Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1248, Four Plates

After dealing with things at the store, Xiaowei called the city manager in Beixi to arrange Zhang Dawei's affairs. The rest was up to Zhang Dawei.

Whether he makes money or not depends on how hard he works. Xiaowei can't manage everything, so it's better to just give him money directly.

In the evening, I went to my third uncle's house with Zhang Dahong and Zhang Dawei for a while, had a meal, and then the three of us drove back to the city.

There isn't even a decent hotel in Nanfen, and there are practically no outsiders. The three factories each have their own internal guesthouses that aren't open to the public. The locals are used to this; they even go to the factories to take showers.

This is the unique characteristic of industrial areas: the entire society is habitually dependent on the factory, including hospitals, schools, public facilities, and all aspects of life. Once the factory has a problem, the entire local society collapses.

Moreover, industrial areas do not pay much attention to commerce. The consequence of this is that things are complicated and inefficient, taxes are heavy, and development is difficult.

After driving for another half hour back into the city, Xiaowei called Liu Xiaodong.

It was still light out, but it was already past seven o'clock, and the streets were bustling with traffic.

The three of them drove directly to the north. Liu Xiaodong said he would treat them to a bath in the east.

Dongfang is located behind the Beidi Industrial and Commercial Branch.

Chen Hui got out of the car and looked around: "Why does this place feel a little familiar?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's for sure. The author wrote that the prototype for you originally lived in this area."

"Over here, over here, we've been waiting for you for ages."

The three men walked over to Liu Xiaodong, who was waving his hand. Chen Hui said, "Come on, it's only been ten minutes since you got off the highway. Where did you spend the other half day?"

Liu Xiaodong chuckled and said, "Doesn't this make me seem more eager? Just the three of you? Come on, let's go inside. We'll eat, drink, and have fun here tonight, and we'll stay here tonight."

Chen Hui said, "You think you can do it? What about Xia Qiu?"

Liu Xiaodong said, "Xia Qiu went back to the county and will be back tomorrow afternoon." There were two other people with Liu Xiaodong, a fat man surnamed Tang and a man surnamed Li. After shaking hands and getting acquainted, they went inside.

I took a bath and had a back scrub, then went to the performance hall and ordered a fruit platter and drinks. I enjoyed watching the show while eating and having a foot massage, which was quite comfortable.

The performances in bathhouses are mainly comedic, featuring people dressing up as ugly characters and telling dirty jokes, interspersed with a few songs. In southern entertainment venues, this kind of performance is called "Errenzhuan" (a type of folk performance). They are completely different things.

There seemed to be two tables where people were celebrating birthdays. They looked like they were doing quite well in Beixi, a bit arrogant, sitting there with an air of superiority, talking loudly. The birthday boy was looking at people with his head tilted back, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

The two tables were the most lively in the room. They kept requesting songs, and flower baskets and wreaths were being brought out every now and then. This made the two singers a little excited, and they kept calling out the table numbers to express their gratitude, making it seem like every song was specially performed for them.

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui didn't care; they were just watching the show. Liu Xiaodong and Tang Pangzi, however, were a bit annoyed. They glanced at each other a few times, and Xiao Wei said, "You have a problem with other people spending money? This is a place to have fun, not your home."

"If you like what you're doing, we can leave now. There are a lot of things to do here, right? It seems quite big."

Fatty Tang said, "Let's go to the restaurant and get something to eat. The seafood here is pretty good, and it's owned by the same person as Tian Tian Seafood Restaurant."

Chen Hui said, "Okay, let's go. I didn't eat enough at Uncle Xiaowei's house tonight."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "I'm not full either. What about you?" He looked at Zang Yuanwei, who rubbed his stomach without saying a word, but gave Xiao Wei a somewhat resentful look. Xiao Wei's aunt had cooked half a pot of rice in the rice cooker, and no one dared to eat a second bowl.

The six of them came out of the performance hall and went to the restaurant. Liu Xiaodong said, "Are we going down to the ground in a bit? Let me tell you, she's fair-skinned, beautiful, and easy to handle, and there's even a Russian girl."

Chen Hui glanced at Xiao Wei, who said, "Why did you go see it? You guys can go if you want, I'm not stopping you. As for myself, I'll just leave it at that. Actually, I have pretty little self-control, I'm afraid that once I start something, I won't be able to stop it, so I have to control myself and not make a mistake."

Chen Hui was a bit conflicted. He wanted to go and see for himself, but he felt it wouldn't be right for him to go if Xiao Wei didn't go.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, the group ordered food, brewed a pot of tea, and sat down to chat. The buffet had already ended, and the restaurant was nearly empty.

The environment here is quite nice, and the decoration is thoughtful. Sitting at the dining table, you can see the fitness and entertainment area below through the floor-to-ceiling windows, with billiards, treadmills, and other facilities where some people are playing.

Chen Hui asked, "Will our bathhouse be up and running by the end of this year?"

Xiao Wei took a sip of tea and nodded: "It's ready. I didn't have time to check. Let Brother Long and Sister Han handle it. We don't know anything about this anyway."

The food was served a bit slowly, and Liu Xiaodong and Tang Pangzi urged them to hurry up a few times. The restaurant manager ran over to apologize: "I'm sorry, guys, there are a few dishes you ordered that we don't usually prepare here. Nobody wants them, so we have to go to the fishing port next door to get them."

I got a few for you guys, eat first, I'll go urge them over there, right away, okay? Want something to drink?

Chen Hui said, "Let's get some beer. What do you have?"

The manager said, "We have Longshan Spring, Snow Beer, Tsingtao, and Blue Ribbon. Oh, and we recently got a new one, a French beer, Henri Pinot Noir. Everyone says it's pretty good. Would you like to try it?"

Chen Hui nodded and said, "Okay, we'll take this one. How much do you sell it for per stick?"

The manager said, "Twenty, but I'll give you guys fifteen, okay?"

The market retail price of this beer is five yuan in supermarkets and six or six and a half yuan elsewhere. I didn't expect it to be three times that price here. Drinks in entertainment venues are really quite profitable.

Fatty Tang rubbed his belly and said, "Give me a plate of fried rice first, I need to have something to eat."

The manager asked, "What kind of fried rice do you want?"

Fatty Tang said, "Just egg fried rice with soy sauce."

After the manager left, Liu Xiaodong asked Xiaowei, "Is this the beer you produce?"

Xiao Wei nodded: "Yes, I haven't tried it yet. I'd like to have a taste and you guys can try it and give me your feedback."

After a while, the waiter brought over a few dishes, which were complimentary from the restaurant and didn't cost extra. Then came a large plate of fried rice with egg, which was indeed seasoned with soy sauce, making it dark and mushy. Two cases of beer were also brought over. Xiao Wei's beer was packaged in cardboard boxes, twelve bottles per box.

Brewery bottles and boxes are typically recycled, resulting in low prices locally. This is why beer companies struggle to expand overseas. It's a cost issue. If they're too cheap, they'll lose money; if they're too expensive, they can't compete with local products.

Chen Hui asked the waiter to open the beer, and everyone clinked bottles and started drinking.

"It's alright. It's a bit bitter at first, but the aftertaste is quite nice." Liu Xiaodong smacked his lips. "It's a bit thick, definitely different from what we produce here."

Fatty Tang said, "It quenches thirst, that's good, it just depends on the price."

Putting down the beer bottle, Fatty Tang picked up a soup ladle and ate a whole plate of fried rice with visible speed. Wiping his mouth and letting out a long sigh, he patted his stomach and said, "Alright, that's enough."

Chen Hui looked at him and asked, "You eat as much as you want, how much can you eat in one meal?"

Fatty Tang tapped the plate of fried rice: "Four plates, I guess. Add some vegetables and we'll be full. I can't eat as much as I used to."

(End of this chapter)