The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 267
The weather forecast said that there would be moderate rain, and it would be cloudy in the morning, without seeing the sun, and it would rain at eight o'clock.

Zhou Xiaomei's father sent his grandson to the kindergarten in the morning. When he came back, he ran into two old buddies downstairs and chatted for a while. One of them said that the eggs in the morning market were cheap, three yuan and two a catty.Zhou Xiaomei's father thought that the morning market hadn't withdrawn yet, so he strolled past, planning to buy a few catties of eggs.

After buying the eggs and walking back, it was raining, the old man was also impatient, he crossed the road without looking at the signal light, the driver of the private car braked suddenly, but did not hit the old man, but the old man panicked for a moment, lost five catties of eggs, and fell on the ground on the road.

The driver was stunned to see that he didn't hit anyone, he turned the steering wheel and drove away, leaving the old man moaning in pain.

Hey, how should I put it, there were quite a few people watching and watching on the spot, but no one dared to step forward—for fear of being blackmailed.

It was raining, and an old man was lying on the road moaning, surrounded by many people, who said everything, and some people took out their mobile phones to take pictures and record videos. Many people may be familiar with this scene.

People often hide the kindness in their hearts because of the indifference of public consciousness, and use the good reason they say "it's not that the bad people are getting old, but the old people are getting bad" to find an excuse not to release their kindness.

This is a very common intersection, and accidents rarely happen. If it weren't for the rain, this incident would not have happened today.

But it happened that Cao Jiadong went to the Haidong store to repair the water, and he happened to take this road. When he saw Mr. Zhou lying on the ground, he immediately got off the electric car. After asking about the situation, he carried the old man on his back and went to the nearby area hospital run.

The good thing is that the old man is only sprained, not too serious, but he is not as old as a young man, so he needs to rest for a while.

Cao Jiadong carried the old man home, and the old lady was in a hurry at home, thinking about the long time it took to send the child to kindergarten, it was almost morning, and it was still raining.Unexpectedly, my wife fell and sprained, and I thought I went drinking with some old man again.

As the saying goes, it’s good to be okay, the old lady scolded her wife who was lying on the bed, and said many words of thanks to Cao Jiadong.

Cao Jiadong came out of Zhou Xiaomei's house and ran to the intersection where the accident happened in the rain, thinking that the electric scooter should not be ridden away by others. He was anxious just now but it was unlocked.When I got to the intersection, I saw the traffic lights flashing non-stop, and there was no trace of the electric car.

The honest man Cao Jiadong looked at the rain and sighed. He had no choice but to take a taxi to Haidong store.

Xiaomei's mother made a bowl of hot soup noodles for her husband, brought it to the bedside table, helped her up, and said, "You said, you still have eggs at home. I don't see cloudy days. I don't know how to buy them on a good day." , I bought it on a rainy day, this is Xiao Cao passing by, if you don’t pass by, you will die there.”

"Can you say something nice?" Xiaomei's father said angrily without looking at his wife with a gloomy face.

"Isn't that right? I don't see how you live your life, but now you know how to live your life." His wife shoved him.

Xiaomei's father didn't say anything, picked up the noodles, took a bite, and said, "Bring a clove of garlic."

Xiaomei's mother went to the kitchen to bring garlic, peeled the garlic and said, "Don't move for the next two days, take care of it."

"Bring the wine." Xiaomei's father said.

"Okay, why don't you drink some noodles? Don't know what you are like?" Xiaomei's mother put the peeled garlic on the bedside table, and gave her wife a glare.

"I don't understand anything, drink some wine to relax the muscles and activate the blood, and heal quickly." Xiaomei's father said.

"Just say you want to drink."

Xiaomei's mother said, she got up to get the wine, and brought over a plate of fried peanuts by the way.Then pick a bowl of noodles for yourself and sit down to eat with your wife.

Xiaomei's father took a sip of wine, and the psychological effect made his waist less painful.Slam it and say to your wife: "Thanks to Xiao Cao passing by today, otherwise I would have to lie there for a long time."

"None of the people next to me stepped forward?" asked the wife.

"No, I'm afraid of getting the bag." Xiaomei's father said bitterly.

"It's cold in the city. If you're at home, even if you don't know him, you have to go and have a look. Ask which village and what's the situation, and help take him to the hospital." Xiaomei's mother said.

"What are you talking about at home?" Xiaomei's father was a little emotional.

"It's convenient to live in this city, but it's ungrateful——" Xiaomei's mother sighed, and then said, "When you get better, why don't you take Xiaolong home for two days? Now the family is not busy, and the grandson is on vacation too. .”

Xiaomei's father thought for a while and said, "Okay, go back and stay for two days."

The old couple were speechless for a while, the old man drank and ate noodles and chewed peanuts, the taste was gone and the pain disappeared.The old lady just ate noodles, and peeled off another clove when her wife saw that the garlic was gone.

The old lady ate half of a bowl of noodles and said, "Take Xiaoying with you when you go back, and we will be companions with Xiaolong."

"Yes." The old man said.

"It's not easy for Xiao Cao, taking care of two children—"

"If there is a suitable one, we should find another one."

The old lady said: "How easy is it to touch? It's okay to be a clean person, with a baby and a small child, it's not easy to be a stepmother, and besides, I don't want to be a stepmother now."

"Xiao Cao is a good kid, just be honest and not bad-hearted. Do you think there is a suitable one in our house?" the old man said.

"Where did our family come from - don't talk about others, I don't know what my family is like, and I still ask others." The old lady thought of her girl.

The old man didn't say anything, just drank in silence.

At this time, Zhou Xiaomei was in Baotou, and Wang Shulan asked her to visit the store for a few days when she left, but she never returned to Hohhot. She didn't know about her father's fall and sprain.In addition, it is not a disease to have a sidekick in the countryside, and it will be fine after a few days of treatment, but the old lady didn't tell her.

The rain affected the business to some extent, and there were not many people eating. After lunch, Lao Tan and Zhou Xiaomei went to the store under renovation in Qingshan District to look around. It happened that Mr. Xiang was there, and the three of them didn't eat, so they went to the nearby area together. Dine at a Mongolian restaurant.

During the meal, Lao Tan said that in the future, Aqiao will develop at least ten stores a year, mainly in the south. He asked Mr. Xiang if he is interested in developing in the south so that we can continue to cooperate.

Mr. Xiang said that the decoration companies in the South are more mature and the pressure of competition is high. He is afraid that they will not be able to stand in the past.

"Our decoration in the north is indeed developed from the south. This is undeniable. But the market in the south is larger than that in the north, and there is room for improvement. It is conservative to say that our Aqiao will be enough for you in one year, and it is not a loss." Lao Tan said .

"The main reason is that the wages of the labor force over there are high." Mr. Xiang said.

"The raw materials are cheap." Old Tan said.

"I'll think it over."

“It’s a bit unlike you—among other things, Suzhou has to open ten stores. One store costs 800,000, and ten stores cost 8 million. What else do you want to do?” Old Tan said.

"Mr. Xiang should have other projects," Zhou Xiaomei said.

Mr. Xiang smiled and said, "There are other projects, and they are all hotel decorations—the main reason is that it is difficult to find workers now, and the conditions are still high, so I can't afford to hire them."

Mr. Xiang talked about the problems that the decoration industry is facing now.

The first is the problem of people. Before hiring a carpenter, the daily salary was [-] to [-] yuan. Now it is not easy to hire [-] yuan. A good craftsman has already reached [-] yuan.

Security checks and labor protection are now stricter than in the past. A company with 20 employees like Xiangzong used to pay group insurance, but now it is not allowed. Everyone must pay insurance. Such a person will increase by 100 yuan per month. Expenses, [-] people is thirty-two thousand.

In addition, the price of decoration materials continued to rise, and the decoration cost was kept low by the boss, and the profit shrunk seriously.

The state requires that migrant workers' wages should not be owed. No one objects to this, and agrees with it.However, many hotel owners said good things before the renovation and signed the contract. After the renovation was completed, they began to default on the renovation fee.

There is also a serious phenomenon of worker hopping, why?missing.Sometimes there are no workers after the project is negotiated, and I feel anxious and angry.Not to mention the delay in the construction period, you have to pay for the loss, and you will lose money if the adjustment is not good.

"It's not easy to do decoration now. They are all like yours. They are honest and trustworthy, and the project funds are in place at any time." Mr. Xiang said after pouring out his bitterness.

Lao Tan said: "I think you can separate the design and decoration. The design fee is charged for the design, and the decoration fee is charged for the decoration. It was agreed during the negotiation, and the money will be paid first before the design. After the design is approved, the decoration will be discussed. Do it. At least get the design fee first.

Having said that, the design has been approved, and the money has been paid, so it is impossible not to use your decoration.In this way, you will take the initiative, and the decoration fee will be paid step by step, and the final payment will be bundled with the later maintenance. It should be fine. "

(End of this chapter)