Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Half an hour later, Bao Tieshan left Dongjun Hotel with a satisfied smile, holding the membership card he had just issued in his hand.

As soon as he left the restaurant, his wife reminded him with a worried look on her face: "Old man, that's fifty yuan, just give it to me. What if this Dongjun Restaurant can't continue to operate?"

"And didn't we agree at the time to hold our son's wedding banquet in the Siheyuan? Why did you suddenly change your mind and hold it at the Dongjun Hotel? How much will it cost?"

Bao Tieshan shook his head and replied: "Woman, what do you know?"

"You have seen the grand display of Dongjun Hotel today."

"The director of the steel mill, the street director, the police station director, and many factory directors are here."

"With so many leaders backing it up, do you think it would be so easy for Dongjun Hotel to close down?"

"Besides, the Dongjun Hotel can't be moved away. These two buildings alone are worth tens of thousands of dollars. Do you think the owner behind the hotel would be interested in our little money?"

"As for my son's wedding banquet."

"I just thought about it."

"Our courtyard is not very big, so it's OK to put seven or eight tables. But if we put eleven or twelve tables, it will be too crowded."

"Besides, our relative is a cadre after all. If we let him eat in the yard, we will be embarrassed."

"Cooking at home requires hiring help, looking for a chef, buying groceries, and borrowing bowls and chopsticks from everywhere. It's not as comfortable as hosting a banquet in a restaurant."

"As long as you pay the money, we don't have to worry about anything else."

"And there are cards."

"When my in-laws come and see us holding a wedding banquet for our son in such a good restaurant, it will not only make our son proud, but also make us proud as his parents. My in-laws will also look up to us."

After hearing these explanations, the worried expression on the daughter-in-law's face did not dissipate at all, and she continued: "I know that holding my son's wedding in a hotel is convenient and prestigious, but it is too expensive."

"A table of banquets costs ten yuan, not including the drinks."

"We have reserved twelve tables, so that's one hundred and twenty dollars."

"If we add in the money for drinks, candy, and cigarettes, not counting the betrothal gift, our wedding lunch will cost us 150 yuan. Isn't that a bit too much?"

Bao Tieshan shook his head and answered firmly: "Not much..."

"Not much at all..."

"You didn't see the menu just now. Once you see the menu, you will feel that the ten dollars is well spent."

"There are ten dishes on the table, including chicken, duck, fish, lamb, and braised pork."

"Except for one vegetarian dish and one soup, the rest are all meat dishes."

"If we go shopping for food ourselves, even if it doesn't cost ten dollars, it will definitely cost seven or eight dollars to prepare a banquet like this."

"We don't need to pay for tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks when we hold a wedding banquet at home, but we still have to spend time to borrow them. Moreover, the borrowed items are all kinds of things. They are not as good-looking as the uniform tables, uniform chairs, uniform bowls and chopsticks in a restaurant."

"Although we spent a little more money on the wedding lunch, it was definitely worth it."

"It's settled now. We'll hold the boss' wedding banquet at Dongjun Hotel."

The son was very happy to hear his father's confident answer.

If the wedding banquet is well organized, not only will you be proud of it, but your wife and father-in-law will also look up to you, and your status in the family will definitely be higher in the future.

Compared to his father Bao Tieshan, the son is definitely the first person to support holding a wedding banquet in a hotel.

Although it is a bit expensive, he feels it is worth it even if he spends a few dozen dollars more for the sake of face and to make his wife and father-in-law look up to him.

Besides, as the eldest in the family, he still has some understanding of his family's financial situation. With a savings of two to three thousand yuan, spending a few dozen yuan more for a banquet will not have any impact on the whole family.

…………

Return to the fourth-floor box of Dongjun Hotel.

Almost all the leaders invited by Wang Dong had their meals in the private room on this floor.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Wang Dong took out a stack of membership cards and distributed them to all the leaders one by one.

"Dear leaders: Thank you for taking the time to attend the opening ceremony of Dongjun Hotel. This is a small gift I prepared for you."

"We have a membership card system at Dongjun Restaurant. If you dine in the restaurant with your membership card, you will get a 10% discount on all dishes."

"I have already topped up 50 yuan into your membership cards in advance. If you have time in the future, you can bring your family to the restaurant to spend money."

"As long as you show your membership card, the amount of your purchase will be deducted from your membership card."

"After the stored value is used up, you can pay directly at the front desk with your membership card and enjoy a 10% discount."

"If any of the leaders' families want to hold a banquet, they can also come to our restaurant."

"I have just shown the leaders around the hotel. There are private rooms of various sizes, suitable for hosting various banquets."

"Bring your membership card to our hotel to hold a banquet, and we can also give you a 10% discount on the original price."

Fifty yuan is not a lot, but not a little either. It is half a month's salary for most of the leaders here. Under normal circumstances, it is enough for everyone to bring their families to the restaurant for consumption ten times.

More importantly, Wang Dong did not give money directly to everyone.

Faced with such a gift, almost all the leaders showed satisfied smiles on their faces and decided to take better care of Dongjun Hotel in the future.

I am paying more and more attention to Wang Dong.

He has a wife who is a deputy-division-level official standing behind him, and he is still such a good person. Even though he has left the steel rolling mill and is no longer a cadre, he will have a bright future.

…………

The hotel kitchen.

Tang Dashan and He Yuzhu are going crazy with their busy schedule.

The two of them started cooking non-stop from 11:30. It was already 1:30 in the afternoon, and orders from the front office were still coming in.

As the head chef and deputy chef in the kitchen, they only needed to arrange the cooking tasks and give instructions to the chefs.

But the restaurant business was so good that the two of them were forced to cook themselves.

In less than two hours, the two of them cooked fifty or sixty dishes.

"How are things going?" Wang Dong saw two people busy at work when he entered the kitchen and asked directly.

"tired……"

Tang Dashan replied with a wry smile.

"Master, we have been working non-stop for the past two hours, cooking without stopping. I have never been as busy as I am today when I was a chef in a steel mill."

"I'm just too tired."

He Yuzhu followed up with the conversation: "Dongzi, if you hadn't offered me a high enough salary, working here wouldn't be as comfortable as working in the kitchen of a steel mill."

"I just cooked at least 25 dishes. Even cooking big pots in a steel mill is not as tiring as today." (End of this chapter)