Huang Guosheng

“When I was a little boy I came here to deal in Huazhou congee and at that time the weeds grew everywhere,” Fuqiang continued. “My parents looked after the food, and I just helped them to deliver the tea and water to the diners. I was so weak on study that I had to start doing business in Shenzhen.” He blew out a mouthful of smoke, and went on, “Shekou is a special zone of special zones, and the bomb between the Microwave Mountain and the Tortoise Mountain was regarded as the first bomb of our national reform and opening up. Right then I witnessed this miracle nearby, blocking my ears. There were 20 tons of explosives, which exploded simultaneously in six caves, shaking the earth.”

“The day of the first bomb was July 8, 1979, and on August 26, 1980, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was officially founded,” Huxi said.

Later he asked Fuqiang, “What did you think of Shenzhen at that time?”

“When I saw it I fell in love with it,” Fuqiang blew out more smoke.

Presently Huxi said, “So many young men are rushing into Shenzhen now.”

“Fuqiang! Here come your big customers!” somebody called. It was Fuqiang’s parents, who radiated the elegance of Shenzhen as well as the rural features of the Huazhou countryside.

Just then, two men, one fat and one thin, entered from outside the door. Fuqiang said, “Excuse me,” then rose to his feet and went forward to meet them. However, they did not come to dine. They sipped tea served by Fuqiang and looked around. One said to him, “Well! Business, as you said before, is not bad!”

Fuqiang replied, “Of course! What I say is always true!”

The two men then got up and walked away muttering happily to each other, accompanied by Fuqiang. After about 20 minutes of conversation, they left. In fact, unknown to Fuqiang, before they had entered they had stood outside the restaurant, observing it for half an hour. Now, although it seemed they had left, they remained hiding outside, exchanging opinions and still studying the restaurant. Fifteen minutes later, they finally drove away.

Huxi had to return to the west of Guangdong by a long bus journey at night, and those from Zhenfeng had to go back to the Shanghai Restaurant, so Fuqiang was about to pick them up and see them off. He led them to a secluded spot and handed a red envelope containing 100 yuan to each man. They all were surprised.

“How can we deserve this favor without doing anything for it?” one of them said. They handed it back to Fuqiang. Then they all moved their hands and legs back and forth and left and right like a group of boxers practicing a slow Tai Chi tuishou. It seemed that Fuqiang used a yunshou, Zhenfeng performed a lanquewei and Huxi suddenly executed a danbian and a sidekick. Fuqiang couldn’t deal with them by himself. He shouted, “Stop it please! Tonight I would like to express heartfelt thanks for your coming to help me. It means a great deal to me. Today most guests have been specially invited by me, and I’ve given all of them red envelopes.”

Everyone was utterly bewildered. Fuqiang then explained, “The two men who came here want to take over this restaurant of mine. Indeed I have not received a good income from it lately, so I would like to transfer it and I’ll do that soon. In order to rally plenty of people, the more the better, to demonstrate the great popularity of this restaurant to these men, I invited all my relatives and friends to come here. Now those men have decided to buy this restaurant of mine and they have given me a deposit of 130,000 yuan. They were actually among the diners who took away the used oil that time.”

“Then those who sat in front of the door, waiting for their sequence numbers to be called, had they…?” Huxi asked, turning his face to Fuqiang and seeming to know something.