Ah Qiao made a turnaround during the Spring Festival of 2021. The turnover for that month was 1.8 times the usual level, and the entire group was beaming with joy from top to bottom.
After Lao Tan came back from his hometown, he announced on the 15th day of the first lunar month that he would completely retire from the front line and no longer participate in management. Everyone understood and supported this decision. In fact, everyone knew that even if he retreated to the second line, he would not be able to completely withdraw. Some things still had to be done by him.
to make decisions.
For example, the business direction, development trend in the next two years, and whether to open a store or shrink the defense line, etc. He is now a big tree or spiritual guide for Ah Qiao.
It stands to reason that his age is the right time to do things, but his body has been severely damaged over the years. The body of a person in his forties and sixties cannot survive unless he takes good care of it.
It is also difficult to operate the catering industry during the current epidemic period. It can be described as struggling. At this time, we can only be defensive. To be defensive, we only need to implement the established policies, and he can take a break.
In other words, as long as Lao Tan doesn't die, Ah Qiao will still be alive.
There is a reason why I say this, as all experienced caterers know.
Although the catering industry has now entered the era of corporate management, its particularity is different from the general industries we know. In the operation, the master still plays a large proportion and plays a decisive role. When the master is away or does not work, the hotel collapses.
It's normal, such examples are common.
The catering industry has always had this characteristic, and it is also an unwritten rule. Every boss knows it, but he just doesn't say it.
We see that the reason why some bosses are not afraid of this phenomenon is because the boss is a chef and does a very good job and has many apprentices, so he is not afraid.
After Lao Tan made arrangements for the company and his family, he called Sister Zhao who was far away in Qingdao and asked her to come to the provincial capital, and then they went to Beautiful Valley together.
His call was timely. On the third day after Sister Zhao arrived in the provincial capital, the epidemic situation in Qingdao became serious, although it did not reach the level of a city lockdown.
Lao Tan and Sister Zhao came to Beautiful Valley.
At this time in the Beautiful Valley, it is the time when the harsh winter has not yet receded and early spring has arrived. Melted snow is dripping from the eaves, the withered yellow on the hillside is turning green, and the willow branches have softened, and there are tender bulges in the green.
bud.
The farmers began to plow the land and create ridges, and the cattle that had been idle all winter lowed in the mountains and trampled the ice ballast and the last piece of frozen soil by the river.
There is a breath of spring in the smoke from the farmhouse, and the pleasant smell of firewood and straw spreads, filling the village.
The adults were busy working in the fields, while the children were running in the ditches, beating jujubes hanging from the tips of jujube trees on the edge of the ditch cliffs, and their cheerful laughter floated in the mountain wind.
There were fishermen sitting by the fish pond in the farmyard, smoking cigarettes leisurely, enjoying the warmth of the early spring sunshine, staring at the calm water surface and the fish floats swinging in the wind.
Wang Shulan's courtyard was kept clean by Yingzi's mother, as was the house, which was obviously done with care. This peasant woman's gratitude to Wang Shulan was sincere and from the bottom of her heart, and she would never forget this benefactor.
"I burned the kang yesterday, and the house was not damp," Yingzi's mother said.
"Sorry to trouble you." Lao Tan said.
"Hey, what's the trouble? Otherwise, I'll come here and cook it every now and then." Yingzi's mother pointed to the stove and said, "There are chickens stewed in the pot, four steamed buns, fried garlic sprouts, and mushrooms.
There is freshly steamed rice in the rice cooker.
You two will eat later, I have to go to the farmhouse, the kitchen should be busy."
After Yingzi's mother left, Sister Zhao asked: "Is this the mother of the college student whom Sister Wang sponsored?"
"Yeah." Lao Tan nodded.
“What a nice person.”
"Well, the people here are very nice, and the ancient roads are warm and welcoming. You will know them soon."
Old Tan went to the outhouse to serve food, and Sister Zhao followed suit with bowls and kuaizi. Old Tan prepared to eat on the ground table. Sister Zhao said it had been years since she had eaten on the Kang, so Old Tan put the Kang table on it, and the two of them
Sit cross-legged and meditate and eat.
"This little stupid chicken is still delicious and fragrant!" Sister Zhao said after eating a piece of chicken.
"They are all raised at home. They don't feed them any feed, they are just plain chickens," Lao Tan said.
"Let's raise a few too."
"Do you really plan to live here forever?"
"That's not a good place. What a nice place."
"Let's live there for a while first, just in case you don't get used to it."
"I'm definitely used to it."
While the two were eating, Zhou Xiaomei's parents came over. Lao Tan originally planned to rush over to see them, but unexpectedly, the old couple came first.
Old Tan introduced Sister Zhao to the old couple, and then took Xiaomei's father to the kang for a drink. The old couple came prepared and brought the cooked dog meat and salted goose eggs that they had pickled themselves, so the four of them gathered around the table.
have dinner together.
Lao Tan and the old couple asked about their son-in-law Cao Jiadong's situation. Xiaomei's mother said that it was a good deal and that she had no side effects and was just like a normal person. By the way, she complained a few words about her daughter and said that she didn't tell the old couple about this important matter.
I only found out when I went home during the Chinese New Year.
"I'm afraid you will become anxious." Lao Tan said.
"Isn't it time to worry? You said it was scary. If I were sent to the hospital a little later, I would be paralyzed." Xiaomei's mother said.
"No, it's not that serious."
"Nothing can be said for sure - it depends on the timely rescue."
"You, you are so useless because you have to worry about it every day. If nothing happens, just do it. It's fine, fine." Xiaomei's father scolded her because she thought her wife Er Jing was not good at what she said.
Xiaomei's mother stopped talking and turned around to chat with Sister Zhao.
Lao Tan drank wine and ate dog meat with Xiaomei’s father.
"Years ago, the mayor of this place sent someone a wild sika deer whip to mix with a jar of deer whip wine. When I opened the box and took a look, I laughed. It didn't come from a wild sika deer, but a red deer, and it was a small one.
Time is of no use at all." Xiaomei's father said.
"Then how did you fix it?" Lao Tan asked.
"What's going on? Humph! We sent it back and didn't soak it."
Old Tan laughed.
"A few days later, I brought another real root, soaked it for him, and mixed it with half a tael of red flowers and a root of wild ginseng. The person who heard the gift said that the mayor didn't know it belonged to Red Deer. It was given as a gift by someone else, and he always thought it was a red deer.
Keep the good stuff."
"The person who gave the gift probably didn't know it was fake and was deceived when he bought it."
"Absolutely." Xiaomei's father picked up the cup, clinked it with Lao Tan, took a sip, and said, "Our health wine is selling so fast now, maybe it's related to the epidemic."
"It doesn't matter. The main thing is that everyone is willing to drink."
"Do you think you can put it into bottles and sell it? That can increase the price and expand production. Wine can be a huge profit."
Lao Tan lit up a cigarette and said, "Brother, you run a winery, so you should know what bottling production means. The Industry and Commerce Bureau is difficult to deal with. You have to register a trademark and put it on the production line. You can't do it."
In addition, health-preserving wine loses its appeal once it is bottled. It is better to put it in a jar and look at it, making you want to drink it.
We are not a wine seller. We mainly open a restaurant and sell dumplings. The wine is a match and comes with the dumplings and wine. You can eat our dumplings and drink our wine, but you can't enjoy it at other people's houses. This is the kingly rule.
Other people think that our dumplings are nothing, so they can make them themselves. If they can't make them, they go to our house and ask a dumpling master to come over. I guess you know some about it, but how many of them have become successful in these years?
Why not? We don’t have any wine.
He may make dumplings like ours, or even better than ours, but without our wine, it can only be an ordinary dumpling restaurant, and it will never be as good as ours."