Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1035 West Tower Cold Noodles

Xita Street has three main attractions: a bathhouse, a karaoke bar, and a restaurant.

The restaurants were all Korean-style, serving cold noodles, dog meat, and barbecue. Barbecue had started appearing around this time, but it was mostly roadside stalls selling grilled chicken frames and lamb skewers. Only the Korean barbecue restaurants were formal establishments, appearing somewhat upscale.

The most popular barbecue restaurants in the 90s were all called "Myeongwol San Thousand Miles" (meaning "Three Thousand Miles of Bright Moon"), and they could be found all over the country. Koreans especially liked this name.

The most popular restaurant on Xita Street is called Xita Cold Noodles, which has stood out from the crowd and remains popular to this day. It has even been selected as an intangible cultural heritage.

……

Xiao Wei paged Si Wei, and then the group went out to call Ga Zi and Zhao Di, and brought Zhang Bing to Xita Street.

After waiting for a while at the street corner, Siwei and Xiaoqin took a taxi and came over. It wasn't far, just over a kilometer away. Actually, it's one street, but it's divided at the Huashan Road intersection. The southern part, in Heping District, is called Xita Street, and the northern part, in Huanggu District, is called Changjiang Street.

At this time, Xita Street was not as long as it would be after it was fully commercialized in later years, but it was already quite prosperous. High-rise buildings lined both sides of the street, neon lights flashed, and the streets were illuminated by a sky full of stars, making it seem like daytime.

Standing at the street corner, the entire street is lined with bathhouses, restaurants, billiard halls, dance halls, music cafes, video arcades, and amusement arcades.

Music teahouses were the prototype of KTVs. Unlike the kind where you sing in a large hall, music teahouses had private rooms and all the seats were sofas, which raised the level of the establishment considerably. However, the prices also increased significantly, making them a place that ordinary people couldn't afford.

This was due to equipment limitations; there was nothing that could be done. Once VCDs appeared, prices immediately dropped, and the way music was played and services were significantly changed. However, these traditional karaoke bars persisted until after 05 before gradually disappearing.

Needless to say, arcades are the hottest thing right now, a money-making machine. Even places like children's palaces and Xinhua bookstores have a few.

Siwei and Xiaoqin got out of the taxi hand in hand, smiling and greeting everyone.

Xiao Wei raised his hand and smacked Si Wei on the head: "You still recognize me? I thought I wouldn't recognize anyone after arriving in Fengtian."

Siwei rubbed his head and said with a smile, "How could that be? I'm just busy. I have to watch the stall here, and you guys have a lot of important things to do too. I didn't want to bother you."

Xiaoqin said, "It's a bit far away. Sometimes when Siwei closes up shop at night, he says he wants to go to your area, but then he thinks about it and decides against it. He probably won't be able to get a taxi back."

Chen Hui said, "You still don't want to go? We're short one car, aren't we? Besides, there are plenty of places to stay. Tonight, Xiaowei got a real scolding from Aunt Zhang at dinner, she said he'd forgotten his roots and stuff. You two, you have houses over there, why don't you all stay together? It's so much better to be together, why do you insist on renting here? Are you happier here?"

Siwei chuckled a few times and said, "No, it's just that this place is closer. This thing works from dawn till dusk, so it saves us the trouble of going back and forth."

Xiao Wei said, "I don't care what you think. We've grown up together since we were little, and we came out together. My mom is right. How many times in a lifetime can you have a relationship like this? It's up to you how you handle it."

"I've had a lot going on this year, and you guys have had a lot going on too? Did I not page or call? Don't even mention me, Ga Zi and Zhao Di are here too, have you contacted them? Zhang Siwei, are you so shameless that you have to wait for others to come to you?"

Siwei blushed and said, "Really, no, I just arrived here and was completely lost. I've been working from dawn till dusk, and I was thinking that Ga Zi must be in the same situation. You're so busy, I was just worried about bothering you guys. I really wanted to hang out with you guys, really."

Xiaoqin said, "I'm not kidding you. Siwei was saying at noon today that it's almost the end of the year and he'd like to get together with you guys sometime."

Xiao Hong asked, "So you just stay home after you close up shop for the day? What are you doing?"

Xiaoqin said, "We just watch TV, what else can we do? We fight over the TV all the time. He wants to watch 'The Greed of Man,' and I want to watch 'Little Dragon Man.' He doesn't give in to me at all."

Xiao Hong said, "Let's buy another one, so we can each watch our own. My mom and aunt watch 'The Years,' and my uncle and dad watch 'The Great Era.' Hehe, I also love watching 'Little Dragon Man.'"

Xiaoqin said, "I was just thinking about that. I saw that they sell those tiny TVs, about the size of a palm. I'll buy one for him sometime."

Zhang Bing tugged at Xiao Wei: "Second Brother, are we just going to stand here and chat? Aren't you cold?"

Xiao Wei looked up and around: "What are we doing?"

Chen Xiao said, "Let's look around first, and go to whichever one looks good. Old Xia wants to take a shower, right? Who else wants to take a shower?"

Xiao Hong checked the time and said, "Why don't we all go get a bath and then go sing karaoke?"

Everyone looked at each other, and apart from Zhang Bing, no one had any objections. Actually, it didn't matter what they did; they were just out having some fun.

Xiao Wei, Chen Hui, Xia Maosheng, Ga Zi, Si Wei, five families, ten people in total, plus Zhang Bing, Qin Xuemei who was dragged out, Li Na, Sister Jin, Xiao Liwen, Wang Jiwei and Hou Qiang who were driving, seventeen people in a grand procession strolled around Xita Street.

Looking at the shops of all sizes along the roadside, Xiao Hong said, "It's so lively here. It's so deserted over there. There's hardly anyone on the street at night."

Chen Hui said, "Give up on that idea. Our place will never be lively. Isn't it better to live somewhere quiet?"

Xia Maosheng said, "That's not necessarily true. Once the new factory is up and running next year, we'll have a few shops around the outer perimeter, and it'll be a hit in just a few days. There will be quite a few people living there and working there."

Gazi said, "It still won't be as lively as this place, but it should be quite lively too. Actually, I feel that we should build a small square or something, because people have nowhere to go at night now."

Sister Jin said, "That's right, there's nowhere to stroll around at night, and I can't just come to your yard every day."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment, then shook his head: "There's no space. Making it small is pointless, and making it big is really too much space. Let's wait for the Hunhe River area, build the residential area there, and then build a plaza."

Chen Hui said, "If you ask me, Zhang Shi also needs to set up a place for activities and some entertainment. Otherwise, what's the point of having so many people?"

Xiao Hong tugged at Chen Xiao and Qin Xuemei, saying, "Hey, how about we go get something to eat? Then we can take a shower. Showering takes a lot of energy."

Geng Hui exclaimed in surprise, "Now? Didn't we just finish dinner?"

Xiao Hong licked her lips as she looked at the sign for Xita Cold Noodles: "Let's just have a bowl of cold noodles, or something."

Chen Hui said, "This thing is good to use."

Everyone laughed, but they still walked towards the cold noodle shop.

The room was quite spacious, and the furnishings were typical of a state-run restaurant. The tablecloths were all white plastic, and they looked dirty; some were even torn.

"What would you like to eat? Order quickly, the chef will be off work soon." A middle-aged waiter greeted them.

Everyone found a table and sat down. They took the old menu handed to them by the waiter and discussed what to eat. Actually, they had all eaten dinner and didn't really want anything, they were just there for the fun of it.

(End of this chapter)