Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Decoration

“Aren’t you Yuan Zhou? You came? What’s the matter?” This limping fatty was Boss Wang. He warmly inquired when he saw Yuan Zhou standing there.

“I was thinking of restarting the restaurant business again, so I came with a request for you to check the drainage and gas pipe, and also to install a quality gas furnace with two burners for me,” Yuan Zhou told him directly, without any small talk, when he saw how warmly Boss Wang treated him,.

“So you finally decided to continue the business huh? Ok, wait a moment. Let me get my tools and go to your restaurant.” Boss Wang was an easy-going man. After he spoke, he turned and went inside the inner room for his tools.

Boss Wang may looked amiable but prices of his goods were quite expensive even though the goods were of high quality. Thus, Yuan Zhou started to bargain drastically with him on the way to the restaurant. Eventually they made an agreement on the total price, 1500 RMB, which was inclusive of a gas furnace, a water pipe and a gas pipe.

Although it was still a little expensive, Yuan Zhou managed to obtain a lifetime warranty for the goods.If there were any problems, Boss Wang would be responsible for them. Having got what he wanted, Yuan Zhou said nothing more. He then led Boss Wang to the entrance of his restaurant.

“You are back, Yuan Zhou. That man hasn’t come to pick up the rubbish… Ah, it’s Boss Wang?” Boss Tong poked her head out and made a greeting when she saw Yuan Zhou and Fatty Wang passing by her shop.

“Boss Tong, your business is still as good as ever these days,” the plump Boss Wang replied with a bright smile.

“Yes. That’s because I’m always fair and just while doing business,” Boss Tong took a glance at him and replied sarcastically.

Previously when Boss Tong requested Boss Wang to repair the water pipe in her shop, Boss Wang fixed it well, but charged twice the price of the market. Boss Tong eventually paid the money unwillingly, but from then onwards, she would take a jab at the way Boss Wang conducts his business every time they met.

Once she saw Yuan Zhou leading Boss Wang here, she knew he was here to repair something in the restaurant.

She walked out of the shop and went up to Yuan Zhou. Taking a glance at Boss Wang, she took hold of Yuan Zhou dragging him several steps backward while whispering in a discontented tone, “This Fatty Wang is a tough guy. He usually charges too much. You must be very careful if you’re hiring him.”

Yuan Zhou thanked Boss Tong with a smile on his face and explained to her, “It’s okay. Boss Wang is skilled.”

“Young men just don’t understand business. Ok, fine, I don’t care anymore.” She got back to her shop while complaining after she realised that he wouldn’t listen to her advice.

Yuan Zhou didn’t pay much attention to Boss Tong’s discontentment. He turned around and said to Boss Wang, “Shall we go and check the pipelines?”

“Ok.”

Boss Wang still kept smiling as if he had never heard Boss Tong’s sneer. One must become thick-skinned if one wants to do business.

Yuan Zhou led Boss Wang around in his restaurant. After checking carefully, he discovered that no major repairs were necessary.

“Your mother and father made the correct choice after all. Look, I installed this pipeline during that time. It still works even though it hasn’t been used for so long.” Boss Wang was quite proud of his craftsmanship.

“That’s great. Then just please do some small repairs.”

He was about to say something else when he saw Boss Tong outside with a middle-aged man dressed in plain clothes. He turned around and asked, “Is this the man who collects scrap metal?”

“This is Master Li, who always gives fair prices. He’s the most suitable man to do business with.” Boss Tong was still quite annoyed with the smiling Fatty Wang. She couldn’t help belittling him indirectly with sarcasm.

“This is all thanks to you Aunt Tong. Hi, Master Li. Here is all the stuff. Please take a look.” Yuan Zhou greeted them warmly. He didn’t care about Aunt Tong’s jab, after all it wasn’t meant for him.

“Little brother, these are not worth much,” Master Li said while he was going through the rubbish. He smiled revealing an honest face.

“How could that be? Look, these are made of stainless steel. This flour barrel is in a good state and can be still be used. It might not be able to be sold as new, but for a second-hand, it is considered to be pretty good,” Yuan Zhou said while picking up the legs of a chair and a table and pointing to the aluminum iron flour barrel standing at the side.

“Stainless steel is of little value, and look at this…” Master Li was not easily deceived. He broke off one chair leg and showed to Yuan Zhou.

During the next few moments, Yuan Zhou brought out all the physics knowledge he acquired from middle school into play, describing different kinds of iron along with their value, and finally succeeded in getting 320 RMB for all of them.

Boss Tong was stunned by the scene. Master Li finally couldn’t stand Yuan Zhou’s incessant chatter, even helping him throw the rest of the rubbish away free of charge. Wiping the perspiration on the forehead, Boss Wang felt that he had been quite fair. Who could match Yuan Zhou by rounding up 318 into 320?

Having earned more money than expected, Yuan Zhou refreshingly turned his head around and said, “Boss Wang, please look after my restaurant for a moment. I’m going to obtain the business license.”

“No problem. Go ahead. I will also need a while to finish,”, Boss Wang agreed immediately. If Yuan Zhou were still here and saw that the repair work was so simple, it would be a huge trouble to bargain over with him again.

Yuan Zhou went upstairs to get the documents that had already been prepared and then left.

It was a Wednesday morning, before 9:30a.m, thus pedestrians were rare. But after walking out of the side street onto the main street, Yuan Zhou found it to be a different situation altogether. Cars were coming and going, white-collar beauties dressed in business suits, men dressed in cheap suits like poor insurance salesmen and metropolitan beauties dressed fashionably were all quickly coming and going in the great numbers passing through the tall buildings.

Yuan Zhou was dressed in khakis, a white Moga Brand T-shirt and a pair of sporting shoes.He looked like a graduate that just completed university, if you didn’t take into account his face, which looked like a 30-year-old man.

Of course, there was a reason for Yuan Zhou to dress like that. There were many benefits for the graduates who just got out of the universities at the moment. The mature looking Yuan Zhou, had actually only graduated two years ago.

The business license and food sanitary permit was easier to apply if you were a new graduate at the moment. As for the certificate for health, he had already obtained it while he was working at the big restaurant. Even though it had to be renewed every 6 months, the one he had currently was released just a month ago thus had no problem at all.

Wandering around in the street, Yuan Zhou finally found the bus heading to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. As he was filling in all the blanks, he then realised he forgot something, the name of his restaurant.

“Duk Duk Duk”

Yuan Zhou knocked at the table subconsciously, he then filled the blank with a “Master Chef Restaurant” decisively. For following contents, they were just standard procedures.

He then handed over the papers to the Graduates Startup Counter. The staff at the window looked at Yuan Zhou’s certificate of graduation and his appearance carefully, he even checked Yuan Zhou’s certificate number on the official website. Only then did he input the information for the application of Yuan Zhou’s business license.

The Public Health Bureau was not far away from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, thus Yuan Zhou tried to get the sanitary certificate done before he had the lunch. He made it just in time. Finally, as he looked at the two licenses in his hands, Yuan Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little excited..