Chapter Thirteen: A Restaurant with a Top-Class Chef

  Even with Suzhou's standards, Lai Zhou Fan Dian is still quite good.

  The five-story building occupies a vast area of land, with rare white ceramic tiles attached to the exterior walls. A high-quality red carpet stretches from the hall all the way to the stone gate at the entrance, where a conservatively dressed receptionist greets guests with a smile.

  Inside the restaurant, the curtains and tablecloths can be described as luxurious. In the corner of the hall, a group of large fish tanks are placed horizontally, where you can see the shadows of mandarin fish and perch.

  Shulan's ears were completely red, and she struggled free from Su Cheng's hand, saying in a low voice: "Let's just go back. People say that the Lai State restaurant is built like the big restaurants in Shanghai, and eating one meal costs over a hundred yuan."

  "Well, at least we can have five meals then." Su Cheng chuckled and sat her down by the window.

  The waiter came running over and asked: "What can I get for you two?"

  "With a standard of 125 yuan, what dishes can be had." This is half a month's salary for Su Cheng.

  The waiter, although strange, still counted on his fingers: "A braised pork knuckle, a bowl of braised pork belly, add a plate of shrimp and two stir-fries, it's about 120 yuan. The pork knuckle and shrimp are to be weighed."

  "Is it that expensive?" Su Cheng was startled. Excluding the restaurant's environment factor, in 2012, eating these four dishes would probably cost around a hundred yuan or so.

  Shulan looked at him with an "I told you so" expression.

  "Master, would you like some more?" The waiter was very normal.

  "Want." Su Cheng thought of Shu Lan's appetite and added: "Add a bowl of rice."

  "Alright."

  After the waiter left, Su Cheng asked: "Are all the restaurants in Dongying so expensive? Or is this one particularly pricey?"

  "Every dish at Lai Zhou restaurant costs two or three more yuan." Shu Lan complained, "I heard they hired a special-grade chef, I don't know what's the point."

  "Top chef?" Su Cheng's mouth began to water.

  Before 2000, top chefs were still quite prestigious. By the late 1990s, private bosses in developed southern regions had to pay a weekly salary of over 100,000 yuan to hire a top chef. The salary for long-term employment at restaurants would be lower, but the price of dishes would increase by several hundred or even thousands. Now, spending just two more yuan can get you a green dish made by a top chef, and Su Cheng suddenly feels that life is full of meaning.

  Before long, all the dishes were served.

  The Dongpo pork shoulder is stewed to tender, the caramel-colored sauce fills with appetite, the meat is fatty but not greasy, picked up with chopsticks, it's still shaking.

  Two stir-fries were served: one with plain white vegetables and the other with scallions and black wood ear mushrooms, which also contained some unknown wild mountain mushrooms.

  The shrimp was palm-sized, a pair of prawns cooked in Cantonese style, with an aroma that hit the nostrils. Su Cheng nodded while eating, and just this dish alone made it worth the ticket price. Later on, when dining at Michelin-starred restaurants, six pairs of prawns would cost a month's salary. In fact, many times, even spending money couldn't buy such good prawns. At that time, due to Shandong being a coastal province, the price wasn't too expensive.

  Shulan also forgot about the expensive price, and ate with a smile on her face as she mixed it with rice. After a while, she even took off her outer work clothes, only wearing a thin sweater, so every time she picked up food, her chest would shake slightly.

  "When my elder brother got married, there wasn't such a good banquet." She said quietly.

  "Then I'll come to Dongying in the future and you can treat me to a meal." Su Cheng didn't know what was on his mind either.

  Shulan thought Su Cheng's eyes were too sly, and she couldn't help but lightly kick him with her toes, saying: "What are you looking at? Don't even think about asking me out, wait until I get paid, and I'll take you to eat sour fish. This place is too expensive, we can't come again."

  "It's settled then." Su Cheng narrowed his eyes and smiled, continuing to attack the roast pork, and beckoned for a large bowl of rice.

  Shulan effortlessly annihilated it.

  Reform and opening up led to the gradual emergence of various foodies.

  He changed various tickets and invoices for cash, adding up the savings, Suzhou got more than 400 yuan, he kept the change for himself, and sent back 400 yuan to his hometown, along with a short message reporting safety.

  In this life, he also has a mother and the same family responsibilities.

  ……

  Back at Jing Station, Su Cheng's days were much better.

  He bought several books from the bookstore in Dongying, including two technical books on oil extraction machinery. When he was bored, just these two books could kill a lot of time.

  Practice is the best way to learn, and Su Cheng has a solid theoretical foundation. In just over a month's time, he has become thoroughly familiar with the machines under his responsibility, and can even repair the electrical parts that ordinary workers rarely touch without any obstacles.

  So the happiest one was Captain Du Wanshan.

  The work at the well station is very heavy, but most of the workers can only do physical labor and maintenance work at best. Specifically, when it comes to repairs, there are only five or six people who can handle it, and he is the only one who knows how to repair electric motors.

  To ensure that there is someone on duty every day of the week, the maintenance team must be divided into two groups. Once a problem with the motor occurs when the other group is on duty, Dun Wanshan has to rush to the well station; otherwise, the oil extraction machine will stop working, crude oil production will decrease, and not only will trouble come from above, but also the workers' welfare will be affected.

  As captain, Du Wanshan's pressure was immense. Now with Su Cheng here to share the burden, he could at least rest easy and suddenly felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

  At the end of the month, when selecting model workers in production, Dun Wanshan opened his mouth and said: "Su Cheng hosted the repair of four electric motors, twelve reducers, and hundreds of small parts this month. Let's discuss whether to give him a red flag or not."

  Lao Jiang heard and said: "It's time to give it to Su Gong, this craftsmanship is beyond words."

  "I'm new here, I shouldn't be holding the red flag." Su Cheng's words were unexpected by everyone.

  Dong Wanshan coughed and said, "Little Su, you may not know that if we are rated as a production red flag unit three times, our wages can be raised by one grade."

  At that time, the first-class salary was roughly 7 yuan, which is equivalent to a raise of 5% to 10%, and it's not bad. Since all the benefits are the same, what everyone can compete for is just honor and this little benefit.

  Su Cheng looked down on these things. He was very clear that in a few more years, inflation would devour all the savings and wages of the workers.

  Looking around at the workers, Su Cheng coughed and said: "I'm a single young man, my salary is already more than I can spend. If you ask me, this time's production model soldier should be given to Team Leader Duan."

  "Yes, it should be given to Captain Duan." This time, everyone's voices were more uniform.

  "Captain Dòu is always stuck at the well station every day, can't even take care of his wife and kids, it's too exhausting!"

  "This is Captain Duan's."

  "Every time it's always old cave giving way to everyone, this time, indeed old cave should take it."

  Dong Wanshan at Jing Station, one word nine tripod, is the result of ten years of hard work. At this time, hearing the shouts of the crowd, suddenly a little emotional, quietly turning his head, not daring to face the crowd.

  Su Cheng and Lao Wu together hung the red flag that produced the standard bearer on Du Wan Shan's shoulders.

  On the way back to the dormitory, Xiao Hei whispered: "Su Gong, you are this."

  He gave a thumbs up, which was quite a stylish move.

  Su Cheng smiled and said: "If I were given a reward, I would rather have a bathroom."

  "What is a toilet?" Xiao Hei clearly had never heard of this term before.

  Su Cheng thought for a moment and said, "It's the bathroom."

  "Oh, I see, Comrade Su, you want an apartment?" At that time, apartments were already quite scarce. The oil field was considered a wealthy and good unit, some senior engineers and cadres could live in small buildings with bathrooms, but young people couldn't get them.

  Su Cheng smiled and shook his head, saying: "I was thinking of getting a bathroom for Jing Zhan."

  ……

  New book "Republic of China Years 1913" is out tonight, various censorship, book number 2411765

  ……