1996: Starting from a bankrupt farmhouse restaurant

Chapter 136 Please Look Forward to Your Dinner

"Brother Hai, please stop talking, I'm about to throw up!" The Lu brothers covered their mouths, feeling their stomachs churning.

Another Lu brother said, "Brother Hai, now I finally understand why Xiao Yuan told us to come back for dinner."

Why?

"If they ate a meal early and then threw in the sheep intestines, they'd all vomit them up!"

"Damn, don't even mention sheep intestines. I used to love eating sheep offal, but now just thinking about it makes me want to throw up!"

The tractor chugged back to Luwangtan Village. Lu Hai and his brothers were preparing to have dinner with Old Man Lu, but Lu Yuan was busy with his private banquet and didn't have time for them.

But his brothers stopped Lu Hai, saying that he felt unwell and would rather go hungry than eat.

Lu Hai didn't insist, and went to eat with Old Man Lu by himself.

Aunt Caixia was in charge of the kitchen at Old Lu's house. She was also Lu Hai's aunt, and they were from the same branch of the family.

Seeing her eldest nephew come to eat, Aunt Caixia naturally served him a full bowl of lamb, as Lu Yuan had instructed, to make sure the brothers had enough to eat.

Moreover, she knew that Lu Hai liked to eat fatty meat, so she always picked the fatty parts to cook for him.

Mr. Lu's business opens quite late, and all the employees are cleaning up.

As a result, Lu Hai was eating well when he suddenly vomited.

Moreover, that state clearly indicated that he had eaten something disgusting and vomited.

This shocked everyone; they were all saying that Aunt Caixia's cooking made Lu Hai vomit.

How could Aunt Caixia possibly save face?

Although they are all relatives, there is still a subtle rivalry between Uncle Lu, Sister Lu, and Grandpa Lu. How embarrassing would it be if this got out?

Aunt Caixia felt more and more aggrieved. She cooked such delicious food that customers praised her by name.

As a result, his own nephew vomited after eating it?

Enraged, Aunt Caixia grabbed a rolling pin and was about to beat Lu Hai, since she had beaten him quite a bit when he was a child.

Lu Hai felt wronged. He had tried his best not to think about it, but when he saw the mutton, he still vomited.

He could only cover his head and run home, so Aunt Caixia chased Lu Hai all over the village and beat him.

After Wang Facai and his wife finished tidying up, they heard the commotion and even climbed over the courtyard wall to watch the excitement.

The couple chuckled quietly, wondering what the big, silly boy from the Lu family had done now that he was so old and still being chased and beaten by his family.

The next morning, Wang Facai rode his motorcycle with his wife along the national highway, happily heading to Tangguan Village.

As we approached, we saw a group of people gathered around their restaurant, talking about something.

Upon seeing this, Wang Facai's wife excitedly nudged his kidneys from behind, saying, "Old Wang, ride faster! Our reputation is already established; these are all our customers!"

Wang Facai, who was in front, could see more clearly. He felt that those people didn't seem to be there to eat, but rather to watch the spectacle.

As he drove his motorcycle closer, his heart sank to the bottom, because he saw that the roadside sign looked like it had been torn apart by a bear, lying tattered and abandoned on the side.

Through the crowd, he saw his own signboard, which had been splashed with crimson paint.

Paint was dripping down the signboard, making it look eerie, like something out of a horror movie.

Upon seeing Wang Facai and his wife arrive, the crowd immediately surrounded them. An old man stepped forward, his eyes wide, and pointed at Wang Facai, shouting, "Wang Facai, what have you been doing with our village house?!"

Wang Facai looked completely bewildered by the question. He asked in confusion, "Uncle Wu, I don't understand what you mean. I only found out that someone had splashed paint on me when I got here."

Wang Facai's wife grabbed his clothes and jumped out from behind, retorting, "I'd like to ask who threw paint on our house, and you're bringing it up with us!"

A villager nearby spat at Wang Facai's wife, pointed at the restaurant, and said, "What's so special about paint? Go smell it, anyone who didn't know better would think you're selling shit!"

"Why are you talking so rudely? Whose restaurant sells shit?" Wang Facai's wife retorted.

"Go smell it! Go!"

The villagers ignored her and simply made way for them to see for themselves.

Wang Facai and his wife walked nervously toward the restaurant, and as they approached the door, a nauseating smell wafted out.

The two looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief. They were fine when they went back yesterday, how did they end up like this?

Wang Facai lifted the lock and looked at it, but it hadn't been pried open.

He endured the stench and forced himself to open the door. Instantly, a stench several times stronger than before assaulted his nostrils, causing the villagers to take several steps back.

Wang Facai's wife vomited instantly, dry heaving so hard she almost brought up bile.

The first thing that catches the eye is the sheep intestines hanging from the chandelier.

Due to gravity, the contents of the sheep intestines spilled all over the ground.

The sign behind the sheep intestines stall was also splattered with a ghastly paint, making it look extremely creepy.

Wang Facai reluctantly went inside and took a look around. He immediately covered his mouth and vomited, then lay on the ground by the door, dry heaving.

Wang Facai's wife screamed hysterically, "Who did this?!"

At this moment, the village chief came over, pointed at her, and scolded, "I don't care which enemies you've offended, you're ordered to clean up today and move all your things out. This is a village collective house, you're responsible!"

"Why should we move out? I suspect you're the ones who caused this! You old bastard, you just want to pocket our rent!" Wang Facai's wife was already red-eyed, pointing at people and cursing.

Suddenly, a child rushed forward, threw a stone at Wang Facai's wife, and shouted, "Bad woman, don't you dare insult my grandpa!"

Wang Facai's wife went completely mad after being hit in the face by a stone, and kicked the child.

But this one kick immediately aroused public outrage, and the villagers of Tangguan Village rushed over and started punching and kicking them.

Lu Hua shook his head from the sidelines, unable to bear to look. He even felt a little sorry for Wang Facai.

In Luwangtan Village, there are two old men who keep things in check, so people usually only have a few arguments at most.

But these days, where in the countryside is there such peace?

People from two villages would fight over who would irrigate their fields first, and they would even fight over corn that had fallen into the other village's field.

Even worse are those who put nails on the road to run over cars, those who stop wedding cars and demand money, and those who follow oil tankers to steal oil.

"Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people," which perfectly describes the rural areas of these impoverished regions.

After understanding the situation, Lu Hua turned around to go back when he suddenly heard two villagers from Tangguan Village discussing something.

"Brother, after those two bastards get out of here, shall we take over this shop?"

"What? You want to do it? Don't you mind the smell of shit?"

"Poop stinks, but money smells sweet! You have no idea how popular they are at noon. I squatted at the door the other day and counted the money; they make more than a thousand dollars a day."

"So many? How is that possible?"

"You don't know the ins and outs here. They're from Luwangtan Village. Do you know that row of restaurants in Luwangtan Village?"

"I know, I've even tried the mala tang (spicy hot pot), it's so delicious! But there's always a line, it's such a hassle to eat there. The business at Luwangtan Village must be really good!"

"That's the problem. They're using the name of Luwangtan Village to rip off our customers!"

"How so?"

"Think about it, don't the buses going to the provincial capital stop at our village first?"

"Yeah, our village is far away, so we'll go to our village first."

"Aside from us locals, who knows which village this roadside village is?"

"right!"

"In other words, outsiders have no idea that this is not Luwangtan Village, but they come here because they see the Lu Family Cuisine sign on the roadside."

"Oh, that makes sense!"

"I reckon those two got taken care of by the shop owners in Luwangtan Village, and they deserved it!"

"Then what would we dare to do?"

"What are you afraid of? Their business is illegitimate, but ours is a business run by the people of Tangguan Village. We have to find our waiters and cooks from the village, so how could everyone not protect us?"

"That makes sense! Let's go, give those two bastards a good beating and drive them away!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Hua's expression turned very serious, and he immediately rode his motorcycle back to Xiao Lu's Farmhouse Restaurant.

This morning, Lu Yuan wasn't at the shop; instead, he went to the school cafeteria with Zhao Yan.

Lu Hua was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, and immediately rode his motorcycle to Baiyang Elementary School.

School had already started, so he couldn't get in and could only anxiously pace around outside the wall.

He moved to the cafeteria and saw Lu Yuan and Zhao Yan sitting at the entrance, laughing and joking with their rice bowls in hand. Only then did he call out to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan reluctantly put down his rice bowl and walked to the wall, where he heard Lu Hua recount what had just happened.

To his surprise, Lu Yuan didn't show any concern at all, and simply said he understood.

Lu Hua couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Yuan, aren't you worried?"

Lu Yuan smiled faintly and said, "Brother Hua, it's only a matter of time before you're imitated. You have to learn to accept it."

"You mean, we should let Hai Ge deal with them later?" Lu Hua asked.

Lu Yuan shook his head and said, "I called Hai Ge here for two reasons: first, to deal with Wang Facai, and second, to prevent others from causing trouble at our shop. If people from our village try to raid us, wouldn't Hai Ge's presence just lead to a brawl?"

Through the openwork brick wall, Lu Yuan comforted Lu Hua, saying, "Brother Hua, don't worry about this. I have my own plans."

After speaking with Lu Hua, Lu Yuan quickly returned to the cafeteria entrance, picked up his rice bowl, and shoveled down two mouthfuls.

Just as he was eating, he felt Zhao Yan secretly glancing at him, looking nervous.

Immediately afterwards, a strong sour taste hit his mouth, so sour that Lu Yuan almost couldn't help but spit it out.

But he forced himself to finish the noodles in the rice bowl, and then, seeing Zhao Yan's astonished expression, he smiled and said, "Zhao Yan, did you know that my grandmother has one-eighth Shanxi province blood?"

Zhao Yan asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Lu Yuan continued with a smile, "It means I'm 1/16 of Shanxi province blood, so I can eat a lot of sour food!"

Zhao Yan turned her head away, muttering, "I don't understand a word you're saying!"

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Teacher Xiao Zhao, please look forward to your dinner!"

. . .

In the afternoon, my uncle came to the store to report good news: all the procedures had been completed, and they could now begin renovations.

The preparation for the mutton offal shop had taken too long, so Lu Yuan didn't dare to delay and immediately took his third grandfather's family to Daning Town.

These two shops can be connected by carving out a doorway in the middle.

Lu Yuan simply asked his third grandfather to seal off one of the main gates, leaving only one gate for entry and exit.

There's a principle in doing business: you should only have one door, meaning you can only get in and never leave.

Lu Yuan also had the sealed door painted white, so he could bring Zhao Yan over to paint a mural and make up a story for his uncle's mutton offal soup.

Although it's just a small town in the countryside, there's no guarantee that someone with a knack for spreading the word about this mutton offal shop won't get out.

You know, there's no shortage of people who want to join in the fun, and maybe some people will even come specifically to eat mutton offal soup.

After giving his third grandfather a general idea of ​​what to do, Lu Yuan had to rush back to prepare for the private banquet.

There's a private banquet this afternoon, and the guests are new customers, so I can't neglect them.

As Lu Yuan got on his motorcycle, his uncle suddenly chased after him and asked, "Little Yuan, what's the name of our lamb offal soup shop?"

Lu Yuan replied with a smile, "Heroic Lamb Offal Soup!"

"Heroic Lamb Offal Soup..." the old man murmured.

Suddenly, my uncle clenched his fists, feeling a surge of power coursing through his body, and he couldn't wait to open the shop immediately.

He saw a landline phone in the store across the street and instantly remembered what Lu Yuan had told him. So he rushed over and dialed the number he had recited thousands of times in his mind.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep...

Hi!

The uncle chuckled to himself, rubbing his head. He thought to himself that he must have been really stupid. She was definitely at work at this hour. How could she possibly answer the phone?

He shook his head and prepared to go back, but after taking a few steps, he returned to the store entrance.

Then he just squatted there at the shop entrance, watching the clock inside tick away.

Finally, at 6 p.m., he suddenly stood up, then quickly squatted down again, cursing himself for being an idiot. It takes time to get home!

He patiently watched the clock tick away until it reached 6:30, at which point he finally couldn't resist dialing the number.

Beep, beep.

"Hello, who is this?" came an elderly but deep voice from the other end of the phone.

Upon hearing this voice, the uncle was gripped by deep fear. He had been deeply humiliated by this voice during his youth, which is why he dared not seek out the girl he loved again.

"Hello, who is this?"

Just as my uncle was about to hang up, he steeled himself, picked up the phone abruptly, and said, "Hello, I'm looking for Tian Hui."

0

"Looking for Tian Hui? Please wait a moment, Huihui, your phone is here!"

The sound of slippers getting closer and closer made my uncle's heart leap into his throat.

"Hello!"

Silence fell, and the old man's lips trembled as he couldn't utter a word.

"Hello, who is this?"

My uncle pinched his thigh hard to calm himself down before saying, "Hello, Tian Hui!"

On the other end of the phone, Tian Hui paused, then asked in disbelief, "Wei... Hero?"

"How are you...?"

"I'm about to open a shop, and I... I'm still alone!"

"That's great, me too!"

"I will open a store in the provincial capital next year."

"Okay, keep it up!"

. . .

After hanging up the phone, Tian Hui was still a little dazed. She sat blankly on the sofa, feeling like it was all unreal.

She seemed to remember something, rushed back to the bedroom, locked the door, opened the drawer, and took out the diary at the bottom.

She opened the diary; the handwriting was somewhat childish, but the content was simple and joyful.

As she flipped through the pages, a photo suddenly fell out, showing her uncle as a teenager, laughing carefree.

She couldn't help but laugh as she looked at him, suddenly remembering how this man had come to find her despite everything.

I also remembered how he was deported as a vagrant.

She really wanted to ask her uncle why he had suddenly disappeared and made her wait so long.

After a moment of silence, Tian Hui closed her diary, wiped away her tears, opened the door, and called out, "Dad, I'm not going to the blind date tomorrow!"

An angry roar suddenly erupted from outside: "Tian Hui, what's wrong with you? I thought you'd finally come to your senses this time, but I didn't expect you to be so stubborn again. Go ahead and make me angry; you'll be completely free when I'm dead!"

Tian Hui immediately closed the door, her face still streaked with tears, but she couldn't help but laugh.

The private banquet was in full swing as evening approached.

Zhao Yan was wearing blue jeans and a white printed short-sleeved shirt. Her hair was simply tied back with a hair tie, giving her a bit of Haruko Akagi's look.

She crouched low by the kitchen doorway, peering inside at Lu Yuan, who was tossing the wok.

After watching for a while, she noticed that Lu Yuan would set aside a small bowl of some dishes, which was clearly prepared for her.

Looking at the brightly colored, steaming small bowl of dishes, Zhao Yan couldn't help but swallow, thinking to herself, "Why isn't this guy letting me eat yet? He must want to add some seasoning!"

So she kept staring, afraid that if she blinked, Lu Yuan would successfully "poison" her.

8.

As she watched, she kept thinking that Lu Yuan might have obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Otherwise, why would he wipe the stove clean every time he cooks a dish?

Moreover, his chef's uniform was so crisp and smooth, without a single wrinkle, that's nothing like a rough old man!

As they were observing, Lu Yuan suddenly picked up a tray and walked out. Zhao Yan immediately got up and ran back to the fried dough workshop to wait.

As expected, Lu Yuan arrived at the fried dough workshop carrying a tray and placed several small bowls of dishes in front of her.

She suppressed the urge to swallow and carefully examined the dishes: sweet and sour pork with pineapple, sea cucumber rice, beef with broad bean paste, steamed egg with shrimp paste, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and a serving of mango pomelo sago.

"You...didn't poison me, did you?" Zhao Yan asked warily.

Lu Yuan cast a disdainful glance at him and said, "Please, I cooked this for a banquet and saved some for you as well. Do you expect me to poison the guests?"