69novels Chapter 31 There are rules for eating.
Chapter 31 There are rules for eating.
(Status has changed. Those with money, please support us financially. Those without money, please top up your account.)
Once everyone starts drinking, the atmosphere changes completely from a meal to a lively atmosphere.
The owner of the small restaurant also joined in the fun and toasted Xiao Wei. The six men started drinking, and he stood by serving them, opening bottles of beer and serving dishes. Once they got into it, they didn't have as many thoughts as before. A case of beer was brought over, and a few more dishes were added. Apart from Xiao Wei and Xia Maosheng, the other four men were all heavy drinkers.
Beer back then wasn't sold in small bottles like it is in later generations; it came in large bottles, with 24 bottles per case.
Xiao Wei had drunk about six or seven cups, which added up to a little over one or two bottles. His face was flushed, his neck was thick, and he was panting heavily. Xia Maosheng wasn't in much better shape. The two unfortunate brothers quickly ate the rice in their bowls in a few bites, each grabbed a bowl of soup, and went to the next table to sit down. Only then did they leisurely begin to watch the spectacle. Once they left the table, no one tried to force them to drink anymore.
The four men over there didn't have time to look for the two of them at this point. The father and son were locked in a fierce battle, a true clash of equals.
The restaurant owner came over again, offered a cigarette to each of Xiao Wei and Xia Maosheng, and asked, "What are your surnames, young men?"
Xiao Wei took the cigarette and said, "My surname is Zhang, his surname is Xia, and where's the boss?"
The shop owner lit one for himself, rubbed his bulging belly with his right hand, and said, "What a coincidence! We were from the same family five hundred years ago. I also have the surname Zhang. How many people are there in your area now? Are there many from other places?"
Xiao Wei said, "Classes don't start until tomorrow. I just overheard it, and it seems like there are about sixty or seventy people. I don't know how many are from out of town, but there are about thirty people staying at the dorms. What's going on?"
The owner smiled and said, "Bring me some people to eat, okay? Seriously, if you bring people, I'll give you both free. If you come by yourself, I'll add extra dishes for you. You have to eat eventually, right? And my place is more affordable, isn't it? It's just a bit out of the way; you might not find it even if you look for it yourself. But we've met, haven't we? That's fate, isn't it?"
Xia Maosheng said, "Who can eat out every day? Who's going to pay if we come here to eat every day? It won't work, and complaining won't make a difference."
The owner said, "If you all come together, we can all pay together after we finish eating. Like your table, six people, it'll cost around seventy yuan, that's just over ten yuan per person, right? It's a good way for everyone to eat well and it'll be lively. I'll refund your portions later, how about that?"
Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Okay, why not? I'll call someone for you to have lunch when classes start, but whether they stay or not is none of our business. I have to go home tonight, that's Lao Xia's problem, I can't take care of this."
Xia Maosheng finished the soup in his bowl, put the bowl on the table, and said, "I can get people to come, but I can't say I can come every day. Three meals a day, a quick breakfast of fried dough sticks and steamed buns, and a proper lunch and dinner, it would cost at least ten yuan a day for each person. If they come here every day, it would cost thirty yuan, which is probably not enough. We'll see."
The boss nodded. Xia Maosheng was telling the truth. At this time, not many people could afford to spend 900 yuan a month on food. Generally, those who came to study were not from wealthy families. Being able to afford 300 or 400 yuan a month for living expenses was considered quite good.
He didn't expect these students to come to his restaurant every day. He just mentioned it casually to leave an impression. If a class of chefs has seventy or eighty students and one table comes a day, his business will be much better. After all, in this day and age, money is still very valuable.
Unlike later generations, where the service industry mainly operates within residential communities, in this era, few people with families and jobs were willing to give up their homes; the industry relied entirely on the transient population.
After a case of beer was downed, the four men at the table were almost done drinking. Li Guangzhao's father got into a good time and wanted to ask the owner for more beer, but Yang Tiebin's father stopped him. The two men were there to drop off their children and were from out of town; it would be interesting if they got too drunk.
After eating a few bites of rice and drinking a bowl of soup, the two fathers paid the bill together, and the six of them left the restaurant. The owner saw them all the way to the door and even offered them cigarettes before leaving. This is the true essence of the service industry: if someone comes once, the service is good, and the food is satisfactory, they'll naturally come back; people have a natural tendency to seek familiarity.
After leaving the restaurant and turning onto the main street, the two fathers found a general store and bought towels, toothbrushes, and other toiletries for their children. Xia Maosheng also bought his own things, and the group returned to the Cultural Palace.
When the six of them returned to the dormitory, it was already past three in the afternoon, and there were seven or eight more people in the room. When they entered, the other group was sitting on their bunks chatting. Young people don't have as many thoughts as adults, and once they meet and get to know each other, they can quickly get together and play together, of course, those who don't get along are exceptions.
After sitting down to catch their breath, Li Guangzhao and Yang Tiebin's fathers were both heading back. Their trains were running late, and they didn't even ask their children to see them off. The two fathers left their children a few hundred yuan each, and they traveled together. In those days, trains were still the main mode of transportation; only in places without train service would one choose a long-distance bus. The main reason was that long-distance buses at that time were incredibly tiring to ride—the seats were cramped, all hard boards, and there were no highways; a single ride could leave you half-dead.
Xiao Wei and the others had all drunk alcohol. As soon as the adults left, they climbed onto their beds and listened to the lively chatter over there to sober up. Xiao Wei had nothing there, so he lay down on Xia Maosheng's bed. The two of them spread out their blankets and squeezed together to make do.
After lying down for a while, I heard voices outside. The dormitory door opened, and several people carried in a few long tables, placed them in the middle of the dormitory, and then brought in some chairs. From their conversation, I realized that there were too many chairs in the classrooms outside, leaving too narrow aisles, so they rearranged them and just threw the extra ones into this room, which was just right.
Not long after the tables and chairs were set up, Li Na led a few more people in, bringing over a dozen new large ladles and a pile of sandbags. She piled them on the table, looked them over, and then tugged at Xiao Wei's trouser leg, saying, "Zhang Wei, these are for you to practice flipping the ladles. Fifteen ladles and thirty sandbags are yours."
Xiao Wei sat up, looking down at Li Na from the top bunk, and said, "Why did you give it to me?"
Li Na is quite tall, easily 1.7 meters. Standing below, you can see the upper bunk clearly if you stand on tiptoe. She rolled her eyes at Xiao Wei and said, "You're the dorm leader, who else should I teach if not you? You have to take care of things. When it's full, a bunch of grown men, are you going to let me up there? Besides, I'm a supervisor at the restaurant, not at this training school."
Xiao Wei turned to look at Xia Maosheng, scratched his head and said, "Alright, I'll consider it helping you out. Just leave it there, and contact me if you lose it."
Li Na said, "Who's going to take this junk? Besides, even if you take it down, can you even go outside? It's meant for you to use, so someone has to let you know. Okay, here you go, I'm going downstairs." She looked at the bed again, tapped the bed frame, and said, "Get down."
Xiao Wei paused for a moment, glanced at Xia Maosheng, and asked Li Na, "What are you doing?"