Returning to '97, creating a new life

Qiqige and Jida picked up their tools and cleaned up the wood chips and trash left after the carpentry work was finished.

Xu Kai and Sun Mingcheng also took rags and began wiping the dust in the room.

The carpenters, having finished their cigarettes and waiting for their meal, felt awkward watching others work while they waited, as it was cold outside and a bit dusty inside. After all, a big meal was coming up later.

So they all picked up tools and helped with the cleaning.

After the cleaning was finished, everyone helped move a set of tables and chairs that were piled up under the rain shelter into the house. Next, some areas need to be cleaned carefully, and there will be some painting and whitewashing work. The carpentry work is finished and the house is beginning to look good.

A fragrant whole roasted lamb is served.

Sun Mingcheng also stewed a large pot of mutton offal soup in the back kitchen, prepared several cold dishes to go with the drinks, and served various bulk liquors purchased from the distillery. Instantly, the atmosphere of the drinking party was elevated. Ordinary people are not in an era where they pursue the environment when they go to a restaurant. Eating until their mouths are full of oil and they feel that it is delicious is the most important thing.

Roasted whole lamb, oh, what an heavenly taste!

The group of people who enjoyed drinking didn't rush to pick up their glasses. Instead, they stood there, knives in hand, cutting the crispy skin of the roasted lamb, enjoying their meal with immense satisfaction.

Unlike later generations who served a whole roasted lamb with multiple side dishes, Xu Kai opted to have the whole roasted lamb served directly on an aluminum tray. He didn't care whether it was convenient for you to eat or not; the main point was to make the whole lamb look visually appealing on the table.

Two mutton soup pots with alcohol blocks and a stove were placed on the table, along with four small cold dishes to go with the drinks. With this setup, everyone was satisfied. The extra work they had done and the inner grudges they had made earlier all disappeared at this moment.

Termu and his son were invited to drink together. These two big men had such a high alcohol tolerance that Xu Kai quickly got out of the drinking session. He didn't need to accompany them at all. After the first round of eating and drinking, the two men were already in a state of staggering and staggering.

Another winter snow has arrived. Wearing a cotton-padded coat, Xu Kai greeted his aunt Yang Ying, who was eating hand-pulled mutton with Qiqige in the kitchen, put his hands in his pockets, pulled up the hood of his coat, and walked out of the restaurant.

Songcheng at night is not beautiful.

Once the filter of the times is removed from real life, aesthetics will return to a natural state between modernity and the past.

The falling snow obstructed visibility, and the cacophony of horns reminded everyone that you need to avoid vehicles in snowy weather. Drivers these days won't tolerate any pedestrians. When crossing a sidewalk from the pedestrian crossing to the next sidewalk, you need to look left and right to see if any vehicles are turning into the sidewalk.

Walking in the snow—a false proposition. Even though Xu Kai had many thoughts swirling in his mind that needed to be sorted out and expanded, he simply couldn't afford to let his mind wander in such an environment. He could only quicken his pace and return home.

Sun Xiuyun, the mother, was still not at home. The chess and card room was both her hobby and her career, and it was also close to her parents. Now that her son no longer needed care, she was in a relatively free state. On a snowy day like today, her first choice was the chess and card room, and her second choice was her parents' house.

For Xu Kai, running a business on his own is not a source of pressure. He has considered all the possible problems that may arise when opening a restaurant, and he has even designed several contingency plans for unexpected events that may occur due to the times.

The bathroom was chilly, so he had to turn on the heater beforehand to warm up. The open-air environment between the bathroom and the main house meant that even when he went to take a shower a dozen minutes later, he still had to wear thermal underwear and a long cotton coat, slippers, and quickly walk into the bathroom.

"call!"

When using a bathroom heater, water droplets are generated on the walls and floor due to the alternating hot and cold temperatures. If you touch the wall tiles, you can still clearly feel the coolness of the tiles.

Taking a shower made him feel much better. Due to the environment, Xu Kai could only wait until his body was completely dry under the "care" of the bathroom heater's hot air. Otherwise, he couldn't stand the slightest dampness on his skin touching his thermal underwear.

His habit was to take a shower in the master bathroom, wipe himself down briefly, and enter the room in a state of first-level sleep. He would then lie comfortably on the bed, letting the soft bedding wrap around his body until he was completely dry. He would even play on his phone to forget about the whole thing, and eventually drift off to sleep in a state of first-level sleep.

Xu Kai will be very sensitive to these subtle feelings and remember them, because they will become a kind of motivation for him. The changes in food and clothing nowadays remind him that he still needs to work hard. If you want to cross the gap of the times, you need to have more wealth to make the term "financial freedom" more meaningful and to enjoy a material life ahead of its time.

Xu Kai is very realistic and has never denied that material wealth is a very high priority in his life goals.

As December arrived, winter came early and fiercely this year. Just as the month began, the temperature broke through the minus twenty degree mark. "Ke Zai Lai" roast lamb restaurant opened quietly, with only a lettered lightbox hanging above the side door as a signboard.

We hired several efficient women who, after completing the plastering, painting, and decoration, conducted a thorough cleaning from the inside out, leaving no corner untouched. The windows and furniture were sparkling clean.

Even if the cold winter causes the windows to be covered with paper-cut window decorations overnight, Xu Kai still likes the clear texture, which makes the paper-cut window decorations brighter, and the water droplets that melt are cleaner when the indoor temperature rises.

Whole roasted lamb, roasted lamb leg, roasted lamb chops.

Lamb offal soup, stewed lamb meat and lamb ribs.

Fried peanuts, tiger salad, sweet and sour white radish, and vegetables with dipping sauce.

With only so many business items, the Telmu family of three can easily handle both grilling and stewing, even if they need to make reservations in advance.

Uncle Sun Mingcheng prepares four side dishes every morning and always has enough freshly roasted melon seeds on hand. No matter what the guests order, as soon as they sit down, he serves them a plate of melon seeds to keep their mouths busy.

Four waitresses were hired. Nowadays, it's common for young girls from rural areas to work as waitresses in the city, unlike the era when teenagers would clamor to become internet celebrities.

By paying an extra 100 yuan in wages and providing a room near the connecting corridor in the guesthouse as staff dormitory year-round, the recruitment of waiters for "Ke Zai Lai" can reach a ratio of one in ten or even higher.

There are choices, and there are corresponding requirements for appearance and physique. At the very least, you have to look clean. It is very necessary for catering service staff to give people this impression. You can't be too fat, and you also have to be hardworking. The extra salary includes accommodation and two meals a day, which is not a welfare benefit, but a reward for your hard work.

With fewer food items, there will be fewer associated hassle procedures.

The main ingredients are delivered directly from the grasslands via boxed cargo.

My uncle can buy the side dishes and other groceries in advance when he comes to work in the morning. He can easily bring them over on his motorcycle. The small profit he makes is a kind of benefit for him.

At noon, Uncle would cook a few dishes. If there was any leftover mutton from the previous day, Xu Kai would generously share it with everyone. This way, the guesthouse staff, who usually had about a dozen people, could also enjoy a decent lunch every day.

When the business opened, my family members, including my maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives, all came. Almost everyone was present, and we ordered whole roasted lamb for everyone.

All the staff from Wang Jianshe and Xu Dalong's "department," except those on duty, were invited over. With Wang Jianshe in charge, no one would refuse such an invitation.

At the basketball team's two tables, Yunshang arrived, poised and confident. Even though she was just a classmate, Xu Kai's family had heard of her, and their scrutinizing gazes frequently fell on her, but she didn't seem to care.

At home, the younger cousins ​​couldn't sit together with the older ones, so Xu Kai pulled them over to the basketball team's side, where the younger ones were together and it was more lively. Meanwhile, teachers Park In-ji and Yoo Da-sung were introduced by Sun Xiu-yun to Xu Kai's uncles' table.

Xu Kai kept moving between the private rooms; he didn't have time to sit down and eat in peace.

First, Yun Sheng brought a group of colleagues and ordered a whole roasted lamb in the afternoon. They came over to support him when it was time to come. Xu Kai was generous and could have given them more, but that wasn't an option.

He gave gifts this time, but what about the next time when guests bring their own? If he didn't reach the same level as today, he would offend people. So he chose to offer fruits and side dishes as complimentary items. More importantly, as the boss, he took the initiative to toast everyone and sat down to drink a couple of beers with them. This made Yun Sheng's colleagues a little dazed. After Xu Kai left, they couldn't help but ask, "Is your little brother even twenty?"

Fang Jinyao, who has been a sparring partner for the basketball team at the Northeast Tigers, received the news and took the train back from the provincial capital today to come with everyone.

His parents each brought two tables of guests: one from the winery owner's social circle, and the other from a colleague in a finance-related field.

Da Liangzi also came. His older brother Zhang Xu didn't come, but he called Xu Kai in advance.

When these people met while entering and leaving the private rooms, those who knew each other quickly bought over a hundred yuan worth of good liquor at the bar and started toasting each other.

Between the institute and the finance department.

Fang Jinyao's father went to Wang Jianshe's side to offer a toast.

Da Liangzi had the bartender deliver two bottles of fine wine to Wang Jianshe's private room and Fang Jinyao's mother's private room, which was located in the finance department.

Xu Kai's uncles are not particularly capable people; they are just ordinary workers from an ordinary family. They were completely baffled by the fact that their nephew had run such a restaurant. The people who came on the opening day without any publicity were secretly astonished when they found out. They felt like they didn't even recognize Xiao Kai anymore in the blink of an eye.

Showing support is a favor, but good food is the most important thing.

The fact that Hu Yuxuan can provide lamb of exceptional quality even in the dead of winter gives Xu Kai a significant advantage for his restaurant.

Enjoying a sizzling, fragrant whole roasted lamb, sipping a mouthful of peppery, warming lamb offal soup, watching the snow fall outside, sitting inside drinking wine, taking a sip, everyone in the room can sigh and say that this is life.

If there are too few people to eat a whole lamb, or due to the price, they can only order roasted lamb leg and roasted lamb neck, and small portions of lamb offal soup. There are six tables for four people in the main hall. Less than a week after opening, the number of banquets that used to start in the evening has been moved up to noon. Otherwise, many people would not be able to get a table just by making reservations.

With its leading position in the current catering industry in Songcheng, roasted whole lamb is very suitable for large gatherings in an era when banquets were not as cautious.

The business is booming, far exceeding expectations.