In these places, every single item of tea is charged to you.

Small plates, teacups, and teaspoons are charged as one item, similar to the later tableware fee; tea leaves are charged separately; bamboo shoots with walnuts are a type of tea snack, like pea flour cake or glutinous rice cake, and are charged separately.

In addition, dried fruits such as sunflower seeds and cashews are charged separately, which is another expense.

Therefore, in Beijing in 1988, people generally preferred to treat others to a meal at a restaurant rather than offer them tea.

Places like Fatty's, which should be particular but are deliberately unconventional, are surprisingly popular among young people.

The term "young people" now refers not only to physical youth, but also to mental youth.

Anyone who can liberate their mind and is willing to accept new things can be called a young person.

Fatty is a young man, Chen Mengqi is a young man; Xu Damao is a young man, and Sha Zhu is a young man!

The future market trend illustrates another point: young people are the main consumers.

That's how it is at Fatty's place. Unlimited tea refills, free fruits and snacks. Many things that consumers in the catering industry take for granted can be imitated by major restaurants in Beijing in this era.

Now there's just a group of people who rely on Qilige for food.

They come as soon as the doors open each day, sit in the lobby, share a table with each other, and don't spend much. A cup of tea and a pot of wine are enough for them to sit all day.

However, one thing is certain: whenever Qilige introduces new dishes, or anything else that has never been seen before, these people will be the first to buy it.

Then I carefully considered how it was done, why it was done this way, and what impact the fat man's actions would have on Qilige's business in the next few days...

Once the research is complete, compile it into a written report, and then sell it to restaurants all over Beijing! These restaurants will even buy it!

When Yu Li found out, she almost called security to beat them all up...

But Fatty not only stopped Yu Li, but also took the initiative to greet these people and chat with them in a friendly manner.

Having completely baffled the group, the leader nervously approached him and said, "Fatty, you're a magnanimous man. Let's do this. It's not exactly ethical, but who told you to be so famous! Besides, we only dare to hang around in this main hall. We wouldn't dare touch your private rooms or the courtyard suites..."

First they praised the fat man, then they said they were very rule-abiding and wouldn't dare to cross the fat man's bottom line.

As it turned out, the fat man wasn't angry at all; instead, he bought some "information" from them.

After that, I called Liu Jing over and asked her to lead all the staff of Qilige in a serious study session.

Now, both Yu Li and the others were completely baffled, no one could figure out what the fat man was up to.

Seeing them scratching their heads in frustration, the fat man was practically bursting with laughter.

Aren't these the same people who later became online influencers who explored restaurants?

The difference is that online celebrities carry phones, while these guys carry pens...

These people are even more unreliable than "tap water" (i.e., they're paying out of their own pockets to promote the fat man all over Beijing. The effect is already better than advertising on TV.)

Why did the fat man chase them away?

Furthermore, by reviewing the intelligence they have gathered, we can learn from their experiences, improve our shortcomings, and ensure that Qilige always remains at the forefront.

"..."

But we've digressed. Let's get back to Li Huaide and Xu Damao.

Today, Li Huaide is treating, with You Fengxia in attendance. He didn't invite the Smiling Tiger, nor did he invite Li Ping, who had appeared before.

As the saying goes, no feast is complete without fish, and the fish at Qili Pavilion is notoriously expensive.

Unlike other restaurants in Beijing, Fatty always adheres to the principle that a fish should account for one-third of the total cost of a meal.

So sweet and sour carp is sold at this price, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish is sold at the same price, steamed shad, spicy and sour sturgeon, etc., are all priced the same.

Li Huaide ordered a spicy and sour sturgeon today, and the price almost made him lose his temper!

Goodness, that's over 30 yuan for a fish!

I wonder if any of you remember that at the beginning of this year, 1988, the government proposed the strategy of "price liberalization".

In the first half of the year, the prices of food, including meat, eggs, vegetables, and sugar, were liberalized in an effort to quickly straighten out the price system in the short term; by the end of July, the prices of famous cigarettes and liquors were also completely liberalized.

This has led to a general increase in the prices of these goods by 5 to 10 times!

Do you all remember the crosstalk that Niu Qun performed on the 1988 Spring Festival Gala? It was about how they came up with a clever excuse to eat roast duck.

So how much did a duck cost at Quanjude back then? 35 yuan!

Goodness, back in 1984, Huaihua's monthly salary was only 40 yuan, which was enough to buy a duck.

And this isn't even the most expensive one.

You've all heard of the "Big Three Dragons," right?

It opened in March 1983, specializing in high-end Cantonese cuisine, and was known as "the best Cantonese restaurant in Beijing" at the time.

The average cost per person at Da San Yuan is now 40-50 yuan! That means if 6 people come for a meal, the cost will be about 300 yuan!

So, Fatty only sells a sturgeon for a little over 30 yuan here, so don't think it's expensive.

Xu Damao really didn't intend to kill Li Huaide today.

As the factory manager of "Da Mao Electronics Factory", Xu Da Mao is now quite remarkable!

They have nearly a hundred workers under their command, and the proportion of engineering and technical personnel has increased from less than 1% in 1984 to 8.5% now.

The business has also evolved from producing spare parts to producing components specifically for televisions, radios, washing machines and color TVs.

It transformed from a small town enterprise and workshop into a true electronics factory.

While Cao Zhengyang, Fatty's brother-in-law, certainly contributed to this success, it was Xu Damao who truly made the factory bigger and stronger.

Back then, when Fatty wanted to start his own business, the first person he thought of to help him was Xu Damao. He was thick-skinned, ruthless, and resourceful. With a little training, he could become a regional director who could stand on his own.

However, Fatty doesn't do Amway, and Xu Damao doesn't think much of the catering industry.

So, it's a pity.

"..."

While other households were queuing up at 5 a.m. to ensure the market would supply raw meat at the original price all day, and while others were lining up with their resident purchase certificates and meat coupons to buy meat, Xu Damao was simply using a truck to haul pork directly from the meat processing plant!

Nowadays, the Xu family is the wealthiest family in the courtyard house. Even the fat man can't compare to them.

Having finally managed to outmaneuver the fat man, Xu Damao has been waking up laughing in the middle of the night lately.

He's always like a sunny, cheerful young man, so proud and confident.

Now, Xu Damao, in order to show off, simply uses Qilige as his canteen.

Once they return to the courtyard house, they have to eat two meals a day at Fatty's place. He won't even let Qin Jingru cook; he's that domineering.

Why did the old Plain Yellow Banner always look down on this and that in the past?

Because they think that they've seen and experienced so much, just like Xu Damao is now.