Chapter 2426: Eating Meat

The business at Datang Barbecue was exceptionally booming, so good it was hard to believe. When Zhou Andong arrived, it was already 5:30, yet there were at least sixty or seventy people queuing outside the shop waiting for their numbers to be called.

"So many people?" Mu Yun said with a look of astonishment: "When will it be our turn?"

Huang Liming said with some hesitation: "How about we go eat something else? Anything is fine."

Zou Hui couldn't help but want to retreat as well: "Yeah, it'll probably take over an hour to wait. Might as well go eat somewhere else."

Zhou Andong said with a smile: "This is our own shop. There's a reserved table, no need to queue. Let's go in!"

"Ah?" Mu Yun said in surprise: "Big Brother, Datang Barbecue is also opened by you?"

"I partnered with a friend to set it up." Zhou Andong nodded: "Alright, stop standing at the door, hurry in. It's sweltering out here, there's air conditioning inside, it'll be nice and cool."

Zhou Anqin carried Su Su inside, and the others followed one after another.

Zhou Andong, however, turned to look at a storefront diagonally across the street that had just finished renovations. It had two floors and was roughly estimated to be at least four hundred square meters. Above the main entrance hung an antique solid wood plaque, with five large characters engraved in gold-leaf font: Sister Pang's Steamed Bun Shop.

Through the spacious floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see quite a few people busy cleaning up inside. A smile appeared on Zhou Andong's face; the official opening day shouldn't be far off, probably within these next few days. By then, Sister Pang, the major shareholder, should be coming over, right?

"Brother, why aren't you coming in yet?" Zhou Anqin stood at the door and shouted: "Everyone is waiting for you."

Hearing his younger sister's call, Zhou Andong smiled, raised his finger to point diagonally across the street, and signaled for Zhou Anqin to look over.

Zhou Anqin hadn't actually noticed it. Following the direction of her brother's finger, she immediately smiled: "It looks like the renovation is finished and they're cleaning up. It should be opening very soon."

Zhou Andong nodded and stepped through the door: "When it opens, you'll know if you ask your Sister Jing."

Zhou Anqin followed Zhou Andong inside, saying as she walked: "I just asked the manager, Sister Jing isn't here today."

"Chairman Zhou!" The manager walked up quickly and said respectfully: "The reserved table can only seat eight people, and you have ten guests."

Zhou Andong waved his hand and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, just add two stools. We're all family, no need to be so formal."

"Alright, I'll go arrange for the stools right away." The manager quickly responded and then hurried off to arrange the stools.

Zhou Andong looked at Su Su, who was sitting upright in her chair like a little adult, though her little feet were restlessly swinging back and forth, and she kept saying: "Eat meat, eat meat..."

Zhou Andong couldn't help but find it amusing. This little girl, it wasn't like there was a lack of meat in their daily meals at home, and it was even cooked in various ways; she wasn't deprived at all, so why did it seem like she had never eaten meat before?

He shook his head helplessly, walked to Su Su's side, scooped her into his arms, sat down, placed Su Su on his lap, and said to Mu Yun and the others.

"Order whatever you want to eat, don't try to save money for me."

Just as they were bustling about ordering food, Tang Bei and Zhou Anwen arrived.

"Boss!" Tang Bei walked over and greeted Zhou Andong as soon as she saw him.

"Brother!" Zhou Anwen followed closely behind, raising her hand to wave.

"Oh my!" Zhou Andong said jokingly: "I was just being polite, you actually came?"

Tang Bei said with a smile: "Chairman Zhou treating us to a meal is definitely a once-in-a-century opportunity. As long as you spoke, I wouldn't care if you were being polite or not; if I can come, I definitely will. Because if I don't come this time, I probably won't have the chance in the future."

Tang Bei and Zhou Anwen walked to the table, exchanged a few jokes with Zhou Andong first, and then turned to Zhou Anqin, greeting her with a smile: "Anqin!"

"Sister Tang!" Zhou Anqin stood up: "You sit in my spot."

The others also stood up, and Wang Hui said: "President Tang, you sit in my spot."

Just then, the manager personally walked over quickly with two stools.

Tang Bei reached out and pressed on Zhou Anqin's shoulder, making her sit back down, then looked at Wang Hui and said: "You guys sit, I'll just sit on a stool."

Liu Zhenyan hurriedly said: "Everyone shift a bit, squeeze in."

"Big Sister."

"President Wang!"

Zhou Anwen greeted Zhou Anqin and Wang Hui first, then happily picked up Su Su, kissed her on her pink, tender cheek, and asked happily: "Su Su, do you still recognize your aunt?"

Su Su had a blank expression, seemingly not recognizing Zhou Anwen at all. This was no wonder; after all, since the Spring Festival, Zhou Anwen had rarely gone to Anqiu Hutong. Firstly, because she lived on campus, it was quite far. Secondly, when she finally got a weekend off, she definitely wanted to go out and play with her classmates.

Therefore, for the past half year, Zhou Anwen hadn't seen Su Su. Plus, Su Su was still young and her memory was limited; having not seen her for so long, it was natural she wouldn't recognize Zhou Anwen.

"Daddy!" Su Su used all her strength to tilt her body, while stretching out her little arms, trying hard to reach toward Zhou Andong.

"You little heartless thing." Zhou Anwen placed the little girl in Zhou Andong's arms and reached out to pinch the little girl's nose: "During the New Year, Auntie bought you so many delicious things and fun toys, how could you forget this aunt of yours?"

"You still have the nerve to say that?" Zhou Anqin couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You haven't shown your face much in the last half year. She's still so young, it would be a wonder if she could remember you."

"That's true!" Zhou Anwen tilted her head and winked at Su Su: "It looks like I'll have to find time to go to Anqiu Hutong more often and hang around in front of this little girl. No matter what, I must get her familiar with my face."

Zhou Anqin said with a smile on her lips: "Every time you come over, you bring her toys and delicious things. It won't take many times, I guarantee, she'll definitely be talking about you every day."

Zhou Anwen stood up, leaned over across two people, reached out to gently pinch Su Su's chubby little face, and said with a smile: "Little girl, you judge people by their gifts, don't you?"

Su Su's little mouth pouted, looking like she was about to cry. Zhou Andong raised his hand and "slapped" Zhou Anwen's hand away: "What kind of lousy aunt is this, only knowing how to bully our Su Su. Even if we buy toys in the future, our Su Su won't be friends with her, right?"

Su Su, who originally had tears swirling in her eyes, saw the "bad person" who bullied her get hit by her daddy, and immediately grinned, her little mouth laughing, even though tears were still hanging at the corners of her eyes.

Zhou Anwen pointed at Su Su and said in feigned anger: "You little girl, you're happy just because you took advantage, right?"

After saying that, Zhou Anwen couldn't help but burst into laughter, and then her gaze turned to the Fourth Sister, who was sitting there honestly and hadn't spoken: "Fourth Sister, did you not see me?"

Fourth Sister glanced at Zhou Anwen nonchalantly, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly, as if she had smiled, or as if she hadn't.

"Eh?" Zhou Anwen glared at Fourth Sister and said indignantly: "Little Fourth Sister, what kind of expression is that? Is your skin itching, wanting a beating?"

Fourth Sister bared her teeth at Zhou Anwen and said listlessly: "Big Sister is good, Big Sister is wonderful, Big Sister is quacking!"

"I... you..." Zhou Anwen was so angry at Fourth Sister's appearance that she ground her teeth. It had only been half a year, how had this little girl Fourth Sister become so annoying.

At this moment, a waiter pushed a dining cart over, stopped next to the table, first placed the dipping sauces in front of everyone one by one, and then began to place plates of various barbecued meats on the table.

Zhou Anqin picked up the tongs, picked up a few slices of meat, and skillfully placed them on the grill. With a "sizzle," the aroma of the barbecue instantly filled the air, making anyone who smelled it drool.

Because it was a table reserved for their own people, and it was a large table for eight, the corresponding grill was naturally a size larger than the ordinary ones.

When Zhou Anqin started working, Wang Hui also quickly picked up the tongs, placing chicken wings, chicken gizzards, squid, and so on, all onto the grill at once.

Immediately after, Mu Yun and the others also busied themselves, holding chopsticks and constantly flipping the meat on the grill to prevent it from burning.

"Brother, give Su Su to me." Zhou Anqin put down the tongs in her hand and gently scooped Su Su into her arms: "I'll feed her."

Wang Hui picked up a piece of barbecued meat, used scissors to cut it into small pieces, and placed it into the sauce bowl in front of Zhou Anqin: "I think this piece of meat is quite tender, it's no problem for Su Su to eat."

Zhou Andong turned his head to look at Tang Bei, who was sitting beside him, and asked softly: "Is everything going smoothly at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative?"

Tang Bei nodded slightly and said: "The leaders of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives are very cooperative. However, the scale of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative is too large, and there are numerous and extremely complex deep-seated problems.

Plus, the integration of various aspects like storefronts, logistics, warehousing, and channels involves a massive workload. I estimate that without half a year, it will be very difficult to sort things out."

Zhou Andong said thoughtfully: "Since that's the case, why not consider increasing the manpower? Whether it's through recruitment or spending money to poach people, it's no problem. Especially the management of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative; there will definitely be a portion of people who will be eliminated due to lack of ability or other reasons, but at the same time, there will inevitably be some who are worth our heavy reuse.

Therefore, we can start screening these people now, bringing those with ability and potential into the fold. This will not only share part of the work pressure but also reserve talent for the future development of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Moreover, they are people from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative themselves and know the problems existing within the cooperative like the back of their hands. Having them participate in the integration work will definitely yield twice the result with half the effort."

After working for this period, Tang Bei had gained a certain understanding of the corruption in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. It's just that this had nothing to do with her; investigating corruption was the business of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, and it didn't even matter whether it was investigated or not. Once the Supply and Marketing Cooperative was integrated well, those parasites could just be weeded out.

But as the saying goes, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative is too massive; from the ministerial-level director of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives down to the stock-level (or deputy section-level for high-ranking posts) directors of township cooperatives, there are over 800,000 cadres in total.

This is a huge number, and it's not easy to select reliable and trustworthy talent from these 800,000 people. In addition, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative has over 10 million employees. How many of them are just coasting, and how many are drawing salaries without working? Investigating this clearly is also a massive project.

Tang Bei picked up a piece of barbecued meat and placed it in her bowl, saying with great feeling: "Selecting reliable and trustworthy talent within the Supply and Marketing Cooperative is also not an easy task."

Zhou Andong took a napkin, wiped the sesame sauce from the corner of Su Su's mouth, and then continued: "Large-scale screening definitely involves a huge workload and can't be completed in a short time, but it's relatively easy to find three or five clean leading cadres just in the Beijing Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Then, you can just have them draft a recommendation list. Although this can't completely prevent corrupt elements from mixing in, it is the most effective and simplest method.

After all the work is completed, when assessing the cadres of the national Supply and Marketing Cooperative, issue a reward announcement. It will mainly be for Supply and Marketing Cooperative employees to report corruption by leaders, and those verified will be given cash rewards."

Hearing Zhou Andong's words, not only Tang Bei, but even Wang Hui and Mu Yun and the others had very dramatic expressions on their faces, looking at Zhou Andong as if they were looking at a devil.

"This..." Tang Bei didn't quite know how to put it: "If we really do this, it would be equivalent to slapping the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives in the face. By then, cracks will definitely appear in our cooperation, and they will be the kind that cannot be mended."

Zhou Andong put a piece of barbecued beef into his mouth and muttered: "The Supply and Marketing Cooperative has been made into a mess by them; if they don't investigate corruption themselves, do they still have a face?"

Zhou Andong swallowed what was in his mouth and snorted coldly: "They don't even want their own faces, why should we give them face? Besides, we have absolute controlling interest, so we can do whatever we want; they don't have the right to point fingers. If anyone is dissatisfied, let them come find me directly."

Tang Bei gave a bitter smile: "I'm just afraid that someone will be blinded by greed and make false accusations because there are rewards, which will also increase our unnecessary workload."

"Simple!" Zhou Andong picked up a barbecued chicken wing, tore it apart strip by strip, and placed it in Su Su's bowl: "Add another clause to the announcement: anyone who makes false accusations will be fired immediately once verified, and will never be hired again."

"Alright!" Since the boss said so, Tang Bei could only nod, but she had to admit that this method was indeed effective.

"Eh?" A man's voice suddenly came from behind: "Chairman Zhou!"

Zhou Andong heard the voice behind him, turned his head to look, and immediately became happy: "Yo, Brother Qiao, didn't expect you to be eating barbecue here today too."

Qiao Kuan said with a smile: "Last time I ate Datang Barbecue here, it left me with an aftertaste for a full week. So, today a few close friends said they wanted to get together and have a drink, so I brought them here to you without hesitation!"

(For those who have forgotten this character, please look back at Chapter 2229)

Zhou Andong shouted at a waiter standing not far away: "Waiter, please add a stool for us!"

Qiao Kuan hurriedly waved his hand to refuse: "No need, no need, I've already eaten almost enough, just saw you here and came over specifically to greet you. By the way, I wanted to ask if you have any good investment projects on hand!"

Like Qiao Kuan, these second and third generations more or less have some spare money in their hands. And, judging from the fact that Tang Lin can be friends with Qiao Kuan, Qiao Kuan should also be a person with a bottom line.

He doesn't want to be a comprador, doesn't want to resell approval documents, so for these years, he has only been doing some small business. It's not that he doesn't want to do big business and make big money, but he doesn't know what to do.

Of course, it's not that no one has taken projects to Qiao Kuan for investment, but he often doesn't trust these people. Qiao Kuan isn't afraid of being cheated; whoever is blind enough to dare cheat him, he has plenty of ways to get it back twofold and make the other party pay a huge price.

Therefore, what Qiao Kuan is truly afraid of is investment failure, because no matter who he invests money in, as long as the other party is doing business properly, even if they lose everything in the end, he can only accept reality. After all, doing business is inherently a risky thing; how can there be a reason for only earning and never losing?

So, whenever someone comes to his door hoping he can invest, Qiao Kuan is actually very unsure in his heart. Although the other party talks about the project as if it were wonderful, he can never be sure if this investment can truly bring returns. After thinking it over, he ultimately chooses to refuse.

Because this is also something that can't be helped. Over these years, the family fortune he has painstakingly accumulated is not as thick as one might imagine. Therefore, for those investment projects without absolute certainty, he would rather choose to give up than take risks easily.

After all, money is most secure when it's in one's own pocket. You can eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want. But if an investment fails, then it really is returning to the pre-liberation era overnight; by then, I'm afraid there won't even be northwest wind to drink.

But Zhou Andong is different. From the day he took charge of the Jiangzhou Winery, none of his investments have failed. Especially the white sugar futures last year, and the financial crisis in Japan not long ago; Zhou Andong's stirring of the situation made Qiao Kuan regard Zhou Andong as a god-like existence.

Therefore, Qiao Kuan won't trust anyone, except Zhou Andong. Because he firmly believes that as long as he holds onto Zhou Andong's thigh, he can make big money. After all, the examples of Tang Lin and Zhang Zuo are right before his eyes.

There are also Zhang You and Xiao Liuzi, who are doing very well in Ganzhou with rare earths. Especially Zhang Hua and Liu Zongmin and the others, who actually invested in car manufacturing with Zhou Andong; his eyes turned red when he saw the news.

Then, he found Tang Lin, treating him to meals and massages, and said all the nice things, only then did Tang Lin agree to invite Zhou Andong out for a meal. It's just that the last time was his first meeting with Zhou Andong, so naturally, some things couldn't be said.

He thought about becoming friends with Zhou Andong first, and then when there was an investment project, he would get involved, and it would naturally fall into place. It's just that after that, Zhou Andong got busy and never had time to come out for a meal together.

So, meeting this time, he didn't want to waste any more time. Based on his relationship with Tang Lin, Zhou Andong would definitely give him some face and let him follow along to have a sip of soup.

Zhou Andong pondered for a moment: "I do have a good business on hand. Although it can't make big money, it's no problem for you to become a billionaire."

Qiao Kuan's eyes widened immediately, and he said with some disbelief: "Zhou... Chairman Zhou, are you saying you can make me a billionaire?"