Rebirth 1994: Starting from laid-off workers

The lean and capable old man was young, he looked to be in his 30s at most. He was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and looked polite. He stepped forward to shake hands with Zhang Jiaqiang and exchanged business cards.

Another young man of similar age to Zhang Jiaqiang, whose surname is Chen, is also in the wholesale business of small commodities.

The last one, who is in his 40s, named Huang, is thin, withered, with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, and his voice is very shrill and harsh.

Upon introduction, Director Huang turned out to be a colleague of Zhang Jiaqiang and a manufacturer of lighters. Spark lighters were their products.

The colleagues were enemies. When exchanging business cards, Director Huang looked at Zhang Jiaqiang a little unkindly.

Zhang Jiaqiang didn't care at all. Only with competition can progress be achieved. This is not a bad thing. You can always push yourself.

Everyone has arrived, and the guests and hosts are seated.

Xu Dahai came out of the back kitchen with a tray and placed eight cold dishes.

"Everyone is here, let's have something to drink, we have some white beer!"

“On a hot day, of course drink cold beer!”

"Yes, it's cool and comfortable!"

"Put on one box first!"

"okay!"

After a while, the beer was served, and everyone's glasses were filled with steaming foam.

While everyone was pouring wine, Boss Yang leaned into Mr. Wang's ear and whispered in his ear.

"Old Huang didn't invite him originally, but when he heard that his colleagues were treating him, he insisted on following him. I'm so sorry!"

Mr. Wang knew full well that he was jealous of his colleagues and was afraid of being deprived of his business. He was a customer when he came. As long as it was fair competition, no one else would have any objections.

He smiled indifferently and said nothing, planning to say hello to Zhang Jiaqiang later so as not to hurt his friendship.

He picked up the wine glass and told Zhang Jiaqiang some wine-court clichés. He said that he would do it first as a courtesy.

Everyone else was trying to save their face by drinking all the wine in their glasses, but something happened to Boss Huang. After taking a small sip, he complained that it tasted bad, and said it was too cold and his teeth hurt.

This was obviously looking for trouble, and everyone looked unhappy.

Zhang Jiaqiang couldn't bear to confront him directly, so he winked at Guo Yonggang.

Guo Yonggang understood, picked up a glass of beer, filled it up and said, "I don't dare to drink cold drinks. Are you here? Why don't you get some brown sugar ginger water?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone burst into laughter. Wang Xuefeng naturally turned to Zhang Jiaqiang and started cheering.

"I'm afraid brown sugar and ginger water alone won't be enough. We have a pharmacy in the shopping mall. Let's get Factory Manager Huang some motherwort ointment!"

It was normal to make a dirty joke at the wine table, and no one minded. However, Factory Director Huang turned livid with anger and glared at Guo Yonggang.

Lao Guo tasted the beer calmly.

After a few glasses of wine, the atmosphere at the table became lively.

As the host, Zhang Jiaqiang kept persuading people to drink with his witty words, and added a few Internet jokes that only come later in life. Everyone cheered loudly and felt like they were close friends. The more wine they drank, the faster they drank.

Before the hot dishes were served, a box of beer was empty.

As soon as the back kitchen door opened, Xu Dahai held a tray and placed two hot dishes.

"Roast sea cucumbers with green onions and grilled pork strips. Please use it slowly. There are also good dishes to come!"

Wang Xuefeng picked up a piece of sea cucumber and tasted it. Suddenly he raised his eyebrows and showed joy, "Everyone, please try it. This dish is extremely authentic!"

Boss Yang and Gu Youcai are locals and know something about this restaurant.

Lao Yang said, "Since the chef was changed, the food here has been the same!"

Wang Xuefeng pointed at the dishes with the chopsticks in his hand, "Try it before you tell me!"

Boss Yang picked up a chopstick and after chewing for a while, he said in surprise, "What's going on? Is Master Gao coming out again?"

Zhang Jiaqiang said before that Wang Xuefeng only came back to his senses at this moment and looked at him in surprise and asked.

"Brother, did you really invite Master Gao out?"

It happened that Xu Dahai presented a dish of freshly cooked lotus shark's fin. Hearing this, he said, "Yes, my father-in-law cooked it himself. If you don't believe me, try the shark's fin!"

This dish is a famous dish that has won awards. Everyone took chops and praised it after tasting it.

Tasting the long-awaited taste, Wang Xuebing's face was full of joy, he picked up his wine glass and toasted to Zhang Jiaqiang.

"I heard that after Gao Yishao retired, he never went out, no matter who invited him. Brother, how did you do it? Is it possible that you are relatives?"

Zhang Jiaqiang took a sip of wine and told him how he made a bet to ask the old man to cook.

Everyone was amazed when they heard that he actually impressed the old chef with his dishes.

Only Factory Director Huang didn't take it seriously. He didn't even move his chopsticks, but looked at Zhang Jiaqiang coldly, with contempt often flashing in his eyes.

He said calmly: "You are very indifferent, you might as well listen to me and go eat Sichuan food. In such a small restaurant, he can't cook anything delicious!"

At this moment, Xu Dahai brought two red and oily dishes to the table.

"Hey, in order to take care of everyone's different tastes, the old man made two Sichuan-flavored ones. Please give them a try!"

Gao Yishao is proficient in all major cuisines, and he can pick out classic dishes at his fingertips. The two dishes are boiled Wujiang fish and braised river eel with Mapo tofu.

Guba, who specializes in lighter wholesale, has cooperated with Factory Director Huang for many years. He didn't want to embarrass him, so he hurriedly smoothed things over.

"Look, Director Huang is in for a treat! Try it now!"

Factory Manager Huang is in poor health and usually has a light taste. The mention of Sichuan food today is just to make trouble.

At this time, the Sichuan food was actually served. The food looked red and oily, and I was a little dumbfounded. However, I had just spoken, and I had to eat it.

He had no choice but to grit his teeth and pick up a small piece of river eel. As soon as he took it into his mouth, it was so spicy that his mouth and throat seemed to be on fire.

A pair of eyes were bulging, like a dying fish, and the mouth was open and breathing heavily.

"Hoho, spicy, so spicy!"

This guy wanted a glass of water to relieve his pain. Someone happened to pass a cup to him. He didn't even look at who it was. He grabbed the cup and drank it. He felt the coldness in his throat and his mouth felt much better.

Only then did I realize that it was a glass of cold beer.

Guo Yonggang smiled and said: "It seems that Sichuan cuisine is so powerful that Factory Manager Huang dares to drink cold beer. How does it feel?"

Lao Huang had a bad gastrointestinal condition. The combination of spicy food and cold food made his stomach twitch. He threw away his chopsticks in anger, lit a cigarette and began to sulk.

Wang Xuefeng felt happy when he saw that Lao Huang was exhausted. Now that he had had three rounds of wine and five tastes of food, it was time to get down to business.

"I heard that Brother Zhang's factory produces lighters. I don't know how long it has been in production. Is the sales good now?"

As soon as they talked about lighters, several people at the table all turned their attention to Zhang Jiaqiang.

Zhang Jiaqiang said with a slight smile.

"We can't talk about the factory. I just contracted a production line. The products are the latest disposable lighters. Currently, they are mainly sold to this city. The output is not small. One hundred thousand per day is no problem, but the sales volume is not worth mentioning!"

Hearing Zhang Jiaqiang say that the daily production capacity is [-], Director Huang's face turned even more ugly.

Before anyone else could speak, he put out his cigarette butt and spoke first.

"Lighters look inconspicuous, but not everyone can do it. There are black workshops everywhere now, and they don't even have production licenses. They produce so many fake and shoddy products, and there is no safety guarantee at all!"

"I see, brother Zhang should turn around while the boat is small and hurry up to transform!"