Clutching the two brand-new packs of Huazi and Feima cigarettes, Zhang Cheng steadily stepped out of the supply and marketing cooperative's gate.
A biting wind immediately swept in, carrying snowflakes.
Zhang Da Tou, who was following behind, was still buzzing in his head. He felt as if he were walking on clouds, light and unreal.
In just a short while, Er Gouzi spent 31.6 yuan without even blinking!
That's thirty-one yuan and sixty cents!
This amount of money is almost equivalent to the wages he would have earned working himself to the bone at the county cannery for more than three months!
He couldn't help but take two steps forward, lower his voice, and ask incredulously, "Er Gouzi... what... what was that Hua Zi, Mao Zi you were talking about earlier?"
"Cigarettes and alcohol," Zhang Cheng replied simply and directly.
"What the hell?!" Zhang Da Nao thought he'd misheard, his voice trembling. "Those cigarettes and alcohol... over thirty-one yuan?!"
Zhang Cheng turned his head and looked at Zhang Da's stunned expression, as if he had been struck by lightning, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He stopped, patted Zhang Da Tou's broad shoulder, and said in a serious tone, "Big Head Brother, I'm going to teach you something today."
"W-what's wrong?" Zhang Da Nao asked instinctively.
"If you want to make a lot of money, you have to learn how to spend it first."
Zhang Da was completely dumbfounded.
My mind just can't process it.
If you're here to make money, why spend it first?
He couldn't understand or comprehend this logic!
but……
He looked at Zhang Cheng walking ahead, braving the wind and snow, his back view showing an unusually upright and confident posture, and inexplicably felt that Er Gouzi was really damn powerful these days!
So impressive was that he didn't even dare to ask how much that bag of Solomon's Seal, which nobody in the village took seriously, had actually sold for.
"Er Gouzi, where...where are we going now?" Zhang Da Naotou asked quickly, snapping out of his daze.
“National Fortune Hotel!” Zhang Cheng uttered five words with unwavering certainty.
"The Grand Hotel Guoyun?!" Zhang Da Nao's eyes widened instantly, flashing with excitement and a hint of fear.
In the past, whenever he came to the county market with his father, he could only look at the magnificent gate from afar, feeling itchy to go in and see it for himself, but he was afraid that he would be kicked out because of his attire.
Today, Er Gouzi is actually going to take him inside?!
The two put their felt hats and face towels back on, covering half their faces, and braved the increasingly heavy snow and wind, trudging towards the most magnificent building in the county center.
Guoyun Hotel.
It's a state-owned enterprise with a prestigious brand, ranking among the top in the entire Funing County.
Those who can eat and spend money here are, in Zhang Da Nao's father's words, all "big shots" with a lot of influence.
As soon as I stepped through the revolving glass door, a wave of warm air rushed towards me, accompanied by two clear female voices: "Welcome!"
Zhang Da Tou was startled by the scene and instinctively shrank his neck.
Zhang Cheng, however, acted as if he were at home, his expression relaxed and natural. He glanced around the lobby and headed straight for the ordering area.
It must be admitted that even in 1986, when resources were relatively scarce, the interior decoration and service standards of the Guoyun Hotel did indeed exude a "high-class" feel.
A waitress in a clean uniform with a name tag on her chest immediately approached with a standard smile: "Hello, sir/madam, are you dining here? If it's two people, we have..."
“I’ll reserve a private room,” Zhang Cheng interrupted her calmly.
The waiter's smile faltered slightly, then he became even more enthusiastic: "Okay, sir. What time would you like to reserve a private room?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, 5:30."
"How many people do you have approximately?"
Four.
Zhang Da Nao, who was standing next to him, secretly watched Zhang Cheng and the waiter converse fluently. Zhang Cheng was so calm and composed, without the slightest bit of the awkwardness of a country bumpkin coming to the city. Zhang Da Nao thought to himself: Wow! Er Gouzi's aura is amazing!
"What are some of your specialty dishes?" Zhang Cheng asked casually, his gaze falling on the price list hanging on the wall.
"Our stir-fried eel, braised soft-shelled turtle, and braised sea cucumber with scallions are all our signature dishes..." the waiter introduced fluently.
Zhang Cheng's gaze swept across the price list, he quickly calculated in his mind, and then decisively ordered six dishes plus a soup. "Six dishes and a soup in total, is that alright, sir?" the waiter confirmed.
"Okay, that's all." Zhang Cheng nodded, calmly took out a few ten-yuan bills from his pocket, and handed them to the waiter. "Pay a fifty-yuan deposit first."
Zhang Da's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
He stared intently at the five bright red banknotes Zhang Cheng handed over, feeling as if his heart was about to stop.
Fifty dollars!
Just a few dishes and it costs fifty yuan?!
Moreover, this fifty yuan is just a deposit!
It wasn't until the two walked out of the magnificent Guoyun Hotel and were once again enveloped by the cold wind that Zhang Da Tou suddenly came to his senses. He grabbed Zhang Cheng's arm, lowered his voice, and shouted almost in anguish, "Er Gouzi! We...we've definitely been ripped off! This Guoyun Hotel is absolutely a black market!"
"Think about it, those eels, in the summer there are plenty in the mountain streams, you can easily catch a whole bunch! And those turtles, when the weather gets warmer, I can catch several in one night... These are all cheap things from the mountains, and they actually want to charge us a fifty yuan deposit?!"
Zhang Da Nao felt increasingly uneasy, a tightness in his chest as if a piece of flesh had been ripped out. He abruptly stopped and turned to rush back. "No! Er Gouzi, we have to go back and reason with them! They must be taking advantage of us because we're country bumpkins who've never seen the world!"
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