Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 99 Chain-forming Industries

Ma Qing looked at the guy in front of him, who was speaking Cantonese to him. The Cantonese sounded like a foreign language to him, so he had to interrupt him and said, "Excuse me, I'm from another place. Do you speak Mandarin?"

The guy was suddenly speechless, realizing that what he had just said was all irrelevant and a waste of effort.

This waiter had obviously seen many guests coming and going, and he could still speak northern dialect. "I'm asking you what kind of tea you want to drink and what you want to eat." As he spoke, his eyes seemed to roll up involuntarily.

"Is there a private room here? There are too many people here and the noise is too loud." Ma Qing was being extremely cautious at this time.

"You should have told me earlier and come with me. There are plenty of private rooms, but they charge 1 yuan." The guy looked a little happy.

Ma Qing didn't know that there was such a thing as private room fees these days, but when you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Forget it, it doesn't matter.

Ma Qing followed the waiter into a private room. As soon as Ma Qing sat down, the waiter asked again, "Now, you should tell me what to drink and eat."

Ma Qing smiled and took out 5 yuan from his pocket. "No hurry, no hurry, just give me a cup of tea."

Ma Qing handed over 5 yuan and said, "Brother, you must have worked in this teahouse for a few years. Is there anyone with supernatural powers on this street?"

The waiter looked at Ma Qing deeply, took the 5 yuan, and said, "I don't know about that. Please wait a moment. The tea will be served soon." Then he walked out, shouting, "One Huangshan Maofeng."

After a while, the door of the private room was pushed open, and a man in ordinary clothes walked in. He was the kind that would be hard to find if thrown into a crowd. He was holding a tea bowl in his hand, and without any hesitation, he sat down opposite Ma Qing.

"I'm sorry, it's too noisy outside. I want to come in and give some quiet time. You don't mind, I hope?" the man said.

Ma Qing smiled and said, "It is a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar. I couldn't ask for more. May I ask your name, big brother?"

"So you are a cultured person. I'm sorry for your disrespect. My surname is You. You can just call me You Laosan." You Laosan said nonchalantly.

"My last name is Xiang, the Xiang of Hong Kong. Brother You, you can just call me Lao Xiang." Ma Qing would of course not reveal his real name, but he stated his purpose.

"..." You Lao San was stunned by what Ma Qing said. After a while, he clapped his hands and laughed, "You are such an interesting person. People with culture are different. That's amazing."

Ma Qing also laughed, "Please don't blame me, Brother You, this is just my personality."

"It's okay, it's okay. This is good. I won't hide it anymore. I know what you're thinking," You Laosan said seriously. "You can get on the boat tonight. It's 200 yuan." You Laosan stretched out two fingers.

"This price is too high." Ma Qingke didn't want to be considered a fat sheep, as that would cause unnecessary trouble.

"This price is not high. You can board the ship in Guangzhou tonight and arrive early tomorrow morning. How convenient."

"It's convenient, but I'm short of money. I only have over 1 yuan on me now. Can you give me a discount?" Ma Qing acted like a businessman at this time.

"That won't work. The prices are clearly marked and I can't break the rules. There is another way. You can find a way to get to Bao'an County and board the boat there. It only costs 50 yuan." You Lao San gave a second option.

"But how you get to Bao'an County is not my business. My people will follow you. He is from Bao'an, and going back to Bao'an is like going home. But as for you, you have to figure it out on your own."

Ma Qing thought for a long time and decided to board the ship in Guangzhou. The journey was too long and it would take a lot of time. Unfortunately, his space was really useless and he had no ability to deal with emergencies. No, he had to go to Bao'an County first.

Ma Qing asked, "Is it difficult to get a pass to Bao'an County?"

"It's not difficult. Add 50 yuan and I'll get you a pass. But you'll have to rely on your luck. If the police are serious, there's nothing you can do."

"That's just 100 dollars, you guys are really good at business." "Just to make a living, you who have fled to Hong Kong don't need to care about this little money, you will have everything in Hong Kong." You Lao San tempted.

"Then why are you still doing this business here? It seems that it's not that easy to survive in Hong Kong." Ma Qing directly exposed You Lao San's words.

You Laosan was not angry. He just looked at Ma Qing with a smile. Ma Qing sighed, pretended to be a fish on the chopping board, gave You Laosan a deposit of 20 yuan, and made an appointment to meet in the teahouse early tomorrow morning.

After You Laosan left, the waiter came to serve tea and a plate of melon seeds. He didn't mention the change, and neither did Ma Qing.

Today is the last day in Guangzhou. Tomorrow we will go to Bao'an, and the day after tomorrow we will arrive in Xiangjiang. Ma Qing obviously does not want to waste this time, so he just wanders around Guangzhou. He eats whatever he sees delicious, looks at whatever he sees beautiful, and plays at whatever he sees fun. He focuses on having an immersive experience.

Dinner was at the famous Guangzhou Restaurant, which was built in the 20s and was formerly known as Southwest Restaurant.

The restaurant was destroyed by fire in 1938. It was rebuilt and reopened in the winter of 1940, and renamed Guangzhou Restaurant, which means "eat in Guangzhou".

In February 1950, Guangzhou Restaurant closed down, and in February 2 it became a state-owned enterprise after public-private partnership.

From the late 50s to the late 70s, when raw materials were extremely scarce in the catering industry, Guangzhou Restaurant developed substitutes for buns and fillings using vegetables, sweet potatoes and other ingredients to ensure popular supply.

In fact, the only meaning of food in this era for Ma Qing is nostalgia. Ma Qing sits in the hall of Guangzhou Restaurant, hearing the voices of diners and feeling great ambition for the future in his heart.

The next morning, Ma Qing checked out of the hotel room on the grounds that the company had prepared a dormitory for him, took his luggage, and went to the teahouse where he had been yesterday.

You Laosan was sitting at the door of the teahouse. When he saw Ma Qing coming, he asked Ma Qing to sit down and handed him a pass to Bao'an, which almost made Ma Qing's nose crooked with anger.

"This is the pass you mentioned." Ma Qing held the tattered piece of paper in his hand, which was as crudely made as toilet paper.

"Don't make such a fuss. This is the pass. As long as you are not unlucky enough to run into a particularly picky police officer, this pass will definitely work." You Lao San didn't finish his words.

"Okay, then let's..." What else could Ma Qing say? He could only give You Lao San 50 yuan.

"Wait a moment," You Lao San said, waving his hand. A young man ran in, shouted "Third Brother" and then stopped moving.

You Lao San pointed at the young man and said, "Just follow him. Go to the bus station and buy tickets to Bao'an. He will take care of the rest. When the time comes, just give him the money."

Damn, this has formed an industrial chain. You Laosan receives customers in Guangzhou, and then arranges different pick-up and drop-off services based on the customers' financial strength and needs, and assigns the customers to different chains.

No wonder he can't bargain. You Lao San is most likely a broker, an intermediary. He has no power to set prices. If the price is lowered, he will have to lose his share.

After saying goodbye to You Lao San, Ma Qing followed the young man to the bus station. The young man said, "You go and buy a ticket with your pass. I will buy a ticket for the same bus, but I won't sit with you. If something happens, I won't acknowledge you."

"Oh, by the way, you need to pay for my fifty cents ticket." The young man held out his hand.

Ma Qing nodded and silently gave him 1 yuan. The young man was a little happy, but Ma Qing was a little depressed.

When Ma Qing got on the bus and sat by the left window, the young man sat on the right side of the aisle. The two seemed not to know each other. But then again, they didn't really know each other. They didn't even know each other's names.

Perhaps Ma Qing's good luck had run out, or perhaps God deliberately wanted to test Ma Qing's ability to respond, because not long after this passenger bus entered Guang'an County, it encountered a road inspection.

(End of this chapter)