Chapter 253: County Leaders Show Goodwill, Factory Leaders Are Shocked
National Day.
It is also the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the four major traditional festivals in China.
Suifeng Restaurant.
As soon as the sky brightened, all the regular and temporary employees of the restaurant were all present, and Deng Yuntai, the small boss who controlled the overall situation, also arrived.
After the restaurant opened, various fresh ingredients that had been ordered in advance were delivered one after another.
The banquet for the bicycle parts factory was different from the full moon banquet held by the restaurant last time. The opening time of the full moon banquet was between 10:30 and 11:00 in the morning, so time was very tight. Only meat balls, egg rolls, braised pork, sweet lotus root and other time-consuming dishes could be prepared one day in advance.
But the banquet time of the bicycle parts factory was between 4 and 5 in the afternoon, which gave the restaurant enough time to operate, so there was no need to prepare dishes the night before, and they could eat the freshest meals.
In the kitchen, the master chef Zhang Guofu was in control of the overall situation. After the addition of four kitchen assistants and twelve waiters, the efficiency of the kitchen work also increased sharply. The waiter was responsible for washing the vegetables, and for dishes like meatballs and egg rolls that took more time, Zhang Guofu only needed to season them, and the rest was left to the kitchen helpers.
Everything went 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 didn't 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 to drink slowly with Zhang Guangzong.
Zhang Guangzong was used to the boss's behavior, but he still said with emotion: "Boss, this habit of yours is really something. I have tried it several times before, but unfortunately, as long as I eat porridge, rice or noodles, my stomach will be bloated easily, and drinking alcohol is not pleasant at all."
Deng Shirong picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth, chewing and laughing: "Habits can be formed slowly. Excessive drinking is not good for the body. If you drink on an empty stomach, it will be even worse. I do this to drink for a few more years to avoid problems with my body."
"I get the reasoning, but I have been drinking like this for decades, and I am afraid that I can't change this habit!"
Zhang Guangzong sighed, took another sip of wine, and then said: "Anyway, at my age, my life has entered the countdown, and I may die one day. I am too lazy to toss these things anymore. I can only drink one more day and earn one more day."
Deng Shirong understood that Zhang Guangzong's words were not exaggerated at all. The life span of people in this era was not like that of later generations. They could easily live to 70 or 80, especially rural people who could live to over 60 years old, and they could be labeled as long-lived.
Take their Thatchfield Village for example. There are really not too few people who died of illness in their 40s and 50s. Looking at the whole village, there are really not many elderly people over 60 years old.
In his previous life, Deng Shirong lived to 88 years old, which was a considered long. Few people of his generation in the village could live to 80, and he was the only one who lived to over 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 about such things? What we have to do is to eat more delicious food while our teeth are still good, so that even if we die one day, compared with others, our life will be worth living."
"Boss is right, then I will pick delicious the food in the future, don't feel blame me!"
"Just eat it, can these few dishes make me poor!"
...
At noon, diners came 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 old customers with good family conditions have even visited the restaurant more than ten times, basically coming every three or five days, which is considered a relatively awesome figure in this era.
When these diners arrived, they were surprised to see that the restaurant suddenly had more than ten waiters.
After all, the red line of employment still firmly imprisoned the Chinese in this era.
Until 1984, an elderly powerful man, a distant clan member of Deng Shirong, addressed the issue of excessive self-employed workers during a meeting. He firmly stated that the matter should not be acted upon immediately but rather set aside for two years until the employment situation was truly stable.
Before that, it was necessary to keep a low profile.
Now that the restaurant has added so many waiters at once, it would be strange if the diners who know the red line were not surprised!
So, a curious regular customer asked on the spot: "Boss, why do you have so many waiters at your restaurant all of a sudden?"
Deng Yuntai smiled and replied: "They are just temporary helpers, because all the employees of the bicycle parts factory will come to our restaurant for a dinner in the afternoon. The original staff of the restaurant can't handle such a large scene, so we can only ask people to come and help temporarily!"
The regular customer suddenly realized that the red line refers to the fixed employees, and the employees who come to help temporarily will naturally not be counted.
Knowing that the bicycle parts factory will have a dinner here, everyone has become more and more recognized of Suifeng Restaurant.
Because the kitchen is now fully staffed, the diners who came to eat today had just ordered the dishes and the waiters started serving them. The speed was really fast.
...
At four o'clock in the afternoon.
The workers of the bicycle parts factory, led by the factory leaders, came to Suifeng Restaurant.
At this time, Suifeng Restaurant was just like the last time it held a full moon banquet. A banner welcoming all the workers of the bicycle parts factory was hung at the door. There were also signboards erected inside the restaurant, and the left half of the area was separated by ribbons.
Therefore, when the workers of the bicycle parts factory arrived, they could follow the signboards to go to the separated area and sit down.
And on the table in this designated area, there was a large plate of fried melon seeds, which was given by the restaurant and used for the workers to eat melon seeds and chat to pass the time.
After the workers went in and sat down, Section Chief Chen jokingly said, "Boss, you have to ask the chef to show his real skills and make the food more delicious, because this time not only our factory workers will have a dinner party, but also the leaders from above will come."
Deng Yuntai said seriously, "Don't worry, Section Chief Chen, our chef will definitely show his skills and ensure that all the workers and leaders of your factory can eat delicious meals."
Section Chief Chen smiled and said, "That's good, boss, you go ahead and do your work. I'll call you if there's anything."
...
Including the private rooms, Suifeng Restaurant has a total of 88 tables. Although there are many tables for six and four, it is still no problem to receive six or seven hundred people in total.
However, excluding the ten private rooms, now that the two hundred and sixty people from the bicycle parts factory have arrived, they have occupied almost half of the restaurant's space.
About ten minutes later, the factory director Li Chunhua accompanied County Magistrate Song to Suifeng Restaurant.
"Leader!"
"Leader!"
"Director!"
"..."
As the supervisor and the director arrived, the workers all greeted them, and the factory leaders all trotted over, surrounding the leaders and walking towards the reserved table.
The arrival of the leader was a signal, and the waiters who had been prepared for a long time began to serve the dishes.
Twelve temporary waiters, plus the original four waiters, sixteen people served the dishes together, which was very fast.
Because they had prepared in advance, only the vegetables needed to be fried, so in less than twenty minutes, all twenty-four dishes and three soups were served.
The workers of 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 really know to show off!"
Li Chunhua smiled and said, "Leader, don't look at the large number of dishes, they are not expensive. On average, each person only costs a few yuan. Everyone has worked hard for so many years. This year, the factory has finally made great progress. It's a rare celebration. In addition, today is both National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, so let everyone eat better."
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 with a smile, "This great leader, and the leaders of the bicycle parts factory, I am the owner of the restaurant. Thank you for your support for our restaurant. This bottle of wine is a little gift from our restaurant. I hope all the leaders will eat and drink well."
"Thank you, boss!"
"I wish you a prosperous business!"
"Boss, your restaurant is good. It is clean and spacious, and the food tastes good. It's hard for this business to be bad!"
"..."
The leader of the bicycle parts factory saw that Deng Shirong came to give wine, and it was the best Moutai, so he naturally didn't mind giving a few good words.
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 many times."
The leaders had all stood up, so how could they dare to sit down? They all stood up in unison.
Although Deng Shirong had never met County Magistrate Song, when he heard him say that, he immediately understood his identity and couldn't help but smile: "So it's 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 a glass."
"We should have a drink!"
At this point, County Magistrate Song looked at Li Chunhua and others and said: "Director Li, the son of this boss Deng is also studying in Beijing, and he is an alumnus of my eldest daughter. Although this is the first time that Boss Deng and I have met, we are acquaintances because of the children."
Hearing this, Li Chunhua and other leaders were 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 this boss Deng was an alumnus of the leader's daughter, which meant that he was also a Peking University student.
Li Chunhua and others knew how amazing Peking University students were in this era. As long as they didn't commit suicide or had bad luck, they would be cadres directly after graduating from Peking University, and their ranks were not low, and their future was limitless.
Originally, although Deng Shirong, the restaurant owner, was also amazing, due to the widespread prejudice of people in this era against self-employed individuals, Deng Shirong's identity as a restaurant owner was really not taken seriously by these leaders of the bicycle parts factory.
But now after hearing County Magistrate Song's introduction, Li Chunhua and others looked at Deng Shirong with different eyes.
He was a capable boss, his son was a Peking University student, and he had a close relationship with the leader's daughter. Such a person was completely worthy of their friendship.
After figuring this out, the leaders of the bicycle parts factory all warmly invited Deng Shirong to sit down and have a few drinks together.
There were only a few people at the table. Except for County Magistrate Song, the rest were senior leaders of the bicycle parts factory. Deng Shirong sat down amid the enthusiastic greetings of the crowd, and then the more clever waiter immediately served the big boss tableware.
This was a celebration banquet for the bicycle parts factory, so Deng Shirong would naturally not steal the show.
After toasting a circle of wine 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 finally had the opportunity to have dinner with County Magistrate Song, the supervisor. If he took up all the time, they would not say it on the surface, but they would definitely feel uncomfortable in their hearts.
In just over ten minutes, Deng Shirong left a deep impression on the leaders of the bicycle parts factory. In the future, whether it is public or private, as long as they go to restaurants outside to eat, I believe that Suifeng Restaurant will definitely be their first choice.
The former Shixian 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 of bicycle chain covers produced by the factory ranked first in Guangxi and third in the country, becoming one of the three major chain cover professional factories in the country, which can be said to be unlimited.
With the "help" of the factory's leadership, the development of Suifeng Restaurant will definitely be smoother.
This meal lasted until six o'clock in the afternoon.
County Magistrate Song, the leader, naturally would not eat for so long and left half an hour in advance.
After drinking and drinking enough, Section Chief Chen was responsible for staying to settle the bill, and other leaders and employees left in groups of three or five.
As for packing, it is impossible to pack, and it is impossible to pack in this era.
It has been emphasized many times before that the atmosphere of this era is different from that of later generations. In later generations, packing has a "high-sounding" reason called not wasting food, so packing has become a routine and will not be laughed at.
But in this era, whether you go to a relative or friend's house for a banquet or go to a restaurant, packing leftovers is a very embarrassing thing. Few people can bear the strange looks from others.
Moreover, plastic bags were not popular in this era and were very rare in the county. If you want to pack your meals, you have to ask the waiters in the restaurant to help. This kind of embarrassing thing, everyone really doesn't want to do.
So, although there are a lot of leftovers today, no employee wants to stay to pack them. They all got up and left with their colleagues.
After Section Chief Chen paid the bill and left, Deng Yuntai gathered the 16 temporary employees who came to help today and paid them wages.
The four kitchen helpers had the highest wages. Deng Yuntai gave each of them 5 yuan, and each of the twelve waiters also gave 3 yuan. A total of 56 yuan was spent, which was still a high price.
However, the money was worth it. Without the help of these 16 temporary employees, their restaurant would not be able to receive so many guests today.
The 16 employees were very happy when they got their wages.
Don't underestimate these three or five yuan. In this era where there is nowhere to make money, many rural people are very happy to earn ten or eight yuan a month. Now they can earn three or five yuan just by working for 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!"
"No, it's not hard!"
"Boss, this is what we should do."
"Boss, if there is such a good thing next time, remember to notify us, we will be there at your call."
"..."
Deng Yuntai smiled and responded a few words, then said, "You can go off work now. There are so many leftovers. Each of you can pack a table and take it back. Even if you don't want to eat other people's leftovers, you can use them to feed pigs and dogs, so as not to leave them here and waste them."
The temporary employees were surprised when they heard this. Today, the bicycle parts factory had a luxurious set meal provided by the restaurant. There were really many hard dishes in it, and many of them were made by the four kitchen helpers. So many hard dishes, let alone normal times, they rarely eat them even during the Chinese New Year.
Nowadays, although it is picking up other people's leftovers, how could people of this era dislike this!
What's more, the boss Deng Yuntai also gave them a way out. If they don't want to eat the leftovers they brought back, they can feed them to pigs and dogs, which makes them completely free of psychological burden.
So, a group of temporary employees responded positively and took out oil paper from the restaurant to start packing.
After packing, they greeted the boss respectfully, and then walked home briskly with a full harvest.
It can be predicted that the families of these 16 temporary employees will have an unforgettable Mid-Autumn Festival tonight.
After the temporary employees left, Deng Yuntai asked Zhang Guofu, Zhang Wenjuan, Zhang Wenying and other formal employees to pack two tables of leftovers and take them back. Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, and no one will come to eat at this time. The restaurant can naturally close early and let the employees go back early to spend Mid-Autumn Festival with their families.
Zhang Wenjuan and Zhang Wenying were very active in packing leftovers. Last time, when guests came to the restaurant to hold a full-month banquet, they packed a lot of leftovers and took them back, which made their parents and brothers very happy. After that, their status in the family improved a lot.
This time, the party at the bicycle parts factory was still a luxurious set meal. They were very active and full of energy. On the one hand, there was a year-end bonus hanging on, and on the other hand, they were looking forward to the process of packing leftovers.
So, after packing the leftovers, Zhang Wenjuan and the other four walked home happily with the heavy leftovers like those temporary employees.
Deng Shirong did not show up during the whole process. He was satisfied with his eldest son's handling.
After more than three months of experience, the eldest son can really take charge of himself. From now on, the restaurant can be handed over to the couple to run.
...
The next day.
At the entrance of the county court.
Deng Shirong stuffed tobacco into his pipe and asked, "Brother Zhang, I want to ask you something. Can you get a ticket for a TV?"
It was already 1982. If he remembered correctly, the first Spring Festival Gala would be broadcast on New Year's Eve this year. He didn't need this little money now, and it was time to get a TV back home so that he could watch the Spring Festival Gala during the New Year. I believe it would be very lively.
As for the lack of electricity in the village, there was a solution, which was to buy a few more batteries.
In his previous life, the first TV in Thatchfield Village was also bought by Deng Shirong, but that was after 1987. At that time, the village still had no electricity, and he bought two batteries specifically to watch TV.
When the battery ran out of power, he would use a bicycle to pull it to Double Prosperity to charge it. Every time he charged it, he be would charged one or two yuan, which was quite painful for him at the time.
However, at that time, this effort was worth it.
It was really not easy to buy a TV in this era, mainly because tickets were difficult to get.
Of course, as the saying goes, money makes the world go round. If you are 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 Zhang Ge, a friend with many connections. If he could get the ticket normally, it would be the best. If not, then he could just buy it from someone else at a higher price. As long as he offered a high enough price, there was no TV he couldn't buy.
Zhang Guoan couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this. "Uncle Jiu, you should've bought a TV a long time ago. You know, there are people who only earn 20 or 30 yuan a month, yet they have a TV at home. But here you are, running the largest restaurant in the county, and you don't even have a TV at home. Isn't that a joke? As for the TV ticket, don't worry, I'll help you get it."
"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Zhang!"
Deng Shirong struck a match to light the tobacco, took a few puffs of the cigarette, and then said with a smile, "Brother Zhang, you don't know, 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 also the only way."
"So the village doesn't have electricity yet, no wonder!"
Zhang Guoan suddenly realized, and said, "It is indeed inconvenient without electricity. Our village is in the county seat and it was fortunate enough to be connected to electricity a few 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 Old Tiger Head. Reservoir is supplied to several surrounding communes first. If there are village enterprises in the village that are in urgent need of electricity, they can also be given priority. For an insignificant small village like ours, it is natural that we cannot get a queue for electricity."
"There is no way. Our country is short of electricity everywhere, so naturally we have to focus on important places first."
"It's understandable. But the country is developing faster and faster. I believe that in a few years, people all over the country will have access to electricity."
"That day will definitely come, I just don't know if we can live to see it."
"We're not old yet, we will definitely see that day."
"..."
(End of this chapter)