When he was walking to Xiaoshi Malatang, Lao Tan called Brother Liu and Brother Li. Coincidentally, they were about to go there to eat, but they didn't know that Lao Tan had come back, so they didn't call him.
After arriving, the four of them asked for a small partition, ordered their signature dishes "Mala Tang" and "Fried Chicken Rack", and ordered a lot of skewers.
The chat started with the current main theme of the epidemic, and was occasionally interspersed with a few international news, as if they were more concerned about national affairs, which is also a common tendency for men to drink.
"This year's epidemic has had a great impact on your restaurants. I think many of them have closed." Brother Liu said.
"Yes." Lao Tan said.
"That's what this thing is like. There are people who are interested in it, and there are people who are not afraid of death." Brother Li took the example of his childhood, "His family just opened it more than three months ago. It used to be a cold noodle shop, but it became obsolete due to the epidemic."
"I don't think your family has been affected at all," Brother Liu said.
"It won't work either. There will be zero profit for the entire 20 years and no money will be made," Lao Tan said.
"No way, I see there are a lot of people eating."
"Wouldn't it be closed for several months?"
"Yes, it hasn't moved out of the way since the Chinese New Year. It won't open until almost May."
"As long as you don't lose money, it's much better than those that closed down." Brother Li said.
Zhongqing didn't drink alcohol and was drinking tea. Brother Liu asked him to get a bottle of beer. Zhongqing said that he couldn't drink beer either because he was allergic to alcohol. Brother Liu didn't ask for tea and invited Lao Tan and Brother Li to drink.
Soon the topic turned to Wang Ming. He used to be indispensable for drinking, but now that he is gone, it seems like something is missing.
"How fast, it's been half a year since Wang Ming left." Brother Liu said.
"That's not good, it's been half a year." Brother Li said.
"He is enjoying his happiness." Wang Ming told Lao Tan. He couldn't help but think of Wang Shulan who had just left a few days ago. His high mood dropped, and he picked up the glass and took a sip of wine.
"It's just that I'm too young, not even sixty." Liu Ge said with regret.
"The main reason is that he discovered it at a late stage. If he had discovered it earlier like Tan Zi, nothing would have happened." Brother Li said.
"It would be a shame to find out early. Wang Ming is petty-minded and likes to make plans. Unlike Tan Zi, who is big-hearted and can think of anything."
"There are a few like him." Brother Li looked at Lao Tan and teased: "Suffering from cancer is like a normal person. He smokes and drinks when he should. If he doesn't quit smoking and drinking, he will be immune to all kinds of poisons."
"Master Tan has a good attitude." Zhongqing said.
"You have to have a good attitude when you are sick. If you don't hear people say you get cancer, you will be scared to death." Brother Liu said.
"Mainly, most of them are discovered at a late stage, which is equivalent to a death sentence." Brother Li said.
"You said that with such advanced medical technology now, why can't cancer be cured?"
"It can be cured, but the main thing is to find it early. Otherwise, if you have money, you will have money when you die."
"It doesn't matter if you have money." Lao Tan said: "You still have to detect and treat early. In addition, you have to believe in traditional Chinese medicine, which can treat diseases before they happen.
People took a pulse as soon as there were signs of symptoms, and then started to treat the disease, so there was no chance of getting cancer. Western medicine only discovers the disease after it is already established, or it is detected by instruments, so people can't tell it at all.
The theory of Western medicine is scientific. It talks about the basis and principles of everything. It can divide people's hair into several types, such as split ends and not split ends, dry ones and dry ones, calcium deficiency and not calcium deficiency----
--
The more detailed it is, the more people believe it, because people are scientific.
Traditional Chinese medicine is no longer scientific. It was like that three thousand years ago, and it will still be the same three thousand years later. To treat Qin Shihuang's disease, we still need to look, hear, and inquire. To treat the common people today, we still need to look, hear, and inquire. It has not changed at all.
What has remained unchanged for three thousand years? It’s the truth!”
"You are shouting slogans and raising the banner to carry out traditional Chinese medicine to the end." Brother Li said: "But now people are seeing more traditional Chinese medicine, and the country is paying more and more attention to it.
In my opinion, there is no need for foreigners to recognize it. Just recognize the things of our ancestors and forget about their stuff. What kind of science? If it can cure diseases, it is science. In your words, Chinese medicine is unscientific, but it is the truth."
Brother Liu said: "I like to hear this."
“In the past, we talked about using the past to serve the present, but now I have to say that we have to use foreign things to serve China. Modernize the wisdom of the ancients, globalize the medical skills of our ancestors, and adapt the techniques of Western medicine to traditional Chinese medicine.
We are the eldest brothers and they are the younger brothers, and they have to serve us." Brother Li said.
Brother Li's voice was a bit loud. The people sitting next to him turned to look at him, and one of the older brothers gave him a thumbs up.
"sorry for disturbance."
Brother Li said this to others, and they laughed, said it was a good talk, and praised it.
Drinkers chat without having any central idea, they just say whatever comes to mind. If you think about it, it's the same. People's leisure time is just fun, how can they do serious things all day long, then they will be exhausted?
Halfway through the drink, Lao Tan got up and went to the toilet. When he came back, he saw a migrant worker sitting near the door. He had a broken skin on his face and a band-aid on it. The color of the band-aid had turned black and half of it was dried blood.
, half of it is dust that fell on it.
In front of me is a bowl of Malatang that has bottomed out, leaving only a tiny bit of red soup.
The eldest brother held a cigarette in his left hand and held a cup in his right hand. He smoked and drank wine while looking at him, feeling indescribably tired, helpless and bitter.
Lao Tan returned to his seat and looked at the cold skewers on the table. He told Zhongqing to ask the waiter to heat them up and ordered twenty skewers to be delivered to the elder brother.
When he said this, Brother Liu and Brother Li looked over.
"It's been a day's work. I want to drink some wine to relieve my fatigue, but I don't want to spend money on kebabs." Brother Li said.
"It's not easy for them to do their jobs now. One day there's nothing, there's nothing tomorrow, and it's still winter--" Brother Liu said.
"It makes me feel sad to see it." Lao Tan said: "When I first arrived in the provincial capital, I had no job selling candied haws. It was freezing cold and I didn't have much money in my pocket. I didn't even dare to eat in the morning.
After a day of freezing, I only earned ten or eight yuan. I only had one meal a day, a bowl of rice, a bowl of tofu soup, and a glass of white wine.
Like him, the rice was gone after a few mouthfuls, and I was not full at all. Then I drank soup and drank wine until I was full. The owner of the restaurant saw me pitifully and gave me a plate of side dishes to fill the bowl of rice. I was so moved that I wanted to cry---
---"
"Have you ever sold candied haws on a stick?" Brother Li asked.
"It was sold, but not for a few days. It's not the same material at all, so it can't be traded."
"If you can't do business, why not open a restaurant like this?"
"Oh, it's two different things. I'm a manager, I can't be the boss."
After a while, the heated skewers arrived, and the twenty freshly grilled skewers were quickly cooked. The waiter went straight to the elder brother's table. The elder brother was stunned and said that he didn't order.
The waiter said it was a gift given as part of an in-store event.
After the waiter left, the elder brother was still a little stunned and hesitant. He looked around and stared at the skewers in a daze.
"It's affordable for people like this. Even if you don't have money, you won't take advantage." Brother Liu said.
"Just like my elder brother, the benefits are endless." Brother Li said.
"I'll ask the waiter to talk about it later."
After Zhongqing finished speaking, he was about to get up but was stopped by Lao Tan - the elder brother carefully picked up a skewer and smiled gratefully at the waiter who looked at him.
"Come and have a drink. Their skewers are delicious, and the spicy hotpot is also good. It tastes like when you were a kid."