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

When Zhang Xiuhua returned home, the situation was completely different.

Zhang Xiuhua keenly noticed that Youcai and Zhenzhen seemed to have had an argument, and the couple were obviously competing with each other.

Zhang Xiuhua originally wanted to ask Youcai while he was feeding the fox in the orchard, but she didn't expect Zhenzhen to come over first and tell her about their conflict.

It turns out that Youcai wanted to go to France to study Western cuisine.

This decision was indeed quite unexpected. Zhang Xiuhua blurted out, "If he leaves, what will happen to the three restaurants you opened?"

Zhenzhen is not worried about this. "We have many chefs in our restaurant, and each of them specializes in a few dishes. I don't think it's necessary. Our restaurant business is so good, and it's booming right now. With his training and menu planning, I can open the fourth and fifth restaurants quickly. Now that he's gone, I don't trust those chefs anymore. He's disrupted my rhythm."

Zhang Xiuhua understood that Zhenzhen wanted to turn the restaurant into a chain store model. Not to mention that it really worked. After all, many state-owned restaurants were not doing well now. This was the best time for private restaurants to emerge. If you missed this opportunity, you would miss it.

She asked Zhenzhen not to jump to conclusions, "Let me ask Youcai what he thinks first."

Zhenzhen nodded.

Zhang Xiuhua was walking on the thick snow. Behind her, she heard Li Jianguo borrowing a donkey from someone, pulling August on the snow. She didn't even look back, but she knew the child must be very happy. The clear laughter resounded throughout the village.

When Zhang Xiuhua arrived at the orchard, she saw Youcai plucking the feathers of a Langde duck. When he saw her coming, he smiled and said, "I'm going to make beer duck for Jilin and the others, so that they can try my new dish."

It is no longer a new dish in the capital, but it is considered a new dish as some of us in Jilin have not eaten it yet.

Zhang Xiuhua smiled and said, "Okay."

She scooped up the feed and put it into the pot, ready to feed the fox, then asked Youcai, "I heard from Zhenzhen that you are going to study abroad?"

Youcai said "hmm" without even looking up, "I have learned all the dishes my master taught me. I am not very familiar with Western food, so I want to learn it systematically. You don't have to worry about tuition fees, the income from our three restaurants is considerable. I have half of the shares, which is enough for my study abroad expenses."

Zhang Xiuhua had expected this, "Zhenzhen wants to open another branch. If you go abroad, it might delay her progress."

Youcai nodded, "I know her ambition. She is the boss and has the ambition to expand her business territory. I am a chef and I also have the ambition to expand the types of dishes I serve. I have studied all eight major Chinese cuisines. Now I only want to study Western cuisine. No one can stop me!"

Sometimes when this kid gets stubborn, it's hard to catch up with him even with eight horses! Zhang Xiuhua had experienced this before, and she nodded in agreement, "I'm happy for your idea. But Zhenzhen's idea is not wrong either. Neither of you is wrong, but you've made such a fuss. You're a competent cook, but you're not qualified as a husband."

Youcai was slightly stunned, but he was a little unconvinced, "She has the final say on everything at home and outside. This is the only hobby I have, is she going to take it away from me?"

"You will need at least two or three years to study abroad. When you come back, August will be three years old. You asked her to manage three restaurants by herself, so she must be under a lot of pressure." Zhang Xiuhua asked a soul-searching question, "Let me ask you, if you hadn't married Zhenzhen, would you go abroad to study now?"

Youcai was really stumped by the question. He lowered his head and thought for a long time. He even paused in plucking the duck feathers. After a long while, he finally spoke, "This cannot be compared."

"You are just relying on the marriage certificate and think that Zhenzhen will not divorce easily. You are wrong. Husband and wife should stick together and overcome difficulties together. You two have different responsibilities, so it is normal to have disagreements, but when you encounter conflicts, you two go into a cold war. This is not a good habit." Zhang Xiuhua reminded him with the tone of an experienced person, "Relationships are worn out in cold wars again and again."

Youcai lowered his head and said, "Aunt Zhang, we are not getting married for love. I am just a suitable marriage partner for her."

"That's even worse!" Zhang Xiuhua clapped her hands, "If they love each other, they can last for several years. If they don't love each other, the feelings are as thin as paper and will fade away in a year or two."

Youcai's face was full of panic. He subconsciously threw away the duck in his hand, stood up and wanted to rush out, but he didn't know what he thought of, he turned back and squatted down, "Forget it, if they really get divorced because of this, then I will bless her."

Zhang Xiuhua slapped him on the back of his head, angrily scolding him, "You are stupid! You want to get a divorce just because of this? If you two get divorced, what will happen to August?!"

Youcai rubbed his hair irritably, "I don't want a divorce either! But she only wants to open a shop and make money. Yes! My study abroad has indeed delayed her expansion, but if there are more and more shops in the future, I will have no way to study abroad. I can't convince her now, and I will be even more confused in the future. Aunt Zhang, what do you think I should do?!"

Zhang Xiuhua was so angry at him, "You only know how to eat. You can't even speak human language."

She glared at him and said, "Don't think about divorce when you encounter conflicts. Zhenzhen has already married you, gave birth to a daughter for you, and is wholeheartedly running the restaurant. It doesn't matter whether she has you in her heart or not. What matters is that she is already your wife and is willing to live a down-to-earth life with you. You have to love and respect her, understand?"

Youcai pursed his lips. He could listen to her on other matters, but he couldn't listen to her on this matter, which concerned his career plan. He was stubborn, "As long as she lets me study abroad, I can apologize to her!"

Zhang Xiuhua was waiting for him to say this, "Just wait. I'll help you negotiate the peace."

Youcai couldn't believe it. "Aunt Zhang? Can you really persuade Zhenzhen? She is very stubborn. No matter how I persuade her, she won't agree!"

Zhang Xiuhua felt that there was no problem, but she did not dare to guarantee it. "Let me try it first."

She propped herself up on her knees and stood up. She was angry and said in a harsh tone, "There are so many people at home. One roasted duck is not enough to fill everyone's stomach. Killing a few more will tire you to death!"

This was the first time Aunt Zhang got angry. Youcai knew that he had pissed Aunt Zhang off quite a bit, so he didn't dare to say a word. He went to the duck pen and caught two more.

Zhang Xiuhua walked down the slippery hillside. It was icy and snowy. Halfway down the road, her shoes were soaked and her feet were frozen stiff.

When she got home, she changed into a pair of clean socks and got on the kang, and her body warmed up again.

Zhenzhen was watching TV in the living room. She didn't know any of the villagers. It was cold outside, so she had to stay at home.

Zhang Xiuhua called her to the bedroom and patted the edge of the kang. "Are you cold? Get on the kang and warm up."

Zhenzhen was indeed a little cold, so she took off her coat and shoes and got on the kang.

"I just asked Youcai." Zhang Xiuhua came straight to the point, saying, "To be honest, neither of you is wrong. It's just that your values ​​are a little different."

Zhenzhen nodded, "It's not that I don't want him to study abroad, I just want him to go after the business is stable."

Zhang Xiuhua nodded. "When will the business be considered stable? The more branches you open, the more talented people will be unable to leave. Your idea is unrealistic and sounds like an excuse to shirk responsibility."

Zhenzhen thought about it and gave an exact time, "Five years from now. Then August will be six years old and can go to school."

"People who have experienced it can tell you that when your child goes to school, you have more things to worry about. Parents need to help with their studies, and you are busy with the restaurant business, so Youcai must be the one to help with their homework, and he will be even more busy." Zhang Xiuhua smiled, "I am not speaking for Youcai. I am just judging based on my experience. You want to open more branches and make more money, which is a good idea and not wrong. But have you ever thought about this problem? There are actually only so many dishes in China. To put it bluntly, one day an experienced chef may copy your dishes. What will you use to compete with others then?"

Zhenzhen smiled, with a hint of arrogance on her face, "So what? By then I will be the old shop owner, with many regular customers coming here for years, and he won't be able to compete with me."

Zhang Xiuhua shook her head. "Regular customers may be snatched away, but there is one thing that will never be, and that is the ability to innovate. Youcai is talented in cooking. He not only knows how to cook, but he also knows how to integrate knowledge. Your father admires this about him. If he stays in the restaurant and repeats the same dishes day after day, it would be a waste of his talent. Gold cannot shine when it is buried in sand. Don't you want Youcai to maximize his value?"

It’s not that Zhenzhen hasn’t thought about the future, but it’s too far away. It’s far less attractive than opening a branch now.

"I don't think you have to open a branch right away." Zhang Xiuhua said with a smile, "The money you spend on opening a branch now is about the same as the money you spend on buying a store. You can use the money you saved on opening a branch to buy a storefront and rent it out to someone else while Youcai is studying abroad for three years. When he comes back, you can immediately terminate the contract with the tenant and open your own store. This way you will have popularity and a good location."

At that time, the price of commercial housing was not high, and some real estate companies even proposed the concept of zero down payment in order to sell houses.

After hearing this, Zhenzhen seemed to be thinking about something.