Master Zhou, do you remember? Director Wang's driver, he's almost at retirement age.
The two have had a good personal relationship over the years. Old Zhou is a very honest person, unlike Secretary Chen, who is full of tricks.
The two met at a small restaurant outside.
In the past year or two, small restaurants have sprung up everywhere, like mushrooms after rain.
Even the staff canteen of the Red Star Factory was contracted out to a private individual and turned into a company.
At first, everyone flocked to Wangfujing and Xidan, driving up shop rents to exorbitant levels and causing significant financial losses.
In this era, the most common sight was a street lined with restaurants, one after another, with Sichuan, Shandong, Cantonese, Huaiyang and other regional cuisines all available on this street.
Today you're having a grand opening sale, tomorrow I'm offering discounts, the day after tomorrow I'll have all the staff wear cheongsams and stockings—all sorts of marketing tactics are constantly being used…
In the TV series, Yu Li was able to survive in such a turbulent environment, which shows that she has a knack for doing business.
Today, the two of them found a Sichuan restaurant.
In Beijing, the cuisine is mainly modified. It's primarily the Beijing style, then there are other styles like Shanghai-style Sichuan cuisine, seafood Sichuan cuisine, and the most outrageous is... (The sentence is incomplete and ends abruptly).
Of course, there are authentic ones, like the Sichuan Guild Hall. But that's not a place for the average person. It still is, and it still will be.
Once the food and drinks were served, the fat man toasted Chef Zhou: "Brother, you never come here without a reason. Tell me, what brings you here today?"
Master Zhou chuckled: "You rascal... the spiritual guide asked me to ask you, are you having trouble making money? Do you need any help?"
The fat man put down his chopsticks: "Use it! It's just that it's not easy to operate in here, is it?"
"What's so difficult about it? The spiritual guide is about to retire anyway, so this is just a way to prepare you for the worst!"
The fat man was both amused and exasperated: "I can't admit to that! To be honest, I do have a shortfall of seventy or eighty thousand yuan."
Old Zhou nodded: "Okay, I'll tell the Spirit Guide later. Now that the business is settled, shall we go for a drink, you two?"
"Absolutely!" the fat man said, raising his glass. "Let's drink until we drop tonight!"
"..."
With Director Wang's help, Fatty finally managed to raise all the funds needed to open the shop.
He then had a brilliant idea: he got Old Wang, Aunt Pang, Liu Lan, Zhao Lao Er, and Shen Xuemei, who were willing to be laid off along with him, to become shareholders. This can be considered as pioneering the "shareholding system."
According to the original plan, the first joint-stock company would not have been established until July 1984. This was the later Tianqiao Co., Ltd.
However, Fatty's business is a family business, and they don't have the ability to issue stocks. At most, they can only try to do it secretly.
However, this action helped Aunt Fatty and the others make up their minds that they had no choice but to follow Fatty to the bitter end.
In the spring of 1981, Fatty, along with Lao Wang, Aunt Fatty, Liu Lan, Zhao Lao Er, Tian Kai, Zhao Long, Shen Xuemei, and others, were all laid off, leaving only Ma Hua behind for Sha Zhu.
Sha Zhu was so angry he was practically fuming!
The sudden resignation of so many people alarmed the entire Hongxing Factory.
Everyone's saying that Fatty and his friends have gone mad. They're just throwing away their secure jobs like that?
Even Director Liu came to talk to him first, saying, "Hey Fatty, haven't I treated you well?"
"Look at what you're saying, you've been so good to me!"
Factory Director Liu couldn't understand: "Then why did you resign?"
The fat man then told him about his decision to open his own restaurant.
※※※※※※
It's the 1980s now, and many things have changed.
For example, the release of the movie "The Man from Atlantis" made "Mike Harris" a household name across the country.
It is said that when a certain unit was selecting outstanding individuals, one of the ballots actually had the name "Mike Harris" written on it!
In the swimming pool, a new swimming style has quietly emerged, aptly named: the Mike style.
Do you all remember this iconic swimming style, where someone starts flipping their butt in the pool while swimming...?
Mike's popularity wasn't limited to the swimming pool; he also popularized another sport: frisbee.
That's right, it was later in the park when we all threw a frisbee into the distance, and a dog chased after it with incredible speed, jumped high, and caught it in its mouth.
Suddenly, the park was filled with young people wearing bell-bottoms playing frisbee.
One time, Fatty took Xu Jiang for a walk, and some clueless person threw a frisbee at Xu Jiang in an attempt to scare him.
Unexpectedly, Xu Jiang caught the spinning frisbee in his mouth. Then, wagging his tail and sticking out his tongue, he placed it at the fat man's feet and ran off into the distance, practically screaming "Throw it over here! Throw it over here!"
A group of young people stared blankly at the wooden stool, then looked at each other, wondering why the other person's face had suddenly turned into a dog's face?
It's said that from then on, these people never touched a frisbee again, even in their old age...
The changes of the times go far beyond these.
The first generation of youth idols after the reform and opening up was also born in this year. Teresa Teng, Liu Wen-cheng, and Lo Ta-yu, who are well-known to later generations, took to the stage from then on.
As the saying goes, men listen to Teresa Teng and women listen to Liu Wen-cheng—"singer" has become the newest and most fashionable word in the mouths of young people.
Teresa Teng became the dream girl of many men. Her tender and affectionate voice always captivated listeners.
Xu Damao was completely obsessed. He bought the cassette tapes at a high price and listened to them at home all day long.
Later, Sha Zhu also joined in the fun, and then, hey, Ben Lei Hu, Yu Qian, Yan Jiecheng, Li Xianying, and others all became loyal fans of Teresa Teng.
Yan Bugui then started spouting sarcasm again: "This is all decadent music."
But since 1977, who has paid any attention to him? If you're being polite, you call him "Third Uncle," but if you're not, he's just the oldest man in the courtyard.
Of all these men, only the fat guy didn't seem to care much.
Chen Yan asked him curiously, "Little brother, don't you like listening to Teresa Teng's songs?"
The fat man shook his head: "It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I've listened to too many pop songs, and they're too varied, so I'm getting tired of them."
Aesthetic fatigue? Another new term I've never heard of.
Absolutely. Fatty and his generation have witnessed the development and changes in our pop music.
From the very beginning of rock music, like Tang Dynasty, Black Panther, and Beyond;
Then came later love songs, such as "Goodbye Kiss" and "Forget Love Potion";
Later on, they weren't satisfied with just the mainland market. They looked abroad: Michael Jackson, Madonna, the Beatles, Celine Dion…
Xiao Dang asked the fat man curiously, "Uncle Fatty, do you have a favorite singer?"
Without hesitation, the fat man replied, "Yes, but I prefer to call her a music creator rather than a singer. She is Miyuki Nakajima."
Miyuki Nakajima? Who is this person? I've never heard of her before. Xiao Dang scratched his head.
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