Chapter 289: Parents’ Decades-long Wish Fulfilled!
Sizzling, sizzling, sizzling—
At 6:30 AM, Tian Xiaomei was stir-frying shredded potatoes in the kitchen.
Her mind was also preoccupied with what her son had mentioned a couple of days ago about starting a business with friends.
Opening a restaurant was something she and her husband Jiang Wen had dreamed of for decades but had never managed to realize.
When they first got married, they wanted to open a couple’s shop.
But back then, Jiang Tao’s grandparents didn’t have much savings and couldn’t offer much help.
The couple also didn’t want to beg for money, so they went out to work and earn money.
Just as they saved enough money to open a shop, Tian Xiaomei got pregnant with their eldest, Jiang He, and the plan to open a restaurant had to be shelved.
They then thought of opening the shop when their eldest was two or three years old and had started kindergarten.
As it turned out, she got pregnant again with their second child, and then their third…
Finally, when their youngest, Jiang Bing, also started kindergarten, Jiang Tao’s grandparents fell ill and passed away one after another.
Jiang Wen was an only child, with no siblings to help him.
Not only did the medical expenses for his parents and funeral costs consume all their savings, but they also incurred significant external debt.
By the time the couple paid off all their external debt, their old house had fallen into disrepair due to years of neglect, leaking wind everywhere, and was on the verge of collapse.
Consequently, they tore down the old house and started building a new one.
The result was that they were in debt again.
By the time the debt for building the house was paid off, Jiang He, Jiang Tao, and Jiang Bing, the three siblings, had successively started middle school, high school, reaching the most expensive age bracket.
The couple, while paying off debts, also supported their three children’s education.
It seemed like they were busy to death from the beginning to the end of every year.
Yet, they couldn’t earn much money, and by the time of the Spring Festival, Jiang Wen and his wife worried about even buying new clothes for their three children.
While other families slaughtered a pig for the Spring Festival, Jiang Wen and his wife could at most buy twenty to thirty catties of meat.
They also bought firecrackers sparingly, only a small amount.
After finally managing to send all three children through school, they then built a house for their eldest, Jiang He, and arranged his marriage.
After the eldest got married, the second child also got married.
Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei had been busy for over forty years of marriage.
They spent their lives in a continuous cycle of earning money, falling into debt, paying off debt, earning money, falling into debt, and paying off debt.
Having lived more than half their lives, they had never been affluent, and their savings had never exceeded 100,000.
The dream of opening a restaurant, which the couple had always longed for, was repeatedly shattered.
Faced with the need to support their family and their dreams, they had to bow their heads for a few pieces of silver.
Working a job at least guaranteed a profit, earning money for each day worked.
The biggest risk was the boss absconding with the money.
Jiang Wen and his wife preferred stability, even if it meant earning a few dozen less per day, they always only worked for bosses they knew.
There was no need to worry about the boss running away.
Opening a restaurant not only involved rent costs, equipment costs, and material costs.
Whether it would succeed was also an unknown.
Every year, so many new restaurants opened, and so many old ones closed down.
Who could say for sure that they would be the one with prosperous business?
Instead of being the one forced to close down due to a sluggish business?
Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei had spent more than half their lives in poverty, walking on thin ice for most of their lives.
It could be said they had no capacity to resist risks at all.
Therefore, the dream of opening a restaurant could only be discussed during idle chats.
They had never implemented it, nor had the opportunity to do so.
The mundane lives of the couple were also a true reflection of the vast majority of ordinary people.
Working a job was the main theme of an ordinary person’s life.
Those who operated their own businesses, even small shop owners, were only a tiny minority.
Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei, the old couple, never in their wildest dreams imagined they would have a day to enjoy blessings in their old age.
They worked at the Jiang’s Food Factory, and Jiang Tao had arranged social security for them in the capital city.
After deducting the five insurances and one fund, the old couple received over 30,000 yuan in hand each month!
The work they did each day was also very simple: adjusting the secret recipe for pickling Eight Treasure Pickles.
This amount of work could generally be completed by the couple within an hour, leaving them with completely free time afterward.
The life they were living now was something the old couple had never even dreamed of.
However, after working their whole lives, they felt quite unaccustomed to being so leisurely.
Every day, after adjusting the secret recipe at the food factory, the old couple would also go down to the workshop and work alongside the ordinary workers.
Jiang Tao and Jiang Bing had both spoken to them, telling them not to overwork and to rest more, but their advice was ignored.
Although they earned a good amount at the food factory and the work was leisurely, they didn’t truly like it.
Deep down, the old couple still wanted to open a restaurant.
Opening a restaurant had become an obsession for them.
When they heard Jiang Tao mention a couple of days ago that he was partnering with someone to start a restaurant, their long-dormant aspirations instantly reignited.
It’s just that…
They hadn’t figured out how to tell Jiang Tao yet.
*Click~*
The shredded potatoes in the pot were fried to a slight golden crisp. Tian Xiaomei turned off the gas stove and skillfully scooped the shredded potatoes onto a plate with a spoon.
“Mom, you’ve worked hard. I’ll carry this.”
Xu Li entered the kitchen, smiled at her mother-in-law, and reached out to take the plate, walking towards the dining room.
“Is Xiao Tao awake yet? You just spoil him. He’s over thirty and sleeps in every day, waking up later than Xiao Xue.”
Tian Xiaomei said this with a smile while untying her apron, her tone teasing.
Of course, she only said it in jest.
Seeing her daughter-in-law treat her son so well, harmoniously together, she was overjoyed.
“My husband works very hard every day, going out early and coming home late. I just called him, and he’s getting dressed.”
Xu Li blushed slightly as she spoke, her recent wake-up call being something not for outsiders to know.
As the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law walked out of the kitchen one after another, Jiang Tao also happened to walk out of the bedroom.
“Thanks for your hard work, Mom. Huh, where’s Dad?”
Jiang Tao asked in confusion, not seeing his father as soon as he stepped out.
*Click~*
As soon as Jiang Tao finished speaking, Jiang Wen entered, holding a bag of traditional baked buns from their hometown, Ping County.
“Xiao Tao is up. I just bought a few of those baked buns from the market, and they’re still warm.”
“The newly opened shop has great craftsmanship, very similar to the taste from our hometown.”
Jiang Wen said, holding up the food bag to show the buns he had just bought.
“Really? It’s quite difficult to find this kind of traditional baked bun from our hometown here in the capital city. I definitely have to have one.”
Jiang Tao’s face lit up with anticipation as he looked at the baked buns his father had bought.
Most of the baked buns in the capital city were baked in electric ovens with sesame paste.
They had sesame paste flavor, salt and pepper flavor, and sweet bean paste, among others.
The traditional baked buns from Jiang Tao’s hometown were a local specialty.
In 2010, they were even recognized as intangible cultural heritage.
The traditional baked buns combined fragrance, crispness, and crunchiness, making them endlessly enjoyable.
Jiang Tao had eaten them for decades since childhood without getting tired of them.
If you added some donkey meat inside, the taste would be no less than a donkey burger.
“Hey, isn’t it coincidental that the owner of the bun shop is also a fellow villager from our Ping County! From Wang Family Village.”
After sitting down at the dining table, Jiang Wen started chatting, recounting what he had encountered that morning.
“From Wang Family Village? That’s Wang Zhiyuan’s village.”
Jiang Tao said as he reached into the food bag, took out a still-warm traditional baked bun, and took a bite with a crunch.
The bite of the bun had a sesame layer on the outside that was fragrant, crispy, and crunchy, while the salty dough inside was chewy.
“This taste is indeed excellent; it takes at least ten years to develop such a flavor.”
Jiang Tao praised it with a thumbs-up after taking a bite of the bun.
“Let me try too.”
Xu Li said, reaching for a palm-sized baked bun and breaking it in half.
She had a small appetite, and half a bun was enough for her meal.
“Mmm, it really tastes good!”
After tasting it, Xu Li also gave it a thumbs-up.
“The food industry has a promising future. With this skill, even if you can’t make a fortune, earning ten to eight thousand a month shouldn’t be difficult.”
Although Jiang Wen currently earned more than the owner selling baked buns.
He was a little envious of the man being able to start a successful business and become a boss.
“By the way, Mom and Dad, didn’t you want to open a restaurant?”
“My friend and I are planning to open another branch of Jiang’s Delicious Claypot in our Pingchang District.”
“Would you two consider becoming the main boss and second boss of our branch?”
Jiang Tao looked at his parents, his face full of sincere inquiry for their opinions.
This morning, at midnight, he had received the intelligence information about his parents wanting to open a restaurant for the second time.
Jiang Tao intended to help fulfill their dream.
“You… you’re opening a second branch so soon?”
Jiang Wen was very surprised to hear his son’s words, looking at him with some disbelief.
The first store was still under renovation and hadn’t officially opened yet, and now they were opening a second one?
Wasn’t this a bit too fast?
Although Jiang Wen dreamed of opening a restaurant, he was afraid his son was moving too fast and would overextend himself.
“Yes, isn’t your first store still under renovation?”
Tian Xiaomei looked at her son with concern and worry.
“We have confidence in Jiang’s Delicious Claypot; it will definitely be a hit after opening.”
Jiang Tao said with a confident smile, “Opening two stores at once is considered very conservative in my opinion.”
“If it weren’t for the lack of manpower, I would have thought of opening Jiang’s Delicious Claypot branches all over the capital city, twenty to thirty of them, in one go.”
“Twenty to thirty?”
Xu Li and Jiang’s parents showed surprised expressions upon hearing Jiang Tao’s ambitious declaration.
Of course, despite their surprise, they firmly supported all of Jiang Tao’s decisions.
“Yes, in the future, our Jiang’s Delicious Claypot will open branches all over the capital city, in every district.”
Jiang Tao said with a smile, his tone as casual as if he were talking about where to eat today.
Starting a restaurant and doing business seemed like a trivial matter to him.
Today, he had enough risk resistance and enough capital to make mistakes.
He didn’t have to worry about never recovering from a business failure for the rest of his life.
Of course, with the newly acquired “System-Level Culinary Skills” and the “Delicious Claypot” with its deliciousness bonus.
It was equivalent to holding two trump cards.
How could he lose?
If he failed at entrepreneurship again, it would truly be as Teacher Xiaoyan said, he should just go home and raise pigs.
“Husband, you’re amazing. You will definitely succeed! We all believe in you.”
Xu Li looked at her husband’s confident demeanor, finding him particularly charming, and her gaze became more affectionate.
“Mom also believes in you.”
Tian Xiaomei looked at her increasingly confident son with great comfort.
Jiang Tao asked his mother, “Mom, how is my uncle doing with his studies?”
A while ago, Jiang Tao had brought his uncle Tian Xiaoguang and Tian Mingrong to the capital city, intending for them to take over from his parents.
This was also a contingency plan for him in case his parents resigned from the food factory.
Uncle Tian Xiaoguang was also someone Jiang Tao could completely trust.
Teaching him the secret recipe for Eight Treasure Pickles, Jiang Tao felt very reassured.
“Your uncle is very dedicated this time and has performed admirably; he hasn’t let you down.”
“He can now independently complete the brewing of the pickle brine.”
Speaking of her brother, Tian Xiaomei looked at her son with a hint of gratitude.
Uncle Tian Xiaoguang was already 52 years old this year and was known as a confirmed bachelor in Tian Family Village.
Originally, everyone thought his life would just go on like that, and he would end up dying alone.
Everyone in the village thought so.
Even Tian Xiaoguang’s friends and relatives thought so.
Even Tian Xiaomei, his biological older sister, thought so, feeling that her brother’s life was ruined.
No one expected that.
Tian Xiaoguang, who was already over fifty this year, had unexpectedly gotten back together with his first love.
Moreover, although Tian Mingrong was a bit older.
Her appearance and figure were incomparable to those women in their forties and fifties in the village.
After all, Tian Mingrong was also famously beautiful in her youth, the village beauty.
Tian Xiaoguang and Tian Mingrong getting together, and then a speedy pregnancy, shocked everyone.
All of this was thanks to Jiang Tao, the “matchmaker,” who had brought them together.
Tian Xiaoguang and Tian Mingrong never denied their heartfelt gratitude whenever Jiang Tao, their nephew, was mentioned!
This time, Jiang Tao invited them to the capital city to develop their careers.
He arranged accommodation for them, taught Tian Xiaoguang his family’s secret recipe technology, and paid him a monthly salary of over 10,000 yuan.
At the food factory, everyone who talked about Tian Xiaoguang couldn’t help but envy him, praising him for having a good nephew and benefiting from his association.
Tian Xiaoguang had never denied this fact.
Seeing her brother now achieving both love and career success, Tian Xiaomei, as his older sister, was very pleased.
She used to feel guilty towards her parents for her brother remaining a bachelor his whole life and not continuing the Tian family lineage.
Now, she could proudly tell her parents that her brother had a wife and was about to have a child.
Of course, she also knew that all of this was thanks to her youngest son.
Her youngest son, whom she had doted on for decades, had not been doted on in vain!
“Since Uncle can now complete it independently, Mom and Dad, you should gradually hand over your work to him.”
“You two should free up your time to travel around and find a suitable location for the restaurant in Pingchang District.”
“The area should preferably be between 200 and 300 square meters; not too small, and not too big either.”
“If there’s anything you don’t understand or are unsure about, you can call Jiang Jiaqi.”
“That girl, Xiao Qi, knows quite a lot.”
Jiang Tao instructed his parents on their upcoming tasks while eating the baked buns.
“Okay! We’ll go to the factory to make today’s pickle brine, and we’ll inform your uncle. We can start looking for a location this morning.”
Jiang Wen, who had been silent until now, was also very excited and thrilled!
Their decades-long wish was about to be fulfilled, their dream was about to come true, and their lives felt much more complete!
