Diary of the life of a working wizard

La Spezia is a port city in north-central Italy, the capital of La Spezia Province, and the main naval base of Italy. However, the city area is not large and the population is not large. It is only about 95,000, which is equivalent to the coast of China. A town in a developed area.

The train station in La Spezia is not big either. Xia Yunjie arrived at the train station around two o'clock in the afternoon. When he got off the train, he paid special attention and found that there was indeed a machine like a coin-operated telephone next to the platform. In the past, Xia Yunjie wouldn't think much about it even if he saw it, but now he realized that it was an automatic clock-in machine.

Xie Simeng's Chinese restaurant is just a few streets away from the train station, very close. After getting off the train, Xia Yunjie dragged his suitcase and followed Xie Simeng to his Chinese restaurant. As for Scola, Xia Yunjie called him before the train arrived in La Spezia, asking him to come to La Spezia and help Xie Simeng design a set of clothes. Of course, the main purpose was to borrow Scola's celebrity effect helped Xie Simeng's Chinese restaurant become famous.

Mr. Xia's summons is no different to Scola now than the imperial edict of the ancient emperor. Let alone asking him to rush to La Spezia immediately, even if he is asked to rush to the ice and snow of the North Pole immediately, he will not do it. Have to rush there right away.

The streets of La Spezia are very quiet and clean, with not many pedestrians and not many cars. After walking a few streets, Xia Yunjie walked to Xie's Chinese Restaurant.

The facade is not big, but it looks very refreshing, and the decoration is very Chinese style. Xia Yunjie feels like he is back in his hometown as soon as he walks through the door.

It was already past two o'clock in the afternoon, and there were already very few people dining. Standing behind the counter opposite the door is a Chinese woman in her forties. Behind the counter is a small table and chair, and a little girl is sitting in front of a book writing Chinese characters. Xia Yunjie knew that this Chinese woman should be Xie Simeng's mother, and that little girl should be his sister.

Sure enough, Xie Simeng called out to her mother as soon as he walked into the door, and the little girl immediately ran out happily, opened her little hands to Xie Simeng and said, "Brother, where are the candies?"

Xie Simeng conjured a lollipop like magic. The little girl happily took the lollipop and looked at Xia Yunjie curiously while peeling off the package.

"Brother, are you here for dinner? Welcome." After peeling off the package, the little girl licked the lollipop and said to Xia Yunjie in a childish voice. Hearing this, Xia Yunjie couldn't help but look happy on his face. He smiled, touched the little girl's head, and said with a smile: "Children, you know how to help your parents greet the guests at such a young age, it's incredible."

"Of course." The little girl raised her chin proudly.

"Go, let's go, what is your little girl's involvement in adult matters? Go and write quickly." Seeing her daughter's proud look, her mother glared at her, then smiled apologetically at Xia Yunjie and said, "Sir, you too They are Chinese. Xiaohui gets very excited every time she sees Chinese people coming, so don’t mind."

"No, no, Xiaohui is very cute." Xia Yunjie said with a smile.

"Mom, this is Brother Xia Yunjie I met on the train. I invited him to our place before he had lunch. Brother Xia, this is my mother. My father should be in the kitchen now. Busy." Xie Simeng introduced helpfully.

"It turns out you guys knew each other on the train. No wonder you came in one after the other. Why don't you take Mr. Xia and sit down first?" After hearing this, Xie Simeng's mother realized that her son and Xia Yunjie had known each other for a long time.

Xie Simeng smiled when he heard this, then took Xia Yunjie to find a seat by the window and sat down. He ran to get a menu and said, "This is our menu. Brother Xia, you take a look first, and I'll go to the kitchen to take a look." Do you need help from my dad?"

Xia Yunjie smiled and nodded: "Go ahead, I'll take a look at the menu first."

After Xie Simeng left, Xie Simeng's mother poured a cup of tea over and chatted with Xia Yunjie: "Where is Mr. Xia from?"

"You're from Jiangzhou City, Jiangnan Province. I heard Simeng say that you are from Wenzhou. You Wenzhou people are so powerful that you have even gone to Italy to do business." Xia Yunjie said.

"Everything that is good or not is forced by life. When I came out, I didn't know the language, and I was doing illegal work, which was really scary. Now I have gradually gained a foothold, and my life has improved. By the way, are you an international student? Every year, there are many young people like you who travel backpacking around during summer vacation. I really envy you. I was not as happy as you back then." Xie Simeng's mother said with emotion.

"No, I'm already at work. I'm taking advantage of the recent time to come out and have some fun." Xia Yunjie replied half-truthfully.

"You are already working, so you really can't tell. Judging from your age, you should be older than our Simeng." Xie Simeng's mother couldn't help but said a little surprised.

"Si Meng is better than me. He can already help the family." Xia Yunjie said with a smile.

"Haha, this kid has been sensible since he was a child. Our career was just starting at that time. He saw how hard it was for us to get up early and work in the dark every day, so he knew how to help out since he was a child. But it's a pity that at that time, we were only focusing on making money and wasted his studies. Now he can't even read or write Chinese. Now, we have to give this little one Chinese to the church no matter what, otherwise we won't even know a street sign when we return to China." Seeing Xia Yunjie mentioning her son, Xie Simeng's mother's face was full of happiness and guilt.

"Actually, it's not too late for Xie Simeng to start learning." Xia Yunjie said.

"It's never too late, but Simeng doesn't want to learn. He would rather help us take care of the store. That's what this kid is like. He feels sorry for the cost of hiring workers. The wages here are much higher than in China. For a small store like ours, It's really a big burden, but with his help, we have saved a lot." Xie Simeng's mother said with a conflicted mood.

"When business gets better, you have to hire people." Xia Yunjie said with a smile.

"It's a small place, and the business is just about the way it is. Besides, there aren't many foreigners who come here specifically to eat Chinese food." Xie Simeng's mother said.

"There should be more in the future." Xia Yunjie said with a smile.

"Thank you for your kind words. Please drink your tea first. If you need anything, call me. We are all Chinese, so you should treat this place as your own home." Just as he was talking, a foreigner couple walked in. Xie Simeng's mother and Xia Yunjie I said hello and then went to greet the foreign couple.

Xie Simeng's mother didn't know that Xia Yunjie had invited a fashion master to come to their Chinese restaurant for dinner. Once the celebrity took effect, it would be very difficult for the Chinese restaurant business to succeed.

Drinking tea quietly, with the words that the landlady just said echoing in his ears, Xia Yunjie felt warm in his heart.

Looking through the menu, Xia Yunjie discovered that in fact, the consumption in small Chinese restaurants is relatively cheaper than Western food. Especially if a few Chinese people order several dishes together, it will be more economical and cost-effective. Unlike Western food, which is divided into separate dishes, one People can only take their own share.

Not long after the proprietress went to greet the guests, Xie Simeng came over with a middle-aged man wearing a white chef uniform.

"You must be the Mr. Xia Simeng mentioned. I am Simeng's father, Xie Zuohe. You can just call me Lao Xie." Xie Zuohe shook hands with Xia Yunjie enthusiastically.

"Haha, nice to meet you. Then I'll call you Lao Xie. Don't call me Mr. Xia, Mr. Xia. Call me Xiao Xia or Ajie." Xia Yunjie said with a smile.

"Okay, we are all Chinese, and La Spezia is a small place. It is quite difficult to meet Chinese tourists here, so I will not hesitate to call you Xiaoxia. Xiaoxia, I heard that you are from Jiangzhou City. Your taste should be similar to ours in Wenzhou. We don't like spicy food very much, and the food is generally sweeter, right?" Xie Zuohe was a crispy person, so he immediately called him Xiaoxia.

"Yes." Xia Yunjie nodded.

"Okay, you order a few dishes, and I'll cook them for you according to the tastes of us Wenzhou people. The Chinese dishes cooked for foreigners are slightly modified and more suitable for their tastes, but they may not be suitable for you." Xie Zuohe said .

Although it was just a trivial matter, Xia Yunjie still felt a deep affection for China and couldn't help but secretly feel happy that he had made the right decision on the train.

Because there was only one person, Xia Yunjie only ordered two dishes and one soup for 11 euros, which was much cheaper than eating an authentic Italian meal.

Generally, the consumption level of an Italian meal per person is more than 20 euros.

Xie Simeng served the dish, and instead of two dishes and one soup, he served three dishes and one soup, with the addition of Kung Pao Chicken.

"This is a gift. Foreigners like this dish the most. It's sour and sweet. You should try it too." Xie Simeng pointed to the Kung Pao Chicken with diced pineapple and said.

"Thank you." Xia Yunjie thanked him happily, and then slowly ate his Chinese food alone.

Because it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon, all the guests slowly left, leaving only the two guests who came with Xia Yunjie at the end.

The guests were almost gone, and Xie Zuohe had a rare free time in the day. He specially brought another plate of sweet and sour pork ribs and hand-shredded cabbage, as well as two bottles of Tsingtao beer. He handed one to Xia Yunjie and said with a smile, "Let's have a bottle of Chinese beer."

"Thank you." Xia Yunjie took the beer and opened it. The two started chatting while drinking: "Will the locals make things difficult for you when doing business here?"

"That's okay, it's basically a relatively civilized place here. But we are still outsiders, and it's impossible to say there's no difference at all. The local police here like to check the shops opened by us Chinese, and The local underworld usually collects protection fees from stores opened by foreigners like us. There are some local people with some strength, but they dare not collect it. But generally speaking, it's okay. They usually don't go too far. In fact, in It's the same at home, there are even more miscellaneous inspections. If the incense in the temple is not burned, I'm afraid you will be in trouble." Xie Zuohe raised his glass and touched Xia Yunjie and said.