Chapter 272: Countdown to Opening

After a long silence, Jiang Longcheng sighed and said, “I lose!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “You’re giving up already without even waiting to see what happens?”

“I’m not stupid. What’s the point of stubbornly holding on when it’s already a foregone conclusion?” Jiang Longcheng replied.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, there was nothing he could do—as soon as the news broke, housing prices skyrocketed.

It wasn’t just Beiguan Village—the entire capital was the same.

Everyone knew that these days, making missiles wasn’t as profitable as selling tea eggs; everyone knew that business was where the money was, but the only problem was that the policies were extremely restrictive.

As a result, most people didn’t dare to conduct business openly, which was why shop rents were so low.

Now that this policy straitjacket was gone, people could finally do business openly. On top of that, the capital was full of returned educated youth who were out of work.

It was inevitable that a large number of young people would rush into business, and shop rents would inevitably skyrocket.

Thinking of his bet with Li Yi, Jiang Longcheng said again, “By the way, what do you want me to do?”

“Two things!”

Li Yi continued, “First, help me get the paperwork sorted out for opening the restaurant. I don’t want to waste time standing in line.”

“No problem!” Jiang Longcheng replied.

With the approval from higher-ups, it was just a matter of a word for him—he didn’t even need to pull any strings through his family connections!

“The second thing is, when I open the restaurant, invite all your friends over for a meal—as many as you can,” Li Yi said.

“Sure. My birthday is on the 15th. In past years, I’ve always hired a private chef to prepare a big feast, but this year I’ll invite them to eat at your place!” Jiang Longcheng said.

“Then it’s settled!” Li Yi said.

“Oh, and that kid Jianhua lost too. What are you planning to do with him?” Jiang Longcheng asked again.

Li Yi frowned, then said, “I haven’t figured that out yet. We’ll see once I’ve decided!”

In truth, Li Yi had already decided what to have Ye Jianhua do. Compared to the Jiang family, the Ye family’s influence was no less significant.

More importantly, Ye Jianhua’s father currently works at a certain government ministry. Li Yi had originally intended to have them look into Tang Xue’s biological mother’s records.

Given the Ye family’s capabilities, he believed they should be able to get to the bottom of it.

However, Li Yi was currently feeling a bit hesitant about this matter.

Although he wanted to uncover the truth about Tang Xue’s background and help her find her biological parents,

But at the same time, Li Yi knew this was a double-edged sword that could harm Tang Xue and their newly formed little family at any moment.

If Tang Xue’s biological parents were just an ordinary couple, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But based on what they’ve uncovered so far, that possibility is slim.

First, there were the records. Keeping them so well-protected was no small feat.

Second, there was Tang Meiling’s account. According to that woman, Ye Lingwan was picked up by the convoy just a few days after being admitted to the clinic.

That was back in 1961—in some remote areas, cars were a rare sight, let alone being picked up by a convoy.

Then there was the jade pendant that Ye Lingwan had left as a burial offering for the stillborn infant. Li Yi had examined it closely and found that it was made of milk-white jade, carved with simple, ancient patterns.

Although it was unclear exactly which dynasty it belonged to, it was undoubtedly a valuable piece of ancient jade.

All of this suggested that Tang Xue’s biological parents were no ordinary people.

Li Yi was deeply concerned: if Tang Xue’s parents truly belonged to a high-ranking family of exceptional status, would they even acknowledge her?

At the same time, even if they did acknowledge Tang Xue as their daughter, would they accept Li Yi as their son-in-law?

Most importantly, Tang Xue was already more than four months pregnant, and Li Yi didn’t want her to be affected or hurt by these matters.

Therefore, Li Yi decided to put this matter aside for the time being and deal with it after the baby is born.

After all, so many years had already passed; another year or two wouldn’t make much difference.

Jiang Longcheng had no idea how much Li Yi was thinking about all this. Seeing that Li Yi seemed uninterested in discussing the topic, he began wandering around the house.

Although the renovations were still underway and the place was dirty and messy, the general layout was already apparent.

After walking through the entire space from front to back, Jiang Longcheng was surprised to discover that although the place looked unassuming, its layout was refreshingly innovative.

Not only was there a main dining hall, but there were also elegant private rooms, capable of catering to customers of all levels.

This alone made it clear that Li Yi wasn’t opening this restaurant on a whim, but had come prepared.

However, when he entered the kitchen, he was surprised to find that although the kitchen wasn’t small, it had only two small stoves.

For a restaurant of this size to have only two stoves seemed a bit off.

However, he trusted that Li Yi must have his own plan, so he didn’t ask any further questions.

Li Yi didn’t pay him any mind, letting him wander around the place on his own while he directed the renovation crew to keep up the pace!

At noon, the group had another meal together, though this time Li Yi didn’t let Jiang Longcheng pay.

After the meal, Li Yi continued overseeing the renovation of his house, while Jiang Longcheng returned to the cotton mill on his own!

……

Over the next few days, Li Yi and a few of his younger brothers shuttled back and forth daily between the rental house, the restaurant, and various markets; everyone was as busy as a bee.

It took over ten days, but they finally transformed the dilapidated warehouse at the foundry into a decent-looking restaurant.

However, that alone wasn’t enough to open for business; once the structural work was done, it was time for the interior design.

On November 8, the first batch of combined grilling and hot pot tables from the foundry was delivered, followed by chairs and other equipment, all of which were brought to the restaurant.

Shortly after, Jiang Longcheng had the paperwork finalized.

Upon receiving the individual business registration certificate, Li Yi let out a long sigh of relief.

With this certificate in hand, he could finally get down to business without worrying about being reported or fearing inspections.

Afterward, Li Yi stepped up his preparations.

By November 13, most of the restaurant’s supplies were ready.

In addition to tables, chairs, and various tableware, Li Yi had specifically splurged on two Wanbao refrigerators, each costing 1,200 yuan.

To be honest, in Li Yi’s view, spending 2,400 yuan on two small refrigerators was simply not a good deal.

After all, that price was exorbitantly high—some had calculated that one yuan from that era would be equivalent to 225 yuan thirty years later.

By that calculation, the value of these two refrigerators would be equivalent to 550,000 yuan in the future!

Isn’t that outrageous?

If that still doesn’t make it clear enough, let’s compare it to the average salary of a regular worker today.

A third-level worker earns 36 yuan a month, so 1,200 yuan is equivalent to 33 months’ worth of a regular worker’s total salary.

In other words, a worker would have to go without food or drink for two years and nine months to afford a refrigerator like this.

But running a restaurant without a refrigerator is simply out of the question, so Li Yi had no choice but to grit his teeth and shell out the money.

Once the pots, pans, and other equipment were ready, Li Yi began sourcing ingredients.

Cattle and sheep farming in Nianzishan Village was still in its infancy, so that was out of the question; Li Yi had no choice but to source ingredients locally.

For a restaurant, the quality of the ingredients is the most important factor in customer satisfaction.

Especially since they were opening a restaurant specializing in hot pot and grilled meat, the quality of the beef and lamb was crucial.

So, Li Yi took a few of his young associates and scoured the nearby farmers’ markets, all in search of suitable beef and lamb.

After several days of searching, they finally found a state-run stall in the city that specialized in beef and lamb from the northern grasslands.

After confirming that the beef and lamb at this stall were indeed of higher quality than at most other stalls, Li Yi decisively ordered two sheep and 100 jin of top-quality beef from there.

Although the price was as high as 2.5 yuan per jin for mutton and 2.2 yuan per jin for beef—even without meat ration coupons—Li Yi didn’t care in the least.

Customers who could afford to dine at a barbecue restaurant truly didn’t mind spending an extra three or two yuan; as long as the beef and lamb were of high quality and tasted good, they were willing to accept the price as long as it wasn’t exorbitant.

In addition, Li Yi contacted the Yunhu Brewery in Miyun and ordered 500 liters of beer at 12 cents per liter.

Once everything was ready, Li Yi personally trained his staff and ordered matching uniforms.

As the gilded sign, engraved with the words “Grassland Beef and Lamb,” was delivered to the restaurant, the countdown to the opening of Li Yi’s first shop in Beijing began.