Chapter 253: County leaders showed goodwill, factory leaders were shocked (6100 words)
National Day.
It is also the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of my country’s four major traditional festivals.
Sui Feng Hotel.
As soon as the sky brightened, all the regular and temporary employees of the hotel arrived, including Deng Yuntai, the small boss who was in charge of the overall situation.
After the restaurant opened, various fresh ingredients that had been ordered in advance were delivered one after another.
The dinner at the bicycle parts factory was different from the full-moon party held at the hotel last time. The full-moon party started between 10:30 and 11:00 in the morning, so time was very tight. We could only prepare the more time-consuming dishes such as meatballs, egg rolls, braised pork with pork belly, and sweet lotus root one day in advance.
But the bicycle parts factory's dinner time is between 4 and 5 p.m., which gives the restaurant enough time to operate. They don't have to prepare the dishes the night before, and can eat the freshest meals.
In the kitchen, the master chef Zhang Guofu is still in charge. With the addition of four kitchen assistants and twelve waiters, the efficiency of the kitchen has also increased dramatically. The waiters are responsible for washing the vegetables, and for dishes such as meatballs and egg rolls that take more time, Zhang Guofu only needs to season them, and the rest is left to the kitchen assistants.
Everything is going on in an orderly manner.
Deng Shirong arrived at the restaurant around nine in the morning, and Zhang Guangzong had already started drinking when he arrived.
Generally speaking, people who drink are used to drinking on an empty stomach, but drinking on an empty stomach is very harmful, so Deng Shirong did not rush to drink. He first asked the waiter to serve him a bowl of white porridge, which he ate with delicious pickles to fill his stomach, and then sat down and drank slowly with Zhang Guangzong.
Zhang Guangzong was already used to the boss's behavior, but he still sighed: "Boss, your habit is really good. I have tried it a few times before, but unfortunately, as long as I eat porridge, rice, noodles, etc., my stomach will bloat easily when I drink alcohol, and it doesn't taste good at all."
Deng Shirong picked up a peanut and put it in his mouth, chewing it while laughing: "Habits can be formed slowly. Excessive drinking is bad for the body, and it is even worse if you drink on an empty stomach. I do this so that I can drink for a few more years, so as not to cause problems for my body, and then I won't be able to drink even if I want to."
"I understand the logic, but I've been drinking like this for decades, and I'm afraid I can't change this habit!"
Zhang Guangzong sighed, took another sip of wine, and then said, "Anyway, at my age, my life is already on the countdown. I may die any day, and I am too lazy to bother with these things. I can drink one more day and earn one more day."
Deng Shirong understood that what Zhang Guangzong said was not an exaggeration at all. The life expectancy of people in this era was not like that of later generations, where people could easily live to be seventy or eighty. Especially for people in rural areas, if they could live to be over sixty years old, they could be labeled as long-lived.
Take their Naye Village for example. There are really not many people who die of illness in their forties or fifties. Looking around the entire village, there are really not many people over the age of sixty.
In his previous life, Deng Shirong lived to be 88 years old, which was a truly long life. Few of his generation in the village could live to be 80, and he was the only one who lived beyond 85.
Deng Shirong took a sip of the wine and said, "Life is something we cannot control. We may die in a few years, or we may live to be a hundred years old. Who can say for sure? What we have to do is to eat more delicious food while our teeth are still good. In this way, even if we die one day, compared to others, our life will not be in vain."
"Boss, you're right. I'll pick the best food to eat next time. Don't feel bad about it!"
"Just eat as much as you want. Can these few dishes really make me go bankrupt?"
…
At noon, diners arrived in groups of three or five.
Among these diners, except for a few new customers, the rest are old customers who have come at least twice. Some of the regular customers with good family conditions have even visited the restaurant more than ten times. They basically come every few days, which is considered quite impressive in this era.
When these diners arrived, they were surprised to see that there were more than ten waiters in the restaurant.
After all, the employment red line of Seventh Brother and Eighth Brother still firmly imprisons the Chinese people in this era.
It was not until 1984 that the old man, who was a family member of Deng Shirong five hundred years ago, made it clear at a meeting when discussing the issue of excessive employment of individual workers that nothing could be done and that it should be put on hold for two years before the employment issue could be truly safe.
Before that, we should keep a low profile.
Now that the restaurant has added so many waiters all of a sudden, it would be strange if diners who know about the red line were not surprised!
So, a curious regular customer asked, "Boss, why do you have so many waiters all of a sudden?"
Deng Yuntai smiled and replied, "We just asked them to help out temporarily because all the employees of the bicycle parts factory are coming to our restaurant for a dinner party this afternoon. The original staff of the restaurant cannot handle such a large occasion, so we can only ask them to come and help out temporarily!"
Upon hearing this, the regular customers suddenly realized that the red line of the Seventh Brother and the Eighth Brother refers to the permanent employees. Employees who come temporarily to help will naturally not be included.
Knowing that the bicycle parts factory was going to have a dinner here, everyone became more and more accepting of the Suifeng Hotel.
Because the kitchen is fully staffed now, the diners who came to eat today had just placed their orders when the waiters started serving their dishes. It was really fast.
…
Four o'clock in the afternoon.
The employees of the bicycle parts factory came to the Suifeng Hotel under the leadership of the factory leaders.
At this time, the Suifeng Hotel was just like the last time it held a full-moon banquet. A banner welcoming all employees of the bicycle parts factory was hung at the door. Signboards were also erected inside the hotel, and the left half of the area was separated by ribbons.
Therefore, when the employees of the bicycle parts factory arrive, they can follow the signs to the separated areas and sit down.
On the table in this designated area, there is a large plate of fried melon seeds, which is a gift from the hotel and is used for employees to eat melon seeds and chat to pass the time.
After the employees had gone in and sat down, Section Chief Chen jokingly reminded them, "Boss, you have to ask the chef to show his real skills and make the food more delicious, because this time it's not just the employees of our factory who are having a dinner together, but also the leaders from above will be coming."
Deng Yuntai said seriously: "Chief Chen, don't worry, our chef will definitely do his best to ensure that all the employees and leaders of your factory can have delicious meals."
Section Chief Chen smiled and said, "That's good. Boss, go ahead and get busy. I'll call you if there's anything else."
…
Including private rooms, the Suifeng Hotel has a total of 88 tables. Although there are quite a few six-person tables and four-person tables, it is still no problem to accommodate six to seven hundred people in total.
However, excluding the ten private rooms, the arrival of more than 260 people from the bicycle parts factory have taken up almost half of the hotel's space.
About ten minutes later, factory director Li Chunhua accompanied County Magistrate Song to the Suifeng Hotel.
"lead!"
"lead!"
"Factory Director!"
“…”
As the supervisor and the factory director arrived, the employees all greeted them, and the factory leaders came over and surrounded the leaders as they walked towards the reserved table.
The arrival of the leader is a signal, and the waiters who have been prepared in advance start serving the dishes.
With twelve temporary waiters plus the original four waiters, sixteen people served the dishes together, so the speed was very fast.
Because the preparations were done in advance, the only things that needed to be stir-fried were the vegetables, so in less than twenty minutes, the twenty-four dishes and three soups were all served.
The workers at the bicycle parts factory had never seen such a banquet before, and they all had a big appetite and ate until their mouths were full of oil.
At the leader's table, County Magistrate Song saw so many dishes and said, "You should also pay attention to the impact!"
Li Chunhua smiled and said, "Leader, although there are a lot of dishes, they are not that expensive. On average, each person only costs a few dollars. Everyone has worked hard for so many years. This year, the factory has finally made great progress. It's a rare opportunity to celebrate. In addition, today is both National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, so let's have a good meal."
County Magistrate Song nodded and didn't say much on this issue.
At this time, Deng Shirong came over with a bottle of Moutai and greeted them with a smile: "Dear leader, and leaders of the bicycle parts factory, I am the owner of the hotel. Thank you for your support of our hotel. This bottle of wine is a small gift from our hotel. I hope you will eat and drink well."
“Thank you, boss!”
“I wish the boss a prosperous business!”
"Boss, your restaurant is great. It's clean and spacious, and the food tastes good. It's hard for this business to be bad!"
“…”
When the leader of the bicycle parts factory saw Deng Shirong coming to deliver wine, especially the best Moutai, he naturally didn't mind saying a few good words to him.
They were all sitting down to talk, but County Magistrate Song, who was sitting in the main seat, stood up when he saw Deng Shirong and said with a smile, "Boss Deng, during the summer vacation, I heard my daughter mention you a lot. That girl came to your place for dinner quite a few times."
The leaders had stood up, so how could they dare to sit still? They all stood up in unison.
Although Deng Shirong had never met County Magistrate Song, he immediately understood his identity when he heard him say that. He couldn't help but smile and said, "It turns out to be County Magistrate Song. I've always wanted to find an opportunity to invite you over for a meal, but I was afraid that it would be too presumptuous to disturb you. I didn't expect that we would meet in this way today. I have to toast you."
"We should have a drink!"
At this point, County Magistrate Song looked at Li Chunhua and the others and said, "Director Li, this Boss Deng's son is also studying in Beijing, and he is a schoolmate of my eldest daughter. Although this is the first time that Boss Deng and I have met, we are acquaintances because of our children."
Hearing this, Li Chunhua and other leaders were all shocked. It was no secret in the county that County Magistrate Song's eldest daughter was studying at Peking University. They all knew it. And the son of Boss Deng was an alumnus of the leader's daughter, which meant he was also a student at Peking University.
Li Chunhua and others were naturally well aware of how awesome Peking University students were in that era. As long as they didn't commit suicide or had extremely bad luck, they would directly become cadres after graduating from Peking University, and at a fairly high level, so their future was limitless.
Originally, although Deng Shirong was considered a powerful restaurant owner, due to the general prejudice of people of that era against self-employed individuals, the identity of Deng Shirong as a restaurant owner was not taken seriously by the leaders of the bicycle parts factory.
But now, after hearing County Magistrate Song's introduction, Li Chunhua and others looked at Deng Shirong in a different way.
He is a capable boss, his son is a student at Peking University, and he has a close relationship with the leader's daughter. Such a person is definitely worth making friends with.
After realizing this, the leaders of the bicycle parts factory warmly invited Deng Shirong to sit down and have a few drinks together.
There happened to be only a few people at the table. Apart from County Magistrate Song, the rest were senior executives of the bicycle parts factory. Deng Shirong sat down amid the warm greetings of everyone, and then the smart waiter immediately served the big boss tableware.
This is a celebration party for the bicycle parts factory, so Deng Shirong naturally won't steal the show.
After toasting everyone and chatting with County Magistrate Song about their respective children, Deng Shirong found an excuse to leave and leave the time for the leaders of the bicycle parts factory. They had finally got the opportunity to have dinner with County Magistrate Song, the senior leader. If he took up all the time, although they would not say it on the surface, they would definitely feel uncomfortable in their hearts.
In just a dozen minutes, Deng Shirong left a deep impression on the leaders of the bicycle parts factory. From now on, no matter for work or private, whenever they go out to eat at a restaurant, I believe Suifeng Hotel will definitely be their first choice.
The former county bicycle parts factory began to slowly decline after entering the 21st century and eventually disappeared in the long river of history.
But in the 1980s and 1990s, the factory was still very powerful, especially around 1987. Among the professional manufacturers of bicycle chain covers, the production and sales volume of bicycle chain covers produced by the factory ranked first in Guangxi and third in the country, becoming one of the three largest chain cover professional factories in the country. It can be said that it was in its heyday.
With the help of the factory's leadership, the development of Suifeng Hotel will definitely be smoother.
The meal lasted until six in the afternoon.
County Magistrate Song, as a leader, naturally would not eat for such a long time, so he left half an hour early.
After everyone had their fill, Section Chief Chen stayed behind to settle the bill, while the other leaders and employees left in groups of three or five.
As for packing, it is impossible to pack. It is impossible to pack in this era.
I have emphasized this many times before. The customs of this era are different from those of later generations. In later generations, there was a "lofty" reason for packing up food, which was to avoid wasting food. Therefore, packing up food has become a common practice and will not be laughed at.
But in this day and age, whether you are having a banquet at a relative's or friend's house or eating at a restaurant, packing up leftovers is a very shameful thing. Few people can withstand the strange looks from others.
Besides, plastic bags were not popular at that time and were very rare in county towns. If you wanted to pack up your food, you had to ask the restaurant waiter for help. No one wanted to do such an embarrassing thing.
So, even though there were a lot of leftovers today, no employee wanted to stay to pack them up. They all got up and left with their colleagues.
After Section Chief Chen settled the bill and left, Deng Yuntai gathered the 16 temporary employees who came to help today and paid them their wages.
The four kitchen helpers were paid the highest. Deng Yuntai gave each of them 5 yuan, and the twelve waiters each gave 3 yuan. The total cost was 56 yuan, which was not a low price.
However, the money was worth it. Without the help of these 16 temporary employees, their hotel would not be able to accommodate so many guests today.
The 16 employees received their wages and were all delighted.
Don't underestimate these three or five yuan. In this age when there is nowhere to make money, many rural people are already very happy to earn ten or eight yuan a month. Now they can earn three or five yuan just by working a day. It is really a good thing that you can't find even with a lantern.
After Deng Yuntai distributed the wages to these temporary employees, he smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work today!"
“It’s not hard anymore!”
"Boss, this is what we should do."
"Boss, if there is such a good thing next time, please remember to notify us. We will be there whenever you call."
“…”
Deng Yuntai smiled and responded a few times, then said, "You can go home now. There are so many leftovers. Each of you can pack up a table and take it home. Even if you don't want to eat other people's leftovers, you can feed them to pigs or dogs, so that they won't be wasted here."
All the temporary employees were pleasantly surprised when they heard this. Today, the bicycle parts factory had a luxurious meal provided by the restaurant. There were really a lot of main dishes in it, and many of them were made by the four kitchen helpers. They could hardly eat so many main dishes even during the Chinese New Year, let alone on ordinary days.
Nowadays, even though it’s just picking up other people’s leftovers, people of this era would never dislike it!
What's more, their boss Deng Yuntai gave them a way out. If they didn't want to eat the leftovers they brought back, they could feed them to pigs or dogs. This completely relieved them of their psychological burden.
As a result, a group of temporary employees responded positively and took out oil paper from the restaurant and started packing.
After packing everything, I greeted the boss respectfully, then walked briskly home with a full harvest.
It can be predicted that the families of these sixteen temporary employees will have an unforgettable Mid-Autumn Festival tonight.
After the temporary employees left, Deng Yuntai asked regular employees such as Zhang Guofu, Zhang Wenjuan, and Zhang Wenying to pack up the leftovers from the two tables and take them home. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there would definitely be no one coming to eat at this time, so the restaurant could naturally close early and let the employees go home early to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with their families.
Zhang Wenjuan and Zhang Wenying are very active in packing up leftovers. Last time, when guests came to the hotel to hold a full-month banquet, they packed up a lot of leftovers and took them back, which made their parents and brothers very happy. It was also after that time that their status in the family improved a lot.
The dinner at the bicycle parts factory this time was a luxurious set menu. They were all very active and full of energy. On the one hand, they had their year-end bonuses hanging in the balance, and on the other hand, they were looking forward to the process of packing up the leftovers.
So, after packing up the leftovers, Zhang Wenjuan and three other people, like the temporary employees, happily walked home carrying the large amounts of leftovers.
Deng Shirong did not show up throughout the whole process. He was satisfied with the handling of his eldest son.
After more than three months of experience, the eldest son can really take charge of his own business, and now we can safely hand over the restaurant to the couple.
…
The next day.
In front of the county court.
Deng Shirong stuffed tobacco into his pipe and asked, "Brother Zhang, I want to ask you something. Can you get me some TV tickets?"
It is already 1982. If he remembers correctly, the first Spring Festival Gala will be broadcast on New Year's Eve this year. He has the money now, and it is time to get a TV so that he can watch the Spring Festival Gala during the New Year. It will be very lively.
As for the lack of electricity in the village, there is a solution, which is to buy a few more batteries.
In his previous life, Deng Shirong also bought the first TV in Naye Village, but that was after 1987. At that time, there was still no electricity in the village, so he specially bought two batteries in order to watch TV.
When the battery runs out of power, I ride a bicycle to Shuangwang to charge it. People charge me one or two yuan each time I charge it, which is quite painful.
However, compared with the glory at that time, this effort was worth it.
It is really not easy to buy a TV these days, mainly because tickets are difficult to get.
Of course, as the saying goes, money makes the world go round. If you are really willing to spend money, it is not difficult to buy a TV.
After Deng Shirong had the idea of buying a TV, he planned to ask his friend Brother Zhang, who had many connections. It would be best if he could get the ticket normally. If not, then he could just buy it from someone else at a higher price. As long as he offered a high price, there would be no TV that he couldn't buy.
Zhang Guoan couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "Uncle Jiu, you should have bought a TV a long time ago. You see, people who earn 20 or 30 yuan a month have TVs at home, but you run the largest restaurant in the county, but you don't have a TV at home. Isn't this a joke! As for the TV tickets, don't worry, I'll help you get them."
"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Zhang!"
Deng Shirong struck a match to light the tobacco, took a few puffs, and then said with a smile: "Brother Zhang, you don't know that my hometown still doesn't have electricity. This is why I haven't been in a hurry to buy a TV. But now it seems that I don't know how long it will take for the village to have electricity, so I thought about buying a TV first, and then buying a few batteries to use. Although it is inconvenient to watch TV this way, it is the only solution."
"So the village still doesn't have electricity. No wonder!"
Zhang Guoan suddenly realized and said, "It is indeed inconvenient without electricity. Fortunately, our village is in the county town and electricity was connected several years ago."
"In fact, our village is eligible for electricity, because the only large reservoir in the county is not far from our village. Unfortunately, the power generated by the Laohutou Reservoir is first supplied to several surrounding communes. If there are village enterprises in the village that urgently need electricity, they can also be given priority. For an insignificant small village like ours, it is naturally impossible to get a queue if we want to use electricity."
"We can't help it. Our country is short of electricity everywhere, so we have to focus on the important places first."
"This is understandable. The country is developing faster and faster. I believe that in a few years, people all over the country will have access to electricity."
"This day will definitely come, I just don't know if we can still see it."
"We are not old yet, we will definitely see this day."
“…”
(End of this chapter)
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