Chapter 294 Arrival in Shanghai

Yue Ning sat on the sofa, resting her head on the shoulder of her eldest cousin's wife. She was a little plump and soft, and it was very comfortable to lean on her.

The eldest cousin's wife listened carefully to how her two younger sisters-in-law were going to manage people.

"Oh, I can only take care of your brother and Junjun in this life, how can I take care of others?" Zhang Qiufen's face was full of worry, and she felt overwhelmed.

At first, she just wanted to open a noodle restaurant to find something to do, but now, Ningning and Huiyi both want her to take charge of Ning Xiaochu's business in Shanghai.

She studied at Ning Xiaochu in Hong Kong for a whole month and got a clear understanding of the basic situation. She was planning to return to Shanghai to prepare for opening a store.

She originally planned to demolish a section of the wall in front of Qiaojia Garden and convert it into a storefront. However, after a field investigation, the people sent by Ningning said that although the south wall of Qiaojia Garden faces the street, it is located in a quiet area in a busy area and is not suitable for operating fast-turnover restaurants. It is more suitable for building high-end restaurants.

Since Ning Ning said no, then it must be impossible. After all, no matter what you do, you can never do a business that loses money. She even planned to give up this business.

Unexpectedly, Ningning called again and told her that someone would accompany her to Jinhua Hotel to discuss matters related to the Ning Xiaochu brand's entry into Shanghai.

Considering that the eldest cousin's wife was going to open a store, Yue Ning specially asked Yang Zhijie to go there. After all, the location of the store is crucial. Even if it is on the same block, the customer flow on the left and right sides may differ by more than twice. Qiaojia Garden is a residential area with an excellent location, but if you want to open a fast food restaurant, this amount of customer flow is simply not enough to support the operation of the store.

While staying at Jinhua Hotel, Yang Zhijie took a fancy to a row of shops on the side of the hotel. Moreover, he learned from the complaints of the guests that Shanghai lacked clean, simple and affordable hotels. Although the noodles and wontons of those state-owned snack shops tasted good, the environment and service were not satisfactory. In addition, most business travelers did not want to look for restaurants like headless flies.

Jinhua Hotel is located in a busy street, with its side door facing a commercial street. After asking around, Yang Zhijie learned that the row of shops at the side door belonged to Jinhua Hotel and were currently assigned by its superiors to the Municipal Food Factory No. 2 for use as stores. This shop is only a dozen minutes’ walk from Qiao Family Garden.

Isn't the superior department of Jinhua Hotel the Shanghai Second Commercial Bureau? Thinking of this, Yue Ning hurriedly called Director Li of the Shanghai Second Commercial Bureau, hoping to rent a shop to open a noodle restaurant.

When Director Li heard that she was interested in opening Ning Kitchen in Shanghai, he was immediately excited.

Director Li mentioned that when he visited Japan, he found that there were often long queues in front of Ning Xiaochu in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and the customer flow far exceeded those of foreign fast food restaurants. In addition, Ning Xiaochu is very popular in Hong Kong and Japan. He originally planned to find Yue Ning to discuss the introduction of the Ning Xiaochu brand. Now that Yue Ning took the initiative to come to him, it was really what he wanted.

Things have developed far beyond our expectations. At first, we just wanted to help our cousin's wife open a noodle shop, but now we have to set up a joint venture. This situation is like originally just wanting to buy a bicycle, but ended up buying a BMW. It is really unexpected.

But now, Ning Xiaochu brand is developing very fast, and Yue Ning is facing the problem of insufficient staffing. Moreover, she had promised to help Da Tangsao to open a store, but now Ning Xiaochu has to settle in Shanghai in advance, which makes her feel a little sorry for Da Tangsao.

After much thought, she realized that when her eldest cousin's wife was studying in Hong Kong, Yue Ning had a deep relationship with her. She was a reliable person, not only a fast learner, but also had high emotional intelligence. Therefore, Yue Ning made a bold decision to let her eldest cousin's wife serve as the Hong Kong representative of Ning Xiaochu Shanghai.

The eldest cousin's wife was shocked when she heard the news. She was just bored at home and wanted to find something to do, but she didn't want to cause trouble to the streets that were already crowded with people returning to Shanghai, so she thought of opening a small shop. She never thought of being the Hong Kong representative of Ning Xiaochu. This sudden arrangement really scared her!

Cui Huiyi often travels between Hong Kong City and Shanghai, and Lide is the second largest shareholder of Ning Xiaochu. Yue Ning asks her to help persuade the eldest sister-in-law.

The eldest cousin's wife kept shaking her head at this matter, but Qiao Jinxing kept persuading her, saying that this was a rare opportunity. Since her two younger brothers and sisters-in-law, who were well-known big bosses in Hong Kong, recognized her abilities, she would definitely be able to do the job.

In this way, the eldest cousin's wife was "forced to do something unpleasant". Although Yue Ning sent the first store manager of Ning Xiaochu in Gangcheng, now the director of Ning Xiaochu brand store operations, to guide the eldest cousin's wife, she was still worried. It is said that she lost two kilograms because she could not eat.

This time, Yue Ning and Cui Huiyi came again to talk to the eldest sister-in-law and resolve her concerns.

After finishing the business, Cui Huiyi suddenly sat up when she heard the eldest sister-in-law say this, and asked curiously: "Sister-in-law, please share your experience. How do you manage the eldest brother so well?"

The eldest cousin's wife replied a little shyly: "Just say what he likes to hear."

Cui Huiyi was immediately deflated when she heard this. Ning Ning had taught her this trick a long time ago, but it had no effect on Qiao Junshen. It was like throwing a meat bun at a dog, and there was no return.

"Jun Shen is such a shameless guy." Cui Huiyi complained angrily.

"Then why do you have to be so shameless?" The eldest cousin's wife looked at her and continued, "Behind closed doors, between men and women, it all depends on who is more shameless. Even though your eldest brother usually looks honest and decent, he just falls for my tricks and loves to hear me say dirty things. The dirtier, the better he likes it."

Yue Ning immediately became interested when he heard this, and asked excitedly: "Sister-in-law, what kind of dirty words are you saying?"

"You've come back from the northwest. When your team holds meetings, don't the men and women tell dirty jokes?" The eldest cousin's wife glanced at her and asked.

"He said it as if he was telling a joke. But I just can't understand, how could such a gentle man like me like to listen to such vulgar words?" Yue Ning asked puzzledly.

The eldest cousin's wife said proudly: "Let me tell you..."

As she talked, the eldest cousin's wife became more and more interested and began to share her own way of controlling her husband. Yue Ning listened attentively, with his mouth half open, and couldn't help but imagine the appearance of the usually well-mannered eldest cousin when he listened to the eldest cousin's wife's dirty talk.

"Right! Between husband and wife, there is nothing that can't be solved by lying in bed. If it doesn't work once, then lie down twice. Anyway, he is the one who is tired, not us. We farmers are strong..."

My eldest cousin's wife also said that when my eldest cousin heard her talk about these things, he didn't react on the surface, but the tips of his ears turned red. If she suddenly stopped talking, my eldest cousin would still try to get her to talk indirectly.

Yue Ning couldn't help but put Qiao Junxian into the situation. The more he thought about it, the more interesting it became.

Cui Huiyi looked at Yue Ning, who was full of excitement. Yue Ning and her eldest cousin's wife had similar personalities, and her eldest cousin and Qiao Junxian were also somewhat similar, but Qiao Junshen was completely different, and was very thick-skinned. Why did she choose the one with the thickest skin in the Qiao family?

The eldest sister-in-law was beaming with joy, and suddenly she said, "Zhang Qiufen, what are you talking about with your sisters?"

Qiao Jinxing, wearing an apron and looking sullen, appeared at the door. Zhang Qiufen quickly stood up and walked over to him, saying, "We women are just talking privately, why are you joining in the fun?"

"I thought you were listening carefully to your sisters teaching you skills, but I didn't expect..." Qiao Jinxing said in a low voice as he pulled her out.

Zhang Qiufen leaned close to his ear and whispered something. Qiao Jinxing's face instantly turned red, but then he regained his serious expression and said, "Pay attention to your image as the eldest sister-in-law in front of your younger brothers and sisters."

"I know. I'm only saying this to you." Zhang Qiufen rolled her eyes and said.

She didn't control her voice when she said this, and Yue Ning and Cui Huiyi heard it clearly. They followed her out with a smile and shouted in unison, "Brother."

"The meal is ready, let's go downstairs and eat." Qiao Jinxing responded with a little embarrassment.

Everyone went downstairs together and saw the old lady playing with Junjun in the living room.

Seeing them coming down, the old lady patted Junjun on the head and said, "Junjun, it's time to eat."

Yue Ning saw Uncle Qiao and asked, "Where's Auntie?"

"She has a complicated surgery today and will definitely not be able to come back." Uncle Qiao replied.

The old lady invited everyone to sit in the restaurant and said, "Come and eat. These are all authentic Shanghai side dishes. Ningning, Huiyi, don't be polite!"

Yue Ning immediately spotted the yellow sauce on the table. It was a dish she often ate when she was studying in Shanghai in her previous life.

"Sister, this yellow sauce is really delicious. You probably haven't eaten it before, right? Come and try it."

"Yes! This yellow sauce is the specialty of this father and son." The old lady said with a smile.

Cui Huiyi picked up one and took a bite. The flexible outer layer of bean curd skin absorbed the salty and sweet sauce. The minced meat wrapped inside was mixed with crispy and tender bamboo shoots. Every bite was accompanied by a crisp "crunch" sound.

"I have a question. This is clearly meat wrapped in bean curd skin, so why is it called yellow sauce?" Cui Huiyi asked Yue Ning puzzledly.

Yue Ning was stunned. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that everyone had always called it that, and no one had ever dug into the reason. This dish uses tofu skin to wrap minced meat. Depending on the season, bamboo shoots or water chestnuts are added to the minced meat, and then rock sugar and soy sauce are added to cook. When the flavors of the soy sauce and rock sugar are completely infiltrated into the tofu skin, the unique rich and red sauce flavor of Shanghai cuisine is achieved.

"I don't know either." Even many Shanghai locals can't explain it.

“But it does taste good.”

Yue Ning then recommended to Cui Huiyi: "Try this shredded pork."

"This is just shredded pork and cabbage! The aunt in our factory cafeteria in Shanghai loves to make this," Cui Huiyi said, "She makes it about four or five times a week."

"When supplies were scarce, Chinese cabbage was easy to buy, and everyone felt satisfied when they added a little bit of shredded pork." The eldest lady of the Qiao family explained, "If it was simply called Chinese cabbage and shredded pork, it wouldn't sound appetizing, but calling it 'mushy shredded pork' actually makes people feel the happiness of eating meat."

"This mandarin fish is very fresh. Ningning and Huiyi, eat more." Uncle Qiao warmly invited them to eat fish.

"Uncle, don't be polite, just try it." Yue Ning responded.

During the meal, Yue Ning also took the time to discuss with his eldest cousin matters related to the equipment that the company was about to import.

Yue Ning had stayed in Yuecheng for four or five days before leaving for Shanghai. Yue Ning had always considered herself a child of Yuecheng, and the leaders of Yuecheng did not consider her an outsider.

During this trip to Shanghai, they were treated as Hong Kong businessmen by government departments and received a high-level reception.

Yue Ning even had the honor of meeting with the deputy mayor in charge of industry. She assured on the spot that she would fully play her role, build a bridge of communication between foreign and mainland enterprises, and do her best to serve mainland enterprises.

Their important future customer is the General Electric Company, which plans to import a series of advanced equipment.

Qiao Jinxing was promoted to the Electric General Company to be responsible for the introduction of equipment, which was due to his outstanding ability and the Qiao family in Gangcheng behind him. Gangcheng was the import and transshipment place for these equipment, and Yue Ning came here to connect with them.

After talking about work and having dinner, Yue Ning took Cui Huiyi's car to J University to visit Professor Zhu.

When Professor Zhu learned that Yue Ning was going to bring along the students from Hong Kong who were helping to translate materials, he insisted on treating everyone to a meal.

At the dinner table, Pang Qiang and others mentioned that Yue Ning had been interviewed by the school twice for helping to translate materials from the mainland, and Professor Zhu felt full of guilt.

Upon seeing this, Yue Ning immediately showed off his ability to climb up the ladder, and talked about how he took this opportunity to remind the school directors that City University of Hong Kong should recruit more students from the mainland and increase financial support for mainland students.

As he was talking, Yue Ning suddenly realized that the company was currently lacking talents with both a mechanical professional background and a mainland background. If J University students went to Hong Kong to study and then worked in the company in the future, wouldn't this problem be solved?

She proposed to hold a seminar at the school to introduce the many advantages of studying in Hong Kong. With the help of Professor Zhu, the seminar was finally scheduled to be held this afternoon.