The restaurant was quick on its feet, serving up dishes in less than twenty minutes. Ruan Jiaojiao was still quite sleepy. The Ruanlin matriarch, worried that she would be hungry, coaxed her, "Sweetie, don’t sleep now. You can sleep after you finish eating."
"You can sleep at my place later," Du Qing said.
"No need for that. The weather’s not cold right now, and later we have to go to the city to look at furniture. She can sleep in the car," Ruan Jianguo said. He didn’t put Ruan Jiaojiao down. The Ruanlin matriarch asked the restaurant for a spoon and held a bowl, ready to feed Ruan Jiaojiao.
Ruan Jiaojiao tried hard to keep her eyes open, not wanting them to struggle with their meal on her account. She climbed down from Ruan Jianguo’s embrace and sat next to Xiu Xi, and said to the Ruanlin matriarch, "Granny, eat. Jiaojiao can eat by herself."
"Alright then, Granny will hold you and sleep with you in the car later," the Ruanlin matriarch said, not insisting on feeding her.
Four dishes were served, and the establishment was quite humble, offering generous portions.
However, the Ruanlin matriarch still considered it to be expensive. Listening to her grumble, Ruan Jiaojiao twisted her little head to observe the other diners in the restaurant. It might have been a good day for the restaurant; aside from their table, there were two other tables eating hearty dishes, while the others had some noodles or plain congee with pickles.
She took note, and when it was time to pay, even with just two dishes, it cost more than a yuan.
Another table spent over five yuan, and their table only had one more dish of fish than theirs.
Suddenly, Ruan Jiaojiao thought of a possibility.
Every time Xiu Xi caught something from hunting, he had Ruan Jianguo sell it because some items couldn’t be sold through legitimate channels and had to be let go at low prices, cheaper than the market price of meat. This was quite wasteful. If... if they opened their own restaurant?
Would that be better?
She tried hard to recall what had brought the Ruan family their wealth, but even after a long time, she couldn’t remember, only recalling that they began to prosper in the early 1990s...
After they finished eating and Ruan Jianguo went to pay, she stretched out her little arms for him to carry her, and Ruan Jianguo held her while he paid.
The cashier was a young girl, around seventeen or eighteen, seemingly the daughter of the woman who had been managing the front. They bore a slight resemblance.
"Big brother, that will be two yuan and seventy-five cents. I’ll just take two yuan and seventy cents from you. If you enjoyed it, please come again," the young girl said sweetly, with a business savvy that knew how to round down the bill.
Ruan Jianguo wasn’t one to take advantage of others, but the girl’s approach still pleased him. He nodded with a smile and paid promptly.
"Dad," as they walked out of the restaurant, Ruan Jiaojiao, clinging to Ruan Jianguo’s neck, asked, "Where do you sell Xiu Xi’s game? Do you sell it to restaurants one?"
"No," Ruan Jianguo shook his head.
Every time he came to town, it was in the early morning, a rushed visit with a quick return needed, so he generally just passed the goods off to someone else, resulting in a lower sale price.
He looked quizzically at the little girl in his arms, "Why do you ask, Jiaojiao?"
"Just curious," Ruan Jiaojiao laughed, revealing her gapped teeth in a comical, yet adorable grin. Ruan Jianguo laughed too, poked her little forehead, and just as he was about to say something, he heard Ruan Jiaojiao say, "Dad, the dishes here aren’t as tasty as those Granny and Auntie cook, and the meat is so expensive."
"Oh my, did this little one have honey on her lips today? Hahaha..." Du Qing came from behind, laughing.
Ruan Jiaojiao leaned on Ruan Jianguo’s shoulder and replied seriously, "Not at all! Jiaojiao thinks if Auntie and Granny open a restaurant, they would definitely sell a lot more than this place! Plus, our family wouldn’t need to buy meat at all!"