Chen Baoxiang paid attention to the news in Luoyuan Mansion and Furong Street, but Gu Lanchun was nowhere to be seen, and contact was lost again.
On the third day, when it was dark, Chuanwen and Chuanwu came back and trotted all the way excitedly.
"Dad, today's wages have gone up. I told my boss that as long as you work as you are told, you will be rewarded every day from tomorrow to the Chinese New Year. The Japanese are afraid of being slapped too hard on the head, so they directly send people over to pay wages to ensure that everyone has food to eat.
There’s money to be made!”
The two gave all their wages to Liu Yue'e, a total of six oceans.
According to what the boss said, before New Year's Eve, everyone can earn ten oceans from wages and rewards combined.
"Dad, the Japanese are very nice. During lunch, everyone was given a bag of Japanese biscuits. No one ate them, so they took them home for their family to eat."
Chuanwen and Chuanwu brought back a total of two bags of biscuits, with patterns of Japan's Mount Fuji painted on them.
Chen Baoxiang felt that the biscuits looked awkward, so he put them in a drawer and prevented the children from eating them. They were Chinese and it was enough to have rice, steamed buns and pancakes. There was no need to eat Japanese food.
He asked about the cargo platform and was sent a message to reply: "There are many big boxes, more than forty, and they are stacked at the very back of the cargo platform. They are covered with military canvas and a warning rope is pulled next to them to prevent anyone from passing by. He also warned his head.
Oh, don’t be mean to things that the Japanese don’t let you touch. If you break them, you can’t afford to pay for them.”
Liu Yue'e was busy eating, and she also told her two children to look at them more and not to cause trouble.
Chen Baoxiang was unsure. The total number of boxes did not match what Lian Chengbi said. There must be something wrong with the clues provided by the informants.
"What else do the Japanese say?"
"China and Japan are friendly and are neighbors separated by a strip of water. The Japanese like China and Jinan and will build Jinan better and better..."
Chen Baoxiang doesn't believe these nonsense. The germ army has turned many places in the three northeastern provinces into monsters. This is a definite fact.
If Jinan people listen to that, they will make the same mistakes as the Northeast sooner or later.
He had not given orders for a long time to ask Chuan Wen and Chuan Wu to ask for leave, because he felt that he could not be arbitrary.
Know yourself and the enemy, and you will be victorious in every battle.
If you blindly believe in other people's clues, I'm afraid Liancheng Bi will be in trouble.
In other words, Gu Lanchun will also be in crisis.
While I was eating, someone came to visit and knocked on the front door of the store.
Chen Baoxiang went out to open the door, and it was Tian Dongliu who stood outside.
Tian Dongliu was holding a lantern, standing at the foot of the steps with his neck hunched, holding half a pig's head in his hand.
There was a straw rope in the pig's head, which was heavy and hung by his legs.
"Boss Chen, someone sent me some New Year's gifts. I was alone in Jinan and couldn't bear it, so I brought them to you. It's in a hurry, don't be too little, and don't be offended, hehehehe..."
Mr. Tian smiled, showing two rows of white teeth.
In troubled times, only such people can bring good luck. With a smile, wealth will come from all directions, misfortune can be turned into good fortune, and adversity can be turned into good fortune.
Chen Baoxiang quickly took the pig's head and let Tian Dongliu in.
"Boss Chen, the sponsor has said that you can rest assured that we will not let you suffer. There are so many good restaurants in Jinan, and it is easy to find back-end chefs and front-end waiters. What is missing is a good boss. It's easy to get an army, but it's hard to find a handsome man.
Please, hehehehe... The financial owner has met you once and it is a perfect match, and he thinks you are the most suitable partner!"
Chen Baoxiang made tea and even said he was ashamed.
In the eyes of most people, he is just a seller of rice and meat, and cannot be served on a big banquet. However, it is not an easy task to cook a simple piece of pork until it is crispy, delicious and fragrant.
The taste of rice in the north and south is different. If you want to steam steamed rice in a steamer to make it dry and soft, not sticky or falling apart, and suitable for the tastes of customers from the north and south, it is a unique skill that can be understood but not achieved.
How can you sweep the world if you don't clean one room? Kung fu is more evident in the small things. A cup of tea and a meal is the true taste of the world——
He is well versed in the truth of gourmet food, which is why the business of Chen's rice shop is always booming. Even Chief Han's concubines gave thumbs up after eating it.
"Thank you, Mr. Tian, for your kind words in front of the sponsor!"
Chen Baoxiang clasped his fists, and Tian Dongliu hurriedly returned the favor: "Hey, Boss Chen, don't be too modest. The sponsor is also a person who has traveled all over the world and seen the world. Who hasn't he met? If someone takes a liking to you, this is fate! Let's not
Don’t say much, just start showing off after the first month of the year.”
After talking about these things, Tian Dongliu counted out twenty oceans from his bag and said it was a New Year's gift from the sponsor. He hoped that Chen Baoxiang's family would have a good New Year, a new atmosphere, and a good start next year.
For Chen Baoxiang, who was used to the small yellow croakers given by the Sharpshooter Club and the Eighth Front Army, these twenty oceans were indeed nothing.
However, the owner of the fund is so superior that it is equivalent to New Year's reward money. This is earned by his real ability, and it is face money, which is completely different from the nature of the little yellow croaker.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Chen Baoxiang became more and more moved and felt that Tian Dongliu was his noble man. He not only brought big business, but also spent generously, and this way of giving New Year gifts warmed people's hearts... In the past thirty years, he has not met such a person.
A friend can give him enough face and personally give him valuable things of real money and silver.
"Hey, Boss Chen, to be honest, I am just a businessman, and a small businessman at that. There is a war outside, and the war has been going on for years, which makes me terrified. I am so scared that I can't sleep in the middle of the night, just for fear of a shell flying over.
If you are confused, you will meet the Lord of Hell."
Tian Dongliu smiled bitterly, picked up the tea bowl and drank water.
"Yes, yes, the war has been going on for three months, and a letter from home is worth ten thousand dollars. People are living in troubled times, and there is nothing they can do about it!"
"Boss Chen, I think Jinan is really good. It is the thoroughfare between the north and the south, the transfer station between Beijing and Shanghai, and the black and white rivers and lakes all pass through here. Besides, you can take the train from here to Qingdao, and from Qingdao to the sea, go east
Go to Japan, go south to Shanghai, and then go to Nanyang... It's convenient, so convenient! Opening a restaurant here is definitely a good business..."
These words speak volumes about Chen Baoxiang’s thoughts.
He is a true Jinan native, so of course he is happy when others praise Jinan.
According to Tian Dongliu's wishes, the restaurant was opened and friends in Peiping and Shanghai were asked to distribute more advertising flyers to make it famous.
"We are the first floor of Shandong cuisine. We don't seek the most expensive, but seek the best, high quality and low price. Customers come first. Boss Chen, only you can do this. Hehe, to be honest, before I met you, I also
I have seen seven or eight restaurant owners, all of whom are old gangsters, old youtiaos, watermelons dropped in the oil basket - old slickers... They are too smart, I can't play with them, and I am afraid of being plotted by others, so I can only find you.
Hehehehehe..."
Tian Dongliu told the truth. Although the words were unpleasant, Chen Baoxiang felt a stone fall to the ground.
Before, he didn't understand that such a good thing could happen to him. It turned out that he took advantage of being "honest, honest, not lazy, greedy and slippery".
When Tian Dongliu was sent out, the number of people on the street increased. Everyone was carrying snacks, raw chickens and other new year gifts in their hands, and they were all visiting relatives.
A few children were setting off firecrackers on the street corner, running and screaming, and the crackling sound kept coming.
Tian Dongliu rubbed his hands and sighed: "Jinan is slowly coming back to life. Fighting is a matter for the south. It is better for us in the north to settle down and live a good life. No matter who occupies Jinan, the people have to live, and so do the Japanese.
People have to eat, right?"
"Food is the most important thing for the people. Yes, people are made of iron rice and steel. If they don't eat for one meal, they will be hungry. Yes, that's right..."
He watched Tian Dongliu go westward, and gradually felt confident in his heart.
Returning to the house, he called all the family over.
Seeing the pig's head, Chuanwu smiled brightly: "Dad, the pig's head you bought? You want to make pig skin jelly, right?"
Chen Baoxiang makes pig skin jelly and pig head jelly every New Year.
The pig skin and pig head are cooked and divided into two parts, one part is sprinkled with soybeans and the other part is sprinkled with peanuts. For the same pig head jelly, beans and peanuts have different tastes and different nutrients.
Boil two large pots of aspic and eat it from the first day of the lunar month to the second day of the second lunar month when the dragon raises its head.
"Mother Xiu'er, put the grate on the stove and burn the pig hair first."
Liu Yue'e inserted the four stove hooks into the charcoal fire and placed the pig's head on the chopping board.
The hook strips were red-hot, so she pulled one out and pushed it forward against the pig skin, burning all the pig hairs.
There was a sizzling sound, and a burnt smell wafted into the store.
When Chen Baoxiang smelled this familiar smell, the thought of "It's the New Year, a new atmosphere, and we will work hard after the new year" spontaneously came to mind.
He liked the smell of roasted pig hair, which filled him with motivation.
Xiu'er also wanted to take action, but Liu Yue'e quickly stopped her: "Good boy, you can't move. If you burn your hand, you won't be able to hold the pen and write."
"Mom, I want to learn too."
"Good boy, you go learn embroidery and sewing, don't learn these menial jobs."
Chen Baoxiang blurted out: "Yes, you want to learn embroidery, I will send you to Yuqian cheongsam shop -"
When these words came out, the whole family was stunned.
He is a cook, and Yuqian Cheongsam Shop is a place where dignitaries go, so the two are unrelated. If there is no considerable relationship, he shouldn't say this.
"Really, dad? Yuqian's cheongsam shop on Furong Street is a famous business in Jinan... You know them, that's great, I want to learn to make cheongsam..."
Chen Baoxiang knew that he had said something wrong, but what he said was like thrown water, and it was impossible to take it back.
He smiled: "Okay, I'll ask some other time."
Liu Yue'e looked at him, her eyes full of questions.
"Take good care of the pig's head, especially the ears and eyes, burn it twice more, leaving no hair roots, and then scrape it twice with a kitchen knife..."
He kept giving instructions, feeling a little guilty, afraid that Liu Yue'e would ask something.
"Master, I haven't asked yet, who gave the pig head to you?"
Chen Baoxiang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly explained what happened to Tian Dongliu. He took out the twenty oceans and gave them to Liu Yue'e.
Chuanwu jumped up with joy: "Dad, our family is about to become rich! If you open a big hotel, I will be the boss. I won't carry boxes for the Japanese anymore. I will work as a waiter in our hotel, serving dishes."
It’s light and life is decent!”
"This kid already has his boss, but he still works as a waiter?"
Liu Yue'e has been in the store for a long time, so she has seen the world and knows what "opening a restaurant" means.
Especially opening a big hotel in a place like Daguanyuan, where businessmen and wealthy people gather together, is a step to the sky for the Chen family.