Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 30 Small Restaurant in a Residential House

(Give it a rating after watching)

The two fathers discussed it and turned left into Nanning Street. The street was full of low-rise residential houses, and many of the storefronts had been renovated, but they looked much lower-class than the ones on the main street outside, so they figured the prices would be cheaper too.

The narrow street was lined with small shops on both sides, with a jumble of handwritten signs hanging haphazardly above each door.

The two fathers discussed it for a while, chose a restaurant, and went inside.

The restaurant was small, with only three tables and a small kitchen. The owner was a chubby man in his thirties with a professional smile on his face. He started greeting the group as soon as they arrived at the door, and his enthusiasm made them feel like they had met a long-lost relative.

"Hey bro, come in, come in, have some tea. How many of you are there? Come on, sit here, it's spacious here. Are you taking your kids to the park? It's a bit late now, it's better to come to the park in the morning, otherwise you won't be able to try all the rides, that's a bit of a loss. What would you like to eat? Oh my, these young men, they can really eat! When I was this age, I could eat two big bowls of rice and four or five steamed buns in one meal, not even counting the side dishes."

"Come on, brother, have a smoke. Want to order something? Don't let the size of my shop fool you, I never skimp on the food. My chefs are all certified. If you say it's not good, brother, I won't charge you a penny."

Xia Maosheng, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said, "Where's the menu? If there's no menu, boss, you should introduce it. What do you have? What can you make?"

The owner chuckled and said, "This brother's accent sounds like he's from Chaoyang, doesn't it? It sounds familiar; I have friends from there. My shop is small, so I don't have a menu. We can't sell fancy stuff in a small shop like this. It's just home-style cooking, home-style cooking. Just tell me what you want to eat."

Xiao Wei glanced at Xia Maosheng. Xia Maosheng's accent was a big problem. In most parts of Northeast China, accents are not easily distinguishable with a little attention. No one doubted him when he said he was from the local area. But Xia Maosheng's accent was clearly from western Liaoning. However, he didn't seem to care at all.

You have to understand that in those days, the market was in complete chaos, and it was all too common for people to cheat outsiders. If a local bought something for five cents, they would dare to ask for twenty if they heard that the person was from out of town, and the person might get beaten up.

Yang Tiebin's father glanced at Xia Maosheng, then turned to the boss and said, "Just make a few simple home-style dishes, like dried tofu with pork slices and shredded pork with eggs. Make five dishes, two bottles of beer, and a bowl of rice for each person. We can ask for more if it's not enough."

The boss walked to the dining room door and shouted into the kitchen, "Dried tofu with pork slices, shredded pork with eggs, eggplant with pickled vegetables and vermicelli, and a vegetarian soup. Six bowls of rice. Hurry up, get it ready." He then went to the side and grabbed two bottles of Lao Xuehua beer, placed them on the table, opened them with a bottle opener, and asked, "Anything else you need, bro?"

Mr. Yang waved his hand and said, "That's enough for now. We can ask for more if it's not enough. It would be a waste to leave some."

The boss nodded, pulled up a stool and sat down, saying, "Brothers, are you from out of town?"

Yang's father glanced at Xia Maosheng and said, "These kids are classmates from the culinary class at the Cultural Palace. I'm just treating them to a meal. We're from all over the country; it's fate that we've met. These days, having more friends means having more options; you never know who you might need in the future."

The boss nodded and said, "Brother, you're right. All the young men here are culinary apprentices, right? My chef is from there too. His teachers are all apprentices of Liu Jingxian and the like, and they're quite good at teaching. Try my dishes, the taste is definitely not bad. It's just that my shop is small, otherwise it would cost tens or even hundreds of yuan."

Xiao Wei said, "Then why don't you open a bigger one? I see that the businesses on the street outside are doing pretty well."

The owner said, "I can't find a place to rent. Restaurants can't be in a remote location. Look around, where are there any vacancies on the main street? Besides, the costs of rent, renovations, and taxes are too high. It's better to open this small shop. You save money and I make money, and I don't have to work so hard."

After a pause, the owner added, "Oh right, they provide accommodation but not meals over there, right? Then you can come here to eat every day from now on. I'll cook for you on time, and there will definitely be discounts. Just tell me what you want to eat the day before. Bring your classmates along, it'll be more lively with more people, and I'll add some extra dishes for you guys afterwards."

A voice called from the kitchen, and the boss went out and brought in the dishes. He served rice to several people and asked, "Want some garlic? Single-clove purple garlic." As he spoke, he placed the bottle of rice vinegar on the table. In Liaodong, with Fengtian as the dividing line, people eat white vinegar if they go east and rice vinegar if they go west.

He simply set up a small shop in his own house, without hiring any staff; he did everything himself. During this period, the market was unregulated, a time of exorbitant profits for spontaneous businesses. Many such small shops emerged, poaching customers from expensive, large stores. However, market regulation in the late 90s curbed these exorbitant profits, and these small shops lost their space to survive, eventually disappearing.

Yang Tiebin's father shook his head, while Li Guangzhao's father said, "Take a few, I'm feeling a bit like I'm catching a cold these days, some garlic will help. Boss, do you have any tea leaves? I'll chew some to get rid of the smell."

The shopkeeper nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I'll get it for you. I don't have any good tea here, just jasmine, that'll have to do. And have some vinegar too, you need white vinegar if you have a cold, I'll get it for you." He ran to the kitchen and soon came back with a few cloves of garlic and a bottle of white vinegar.

After putting down the vinegar bottle, the boss offered cigarettes to everyone, then sat down and said, "How about it, young man? You guys have to eat every day anyway, so bringing some people over will save you some money, right?"

Xiao Wei poured himself a little white vinegar and said with a smile, "You can't say that about me. My home is in the Nanhu area, in the Dianli residential area. Today is the first day of meeting my classmates, so I came to join in the fun. I'll have to eat at home from now on; my wife can't be home alone."

The boss paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "So you're going home for lunch too? Your wife stays home since she's not working, right? You don't look that old, do you have a wife?"

Xiao Wei said, "We're not married yet. My wife is studying at Northeast Institute of Technology. We'll get married after she graduates. We have to eat lunch out, but it's too much trouble to go back and forth. My wife eats in the cafeteria for lunch."

The boss immediately showed a hint of respect, handed Xiaowei another cigarette, lit it, and said, "Wow, brother, you're quite the hidden talent. Your wife is going to be amazing. Northeast Institute of Technology, huh? Graduates are cadres from there, a pretty high starting point. There are quite a few graduates from engineering colleges in our province, and having a classmate there is very advantageous."

Li Guangzhao and Yang Tiebin both looked at Xiaowei, and even Xia Maosheng, who seemed to care about nothing, turned to look at Xiaowei and said, "Well done, buddy, impressive."

Both Li Guangzhao and Yang Tiebin's fathers raised their glasses and said, "Come on, Xiao Zhang, we have to have a drink. You're a good kid. When you become successful in the future, don't forget Xiao Guang (Tiezi). Come on, take a glass, we have to have a drink."

The boss stood up and handed over a glass. Xiao Wei had no choice but to ask Li Guangzhao's father to pour him a beer.

In Northeast China, a popular trend lately is drinking from a single glass of baijiu (Chinese liquor). This means the liquor is produced in a single glass, and once opened, it's ready to drink directly from. A glass typically contains three or four ounces. After finishing the liquor, the glass is washed and becomes a regular glass. Restaurants usually use these types of glasses.

Everyone got excited and poured beer, pulling Xiaowei down a glass. Xiaowei's face immediately turned bright red. Drinking is really a matter of genetics; if you can't drink, you just can't. All that talk about practicing is pure nonsense. No matter how much you practice, you'll only go from one glass to two. I've never seen anyone go from one ounce to a pound just by practicing.