Gan Guoyang ate half a roast chicken, a bowl of wontons, two portions of noodles, three shrimp dumplings, four barbecued pork, and drank five small cups of lemon tea in one go. A burp.
"Dad, your cooking skills seem to have improved again."
Seeing that his son had such a good appetite, Gan Youwei finally let go of his worries. Being able to eat showed that there was nothing wrong with his health.
"It's not that dad's cooking skills have improved, it's that you are hungry. Do you want to eat more?"
"No, you can't eat too much. Besides, the food in the store is sold for money. It's not good to eat too much..."
Uncle Gan Youtang, who was standing at the door, came in, sighed, and said: "Eat, eat, Guoyang, eat more. Anyway, if you can't eat it, it will be ruined if you put it in the kitchen~ Look, this big At noon, there was no one there. This store has only been open for half a year, but the business is so bad. Youwei, I’m really sorry for recruiting you from the mainland and leading you into a pit of fire."
Gan Youwei quickly waved his hand and said: "I wanted to come here myself. Besides, you didn't lie to me when you came to see me. You just said that the store was running hard and needed a chef who was good at his job. I have skills and thought I could turn the tide. Who knew..."
"Who knew that this old American mountain pig couldn't eat fine bran! They can't get used to eating the food with enough ingredients and good craftsmanship, and they can't bear to part with it! They just like to eat the stir-fried chop suey from Chinatown! I'll do it!"
Gan Youtang picked up the conversation, and both brothers looked gloomy, worrying about the lackluster business and the high monthly rent.
Gan Bingguang and Gan Youtang, father and son, have been working in the United States for more than ten years. The old man has been working as the head chef of a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, while Gan Youtang manages the restaurant.
They saved some savings and thought about ending their working life, becoming bosses and owning a restaurant of their own.
After being introduced by an acquaintance, I rented this store near Naoshikou in Tiandelong District. It was renovated and opened six months ago.
The owner of this shop is a Cantonese from Chinatown named Chen Yaoming. Before opening the shop, he made a lot of noise about this location. He said that the feng shui is good and it is the most prosperous area in Tenderloin District. There are many residents, tourists and white-collar workers, so the business is definitely good.
Five years of rent can be paid back in one year, and the rest will be earned.
It was only when it opened that they discovered that this place was indeed located in a bustling area, with many residents, tourists, and white-collar workers, and a large flow of people. They had also inspected it several times, and there was indeed no problem.
But I never thought that there are many homeless people, hippies, and gangsters here. They always appear in groups during meals and evenings, wandering around, and occasionally come to this shop to eat in the autumn breeze.
They can't afford expensive meals and drinks, so they always order cheap fried rice and tea. They sit there all afternoon, occupying seats and causing some tourists and white-collar workers who want to eat not to come in.
These people can't be driven away, and it's impossible to cultivate them into a customer base - it's good if they are willing to pay some money to buy food.
Gan's restaurant targets the urban middle class. Gan Bingguang has been the head chef for many years and wants to open a high-end Chinese restaurant in San Francisco to change the stereotype that Chinese food in American society is low-end fast food and chop sueys and promote the broad and profound Chinese culture. gourmet food.
As a result, there were so many homeless people, hippies, and drug addicts that middle-class consumers did not dare to spend money in this restaurant.
Gan Bingguang upholds the temperament and mentality of the Chinese people who endure hardships and stand hard work, and firmly believe that hard work can always be favored by God. He insists on taking the mid-to-high-end route and does not lower the standards in terms of ingredients and ingredients.
He feels that the fragrance of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley, and if he keeps doing it, he will one day gain a reputation.
Relying on this, the restaurant's delivery business is doing well, increasing some income and reducing losses.
However, there is still a long way to go before we can make a return on capital or even make a profit. After all, food delivery is only a supplement and cannot even cover the rent.
The restaurant soon ran out of money to make ends meet, and the workload in the kitchen was severely undersaturated. The cooks couldn't get full wages and resigned, so the old man had no choice but to do it himself.
Being a chef is a laborious job. Gan Bingguang has experience but is old. His son Gan Youtang is not a chef. Other local chefs cannot find suitable ones for a while. They are unwilling to come because the business in the store is not good.
When he was frowning, he suddenly remembered that far away on the other side of the ocean, in his hometown of Ganjia Village, there was a nephew named Gan Youwei of the same clan. His family was a wealthy family in the village and he inherited the old man's Gan family recipes. If he could come to the United States to cook together, Maybe there is a silver lining.
With the mentality of giving it a try, Gan Bingguang contacted Gan Youwei who was thousands of miles away. After an overseas phone call, Gan Youwei actually agreed and said that he would take his son to the ocean to help out at Gan's Restaurant. .
At that time, it was the honeymoon period between China and the United States. According to the 1965 Immigration Act and the agreement after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, 40,000 Chinese people could go to the United States every year (half from mainland China and Taiwan), and immigration restrictions were greatly relaxed.
With the help of Gan Bingguang and his son, Gan Youwei and his son Gan Guoyang successfully came to San Francisco and started living in the United States.
Gan Bingguang was originally worried that his nephew had already abandoned his cooking skills and would not be able to cook Gan's food, but after he arrived, he cooked a table of food himself, which made Gan Bingguang, a senior chef, give thumbs up. Such level of cooking skills There is nothing to say.
But good cooking skills are useless. In 1979, the U.S. economic development stagnated, and an economic crisis broke out in California. Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and other places fell into a severe economic recession.
In 1980, Reagan came to power and issued an economic reform plan, but it did not bear fruit. On the contrary, by 1981, the U.S. economy had entered the quagmire of stagflation, with the unemployment rate soaring to 8%, and the Dow Jones Index falling from 2,600 points in 1965 to 800 points. And it’s still going down.
There is a trend of hollowing out of big cities. A large number of new immigrants and the middle class have moved their families to satellite cities in the suburbs. San Francisco's tourism industry has also been hit hard.
Vagabonds, criminals, and drug addicts are occupying the streets in droves, and the living environment of the catering industry is getting worse.
This is not determined by the chef's cooking skills. Even if Gan Youwei has amazing cooking skills, he can't turn the tide if the guests don't come to the door and the people who come don't do business.
Several gay men carrying handbags, wearing black fishnet stockings, tight skirts, and various fake curly hair pushed open the door and entered. After finding a place to sit down, they waved to Gan Youtang and shouted for a drawer of pot stickers.
Gan Youtang rolled his eyes, shook his head and cursed secretly. These stinky guys always stayed in groups, and ended up eating just a little bit like chickens. After eating, they didn't leave, but stayed in the restaurant chatting and playing cards.
You chase them away, and they act coquettishly and wink at you. It's really unbearable. There's nothing you can do about them.
After they sat down, they started chatting and soon lit up cigarettes. Gan Youtang had to entertain them, while Gan Youwei got up and went to the kitchen to make pot stickers.
Gan Guohui happened to come down from upstairs, holding a basketball in his hand. He told Gan Youtang that he was going to play ball and was leaving.
Gan Guoyang hurriedly raised his body to stop him and said, "Hey! Guohui, are you going to play ball? Take me with you!"
Gan Guohui said: "Brother Guoyang, you are recovering from your illness, can you do it? Besides, you don't like playing basketball."
"Who says I don't like playing basketball? It would be a pity not to play for a tall guy like me. I didn't adapt to it before."
"Hehe, let me tell you, it's a waste if you don't play basketball with your body. Come on, let's go together. There's no business in the store anyway. Just in time, you can help me teach that boy Chen Xing a lesson."
When Gan Guoyang passed by those "Yingying Yanyan", one of them reached out and pinched his arm, and the other took off the Bohemian wreath on his head and put it on Gan Guoyang's head.
Several people laughed happily and even winked at Gan Guoyang, which made Gan Guoyang's skin crawl.
Looking at these strange people, he suddenly remembered a song in the movie Forrest Gump called "San Francisco":
If you're going to San Francisco (if you're going to San Francisco)
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco (if you're going to San Francisco)
You're gonna meet some gentle people there
For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there (the summer time there will be full of love)…
He touched the wreath on his head, did not take it off and throw it away, but smiled, put it on and left the restaurant with Gan Guohui.
The Yingying Yanyans smoked cigarettes and silently watched A-Gump's leaving figure.
