I'm back in 1990

Chapter 454: How to Smoke a Cigar

Two teachers who have a good relationship with Jiang Rong were also invited to the family dinner today. Like Jiang Rong, they are from out of town and stayed in Shanghai for various reasons, becoming new Shanghai residents. They are also often disliked by the local teachers.

They never expected that Jiang Rong's family was so wealthy. No, it can't be described as just wealthy. Isn't she a capitalist?

Jiang Rong raised her wine glass and smiled as she addressed the seated guests, saying, "Dear teachers, welcome to my home. As an outsider, I'm new here and unfamiliar with Shanghai's customs, so I didn't invite you all for a get-together right away. I apologize for that! Consider this a make-up for it. Please, everyone, don't be shy!"

These words immediately made the local Shanghai teachers present feel quite ashamed.

However, Jiang Rong still greeted everyone generously.

After the rock sugar bird's nest was served, Mao Qin looked at the soup in the delicate porcelain bowl and was a little confused about what it was. She took a bite and found it to be sweet and smooth. She originally thought it was white fungus, but she didn't see any white fungus flowers. Mao Qin was too embarrassed to ask Jiang Rong, afraid of revealing her ignorance.

Teacher Liu, who is close to Jiang Rong, asked directly, "Teacher Jiang, what is this? It tastes pretty good. I originally thought it was white fungus, but it doesn't taste like it."

Jiang Rong answered Teacher Liu's question with a smile, which was also what everyone wanted to know.

"This is bird's nest, produced in Sarawak, Malaysia. It is said that bird's nest from there is thick, has few impurities, and is of consistent quality."

This was a gift from Zhang Yun to Huang Xiaochuan. Huang Xiaochuan was quite surprised when the gift arrived, as he had never seen bird's nest delivered like this before. It was a large bag weighing over 30 jin (approximately 15 kg), and it was all top-grade royal bird's nest. Of course, Huang Xiaochuan doesn't eat these kinds of things, so he divided it into several portions and gave them to his grandmother and three mothers. He also kept some for his own family, which he had the housekeeper stew for Yu Xiang.

Mao Qin and the others exchanged glances. Bird's nest?

I've heard of this stuff before, and I've seen it sold in big department stores. It's very expensive; a few small pieces can cost as much as several months' salary. So it's usually left untouched on the counter. I never expected to eat this stuff at Jiang Rong's house. Mao Qin couldn't help but scoop out a spoonful and put it in her mouth to savor it again.

After the meal, Mao Qin and the others realized that their previous sense of superiority was a joke, and that they had looked down on Teacher Jiang. Now they were getting a slap in the face.

Teacher Jiang lives in a garden villa with a large number of maids and cooks, while her whole family is still crammed into a small 20-square-meter house in a Shikumen (stone gate) building. Although she usually dresses smartly, she eats nothing but rice porridge and dried radish at home.

How ridiculous! I don't know where I got the audacity to call Teacher Jiang a bumpkin behind her back. Now it seems I'm the bumpkin!

After the meal, the nanny served everyone tea and cut fruit.

Only then did Teacher Liu ask, "Teacher Jiang, why is your house so warm?"

After putting a small piece of melon into her mouth, Jiang Rong casually replied, "It's heating, but it burns diesel. The main unit is in a room in the yard."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in amazement, because there was no central heating in the south during this period, so most families had to endure the winter by simply getting through it until spring arrived. Therefore, central heating was a luxury in the south during this time.

Because there was no centralized heating, people had to find their own way to install heating. At that time, there were no gas boilers in China, and even if there were, ordinary people couldn't afford them. This old house took this into account when it was renovated, and spent a lot of money to install a central air conditioning system powered by a diesel internal combustion engine. The operating cost was also relatively high, after all, the house was quite large.

Teacher Liu was incredibly envious: "Teacher Jiang, I never imagined you were living such a comfortable life."

After putting down the fruit fork in her hand, Jiang Rong said truthfully, "This is actually where my parents-in-law live. I only come here on Saturdays and Sundays. I usually stay somewhere else."

"Oh? You own a house?"

Jiang Rong nodded: "It's not far from here, it takes about seven or eight minutes to walk."

The teachers looked at each other in bewilderment. They knew that housing was a major problem for most families in Shanghai, with many families crammed into one house. They were surprised that Jiang Rong didn't live here; she had her own house. Her in-laws lived in a garden villa, so Jiang Rong's own house certainly wouldn't be cheap.

Teacher Liu pressed on, "Is your house also a garden villa like this?"

Because there are many garden villas in this area, that's why Teacher Liu asked this question.

Jiang Rong replied, "No, it's just an ordinary lane house, located in Yuqing Lane on the east side."

Mao Qin was stunned again. She knew Yuqing Lane. It was full of new-style lane houses, all of which were three-story buildings with two or one bay, each with its own courtyard. Although they were row houses, they were big and spacious. Mao Qin dreamed of living in such a house. She had always hoped that one day she could live in such a house and have her own bedroom. She never expected that Teacher Jiang's starting point would be her destination.

This made Mao Qin unable to be jealous of Jiang Rong anymore. Now, thinking about it carefully, she realized that her brain had gone awry. How could Jiang Rong be transferred from a small city in Jiangbei to work in Shanghai if she didn't have a powerful family background?

How ridiculous of me! People living in Shikumen (stone-gate houses) mocking people living in Western-style houses—I don't know where I got the courage back then.

The meal worked! After that, no one dared to mock Jiang Rong for being a bumpkin or a country bumpkin anymore. All that remained was envy and jealousy; they couldn't even hate her anymore!

After arriving in Shanghai, Jiang Rong realized just how powerful her brother-in-law was. The Times Supermarket and Times Super Shopping Center, which were scattered throughout various districts of Shanghai, were all his. No wonder her mother-in-law often gave her so many shopping cards, sometimes as many as 20,000 yuan at a time, which she could never use up. Her mother-in-law also said that the women's luxury clothing brand "Baijiali" belonged to her brother-in-law.

Jiang Rong just couldn't understand how her brother-in-law, a university professor, had built such a successful business. But now she knew that her brother-in-law had definitely helped her with her new house and job transfer; her parents-in-law couldn't have done it.

They were just ordinary wage earners; without their brother-in-law, they wouldn't be so well-off.

However, there was one more thing that made Jiang Rong truly grateful to her brother-in-law.

One day, Jiang Rong's best friend, Ms. Liu, mentioned during a casual chat that her younger sister wanted to work at Times Square because the salaries there were famously high in Shanghai, and countless people wanted to work there. Unfortunately, they didn't have any recruitment plans at the moment and she would have to wait for a while. However, the competition was fierce, with hundreds of people vying for each position, making the chances of getting in very slim. Jiang Rong kept this in mind and told her brother-in-law about it when he came home for dinner on the weekend.

After briefly asking for her name and age, he told me to tell Teacher Liu that her sister should go directly to the personnel department at the Times headquarters on Monday.

When I told Teacher Liu about this, she didn't believe me at first. But after her sister completed the onboarding procedures, Teacher Liu treated me like royalty and even brought her sister and gifts to my door to express her gratitude. At that moment, my vanity was greatly satisfied.

This shows that the younger brother-in-law still respects his sister-in-law.

After buying the cigars, Huang Xiaochuan invited Lao Huang, Lao Yu, and his uncle to his brother-in-law Tang Jianhua's restaurant.

"Why did you call us here?" the uncle asked, puzzled. The timing was off; it wasn't noon or late, and it didn't seem like an invitation to dinner.

"I told you to stop smoking cigarettes."

Upon hearing this, Zeng Jiahua's eyes widened in anger, and he shouted, "You little monkey, you've conspired with your aunt, haven't you?"

Zeng Jiahua had just been forced to quit smoking by his aunt, and he thought that his aunt and Huang Xiaochuan had teamed up to force him to quit.

Old Huang also stared at Huang Xiaochuan with an unfriendly expression.

Old Yu didn't react much; he was waiting for what was to come. He knew his son-in-law wouldn't just ask them to quit smoking so easily.

Huang Xiaochuan looked at his uncle with displeasure: "Uncle, can you let me finish what I have to say?"

Zeng Jiahua plopped down angrily: "You talk, I'm listening, but let me tell you, don't even think about me quitting smoking."

"Did I tell you to quit smoking? I just told you to stop smoking cigarettes and switch to this instead!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Xiaochuan placed a wooden box on the table, which contained twenty-five Cohiba cigarettes.

He gave one to each of his two fathers and one uncle.

The three of them stared blankly at the thick cigar. Wouldn't they choke to death if they took a puff of this?

Zeng Jiahua held the cigar in his hand, fiddling with it and occasionally putting it to his lips as if he were smoking. However, he wondered why one end of the cigar was solid. How could anyone smoke that?

At this moment, Huang Xiaochuan walked to the door and called out, "Brother-in-law, where's the tea?"

Tang Jianhua's voice came from afar: "They're here! They're here!"

Soon Tang Jianhua appeared, personally bringing tea.

Only then did Huang Xiaochuan say to his two fathers and uncle, "This is called a cigar. It has similarities and differences with cigarettes. When you smoke cigarettes, you have to inhale the smoke, which is very harmful to your health. When you smoke a cigar, you don't have to inhale the smoke. Just hold the smoke in your mouth and feel it. After holding it for a while to savor the taste, you can exhale the smoke."

Zeng Jiahua said with a disdainful look, "What's the point of smoking if you don't actually eat it?"

Huang Xiaochuan took out a cigar cutter and a nice methane lighter from his pocket. He took the cigar from Zeng Jiahua's hand, cut off the end with the cigar cutter, heated the body of the cigar with the lighter, tilted the cigar at a 45-degree angle so that the flame did not directly touch the end of the cigar, and slowly rotated it to heat it evenly. After the edges turned white, he handed it back to Zeng Jiahua.

"Try it, take a puff and hold it in your mouth, don't inhale it into your lungs, just keep it in your mouth and savor the taste."

Zeng Jiahua tried Huang Xiaochuan's instructions with some skepticism. After taking a bite, his tightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed.

After exhaling the smoke from his mouth, he looked at the cigar in his hand and said with satisfaction, "Interesting, very interesting!"

At this moment, Huang Xiaochuan had already brewed the tea and handed a cup of Zhengshan Xiaozhong to Zeng Jiahua: "Uncle, have a sip of tea now, and then savor the taste."

Zeng Jiahua did not hesitate at all this time and immediately did as Huang Xiaochuan suggested.

"Hmm," Zeng Jiahua's eyes lit up.

Huang Xiaochuan smiled and asked him, "How does it feel?"

Zeng Jiahua smacked his lips a few times: "Sweet, and with a refreshing taste, not bad, not bad!"

Old Huang and Old Yu craned their necks to watch, and seeing that Zeng Jiahua's expression didn't seem fake, they immediately became interested in the cigars as well.

Old Huang said impatiently, "Light some for me and your father-in-law too."

After the three of them had finished smoking their cigars, Huang Xiaochuan continued to instruct them: "Don't smoke too frequently. Take one or two puffs per minute. Don't smoke more than that, as it will affect the taste."

Having tasted the benefits, the three naturally followed suit. With a puff of smoke and a sip of tea, they soon mastered the skill of smoking cigars. Since they were all seasoned smokers, once they learned it, they would never forget it.

Tang Jianhua watched his father-in-law and his brother-in-law puffing away on their cigarettes. He couldn't help but laugh. His brother-in-law, who didn't smoke, was teaching three heavy smokers how to smoke. It looked quite comical.

The three of them leisurely smoked cigars and exchanged their experiences, while Huang Xiaochuan and Tang Jianhua drank tea and chatted with them. Since it takes more than an hour to finish a whole cigar, Huang Xiaochuan took the opportunity to talk to Tang Jianhua about how to open a chain restaurant.

"Brother-in-law, the secret here is to standardize the preparation of dishes and seasonings. For example, when making Dongpo pork, you need to know how many ingredients and seasonings you need, how much heat you need, and how long you need to cook it. Record all of this in writing so that when a new restaurant opens in the future, the kitchen staff can just follow the instructions."

Also, you should hire more top-tier chefs. Don't be afraid to spend money, but don't have them cook in the stores. Set up a menu development department in the company and put all these top-tier chefs in this department. Let them specialize in researching dishes and seasonings. Every time they develop a dish, they should standardize it and save it in the recipe book. Moreover, the dishes should be changed regularly. You can't have the same few dishes all year round, right? The dishes should be changed every month and every quarter. You can use the seasons as a gimmick and tell customers that you can eat seasonal dishes.

"You can open any shop then, without worrying about the chef running away and affecting business, or about others stealing your recipes. As long as the company controls the key seasonings, the dishes won't taste right without them. If you only learn how to cook the dishes but not how to make the seasonings, it'll all be for nothing."

Every word Huang Xiaochuan said was invaluable advice. Tang Jianhua, having worked in the catering industry for so long, naturally understood the significance of what his brother-in-law was saying.

Tang Jianhua was incredibly impressed. No wonder his brother-in-law could run such a big business; look at his brain, he comes up with one idea after another.

Tang Jianhua nodded vigorously, and fearing he might forget, he even took out a notebook to write everything down.

After the two fathers and the uncle finished smoking their cigars, Huang Xiaochuan asked them, "How was it? Is this stuff better than cigarettes?"

Old Huang smacked his lips, licked them, and looked like he wanted more.

"Not bad, not bad! I didn't expect this cigar to taste so good, with such a layered flavor. The taste is different at the beginning, middle, and end."

Zeng Jiahua then asked, "Is this the only box? Are there any left?"

"Don't worry, I've prepared everything for you. However, this stuff needs to be stored at a constant temperature and humidity, so I've also prepared special cabinets for storing cigars. You'll each have two cabinets. I've also provided everything else, such as humidifiers, scissors, lighters, cigar covers, etc."

The three men were overjoyed, and afterwards they started smoking cigars and never touched cigarettes again.

Read "1990, I'm Back" and enjoy your reading time.