Chapter 101

Tianxianan Hutong.

Two boys ran side by side in a hoop rolling competition.

Three boys ran beside them, cheering them on.

The iron ring rolled across the ground with a crackling sound and approached the entrance of the alley.

The boy who reached the entrance of the alley first stopped and shouted like a cow: "I win!"

He had just finished speaking when he saw a large three-wheeled cart turning into the alley.

There was nothing unusual about the three-wheeled cart, but what was unusual was that there was a large cardboard box on it.

Their attention was drawn to the packaging boxes, and the five boys no longer cared about winning or losing.

They went directly to the tricycle, looked at it curiously for a while and asked: "What is this?"

The cyclist hasn't answered yet.

One of the boys said, "Can't you see the word 'refrigerator'? You are blind!"

Refrigerators are rare items and they have only seen them in large shopping malls.

Normally when you buy popsicles, they are placed in wooden boxes and wrapped in quilts before being sold.

When they found out it was a refrigerator, they became even more curious. The five boys stopped playing with the iron rings, wiped the sweat off their heads, and all followed the cart to see what the refrigerator looked like.

When they were almost at Courtyard No. 8, the five of them shouted one after another: "The refrigerator is coming!"

When they shouted like this, even the adults in the alley heard it and came over to join in the fun.

Chuxia and Tang Haikuan stopped on their bicycles behind a tricycle.

Then Tang Haikuan followed the instructions of the person who delivered the refrigerator, and worked with him to move the refrigerator off the truck, then moved it into the restaurant and placed it in the most suitable place.

***

In the inner courtyard of Courtyard No. 8.

Han Feipeng rushed into the house and said to Wang Cuiying, panting, "Grandma, he bought a refrigerator."

Wang Cuiying subconsciously didn't believe it and said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Han Feipeng said: "I'm not talking nonsense, I saw it all, the tricycle brought it back and moved it into the house, there are a lot of people watching outside, it's really lively."

I pricked up my ears and listened, and there was indeed a lot of noise outside.

Wang Cuiying and Li Lan looked at each other, then stood up from the table together, leaned on the edge of the table, and went out to the front yard.

When I walked out of the front yard and into the alley, I saw that the restaurant was already crowded with people.

I tried to look inside to see the refrigerator but couldn't see it. I only heard someone say from inside the door: "Did your family buy a refrigerator so soon?"

People from the Health and Epidemic Prevention Station had just come yesterday afternoon. They thought that his family would have to worry about this matter for a while, considering the expensive item like a refrigerator.

Unexpectedly, the refrigerator was pulled back so quickly.

The person who helped pull the refrigerator back had already left.

Tang Haikuan and Chu Xia walked out and slowly stopped the people who were watching the fun from leaving.

Tang Haikuan said: "That's right? We can't delay the opening of the restaurant."

Someone else said, "I didn't realize your family is so rich."

If his family really has so much money, it would be hard to explain.

Tang Haikuan said, "It's not that my family is rich, it's the Industry and Commerce Bureau that guaranteed our family, allowing us to get the refrigerator first and open the restaurant first, and then slowly pay it back later."

So that's how it is. The government is making it convenient for us.

Someone else said, "This refrigerator is worth three or four years of salary for an average person. How long will it take? If I had it, I would be so worried that I would not be able to sleep."

Tang Haikuan also smiled and continued: "Don't worry, if I don't give it to you, you don't have to worry."

As he spoke, he stopped everyone from the restaurant, turned around and locked the door. Without staying in the alley any longer, he went through the main gate and returned to the inner courtyard with Chuxia.

The onlookers gradually dispersed, and Wang Cuiying and Li Lan also entered the house.

Sitting down at the table, Wang Cuiying said, "No wonder, I bought it on credit."

Li Lan also felt that owing so much money was enough to make her unable to sleep just thinking about it.

She continued, "It's a waste of time, effort and money. It's better to stay at home and do nothing. I don't know what Uncle Haikuan and Aunt Xuemei think. They used to be the most down-to-earth people."

Wang Cuiying snorted, "His family got into a good university in early summer, and his friend is the son of a big factory director. Now he has a house and a yard. He thinks he is superior to others and is doing things more and more unreasonable. To be honest, he laughed at me for being illiterate. When Xu Lihua asked him a question, he yelled at people to move out and not live in his house. Who does his family take seriously now? Just wait and see. Sooner or later, his family will cry over this matter."

***

After the problem with the refrigerator was solved, people from the Health and Epidemic Prevention Station came again.

After making sure there would be no problems and seeing that the noodle sauce Chuxia was almost ready, Chuxia and Tang Haikuan discussed and decided on the opening time of the restaurant.

The first day of opening had to be a day when most people in the city were free, so Chuxia and Tang Haikuan set the opening date on Sunday.

After the time was set, he told the reporters who were following the news.

Everything that can be prepared in advance is prepared.

On the day before the opening, Chuxia and Tang Haikuan got up before dawn and went to the market to buy vegetables and meat according to the menu that had been set in advance.

Because there are a lot of things to buy, I need to use a bicycle to pull them back in batches.

After buying a batch of things, Tang Haikuan rode his bike to deliver them back home first, while Chuxia stayed in the market to continue selecting the remaining ingredients that needed to be purchased.

The sun rose above the roof in the eastern sky, and Tang Haikuan came back again.

This time when I came back, I happened to meet Lin Xiaohan at the entrance of the alley.

The two stopped the car and greeted each other. Tang Haikuan smiled and asked Lin Xiaohan: "Xiao Lin, why are you here?"

Lin Xiaohan said to him, "I saw in the newspaper that the restaurant will open tomorrow. I came to see if there is anything I can do to help. I'm afraid you and Xia Xia may not be able to handle it."

Tang Haikuan subconsciously wanted to politely say no.

But after hesitating for two or three seconds, he changed his expression and said in a casual tone: "Okay, wait for me, I'll go back and unload the things in the car, and then go to the market."

Lin Xiaohan waited at the entrance of the alley for a while.

Wait until Tang Haikuan comes, then ride the bike to the market with Tang Haikuan.

I arrived at the market and found Chuxia buying vegetables.

When Chu Xia saw Lin Xiaohan, she immediately smiled and greeted him, "Why are you here?"

Lin Xiaohan naturally repeated to her what he had said to Tang Haikuan.

Tang Haikuan had already brought the people over, so Chuxia didn't say anything else. She continued to shop and bought all the remaining things she needed, and then went home with Tang Haikuan and Lin Xiaohan.

It was almost noon when they got home, and the three of them just heated up something to eat.

After dinner, they did not rest but started to pick and wash vegetables, and process pork and other ingredients that could be processed in advance, making final preparations for tomorrow's opening.

Wu Xuemei works the early shift at the grocery store, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

After returning from get off work at two o'clock in the afternoon, she naturally did not sit idle and helped to clean up.

So Chuxia, Lin Xiaohan, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei divided the work and were busy, either by the stone trough in the yard or in the restaurant's kitchen, handling their own tasks.

Because the relationship between the east and west rooms was no longer as harmonious as before, Xu Lihua, Wang Cuiying, Li Lan and Su Yun were all at home, but they didn't come out to say anything and just pretended not to see anything.

Naturally, he was afraid that he might not say the right thing and be scolded by Tang Haikuan again.

Before, Xu Lihua just asked a question, but Tang Haikuan gave her such a big favor.

Not speaking to the Tang family doesn't mean you won't talk behind their backs.

Seeing the Tang family busy all day, Wang Cuiying muttered during dinner in the evening: "Preparing so many dishes, aren't you afraid that they won't be sold and will rot at home?"

Hearing this, Han Lei asked curiously: "How much have you prepared?"

Li Lan continued, "We prepared a lot. I think it's too much. Normally, state-owned restaurants only have a few tables of people eating in a day. It would be too much to prepare ten or eight small tables."

Han Lei tried to think about it, but he couldn't quite understand it.

So he smiled and said, "Uncle Haikuan and his family are really..."

I couldn't think of what word to follow for a long time.

Han Qingtian added calmly, "It floated away."

Wang Cuiying added: "The higher you float, the harder you fall. You will know how to cry when you fall tomorrow."

Of course, the opening of Tang’s Restaurant has nothing to do with them.

They just gossip behind others' backs and don't bother themselves by meddling in other people's affairs.

When it's time to go to bed at night, turn off the lights.

The next day was Sunday. Wang Cuiying, Han Qingtian, Han Lei and Li Lan did not sleep in. The four of them got up at about the same time and went to the yard to wash together.

However, just as the four of them arrived in the yard to get water, before they turned on the faucet, they heard a noisy sound coming from the front.

The four of them were a little confused, so they put down the enamel toothbrush cup and went to the front to take a look.

Walking to the gate, Han Lei reached out to open it.

As soon as the gate was opened, I saw that the outside of the gate was crowded with people. There were groups of three talking, some were holding children and playing with them, and some were holding bicycles with people sitting on the back seats.

The four members of the Han family were suddenly stunned when they saw the scene in front of them.

Thinking about the restaurant opening today, Wang Cuiying smiled and asked the people standing by the door: "The restaurant hasn't officially opened yet, why are you here so early to watch the fun?"

The person standing by the gate said with a smile: "Auntie, you are such a jokester. What are you looking at? We are here to eat. Fortunately, we came early, otherwise we wouldn't be able to get a seat at the entrance of the alley."

Hearing this, the four members of the Han family were stunned again.

Then the four of them stretched their heads and looked outside, only to see that the entire alley, whether on the left or right side, was packed with people, so dense that they couldn't see out at all.

I was shocked by the scene before me.

The four of them had dazed expressions on their faces and it took them a long time to come back to their senses.