146 Guests flock in like clouds
The newly purchased storefront is located about 100 meters down a small street between the Yue Garment Factory and the Epidemic Prevention Station. There used to be a sign for the Changhu Street Health Center on the wall, but after the building was returned, the health center moved and the sign was removed.
At the end of May 1982, the original Changhu Street Health Clinic was transformed into three storefronts, with three wooden signs hanging from left to right above them:
Changhu Agricultural Products Store, Changhu Barber Shop, Mingjia Restaurant.
To save money, the words on the wooden sign were written by Xie Zhenhua, and then a woodcarver was hired to make the sign.
These days, opening a business isn't a big deal. Just hang up the signboard, open the door, and post a big red paper sign at the entrance listing what's sold and the prices—that's considered opening.
The opening day was a Sunday.
Supplier Guan Weiguo also rode his tricycle into the city early in the morning with his two brothers-in-law. They didn't have time to come to Ginkgo Alley and went straight to the shop. Several "bosses" arrived at the shop at almost the same time as him.
Lin Yiku was too busy to stay home and support the business today, so she left half an hour early, went to the store for a while, and then went to work.
Guan Yuehe slept at home until after eight o'clock before getting up.
"Yuehe, aren't you going to help out at your shop? Oh dear, it's packed with people!"
Aunt Hu came back carrying a basket of eggs. When she saw other neighbors coming to see what she had bought, she lifted the cloth covering the basket and roughly told them the prices at the vegetable shop.
The prices are similar to those at the local vegetable market and the newly built farmers' markets in the suburbs. The advantage is that this privately owned vegetable shop is nearby, making it much more convenient for those living nearby. Plus, you can choose the vegetables yourself, unlike at the vegetable market where the salesperson picks them for you, and if you end up with bad ones, it's your bad luck.
Privately owned vegetable shops also have major drawbacks: they are strictly regulated by the Industry and Commerce Bureau, limiting their size and number of shops. They offer a limited variety of vegetables, and eggs are scarce; today's supply is already sold out. Meat is not available at these shops.
But everyone knows that if you want to buy meat, you should ask privately.
Guan Yuehe wasn't in a hurry. She had seen the storefront; it was tiny, and even two people would feel cramped inside. Her second brother was there today, and if she squeezed in, it would only cause trouble.
People weren't that interested in the vegetable shop; they all asked about Grandpa Ming's small restaurant.
"Of course!"
Aunt Hu: "Master Quan and his wife both went to help out. There was no one in the barbershop, and Lao Guan even went over to help wipe the tables. They were too busy to handle everything, and the line of people waiting to eat noodles stretched out onto the street."
The neighbors weren't surprised. "Everyone in the factory praises Grandpa Ming's cooking skills."
Exactly, with so many customers, they have to wait in a long line just to get a bite.
Someone sighed, "Why doesn't our alley have a storefront like this? It would be so much better if it opened in our alley; we'd have an advantage in the queues!"
Guan Yuehe thought so too, but Ginkgo Hutong simply didn't have the necessary conditions.
After having breakfast at home, Guan Yuehe didn't ride her bike. Instead, she walked the rest of the way. Just as she passed the entrance of Zhuoyue Garment Factory, she ran into Gu Mannian and Gu Yu.
"Your sister is busy with her studies and can't come back today," Gu Mannian explained.
Guan Yuehe didn't take it to heart. Opening a shop at home wasn't a big deal. Whether she came back or not was the same. It wasn't worth the trouble of going back and forth, which would be tiring and interfere with her studies.
Just as Gu Yu was about to rush over, Gu Mannian grabbed her by the back of her collar and said, "Walk properly!"
Last night at dinner, Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku both said they wanted to quit drinking, and Gu Mannian, being an experienced person, guessed that they were planning to have a child. Last night, I told Gu Yu not to pounce on her aunt too hard, and she agreed, but after one night, she completely forgot.
"Ouch!" Gu Yu tried to break free, but Guan Yuehe pinched her chubby cheeks again.
The chubby girl has quite a bit of energy. If someone with less strength were to be charged at like that, they would definitely fall back a few steps.
—
Aunt Hu's assessment was still conservative.
The queue really did stretch out onto the main street, with people leaning against the right-hand wall, leaving most of the path open for others to walk.
But when she got to the storefront, she found another queue that stretched all the way to the end of the small street.
The small restaurant was so popular that the vegetable shop and barbershop next door looked very deserted.
Guan Aiguo personally advertised at the entrance of his barbershop, "On opening day, perms are only four yuan! Our state-owned factory barbers have top-notch skills!"
A perm at a state-run barbershop costs at least five yuan, and barbershops in large factories require a perm invoice.
People generally believe that hair salons in large factories have better perming equipment and techniques, and are more willing to go to those salons for perming.
When Guan Aiguo was said to be a hairdresser at a large state-owned factory, many people became interested. But upon closer questioning, they realized that this hairdresser was the same young man soliciting customers in front of them. They hesitated again.
"Hey! Just go ask around in Ginkgo Alley, I was the first hairdresser at the Five Star Automobile Factory Barber Shop! Today is the only day that Master Guan is personally giving you a perm, you won't be able to find me at other times!"
Still, no one stepped forward.
Guan Yuehe couldn't bear to look at him. Dressed like that, people would probably think he was a lewd person.
Before Guan Aiguo noticed her, she strode towards the vegetable shop on the left.
It wasn't that the vegetable shop was deserted; rather, many neighbors came to buy today, eager to try something new, and bought all the vegetables and eggs early on. Also, Jiang Guiying was worried about unsold produce going to waste, so she asked Guan Weiguo to deliver less.
Jiang Guiying was watching Aunt Fang keep accounts, her face beaming with joy. Afraid that people outside would hear, she whispered to Guan Weiguo, "Send more in the future, there's no worry about not being able to sell them all."
Guan Weiguo nodded happily.
The agricultural products sold by Jiang Guiying and Aunt Fang, as well as some of the ingredients from Uncle Ming's place, were purchased and delivered by Guan Weiguo and his two brothers-in-law from other production teams.
"Why do we have to go to other production teams to buy from them? Can't the production team with a good harvest buy from them?"
“The brigade can only collect a small amount,” Guan Weiguo explained. “In early May, the brigade established the Fengshou Agricultural Products Cooperative and signed supply contracts with Zhuoyue Garment Factory and Changhu Street State-owned Restaurant in the name of the collective. At present, the brigade can only guarantee the supply to these two places. As for the rest, we still have to complete the national purchase task and keep some for our own consumption. We can’t afford to sell any more.”
But now that they've seen the orders the cooperative has secured, the villagers in the brigade have started to have ideas. Everyone is thinking about growing more vegetables to sell in the city, so that by this time next year, the brigade will be able to supply more vegetables.
Gu Mannian was interested in the cooperative. "How will the money collected be calculated?"
"The cooperative is essentially a purchasing station. Villagers get a better price selling their goods to the cooperative than to a purchasing station, and the cooperative pockets the difference. The remaining money from the cooperative is used to build the brigade headquarters and repair roads..."
When Gu Mannian gave Guan Weiguo advice, he thought that once the cooperative was established, Guan Weiguo would have a job and could receive a monthly salary.
Unexpectedly, the cooperative was successfully established, and two companies even signed contracts, but Guan Weiguo's "job" was gone?!
Guan Weiguo scratched his head and laughed, "It's not bad now. I get a salary from the cooperative, so why would I buy and sell it myself?"
As he spoke, he mysteriously covered his mouth and whispered, "Working for yourself earns much more than a dead-end job."
Running back and forth every day is a bit tiring, but it pays well.
The Administration for Industry and Commerce strictly regulates the sale of industrial products. As for agricultural and sideline products in rural areas, as long as the national purchase quota is met, the rest can be sold in urban and rural farmers' markets, supply and marketing cooperatives, or individual businesses with relevant sales permits. As long as prices are not inflated, there is no problem.
So when Jiang Guiying said she wanted to open a shop selling agricultural products, he brought along his two brothers-in-law to help him collect vegetables and eggs and deliver them to Jiang Guiying.
Even if they have extra, it's fine; they can take them to the family compound and sell them secretly.
Forget about rural farmers' markets; setting up a stall requires a certificate from the village committee and approval from the industry and commerce department, and it's difficult to secure a stall even under an individual's name.
Since his second brother said that this way he could earn more, Gu Mannian didn't say anything more.
Looking at her second brother, whose face was flushed with joy, Guan Yuehe thought to herself: This might become a wealthy family in the future.
"What? What do you want to tell me?" Guan Weiguo turned around and saw his younger sister glaring at him, as if she had something important to say.
"When you make a lot of money in the future, treat me to dinner at Uncle Ming's restaurant." Guan Yuehe bluntly decided that her second brother would treat her.
Guan Weiguo readily agreed, "Sure, order the expensive stuff, whatever you want to eat, we'll order it."
Li Sheng, the brother-in-law's younger brother, was already tempted by the aroma of the restaurant ahead. "Brother-in-law, you should treat me too."
Guan Weiguo slapped him on the back of the head in an annoyed tone, "You make money too, why don't you offer to treat me?"
Guan Aiguo, who couldn't attract any customers, came over and overheard their conversation. "We'll talk about food later. Come here."
She hooked her arm around Li Sheng's neck and tried to pull him next door, saying she'd give him a free perm.
"Brother Aiguo, I almost didn't recognize you. Your outfit is really, uh, really fresh..." In their production team, everyone would definitely call him a good-for-nothing.
Li Sheng often went to the Fengshou Production Team. During the years when Guan Aiguo went to the countryside, he often went to the river with him to catch fish and shrimp.
Li Sheng couldn't connect Guan Aiguo at this moment with the Guan Aiguo he was when he went to the countryside as an educated youth.
"No, no, I don't want a perm. My dad will break my legs if I go back. Go find my cousin, he's going on a blind date soon, get him a perm."
Li Ming, afraid of being dragged to get his hair permed, dared not utter a sound: "......"
Guan Yuehe then remembered to ask, "Who usually gets their hair permed at the barbershop? My dad?"
Guan Aiguo is a factory worker. He can only come over to help out today or on his days off. In the future, the shop will still have to rely on his father.
Jiang Guiying couldn't help but laugh when she talked about it.
"Your dad went to the factory barbershop to learn from Aiguo, and Aiguo made him become his apprentice. Your dad beat him up."
Guan Yuehe: "...She deserves to be beaten."
After Aunt Fang finished keeping track of the accounts, seeing that there wasn't much else to do in the house, she urged them to go home and cool off.
The storefront was already small, and with everyone crowding in, it was stuffy. In just a short while, Guan Yuehe's forehead was covered in sweat.
"It's unbearably hot this year." Guan Yuehe didn't plan to stay any longer and decided to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things before heading home.
"Really? I don't feel hot." Jiang Guiying touched her forehead and said with certainty, "You and Yiku are like two furnaces, only you feel hot."
It's alright in winter, as it keeps the bed warm, but it's a nightmare in summer.
Gu Mannian was also planning to go home, but when he turned around, he found that Gu Yu had run next door to look at hair perms. He had no choice but to follow her.
—
A small private restaurant opened near the epidemic prevention station, and the chef was originally a master chef from the car factory.
The news quickly spread throughout Beijing thanks to the efforts of the workers and their families at the Five Star Automobile Factory.
When Guan Yuehe was having lunch at work that day, she overheard her colleagues sitting around her discussing when they would take a day off to go out to eat.
Li Xuelian, who was sitting opposite her, also said that she would take her lover and children to try it this Sunday.
"Oh right, Yuehe, your family also works at a car factory. Have you ever eaten at this chef's restaurant? How was the food?"
"Ugh, yue!" Guan Yuehe's reaction was very strong.
Li Xuelian was stunned. "It doesn't taste good?"
Author's Note: The second update is a bit late [cat paw emoji]
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