Chapter 1501: Chapter 275: Relatives Who Are Cadres! (Part 2)
"Your place serves as both a storefront and a residential building, so there will definitely be cooking fumes. Won’t the upstairs residents complain when the exhaust fan starts up with a roar while you’re cooking?"
"Other places probably wouldn’t work, but here it’s okay. Look around, it’s all restaurants nearby. However, you’re right; opening a restaurant below people’s homes means we need to maintain a good relationship with them. Once the renovations are complete and we start trial operations, I’ll invite the neighbors upstairs for a hot pot meal."
The young boss lady came over, looked upstairs, and said with a smile, "There aren’t many actual residents upstairs, most apartments are rented out. I don’t know about the next two units, but I did check this unit. The east side on the second floor is rented to a shoe seller, the west side on the third floor is rented to an employee of Wenfeng Mall, and the fourth floor houses a few mobile phone sellers."
Liang Xiaojun’s mother asked with a smile, "And what about a few other families?"
"We have rented two units upstairs ourselves; one for Master Xiang and his crew, and one for us personally."
"Boss Chen, you really treat the store as your family home!"
"We’ve put in so much money; we had to hawk everything to open this store, leaving no retreat, so we had to make the store our home."
As they were chatting, Xiang Aidong washed up quickly, changed into clean clothes, and ran out, followed closely by Zhang Hongmei who was jogging.
"Master Xiang, your relatives have arrived!"
Relatives?
I’m not familiar with them!
Xiang Aidong was stunned when he saw the stranger smiling at him.
Old Liang was equally surprised. The fair and clean young man before him didn’t look like a cook at all. He calmed himself and said with a smile, "Are you Aidong? My surname is Liang, Liang Xingguo. I’m Liang Xiaojun’s father. When my son Xiaojun married your cousin, your grandmother and father attended the wedding. Your father might have mentioned me."
So he’s the father-in-law of his second cousin, the father of his cousin-in-law.
Xiang Aidong suddenly realized but got stumped again; how should one address the father-in-law of a cousin?
Zhang Hongmei reacted faster; she quickly tugged her boyfriend’s arm and sweetly said, "Hello Uncle Liang, Uncle Liang, how did you know we were here?"
"You must be Red Plum." Mrs. Liang took her hand, looked her over, and laughed, "Such a pretty girl, so lively and refreshing, Aidong is lucky to have found a girl like you."
Zhang Hongmei felt shy from the compliments.
Xiang Aidong realized it was impolite not to speak, and hurriedly greeted with an embarrassed smile: "Hello Uncle Liang, hello Auntie."
"Good, good, good child."
Old Liang patted Xiang Aidong’s arm and explained with a smile, "Your Sister Mengmeng and Brother-in-law Xiaojun are on a business trip. Although it’s not far from home, they can’t come back right away. They knew you were coming and called me. I originally wanted to invite you to stay at our place for a few days, but your older cousin and her husband said you both had started working, so today, since we’re not too busy, your aunt and I asked someone to help babysit and came to visit you."
"Uncle, Auntie, we’re doing well here, the boss and boss lady treat us very well."
"I can see that, Boss Chen. I’ll have to rely on you to take good care of them."
"It’s not a matter of taking care, Master Xiang is our head chef, and Red Plum is our head waitress; whether this shop can open depends on them!"
You could tell, Boss Chen wasn’t just being polite; he really meant it.
The young boss lady, holding Red Plum with a smile, said, "Uncle, Auntie, with Little Xiang and Red Plum here, you can fully relax. Little Xiang is very capable, and Red Plum is responsible and sensible; I treat them like my own younger siblings."
"Really, thank you so much."
"No need for thanks, it’s nothing." The young boss lady, knowing the elders might still be worried, invited them in, "Uncle, Auntie, since you’re here, why not come inside, give some valuable advice, and go upstairs to see their dorms."
"Will we be disturbing you?"
"Not at all, we haven’t opened yet anyway."
They toured in and out, up and down.
The place seemed alright, and they found the young boss and boss lady to be good people.
The three-bedroom they rented on the second floor was meant to be a dormitory, but they arranged the largest master bedroom for Xiang Aidong and Red Plum. From the chit-chat, it was clear the boss and the boss lady highly respected Xiang Aidong’s "professional opinions", almost to the point of following his orders.
The boss lady also trusted Red Plum, planning for her to manage the counter and handle the money when the restaurant officially opened.
Since the two kids came all the way to Binjiang for work, as elders, it was customary to give a meeting gift according to Binjiang’s traditions.
Xiang Aidong felt it wasn’t right to accept money upon first meeting and refused persistently.
Old Liang had no choice but to look at the young boss and boss lady.
Boss Chen took hold of Xiang Aidong and laughed, "Little Xiang, Red Plum, this is a token of your uncle and auntie’s intentions, as well as a local custom here in Binjiang. You should accept it, or your uncle and auntie won’t be happy."
"How could I accept this?"
"Why not? If you’re really embarrassed, then when we open, invite your uncle and auntie to taste your cooking!"
This place being a bustling area with people coming and going by the store’s entrance and several workers still renovating inside, pulling and tugging looked improper.
Having no choice, Xiang Aidong and Zhang Hongmei accepted with embarrassment.
As Mrs. Liang now was a grandmother who fretted about the little grandson left with neighbors, after chatting and giving some reminders, she prepared to head home apologetically.
Old Liang walked to the bicycle, then thought of something and came back.
Just when Xiang Aidong was about to ask if Uncle Liang had anything else, Old Liang opened his briefcase, pulled out a card, and gave it to Boss Chen: "Running a restaurant requires a business license, Boss Chen. I happen to work at the Industry and Commerce Bureau. If there’s trouble getting your business license, give me a call."
"Director Liang!"
"I won’t be there for long, retiring soon."
"Director Liang, you work at the city’s Industry and Commerce Bureau!"
"I transitioned from military service." Old Liang chuckled, continuing, "It’s tough for businesses now; opening a restaurant like yours not only needs a business license, but also a sanitation permit. Everyone working here needs a health certificate. I know a few people at the Health Bureau and the Hygiene and Epidemic Prevention Station. If needed, I can introduce you."
"Thank you, Director Liang. I was just planning to take care of the certificates these days."
"Almost forgot, Aidong and Red Plum need to go to the Police Station to apply for temporary residence permits. Those are easy to handle, have Xiang Dong talk to his brother-in-law, being in police."
Boss Chen, somewhat of a cadre’s offspring, knew well the difference between connections and no connections when dealing with officials.
Though his old man was once a plant manager and had known many people, the plant had long closed, and people his father knew had likely either retired or wouldn’t help. People are fair-weather friends, especially those in the system, so realistic and opportunistic.
The young boss and boss lady were surprised that their newly hired head chef had such a connection, quickly expressing their gratitude.
Xiang Aidong and Red Plum were also delighted; after all, having a relative who is a cadre is quite prestigious.
After seeing off the Liang couple, Boss Chen reflected sentimentally, then took Xiang Aidong by car to buy supplies.
When they reached the neighborhood committee’s door, the road was clogged, with a long line extending to the street.
Boss Chen lowered the car window, curiously asking, "Master, what’s going on?"
"Lining up for tickets!"
"What tickets?"
"Tickets to tour the Binjiang Ship, didn’t you hear?"
"Heard about it, saw it on the news."
Understanding the situation, Boss Chen was about to ask for a little room to pass, when a woman with a child kindly reminded, "If you want to visit, better park and queue. I went to several ticket points this afternoon, but tickets were gone; only here still has some."
With a ticket, you could visit the warship, even go aboard for a tour!
Boss Chen got intrigued and, considering tickets were free, thought it was a good chance to show Master Xiang and the young waitress a different scene as a perk. He opted to park the car and line up with Xiang Aidong.
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