Cheng Su happily saw off Qi Taiguo, following the old custom of preparing a small red envelope for good luck and also providing him with some personal medications. Then, with a smile on her face, she waved goodbye.
Guiying, on the other hand, was sending off Wan Dahe and had already turned into a crybaby. Seeing Cheng Su like this, she couldn’t help but feel ashamed and curious. With tears, she asked, "Sister-in-law, how can you not be worried at all? I heard this mission is quite dangerous."
"Ah? Not really," Cheng Su laughed. "I think they’re all capable elite soldiers, so there’s no need to worry. They’ll be back soon."
However, her words couldn’t convince Guiying. Bursting into tears again, she said, "I heard those enemies are extremely brutal murderers, and it’s Dahe’s first mission."
Um...
"Young people, you know, it’s good for them to get some experience. Accumulating military merits could lead to you becoming an officer’s wife," Cheng Su teased her.
Guiying’s eyes brightened, and she said somewhat shyly, "I don’t ask for much, just for him to come back safely!"
"Yes, yes, it’s all the same," Cheng Su quickly agreed, saying, "I won’t talk much. I’ve got a lot to do recently, so I need to get busy!"
"Oh!" Guiying watched her wave and rush off, feeling a mixture of admiration and awe.
Dahe was right; Cheng Su was indeed a smart and wise role model for her to learn from. She needed to be strong too.
Cheng Su wasn’t brushing Guiying off. She was truly busy: learning and occasionally attending classes at school, busy with the expansion of the small restaurant, and busy planning to register a new company with Ning Ge.
In September, Joy Soon Loy Small Restaurant officially started operating during the evening as well.
Cheng Su specially went to a printing factory to get flyers printed, announcing that Joy Soon Loy was now open for evening business. And compared to the last batch of flyers, the new ones included a phone number, making it convenient for future takeout orders.
Since they had just added the evening business and manpower was just about enough, with longer working hours, Cheng Su decided to increase everyone’s salary by five yuan; for Old Song, the head chef, it was a ten-yuan raise.
As for the working hours of the two meal services, Cheng Su set it from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon, and from four in the afternoon until nine at night, with a two-hour break in between, which was quite a generous rest time.
Since Qi Taiguo was not at home, and it was inconvenient for Ning Ge to stay at Cheng Su’s, he asked Regimental Commander Mai for a favor and temporarily moved into a dormitory in the compound. He would eat at the small restaurant, which also helped avoid any suspicion.
As a result, Cheng Su’s life became a routine between just two points – the restaurant for eating and working and her house merely for showering and sleeping. Because she was so busy, her presence was scarce.
The restaurant was gradually getting on track with the two service times. Cheng Su had yet to secure the two adjacent courtyards; she had to make do with the space available. Nevertheless, due to the delicious dishes and fair prices, and with County Magistrate Ying Jian dining there twice, Joy Soon Loy’s reputation began to grow. If you arrived late, there wouldn’t be a seat available, and you would have to wait.
Seeing this, Cheng Su cleared out the room previously used for making jam. Since they were about to set up a factory and temporarily not taking more orders, she rearranged the room with two large tables and set up a hotline for reservations.
While the restaurant business flourished, Cheng Su began to prepare more standardized procedures. However, the restaurant was still small, so there was no rush. The most important thing was to get Joy Soon Loy Jam Company up and running. Every day’s delay meant an increase in costs.