Chapter 096
Chu Xia's face lit up, and she smiled and said, "What a coincidence, why are you here?"
Lin Xiaohan put the ice cream in her hand, sat down on the stone steps next to her and replied: "I came here specially to see you."
Because I have visited you during the Chinese New Year before, so I am no longer a stranger.
So he went to Chuxia's house first to look for her, and when he learned that she was not at home, he went to the grocery store to ask Wu Xuemei. Wu Xuemei told him that Chuxia should have come to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.
Chu Xia turned to look at him and asked again: "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Lin Xiaohan said, "Nothing much. We haven't seen each other for a while, so we just want to catch up."
Chu Xia smiled, "It seems that you value our revolutionary friendship very much."
Lin Xiaohan said: "That's right. After living for more than 20 years, having a friend like you, isn't that rare?"
Chuxia smiled again, then lowered her head and ate the ice cream without any hesitation.
After taking two bites, I felt refreshed and then felt the breeze under the tree.
After Chuxia had eaten a few bites of ice cream, Lin Xiaohan asked her, "Why are you here at the Industry and Commerce Bureau?"
Chuxia didn't answer with her mouth. She just took out the application form from the book and handed it to him.
Lin Xiaohan took the application, looked at it and said, "Opening a restaurant?"
Chu Xia nodded and said, "Well, they said that no one is willing to open a restaurant, and they don't know how to approve it for me, so I come here every day, hoping that they can help me report it to the higher-ups."
Lin Xiaohan said: "Since you don't allow us to do it, why don't we wait a little longer? Maybe we will be allowed to do it in the future."
Chu Xia looked at him and said, "Even if I'm allowed to do it in the future, it's because others have paved the way for me. I want to try and see if I can blaze this trail and be the first."
In the novel, this road was taken by the first family.
Since she had the foresight and knew that she would succeed, she would rather take this journey herself rather than wait for others to have walked the path before she follows behind.
In fact, most of this was due to her father’s unemployment.
If she could get this done sooner, her father could quit his job at the construction site sooner.
Of course, she didn’t tell Lin Xiaohan about the bad things at home.
Lin Xiaohan looked at Chu Xia and said, "I didn't expect that you are more ambitious than me now."
Chu Xia smiled and said, "As a human being, we only have one life to live, which is only a few decades. If we have the opportunity to do something, we should try it and see what possibilities we have."
Lin Xiaohan said: "Being number one is hard work."
Chu Xia said confidently: "It just means I have to endure some hardship running back and forth. I believe as long as I hold on and let the leaders above see my determination, it is still very likely to succeed."
She didn't do anything secretly that was forbidden, so as not to be caught. The country has now relaxed some of its restrictions on individual businesses, allowing individuals to apply for individual industrial and commercial business licenses from the Industry and Commerce Bureau. Of course, everyone can apply if they need to, but not everyone who applies will be approved by the Industry and Commerce Bureau. She is just one of them. If the Industry and Commerce Bureau did not approve the license, she would not insist on opening a private restaurant.
Chu Xia finished her ice cream while talking to Lin Xiaohan, then stood up and said, "Let's go, let's go eat."
Lin Xiaohan stood up and asked, "Where are we going? What are we eating?"
Chu Xia: "Whatever, let's go and see."
He said he would walk and see, but Lin Xiaohan ended up riding a bicycle.
Chu Xia saw his brand new black bicycle and took a closer look at it and asked, "Did you buy a bicycle?"
Lin Xiaohan said: "I ride it at home."
Chu Xia got in the car, stretched her head and asked him in a low voice: "Could it be robbed?"
Hearing this, Lin Xiaohan supported himself on the ground and turned to look at Chu Xia.
Chu Xia met his gaze and thought that he was unhappy with what she had said. After all, she was thinking the worst of him, and family issues were a sensitive topic for him, so she quickly tried to say that she was just joking.
In the end, the words didn't come out yet.
Lin Xiaohan said expressionlessly: "You guessed it right."
Chu Xia: “…”
She swallowed back the words she hadn't said yet.
Seeing the expression on Chuxia's face, Lin Xiaohan smiled, turned around, got on his bike and left.
Although Lin Bingwei and Lu Fangying looked for him, he was unwilling to go back to cooperate with their family, but he would still go back occasionally. Of course, he did not go back for the family, but just to take a look around.
Every time he went back for a raid, Lu Fangying would smile particularly unpleasantly, trying hard not to let her face fall. Lin Bingwei would be so angry that he would scold him for a long time, saying that he had gone to college but had not learned to be filial to his parents and to respect the elderly and love the young, and was still a bandit and bastard.
The bicycle was just bought by Lin Bingwei for Lin Haobo, and Lin Haobo has never ridden it before.
When he rode away, Lin Haobo cried so hard that his voice almost split.
***
Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan had a casual dinner outside.
After dinner, it was already dark. Lin Xiaohan rode his bike to take Chuxia home. This time he did not stop at the entrance of the alley, but took her to the gate of the yard.
After Chuxia said goodbye to him and entered the gate, he turned the car around and drove out of the alley.
When he was leaving the alley, he ran into Han Ting, Chaozi and Guogai who were walking back, and he just passed them.
After Lin Xiaohan passed by, Guo Gai looked back and said, "Why did this grandson come to our alley again? I think we need to let him know that our alley is not a place where he can come whenever he wants."
He looked at Han Ting and said, "Brother Ting, what do you think?"
Of course, Han Ting also remembered clearly the times when Lin Xiaohan had given him face and threatened him when they were in the countryside. What made him most unhappy was that Lin Xiaohan was still in contact with Chu Xia.
Lin Xiaohan can take the greatest "credit" for the fact that the relationship between Chu Xia and him has changed from being as close as siblings to what it is now.
If it weren't for Lin Xiaohan's constant meddling, he and Chu Xia might not have drifted further and further apart.
Han Ting was silent for a moment and said, "Then find a way to stop him from coming in the future."
Pot cover: "Okay."
***
Wu Xuemei and Tang Haikuan knew that Chuxia would not come home for dinner that night, so they did not wait for her.
Chuxia returned home to say hello to them, then washed up and went back to her room.
Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei didn't come over to ask her how her day was.
Thinking that she could only run for two more days at most, even if she was persistent, it was time for her to give up.
The next day was Sunday. Tang Haikuan did not go to work at the construction site, and Chuxia did not go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.
In the morning, Chuxia and Wu Xuemei went out for a walk and bought some necessary things for the family.
When I was strolling outside, I found that there were many small vendors setting up stalls in some secluded places in street corners and alleys. As soon as I saw the hidden way they were, I knew they were private stalls.
Some of them not only set up stalls while looking around, but also wore white masks that covered half of their faces.
He must be afraid of being seen by acquaintances and losing face in this old city where everyone has to be respectable.
Chuxia and Wu Xuemei went to a small stall to buy woven baskets.
Chuxia chatted with the stall owner for a few words, and the stall owner said: "There are fewer people setting up stalls during the day, but more at night. Everyone comes out after dark. People from the east side of the city run to the west side of the city for fear of being seen by acquaintances."
Chu Xia asked again: "Do you make money?"
The stall owner whispered, "I see that you have a good eye for each other, so I'm willing to talk to you. If we don't talk about whether it's decent or not, or whether it's embarrassing or not, you can earn much more than a proper job."
Sure enough, they all match the novel.
In the novel, this year there was a "ten thousand yuan household" who made the newspapers.
At present, the annual salary of ordinary workers is only about 500 to 600 yuan. Even if only a few people can become millionaires through self-employment this year, the others will not earn less.
After paying and leaving the stall, Wu Xuemei said, "How can setting up a stall make so much money?"
Chu Xia said, "Well, it's a supply and demand relationship. The current social environment is that the market is big and the demand is big, but the supply is small. The supply cannot meet the demand, so there is a lot of money to be made. Now everyone looks down on self-employed people, thinking that it is shameful and undignified, and that they are all people who are not doing their jobs properly. But when self-employed people become rich first, who will still look down on them? By then, everyone will look at the money, the money in their wallets."
Wu Xuemei laughed, patted Chuxia's hand and said nothing more.
This is what Chuxia said
Yihua
These words were enough for her to digest, but of course it wasn't easy to accept them either.
***
There was nothing to do in the afternoon, so Chuxia stayed at home reading and did not go out. She did the same thing for half the next morning.
In the afternoon, she still packed her schoolbag and went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.
Not long after I walked out of the alley, I suddenly heard the bell sound again.
Chu Xia turned around and saw Lin Xiaohan riding a bicycle and stopping beside her. He said, "Get in the car."
Chuxia climbed into the car and sat down without saying a word.
After Lin Xiaohan got on the bike, she asked again, "Aren't you busy these days?"
Lin Xiaohan said: "It's summer vacation, there's nothing to be busy with."
It's much faster to go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau by bike.
After arriving there, Lin Xiaohan found a place to park the car and went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau with Chu Xia.
But this time Chu Xia did not go in directly, but asked Lin Xiaohan to sit under the jujube tree.
Sitting down under the jujube tree, Chuxia exhaled and said, "Prepare yourself mentally first."
Lin Xiaohan glanced at the gate of the Industry and Commerce Bureau and asked, "Will they give you a cold shoulder?"
Chu Xia showed embarrassment on her face, and said a little embarrassedly: "No, they just ignored me."
Then he smiled again, "But it's okay. When I was in the countryside, I always tried to please you. I've become very thick-skinned."
Lin Xiaohan: “…”
Why are we talking about him again?
Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan sat under the jujube tree for a while, letting their bodies and minds calm down.
Before they got up and entered the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, they suddenly saw a man in a white shirt entering the bureau. They also saw the armband on the man's arm at the same time.
Chu Xia asked curiously, "Why are the reporters here?"
Lin Xiaohan didn't respond and went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau with her.
Then not long after, the male reporter came out again, and seemed to be heading straight towards them.
Chu Xia looked a little dazed as she watched the reporter walk up to her and Lin Xiaohan.
The reporter looked at her and asked with a smile: "The staff inside said that you wanted to apply for a business license to open a restaurant, right?"
Chu Xia was stunned for a moment, then stood up immediately, "Ah, it's our house, what's wrong?"
The male reporter said, "Nothing much. I just heard about it and thought it was quite fresh and interesting, so I came to take a look. I just happened to run into you. Can I ask you some questions?"
Chu Xia said again, "You ask."
The male reporter took out a notebook from his bag, took out a pen from his chest pocket, and sat back on the stone steps with Chuxia. He read Chuxia's application and asked her some questions about why she wanted to open a restaurant.
Chuxia naturally gave some simple and ordinary reasons.
Her father is unemployed and can't find another job, so the family can't rely on her mother alone.
Her family has a ready-made house with tables, chairs, benches, pots, stoves and bowls, all of which are suitable for opening a restaurant.
After recording this, the male reporter nodded to Chu Xia.
He put away his notebook and pen, stood up, thanked Chuxia for her answer, and then left.
I was still a little confused in early summer.
Watching the male reporter walk away, she turned around and looked at Lin Xiaohan.
Lin Xiaohan looked at her for a while and said, "Maybe... there's a turning point..."
Then he asked, "Is your father unemployed?"
This was actually mentioned just now.
Chu Xia had no choice but to say, "Yes, it has been a while."
Lin Xiaohan: “Do you want to use it…”
Chu Xia: "No, once I successfully apply for a business license, the problem will be solved."
In that case, Lin Xiaohan didn't say anything else.
Because the male reporter went straight to Chuxia after he came out, which meant that the staff of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau had already seen Chuxia coming, so the two of them didn't go in any more.
What Chuxia wanted to say to them had already been expressed many times before.
But she didn't leave either.
She took out the books from her schoolbag, gave one to Lin Xiaohan, and sat with him under the jujube tree, reading in the breeze.
In the evening, she went into the Industry and Commerce Bureau and said hello to the staff: "I'm leaving today."
The staff member was defeated by her and waved at her with a smile: "Okay, see you tomorrow."
It is unrealistic to eat out every day.
They didn't eat out tonight. Lin Xiaohan rode his bike to take Chuxia home.
Of course, he did not go to Chuxia's house for dinner at an inappropriate time. He just sent Chuxia home and left.
At about the same time the next afternoon, he intercepted Chuxia at the entrance of the alley again.
This time he did not let Chuxia get in the car directly. Instead, he stopped the car, opened his schoolbag, took out a newspaper from the bag and handed it to Chuxia.
Chuxia took the newspaper with a puzzled look.
Lin Xiaohan pointed it out to her, and she saw a piece of news in a small corner of the newspaper. From the title and the press release, it was all about his family wanting to apply to open a restaurant.
Chuxia couldn't help but feel nervous.
Lin Xiaohan waited for her to finish reading, then said, "Get in the car."
Chuxia climbed into the car with the newspaper and read the news several times on the way.
News is news, and naturally it reports new things, so this piece of news, from the title to the content, all reveals two words - fresh.
Chuxia took the newspaper and went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau with Lin Xiaohan.
Because the staff were used to her coming all the time, she didn't go in today. Instead, she just sat down under the jujube tree. The staff would notice her anyway, so she could just take the time to go in, say hello and ask a few questions.
Then today, she and Lin Xiaohan had not been sitting for a while when a staff member suddenly came out.
The staff member already knew Chu Xia, and spoke to her without any awkwardness, saying directly: "Come on in."
Being called like this, Chuxia suddenly felt a little excited.
She hurriedly stood up and followed the staff member, asking her, "Is there anything going on?"
The staff member told her: "Your case has been reported in the newspaper, and the leaders are starting to pay attention to it. As for whether it will be approved, I can't tell you. Just come in and sit down. It's very hot outside."
Chu Xia turned to look at Lin Xiaohan, smiled, and walked into the hall with him.
When they sat down inside, the staff poured them two glasses of water to quench their thirst.
After they said thank you, they didn't say anything else.
Sitting together reading books and drinking water, the afternoon passed quickly.
***
Day again.
The weather is gloomy today.
When I was getting ready to go out in the early summer afternoon, I picked up an umbrella.
I just walked out the second door when I heard a voice from the front door: "Is anyone home?"
It was a stranger's voice. Chu Xia walked around the screen wall, headed towards the gate and asked, "Who is it? Who are you looking for?"
The man replied: "We are reporters, looking for someone from the Tang family."
Hearing that they were reporters, Chu Xia quickened her pace and walked to the gate and asked, "Are you... here to interview us?"
The reporter smiled and said, "Yes, is anyone from the Tang family home?"
Chu Xia hurriedly said, "That's me. You can ask me anything you want. Come in."
The two reporters followed Chu Xia into the inner courtyard.
Chuxia brought them into the north room and poured water for them.
The main purpose of these two reporters' visit was actually to check out Chu Xia's restaurant.
So Chuxia chatted with them for a while and then took them to the front yard.
She used her key to open the restaurant door and told the two reporters, "No one has been here for many years. I just got the house recently and haven't had time to clean it, so it might be a bit dusty."
As soon as the door opened, it was indeed full of cobwebs and dust.
Chuxia waited until the dust had settled before she brought the two reporters in and showed them the counter, tables and chairs in the restaurant, and then looked at the kitchen.
One of the reporters brought a camera and took some photos from different angles.
When Chu Xia took two reporters to see the restaurant, Wang Cuiying and Li Lan came out from the inner courtyard to watch the fun.
They just saw Chuxia bringing two people with armbands into the house, and they came out after a while, so they became curious.
After lying outside the restaurant and watching for a while, Wang Cuiying asked, "What is this for?"
Chu Xia turned around when she heard the voice and replied, "Nothing, just came to see our restaurant."
Wang Cuiying asked: "Are you going to rent out the restaurant?"
Before Chu Xia could answer, the reporter who didn't take pictures said, "It's not renting. It's planning to open a restaurant on its own. It was all in the newspaper yesterday. Didn't you guys in the courtyard know about it?"
They really don’t know, and it’s not a big national event.
But after they realized what was happening, Wang Cuiying and Li Lan thought it was a big deal and asked again, "Opening a restaurant? Can you open a restaurant in your own home now?"
The reporter continued, "Without state approval, there will definitely be trouble. You need an individual business license. If you open a business without a license and get caught by the Industry and Commerce Bureau, you will be in big trouble."
Wang Cuiying asked again: "Did the state approve it?"
The reporter said, "Not yet. If it is approved, it won't just be the two of us who will come to your door. The reporters who come to your door will trample down the threshold of your No. 8 Courtyard."
Wang Cuiying and Li Lan looked at each other.
Wang Cuiying added: "I haven't heard of any private restaurant opening. Can the government not approve it?"
Reporter: "That's hard to say. Anything is possible right now."
After visiting the restaurant, the reporter expressed his gratitude to Chuxia and left.
Chuxia sent them to the alley, came back, locked the door of the restaurant, took her umbrella and went out.
Wang Cuiying and Li Lan returned to the east room.
Sitting down at the table, Wang Cuiying muttered again: "Opening a restaurant... he really does whatever he wants..."
Li Lan continued, "If it really opens, Uncle Haikuan will go back to his old business."
Wang Cuiying snorted, "I don't believe it can be opened. The country will never allow such a thing. If you tell others about it, they will laugh at you."
Li Lan: "Didn't you hear what the reporter said? Anything is possible."
Wang Cuiying: "What's the point of reporters talking?"
Li Lan thought for a moment, then calmed down her tone and said, "You said Uncle Haikuan, after he lost his job, he tried every possible way to find something to do, no matter how hard or strenuous the job was, he even dared to think about opening a restaurant, something no one dared to think about. San'er has been waiting for half a year, and there is really no job. Why don't you let San'er find something else to do, such as setting up a small stall outside? I see a lot of people setting up stalls outside, at least he can make some money."
Wang Cuiying said, "Is setting up a stall something that any decent person would do? Everybody who sets up a stall out there is hiding from others. It's a shameful thing. I won't ask San'er to do it. He will be laughed at in the alley."
Li Lan: “…”
She thought to herself - San'er has never done anything decent since he was a child.
***
Two days later.
The shade of the trees covers half of the road.
Lin Xiaohan rode his bike and took Chuxia through the shade of the trees.
The two of them went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau as if they were familiar with the route.
As soon as Chu Xia walked into the hall with her schoolbag on her back, before she had time to greet anyone, the staff member who was most familiar with her called her first: "Tang Chu Xia, come quickly."
Hearing this, Chu Xia hurried to the staff member and asked, "What's wrong?"
The staff member said, "Why are you here just now? I thought you weren't coming today. Come with me quickly. Our leader hasn't left yet."
Chu Xia was a little confused for a moment and asked her, "What do you mean?"
The staff member said, "Your family's incident has become big news. Now the leader wants to see you. What do you mean?"
Chuxia subconsciously wanted to laugh, but immediately held it back.
She put on an extremely serious expression and went to meet the top leaders of the bureau with her staff.
Met in the office.
The leader looked very friendly, but Chuxia was extremely nervous.
She greeted her leader and answered all the questions he asked.
The leader smiled and said to her: "You are really persistent."
When someone comes to apply for a license and the Industrial and Commercial Bureau says it doesn’t approve it, they will just go back and never come back.
Chu Xia said very embarrassedly: "Director, I'm sorry to trouble you."
The leader said, "We have discussed this matter repeatedly. Since we have come to you, you should be able to guess that we agree to approve your license and decide to use your family as a test household to see what can be done."
Hearing this, Chu Xia subconsciously held her breath and clenched her fingers into her palms.
She couldn't even help it, and her eyes became wet in an instant.
After calming down for a moment, she bowed and said, "Thank you, Director!"
The leader quickly extended his hand to tell her not to do that, and then said, "Okay, go to the lobby to complete the formalities, and you can go back and prepare. I'll speed it up for you, and you can come back to get the license in three days."
Chu Xia was so excited that she could only repeat: "Thank you, Chief!"
Return to the hall.
Chuxia found the staff member who was most familiar with her to apply for the certificate.
She took the application form out of her bag and handed it to the staff.
She wiped away her tears twice while going through the formalities, and the staff smiled and said to her, "Are you crying out of excitement?"
Chu Xia replied to her, “Yes.”
Seeing her like this, the staff smiled even more happily.
The formalities were completed, and she told Chu Xia, "Come back in three days to get your license."
Chu Xia felt relieved and even more excited. She held the staff member's hand and said to her, "Thank you so much. I have troubled you for so long and I feel embarrassed. When my restaurant opens, you can all come to my restaurant for dinner. It's my treat!"
The staff smiled and said, "As long as the restaurant opens, we will definitely go. There's no need to treat us. We will just go to your house to show our support."
He patted Chuxia's hand and said, "Don't let the organization down. Work hard!"
Chu Xia nodded again, "Yes!"
Having said all that he wanted to say, Chu Xia didn't stay any longer.
While trying hard to suppress her heartbeat, she raised her hand to wipe the corners of her eyes, controlled her expression and walked out.
I was so excited that my mind was a little confused.
After she went out, she walked around subconsciously. As she walked, she realized that she was not walking in the direction of home.
After stopping, she realized that she seemed to have forgotten someone.
Thinking of this, her confusion cleared up and she turned around quickly.
When she turned around, Lin Xiaohan was right behind her. He looked at her and asked, "Do you remember me?"
"I'm sorry." Chu Xia couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Then she raised her hands to cover her entire face and laughed uncontrollably harder and harder. Her whole body was shaking with laughter and she couldn't stop even if she wanted to.
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