Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"Hello, comrade, are there any private rooms available?"

Zhao Zhigang's question made the waitress across from him frown. She wanted to answer no directly, but the company manager behind her pulled her back. The waitress glanced at the company manager who pulled her, wanting to scold him but holding back.

"Comrades, may I ask how many of you are having dinner?" Manager Fang glanced at Chen Dong and his wife standing behind Zhao Zhigang. Seeing that the couple and their child were dressed smartly and stood out from the crowd, he smiled and answered.

Zhao Zhigang turned to the side and pointed to the company manager, saying, "There are six people in total. Please arrange a larger room for us."

"Alright," the manager said with a smile to the still resentful waitress, "What are you still standing there for? Take these comrades to the private room."

The waitress snorted, glanced at the impeccably dressed Zhang Yi, and said curtly, "Come with me!"

Zhang Yi, Chen Zaiguang, and the others were led by a waitress to a private room. Zhao Zhigang then turned to the front counter and said to Chen Dong, "Comrade Chen, when we come to restaurants here, we have to pay the bill before the food is served."

Chen Dong suddenly realized what was going on and smiled at Zhang Yi, who had just walked away, saying, "Honey, give me the bag with the money."

Noticing that Chen Dong spoke with a mix of English and Mandarin, the company manager tentatively asked, "Is this comrade returning from overseas?"

Zhao Zhigang nodded. "Comrade Chen is an overseas Chinese who returned from America."

The company manager gave an "oh" and didn't say anything more. Chen Dong followed Zhao Zhigang to the counter. Another waitress with braided pigtails standing inside glanced at Chen Dong and Zhao Zhigang and asked, "What would you like to eat?"

There was no menu, so Chen Dong had to ask the waitress, "What dishes can I order?"

Without even looking up, the waitress pointed to the blackboard hanging on the wall and said, "Hang it there, see for yourself!"

Chen Dong followed the waitress's hand and looked up at the wall, where he saw the following written on the blackboard: Today's menu: Braised pork belly, braised eggplant, fried ribbonfish...

Each dish on the blackboard had its price and the required grain and meat coupons written on it. Chen Dong was a severe case of decision paralysis. At home, a dedicated nutritionist would prepare his daily meals. When he went to a hotel, Zhang Yi would order according to the restaurant's tastes.

This was Chen Dong's turn to order. He hesitated for a long time, thinking that with his eldest brother Chen Zaiguang, fourth brother Chen Zailong, Zhao Zhigang, and their family of six, ordering a few more dishes wouldn't hurt. So he turned to the waitress at the counter and said, "Miss, please give me one of each item from this menu!"

The people following Chen Dong in line to order were taken aback by his words. "What kind of family is this? I've never seen anyone order food like this at a restaurant before!"

The company manager standing to the side smiled but remained silent, while the female sales clerk behind the counter looked at Chen Dong in surprise, "Are you sure?"

"Hmm, there are quite a few people. I don't know what they like to eat, so this is enough to save trouble," Chen Dong said, opening the bag containing the money and pulling out a 100-yuan note from the bundle of foreign exchange certificates. He placed the note on the counter and asked the female clerk, "Miss, is this enough?"

The waitress, still reeling from Chen Dong's extravagant order, was startled when he placed a banknote she had never seen before on the table. She turned to Manager Fang, "Manager Fang, is this money?"

"Just calculate the price according to the menu. Mr. Chen gave us foreign exchange certificates, so we don't need to collect his grain and meat coupons," the manager said with a smile, having probably seen foreign exchange certificates before. He glanced at them and then told the waitress to put the bill on the tab.

The people in line behind heard what Manager Fang said and peeked over to see what the foreign exchange certificates looked like, but the female service desk staff shoved their money into the cash register, leaving them to pout in disappointment.

The waitress quickly calculated the cost. The dozen or so dishes only cost less than twelve yuan. In Chen Dong's opinion, this amount was less than what he could usually earn with a single press of the accelerator.

Leading Zhao Zhigang into the private room, Chen Dong sat down next to Zhang Yi and said to Chen Zaiguang, "Brother, I don't know if the brothers in the hospital have eaten yet. I just remembered. When the waiter comes to serve the dishes, I'll order a few more and see if I can take them to go."

Chen Zaiguang and Chen Zailong quickly waved their hands and said, "Oh, no need, no need, Dongzi, there's no need to spend any more money. We'll see if there are any leftovers after we finish eating, and we can just pack them in a lunchbox and take them over. There's no need to order anything else."

Chen Dong thought about how he had ordered more than a dozen dishes, and he figured there would be a lot left over. Knowing his older brothers' personalities, they would probably take the leftovers home. So he gave up the idea of ​​ordering more food.

The group chatted casually in the private room. Chen Dong told the three of them some anecdotes about his time in America, while little Chen Hui chimed in and joined in the adults' conversation, filling the room with laughter and joy.

After chatting for about ten minutes, the door to the private room was pushed open from the outside, and four waiters came in, each carrying a tray. The company manager followed in with a smile and said to Chen Dong, "Mr. Chen, if you don't have enough rice, just come out and let me know."

"Okay, thank you for your help, manager," Chen Dong replied politely.

At this moment, little Chen Hui lay on the table, watching the waiter continuously bring out dishes, and exclaimed, "Mommy, why does this fish have a head?"

In America, whether it's fish or chicken and duck, everything is deboned, headless, and gutted. It was the first time Xiao Chenhui had ever seen such a whole fish served on the table, so he couldn't help but ask a question out of curiosity.

"Little Jimmy, the fish won't have a head," Chen Zaiguang said with a smile.

"But we've never seen a fish head when we eat fish in America," Xiao Chenhui said innocently, tilting his head. Manager Fang smiled and said, "In China, we believe that fish heads are more nutritious, so it's not good to serve people dishes without fish heads."

"It's alright, manager. The kid's just curious," Zhang Yi said, pulling Chen Hui back to his chair.

"Uncle, could you get me a bottle of iced Coke? I also need a straw," Xiao Chenhui asked again. The company manager looked at Chen Dong with difficulty. "Mr. Chen, we don't have Coke here. How about soy milk?"

"Oh, no need, he's allergic to soybeans," Zhang Yi quickly declined the company manager's offer.

Soy allergy, what a niche term!

The company manager had never heard of this before. He had only heard of allergies to Western medicine, but he never imagined that eating soybeans could cause allergies. American people are really fussy.

After the waiter and manager left, Chen Zaiguang looked at the dozen or so dishes on the table with a pained expression and said to Chen Dong, "Dongzi, why did you order so many dishes? How much money did this cost?"

"It's alright, brother. I paid with foreign exchange certificates, no receipts needed. There are so many of us, I was worried there wouldn't be enough food. Please eat, eat it while it's hot!"