Chapter 62: Nie Qiu, Stay!
“You don’t need to be nervous. Just think of me as an old classmate and friend. Let’s sit down and have a meal together!” With that, she pulled Nie Aifang into a booth. Peng Yu Yang also sat down, next to Nie Qiu.
Nie Aifang was still a little nervous. “To have you treat us to a meal… how could we possibly accept that?”
“Sister, what are you saying?” Peng Mama held Nie Aifang’s hand and smiled. “Don’t be so polite with us. My son, from childhood to adulthood, was so mischievous. But recently, he’s suddenly started studying very seriously. When I asked, I found out it was because of what your daughter said. As parents, who isn’t worried sick about their child? For my Yang Yang to ‘turn over a new leaf,’ your daughter deserves a lot of credit. Just now, Yang Yang and I were talking about when we should treat you to a meal! It’s truly fate that our two families met like this. Your daughter is a good child.”
Nie Aifang lowered her head shyly. “I’m not as good as you say. My Qiu Qiu is just doing what she should be doing!” Nie Aifang also knew some things. In the past, Nie Qiu never had homework when she came home, but now she did. In the end, she knew that the teachers at school were starting to pay attention to the students in Class 10. Although she didn’t know the reason, it was naturally a good thing that her own daughter could study seriously. Hearing that this person’s child was also studying seriously was also a good thing. Although she didn’t know what Nie Qiu had said or what had changed, she knew that her child’s recent changes, and her child’s improvement being able to influence others, made her feel gratified.
This was the first time someone had praised her child to her face, making her somewhat excited and happy, even more so than if she herself were praised. However, the overwhelming emotion in her heart was embarrassment.
“Excuse me, may I disturb you? I’ll be serving your dishes.” A waiter approached with a tray. On the tray were four palm-sized bowls. He moved the plates from the dining table and placed the bowls one by one in front of the four people, then respectfully set down exquisitely crafted ceramic spoons.
Peng Yu Yang picked up the spoon in front of Nie Qiu, opened the shark fin soup bowl in front of Nie Qiu, stirred it for her, and then handed the spoon to Nie Qiu. “Try it. My dad personally bought this from the South China Sea. It’s authentic.”
Nie Qiu took the spoon, knowing that Peng Yu Yang was helping her stir to avoid her embarrassment. Generally, people who haven’t eaten shark fin don’t know how to stir it. For soup-based shark fin, it needs to be stirred before eating to absorb the flavor.
Peng Mama saw this and chuckled. Looking at Nie Qiu, she said, “Nie Qiu, is there anything else you’d like to eat? Feel free to order… Oh, right, is there anything you want? Auntie can buy it for you, okay?”
Nie Qiu almost spat out the shark fin she had just swallowed. After swallowing it, she managed a polite smile and said, “Auntie, no need. There are already enough dishes. Thank you, I don’t need anything.”
Nie Aifang picked up a spoon and took a bite, smiling. “This noodle soup is quite delicious, but the noodles themselves don’t have much flavor. What kind of noodles are these?”
As soon as Nie Aifang spoke, the other three froze. Peng Mama was the first to recover and, without mocking, explained, “Sister, these aren’t noodles. This is shark fin.”
“Shark fin?!” Nie Aifang’s eyes widened. No matter how ignorant she was, she had heard of shark fin. In her understanding, shark fin was incredibly expensive! “Then… then how much is this bowl of shark fin soup?”
Peng Mama smiled and said, “It’s not expensive, just five hundred and eighty yuan.”
Five hundred and eighty? Not expensive?
Nie Aifang didn’t speak. Suddenly, she felt that the delicious thing she was eating was no longer palatable.
From the beginning, Nie Qiu knew that Peng Yu Yang’s family was quite well-off. Before, when Huang Yan bought her water, it was five-mao ice water, while Peng Yu Yang bought three-and-a-half-yuan water. For someone with no income, the difference between five mao and three-and-a-half yuan was immense.
Yet Peng Yu Yang bought two bottles without a second thought, which was different from Nie Qiu and Huang Yan.
“I said I want an invoice, so give me an invoice! Don’t use the excuse of a hand-torn invoice to fob me off!” Suddenly, a roar came from the cashier counter in the lobby, and everyone sitting in the booths eating was startled.
Peng Mama stood up, apologized to Nie Qiu and Nie Aifang, and hurried towards the cashier counter in the lobby. Not issuing an invoice when a discount is given is an unspoken agreement between merchants and customers in this industry. Tax evasion in the industry is essentially what this means! If someone wants an invoice for reimbursement, they will naturally issue one, but for something non-essential like a receipt that won’t be reimbursed, they will try to give a discount.
“I’m sorry, sir. Before you started eating, our waiter must have made it clear to you that we can issue an invoice if no discount is applied. However, since you requested a discount, we cannot provide you with an invoice here,” the cashier said, standing at the counter with a strained smile.
“What kind of logic is that? I ate, I consumed, what’s wrong with wanting an invoice?”
“I’m sorry, sir. We only have hand-torn invoices here. How about this, I’ll write you a slip, and when our invoice copy is ready, you can come back and get the invoice when you come to eat again. Would that be acceptable?” Peng Mama stepped forward, smiling warmly. “I see you are a successful person, sir, and you should also know that there are no rules without standards. After a discount, no invoice is issued; without a discount, an invoice can be issued. This is the rule, and I cannot set a precedent because of you. I believe you won’t make things difficult for us. It’s nearing the end of the month, and the restaurant’s invoice copies have all been used up. If you really need an invoice now, we can give you a hand-torn invoice. Hand-torn invoices can also be reimbursed.”
“Are you the boss lady?”
Peng Mama nodded and looked at the cashier. “Give this gentleman a 9.5% discount and issue a hand-torn invoice.”
“Okay.” After the cashier entered the figures on the computer, she looked at the customer and smiled. “Hello, sir. The total is four thousand three hundred and eighty-eight yuan.”
“Forget it, forget it. I won’t take an invoice.” Seeing that taking an invoice would cost so much more, the man impatiently waved his hand and turned to leave.
The cashier breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Peng Mama. “Boss lady, you’re still the capable one.”
Peng Mama frowned. “It’s not that I’m capable, it’s that you fundamentally don’t understand how to resolve issues! Didn’t your manager tell you? After work, have the Service Department manager come see me! How did the waiters explain the discount and invoice matters to the customers? Did the customers accept it? If the customer was being unreasonable, and you couldn’t resolve it, you could have called your manager or your group leader to handle it! Don’t disturb other dining customers! If this incident gets out, our restaurant’s customer base will be affected to some extent, don’t you know that? How did it escalate to that person shouting so loudly?”
The cashier lowered her head. “Yes, I will notify the manager after work.”
Peng Mama took a breath, shook her head helplessly, and turned back towards the booth.
