Feng Hongbing's mother persuaded both sides, and the emotions of both sides eased a little.
Feng Yuxuan knew that, no matter what, she was in the wrong. She started to cry, which was actually a bit of a prelude to her giving in. Now that there was a way out, she of course took it. With red eyes, she told Feng Hongbing's mother about her experiences in the city over the years, making all sorts of excuses as to why she had never returned home.
Feng Zhenchang was still angry, however, and after finishing his cigarette, he went inside, grabbed his straw hat and sickle, and left. Feng Hongbing's mother called after him, 'Uncle, come back early, we'll go to Xinhua's for dinner tonight.'
Like Mei Qiuping, Feng Zhenchang also went up the mountain to look at his fields and the economic forest. Although he hasn't farmed for the past two years, he is still a farmer at heart, and since he had come back for the first time in a long time, of course he wanted to take a closer look.
It was almost nine o'clock in the evening when they returned from dinner at Xinhua's. Feng Yuxuan saw that her father was in a good mood, so she mentioned her idea. Feng Zhenchang didn't even think about it and rejected his daughter's request without hesitation. 'Don't think about other nonsense. In a few days, you'll go to the provincial capital with me. We've made all the arrangements. When the shop opens, your mother and I won't be enough, so you can just go and help.'
Feng Yuxuan came to understand that even if her mother came back with her father this time, her original ideas would not be realised.
After giving up, she reviewed her situation. Indeed, she had been away for three years and only had 400 yuan in her pocket when she returned. Now she was asking her family for 10,000 yuan, which seemed a bit much.
In a desperate situation, she came to terms with the situation and felt that going to the provincial capital was a good choice. The provincial capital must be more prosperous than the city.
This year's chestnut harvest was not as good as last year's. After drying, only 300-odd catties of suitable ones were selected. Feng Zhenchang used cash to buy more than 1,000 catties from the village, and asked his daughter to take care of drying while he went to the school to see Feng Yiping.
Feng Yiping has been very busy these few days. Not only during the day, but also until almost midnight at night. He takes the opening of the first noodle restaurant very seriously, because it is the first restaurant in his envisioned chain, and he wants to make it a model.
He thought it would be easy, but as he delved deeper, he discovered that it was actually quite difficult to open a good first restaurant. The more he delved, the more problems he found. He had never been involved in the restaurant business before, so now he looks at many problems from the perspective of the customer. However, he thinks this is not a bad thing, and that these designs should be customer-oriented.
When Feng Zhenchang arrived at his son's place, he had only spoken a few words when he saw Feng Yiping take out a large stack of paper. He thought his son was going to review his homework, but who knew Feng Yiping said it was for him. He said he had asked many teachers and looked up many books to summarise some regulations on opening a noodle shop.
He flipped through the pages. The first page was hand-drawn and contained the logo he had designed. Then there were renderings of the shopfront and interior, followed by pages and pages of text interspersed with drawings and simple tables. He looked at Feng Yiping in confusion. Are we really going to open a noodle shop?
Feng Yiping said with some regret, 'That's all I can think of for now. Let's just get the shop up and running, and then gradually improve it!'
That's all for now? If I were to open a restaurant, how much would you contribute?
Feng Zhanchang slammed the things on the table, intending to scold his son, but then he thought about how much effort his son had put into making all these things, even if it was a bit much. He tried to speak to Feng Yiping in a calm tone, saying, 'Your mother and I know more about these things than you do. We've spent time looking at a lot of noodle shops these days, and we have a good idea of what it takes to run a successful one. Don't worry about it, just focus on your studies.'
Feng Yiping, who was drinking water, was stunned. He didn't expect his father to have such an attitude! He was very depressed that his hard work and enthusiasm were not recognised.
But looking at his father's serious expression, he knew that it would be difficult to persuade him to listen. After thinking about it, he asked, 'Then I would like to ask, what do you and Mum think about the contract for renting the shopfront? How many years should it be rented for? How should the rent be paid? What happens if there is a breach of contract?'
Seeing that his son seemed to be testing him, Feng Zhenchang became a little impatient and said, 'We know what to do about these things, so don't worry. Boss Cai also said that the rent will of course be paid annually, and the lease should be signed for as long as possible. We want to sign a three-year lease first. That's how his factory is rented now.'
Feng Yiping was a little bitter, 'Dad, we can't compare ourselves to Lao Cai. He has a good relationship with the street office and spends money every year to maintain it. We, on the other hand, have no connections in the provincial capital. Let me draw an analogy. Say the shop does well and the landlord wants to rent it to someone else doing the same business the following year. Or what if the landlord sees that the business is doing well and drastically increases the rent the following year? Or what if the landlord buys the shop?
Feng Zhenchang is a little dazed. He has not really thought about these possibilities in detail.
'Also, regarding collecting money, what are you and Mum going to do?' Feng Yiping asks again.
'What's there to prepare? It's just like any other noodle shop. You pay when you leave.'
'What if you're too busy to notice when business is particularly good in the morning or at lunchtime and someone leaves without paying? Besides, in the first shop, it was just us family members collecting the money, so it didn't matter who did it. But who will collect the money in the second shop? Can you trust someone else to do it? What if they just pocket the money?'
Like Mei Qiuping, Feng Zhenchang takes everything very seriously when it comes to money. Seeing that his father had finally listened, Feng Yiping patted the papers and said, 'You and Mum should read them sometime, okay? During the summer holidays, I read a lot of books in the provincial capital and asked a lot of people at the university. What they said always made sense.'
Feng Yiping knew that his father was still not convinced by a young kid like himself, so he had to bring up other people again.
'Okay,' Feng Zhenchang reluctantly agreed, but Feng Yiping believed that as long as his parents read it, they would definitely accept many of the points he raised. After all, at this time, there were simply not many companies engaged in corporate image design, and the trendy ideas he proposed were able to attract people.
It was a very lively morning at Feng's. Feng Zhenchang and Feng Yuxuan were walking at the front, followed by Feng Mingzhi and his wife, Dong Ming and his wife, Feng Weidong's younger brother, Feng Xinhua and his wife. There were three families in total, and they were helped by five or six strong labourers. There were more than ten people in the group, all carrying loads on their shoulders, and they were all heading towards the road in an imposing manner.
Many villagers, some still eating breakfast from their bowls, gathered around the group, all eager to help. Including Feng Yiping's family, this meant that four families were going to the provincial capital. If they did well, more families could go next year.
Together with Wang Changning's family, four new families were going. This time, there was so much stuff that Feng Zhenchang found a lorry to take it all directly to the provincial capital. Dongming and Feng Yuxuan went with the truck.
Feng Yiping begged the class teacher until he was finally given two days off, and together with Wang Changning, they rushed to Meijiawan to take everyone to the provincial capital.
Seeing Feng Yiping, Feng Yuxuan was still a little angry, angry that her younger brother didn't support her, angry that she had been scolded by Feng Zhenchang at home these past few days, and angry that everyone they had met along the way had liked her younger brother. She simply didn't want to talk to him.
Feng Zhenchang was fine. He was a man, and even if he was reluctant, he would not show it. Besides, he had gotten used to it over the past two years. His son did not let him down in any way.
It was Wang Changning's mother, just like Mei Qiuping at the beginning, who was reluctant to let her son go. She took Wang Changning's hand and kept on giving him advice. When she got on the bus, both mother and son had red eyes.