In the late tenth lunar month, it was already early winter. The sun was gradually setting, but the cold wind was getting more and more biting with each passing day. On such days, the sweet, hot aroma of roasted chestnuts ushered in the best-selling season of the year.
Feng Zhenchang and Mei Qiuping have not been focusing too much on this these days, because just a few days ago, the maintenance shop's lease expired, the small building was already empty, and it was finally their turn to move in.
That is, a few days ago, Mei Jianzhong remitted 35,000 yuan to them, not only was there no shortage of money, there was even a surplus.
At that time, they thought that their son must have done something again. Upon asking, they found that their son had indeed sold something, and this time there was actually 50,000 yuan!
Without being told by Mei Jianzhong, they knew that they had to keep it a secret. They didn't even tell their daughter. If Feng Yuxuan knew, she would definitely start arguing again about going to the city to open a small store.
They have worked hard for more than a year, saving and eating frugally, and have earned a total of just over 10,000 yuan. This time, their son has earned them more than they have in years. Whether this is a good thing or not is something they are still trying to figure out.
Mei Qiuping laments that ever since they moved to the provincial capital, their son has not only distanced himself from them physically, but also emotionally, not consulting them about anything.
Feng Zhenchang is also feeling a lot, and is a little confused. Is this money easy or hard to earn?
However, he is more open-minded than Mei Qiuping. He stopped Mei Qiuping, who kept thinking about going back to find out the truth. In fact, he also understands that Mei Qiuping's main purpose in going back is to find out how much money her son has earned so far. 'This is not a bad thing. What are you going back for? We don't understand the things Yiping does. Even if we are asked, what can we say? We should just properly decorate this place and open for business as soon as possible.'
Mei Qiuping really wants to go back and ask her son how and how much money he has earned. She knows that making money is not easy. More than a year ago, she was always forced to find ways to make a few or ten dollars here and there. Now that her son is making so much money at once, she can only imagine how hard it must have been for him!
On the other hand, of course she wants to hold onto all this money. It's not necessarily a good thing for parents to have a child with so much money in their hands without their knowledge.
In short, the couple feel that their son has already saved them so much trouble that they don't even have to worry about it anymore.
Of the 50,000 yuan, the remaining 15,000 yuan was remitted to Mei Yiliang. He had always been a very unscrupulous person, and over the years, where had he saved any money?
Although the renovation business was a good opportunity, start-up capital was always needed, and he was still worried about where to find the money. If you find a master, you can borrow a few thousand, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it, and he couldn't ask for it. That kind of behaviour is a bit like living off others. This sum of money from his nephew really helped him a lot.
The money sent by Feng Yiping once again strongly supported some of his convictions. Feng Zhenchang didn't need to be reminded, and took the initiative to ask Boss Cai to find an acquaintance. He spent a lot of money to register the trademark that Feng Yiping had repeatedly emphasised.
Mei Yiliang's second eldest brother, Guoping, also hurried over. He was the one of the five sisters who had always been estranged from the others. He followed a stonemason to learn the trade when he was still a minor. He rarely stayed at home, and in recent years, he even took his wife and children to the county. Except for the New Year, they usually couldn't meet.
As the saying goes, 'Rich people have distant relatives in the mountains,' and the same is true of siblings. He heard that his eldest sister's family was doing better and better in the provincial capital, so when Mei Yiliang invited him, he happened to be free, so he went around doing odd jobs for the past two days. After discussing it with his wife, he went to the provincial capital for the first time.
When he left Lao Yang, Mei Yiliang had already contacted some people. Now that he had bought some things, he went with Feng Zhenchang to buy some materials, and the renovation officially began.
The small building, which had been vacated by the maintenance shop, was messy and dilapidated, but it did not dampen Feng Zhenchang and Mei Qiuping's spirits at all. If all goes well, in half a month's time, there will be a noodle shop here just like the one their son drew on a piece of paper.
If the stall selling fried chestnuts helped the family escape poverty, then this noodle shop will be the starting point for their family to get rich.
As originally conceived, the second floor was to be cleared out for living. Now that they had a few tens of thousands of yuan to spare, the couple agreed to be more generous. An extra table means an extra income, and the second floor was also fitted out as a shop, which also gives it class.
Feng Yiping found it easy to draw, but Mei Yiliang and the others found it difficult to build.
First of all, there was the wall. The original broken wooden door on the first floor was of course not used. The load-bearing wall was reinforced a bit, the door opening was enlarged, and it was planned to install two pairs of glass doors. On the second floor, facing the street, the small windows were also enlarged and directly installed with a large glass surface. There was also the shop front, which required an advertising company to custom-make a large light box...
In short, Mei Yiliang's unprofessional renovation team has never dealt with these things before. Some things, such as the door head, require approval from the relevant authorities. The glass doors and the glass on the second floor also need to be ordered in advance. In short, both Mei Yiliang and Feng Zhenchang said that the pressure was great.
This was Mei Yiliang's first time leading a team independently, and he was working for his eldest sister, so the requirements were stricter than Feng Zhenchang and the others. He knew the ins and outs of the renovation, and there were no shortcuts he could take. At least not this time. Plus, most of the team members were doing their first shop renovation, so rework was common.
However, the people in the decoration team also worked very hard. They knew that this was the boss's family business, including Feng Zhenchang and his wife, and the two Mei Yiliang brothers, who worked even harder than they did, so they didn't dare slack off.
During this period, Cai Hong also came to visit twice, and even brought paper hats and painted walls with Mei Yiliang. I don't know if the focus was on working or on watching people.
Residents near Xueyuan Road noticed that the original home appliance repair department had changed a lot. The front door was fenced off, and a large opening had been cut out on the first and second floors.
When passing by, the sound of banging and clanging continued until after dark. At the end of October, when passing in front of the building again, the whole effect was beginning to take shape.
The wall facing the street on the first floor has been almost hollowed out, with floor-to-ceiling glass installed on both sides and a pair of glass doors in the middle. The doorposts are painted red, and there seems to be a red light box above the door with words inlaid on it, which is currently blocked by a piece of plastic. The second floor is also like the first floor, with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Overall, it looks like two different worlds compared to the previous maintenance department.
With the arrival of all the custom-made tables and chairs from Lao Cai, and two days before the auspicious day approved by the fortune-teller at home, all the preparations were finally in place.
As for the soft opening proposed by Feng Yiping, Feng Zhenchang and his team did not follow it this time. After the kitchen equipment was installed, they boiled big pots of chicken soup every day to make noodles, seasoning repeatedly, until finally the people from the decoration team, who came from all over the country, said it was good, and they settled on it.
They invited the other four restaurants in the province to come over for a meal together. On the morning of the third day of the winter month, a firecracker was set off, the red cloth on the door was pulled down, and their 'Old Home Flavor' noodle shop officially opened its doors to welcome customers.