Ah Ping worked at the restaurant for four or five days, and during those four or five days, no one bothered her, so Li Junsheng gradually felt relieved.
Moreover, A-Ping is very diligent. When she has free time, she will help with other tasks in the shop!
Li Chunya and Li Xiaoyu both liked her very much and would chat with her whenever they had free time, even though Aping didn't speak much.
That day, the restaurant ran out of grain and oil, so Li Junsheng took some money and prepared to buy some more to store as usual.
Because he bought a lot of things, Li Junsheng even brought a cart over, intending to haul all the grain and oil he needed to stock up on back to the store in one trip!
But when he arrived at the grain store today, the owner treated him coldly, unlike before when he was greeted with the same enthusiasm as if he were the God of Wealth.
"Boss, the usual, five bags of flour, and five cases each of rice and peanut oil!"
The grain store owner, cracking sunflower seeds, spat out a shell on the ground and said to Li Junsheng, "No!"
Li Junsheng was stunned. How could such a large grain and oil store not have the grain and oil he wanted to buy?
Noticing the grain store owner's odd expression, Li Junsheng took out three cigarettes from his pocket and handed them to him.
"Boss, what's wrong with you today? Did I, Li, do something wrong and offend you? If so, I hope you'll give me a clear answer!"
Seeing that Li Junsheng was quite sensible, the grain store owner took the cigarette and asked him in a low voice, "Hey, you haven't offended any important people lately, have you?"
Upon hearing this, Li Junsheng pondered carefully. He hadn't offended anyone recently, so why would the grain store owner say such a thing?
"I haven't offended any big shots, so why is the boss asking this?"
The grain store owner curled his lip and said to Li Junsheng, "The municipal catering company has given us orders that individual business owners like you are prohibited from purchasing grain and oil under the rationing system, so I can't sell you any grain and oil. You can't blame me."
The grain store owner actually wanted to sell grain and oil to Li Junsheng, since he also needed to make money and make a living.
But he dared not defy the law and commit a crime!
Li Junsheng never expected the grain store to issue such an order; such a thing never happened in his previous life.
If they don't allow self-employed individuals like themselves to buy grain and oil, aren't they forcing their restaurants to close down?
"Boss, can't you make an exception?"
Li Junsheng tried to negotiate with the grain store owner that he could come to buy grain secretly at night, as long as no one saw him.
The grain store owner waved his hand dismissively at Li Junsheng, "No leniency. If you're so capable, go talk to Fatty Liu from the city's catering company yourself. He's the one who gave the order!"
Fatty Liu?
Li Junsheng noted down the name before saying to the grain store owner, "Alright, let me see if I can get this Fatty Liu to retract his order. Then you can sell me grain, right?"
The grain store owner glanced at Li Junsheng sideways, clearly not believing he had such great abilities!
Li Junsheng didn't care what others thought of him. He went back to the hotel first. When his children saw that he had returned empty-handed after buying grain and oil, they couldn't help but ask, "Dad, where's the grain and oil? Didn't you buy any?"
"Well, there's been a small problem. The grain store won't sell us any more grain. They said the city's catering company has issued a new regulation that prohibits individual business owners like us from buying grain under the rationing system!"
Upon hearing this, all the children couldn't sit still and immediately surrounded Li Junsheng.
"Why would they suddenly issue such a rule? What will happen to our restaurant?"
"This... We opened the restaurant through our own abilities, why would anyone be so petty as to stop us from buying grain and oil?"
Li Junsheng calmly reassured his children, "Don't worry, I heard from the grain store owner that a man named Fatty Liu made this rule. I'll go and find out what Fatty Liu means, and then we'll talk about the details."
The children nodded; this was the only option for now.
"Dad, I'll go with you!"
Li Guohua also wanted to share some of the burden with his father, and Li Junsheng also intended for him to be able to stand on his own and learn how to negotiate with people, so he simply agreed to let him follow along.
"Let's go, let's go buy some things first."
Li Junsheng bought two packs of good cigarettes. One pack contained some money, and the other was full of cigarettes. He and Li Guohua hid them in their coats, intending to give them to this Fatty Liu as a way to get in touch with him!
The father and son went to the city's catering company and went inside to ask around, hoping to meet Fatty Liu.
The people at the catering company saw that Li Junsheng was wearing a white shirt and a wristwatch, making him look like a leader, so they didn't dare to be negligent!
"Sir, let me show you the way. Fatty Liu's office is over here."
A young man named Luo Yi volunteered and led Li Junsheng to Liu Pangzi's office.
Li Junsheng thanked the young man and waited for him to leave before knocking on Fatty Liu's office door.
"Go in, the door isn't locked."
A sound came from inside. Li Junsheng pushed the door open and went in. He saw a man with a fleshy face, who looked to be about forty years old, sitting in the office.
This man is Fatty Liu!
When Fatty Liu saw Li Junsheng, he subtly sized him up from head to toe. Seeing that he was well-dressed and unsure of his identity, he could only politely ask, "Who are you? Please have a seat. What can I do for you?"
"Hello Mr. Liu, I am Li Junsheng, the owner of Li Family Restaurant. I am here today to ask you about the reason why individual business owners are prohibited from purchasing grain and oil under the planned economy."
Upon hearing that Li Junsheng was a self-employed business owner, Fatty Liu's expression darkened, and he became noticeably less polite to him.
Li Junsheng extended his hand, but Fatty Liu didn't shake it. Instead, he leaned back in his chair like a lord and looked at Li Junsheng leisurely.
They didn't mention asking Li Junsheng to sit down anymore, and the two remained in a stalemate, the atmosphere quite subtle.
Li Guohua observed from the side, unsure how to break the current stalemate.
Fatty Liu never expected that Li Junsheng would be so bold as to take the initiative to approach him about buying grain and oil!
When Li Junsheng saw that Fatty Liu clearly looked down on him after learning that he was a self-employed individual, he didn't react much.
He simply handed the cigarettes, which were filled with money, from his coat to Fatty Liu.
"Mr. Liu, do you smoke? I happen to have some with me, would you like one?"
Li Junsheng handed the cigarette box to Fatty Liu, cleverly leaving a hole in the box so that Fatty Liu could see what was inside.
When Fatty Liu saw these door knockers, a look of surprise and greed immediately flashed in his eyes.
He smiled at Li Junsheng, took the cigarette case from him, and casually put it in the drawer.
They then remained silent in response to Li Junsheng.
In Li Junsheng's view, none of this mattered. Since he had accepted his stepping stone, there was room for discussion, and he could express his demands.
"Mr. Liu, could you please make an exception to your new regulations? If you don't allow us individual business owners to buy grain and oil, how are we supposed to make a living? Please help us out. After all, rules are rules, but people are flexible, right?"
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