Burning Tail Feast
Nanbei Hotel, 4 p.m.
Those who had lunch had already finished their meal and left, and those who had dinner had not come so early. At this moment, there were a few tables of people scattered in the restaurant, mostly elderly people, drinking tea and chatting with a few friends, and there were a few snacks on the table.
Su Qinxuan and Yang Tao methodically outlined the upcoming tasks. "That's it for the next few days. There shouldn't be anything else to do. However, between the end of the month and New Year's, everyone will likely be busy again preparing for the New Year's banquet. By the way, remember to check everyone's duty roster and hand it in to me. I'll have to oversee the daily staffing arrangements and ensure there's at least enough staff every day."
Yang Tao nodded. "I understand, but Chinese New Year is a major event in life. I'm worried that not many people will stay. Everyone wants to rush back home to celebrate with their families."
Su Qinxuan smiled. "I understand. Of course, I can't just ask you to stay. If anyone is willing to stay, I'll double their daily salary. Employees who live nearby can even bring their families over so they can reunite with their families when they're done. I don't mind that."
Yang Tao was delighted when she heard this. "That's good, that's good. I was worried that they would all rush home and ask for leave, leaving the store empty-handed."
Su Qinxuan smiled and wanted to say something else, "Then..."
"Boss! Come out and take a look!" Su Qinxuan was suddenly interrupted by a noise outside the store. What was happening outside?
Su Qinxuan and Yang Tao walked slowly outside and saw a large truck parked at the gate. Her husband and two children were waiting at the back of the truck to unload the goods.
"Hmm? What did they buy?" Su Qinxuan was curious. She met her husband's eyes and was stunned. "Oh, right, that's right. A few days ago, they did agree to buy a few..."
"Oh my God! Is this a TV?" someone couldn't believe it.
"Oh my God! What a grand gesture! It's really a TV!" someone exclaimed.
"Boss, boss! Do you want to leave the TV you bought in the store or take it home?" someone shouted.
Su Qinxuan smiled and nodded, answering the question from the guests watching the lively atmosphere around her: "Yes, yes, that's right. It's the black and white TV that our restaurant bought. Of course, it's placed inside the restaurant. Everyone can watch it whenever they come to eat in the future."
As soon as these words were spoken, people immediately applauded: "Boss, how thoughtful! We haven't had a TV in our compound for years. Finally, a neighbor bought one this year. But except for the first day when he invited everyone over to show off, he's been treating it like a baby the rest of the time, refusing to even let us look at it, as if the TV would break if we looked at it any more!"
Others began to discuss: "Hey, boss, if you buy this TV, won't everyone be able to watch it? Anyone who comes to the restaurant to eat can watch it?"
"I don't think so. There's only one TV, and it's so small. If you're a little further away, you can't make out any of the words. Are you sure everyone can see it in such a big store?"
Su Qinxuan didn't say anything. Jian Jianan and his brother looked at each other and smiled slyly.
After Jian Yangping directed the workers to take down the first black-and-white TV, he did not leave but continued to stand there. Then, a worker walked onto the cargo box and took down the second black-and-white TV.
???
There's even a TV!
The person who just said that he was unhappy with having only one TV was now speechless. It should be said that this Nanbei Restaurant was really thoughtful. Worried that the people in the front couldn't see the small TV screen, they bought another one and put it in the back.
Jian Jiannan said: "Don't worry, we bought two TVs, one in the front and one in the back. This will ensure that everyone can see it to the greatest extent possible. Even if they can't see clearly, they can still hear the sound!"
As the TV was carried into the restaurant, many people hurriedly followed it in, but a small number of people still kept a close eye on Jian Yangping's movements and even looked into the trunk of the truck to see if there was a third person.
His spying action was blocked by Jian Yangping calmly. Jian Yangping even patted the unloading boy on the shoulder and said, "Be careful on the road!"
The young man agreed: "Okay!"
Jian Jianan looked at everyone's curious actions and thought proudly, yes, there is, but this third TV is not intended to be placed in the store. You know, they don't have a TV at home, so it's just right to put one in!
Su Qinxuan was pushed to the center of the crowd and was being watched by so many pairs of eyes. Everyone was waiting for her next words.
Su Qinxuan is full of noble demeanor.
"Our Nanbei Hotel will have a TV to watch movies on in the future!"
"From now on, this TV will be turned on every day. All customers who consume in the store can watch it, regardless of the number of people, time, or number of times. We're not afraid of you watching it, we're just afraid of you not coming!"
The crowd suddenly cheered, "Great, great! Boss Su is so generous!"
Su Qinxuan paused and continued, "We also have good news to announce to everyone here. On New Year's Eve this month, our Nanbei Hotel will be hosting a banquet called the 'Man Han Banquet'. This will serve as both a review of the past year and a beautiful outlook for the new year. The Man Han Banquet is currently being prepared, and the specific dishes will be announced soon. Everyone can come and take a look then!"
At this point, her youngest daughter, Jian Jianan, who was standing next to her, added, "During the New Year, we can watch TV dramas with our family. It's so lively and what a wonderful New Year's Eve!"
Jian Jianan's words really touched people's hearts.
"Yes, yes. People in our compound watch TV in the courtyard every Spring Festival. But there are too many people. If you go too late, you can only see a sea of heads."
"You're still lucky. Look at me, I've never seen any TV series before. I'm so curious!"
People immediately started arguing about what TV series to watch. Of course, the most popular one was a TV series called "The Bund".
Su Qinxuan gestured for silence. "Okay, okay, everyone, think about what you want to watch that day. When the day comes, we'll broadcast it! We'll make sure everyone can enjoy watching while eating! Have a happy new year!"
From this time on, the news that the Nanbei Hotel was going to hold a Burning Tail Banquet spread, and countless people were asking what the Burning Tail Banquet was, what dishes were included, and how much they cost.
When someone who was very excited approached the staff at the Nanbei Hotel and wanted to request a table of the Manchu Han Banquet, they were surprised to be told, "The Burning Tail Banquet hasn't been released yet. The details depend on the boss's arrangements. When will it be released? Please wait, we are still arranging the dishes. We will let you know as soon as they are available!"
In this way, the news of the Burning Tail Banquet has whetted everyone's appetite. Even those who had not planned to spend this money before are curious about what the Burning Tail Banquet at the Nanbei Hotel will look like.
Putting aside everyone’s curiosity, the instigator’s family of four is enjoying the convenience of technology comfortably at home.
Jian Jiabei was the most excited. When the installers were around, he could barely remain calm in front of outsiders, but as soon as they finished debugging the TV and left, Jian Jiabei rushed to the TV set, touched here and there, and stared at the TV intently.
"The waves rush! The waves flow! ..."
A melodious song sounded. The opening credits of this Hong Kong drama, which has become popular from Hong Kong to countless cities in the mainland, are from a song with the same name as Shanghai, "Shanghai Bund".
But Jian Jianan was not like her brother. She was indeed interested at first, but then her interest changed and she kept asking her parents questions.
"How much does a TV cost?" Jian Jianan asked.
Jian Yangping replied, "Five hundred. I didn't use a ticket. Without a ticket, it would have sold for six or seven hundred. But we bought a lot, so I talked to the boss and he gave me a good price!"
The "many" that Jian Yangping mentioned does not only refer to three televisions, but also includes other things, a washing machine and a refrigerator, which are the three major appliances of this era.
If one can bring out these three items when getting married, then it is generally recognized that the family is well-off.
Jian Yangping teased Su Qinxuan, "When your mother married me, I didn't have the ability to buy her three major items. Today, I finally made her dream come true, which can be regarded as making up for a regret in my heart."
Su Qinxuan laughed: "Yes, yes, it is true that we don't have the three major appliances we have now, but didn't you buy me a radio, a sewing machine, a bicycle, or something else?"
That's right, every era has its corresponding three major items. When Su Qinxuan and Jian Yangping were in love, although Jian Yangping had no money, he still gritted his teeth and bought Su Qinxuan the necessary things, which shows his thoughtfulness.
The two adults looked at each other, with endless tenderness and affection flowing between them. The air was suddenly filled with all kinds of pink bubbles, which everyone in it could feel keenly.
Jian Jiabei stared at the TV intently, as if there was something on it that interested him the most at the moment.
Jian Jianan looked up at her parents. She rarely heard her parents talk about the past, and she was really curious.
Perhaps out of consideration for the presence of the children, the two of them finally restrained themselves. Su Qinxuan glared at Jian Yangping, then lowered her head and said to Jian Jianan, "Nannan, go watch TV with your brother first. Mom and Dad have to decide the menu for New Year's Eve today. They'll be running around the market and the docks, so they can't take you and your brother with them. You just stay home and wait for us, okay?"
Jian Jianan agreed obediently, then sat on the sofa and thought about things.
My parents are not the kind of people who are greedy for pleasure. The purchase of the TV must have been arranged by the two of them in advance in order to attract customers and to promote the upcoming tail-end banquet.
In that case, how many tables can be booked for the New Year's Eve dinner?
At the end of January, the winter in Guangdong Province finally showed its power. People on the streets put on thick clothes and took out all kinds of cotton-padded jackets from the bottom of their closets to resist the damp and cold weather in the south.
Jian Jianan and his brother put on the cotton clothes their parents bought for them and played happily in the yard.
Jian Yangping saw the cotton coats by chance in a small shop while he was traveling on the road. He thought they were suitable for his two children, so he bought them.
They also bought down jackets. Down was a rare commodity at that time, and Jian Yangping and Su Qinxuan had never seen one before. However, the shopkeeper kept promoting it, saying, "Down jackets are perfect for children. They're lightweight and not as heavy as cotton-padded jackets. Children's bones aren't fully developed yet, and a thick cotton-padded jacket will bend their spines. Down jackets are perfect for winter."
These words touched the hearts of Su Qinxuan and the other man, and they immediately decided to buy it.
It’s not the coldest yet, so the down jacket has not been taken out.
After playing for a while, Jian Jiabei felt a little tired and asked his sister, "Mom and Dad have been preparing for the year-end banquet these days. I haven't seen them for several days. It's really... so cool."
Jian Jianan thought his brother's next words were about missing his parents, but he didn't expect them to be such words.
"Brother, you are so humorous." Jian Jianan squeezed out these words dryly.
Jian Jiabei asked his sister curiously, "Hey, why haven't you been clamoring to go to the restaurant with Mom and Dad lately? Why have you been staying at home all the time?"
Jian Jianan replied as a matter of course, "It's been so cold these past few days. I finally have a day off, so of course I'm resting at home. Besides, my parents are always busy out and about, and they're not often in the restaurant. Even if I wanted to go see it, there's nothing good to see."
Jian Jiabei said "oh".
Jian Jianan continued, "Besides, I've figured out almost everything about the hotel in this period of time. There's no point in staying there any longer. I'll just be wasting time dealing with more trivial matters. It's better to just rest at home!"
Jian Jiabei nodded.
"Indeed, you have good vision, sister. Speaking of which, our restaurant has been open for almost a month now. Although there are some unexpected minor issues every now and then, so far there haven't been any major problems that we can't control. It looks like we can finally have a good New Year this year!"
Jian Jianan's expression suddenly became horrified, "No, no, no, brother, stop talking!"
The child is still young and doesn’t understand the idea of not setting random flags that only appeared in later generations.
But Jian Jianan knew intuitively that it was best not to say such things.
In the Sunshine Farmers' Market, which is several districts away from the Nanbei Hotel, the former site of the Nanbei Restaurant has now been renamed the "Red Flag Hotel."
Liang Kang was waiting for customers to come in a bored manner. There were only a few cats in the shop, and there was no one outside the shop. It was nothing like the bustling restaurant when Jian Jianan's family ran it.
At this time, a man came over. Looking at the two or three guests inside, he thought he had found the wrong person. He scratched his head and was at a loss: "Why is this name covered up? Could it be that the person has been replaced?"
Upon hearing this, Liang Kang hurried over and said with a smile, "No one has changed, it's just that our previous owner went home and hasn't been back for a while. The store is being renovated, so they took a board to cover the store name."
The man was relieved after hearing this, and kept muttering, "The boss and the boss lady haven't changed, and the chef in the store is still there, right? It's good enough as long as the taste hasn't changed."
Liang Kang finally coaxed this person in, then went back to the store door and stared blankly.
Alas, doing business is not as good as I thought before.
Who would have thought that after the man took his first bite, he immediately felt something was wrong. He threw his chopsticks on the spot and asked the boss to come over and give him justice. "Why are you treating me differently? It tastes completely different from what I had before! No wonder your business is not doing well now!"
This sentence made Liang Kang so angry that he died.
After finally comforting the customer, refunding his money and asking him to leave, Liang Kang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Why--
It’s better not to do this business!
Ever since they bought the former site of the Nanbei Restaurant, for some unknown reason, their Hongqi Restaurant has been unable to achieve the same level of success as the former restaurant.
Liang Kang and his wife thought opening a restaurant would be easy. In the end, they invested a ton of money but saw almost no return. Many people who had come here to try their luck would leave without a second thought when they heard the restaurant had changed owners. The owner of the neighboring shop would even tell them where the new Nanbei Restaurant was located.
Seeing the number on the account getting smaller and smaller, Liang Kang's family was as anxious as ants on a hot pot.
What should I do?
Opening a store requires the most money. Buying things here costs money, and buying things there also costs money. I originally thought that I could continue to use the tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks left after the Nanbei Restaurant moved away, but I didn’t expect that they cleared out everything and didn’t leave even a bowl or a spoon for me.
Seeing that business was getting worse and worse, the couple came up with a shady idea. They changed the name back and pretended that it was still the original Nanbei Restaurant.
This strategy did work for a while at the beginning, but soon, the people who came were not fools. Some of them had not come to the restaurant to eat for a long time, and when they came and saw that the sign was still the same, they felt relieved.
Although they always notice that the taste has changed after eating and will not come back next time, they still try to trick as many people as possible. Looking at the slowly increasing sales, Liang Kang and others feel that this trick works.
Just when Liang Kang's thoughts were wandering off, his wife Cheng Ling came back with a customized sign.
There were five big words written on it: "Nanbei Restaurant".
This was also one of the reasons why the couple decided to pretend to be a small restaurant. They couldn't just use their own store name to trick others into believing it. Since it was a fake, they had to make it look more realistic.
Liang Kang sat up lazily, and Cheng Ling directed the workers skillfully to remove the original "Red Flag Hotel" and install a new plaque of "North and South Restaurant".
Cheng Ling finished the inspection and nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad, very good."
Then he went inside to check the bill.
After seeing this, her frown no longer relaxed.
Cheng Ling invested a huge amount of money in the restaurant, and even borrowed the rent from her sister's family. Now she comes here every day, and she wishes she could go there more often. The turnover has also increased several times.
She frowned, staring at the figures in the account book, her abacus clacking loudly. After a while, she put the account book down, grabbed Liang Kang who was passing by, and asked, "Why is the money in this account getting less and less? Didn't you say that running a restaurant is the most profitable? Didn't you say that the Jian family used to make money every day running a restaurant? Why do I see that they are losing more and more?"
Fortunately, there are not many customers here at the moment, otherwise the loud noise would drive out the remaining customers, and the already small number of customers would be almost gone.
Liang Kang explained: "Everything is difficult at the beginning. Don't be envious of Jian Yangping and Su Qinxuan because their restaurant is so popular. You have to know that they also had difficulties like us in the beginning, or even more difficult than us. They also developed step by step. You have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. We must also grow bigger and stronger step by step."
"Besides, we have to seize this last chance. There's still one last chance. Don't forget that next month is Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year money is the easiest to make. I've long ago asked someone to find out how the Nanbei Restaurant is celebrating Chinese New Year. We'll follow their cooking and make the same dishes. I don't believe we can't make a lot of money by following them."
Seeing his wife's expression relax, Liang Kang quickly struck while the iron was hot. "I've already found out over the past few days. I heard that the Nanbei Restaurant is hosting some kind of "burning tail banquet" called the 'Man Han Banquet'. They're taking reservations, but they've been keeping it a secret. Not many people know about it yet, but don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on it and will make sure to find out for you."
Cheng Ling finally relaxed and told her husband, "Okay, then you must make sure you understand what this Burning Tail Feast is, so we can have people follow it."
Cheng Ling looked serious, with an air of desperation surrounding her.
She and her sister are twins, and they have had a subtle sense of competition since they were young.
When they were young, they compared their grades, skills, and parental love. When they grew up, they compared the quality of the men they married.
Everything was fine in the past. Cheng Ling married Liang Kang, a teacher, which is one of the most admired professions in today's society. As a result, Cheng Ling became very popular in the family group. She was also very proud in front of her sister. After all, she just married a factory worker, an ordinary man, nothing special.
But since the policy came out, my brother-in-law resigned and went into business, making a lot of money, and the identities and status of the two people have changed.
It was her sister's turn to receive everyone's envious gazes, become the focus of everyone's conversation, and the apple of her parents' and relatives' eyes.
After much difficulty, she finally persuaded her husband to quit his job and start his own business. She also obtained some money from her sister and brother-in-law as the start-up capital for the Red Flag Restaurant. This time, only success is allowed!
She couldn't bear everyone's strange looks.
The Burning End Banquet at the Nanbei Hotel, which many people are thinking about, is progressing steadily towards its goal. Jian Jianan is also thinking about this work project. When he finally catches Jian Yangping and the other person at home, he always rushes up to ask them clearly.
Every time, Su Qinxuan would tap her nose and tell her, "Don't worry, don't worry, you'll know soon."
This made Jian Jianan very confused: "How fast is fast?"
"Mom, why is the word 'fast' you say different from what I understand?"
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