Reborn: Back to the 1980s Chapter 29 Part 1

Chapter 29: Treating Guests 

Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu were making plans for their future braised meat business, while over in Yun County, the Li family was also abuzz with excitement over the same braised meat. When Xiao Zhang carried the braised meat back to the Li household with a nervous heart, Old Master Li was playing chess with an old friend. Seeing Xiao Zhang return, he asked eagerly, "Xiao Zhang, did you get the fish?"

Xiao Zhang pulled a long face. "Old Master Li, those two kids said they can't catch fish in the river anymore—they've switched to selling braised meat. Would you like to try some? It's really tasty."

Old Master Li looked disgusted. "As if I've never had braised meat before! Even those famous old shops in the capital that everyone raves about are nothing special."

The old man sitting across from him spoke up, saying to Xiao Zhang, "Bring the braised meat over—I'll have a taste. I've always had a soft spot for this stuff." Xiao Zhang quickly took the meat to the kitchen, had it sliced, and served it on a plate to Old Master Zhao.

Old Master Zhao took a bite, paused for a moment, then calmly set down his chopsticks and said to Old Master Li, "You really won't try any? Then all this meat is mine!"

Old Master Li shot him a suspicious glance. "You old devil, it's not like I can't spare a little braised meat. Take it all, take it all!"

Old Master Zhao immediately stood up and told Xiao Zhang to pack up the meat. "No more chess today—I need to go home for dinner."

Old Master Li tried to keep him. "Just eat here. You've never stood on ceremony before—why are you being so polite all of a sudden?" 

Old Master Zhao just chuckled in response, said nothing, and strode off, his steps so quick he was almost running.

Old Master Li muttered, "That fellow's getting stranger by the day." Just then, a child's cheerful voice rang out at the front door: "Grandpa, I'm home!"

Hearing that voice, Old Master Li’s face lit up with a big smile, wrinkles and all. He hurried to the door and scooped up the little boy. "Grandpa's good grandson is back! Did you behave today?"

The little boy nodded eagerly. "I was so good today!" But the young woman behind him said, "Dad, don't listen to him. He let go of my hand and ran off when I wasn't paying attention on the street—I had a hard time finding him."

Old Master Li replied, "You're a grown-up and you can't even keep an eye on a child—and you have the nerve to say that." Then, thinking better of it, he told the boy, "Xiao Xin, you mustn't do that again, all right? Listen to your mother, okay?"

The boy answered promptly, "I'll listen to Mom from now on! Grandpa, today I ate the most delicious, most delicious meat ever, and I bought some back for you! Mom, give me a piece, quick!"

The young woman reluctantly tore off a small bit of braised meat and handed it to the boy. He took it and fed it right into Old Master Li's mouth. "Grandpa, eat!"

His little grandson's thoughtfulness made Old Master Li so happy that his beard practically bounced. "Good, good—I'll eat, I'll eat." He opened his mouth and took the bite. The moment it hit his tongue, he froze. This meat! He turned to his daughter-in-law. "Yuling, where did you buy this?"

Wu Yuling answered, "There are two kids running a stall, right at the free market." 

Old Master Li then asked Xiao Zhang, "Did you buy yours from those same two kids?" 

Xiao Zhang nodded.

Old Master Li slapped his thigh. "So that's why that old devil Zhao left so early—he was trying to cheat me out of my meat!" Xiao Zhang twitched his mouth at that. But you're the one who told him to take it. Then he saw Old Master Li turn to Li Xin with a beaming smile and say, "My good grandson, how about you let Grandpa have that meat!"

Every other household that had bought braised meat that day also scrambled to finish it off in no time.

Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu had no idea about any of this, so they went ahead and made about thirty jin (15 kg) of braised meat again, just like the day before. But no sooner had they set up their stall than a crowd swarmed around them—two jin here, three jin there—and the whole batch sold out in less than an hour.

That was when they knew their braised meat had built a reputation.

The two headed back to the pork stall and told the butcher they wanted two pig heads, plus double their usual order of pig ears and pig stomach. The butcher stared at them like they were a sideshow. "I hope you're not buying all this just to resell it—being a middleman isn't right, you know."

Zhao Shenggu laughed. "Uncle, we're buying it to make braised meat. We sold out today, so we'll save some for you to try next time."

The butcher grinned. "You sure know how to talk, kid! Haha, I'll give you full measure today. But that's a lot of meat—can you even carry it?"

Zhao Shenggu said, "No problem, I'm strong." After buying the meat and a few other odds and ends, they went home, rested a bit, and started braising. By sunset, a big pot of braised meat was ready.

The two lay on the kang bed, the aroma of meat lingering around them. Guan Yuan sighed contentedly. "Brother, I feel so grounded living like this."

Zhao Shenggu pulled Guan Yuan up and settled him on top of himself. "Only when you're leaning on me like this do I feel grounded." Even though Zhao Shenggu didn't mean anything romantic by it at the time, Guan Yuan still blushed deeply, burying his face in Zhao Shenggu's chest and staying quiet out of shyness.

A month passed like this. Their braised meat stall had made a name for itself in Yun County—if someone arrived too late, they'd miss out. So every day, people started lining up early to buy.

Zhao Shenggu felt even more motivated watching the crowds. He handled the slicing and weighing, while Guan Yuan took the money. They worked in perfect sync. By now, they were the butcher's biggest customer, buying nearly a hundred jin of meat daily.

But good business always draws envy. The next day, when Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan arrived to sell their meat, they found someone else already occupying their spot.

Zhao Shenggu led Guan Yuan over to the man. "Brother, I don't remember you being in this spot yesterday."

The man snorted. "What's it to you where I was yesterday? I feel like being here today—what are you gonna do about it?"

Zhao Shenggu kept his cool. "I've been running my stall here all along. Isn't it a bit much for you to just take it over without a word?"

The man laughed loudly. "Kid, you say this spot is yours—did you buy it? Does it answer when you call?" To be fair, the man wasn't wrong. The free market was poorly managed, with no fees or assigned spots. But taking someone else's spot without so much as a word was still clearly unethical.

Zhao Shenggu knew arguing further would get nowhere, so he found a new spot and set up their stall. Guan Yuan squinted, discreetly flicked something toward the man's tofu, then followed Zhao Shenggu to the new stall as if nothing had happened.

Though the stall change caused some confusion for their regular customers, they still managed to sell out—just an hour later than usual.

As they passed by the tofu-selling man, several customers were arguing with him: "How do you run your business? This tofu is sour!"

"Exactly! You've got no conscience. I had a perfectly good fish, and because I put your tofu in it, the whole pot of soup was ruined and I had to throw it all out."

The man tried to defend himself: "How is it my fault? I ground this tofu fresh today—it's still warm!"

"Don't believe me? Try it yourself."

The man, unwilling to back down, took a bite himself. His face shifted through several expressions of disbelief—sure enough the tofu was indeed bad. He had no choice but to apologize humbly and refund everyone's money.

Guan Yuan found it deeply satisfying. Zhao Shenggu, however, walked past without changing his expression.

Only after they'd left the area did Zhao Shenggu ask, "Xiao Yuan, was that you?" Though the question came out of nowhere, Guan Yuan knew exactly what he meant. He nodded. "It was me. Brother, do you think I shouldn't have?"

Zhao Shenggu sighed. "It's not that you shouldn't have—I'm just afraid you weren't careful enough. If someone caught you, that would be trouble."

Guan Yuan shrugged it off. "I was plenty careful. No one's going to catch me. Don't worry—I won't act rashly again, okay? Hehe."

Zhao Shenggu looked at Guan Yuan's little row of teeth and burst out laughing. "Always up to mischief." Guan Yuan happily let Zhao Shenggu lead him along.

Although he had lived for ages, he didn't mind playing the child forever—as long as he was with Zhao Shenggu. He loved the way Zhao Shenggu treated him just like before—he loved being held in the palm of Zhao Shenggu's hand. If a person can always stay a child, it means there's someone who will always spoil them.

Afraid Guan Yuan might get tired from walking, Zhao Shenggu hoisted him onto his back and headed home slowly. In the sunset, their shadows stretched long. Guan Yuan clung tightly to Zhao Shenggu's back, listening to him talk about future plans.

"Xiao Yuan, I think we should rent a shop in the county. That way we'd have a fixed place, and things like today wouldn't happen."

Guan Yuan nodded. "We really should buy property. Houses are cheap now—no matter how many we buy, it's never too many. But I'm worried that if we start building assets now, the Guan family will show up and try to take a bite."

Hearing that, Zhao Shenggu frowned. It was true—they had to cut ties with the Guan family, or there'd be endless trouble down the road.

"Brother, what if I gave something to the household registry officer? Then they'd have no choice but to process it."

"Don't be ridiculous. I won't let you take that risk. And don't you dare do anything behind my back, you hear?" Zhao Shenggu said sternly.

"Got it," Guan Yuan replied listlessly.

"Xiao Yuan, nothing is more important than you. Understand? We can take things slowly—I'd rather that than have you get into even the smallest trouble."

Guan Yuan knew Zhao Shenggu only meant well, so he nodded. "Mm."

Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan were both racking their brains over how to completely break free from the Guan family. Little did they expect that the opportunity would come sooner than they thought.

It turned out that ever since more people started buying braised meat from their stall, people would hang around the area afterwards, which boosted business for the nearby stalls as well. But ever since their spot was taken over by that tofu seller, the surrounding stalls saw their business slump too. That was unbearable. The tofu seller frequently got snide remarks from the neighboring vendors. In the end, he had no choice but to voluntarily invite Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan back.

Just as Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan were setting out the braised meat, Old Master Li came strolling over with Old Master Zhao.