Chapter 116 Barbecue
"Sister-in-law, I'm late. I just found out about this." Xiao Ai said apologetically to Chen Minchong.
Shi Xiaoai quickly came over and said, "Brother Chen, don't say that. It's not a big deal. There's no need to make a special trip."
Chen Min didn't say anything else, but he still felt a little uncomfortable when he saw the broken porcelain pieces being swept out in dustpans.
Before Cheng Lin left, he specifically asked him to take better care of the family, but Chen Min has been busy recently and has not come here.
If his subordinates hadn't sent everyone to the police station to mention it today, he wouldn't have known that Zhao Cuihong and the others were causing trouble again!
He immediately said, "I'll go find Lao Zheng later to ask about the outcome of this matter. Didn't Shi Yunpeng and the others go out of town? Why did they come back so suddenly?"
Shi Xiaoai then remembered that Chen Min had no idea that Shi Daxi and his men had opened a shop opposite his and were eventually arrested.
So she could only tell him everything that had happened recently.
Because the branch office is currently handling a major case, Chen Min is really too busy to pay much attention to this side.
If that case hadn't finally been concluded, he wouldn't have been able to come here today.
But Chen Min never expected that so many things had happened here in just one month since he last came!
He pondered silently.
Shi Xiaoai then remembered something else and asked, "Brother Chen, I heard that our city is going to build a number of new police booths. Is that true?"
Chen Min collected his thoughts and replied, "Yes. But not all of them are police booths. The bureau's budget is limited, and the cost of building police booths is too high. Besides adding a few police booths near some main roads, other places will cooperate with the neighborhood committee to set up security points."
At this point, he asked curiously, "How did you know about this? Why did you think of asking this?"
Recently, the Municipal Bureau is indeed planning to add a number of traffic police booths on the main roads in the city. In addition to the police booths, it is also planning to add some security points in various areas.
This is not something that needs to be kept secret, many people know about it.
But that is only limited to public security personnel, and ordinary people will not pay attention to this.
So when Shi Xiaoai suddenly brought it up, Chen Min felt a little strange.
"I heard it from the public security comrades who came for tea," Shi Xiaoai explained.
She didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly stated her purpose.
She said to Chen Min, "Brother Chen, I have something I'd like to ask you for help with. After our snack bar is built, we're willing to provide a room free of charge. Could you help us apply to have this place designated as a public security point?"
Chen Min was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously looked outside: "Are you talking about the new yard you bought?"
Shi Xiaoai led him out of the tent and said, "Brother Chen, can I take you over to have a look? Although it's still under construction, the general appearance can already be seen."
Chen Min nodded, but stopped when he walked out of the tent.
His eyes fell on the sign hanging outside the shed.
"Love and convenience points." Chen Min said softly.
Then he looked at Shi Xiaoai: "What is this? I didn't see it the last time I came here."
“Oh, this is a convenient service we provide.”
Shi Xiaoai explained it to him, then said with a smile, "I learned about the police booth construction from the public security comrades who came to drink tea.
Then I thought, since this security point has to cooperate with the community, why not build it anywhere? Why not build it next to our snack bar?
Our location is great! It's easy to get in and out, and it's close to the police station."
Hearing her say this, a smile slowly appeared in Chen Min's eyes. He couldn't help but admire in his heart that the wife his comrade married was really smart.
Although Shi Xiaoai didn't explain it very clearly, he already understood it and thought it was a good idea and a win-win situation.
Just as Shi Xiaoai said, the location of their snack shop is very suitable for setting up a security point. If the security point is built near the snack shop, it will basically prevent people like Zhao Cuihong from coming to cause trouble.
Even if someone is so blind and insists on coming, Xiao Ai and the others don't need to take action. The public security officers will be able to give those people a hard time.
The more Chen Min thought about it, the more he felt that this plan was feasible. Before he even reached Courtyard No. 1 and saw the house that Shi Xiaoai was willing to provide, he had already made up his mind. He would try to get it done as soon as possible when he got back.
Chen Min was very efficient. A week later, the review team from the Municipal Public Security Bureau came to the tea stall to understand the situation.
At this time, the major construction work in Courtyard No. 1 had been completed, leaving only some minor tasks such as wiring and installing doors and windows.
Shi Xiaoai took the review team to visit the site and especially showed them the room that she was willing to reserve for the security point. The other party was very satisfied.
About a week later, Chen Min came again after get off work and happily told Shi Xiaoai that the security point had passed the review.
Just wait until the renovation is completed here, and then we can officially start sending people over.
At this time, the countdown to the opening of the snack shop has begun.
The snack shop originally planned to recruit 20 temporary workers, but after the initial interview, 50 trainees were retained.
After the re-examination one month later, because everyone performed very well, Shi Xiaoai and his team made an exception and kept ten more people, so a total of thirty temporary workers were left.
Ten of them were selected by Song Chunyu to work in the kitchen. Two of the remaining twenty were responsible for cleaning, and the other eighteen were responsible for front-of-house service.
In order to help them adapt to their jobs as quickly as possible, in addition to training courses, they will also be divided into groups to start internships at tea stalls.
Because we finally have enough manpower, some things that I have always wanted to do but were too busy to do can finally be done.
The most important thing is that the night market is finally open!
It is already May, the best season of the year.
The days are starting to get longer, and people are willing to spend more time outdoors at night.
Yuncheng is a coastal city. The evening sea breeze blowing on people is neither too cold nor too hot and very comfortable.
So when it’s time to get off work, there are people chatting in front of the doors of each house in the alley, and walking on the street.
And it was on such an ordinary evening that the small barbecue at the tea stall began its trial operation!
Kong Yanbin went on a business trip some time ago, accompanying his leader to another place, and the trip lasted more than a month.
Along the way, he was missing the braised pork rice from Yunhe Tea Stall and the stone buns stuffed with nuts.
After finally returning from a business trip, he handed in his car and went straight to the tea stall without even going home.
Kong Yanbin looked at his watch. It was five o'clock in the afternoon. He couldn't help but quicken his pace, fearing that if he arrived any later, the siblings would have closed their stall again.
This family had good business and closed their stall early, and he had experienced this a long time ago.
After leaving the hospital gate, he saw from afar a large 100-watt incandescent bulb hanging high at the door of the tea stall.
It's still daylight, but the light bulb is so bright that you can see it clearly from such a long distance away.
Seeing the lights on, Kong Yanbin grinned and felt a little relieved, knowing that he should be able to catch up.
But he didn't feel at ease for more than a few minutes. The closer he got to the tea stall, the more he couldn't help but wonder: What was going on over there? Why were there so many people gathered around?
Kong Yanbin crossed the road and found that the tea stall was surrounded by people in three layers inside and three layers outside, and he couldn't squeeze in!
Kong Yanbin was a little confused. He immediately grabbed a nearby person who was also peeking in and asked, "Lao Zhang, what's going on with the tea stall today? Why are there so many people?"
The man she called Lao Zhang glanced at him sideways and asked in surprise, "Lao Kong, you're back? Why did your business trip take so long?"
Kong Yanbin hummed perfunctorily, then continued to ask, "What's going on here? What are these people doing?"
Lao Zhang laughed and said, "You haven't been home these days, so you might not know. The tea stall has launched a new item, barbecue, and they're having a trial run today!"
"A new variety? Barbecue?" Kong Yanbin found it interesting and couldn't help jumping, trying to see inside over the crowd.
Lao Zhang pulled him and said, "You're so old, why are you still jumping around? It's no use jumping around, you can't squeeze through. I regret now why I didn't buy a few more skewers inside. Now I can't squeeze in even if I want to eat!"
Kong Yanbin could already smell the fragrance coming from inside, and he sniffed hard.
After hearing what Lao Zhang said, he felt even more anxious. He quickly grabbed Lao Zhang and asked, "You went in just now? What exactly are they selling there? Tell me about it."
Maybe it was Lao Zhang's words "Why didn't you buy a few more skewers" that attracted everyone's attention. Even those who were jumping up and down outside couldn't see that everyone inside had turned their heads.
Some people, like Kong Yanbin, grabbed Lao Zhang and asked, "How many strings? What did you buy?"
Old Zhang smacked his lips in satisfaction and explained, "Today, the tea stall has introduced new barbecue. There are pork skewers, lamb skewers, various vegetable skewers, and also grilled fish."
I didn't have work this afternoon, so when I went out for a walk, they had just started and there weren't many people around, so I went over to join in the fun.
Mutton and pork skewers are all 10 cents for two, and vegetable skewers are 10 cents for five. Oh, there is not much meat on the skewers, only a few small pieces on each skewer, not even enough to fill the gaps between your teeth.
I thought it was a bit expensive at the time, so I didn’t want to buy more. I just bought two skewers of meat and five skewers of vegetables.
As a result, it smells really good! "
As Lao Zhang spoke, he swallowed hard, his expression full of regret.
"I should have bought a few more skewers! This stuff is so delicious! I'm addicted, I can't get enough of it. Oh, no, no, I can't stop drooling as I say this, my appetite is about to burst."
He stamped his foot, parted the crowd, and said, "I'll have to try again. Maybe I can get in line this time!"
As soon as he said this, the people surrounding him scattered, and Kong Yanbin ran away very fast.
Everyone squeezed towards the most crowded place.
Xiao Ai and the others couldn't hear what people were saying outside, and even if they did, they couldn't care less now.
Today is the first day of their barbecue stall's trial operation. Even though they have made sufficient preparations in advance, no one expected the business to be so good.
Shi Xiaoai and the others set up the barbecue grill that they had customized in advance around five o'clock.
The employees who were selected in advance to be responsible for barbecue took the necessary tools from the tricycle and put them away little by little.
There weren't many customers at the tea stall at that time, but their noise still attracted quite a few people.
Of course, at the beginning there were definitely more people watching than those willing to consume.
But Shi Xiaoai and the others were not in a hurry.
Her long experience had long taught her that good wine needs no bush.
When it comes to barbecue, there is no need to shout about it, the taste speaks for itself.
After the first kebab was sold, more and more people came over attracted by the aroma.
At the beginning, there were many people watching, but few willing to pay. But gradually, more and more people came to watch, and so many people paid to buy that the company couldn't even collect all the money.
In order to create momentum today, Shi Xiaoai and her friends brought out two large ovens.
Four students were also selected to grill at the same time.
The meat and vegetable skewers are all processed in advance. When you need them, you can just put them on the fire. The whole processing process takes only a few minutes.
But even so, more and more people gathered, and it got so many that Xiao Ai started to worry, fearing that the dozens of kilograms of vegetables and meat they prepared would not last even an hour.
Looking at the dark and tightly packed crowd, Shi Xiaoai even doubted whether the people gathered on the outside really knew what was being sold inside?
Probably not.
The reason for watching is mostly out of curiosity, right?
But since they have come here, and they are all potential customers, I naturally cannot let any of them go.
Shi Xiaoai cast a look that said "calm down, don't panic" at the trainees who were assigned to do internship tonight, then signaled Cheng Lin and Wang Xiaofeng to take it, and she stood at the front of the crowd and began to maintain order.
“Everyone, please don’t worry, stay away from the stove. We have prepared enough today and everyone can buy it.
Grilled meat costs 10 cents for two skewers, and vegetables cost 10 cents for five skewers. The meats are pork and lamb, and the vegetables are potatoes, green peppers, leeks, and mushrooms. There's also grilled mabu fish, also 10 cents for two skewers.
Everyone, please line up properly and avoid crowding. Because there are so many people, it's best to have your money ready. We'll pay first and receive the goods later!
You want two skewers of meat and five skewers of vegetables. Thank you for your patronage. The total is 20 cents. Thank you!
…
With Shi Xiaoai's example, the students who were a little reserved before also started to take action.
Some of them stood in front with Shi Xiaoai, loudly introducing the types of barbecue to the customers and making various recommendations to them.
Some people also began to coordinate the people who were crowded together and made everyone line up.
Some people even saw that the supplies were insufficient and began to spontaneously run to the operating table to start threading the skewers...
At the beginning, due to lack of experience, there was indeed some chaos in front of the barbecue stall, but order was gradually restored. Although the line was very long, as long as you were patient, everyone who wanted to eat could finally eat it.
After waiting in line for almost twenty minutes, Kong Yanbin finally got to the front of the table.
Seeing Shi Xiaoai busy and sweating, he shouted, "Give me a dollar for barbecue and a dollar for grilled fish!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Shi Xiaoai turned around.
After recognizing Kong Yanbin, she smiled broadly.
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