Chapter 37 Yue Baohua Returns to Hong Kong
Yue Baohua set off on his return journey with his son's photo, and arrived at the port after six hours of bumpy ride. After passing the port, his apprentice Asong drove to pick him up, and when he arrived at Baohua Building, it was already six o'clock in the evening.
It gets dark late in the summer, and the doors of Baohua Building are closed, while Shenghua Building across the street is bustling with people, and there is a long queue at the roast meat stall at the door.
Ning Ning said that everything had been arranged and asked him to go ahead and make a scene. But he was not a competitive person and would only focus on cooking all his life. How could he make a scene?
"Master, they are going too far. Look! They have the audacity to post such notices." Asong said, pointing to a notice posted on the wall to the left of Shenghua Building's gate.
It was too far to see clearly. Yue Baohua took two steps closer and saw the notice saying: "Our dishes are clean and hygienic. If you find foreign objects in your food, you will be required to pay a compensation of 5,000 yuan."
"Isn't this Mr. Yue from Baohua Building?"
"He's back?"
"I heard she went to the northwest of the country to look for her granddaughter."
"Why did you come back alone? Where's your granddaughter?"
“…”
Amid the discussions of the diners, Yue Baohua walked forward step by step and came to the door of Shenghualou. When the waiter of Shenghualou saw Yue Baohua, he immediately ran in to tell Ding Shengqiang. At this moment, Ding Shengqiang was running out from the back in a hurry: "Master, you are back?"
Yue Baohua ignored him and walked straight to the red paper and tore it off.
Seeing him so excited that he even tore off the paper, Ding Shengqiang secretly mocked him in his heart, but said, "Master, what are you doing? Look carefully, this is not your Baohua Building, this is Shenghua Building."
Yue Baohua was too embarrassed to admit it just now, but when he saw this piece of paper and thought about how the other party had framed him and posted it so openly, he could no longer control his anger. He threw the red paper at Ding Shengqiang's face and said, "Do you still have any shame?"
"Master, what are you talking about? This is my request to Shenghualou. I can't control Baohualou. Whether you find adhesive tape in your food, or nails, or even cockroaches and rats in your food, I can't do anything except feel sorry for you." Ding Shengqiang said with an innocent look on his face. In the past few days, he has been promoting the fact that adhesive tape can be found in food from Baohualou, and then hinted that other things can also be found in food.
Yue Baohua patted his chest and said: "I, Yue Baohua, started out as a street vendor and have been working hard in Mong Kok for more than 30 years. Customers have never tasted even a strand of hair in their dishes, let alone adhesive tape."
"Master, it's useless for you to tell me these things. You should ask Asong? He was the one who was managing Baohua Building when you left." Ding Shengqiang put on an expression that said, "Every wrong has its perpetrator, don't blame the wrong person."
Yue Baohua took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Ding Shengqiang, let's not talk about how I took you in and taught you when you just came from the mainland. You owed a gambling debt of 50,000 yuan, and I helped you pay it off. At that time, I only had one request, which was to ask you to stop gambling. But you still gambled, and even embezzled the money for buying vegetables from Baohualou. After I found out, I didn't ask you to fill the hole, but just kicked you out of Baohualou. Not long after, you opened this Shenghualou opposite Baohualou. I taught you to cook the same dishes as Baohualou, and I have nothing to say about that; you set the price low, that was your business strategy; you poached Lou Jiafu, that was because you could afford it. You are competing with me for business with your ability, and I have no objection. But how many disgusting things have you done these days?"
Asong ran over, stood behind Yue Baohua and said, "You took your son to poop in front of the gate of Baohua Building in the middle of the night for three consecutive days."
"What evidence do you have?" Ding Shengqiang laughed, "Don't slander people without evidence."
Ah Song didn't care about that: "You saw that our store was doing well, so you asked different people to call and make reservations. They reserved our seats, but no customers came."
"I told you, show me the evidence!"
Ding Shengqiang took a step forward, pretending to grab Ah Song. Yue Baohua stood in front of his apprentice and said, "You know, my fish tank was placed according to the instructions of a Feng Shui master, so you asked someone to secretly add water at night, and all the goldfish in the tank died."
Ding Shengqiang denied the previous few things, but he admitted them in his heart. But this matter had nothing to do with him, and he had never even heard of it. Moreover, these words came from the mouth of Yue Baohua, who has always been upright. Ding Shengqiang became excited: "Master, please don't spit blood on me. When did I kill these goldfish?"
Just as Ningning said, Ding Shengqiang reacted strongly as soon as this false accusation was uttered.
In fact, the goldfish in this tank died because a water pipe came loose when the filter was newly replaced that night, and all the water pumped from the fish tank rushed out of the fish tank. After one night, the water in the fish tank was gone, and all the fish died. When Yue Baohua told her granddaughter about this, she thought the death of the fish in this tank was a bad omen.
Ning Ning rolled her eyes and said that she must pin the blame on Ding Shengqiang and let him experience the feeling of being framed. The main purpose was to provide some interesting topics for newspapers and television so as to make the matter a bigger deal.
Sure enough, after letting their son poop in front of Baohua Building and letting the goldfish release water, everyone found it very easy to accept.
Yue Baohua stepped forward and said, "You knew that Boss Qiao would come to Baohualou to eat the squid I made, so you deliberately bought the squid I reserved from the fishmonger Chen at a high price. Boss Qiao is a good person, and he helped me get it done."
Many of the diners who came to Shenghualou were old customers of Baohualou. Besides, Boss Qiao was there that day and there was a commotion. Who didn't know about this? Before, all the fish in the fish tank in the lobby of Baohualou died, and they said it was not a good sign. So this is what happened? Isn't Ding Shengqiang too unkind?
Who would doubt it when a lie is followed by a fact that is absolutely true?
Yue Baohua took another step forward, almost sticking to Ding Shengqiang, and said, "You took advantage of me going to the northwest and Asong managing Baohualou to bully him, an honest man, put tape in the dishes of Baohualou, and had him beaten. You know that after Lou Jiafu went with you, he was the only one who could hold on for a while in Baohualou. I just learned that my only son died in the northwest, and only that little bloodline is left to suffer in the northwest. I will do my best to find the child and bring him back."
Yue Baohua yelled at the top of his lungs: "I taught you how to cook and helped you pay off your gambling debts, but now you stab me in the back. Are you still a human being?"
The sound was so deafening that everyone eating was stunned.
"Boss Yue, you are so old, why are you still so naive?" A woman with big wavy hair, a cigarette in her hand, wearing a bright red low-cut tight dress, with two lumps of flesh on her chest about to burst out, walked out of Shenghua Building with a twisted waist.
She pulled Ding Shengqiang away, walked to Yue Baohua, took a puff of cigarette, blew the smoke into Yue Baohua's face, and sneered: "Uncle Hua, Hong Kong has always been a place where the weak are preyed upon by the strong. You are not naive enough to expect others to wait until you are ready before competing with you, right? When you are not here, your opponents will take this opportunity to eat up your territory. Isn't this natural? Being inferior to others does not only refer to skills, but also means. It has come to this, admit defeat!"
Yue Baohua turned around and grabbed Ding Shengqiang, saying with great sorrow: "Can you clear your mind? She wanted to open a restaurant and found me to cooperate with me. I didn't want to, so she fell in love with you. You went to gamble and lost money because they set it up. Why did you..."
"Have you said enough?" Ding Shengqiang roared loudly, struggling to break free from Yue Baohua's hand. He stretched out his hand and pushed. Yue Baohua staggered a few steps, his legs went weak and he fell to the ground. Seeing this, Asong hurried to help him up.
"You haven't said enough, but I've heard enough. I've worked for you for more than ten years. When I was tied up, I begged you..."
"Master, Master, what's wrong with you?" Asong shouted.
Yue Baohua twisted his mouth and said, "A... Song."
The guests who were eating noticed something was wrong: "Call an ambulance, Boss Yue is having a stroke."
Before the ambulance was called, Yue Baohua calmed down and extended his hand to Asong, who helped him stand up.
"Master, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
The customer who had just said he wanted to call an ambulance said, "Boss Yue, don't take it lightly. You just had a minor stroke, it's transient. If you don't see a doctor, it may flare up next, and you may become paralyzed on one side of your body."
Yue Baohua nodded weakly: "Thank you! I will go to the doctor right away. I can't be in trouble, the baby hasn't come yet!"
Among the diners of Shenghualou, some are old customers of Baohualou and have eaten there for many years. Although the dishes of Shenghualou look similar and the prices are cheaper, they still think that Baohualou seems more authentic. Many people originally wanted to wait for Yue Baohua to come back before patronizing Baohualou. Now looking at Yue Baohua's figure, they can't help but sigh for him: Can Baohualou still operate?
About 20 minutes later, Yue Baohua, accompanied by Asong, walked out of Baohua Building. Someone chased after him and asked, "Uncle Hua, are you okay?"
Yue Baohua shook his head: "Thank you, I'm fine now. Maybe I ran too long this time and I'm tired. No matter what's wrong, it's better to go to the hospital for a check-up."
"Yes, yes, go check it out, and you can feel at ease."
The master and his apprentice walked out, and the old neighbors heard about this and came over to ask about it. The old man selling mahjong tiles said loudly: "Wait until Uncle Hua has finished his checkup at the hospital and comes back to ask again."
"Don't delay Uncle Hua from going to the hospital."
The neighbors saw Yue Baohua off to the car.
Yue Baohua arrived at the hospital and communicated with the doctor seriously. Ningning knew that he had been busy these years and did not necessarily have regular physical examinations, so she asked him to take this opportunity to have a comprehensive examination. The doctor arranged for him to be admitted to the hospital for examination, and he obediently followed the doctor's instructions. He has a granddaughter now, so he has to take care of himself. He told the doctor about his dizziness and other problems. The resources of the public hospitals in Gangcheng are tight, and private hospitals have no other problems except that they charge more. He is also a wealthy man and has no financial pressure.
After Asong accompanied him into the ward, he went back first.
Yue Baohua leaned on the bed and picked up the phone to call his granddaughter. Ningning was so attentive that he didn't know what to say. She also said that he could only use code words when calling her. He only said "falling down with a crooked mouth", and she praised him on the other end of the phone. When he said this, he couldn't help laughing. God knows how he looked when he saw Ningning demonstrating to him how to behave when having a minor stroke. How could this child have so many tricks.
After finishing her business, Ningning said that she had lunch at Zhou Sanye's house at noon and ran into Zhou Wenting who worked in Hong Kong. In the afternoon, she went to the Friendship Store and saw silk fabrics for sale, so she bought several pieces. Unfortunately, she didn't know her grandfather's size, otherwise she would have made him a set of pajamas.
He said, "Silly boy, it's too much trouble. Just find a tailor to do it."
Ningning laughed, "Yes! Yes! I am a small rich woman now. But before I become a rich woman, I am worried about the phone bill. Grandpa, bye!"
After talking to his granddaughter, Yue Baohua laid on the hospital bed, resting his head on his hands, watching TV. On the screen, a beautiful woman in a cool skirt was dancing hotly. He got out of bed to change the channel, and saw a talented man and a beautiful woman discussing vulgar topics together. Yue Baohua thought, Ningning grew up in that kind of environment, and suddenly came here, can she adapt? They just separated in the morning, and now he started to miss the child again. I wonder when the procedures will be completed? He can't go to urge the Qiao family. If he does it himself, it will take more than two months.
Yue Baohua didn't want to listen to these nonsense and vulgar words, so he changed the channel immediately. The news showed him falling to the ground, with the title "Baohua Building Tape Suspicion: A baby pooped in the middle of the night and killed the goldfish in Baohua Building".
He knew that Ningning and Qiao Junxian had arranged everything, but wasn't this too fast?
The host reported: On the day when the owner of the old shop Po Wah House in Mong Kok returned to Hong Kong, he saw the notice posted by Sheng Wah House, and angrily tore up the notice of Sheng Wah House and questioned the second owner of Sheng Wah House, Ding Shengqiang. Yue Baohua claimed that since he set up a stall in Hong Kong, in the past 30 years, not to mention tape, even hair has never appeared in the dishes. Po Wah House has always had a good reputation, never taking the low-price route, the goods are genuine, and the owner has superb craftsmanship. There are many celebrities in Hong Kong among the old diners. Before the news of the tape broke out, Mr. Yang Heyu, one of the four talents in Hong Kong, also wrote an article, saying that with the reputation of Po Wah House, this situation would not happen. Judging from today's incident, it is indeed full of doubts.
Then, the host introduced several of Yue Baohua's apprentices. His first three apprentices were the best, and it was difficult to rank them completely. The eldest apprentice is already the executive chef of a hotel in Australia City, and now the second and third apprentices are both in Shenghualou. The three apprentices in Baohualou have average skills. Today, Yue Baohua showed signs of a minor stroke with a crooked mouth after being pushed down, and it is likely that he will not be able to cook in person in the future. It is hard to say whether Baohualou will suspend business for a few days or close down. The host said with pity that it will be difficult to taste Yue Baohua's cooking skills in the future.
Yue Baohua recalled the scene of talking to Qiao Junxian on the phone with Ningning last night. Qiao Junxian brought his cousin Cai Zhiyuan who was in charge of Hengtong TV. Ningning repeatedly emphasized that Shenghualou must be proven to be evil in public opinion, and also emphasized that even if Baohualou is still there, authentic Baohualou dishes must be eaten at Shenghualou. Shenghualou must be completely blackened, but the business is booming. She laughed and said, "If God wants someone to perish, he must first make him crazy. He has enjoyed such a good life, and he will feel more pain when he loses it."
How could Ningning have so many ideas in his head at such a young age?
Yue Baohua is old after all, and he is tired from running around all day. He gets out of bed, turns off the TV, and prepares to go to bed. Ningning told him to treat the hospital as a hotel, so he should treat it as a hotel. Everything will be arranged by the children!
Yue Baohua stayed in the hospital for two days, and the newspapers and television debated the incident for two days. The details of Ding Shengqiang and Lou Jiafu, as well as the background of the stacker and the mistress, were reported over and over again like fried rice.
During this period, Qiao Junxian, the second son of the Qiao family, visited the hospital on behalf of Qiao Qiming, and expressed Qiao Qiming's support for Yue Baohua to reporters. After learning about this, Boss Cui and Miss Cui also went to the hospital. Under the leadership of the two families, many of Yue Baohua's diners who were well-known, some visited in person, and some sent flower baskets. As a result, after a series of examinations, it was found that Yue Baohua had mild fatty liver and high cholesterol. But he received a lot of greetings. After visiting the hospital, the talented Yang Heyu wrote an article in the newspaper, hoping that Mr. Yue Baohua would recover as soon as possible, and he missed the roast goose made by Mr. Yue.
Old customers have spoken out. They are not as good as ordinary people who pursue cost-effectiveness. In the past, when people mentioned Baohualou, they knew it was a restaurant with good taste. Now these grievances and hatreds are repeatedly hyped in the news. It turns out that so many celebrities like Baohualou. The boss of Shenghualou has a bad character, and the boss behind the scenes is a mistress, so what? They eat the dishes, not the character. The chef is taught by Yue Baohua himself, and two of his three best apprentices are in Shenghualou. This is the key. As a result, Shenghualou is even more lively than before.
It was under such circumstances that Yue Baohua was discharged from the hospital and returned to Baohua Building.
Yue Baohua bought two properties in Hong Kong Island. He originally planned to give one to his son and his family, and one for himself to live in in his old age. He usually lives in Baohua Building, and his bedroom is next to his office. He is usually busy from morning to night, and he rests directly in the building after the evening market is over.
In the past two days, neighbors have seen that Shenghualou has been criticized on TV and in newspapers every day, but its business is so good that they want to set up a table at the door. Aunt Awang and her daughter were too busy to unpack the fish, and they called two neighbors to help.
When the neighbors saw Yue Baohua coming back, they all came to visit him. Yue Baohua sat in the empty hall, listening to everyone's words of comfort, and said, "Thank you for your concern. I'm really fine. I'm just too tired from running around the northwest this time. I'll rest for a few days and wait for my Ningning to come."
"Uncle Hua, is Baohua Building still open?" a neighbor asked.
Yue Baohua handed out cigarettes to everyone and asked Asong to bring some crispy candies bought from Yuecheng to everyone. He said with a smile on his face, "Open, definitely open. When Ningning comes, Baohualou will be handed over to her. From now on, I will be a hands-off manager."
Lou Jiafu had just stepped into the door and heard this, his mouth twitched slightly. Ding Shengqiang said that he and his master had not completely fallen out yet, so he asked him to come and inquire about his master's situation and see if Baohualou was still open. If Baohualou was not going to open and was willing to transfer it, he should name a price.
These days, my senior brother saw the overwhelming news outside and said that he didn't expect to be scolded like this. The business is actually better than when the adhesive tape was found in the food at Baohualou.
Seeing that the more she scolded him, the better his business became, the woman even privately asked newspapers and TV stations to continue reporting on the matter. The two of them were extremely happy, but Lou Jiafu felt an indescribable feeling in his heart. After all, the master really didn't treat them unfairly. When they first came, they had nothing and knew nothing. It was the master who taught them little by little, allowing them to learn the craft, gain a foothold in the port city, make money, and start a family. But the senior brother wanted to beat the master to death, which was a bit chilling.
However, the business of Shenghualou has been surprisingly good these days. Sister Li told the senior brother that he had worked hard these days, so he would be given an extra month's salary as a bonus this month. When the senior brother recruited him, he had already increased his salary. With this bonus, the money is indeed not small. Before he came out, the senior brother asked him to ask the master whether the restaurant is still open. If the master does not plan to open it, he will sell it to him. How could he ask such a question in this situation? He rejected the senior brother on the spot. But the master said that he would give it to his granddaughter. What's going on?
"Give it to your granddaughter? Your granddaughter grew up in the northwest, right?"
"Yes! Zhirong raised her in the northwest and taught her his skills. She can cook." Yue Baohua's face was full of pride when talking about his granddaughter.
Someone wanted to say something, but was stopped by the people next to him. Who doesn't think their own children are special? What's more, Yue Baohua's child is living outside, and now only this bloodline is left. If you tell the truth at this time, won't it make Yue Baohua unhappy?
"Master, are you okay?" Lou Jiafu asked.
Yue Baohua turned his head and saw Lou Jiafu, his voice instantly turned cold: "Why are you here?"
"Master, I came to see you." Lou Jiafu walked up to him. "What are the results of the examination? Is everything okay?"
"Hmph! Are you here to gather information for Ding Shengqiang? Listen for yourself, what's being shouted over the loudspeaker in your Shenghua Building? Taught by Yue Baohua himself? Don't you just want to know if your master is going to be paralyzed soon so you can prepare a banquet to celebrate? Don't worry, Uncle Hua, I'm in good health!" Sister Hua, the accountant at Baohua Building, stepped forward and pushed Lou Jiafu.
Lou Jiafu showed a wronged look on his face: "Sister Hua, I really just came to see Master. How could I hope that Master would be in poor health?"
"Brother Jiafu, since you keep saying that you care about the master's health, let me ask you, where were you when Ding Shengqiang pushed the master to the ground that day? If you had any master-disciple relationship and any conscience, shouldn't you have immediately dropped the wok and returned to Baohua Building to support the master? But now you come to visit the master hypocritically. And you say you are not here to inquire about Ding Shengqiang. Do you think this is justified? You think we are all fools, right?" Yue Baohua's apprentice Zhang Junming pushed Lou Jiafu and cursed, "You heartless bastard, get out!"
Lou Jiafu knew that he would be blamed for coming here, but he didn't expect that everyone would vent all the resentment on him alone.
Lou Jiafu felt aggrieved. He looked at Yue Baohua and said, "Master, you should have a good rest. I will come to visit you again when you calm down."
"I'm not angry, I'm fine! After this happened, you can go your own way from now on, and our relationship as master and disciple will be written off. If you're polite, you can call me 'Uncle Hua'. If you don't want to, we'll just pretend we've never met." Yue Baohua said, "Go!"
Sister Hua brought out a basin of water, rushed to Lou Jiafu and poured the water on him.
Lou Jiafu was soaked like a drowned chicken. Sister Hua held up a basin of water and said, "Lou Jiafu, I hate hypocritical people like you the most. As long as I am here, if you dare to step into Baohua Building, I will splash you once."
At this time, Yue Baohua's eldest disciple came in, saw Lou Jiafu, who was soaking wet, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Lou Jiafu wiped the water off his face and said, "Brother Rong."
"Get out!" Li Xinrong has been the head chef of a big hotel in Australia for many years, and he naturally has a majestic aura.
Lou Jiafu turned around and walked out, feeling powerless even though he had reasons to do so.
Yue Baohua saw his eldest disciple and quickly stood up to greet him: "Arong, didn't I tell you, I'm fine."
"How can I feel at ease?" Li Xinrong helped Yue Baohua sit down.
The apprentice acted so cautiously that he really treated himself as a patient. Yue Baohua said, "Arong, I'm really fine."
"Master, after talking to you on the phone last night, I still feel uneasy after thinking about it, so I discussed it with Axia. I want to resign and go back to Baohua Building." Li Xinrong sat down, held the master's hand and said, "I have no parents and was an orphan wandering in Mong Kok. It was the master who took me in, taught me the craft, and helped me save money to marry a wife. My present life is all given by the master. Now the master is in poor health, and Ningning is a girl. I am really worried about you two, one old and one young."
"Arong, I am very pleased that you have such a thoughtful attitude. It is not easy for you to have the current fame in Aocheng. You have also settled down in Aocheng, and Xiaoyu and A Ming are both in school!" Yue Baohua looked around at the people who cared about him, "You really don't have to worry about me. When Ningning comes back, everything will be fine."
"How old is Ningning?" Li Xinrong couldn't understand why the master placed all his hopes on his granddaughter.
"Yes, Master, Ningning is still young and I don't have much ability. If Brother Rong comes back, we don't have to be afraid of those two ungrateful people." Asong has been through a lot of things these days and has suffered a lot. He also knows that his ability is limited. If his senior brother comes back, he can vent his anger.
As long as he mentioned his granddaughter, Yue Baohua was full of confidence: "Arong, don't rush to mention resignation. Wait for Ningning to come back, you and Axia will bring the children back, and we will have a meal together. At that time, if you still insist on coming back, then the master will listen to you, okay?"
Why is the master so insistent? Isn't Ningning just a shepherdess who grew up in the northwest? But it's hard to explain this to the master in a short time. Let's wait for Ningning to come back and discuss with the child what to do next.
Li Xinrong responded: "Well, let's wait for Ningning to come back together."
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