1995: From a small restaurant to a culinary genius

Chapter 34 Paying Rent

After arguing with Xu Tian, ​​Xu Liang left her bedroom.

However, he had nothing else to do, so he went to his room and lay down.

As he lay there, he pondered a question: not only his family, but also his uncle? His uncle still owed him a month's rent, something he had inexplicably forgotten about.

By the way, there's less than a week left until the end of the month, it's time to pay the rent.

Xu Liang hadn't forgotten that it was still 750 yuan a month, but thankfully, the combined operating capital and the profits from the side dishes far exceeded that amount.

It might be late tonight when I go to pay my uncle's rent, so I can wait until tomorrow. It's the last day of the week, so I need to take a break and start opening the restaurant next week.

He slept soundly, dreaming of making a fortune and becoming a master chef.

Xu Liang had frequent urination at night and had to urinate several times. He didn't know what was wrong, but he thought it might be due to being too busy and stressed lately.

However, he did not bring the flaws from his pre-rebirth days into the abilities he gained after his rebirth.

He felt that his twenties were increasingly resembling middle age.

Even a minor cold requires taking a lot of medicine.

He truly is a son of emptiness.

……

In the morning, the sun was shining brightly, and the red sun rose from the east. The rooster in the backyard of my house began to crow.

The sky gradually began to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

My father, Xu Guisheng, was the first to get up because he usually goes to work at the same time, and he couldn't change that habit even if he wanted to.

That means he can only follow his original biological clock.

I get up at the same time every day I go to work, even on weekends.

Xu Liang was different. During the restaurant's operating hours, he would get up early and go to bed early. After a long day, he was exhausted and just wanted to go home for a fresh meal. After eating, he would lie down on a soft bed and enjoy a comfortable life.

Now, during his rest time, he prefers to sleep in. He's an adult now, so honestly, his parents can't control him much anymore.

And so, just like before my rebirth, I started to put on an intermittent little mess.

Monday, the start of the week, marks the return to the original daily routine.

However, last night, he lay in bed meditating on some things.

He felt like he only had a pager from the 90s, which could only be used to make calls and send messages, and had no function like playing online games.

After all, back then, things like Wi-Fi weren't widespread.

Also, before his rebirth, Xu Liang's rented apartment had a Lenovo desktop computer and an internet cafe or internet bar, a place for leisure and entertainment.

Moreover, he has played all kinds of games, both major and minor, such as CS, CF, DW, and the newly released Black Wukong at that time.

What led to his sudden death and subsequent rebirth was that Xu Liang, tired of playing those big games, went to play some casual ones and happened to think of a cooking simulation game.

As he played, he found it quite interesting.

And so, he became addicted.

If someone is addicted to drugs, then something bad will happen.

Fortunately, Xu Liang was reborn, but he can only use a pager. But then again, what can you do with a pager? It's not even as good as the old-fashioned mobile phones that his ancestors used in his previous life.

In the past, China Telecom's old-fashioned mobile phones could play Tetris, and after several generations of updates, a Snake option was added. Unfortunately, it was a grid-based game that required pressing up, down, left, and right buttons.

Zhao Hongzhi was the second. Yesterday, he received a small amount of profit from Xu Liang's small restaurants. Although it wasn't much, it was enough for his entertainment expenses for a few days.

Living doesn't necessarily mean being too rigid; sometimes, it's time to enjoy life.

Therefore, when I woke up today, the first thing that came to mind was the weekend, and I also thought about Xu Liang running a small restaurant, managing everything by himself, which must be quite difficult.

More importantly, Zhao Hongzhi quite admired Xu Liang's personality in taking the initiative to give her money.

At least Xu Liang hadn't forgotten what Zhao Hongzhi had taught him before, and this also shows that Xu Liang, this good child, has a filial side.

It's different for Xu Tian; today is the last day of this weekend.

Zhao Hongzhi needed to get up, and she also needed to wake Xu Tian up.

Xu Tian still had some homework, which Zhao Hongzhi did not check, and she also signed each of her assignments.

She sometimes likes to cheat, and Zhao Hongzhi knows this, so she always checks her homework every Sunday.

Of course, Xu Liang used to often hear Zhao Hongzhi yelling loudly inside the house, mostly saying that Xu Tian was stupid and couldn't even do such a simple problem.

Sometimes, Xu Liang would peek through the door and discover that Zhao Hongzhi's bamboo root had already been placed on the desk, just to see if Xu Tian would take it seriously and listen to him.

At that time, Sichuan and Chongqing did not have the concept of valuing sons over daughters or vice versa. Instead, they hoped that more talented people could emerge from the harshness of the punishment.

In most families, the more they are beaten, the more they grow, and they never reason with each other.

However, Xu Liang's family was alright, and although Zhao Hongzhi's personality was somewhat skewed, she wasn't completely heartless. Her methods combined both aggressive tactics with persuasive reasoning.

It wasn't until Xu Liang experienced certain things before his rebirth and saw some examples of educational failures online that he deeply realized that corporal punishment was simply not a viable educational method.

Children's lives should not be a track, but a boundless wilderness.

Xu Liang got up, washed his face and brushed his teeth, cooked himself breakfast, and then remembered what he had said yesterday.

I'm going to my cousin's place to pay the rent today.

After finishing these daily chores, he immediately told Zhao Hongzhi a little lie.

"Mom, my little restaurant is closed today. I'm taking a break and going out to have some fun all day."

Zhao Hongzhi had just come out of the kitchen.

"Okay, go have some fun, remember to come back early!"

After saying that, Xu Liang let Zhao Hongzhi know what he was going to do, so that they wouldn't worry about him.

He quickened his pace, walking on the dirt road in his village.

The dirt road was full of potholes, and every few meters there were several large stones that could trip you up at any time.

Xu Liang had to be very careful when he left.

Every now and then, he would look at the scenery in the distance. This morning there was a thin, hazy fog in the sky. The fog wasn't thick, but it did hinder people's travel to some extent.

In the distance, the empty fields are filled with barren, excavated soil.

By the way, there are a few small hills nearby where the white wild cherry blossoms will soon be in bloom in March.

Enjoying the pleasant journey, Xu Liang soon arrived at the small shop run by his cousin in town.

Xu Liang stood in front of his uncle's small shop, touching the old wooden door that had been worn smooth.

Then he heard footsteps coming from inside.

At that moment, the door was suddenly opened. Was Xu Liang's action accidental or unforeseen?

"Squeak!"

My cousin opened the old wooden door, his eyelids drooping.

"Liangwa, what brings you here?"

He noticed that his uncle's complexion was paler than before, probably because he hadn't slept well last night.

If this kind of spirit were applied to Xu Liang's previous life, he would either be stealing cattle in his dreams last night or secretly masturbating in the middle of the night.

My uncle rubbed his nose, his voice hoarse, sounding like he had a cold.

"It's a bit chilly outside today, so come in and sit by the fire."

He then invited Xu Liang into the shop.

My uncle's convenience store is still the same as always, with its space of less than 20 square meters crammed full of goods.

On the shelf against the wall, there are various kinds of tobacco, alcohol, candy, tea, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

Under the innermost counter, there were piles of loose snacks and daily necessities.

The floor was filled with cement, and in the corner directly opposite my uncle's counter, there was a dented bamboo chair.

This is the unique flavor of the small shops in the town in the 1990s.

Xu Liang glanced around the shop and didn't see his uncle's family or his children.

He then smiled and spoke.

"Uncle, I'm here to pay your rent. I was busy last month and forgot to pay you. I just happened to have a day off today, so I made a special trip to pay you this month's rent, and also pay next month's rent."

Uncle paused for a moment upon hearing this, then patted his head and suddenly looked as if he had just realized something.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot about that."

"Your little house is just sitting empty anyway. You should focus on the restaurant business. It doesn't matter if you pay the rent a few days late. We're all family, no need to be so serious."

After saying this, Xu Liang began to feel uneasy.

He wondered, is this still the uncle I know?

He didn't say that last time!

Despite saying that, he still turned around, walked behind the counter, opened a drawer, and rummaged through something.

Xu Liang guessed that his uncle's every move was probably looking for the rent ledger.

Xu Liang watched his clumsy movements and seemed to know clearly in his heart that his uncle was a carefree person who had previously been petty.

Even when Xu Liang rented his run-down little restaurant, he was always very stingy.

Actually, I know exactly what's going on and I can calculate every single penny, but I'm just too embarrassed to urge them because of our family ties.

However, it's not like Xu Liang can't repay the debt now.

Otherwise, if he couldn't pay it back, he wouldn't have come to his uncle's shop so early to pay this month's rent and then pay next month's rent as well.

Therefore, he decided to pay this month's rent first, then next month's rent, and so on. That way, if he paid last month's rent, he wouldn't have to make another trip for next month's.

Xu Liang took out the money he had prepared in advance from his pocket.

Seven hundred-dollar bills, one fifty-dollar bill.

He moistened the money with his saliva and counted it. When he confirmed that it was the correct amount, he handed it to Li Jianguo.

"Uncle, let's keep things separate. The rent is due, it's 750 yuan, please check it!"

The uncle took the money, rubbed the RMB notes, and looked up at Xu Liang with a scrutinizing gaze.

When my uncle finished counting the money and was completely satisfied...

Xu Liang then unexpectedly said to his uncle, "Oh, right, I also need to pay next month's rent."

When my cousin heard Xu Liang say that he still had to pay next month's rent, he was shocked.

He then said, "Liangwa, it seems your restaurant is doing quite well. Your cooking is much more impressive than before."

"When people face difficulties, it's always best to be tolerant."

"I'll give you a 50 yuan discount next month, so just give me 700 yuan."

Xu Liang took out seven hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and threw them in front of his uncle again.

Uncle took a closer look and saw that 750 plus 700 already amounted to 1450 yuan. Xu Liang was about to take off, using money to slap people in the face.

After that, the uncle admitted defeat and wanted to ask Xu Liang a few questions.

"Tell me, you've made a lot of money in a week running your small restaurant. Let me see if you still have the same style I had back in the day."

After hearing this, Xu Liang simply said something.

"It's alright. Running a small restaurant is a small business; it's just a bit of hard-earned money."

Xu Liang smiled modestly and pulled over a red plastic stool to sit down.

"I work from dawn till dusk every day. It's tiring, but it's more free than working for someone else. I can earn more money, spend some on myself, and save some at the end."

"Uncle, would you like to know exactly how much?"

Upon hearing his uncle's words, Xu Liang felt somewhat embarrassed.

"Uncle, I really can't say about this!"

Actually, Xu Liang didn't want to say it, mainly because the small restaurant had a certain amount of foot traffic and a good reputation.

Besides, if I tell him, what if he gets a big shock when my gains are exposed?

If things go wrong, this might just be my uncle testing the waters.

After that, my uncle put the money in the drawer and locked it.

Then he pulled up a small stool and sat down opposite Xu Liang, handing him a red cigarette.

"Want one?"

Xu Liang hesitated for a moment.

He knew that if he developed a smoking habit, and Zhao Hongzhi smelled smoke on him when he got home, he would definitely be in trouble.

Xu Liang didn't speak, but his uncle did.

"Don't listen to your strict mother. A real man should always have a couple of cigarettes in his mouth. That's what makes him look like a man."

Uncle said to Xu Liang with a grin.

He declined his uncle's offer, waving his hand and jokingly saying to him.

"No, Uncle, I won't smoke anymore, I'm afraid it will affect my enjoyment of the food."

"And my mom...you know her too?"

Surprisingly, my uncle didn't force me to do anything; in fact, he wasn't the type to do things against my will.

He nodded upon hearing this, put the cigarette in his mouth, lit it, took a drag, and exhaled a faint smoke ring.

"You're really thoughtful, kid. Cooking is a profession where you really can't stand the smell of smoke, but you're surrounded by smoke every day, aren't you?"

Xu Liang was very curious about his uncle's words.

Then he asked, "Why?"

"That's right. You're in charge of cooking, and dishes are meant to serve customers. There's always smoke and fumes when you're cooking, and the aroma that wafts out when customers are eating is also a unique kind of smoke."

"Back when you were little, you were so skinny, like a monkey. We relatives used to gossip about how you could eat so much and never gain weight. Who would have thought you'd grow up so fast and now you own your own restaurant? You're definitely going to be chubby from now on!"

As Xu Liang listened to his uncle reminiscing about old stories, a ripple of emotion stirred within him.

Reborn back to the age of twenty, Xu Liang finds all the familiar people and things around him especially precious.

In his past life, he failed his dreams, and he regrets the muddled and aimless middle age he has lived.

Now, all we can do is try our best to make up for it, and perhaps we can make a comeback.

If things go well, Xu Liang could even challenge himself and surpass his past self.

This creates a huge gap between myself and my past self.

In this life, he stands at the very top of that disparity.