. I was thinking of earning more foreign exchange certificates to give to my dad for the New Year!”

"You didn't want to work? Then why did you argue with the client? Did you make yourself look bad?"

"Boss, I really didn't argue with him. He was the one who looked down on people first."

"How did they look down on you? Giving you a tip is an acknowledgment of your service. You're not happy about getting money from them? How dare you!" Shen Yanan continued when Su Mingyuan remained silent. "Tipping is part of their foreign culture. You studied Russian, don't you even understand this?"

“Boss, foreign countries have their own cultures, but this is China. In ancient times, servants needed rewards from their masters. A few years ago, that might have been labeled as a feudal remnant. I don’t agree with that; I think it’s an insult to us working people.”

Su Mingyuan tilted his head back and said in a serious tone, "Furthermore, let me correct you on one point: the Soviet Union prohibited tipping and considered it a remnant of capitalism by the authorities. In fact, if a waiter in the Soviet Union accepted tips without permission, he would face punishment."

Shen Yanan didn't indulge him and snorted: "Have you ever been to the Soviet Union? Don't try to show off with what you read in your textbooks! I just went there last year. Although they don't openly support it now, a de facto tipping culture has already formed there."

"Really? You're not deliberately trying to fool me because of this, are you?" Su Mingyuan's face showed disbelief.

"Believe it or not! Let me tell you, from now on, if any customers give you a tip, you'd better take it! If you don't want it, I'll take it! Look how capable you are." Shen Yanan waved her hand impatiently at Su Mingyuan as she saw Li Zhe carrying two bags up the stairs. "Go away, go away, just seeing you annoys me!"

Li Zhe glanced at Su Mingyuan, and seeing him walk down the stairs, asked Shen Yanan, "What's going on?"

"Da Zhuang, Da Zhuang, that nickname is really fitting..." Shen Yanan muttered to herself in a voice only Li Zhe could hear.
"A foreigner came to the restaurant and thought Su Mingyuan's service was good, so he gave him a one-dollar foreign exchange certificate as a tip. This guy absolutely refused to accept it and put it back on the table. The foreigner thought he thought it wasn't enough, so he gave him another dollar, two foreign exchange certificates! But he still didn't want it and started arguing with the foreigner. Don't you think he was just looking for trouble?"

Li Zhe said with a smile, "College students are bound to be a little arrogant. Do other people have this problem?"

"At first I didn't know, but after asking Marty I found out that there are two types of waiters: one type really likes to receive tips from foreigners and provides excellent service; the other type is a bit resistant to foreigners giving tips. Su Mingyuan is a typical example."

After Shen Yanan finished speaking, she looked at Li Zhe beside her and asked, "Brother, what do you think I should do?"

Not to mention in this era, even in later generations, Chinese people will have some resistance to the tipping system. It's not just that people don't want to tip foreigners when they go abroad; many service workers in China also don't want tips from foreigners.

China is currently in the early stages of reform and opening up, and many foreign tourists have a habit of tipping. When foreigners want to tip but Chinese tourists refuse, the resulting stalemate can easily escalate into chaos, and situations like Su Mingyuan's are not uncommon.

This is a complex issue, and it's difficult for restaurant owners to completely resolve. If they force waiters to accept tips, and happen to encounter one or two unreasonable individuals, the owner might also get yelled at.

"Second sister, if you ask me, why don't you just add the tip to the bill? That way, customers won't have to tip again, and waiters won't have to collect tips themselves. At the end of the month, you can use the tip income as bonuses to give to the best-performing waiters." In Li Zhe's view, no one hates money. Waiters don't dislike foreign exchange certificates; they just don't like the feeling of being 'tipped'.

They would definitely be happy if the restaurant collected the tips. Moreover, if the restaurant collected the tips but didn't give them out, they might even complain.

The second sister stroked her round chin and thought for a moment: "Hey, this is a good idea, let's do it this way."

Li Zhe took out a bag and handed it to his second sister: "Second sister, I went to the Friendship Store yesterday and brought you some food."

The second sister took the bag, looked at it, and smiled, "Not bad, these are all my favorites. Why didn't you bring your boyfriend today?"

"I had an appointment with Section Chief Lin, but she was a little shy, so I didn't bring her along."

The second sister opened the chocolate box, took out a piece of chocolate, and said while eating it, "What's the big deal? Lin Weimin's wife is here too, let's just chat."

Li Zhe asked instinctively, "What does Section Chief Lin's wife do?"

My second sister thought for a moment: "I think she worked at the Quality Supervision Bureau... I can't quite remember. By the way, when does your vegetable shop officially open? How are you planning to advertise it?"

Li Zhe laughed and said, "It'll be soon, in the next couple of days. The publicity work has been almost done in the last few days. On the day of the official opening, the Chongwenmen vegetable market has even invited a newspaper to cover it. We'll just distribute some flyers, hang up a banner, and put up a couple of flower baskets as a token gesture."

Second Sister raised an eyebrow: "Is it that simple? Don't you need to promote it properly?" "Second Sister, firecrackers are not allowed near the Diplomatic Residence, and it's not convenient to make a lot of noise, so we can't make it too lively." There was something else Li Zhe didn't say: the vegetable shop is doing very well now, and the vegetables are sold out before six o'clock every day, so there's really no need to do too much promotion.

The two chatted for a while, and then Lin Weimin and his wife arrived. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Lin Weimin introduced his wife.

His wife's name was Du Juan. She was about 1.7 meters tall, which was quite tall for that era. She had a "Ke Xiang" hairstyle that fell three centimeters below her ears. The restaurant was quite warm, so she took off her white down jacket, revealing her navy blue overalls underneath.

Li Zhe took out an exquisite bag and said, "Brother Lin, thanks to your help with the property transfer last time, I bought some small gifts for you and your wife as a token of my appreciation. It's a small gift but a big token of my appreciation, please accept them."

"Brother Li, you're too kind." Lin Weimin hesitated for a moment, glancing at his second sister. The latter said, "We're all friends. Since Brother Li has already bought it, you should accept it."

"Alright, then I'll gladly accept." He took the bag, intending to put it aside first, but upon catching a glimpse of what was inside, he couldn't take his eyes off it. "This is... a Zippo lighter?"

“Yes,” Li Zhe nodded, “I bought you a Zippo lighter and two packs of Marlboro cigarettes. I also bought a bottle of perfume for your sister-in-law.”

"Perfume?" Lin Weimin's wife, Du Juan, was also getting restless.

Their family was well-off, with no worries about food or drink, but foreign exchange certificates were hard to come by. Even when they occasionally managed to get some through friends, they couldn't bear to buy a bottle of perfume that cost nearly 200 yuan.

But she knew about these things and had seen others use them, and she was particularly envious at the time. She even brought it up with her husband, but he just hummed and hawed and didn't respond—these things were indeed beyond their family's means.

Du Juan took the perfume box out of the bag; the packaging alone was exquisite. Out of modesty, she suppressed her curiosity and didn't open it.

Lin Weimin didn't care about anything else. He directly opened the Zippo lighter's packaging, played with the exquisite lighter in his hand, and said with delight, "Look at the workmanship, how beautiful! This is almost a work of art!"

He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to Li Zhe, lit it for him with his lighter, then lit one for himself with his Zippo lighter. He thought he looked very cool as he closed the lighter, put it in his pocket, and asked with a smile, "How about it, Second Sister? Don't you have a bit of a business elite vibe?"

The second sister joked, "You'd look even better if you switched to Marlboro cigarettes."

"Hey! I knew it wasn't quite right!" Lin Weimin slapped his thigh, he really took it to heart—these days, being able to smoke foreign cigarettes was a fashionable thing.

The second sister cursed inwardly: This guy is even better at pretending than Su Mingyuan.

With gifts paving the way, the two sides quickly became acquainted. The four of them ate and chatted.

After finishing their meal, Li Zhe raised his wine glass and clinked it with Lin Weimin's: "Brother Lin, I have something I'd like to trouble you with today."

Li Zhe is a shrewd and capable person, and Lin Weimin enjoys dealing with people like him. He took a sip of red wine, put down his glass, and said, "Brother, just tell me what you need, and I'll definitely help if I can."

"Brother Lin, I'd like to buy a shop. As you know, the good shops are mostly owned by government agencies and enterprises. I just want to ask, if they're selling shops to the public, do they need to go through the housing management bureau?" In these days, the domestic economy hasn't developed yet, and shop prices are very low. If you could get a shop in the center of Beijing, it would definitely be a huge profit.

In a few years, when the economy improves and people become more resourceful, even money may not be enough to buy it.

Lin Weimin took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Of course! Any entity selling commercial properties must apply to our housing management bureau. We have to review their qualifications, assess the price, confirm the ownership, and check for any violations. Only after approval and meeting the conditions can the property be sold. If there are any violations, the commercial property in question will be taken over by us."

Li Zhe never expected that his accidental encounter would actually be so successful. He smiled and said, "Brother Lin, I have some spare money and I'm thinking of opening a shop to start a business. If you hear of any shops for sale, as long as it doesn't violate any regulations, please let me know."

“No problem, this is easy to handle.” This was Lin Weimin’s job, and it was no challenge for him. He added in a low voice, “However, the policies these days are unclear. Some shops can be bought, but the property rights of some shops are unclear, and disputes are inevitable in the future. It’s best to avoid them.”

Li Zhe said, "Then please keep an eye on things for me and help me find a good shop later. I will definitely thank you and your sister-in-law properly."

"Brother, you're too kind! I'll take care of this," Lin Weimin said, patting his chest.

He couldn't guarantee anything else, but he was in charge of this matter.

(End of this chapter)