Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 320 Zhang Shouyi

Dusk, like cotton wool soaked in water, pressed heavily on the red brick walls of the residential buildings of the Beijing TV Factory.

The windows of Wang Guangwei's second-floor apartment were glowing with a warm yellow light. A 14-inch Panda brand television was playing a traditional opera program. Wang Guangwei sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, tapping his right hand to the beat.

Chen Shufang sat on the sofa, clutching an unfinished pillowcase in her hand, but her gaze wasn't on the television—her mind kept replaying the "America" ​​her daughter Wang Ting had mentioned, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.

"Do you think Tingting will have trouble getting used to Western food over there?" she suddenly asked, her voice carrying a hint of uncertainty, but also an undeniable pride.

Upon hearing this, Wang Guangwei took out a "Daqianmen" cigarette from the pack, but didn't light it. He twirled it between his fingers and said, "It's a good thing that the kids are growing up and becoming successful. Why should we worry about that?"

Even so, he tightened his fingers slightly, leaving a shallow mark on the cigarette paper—his daughter was leaving for two years, and he would toss and turn at night, feeling worried and reluctant to let her go.

Just then, a knocking sound suddenly rang out on the door.

"Coming!"

Chen Shufang got up to open the door. The door hinges creaked open, and standing outside were her younger sister Chen Shuping and her brother-in-law Li Zhenguo. The two were carrying net bags containing two cans of food and a stack of pastries wrapped in oil paper.

She was taken aback for a moment, then stepped aside to invite the two into the house: "Shuping, what brings you here? Come in quickly."

Chen Shuping handed over the net bag she was carrying: "Sister, Zhenguo just went to work as a supervisor at the cannery in Langfang. Here's some new canned yellow peaches for you and your husband to try. We also bought some snacks on the way."

When Tingting isn't home and you're too lazy to cook, just have some snacks to tide you over.

"Oh dear, we're all family, why bring anything?" Chen Shufang said jokingly, but casually took the things her sister handed her and invited the two of them into the house to sit down.

When Wang Guangwei saw them arrive, he quickly got up from the sofa and said with a smile, "Shuping and Zhenguo are here. Come in and sit down."

"Brother-in-law," Li Zhenguo greeted Chen Shuping.

Wang Guangwei led the two to sit on the sofa, took out a cigarette and handed one to Li Zhenguo, then turned to Chen Shufang and said, "Go brew a pot of tea and let Zhenguo try the black tea I brought back from the factory yesterday."

Chen Shufang turned around and went to make tea.

After Li Zhenguo sat down, Wang Guangwei asked, "Zhenguo, I heard you went to work as a production supervisor at a cannery in Langfang City? How's work? Is it going well?"

Li Zhenguo took the cigarette, held it between his fingers, and replied, "It's in my hometown town. I'll go back to the village tonight. I know the way, so it'll be very convenient."

"That's fine then." Wang Guangwei took out a lighter, lit one for the other person first, and then smoked one for himself.

At this moment, Chen Shufang came over with a thermos, brewed two cups of tea, and handed one to Li Zhenguo: "Zhenguo, you've lost a lot of weight lately."

"The company is just starting out, in its initial stage. There are many things to manage, so it's indeed a bit tiring," Li Zhenguo said, taking a sip of tea, his voice tinged with weariness.

Chen Shuping added from the side: "Before, working at the cannery was for the government, so you only needed to put in the effort and didn't have to worry about anything; now it's different—this cannery is owned by Li Zhe, and he has handed over the production to his uncle Zhenguo. How could he not be concerned?"

Wang Guangwei exhaled a puff of smoke and nodded: "That's how it is."

Chen Shufang then brought out a plate of fruit and melon seeds from the kitchen and placed it on the coffee table: "Don't just sit there, eat some fruit and eat some melon seeds."

Li Zhenguo picked up a melon seed, peeled the shell, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "I heard from Shuping that Tingting is planning to study abroad?"

These words immediately piqued Chen Shufang's interest, and she instantly beamed with joy: "Yes! Tingting has loved learning since she was little, and she's also very sensible."

After she went to university, we basically didn't take care of her. We didn't expect her to be so ambitious and not fall behind in her studies at all.

Because of her good grades and excellent English, she was assigned to receive foreign guests at Tiananmen Square on National Day this year.

All the foreign guests praised her for speaking English well!
This child is tight-lipped; she didn't mention studying abroad at all when she came home that night. It wasn't until the next day that she told us that her teacher had given her the opportunity to apply for studying abroad, hahaha…”

Whenever someone mentions her daughter's situation, Chen Shufang can't help but ramble on about it. Even Wang Guangwei thinks her attitude is a bit exaggerated, so he quickly adds, "The matter of going abroad is not decided yet. Right now, the teacher is just asking us to sign up. It's not certain whether we'll be selected."

"Pah! If you can't speak properly, then don't talk nonsense!" Chen Shufang frowned, her tone full of displeasure, clearly not liking her husband's discouraging remarks.

Seeing the couple's attitude, Li Zhenguo knew that persuasion today would be difficult, but he still braced himself and said, "Big sister, brother-in-law, it was Shuping and I who arranged the blind date between Li Zhe and Tingting."

At that time, we thought that the two children were about the same age and were both good children we knew well, so we brought them together.

The two children have been getting along well lately, which makes us happy, and we hope for a good outcome for them.

But if Tingting really goes abroad and stays away for two years, I'm worried... I'm worried it will affect their relationship.

Chen Shufang waved her hand dismissively and said, "No way! I think Li Zhe is a good kid. We want Tingting to go abroad, but we didn't say we wanted to separate the two kids."

Even if Tingting goes abroad, the two of them can still write letters and make phone calls, and continue to get along as before.

Your brother-in-law and I aren't the kind of snobs. We won't stop Tingting from dating Li Zhe just because she's successful! Don't worry about that. When you get back, please talk to Li Zhe and tell him to relax.

Li Zhenguo was still worried and asked again, "Big sister, Tingting is a girl, aren't you worried about her going to such a far place?"

"How can I not worry?" Chen Shufang paused, then became firm again, "But for her future, I have to harden my heart."

“Sister, your idea is good, but many things can’t be accomplished just by thinking about them.” Li Zhenguo sighed and gave an example: “Take the educated youth returning to the city back then, for example. How many educated youth divorced and had the idea of ​​‘going back to the city first and then bringing their other half to the city’?”

But as far as I know, very few people can actually do it. And that's just a city away! The United States is separated from China by the Pacific Ocean, tens of thousands of kilometers away! To put it bluntly, with Tingting leaving, the two children's bond may be severed.

He paused for a moment, then added, "I know you don't like hearing this. But as the matchmaker for the two children and their closest relative, there are some things I must say. I don't want to see the two children end up parting on bad terms."

Chen Shufang disagreed with this statement: "Zhenguo, I can understand your thoughts, but I also hope you can understand our feelings as parents."

Tingting has the opportunity to go abroad—what an honor and what a wonderful opportunity!
If we stop them, wouldn't that be tantamount to ruining their future? We can't do that.

As for the two children getting along, I think it's best to let things take their natural course—as long as they genuinely like each other, two years is nothing at all; it will pass in the blink of an eye.

Besides, don't always take the blame upon yourself. Free love is all the rage these days; let them find their own way.

Li Zhenguo frowned, his tone tinged with confusion: "You mean, I'm no longer responsible for this marriage?"

“Zhenguo, I’m saying this for your own good, I don’t want you to be caught in the middle,” Chen Shufang explained.

"I understand now." Li Zhenguo's face darkened, showing some displeasure. "I've given you all the advice I could. Since you still think this way, I won't ask about Tingting's going abroad anymore."

He paused, then made his point even clearer, "Since we've come this far, I'll also say this upfront: if the two children ever have a falling out, don't come looking for me—I won't get involved anymore!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Shufang and Wang Guangwei's expressions turned somewhat unpleasant.

Chen Shuping quickly nudged her husband's arm and whispered a complaint: "Zhenguo, the two kids get along so well, why are you saying these things? Can't you just hope they're doing well?"

Wang Guangwei quickly tried to smooth things over: "Zhenguo, don't be angry. Don't you know your sister? She's just straightforward and doesn't think before she speaks. Don't take it to heart."

Wang Guangwei has high hopes for Li Zhe, his future son-in-law—he has made a name for himself at a young age, knows him well, and treats his daughter well.

Li Zhenguo is both the matchmaker and Li Zhe's uncle, a crucial position: if the two have conflicts after marriage, or if Li Zhe treats Tingting badly, only Li Zhenguo, as her uncle, will have the authority to speak up and control Li Zhe. But if, as Chen Shufang suggests, the two children have entered into a "free love" relationship, then Li Zhenguo's role as matchmaker is invalid. Who will Tingting turn to for justice if she suffers any injustice later?
"It's getting late, we should head back now." Li Zhenguo didn't press the matter further, and after saying that, he got up and walked towards the door.

My nephew has built such a great career at such a young age, and he owns several houses. How could he not find a good wife in the future?
Wang Guangwei quickly stood up to stop him: "Zhenguo, drink some more water and rest for a while before you go. There's no rush."

"No more rest, I have to go back to the factory in Langfang first thing tomorrow morning." Li Zhenguo didn't stop walking, turned around and said, "Let's get together again during the New Year." After saying that, he walked straight out of the house.

Chen Shuping quickly followed her outside.

Wang Guangwei followed behind, still urging, "Shuping, go back and persuade Zhenguo not to take your sister's words to heart."

Chen Shuping stopped, opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. In the end, she just waved her hand and said, "Brother-in-law, you can go back now."

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Wang Guangwei sighed, "Sigh, what a mess this has become..."

……

Xidan, ground floor shop of Shuxiangju branch.

The spacious lobby on the first floor was not filled with many items, except for a wooden table and a few stools that had been temporarily moved in. A thin layer of dust covered the cement floor, and Li Zhe had not made a special effort to clean it because of the upcoming renovations.

Li Zhe sat at the wooden table and took the two stacks of papers handed to him by Chen Yongfa—the light blue one was a renovation quotation, and the yellowish one was design drawings.

He slowly traced the numbers on the quote with his fingertip, and after a while looked up at Chen Yongfa: "Manager Chen, I've looked at the quote. The prices for the water and electricity renovation and wall painting are reasonable, there's no problem."

Chen Yongfa quickly nodded and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Mr. Li. We're old friends. Since you've been so supportive of my business, I'll definitely give you a fair price. If you agree today, I can bring workers to put up the construction fence and start work tomorrow. The construction period is estimated to be 40 days, and I'll make sure you can open for business before December."

"40 days?" Li Zhe's finger hovered over the "kitchen renovation" section. "The kitchen needs to have exhaust pipes installed, and we also need to leave a passage for food to be served. Will this delay the construction period?"

Also, you mentioned previously that you wanted to set aside a section for roast duck; fire prevention measures needed to be implemented in that area. Was this mentioned in the quote?

"Everything has been taken into consideration!" Chen Yongfa immediately flipped to the kitchen page of the design drawings and circled the direction of the exhaust pipe with a pencil. "The exhaust pipe runs inside the ceiling, so it doesn't take up floor space; the partition materials for the roast duck room are also fireproof and slip-resistant, look here."

Li Zhe glanced in the direction he pointed, nodded slightly, and handed the design drawings to Tan Jingya next to him: "Manager Tan, you've been in the catering industry for a long time, take a look and see if there's anything that can be adjusted in this design."

Tan Jingya took the blueprints, her fingertips first landing on the kitchen area, her brows furrowing slightly: "President Li, Manager Chen, the sink is too close to the stove. The waiters are likely to bump into it when walking back and forth. Could you move it half a meter to the west?"
Additionally, it's best to have an extra power outlet in the private room so you don't have to use a power strip when needed.

Chen Yongfa leaned over to take a look at the blueprints, pondered and nodded: "Adding the booths and sockets is easy, no trouble at all; moving the sink requires re-modifying the water pipes, but the construction period can be covered, it just requires a little extra labor cost for the water pipe modification."

"How much more will the labor cost be?" Li Zhe pressed.

"It's only a hundred or two hundred yuan. I'll tell the workers to try to earn it from other jobs, and save money wherever possible," Chen Yongfa said with a smile.

As the three were chatting, slow footsteps suddenly came from the doorway. Tan Jingya looked up first and saw an old man in a gray cloth coat standing at the door. His hair was gray but neatly combed. She took two steps forward and asked softly, "Grandpa, who are you looking for?"

The old man glanced into the lobby, his voice a little hoarse: "Young lady, I'm looking for General Manager Li Zhe. He was introduced by Manager Liu Yuewen of Quanjude."

Tan Jingya pressed further, "Sir, what's your name?"

The old man said, "My name is Zhang Shouyi. I used to be a roast duck chef at Quanjude, but I'm retired now."

Upon hearing the name "Zhang Shouyi," Li Zhe immediately stood up from his chair, strode over, and extended his hand: "Master Zhang, we've been waiting for you! Please have a seat."

As he spoke, he took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to him, saying, "Please have a cigarette."

Zhang Shouyi took the cigarette, tucked it behind his ear, and waved his hand: "Don't smoke yet, let's talk about business first."

Tan Jingya quickly turned around to pour tea, brewed a cup of jasmine tea she had just bought, and brought it to Zhang Shouyi: "Master Zhang, please have some tea."

Zhang Shouyi took the teacup and nodded: "Thank you, young lady."

The group sat down at the table. Li Zhe looked at the calluses on Zhang Shouyi's hands and the burn scars on his hands, and asked softly, "Master Zhang, how many years have you been making roast duck at Quanjude?"

"Forty-three years and eight months." Zhang Shouyi answered without hesitation, his tone filled with pride. "Starting as an apprentice, I learned how to roast ducks and carve them from my master. Later, when my master retired, I took over his job and roasted ducks at Quanjude Qianmen Store for twenty years without ever making a mistake."

"Then your cooking skills are definitely top-notch." Li Zhe smiled and introduced, "Our Shuxiangju mainly serves Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. We invited you here today because we want to add roast duck to our menu, giving our customers more options."

Regarding salary, I'm planning to give you two hundred yuan a month. What do you think?

When Zhang Shouyi heard about the salary, his eyes lit up, but then he straightened his face again: "Money is not the most important thing. I can't stay idle at home after retirement. I just want to find a place to continue roasting ducks."

However, I have one condition: since you've let me make the roast duck, everything related to it must be done according to my rules. The ducks must be force-fed ducks weighing between four and a half and five pounds; not an ounce more or less is acceptable.

The oven must be a hanging oven, and the charcoal must be fruitwood; the sweet bean sauce must be sun-dried according to the old recipe, and the sliced ​​duck must be arranged in willow leaf shapes—any slight deviation will do. If it's to be done half-heartedly, I'd rather not do it at all.”

Li Zhe nodded quickly: "Master Zhang, don't worry. I invited you here because I value your skills and the rules. As long as you can make the roast duck well, I'll do whatever you say."

Zhang Shouyi then smiled slightly, took a sip of tea, and said, "Alright, then I'll stay."

Seeing this, Li Zhe spoke up again: "Master Zhang, I plan to set up a roast duck room on the east side of the first floor, and I want to make it an open kitchen so that customers can see the roasting process from the outside. What do you think?"

Zhang Shouyi frowned and waved his hand: "No, no, roast duck is all about controlling the heat. If customers are watching from outside and pointing fingers, it will distract me. If I don't control the heat well, the duck won't taste good."

Furthermore, open kitchens are prone to dust accumulation, which is unhygienic.

Li Zhe patiently explained, "Master Zhang, your concerns are indeed valid. However, the open kitchen I'm referring to is not an open kitchen, but rather a glass wall. Guests can see the roasting of the ducks through the glass wall, but there will be no direct contact, so the roasting process won't be affected by the guests."

Moreover, customers can see that we use genuine roast ducks and real fruitwood charcoal, without any adulteration. This gives customers peace of mind and helps our roast duck gain fame more quickly.

Regarding hygiene, I will have the workers clean the windows of the roast duck room thoroughly, and conduct a complete cleaning every day after work to ensure no dust settles.

Zhang Shouyi was silent for a moment, his fingers gently tracing the rim of the teacup, then he nodded: "What you said makes sense. Let's do it your way. But I have to keep an eye on hygiene and the heat myself."

"No problem," Li Zhe replied with a smile.

Zhang Shouyi was relieved. After looking at Chen Yongfa's design drawings, he began to talk about the design of the roast duck room: "The roast duck room needs to be a little larger. The hanging oven should be placed further inside, away from the window, so that the wind will not make the charcoal fire fluctuate."

A larger fume hood than a regular one needs to be installed on the hanging boiler, otherwise the fumes won't be able to escape and will make it impossible for people to work.

Also, the iron hooks and blades used for roasting duck must be kept separate and not mixed with other kitchen utensils to avoid cross-contamination of flavors.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Quanjude's roast duck room is inside the kitchen, so customers can't see it. Our open kitchen is different; we have to pay attention to the details."

For example, the outside of the hanging oven can be wrapped with stainless steel, which is both aesthetically pleasing and easy to clean. The cutting board for slicing duck should be made of solid wood and planed smooth, so it's pleasing to the eye for customers.

Li Zhe listened attentively, nodding occasionally, and even asked Tan Jingya to write down the key points Zhang Shouyi mentioned: "Master Zhang, the details you mentioned are very important. I'll have Manager Chen design the roast duck room according to your requirements. If there's anything I don't understand, I'll ask you for advice again."

Zhang Shouyi nodded in satisfaction, lit the cigarette Li Zhe had given him, and slowly took a puff: "Okay, as long as we follow the rules, I guarantee the customers will want to come back again."

Li Zhe also lit a cigarette. With this master chef from Quanjude in charge, he finally felt more confident selling roast duck at his Sichuan restaurant...

(End of this chapter)