My 1978 Hotel

"Brother, take Hua Ziyan to chop some firewood."

Li Feng glanced at the kitchen and realized there was no more firewood. He needed a big fire to cook the bones properly later.

"Alright, Ziyan, let's go. I'll teach you how to chop wood."

Chopping wood is easy.

Hua Ziyan muttered to himself, while Li Muchen chuckled. "Kid, you just wait. You'll soon find out that chopping wood isn't as simple as it sounds."

"Chopping wood, is that some kind of skill?"

"You know, it really is a skill. I've been learning it for a few days," Li Muchen said with a smile. "Come on, I'll teach you in a bit."

What should we teach?

Tian Hao came running in excitedly. "Look at this! I just caught it, isn't it amazing?"

"Okay, these two fish must weigh two or three pounds, right?"

Not to mention Li Muchen, even Hua Ziyan and Li Feng were quite surprised. "Wow, Tian Hao, you're quite capable. When did you learn to catch fish?"

"I just learned it. Actually, catching fish isn't that difficult."

Just then, Han Mingliang and a few other kids ran over. "Uncle."

"Mingliang, didn't you go to school?"

"Our teacher has something to do, so we're giving them two days off."

Han Mingliang hurriedly said, "Uncle, I've brought you some loach."

"Wow, not bad, you've caught quite a few today?"

Li Feng glanced at it; it weighed about two or three pounds. "Aren't there any other fish?"

"There are still some small fish. Oh, the big fish were given to Uncle Fatty." Han Mingliang didn't notice Tian Hao's constant winking. Li Feng, Li Muchen, Hua Ziyan, and Wu Tong, who came out after hearing the commotion, all looked at Tian Hao.

"Hahaha, I knew it! Tian Hao, you know how to catch fish! Hahaha, turns out you got someone else to do it." Hua Ziyan laughed. "You still have the nerve to say you caught it yourself, really."

"Tian Hao, you're something else."

Wu Tong chuckled. "But these two fish are quite big. I'll make braised fish for lunch."

"Cousin, what do you think?"

"alright."

Li Feng said with a smile, "Let's process the fish first."

"okay."

Wu Tong took the fish from Tian Hao and Qin Yue, while Hua Ziyan went to prepare the fish. As she passed by Tian Hao, she couldn't help but laugh.

"I was just joking with everyone, who knew you guys would take it seriously." Tian Hao lived up to his nickname "Little Fatty," his skin was thick enough.

"Hahaha."

Everyone was amused by this guy, while Li Feng weighed the loach. "Exchange for money, or for food?"

"Food, please."

Han Mingliang said with a hint of pride, "I've saved enough money."

"Okay."

Li Feng replaced the clothes with some sausages, chocolates, milk candies, and a small handful of fruit candies. "Hurry up and tidy yourself up, your clothes are dirty. If your mom sees them, you'll definitely get a beating."

"I understand."

Han Mingliang looked at his clothes, his brows furrowing. These were his school clothes. Li Feng glanced at Han Mingliang and his group of kids running off into the distance. Those kids...

"Have a holiday?"

Li Feng slapped his forehead, realizing he'd forgotten to ask Da Ya if she was on holiday. "Tian Hao, go ask Ming Liang if Da Ya's class is on holiday?"

"I asked about this this morning, and no, it's because an elder in Han Mingliang's family passed away."

"That's it."

Li Feng thought to himself that if Da Ya were on vacation, he would go pick her up right now and bring her back for bone broth.

"Alright, then you can go with the young man and the others to learn how to chop wood."

Li Feng said with a smile, "I'm here to learn some skills."

"Is chopping wood a skill?"

"Of course, it's not easy to learn well." After saying that, Li Feng took out a large basin and poured all the big bones he had bought into it. "There's quite a bit of meat in there."

"Er Ya, help your father get the kitchen knife and a large lotus leaf bowl."

Li Feng called out to Er Ya, and Er Ya happily brought over the kitchen knife and the large lotus leaf bowl.

Wow, so much meat!

"Want some?"

Li Feng teased Er Ya while cutting the meat off the bone.

"Mmm, I want to eat it."

I'll make it for you in a bit.

I must say, they got almost half a pound of meat from the nearly five-pound bone, mostly lean meat, which is pretty good. "I'll stir-fry some green peppers and shredded pork in a bit. This is probably the last batch of green peppers this year, so it'll be spicy enough."

"This is good."

"Stir-fried pork with chili peppers, it must be delicious."

"You guys are moving way too fast!"

Li Feng was somewhat surprised that Wu Tong and Qin Yue were processing the fish faster and faster.

"That's right, dealing with a fish is no big deal."

Li Feng looked at Wu Tong with a smug expression. "That's impressive. Alright, you guys go pick some green peppers in the backyard. I'll blanch the big bones and they'll be in the pot in a bit."

"Tongtong, why don't you take Ziyao to pick vegetables? I'll help my cousin start the fire."

Qin Yue is becoming more and more skilled at starting a fire. In this family, she is only worse than Daya, Li Muchen, and Li Feng, and is comparable to Er Ya's level.

"Okay, let's go pick some vegetables."

Wu Tong handed the fish to Qin Yue and pulled Hua Ziyao to the backyard to pick vegetables.

"Cousin, I'm going to start the fire now."

"Go ahead, I'll be all ready in a bit."

Li Feng cleaned up the large bones and put them in a big basin, then carried the two fish to the kitchen. "We're out of firewood, so I asked the deliveryman to chop some. He'll bring it over in a bit. You can light some small branches to build up the firewood later."

"okay."

Just as the branches were starting to burn, Li Muchen carried in two large bundles of firewood. "Let's keep this burning for now, then I'll go chop more wood."

"That's enough."

"Chop more."

"that's true."

Qin Yue smiled and asked, "How are Tian Hao and the other two?"

"It's alright, I'll learn it first."

Li Muchen glanced at it. "Cousin, are you preparing to stir-fry shredded pork?"

"Stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork. This is the last batch of green peppers. It's very spicy. This stuff is great with shredded pork and goes well with rice."

"Then I'll have to eat two more bowls of rice at noon today," Li Muchen said with a grin.

"Now that you mention it, I'm hesitant about whether to cook this dish or not," Li Feng said as he put the large bones into the pot.

"Cousin, when did you become so stingy?"

Wu Tong and Qin Yue came in carrying vegetable baskets, having picked green peppers and some small eggplants. This was probably the last batch of eggplants; after a few more days, the peppers and eggplants would likely be ruined.

"I also picked some eggplants; I'll stir-fry one later."

Are there any cucumbers left?

"There were some smaller ones, and they were all quite ugly, so we didn't pick them."

"Ugly, all cucumbers that have failed to grow look like this." Li Feng put the pot lid back on. "Look at these eggplants, they're not much better either, one is very dry, and the other is almost finished growing."

"I'll have to water it again this afternoon."

Li Feng noticed the chili peppers were pitifully small, but after tasting them, he found them incredibly spicy.

Stir-fried shredded pork is flavorful and goes well with rice. I also made braised fish, stewed pork bones, stir-fried eggplant, and mixed grain rice. It's not too lavish.

"Wow, it smells so good! What are you cooking?"

"Uncle Tomita, please come in and sit down."

Li Feng said with a smile, "Have you eaten yet? Let's eat together."

"Then let's eat something."

Han Futian looked at the lavish spread. Big bones, braised fish that looked like it'd been deep-fried, and stir-fried pork with green peppers—this kid, this is probably all he eats for Chinese New Year. "I came to ask when the furniture from the power plant will be delivered."

"We haven't stopped working for the past two nights. Everyone's out working, and there's more and more furniture. I think I should make a delivery." Han Futian took a bite of the stir-fried meat. It was spicy and flavorful.

"I figure these few days will pass quickly."

Li Feng said, "By the way, Uncle Futian, I heard that the county furniture factory already knows about our modular furniture. I'm afraid that when we go there this time, the furniture factory will have to send someone to keep an eye on us."

"Then we'll need to send more people."

In those days, unlike later generations when it came to advertising, pricing, and marketing, if you met a competitor, you'd usually just have a fight in the countryside, and it was pretty much the same in the county. Smashing things was considered normal.

"We need to bring more people with us."

Although Li Feng felt that the county furniture factory wouldn't be taken too seriously for the time being, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't act impulsively and send people to smash it up. In that case, there would be no one to reason with, and if the person ran away, who would you turn to?

These days there are no surveillance cameras, so just in case, it's best to bring more people. This way, you can block the cars and keep the situation under control. If there are too few people, they won't dare to make a move.

"Do you really think the county furniture factory would hold a grudge against us?"

Han Futian was somewhat worried after hearing the implication in Li Feng's words. After all, the furniture factory in the county was a state-owned furniture factory. If the matter were to be reported to the county, there might be issues with the policies regarding a furniture factory run by a production team.

"I don't think so in the short term; their furniture isn't hard to sell."

Li Feng said, “The problem is that everyone in the county wants our furniture. Our furniture has nice designs and is modular. The furniture in the county is old-fashioned. What young person wouldn’t like our furniture?”

"I should have sold it in the county town."

"Uncle Tomita, what are you saying? We'll sell our own products. If their products aren't good enough and we can't buy them, it just means they're behind the times," Li Feng said with a smile. "When the time comes, we're not afraid of them in court."

"They say they're from the county town, no matter what."

Han Futian was still a little worried, so he stopped eating the food.

"How about we send the power plant over this time, and then we don't need to do it again next time?"

"We're focused on running the steel plant," Han Futian said.

"What's wrong, Uncle Tomita? Are you scared?"

Dong Qing and Wu Yu have become quite familiar with Han Futian over the past few days, and they are no longer so polite with each other.

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm not afraid of anything."

Han Futian said, "It's best to avoid trouble if possible."

"Uncle Tomita, this matter is not as serious as you think."

After all, she was just an accountant from a small mountain village. At most, she would go to the county for a meeting and catch a glimpse of the county leaders from afar. She still had some respect for the county. "Besides, I am a writer of some renown, and I know the county leaders."

"You think you can even meet with the county leaders?"

"That's not."

Li Feng boasted about the seminar.

"Well done, kid, you've got guts now." Han Futian said, "The Revolutionary Committee Director is having dinner with Li Feng every day, wow. You know Director Cheng now, so what are you afraid of? Now it's the county furniture factory's turn to be afraid of us."

"Uncle Tomita, it hasn't come to that."

Li Feng was both amused and exasperated; this Uncle Tomita's change of heart was too rapid.

“Competition between us and the furniture factory is inevitable, but they probably won’t look at us for long.” Li Feng wasn’t joking. The county furniture factory has better equipment and more workers than them, so they definitely wouldn’t look at a furniture factory run by a production brigade.

"We have at least two or three months of downtime."

Li Feng did some rough calculations. "At most, the furniture factory will pay attention to us for now. But after two or three months, once our furniture becomes well-known in the county, the county furniture factory's orders will definitely decrease. That's when they'll really start to take us seriously."

"what is it now?"

Han Futian looked at Li Feng. "Does this mean we can only sell furniture for another two or three months?"

"That's not the case."

Li Feng laughed and said, "Two or three months is enough time for us to make a name for ourselves. By then, who wouldn't know?"

"Can it be done?"

Han Futian still didn't think that their production team's furniture factory could compare to the county's furniture factory.

"Whether it works or not, we definitely have to try."

“That’s right, Uncle Tomita, how will we know if it won’t work if we don’t try? I think we don’t need to be afraid, let’s just do it.” Dong Qing was quite excited. “Why would we be afraid of him? It’s just a furniture factory in a small county town.”

"Uncle Tomita, don't be afraid, we're here."

Liu Wei and the others curled their lips. These people really know how to brag. Oh well, what's it to them? They're practically dying from training every day. They should eat more. Today is truly a blessing from heaven; they're being given rice and even bone broth.

Liu Wei and his group of chubby boys were overjoyed, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough for them.

"Brother Liu, do you think they can make it work by setting up that furniture factory?"

"Probably not. You've forgotten where we came from. When the time comes, come up with some new designs, it'll be a game-changer."

"That's right, isn't that cheating?"

"They're all getting so excited, they're all quite good at putting on an act."

The chubby guys already disliked Li Feng and his group. They were always having a blast, but here they were training every day, not eating or sleeping well, and training for more than ten hours a day. It was fine for them to lose weight, but it was just too hard.

He gets beaten up by several girls every day, he's completely humiliated, but he can't fight back, it's so tragic. Little do they know, his training is considered good, in a few days he'll be sent to the dredging site, working on the river is what's truly deadly.

"Have you finished eating?"

"I've eaten."

Liu Wei saw Li Feng approaching. "What's up?"

"Let me tell you about the training schedule."

Li Feng looked at Liu Wei. "How's the training going these past few days? After another four or five days of training, I'll arrange for you to go to the river engineering plant. You'll have to work harder then, but it's all part of losing weight, so a little hard work is to be expected."

"Shanghegong?"

Liu Wei was stunned. "Is it even harder than it is now?"

"Pretty much, but the workload is heavier, the environment is worse, and the food is just average."

Li Feng said, "When you experience it for yourself, you'll understand why. It's definitely a great place to lose weight."

Liu Wei was completely dumbfounded. This wasn't river construction; it was like going to the execution ground. "We've never done this kind of work before. Can we even do it?"

"Once you get to the construction site, someone will teach you. You'll have to do it, no matter what. Don't worry."

Liu Wei gave up. The devil had already made his decision, and there was no point in struggling anymore.

"Can we work in a furniture factory?"

Liu Wei thought of a place, a furniture factory, which he figured would be easier than working on the river.

"Hey, this way, you guys go work here for a few days first, then come back to the furniture factory."

Li Feng thought to himself, "Working in a furniture factory isn't easy. If we add a few more hours to their schedules, making it fifteen or sixteen hours a day, the weight loss effect should be pretty good."

"OK then."

Seeing Liu Wei agree, Li Feng smiled and said, "Then tell everyone later, 'Keep it up, fifty pounds is no problem.'"

"understood."

Fifty pounds? Liu Wei wished he could lose it right now so he wouldn't have to train and work in this place that was worse than hell. Li Feng gave some instructions and went back inside. Han Futian had already gone back.

"I'm going to the commune."

Li Feng packed two large bones in a lunchbox at noon, along with some stir-fried pork, intending to take them to the commune primary school for Daya's dinner. (End of Chapter)