Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 258: Unrest in the Courtyard
With the success of Yan Jiekuang and He Yuzhu's restaurant, the neighbors of the Siheyuan also became interested, especially Jia Dongxu and Xu Damao. They would get together every day when they had nothing to do, thinking about doing something, but now they could not find a direction after discussing it. However, Yan Bugui gave the Siheyuan a big surprise.

In 1982, the young generation in the city of Beijing became more and more restless. Some people went their own way, some people were still struggling, some people made silent contributions, and some people were worried about gains and losses. The city became more and more chaotic, with fights and petty thefts emerging one after another. Yan Jiekuang's restaurant also experienced people making trouble, but under Yan Jiekuang's force, Yan's Restaurant made a name for itself in this small area, and ordinary people did not dare to cause trouble, which made the restaurant famous.

Yan Jiekuang has faded out of the restaurant. Ever since his three apprentices were able to cook independently, he let Wang Qing run the business. However, he also instructed Wang Qing to train some waiters to serve as managers in the future. Wang Qing also knew that Yan Jiekuang was planning another store near Chongwenmen, and the two sides were arguing over the price they had not agreed on.

Yan Bugui finally opened a small shop. Yan Jiekuang felt that it was within his expectations. However, what he did not expect was that Yan Bugui took back the three back rooms on the right side of the gate and opened a relatively large small shop. No, it should not be called a small shop. The area was larger than the grocery stores in Nanluoguxiang. He not only sold vegetables and meat, but also fruits and pastries. Together with the non-staple food products, it could be called a store.

The store also hired several waiters, all of whom were middle-aged women from the neighborhood, so Yang Ruiping now watched the store every day, always feeling that Yan Bugui had bad intentions. What Yang Ruiping didn't know was that the store was so big because of the influence of his third son. After Yan Bugui visited Yan Jiekuang's restaurant, he made up his mind to open a big store. He felt that as a father, he was not without money, so he couldn't do anything smaller than his son.

The store was casually named Yan's Grocery Store. It was popular among neighbors as soon as it opened. There was a constant stream of people coming and going every day. The business was surprisingly good, and everything was going in a good direction.

But there were also some less harmonious episodes, for example, Jia Zhang always paid half of the money for things. Yan Bugui began to think that they were just neighbors and Jia Zhang was just that kind of person, so he just turned a blind eye to it. But Yang Ruiping couldn't stand it anymore. Every time she had to step forward to get back the money she should pay. After a long time, Jia Zhang also learned to be well-behaved and would wait until Yang Ruiping was not around to buy things for Yan Bugui.

There was also a Liu Haizhong, who always wore a Zhongshan suit and strolled around the store. He insisted on finding Yan Bugui to accompany him, no matter how many people were around. He would say this was wrong, then that shouldn't be done, as if he were a leader inspecting. Yan Bugui now ran a store, and he couldn't just turn against Liu Haizhong in the store, so he just smiled and accompanied them. It was okay once or twice, but Liu Haizhong really didn't consider himself an outsider and came every day. After a while, Yan Bugui was so angry that he stopped going to the store, so he let Yang Ruiping take over. Later, Liu Haizhong also saw the attitude of the Yan family and stopped coming.

There is also Xu Damao, who always buys on credit; and Xu Delin, who always says his wife pays. Everyone in the courtyard knows that his wife Qin Jingru never has more than one dollar in her pocket. The most annoying thing is Yi Zhonghai. Since he moved back, seeing that no one mentioned the past, he thought he could do it. He didn't dare to educate Yan Bugui, but found opportunities to educate Yan Jiecheng, saying that Yan Bugui had degenerated and developed into the bourgeoisie, and that you should persuade your father.

Yan Jiecheng did not indulge Yi Zhonghai and said directly: "My father has a business license issued by the state and pays state taxes. If you have any opinions, please raise them with the state."

Yan Jiekuang knew that the people in this courtyard were jealous of each other. No one in the courtyard could stand anyone being better than themselves.

One day, when Yu Li returned to the yard wearing fashionable clothes and riding Yan Jiecheng's motorcycle, the people in the yard were like boiling water, gathered together to talk about it, mainly about the Yan family. Jia Zhang curled her lips and said, "No need to guess. I heard from my daughter-in-law that Yan Jiecheng and his wife opened a clothing store in Xiushui Street. The business is very good. However, this old Yan family is really capable of making trouble, just like more than 20 years ago."

Qin Jingru stared and asked, "How did my sister know? She and Yan Jiecheng are not familiar with each other, right?"

Jia Zhang said, "I saw it when I was shopping with Dongxu. It was said to sell women's clothing. There were quite a few people in the store."

Qin Jingru was full of envy. She herself had only a few sets of clothes to wear now, and they were all bought when she got married. In fact, Qin Huairu was also very envious, otherwise she would not have taken the initiative to go to Jia Zhang and tell her. Ever since he knew that the Yan family owned a restaurant, a shop and a clothing store, Jia Dongxu became anxious. He also wanted to do business, but he had no way to do it. Xu Damao was also unreliable. He talked a lot but there was no actual progress.

Xu Damao was drinking alone at home. He had no mood to go to the yard to chat. He was working in the cinema with a very low salary. Seeing that the Yan family and the He family in the yard had started businesses, he also wanted to do so, but he had no connections.

Xu Damao was drinking when he heard the door open. Xu Damao shouted angrily, "Who is it?"

"I, your Uncle Liu." Liu Haizhong's voice came from outside, and Xu Damao was stunned. He and Liu Haizhong had a bad relationship. They had fought to the death before. Why did Liu Haizhong come to his door?
But Xu Damao still opened the door and said with a smile: "Oh, it's Uncle Liu, what a rare guest, come in, let's have a drink together today, the wine and food are ready."

Liu Haizhong walked into Xu Damao's outer room with his hands behind his back. Looking at the food and wine on the table, he sat down without any courtesy. Xu Damao made a face behind Liu Haizhong, went straight into the kitchen to get a cup and a set of tableware, placed them in front of Liu Haizhong with a smile, and poured him a glass of wine.

Xu Damao sat down, picked up the wine glass, and said, "Uncle Liu, we rarely drink together as neighbors. Let me toast you first. It was all my fault before. Please bear with me."

Liu Haizhong glanced at Xu Damao, raised his glass and clinked it with his, then drank half of it. Putting down the glass, Liu Haizhong started to eat the food. It must be said that Xu Damao's cooking skills were not bad. After eating a few bites, Liu Haizhong said, "Damo, you are a smart person. Seeing that everyone in the Yan family is doing business and making money, you don't have any ideas."

Xu Damao felt very strange when he heard what Liu Haizhong said, but he also sighed and said, "I have an idea, but I don't have any connections. The boss's supply channel was introduced by Lou Xiao'e, who was found by Yan Jiekuang. He Yuzhu and Yan Jiekuang have skills in opening restaurants. Yan Bugui secretly opened a store, but the house belongs to him. What can I do if I have an idea?"

Liu Haizhong said, "I just can't stand seeing Old Yan's complacency. He thinks he's so great just by opening a shabby store. Now he's avoiding me. I thought I was willing to go. If I were doing business, it would definitely be a big business, ha." Xu Damao said with a smile, "Of course, who are you, Uncle Liu? Apart from anything else, if you find your second son, you can get some goods from Hong Kong Island."

Liu Haizhong clinked glasses with Xu Damao and said proudly, "Why should I look for them to do business? I can do it myself. How about we cooperate?"

Xu Damao then realized why Liu Haizhong wanted to see him. He wanted to do business with him, so he lowered his voice and asked, "Uncle Liu, you really are my uncle. You didn't lie to me, did you? What's your solution?"

Liu Haizhong turned his head, looked at the closed door, and said in a low voice: "Would you like to do the steel business?"

Xu Damao was shocked at the time, but thinking about Liu Haizhong's past, he said, "Uncle Liu, don't tease me. Didn't you leave the steel mill a long time ago? The foundry doesn't produce steel either."

Liu Haizhong knew that Xu Damao didn't believe him, so he said slowly: "I have an apprentice named Lan, and I paid for his university tuition."

Xu Damao realized that there weren't many people with the surname Lan. He thought about it carefully, and his eyes lit up. He said, "The director of the Second Steel Plant?"

Liu Haizhong picked up the wine glass, nodded, and took a sip. Xu Damao immediately pulled a chair next to Liu Haizhong and said with a big smile on his face: "Uncle, my dear uncle, if that's the case, then you can have as many pan tiao as you want."

"It's not just wire rods, there's also steel. My words are quite effective with Xiaolan." Liu Haizhong said proudly while eating.

Xu Damao picked up the wine glass and said to Liu Haizhong, "Uncle Liu, don't worry. You don't know my ability yet. I will definitely sell the steel as quickly as possible. Just wait and see. I'll drink this glass. You can do whatever you want."

Xu Damao was about to toast when Liu Haizhong stopped him and said, "Let's do this together and set up a trading company. I'll be the general manager and you'll be the deputy general manager. Otherwise, it will be difficult to get approval."

Xu Damao agreed without thinking. Just as he was about to continue toasting, Liu Haizhong stopped him again and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? How much money do you want to pay? How do we divide the profits?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao put down his wine glass and said, "I'll find someone to borrow some money from. The most I can get is 10,000 yuan."

Liu Haizhong nodded and said, "I guessed that you could take this much. OK, I'll also give you 10,000, but I want 80% of the profit."

Xu Damao certainly refused to do it, and stood up and said, "Why? We all paid the same amount, why do I get so little?"

Liu Haizhong smiled and said, "I was the one who found the connection. Without me, you wouldn't be able to get even one coil."

Xu Damao was deflated at once. After thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, you account for 80%. You are really my uncle."

Liu Haizhong smiled, picked up his glass and said, "Okay, Damao, come on, cheers, let's have a pleasant cooperation."

Xu Damao recovered his mood and said, "Cheers, let's get rich together."

The two of them began to discuss the details of setting up the company while eating and chatting.

(End of this chapter)