Chapter 713: He Ji Spicy Hot Pot Becomes a City-Wide Sensation

Just as He Yuzhu and Chen Xueru were talking, Bang Geng led a thin, small little girl inside.

The moment He Yuzhu's gaze fell upon that girl, he was completely stunned.

Relying on his astonishing memory, he recognized her at a glance—wasn't this girl the little one he had dug out from the ruins, Fang Deng?

According to the original plot, she should have been adopted by a military family. But now that she had been saved by him, she should be with her mother; why had she run here?

"Are you Fang Deng?"

The little girl was recognized by He Yuzhu at a glance, and tears plopped down as she sobbed and called out, "Deputy Commander-in-Chief..."

He Yuzhu felt a pang in his heart; he walked over, gently patted her shoulder, and softened his voice: "Fang Deng, is there no one left in your family? Why did you run over here all by yourself?"

Fang Deng cried until she was out of breath, saying intermittently, "My mother... she favors boys over girls, I can't live with her anymore... Over these years, I saved a few dollars by selling popsicles, so I came to find you... I want to work for your family, I don't want to go home..."

Chen Xueru stood to the side, opened her mouth, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

He Yuzhu frowned: "But if you ran away, wouldn't your mother be very worried?"

Fang Deng shook her head while crying: "I left her a note... She wasn't going to let me go to school anymore anyway. If you don't take me in, I won't go home either; I'll go to the south to work!"

After saying this, she began to wail, her little shoulders shaking, which made one's heart ache.

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and asked again: "Then how did you find me here?"

Fang Deng wiped her tears and sniffled: "When I was in the hospital, I asked them, and they told me you were the Deputy Commander-in-Chief... Later, later a big brother told me a lot about you... I remembered you were the Factory Director of the Red Star Rolling Mill..."

He Yuzhu pondered for a moment and sighed: "Regardless, you and I can be considered to have a connection. It's not easy for a little girl like you to run so far; stay here for now. Later, I will sponsor you to go to school properly."

Upon hearing this, Fang Deng's tears welled up again: "Uncle, I just want to work for your family, don't make me go back... Otherwise, I'll just go to the south..."

"You're only a few years old, and you want to go to the south to work? You'd be sold off halfway there!" He Yuzhu joked, "If you want to work for me, you have to get your guardian's consent; otherwise, wouldn't we be child traffickers?"

"My mother will definitely agree; she can't afford to raise me anymore."

"Fine, then I will send someone to ask her, otherwise I wouldn't dare keep you," He Yuzhu said.

At Hongyuan Company, Xu Damao and Li Huaide sat facing each other, with the female Secretary You Fengxia sitting to the side.

You Fengxia spoke first: "A boss who gets steel materials with us has a batch of black-and-white televisions imported from Japan and wants to use them to settle a debt with us. Each unit is valued at 570 yuan; should we take them?"

Xu Damao glanced at Li Huaide, pondered for a moment, and said: "Televisions are hot commodities, we should take them quickly. But the Supply and Marketing Cooperative only sells them for 480; isn't that a bit expensive?"

"570 is not expensive at all; they can sell for 700 on the black market!" You Fengxia said with a smile, "Buying them at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative requires industrial coupons, and those are hard to get. Buying them that way is also quite expensive."

Xu Damao hesitated: "Although they can sell for 700 or 800 on the black market, the risk is also high. If there's a problem with this batch of televisions, we'll be stuck with them."

You Fengxia said with a firm tone: "Who would fake televisions? Those things are guaranteed to be fine; they are all original."

Li Huaide pondered for a moment and said slowly: "There is still risk in this job. How many units are in this batch?"

"Five hundred units!" You Fengxia answered crisply.

"Then give Liu Haizhong a share of 100 units, and Yan Bugui 50 units." Li Huaide turned to look at Xu Damao, "Damao, how many can you take?"

"I'll subscribe to 100 units," Xu Damao said.

"Then I'll take 200 units." Li Huaide looked at You Fengxia again, "Fengxia, you take 50 units!"

"No problem!" You Fengxia nodded with a smile, "That boss from the south said that if we do well this time, he can give us more next time."

Xu Damao was full of confidence: "As long as the quality of this batch of televisions is fine, I can sell 1,000 units in Panjiayuan."

Li Huaide nodded: "Damao, you go through the trouble of going to tell the Liu family and the Yan family."

Xu Damao agreed and got up to leave.

Half a month later, ten He Ji Spicy Hot Pot shops opened simultaneously.

It happened to be summer, so grilled lamb skewers, grilled squid, grilled chicken skeletons, and Spicy Crayfish—all popular dishes from later generations—were all served, paired with a glass of ice-cold draft beer; it was truly satisfying.

The shops were incredibly popular the moment they opened, with long lines forming at the entrances.

Yan Jiecheng and his wife Zhou Ying stood at the entrance of their own restaurant, watching the bustling crowd across the street, and then looked at their own shop which didn't have a single customer; they were so angry they cursed.

Yan Jiecheng gritted his teeth: "Is this He Yuzhu doing this to spite us on purpose! With him opening this, we don't have a single person in our shop."

Zhou Ying was also full of anger and cursed along: "This bastard, he's really not a human! Do you think it's because we mocked him for no longer being a Factory Director and being sidelined, so he hates us?"

"That's for sure!" Yan Jiecheng said angrily, "It's all your fault, why did you have to provoke him for no reason?"

"What's the use of saying that now?" Zhou Ying stomped her feet in anxiety, "We need to quickly think of a way to snatch the business back."

"How do we snatch it? We can't even find that Spicy Crayfish of his, let alone know how to make it!" Yan Jiecheng became more agitated as he spoke, "I only realize now that when that kid was treating the whole courtyard to meals every day, he was testing his recipes!"

Zhou Ying's eyes rolled, and she said: "I'll go find some of my relatives and have them secretly apply for jobs at He Yuzhu's shop to learn his craft. When the time comes, we'll make those too, and sell them cheaper than him; I'll see if he can compete with us!"

Yan Jiecheng rolled his eyes: "I don't think it's that easy. Do you think He Yuzhu wouldn't have thought of what you thought of?"

Zhou Ying nodded: "He Yuzhu's Siqiang runs He Ji Restaurant; I reckon those chefs were all hired from there."

Yan Jiecheng sighed: "Then what do we do? Should we sell the shop and focus entirely on trading with Xu Damao?"

Zhou Ying shook her head: "How about we make hot pot? I see Donglaishun is quite popular, and it doesn't require a master chef; we just need to find a cook to prepare the seasoning."

Yan Jiecheng nodded, then frowned again: "But in this hot weather, who eats hot pot?"

In the Ninety-five Courtyard, a new antenna was erected in Liu Haizhong's yard.

Jia Zhangshi ran to the entrance and asked at the top of her lungs: "Liu Haizhong, did your family buy a television too?"

Liu Haizhong said triumphantly: "Of course, and it's an imported one; it's definitely much clearer than the television in your house."

Zhao Yingzi walked over and asked curiously: "Second Uncle, how much was this television of yours?"

Second Aunt blurted out: "Six hundred for one."

Zhao Yingzi went in to take a look, and when she came out, she said: "Second Aunt, you bought a smuggled one, didn't you? Let me tell you, smuggled goods don't have warranties; if it breaks, you'll be in trouble!"

Second Aunt was startled and ran into the house: "Old man, did you hear that? Zhao Yingzi said our television has no warranty!"

Liu Haizhong waved his hand dismissively: "Japanese televisions are very sturdy and generally won't break. If it breaks, we'll just have to accept our bad luck! Anyway, we earned 20,000 yuan; do we care about this one television?"

Upon hearing this, Second Aunt straightened her back and shouted: "If it breaks, we'll just buy another one!"

Jia Zhangshi curled her lips: "Showing off! And imported! Can an imported television show foreign programs? Bah!"