Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 249 Remembering the good but not the bad

Sister Shang nodded and said, "Okay, when is your mother coming?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's hard to say. We can't get in touch with them either. Anyway, it'll only be a matter of a few days, it won't drag on for too long. My brother still needs to contact them about school."

Sister Shang said, "If you have a steamer, you can bring your own. You can earn an extra dollar or two a day and make more money."

The women all nodded; they preferred to bring their own lunchboxes to steam, as it would earn them an extra thirty yuan a month.

Xiao Wei said, "Let's talk about this, okay?"

Master Chang said, "If we add a steam boiler, the boiler will have to be modified, and it will have to be kept running in the summer, which is a bit of a hassle."

Xia Maosheng said in a low voice, "With fewer people, the cost of keeping the boiler too high is not worthwhile. We can't just give in to their every whim. How can providing meals be wrong? These days, besides restaurants, how many places provide meals? In state-owned enterprises, everyone brings their own food, and even eating in the canteen costs money."

Xiao Wei nodded, and together with Master Chang, Xia Maosheng, and Chen Hui, they left the old building.

After they came out, Master Chang said, "Xia is right. It's normal to not interfere in anything. The more you interfere, the more trouble you'll cause. In the end, he'll feel that everything is your duty. People are like that; they remember the food but not the kindness. The more you give them, the less they'll be interested in doing their job. You have to keep them in check."

Chen Hui backed the car out, and Master Chang said, "I'll just fix this door for you, so people won't be able to peek in when they walk by." Xiao Wei said, "Okay, that sounds good. Is it easy to do?"

Master Chang said, "It's easy to fix. It'll be even lighter than your old one, and it'll save you the trouble of pulling the motor. It'll also last longer. You guys go ahead, I'll be working on this all afternoon."

The three of them said goodbye to Master Chang and drove to the restaurant.

A truck was parked in front of the restaurant, and many people were busy unloading things from it.

The three of them parked their car and walked over. Old Xu was standing on the steps in front of the door directing traffic. When he saw them, he smiled and said, "You guys are really enjoying yourselves today. You don't have to get up early or work late."

Xiao Wei handed him a cigarette and asked, "Is everything ready? Is the table in the back all set?"

Old Xu lit a cigarette for Xiao Wei, nodded and said, "Alright, there's another truckload coming up. You set up the place, and I'll just unload it in a bit. You can each have one before you need it."

The two rooms in the back, the dance hall and the karaoke room, are for holding events and need to be set up with quite a few tables. Old Xu has taken care of all of them.

Xiao Wei asked, "They've started installing it upstairs? Let's go up and take a look." The four of them went into the restaurant and walked upstairs.

The third floor is bustling with people, ping-pong balls are being hammered in, and electric drills and hammers are all up and running.

The third floor is only a little more than half the size of the second floor, and it can't fit five tables. It can only make three private rooms, but that's enough. These three rooms will be used to entertain high-end guests. Once they're set up, they'll be much more impressive than the private rooms on the second floor.

The wooden components were assembled quite quickly. When the group went upstairs, the partition walls were already in place and being reinforced. Old Xu said, "Actually, you could also partition the second floor like this. When not in use or when there are many people, it can be used as a table. When needed, you can pull down the small door on the partition wall to turn it into a private room. But the soundproofing won't be as good as a real private room."

Xia Maosheng glanced at Xiao Wei and said, "That's good. Once the tables are set up, it will look pretty impressive, which will save people from feeling uncomfortable."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it. How long will it take?"

Old Xu said with a smile, "I've already prepared it for you. The next bus will arrive. I brought it with me when I was making these things on the third floor. Anyway, it's just a little recipe, so it won't be a waste if you don't use it."

Chen Hui gave Lao Xu a thumbs up: "This business is awesome, Lao Xu, you're sure to make a lot of money in the future." Lao Xu laughed heartily.

Old Xu handled this matter brilliantly, making more money and making everyone feel comfortable. A person like him will definitely rise to prominence when given the opportunity.

The workers were working, and the four of them were getting in the way upstairs, so they came down to the first floor to talk. Li Wen ran over and asked, "Boss, once the private rooms are done, when do we install the elevator?"

Xiao Wei looked at Xia Maosheng: "Oh no, I forgot." He really forgot.

Li Wen pouted and looked at Xiao Wei with a heartbroken expression.

Old Xu asked, "What are you supposed to do? I forgot?"

Xia Maosheng said, "Since all three floors are open, and there will be more people eating upstairs, we thought about installing a lift to pass the food back and forth. But when our equipment supplier came back, we forgot to tell them, and they had already gone back to Fengtian."

Old Xu turned his head and looked it over, saying, "What kind of equipment supplier would you use for this thing? It's just a motor pulling a tablet, right? It can't be that big, can it? How big do you want it to be?"

Xiao Wei gestured and said, "A square meter of 40 centimeters is fine; it'll be enough to serve two or three dishes at a time."

Old Xu looked around and said, "Inside or outside? If it's inside, we'll have to break through the floorboards. Let's just do it outside. We can just make a small hole in the wall. It's easier than breaking through the floorboards."

Xia Maosheng asked, "Will it be okay to work outside in winter? It must be so cold."

Old Xu shook his head and said, "No way, you're not leaving it inside for half an hour or an hour. It only takes two minutes to pass a dish around. Besides, it's completely enclosed on all four sides, it's not open-air."

Xiao Wei asked, "Then how do we do it?"

Old Xu said, "Weld a frame out of angle iron, put the motor and the tray in it and set it up. I'll put some wooden boards on the outside for you to seal it, seal the seams with glue, and brush on some clear varnish. It'll match the one on the other side perfectly."

Xia Maosheng asked, "We have to stop on the second and third floors. Can we stop it that steadily ourselves? We'll need someone to watch over it, won't we?"

Old Xu shook his head and said, "No need, just add a relay switch on each floor. It will automatically stop when it reaches the designated position. It's a simple thing."

Chen Hui said, "Isn't it the same principle as the elevator in the building? You need to install floor buttons too, right?"

Xiao Wei said, "Then let's get it done. We'll have to find Master Chang. That guy, Master Chang has been doing all the work for us lately."

Old Xu said, "Going to work is just about doing tasks. It's the end of the year, so there's not much to do. The factory doesn't have much work, which is perfect. If you wait until spring when it gets warmer and the factory has a lot of work, you'll have to wait. The factory will definitely be prioritized."

Xiao Wei said, "Let's do it then. Master Chang is changing our gate over there. Let's ask them to come and do it tomorrow. This thing should be quick to set up, right?"

Old Xu said, "Getting everything together only takes half a day. They're much faster than us. It takes us one or two days to seal the boards."

Chen Hui asked Li Wen, "Why did you stop crying?"

Li Wen glared at Chen Hui: "Are you stupid? Why would I cry?" The others laughed.

The phone rang in the watchman's room, and Li Wen ran over to answer it like a little rabbit.

Old Xu said, "This is the only part of your place that's not quite right now. You should fix it up. Block up the kitchen window so that people can't see into the kitchen as soon as they enter the front door. Also, don't leave the kitchen door open all the time. It'll just look messy and make people uncomfortable. You're installing a lift, right? You can just serve the food from there. Block up the door."

(End of this chapter)