On the 21st of the first lunar month, Cheng Su organized the staff of the new shop and distributed flyers to let everyone know that a fast food restaurant would be opening soon. Afterwards, she held a meeting at the shop to allow all the employees to familiarize themselves with each other’s faces.
On the 22nd, which is considered an auspicious day, Cheng Su went to the shop at the train station early, as did Qi Fenglian. After exchanging morning greetings, they began to busy themselves with their tasks.
Before long, the chef Old Lu and others arrived. After some re-education, Old Lu slowly improved his hygiene habits, and therefore, was rehired.
Following Cheng Su’s plan, all the meat and vegetables were purchased from Song Xiaojang’s side and delivered there. So, not long after they arrived, Song Xiaojang came riding on his tricycle, delivering the meat and vegetables needed by the train station shop.
Everyone took up their respective roles and positions, and the new shop bustled with activity.
As usual, they set up tables for the God of Wealth, burned a string of big firecrackers, and the shop could be considered officially in business.
"President Cheng, someone has sent a flower basket!" Xiaoying, the waitress, called out loudly to catch Cheng Su’s attention, who was giving instructions to Qi Fenglian.
Cheng Su was startled and went out to see that indeed someone was placing two flower baskets at the entrance. They were the most traditional and common types of flower baskets, which looked very high-end in this era.
She went over and saw on the red silk ribbon there were golden characters of well-wishing, with the name Luh Kai printed as the giver. Cheng Su couldn’t help but smile.
"President Cheng."
Someone called out, and turning around, it was Luh Kai holding a Fortune Cat, smiling and saying, "I wish you booming business and a wide source of wealth." As he spoke, he handed over the Fortune Cat.
"Thank you!" Cheng Su received it with a smile, thanked him, and invited him inside.
After pouring tea for their guest, Cheng Su said with a smile, "Why the big fuss? You even ordered a flower basket for my little shop, and brought a gift too."
"Well, I did introduce you to this shop, so of course I wanted to come and offer my congratulations," Luh Kai replied with a smile, then looked around and asked, "Can you give me a tour?"
"Of course, please follow me," Cheng Su said, gesturing grandly.
As she led Luh Kai around the inside and outside of the shop, he noticed the white walls were inscribed with four lines of Buddhist scripture in calligraphy.
All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, like dew and like lightning; one should contemplate them thus.
He read aloud, his face full of surprise, and looked at Cheng Su, "Why are there Buddhist scriptures written here?"
It was Cheng Su’s handwriting, the same as at the Joy Soon Loy Restaurant.
Looking over, Cheng Su said, "This is a passage from the Buddhist scriptures that I quite like. After the renovation, when I came over here to inspect, I don’t know why, but I just ended up writing it on the wall!"
"A fast food restaurant with Buddhist scriptures, that’s quite interesting," Luh Kai raised an eyebrow.
"You’re making me embarrassed. I was even thinking of repainting it!" Cheng Su said, feeling sheepish.
"No, no, it’s quite good this way. I remember, isn’t this from the Diamond Sutra?" Luh Kai asked, wagging his finger.
Cheng Su’s eyes brightened, "Exactly."
On the day she wrote the scripture, the passage suddenly came to her mind, so she inscribed it. Later, she felt her action was somewhat abrupt and thought about asking Dazhi to repaint it, but as she kept looking at it, she found it gave a special flavor to the place, so she decided against repainting.
"You always manage to present things in a novel light," Luh Kai said, not hiding the admiration in his eyes as he smiled, "This shop has really changed a lot with the renovations compared to before."
"Too kind, too kind!" Cheng Su replied with a humble smile.
Qi Fenglian, at the cash register, looked over at the two of them chatting and laughing. Noting the man’s pleasant demeanor towards Cheng Su, her eyebrows knit slightly.