Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

Jidong came out of the room, choking on the smoke and coughing. When he saw that it was Guoxiang who smoked, he froze and patted Youcai on the shoulder, "You are not allowed to smoke!"

Youcai rolled his eyes and said, "Of course. If the chef smokes, what if the cigarette falls into the food?! Playing it cool is not a good idea."

When Guoxiang wanted to offer him a cigarette, Youcai pushed it back repeatedly, "No, I don't smoke! So, you're doing well in the South, right? You're even wearing a fox fur coat, so impressive!"

When talking about this, Guoxiang's face was full of pride, "I did do well this year! Guess how much money I made?"

Jidong was shivering with cold, and motioned for Youcai to take Guoxiang into the house to warm up by the fire, "I'm so cold."

Youcai immediately hugged Guoxiang and went into the house, not forgetting to guess how much money he had earned, "Ten thousand?"

Guoxiang choked, "You're really good at guessing! Can you make 10,000 yuan by setting up a street stall for a year?!"

Youcai thought, his barbecue restaurant can really make more than 10,000 yuan a year. Guessing too much?! He hurriedly tried to make up for it, "What about the 5,000?"

Guoxiang smiled proudly, "Less!"

After entering the house and getting on the kang, Guoxiang carefully took off his fox fur coat and put it on the kang.

Youcai continued to guess, "Six thousand?"

Guoxiang nodded, "That's right! Six thousand two hundred dollars. Isn't that impressive?"

Youcai nodded, it was really amazing! Guoxiang couldn't compare with him. The barbecue restaurant he opened was funded by Aunt Zhang, and the majority of it went to Aunt Zhang. He could get about 4,000 to 5,000 yuan a year, while Guoxiang had very little capital and made money by setting up a stall, so he would only work harder than him.

He became interested, "What business are you in? How do you make so much money?"

"I take goods from the south and sell them elsewhere. I wanted to sell them in Pengcheng at first, but the patrols there were too strict, so it was better to go to other cities." Guoxiang laughed, "At first I took electronic watches, but later the watch market was saturated, so I took other goods. Clothes and shoes are the best sellers, but it also depends on the style. I didn't have good taste at first and didn't choose the right styles. Later I met Xiaoli, and she helped me choose the styles, and I never lost money again."

Jidong exclaimed, "No wonder aunt wanted to take the clothes back, it turns out this business is really profitable."

Youcai asked him, "What are you going to do next year?"

Guoxiang has already made up his mind. "I plan to open a large clothing store in the center of Tongxi City. The location has already been negotiated. I will open it in the spring of next year after the decoration is completed."

Youcai was surprised, "A state-owned shopping mall?"

"Yes! The state-owned shopping malls over there have closed down! Tongxi City is too close to Pengcheng and Yangcheng, and was the first to be impacted by private factories' clothing. I heard that the workers have started to write IOUs, so the only option is to rent it out to private businesses."

"You can rent a two-story state-owned shopping mall for 6,200 yuan?" Jidong was a little surprised. At that time, rent was paid on an annual basis, which was equivalent to only 500 yuan a year. How could this be possible!

"No! Xiaoli also added some money." Guoxiang looked at Youcai, "Do you have any money? Do you want to invest some too?"

"I am learning cooking now, and I have to buy many ingredients myself. I have already spent all my money."

Guoxiang was not disappointed. He had never expected Youcai to invest. He smiled cheerfully, "My parents knew that I was making money by setting up a stall, so they strongly supported me and promised to give me money to start my own business."

"how much is it?"

"two thousand!"

To be honest, this amount of money is nothing, but their willingness to pay for it means they recognize his ability. You know, he didn't do well in the college entrance examination, and his whole family looked down on him. Now he can finally hold his head high. He just feels proud.

He was full of pride and patted You on the shoulder. "If you ask me, what's the point of going to that university? After graduation, you want to work as a chef in a state-owned restaurant? Have a stable job? I don't think it's necessary. You are a chef, and you rely on your cooking skills. As long as you cook well, you can open your own restaurant and be the boss. Wouldn't your life be more prestigious than that of a chef in a state-owned restaurant? Do you know that after the reform and opening up, many state-owned restaurants in Shenzhen and Guangzhou have closed down? In the future, state-owned restaurants in other cities will also go bankrupt!"

Actually, his words made sense. But Jidong felt uncomfortable listening to them. He seemed to be trying to save face in front of Youcai after failing the college entrance examination.

Youcai was so dumb that he didn't hear it. He smiled and said, "I didn't expect to be a chef in a state-owned restaurant. Now I run a barbecue restaurant. I have never had a proper apprenticeship before, so my cooking skills are average, so I can only run a food stall. But I want to be a chef in a five-star restaurant, so I have to learn systematically."

Guoxiang laughed, "There's no need to waste four years. You can go to a five-star restaurant and wait on dishes. You can find a master chef to be your apprentice and learn while you work. You can make money and learn skills at the same time."

He was sincerely suggesting this, and even though he was talented, you couldn't say he was right. He said with a smile, "I don't just want to learn Chinese food, I also want to learn how to cook other countries' dishes."

Guoxiang suddenly realized it, patted Youcai on the shoulder, and praised him, "Not bad! You have great ambitions."

He suddenly remembered to ask Youcai, "By the way, how much does your barbecue restaurant make?"

Just as Youcai was about to speak, Jidong interrupted, "He didn't make much money. He hired two workers, and after a year's work, he only had two thousand left, and half of that went to my aunt. The barbecue restaurant was invested by my aunt, and he only got a few hundred yuan."

Guoxiang smiled and patted Youcai on the shoulder, "It's okay! The capital may not recognize barbecue! You can go to Tongxi City after you graduate. People there like to eat it!"

Youcai glanced at Jidong, who was winking at him, so he could only nod, "Okay!"

As they were talking, someone outside called Guoxiang's name. And from the sound of the voice, it was a woman.

Everyone leaned out to look, and saw a woman with dyed yellow hair outside the door, "Guo Xiang?"

Guoxiang agreed and explained to the two, "It's Xiaoli. My girlfriend. She must be too bored at home, so she came to see me."

He motioned Xiaoli to come into the house.

When the woman came in, Guoxiang put his arm around Xiaoli's shoulders and introduced them to the two of them.

Nowadays everyone is very conservative and no man would put his arm around a woman's shoulders. Youcai was so embarrassed that his face turned red.

Guoxiang, however, knew nothing about it and introduced Jidong and Youcai to Xiaoli.

After getting to know each other, Xiaoli said to Guoxiang, "Auntie is calling you to go home for dinner, let's go back quickly!"

Guo Xiang touched his belly and said, "Really? I was just too busy chatting. I'll go back now."

He waved to Youcai and Jidong, put his arm around Xiaoli's shoulders, and was about to leave with one foot forward and one foot back.

Youcai and Jidong sent them to the door. Guoxiang was blown by the cold wind and shivered, then he remembered that he had forgotten to take his clothes.

Youcai immediately went back to the house to help him get the fox fur coat. But when he put the coat on, he suddenly felt something was wrong. The fox fur felt very bad, rough and prickly, and it didn't feel like real leather at all.

When he handed the fox fur coat to Guoxiang, he asked directly, "Did you buy a fake?"

Guoxiang blurted out, "Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. How could this be a fake?"

"This fox fur coat is not made of fox fur." ​​Youcai was honest and said what he meant. Jidong slapped him from behind and smiled at Guoxiang, "He was just joking with you! Actually, he just thought your fox fur coat was very impressive and wanted to ask you how much it was?"

Guoxiang smiled, "Not expensive, only 800!"

Eight hundred in 1985 is equivalent to eighty thousand in 2023. This price is not cheap in any way.

Youcai blurted out, "Eight hundred for a fake? This fox fur is fake. If you touch it, it feels wrong."

Guo Xiang's face finally darkened, "What do you know! You have never worn a fox fur coat, how do you know whether it is real or fake?"

Jidong never expected that Youcai would be so stubborn. He couldn't stop her at all and could only rub his forehead helplessly.

Youcai quickly took out the leather from the utility room. The skin was covered in blood. The blood dripped onto the white snow. The color contrast was so shocking that Xiaoli was startled and hid behind Guoxiang.

"Touch it and it feels completely different." Youcai brought the fur to Guoxiang and compared the two. Guoxiang touched it and it was indeed the same! He laughed awkwardly, "The owner of the wholesale store said that this fox fur is imported from abroad. It's different from the ones we make in China."

Youcai had a look on his face that said "you are stupid", "I can tell real leather from fake leather at a glance, yours is clearly artificial fur!"

Jidong was already in a state of calm. He crossed his arms and quietly watched Youcai trying his best to persuade Guoxiang, without noticing Guoxiang's angry look.

Guoxiang finally accepted the reality, "I was wrong. If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have known." He turned his head and looked at Xiaoli behind him, "Let's not buy from that store anymore, it's too rip-off."

Xiaoli was obviously stunned for a moment, but finally met Guoxiang's gaze and nodded in agreement.