As the saying goes: "Timing is less important than location, and location is less important than human harmony." But Old Zhang managed to secure all three advantages.
Old Zhang opened a restaurant. The timing was perfect—just after the financial crisis, with the economy on the upswing. That was the advantage of timing. His restaurant was located in the busiest commercial district of the city center—an absolutely prime location—and directly across the street stood the financially powerful Finance Bureau. That was the advantage of location. As for human harmony? The director of the Finance Bureau was his old classmate. Right after the restaurant opened, Old Zhang contacted this old friend, asking for some support. With such broad connections, who wouldn't respect his word? Let alone others—even if just their single department visited a few times, it would be more than enough to make Old Zhang rich.
But Old Zhang miscalculated. Two months after opening, his old classmate hadn't visited even once!
Could it be that his classmate was offended because he hadn't "shown his respect"? Wasn't "public relations" the norm these days?
Old Zhang decided to pay a personal visit to his classmate's home to find out what was going on. Of course, he couldn't go empty-handed, so he specially prepared an 800-yuan red envelope. After some thought, he also casually brought two strings of garlic and a string of red chili peppers from his restaurant.
Old classmates meeting again—extraordinarily warm.
Seeing the atmosphere was good, Old Zhang quickly explained his purpose. His classmate looked extremely troubled, repeatedly apologizing with sincere attitude—100% genuine, not faking it at all. Could it be that his classmate had some unspoken difficulties?
"Life is complicated—once you're in the game, you're not in control. I understand, I understand. The official world is like a battlefield..." Old Zhang quickly comforted him.
"Haha... Old Zhang, where are you getting these ideas? It's not that at all. Let me ask you—does your restaurant have papaya with snow frog, abalone sauce goose feet?"
Old Zhang shook his head: "No!"
"How about saffron shark fin rice or braised turtle skirt with garlic?"
Old Zhang shook his head again: "That's missing too!"
"Well... never mind. Do you at least have stewed spare ribs and braised fish? This must be available, right?"
Old Zhang quickly nodded: "This we definitely have! It's excellent, our signature dishes."
"That's all? Food fit for migrant workers. But don't worry, take it slow. Once you develop well, I'll make your place my designated reception venue—guaranteed you won't lose money. By the way, take two cases of Moutai from me on your way out, as my congratulatory gift. I'll take the garlic you brought—I really don't have any here."
Old Zhang left the house with his head down, feeling dejected. However, he did leave with a significant gain: two cases of Moutai. As for his own red envelope, he never found the courage to take it out the whole time—he was certain the other party already had plenty of that!