In February of 1986, it was time to prepare for the Lunar New Year. Zhan Aiping was finally not busy during this holiday. She took the children to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.
The festive atmosphere is very strong at this time of year. Every household is worried about celebrating the New Year, eating well, dressing well, setting off firecrackers, and holding temple fairs. The children of the Gu family have grown up and are unwilling to go out to set off firecrackers, so Zhan Aiping only bought some fireworks, intending to join in the fun on New Year's Eve.
Writing Spring Festival couplets, frying meatballs, fish cakes, taro, making dumplings... Gu Yuan and her sister Gu Mian were busy all the time, and they ate their fill while frying.
Gu Yuan: "This is fried a little ugly, just eat it."
Gu Mian: "Sister, I think this piece is not good either, just eat it all."
"Let's pick out the ones that don't work."
Zhan Aiping passed by and said, "Don't eat too much and get irritated."
Gu Sheng looked at the newspaper: "Mom, make some herbal tea."
Lu Cheng did not come back for the Chinese New Year. Gu Yuan didn't know where he went and didn't send any letters. Gao Jingmei, as his mother, didn't seem to know where he went either. Lu Ming came to spend the New Year with his wife, and the couple were very much in love. It was just right that their son was gone so as not to disturb their world of two.
After the Lantern Festival, the director of the logistics department and the director of the veterans resettlement center came to see Zhan Aiping one after another, all for the same question, "Comrade Zhan, are you willing to contract a guesthouse?"
Although they asked "Are you willing?", they actually hoped that Zhan Aiping could take over this mess. The guesthouse they mentioned used to be a dormitory for technical experts and was later changed into a military guesthouse. Up to now, it has been losing money for several years in a row.
Now we are closing down institutions, cutting down various expenditures, and trying to find ways to save all kinds of messes. This guesthouse is an old one with a large area. It originally housed more than 60 veterans and various family members working here, and now we are required to accommodate as many people as possible and provide them with employment.
In order to turn losses into profits, this guesthouse has opened its doors to the outside world, but the results have been minimal. If it continues like this, it will probably continue to make losses. How will these people be paid their salaries and benefits
This requires someone to reform and save this guesthouse that is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Director Zhao thought about it and thought of Zhan Aiping. He thought she was capable of taking over this mess. "You have run that small guesthouse next to the train station very well. Now I have a big task for you. Please help and support this guesthouse."
Zhan Aiping said: "I am just a doctor and a teacher. I am not good at doing business, and I don't have the ability to turn losses into profits."
"Comrade Zhan, don't be modest. You are also from the army. Now is the most critical time. The higher-ups call on us to grit our teeth and endure hardships. We must not only grit our teeth and persevere, but also be self-reliant."
Now even many military factories have begun to switch to producing ice cream, refrigerators and washing machines.
Zhan Aiping said: "Let me think about it again."
After Director Zhao left, Luo's wife came to remind her and let her know: "Xiao Zhan, don't take over this mess. That place is not a good location. It's out of the way. People don't like to go to that guesthouse. I heard from my old Luo that the people there are also very lazy. The tea leaves used to entertain guests have all gone moldy..."
As the number of visitors to the guesthouse decreases every year, it has become more and more perfunctory now. The staff are lazy and do things half-heartedly. They are all family members and cannot be fired. Whoever receives the guests will be disliked and have to be treated as a bad person. If not managed well, it will only make people laugh.
We need someone with courage.
Zhan Aiping said: "They all come to me one by one, just to give me this hard bone, can I not accept it?"
Mrs. Luo: "If you don't want to answer, then don't answer. Can I force you to come? I see you have been hiding from people these days. Why don't you hide away for a while and have some free time first?"
Zhan Aiping: "Escape is not a solution. I'll go to the guesthouse first."
Zhan Aiping asked Mrs. Luo to accompany her to Tangkou Guesthouse. She planned to conduct an on-site inspection to see the hardware facilities of the guesthouse first.
In the past, Zhan Aiping also wanted to open a big hotel, but she didn’t have enough money at the moment. She had to look at the situation and slowly choose a location to prepare to open an eight or nine-story hotel. The investment in a hotel is not a small amount, so she is not in a hurry.
They arrived at Tangkou Guesthouse, which is an old building from the 1960s and 1970s. Although it has been built quite well over the years, the two three-story buildings and the small houses on both sides form a small courtyard. It can be seen that the house was very beautiful when it was first built, but now it is deserted and dilapidated, and is not as good as before.
White walls, green tiles, and red pillars in the corridor... But now, the white walls are covered with stains, the red pillars are peeling, and there are no green grass or trees in the yard, only dead branches and leaves. When it rains, there are a lot of yellow mud marks on the ground, making it feel dirty and messy.
There are two buildings in front and back, with more than 700 beds. Some of the rooms have not been used for a long time. There is a damp smell when you open the door. Zhan Aiping looked at the price. Five dollars a night
Only fools come to live here.
In recent years, there are more and more private hotels. If you are not traveling on business and specifically want to stay here, there is really no need for others to stay in such a guesthouse.
The staff inside were indeed perfunctory, especially the cleaning lady. When she saw that no one was living there, she simply stopped doing her job. She just got paid for nothing every month, and no one complained since no one was living there.
In fact, these employees are unwilling to change. If they receive fewer people a year, they can save some work and get paid easily every month. Even if the hotel is fully booked, they can't make a few more dollars.
Zhan Aiping said: "I guess on weekdays there are only a few dozen beds used to entertain people, and the rest are vacant."
These people probably want to complain after staying here, but unfortunately they have to stay here on business trips, so they can only complain in their hearts.
Mrs. Luo sighed, "That's right, what a waste."
The things left in these guest rooms are pretty good. Although they are old things from ten years ago, they are complete with sofas, coffee tables, beds, cabinets and kettles. Some rooms even have carpets, which are already old and moldy, but still look acceptable on the surface.
These things cost a lot of money.
"Hey, have you seen enough? Stop wasting time here!" The staff member wearing a white hat shouted at them twice in a bad tone.
Mrs. Luo put her hands on her hips and said, "You better be careful, this guy might be your leader in the future."
"Oh, you're still a leader." The man in white hat curled his lips in disdain.
Zhan Aiping asked, "Do you usually entertain distinguished guests like this?"
"It's like this every day. What kind of distinguished guest can be arranged here?"
Zhan Aiping said: "Then you should be more careful. Someone who is not a distinguished guest today may become a 'distinguished guest' whom you cannot afford to offend tomorrow."
Zhan Aiping and Luo Saozi walked out of Tangkou Guesthouse. Luo Saozi said, "Look at these people's work attitudes. If they were in my store, they would have been fired long ago."
Zhan Aiping laughed: "You look like a store manager now."
"That's right." Mrs. Luo said, "We can't be too indulgent. There must be rules and regulations everywhere."
Zhan Aiping said: "You can't just keep a moth and let people take money for nothing. The more you keep a moth, the lazier it will become."
Mrs. Luo's eyes widened. "You want to take over this shabby business? Why don't you run your own small hotel? Why don't you teach that blind man a lesson?"
Zhan Aiping raised her eyebrows: "If I take over this mess, the higher-ups will have to give me the green light to make drastic reforms."
"If this mess can be revitalized, there will be money." Zhan Aiping plans to contract this guesthouse. If it can be revitalized, she will have the capital to build a big restaurant.
Mrs. Luo: "This money is not money... Don't you have money to do anything now? The brave ones will die of overeating while the timid ones will die of starvation."
Zhan Aiping smiled and said, "Do you want to get involved?"
"When others told me to do this, I didn't believe it, but when you said it, Xiao Zhan, I believed it." Mrs. Luo patted her chest and said, "It's a mess anyway. If it gets messed up, it's still a mess, right? At worst, I can go on the newspaper with you, and we'll be laughed at and scolded together. I'm a country woman, and it's great that I can get to where I am today. I can be scolded, but I've already built a building."
Whenever talking about her building, Mrs. Luo is very confident. Owning a building gives her confidence.
In recent years, there have been such news in newspapers. Today, this person succeeded in reforming a factory, and everyone went to learn and listen to his speech. But next year, the factory reformed too much and collapsed again. So what if he was forced to resign? He was honestly published in the newspaper as a negative example.
"Compared to our small place, the infrastructure here is really good." Mrs. Luo built a building, and she also provided "accommodation", but she didn't have much money to invest, and the beds inside were really just beds. It's nothing like here, where at least the bathroom is decent, and the sofas, coffee tables and all kinds of furnishings are all good stuff.
Zhan Aiping smiled and said, "That's right, the brave ones will die of overeating while the timid ones will die of starvation."
Zhan Aiping began to take over this guesthouse and carried out drastic reforms, starting with the personnel and environment. The simple exterior decoration and the abandoned middle courtyard were problems that needed to be addressed urgently.
Zhan Aiping also formulated the rules and regulations for the relevant personnel. She called all the personnel together and said, "Now I am the sole contractor, responsible for my own profits and losses. All the good and bad are mine... Those of you who want to work hard can stay here, and those who don't want to work can get out as soon as possible."
"Everyone has to follow the rules and regulations I set!"
At the beginning, everyone was unwilling to do it. Later, Zhan Aiping made an example of someone and fired a few stubborn people, and the situation got better.
The guy in the white hat whom I saw last time was fired by her, but he is still trying to put pressure on her by saying that he is the relative of so-and-so.
"Kick me out? Even if you kick me out, you still have to ask me to come back in a nice way!"
Zhan Aiping sneered: "It doesn't matter whose family it is. I've changed the place. I said this is the land I personally contracted."
Her tactics were strong, so some people complained to higher authorities. Then a women's director came out to persuade her and clarify the relationship between them: "Zhou Shao is Lao Xue's relative, you have to give her some face. You can't just say no, she's Lao Xue."
Zhan Aiping said with a smile: "Have you all discussed this? This one plays the white-cop, saying you can do whatever you want, we'll do whatever you want, but this one plays the bad-cop, that won't work, this person has to stay, that person has to stay."
"Director Zhang, I'm telling you the truth. It's impossible. Not to mention Old Xue, even Old Ding can't do it."
Director Zhang said: "Then you have to think about your husband, Gu. We are old comrades."
Although Zhan Aiping spoke firmly, Director Zhang did not take it seriously. She was used to smoothing things over and it was always the same every time.
Director Zhang advised her: "Speak nicely and ask the person to go back. I have already told her off."
Zhan Aiping: "I've said it before, it's impossible. Director Zhang, you should play your role as the director of women's affairs and find her a new job."
"As for you, you'd better have a heart-to-heart talk with Lao Xue and ask him if he has the face to see his old comrades."
Wang Youli had heard the noise several times in the past two days. He said to Gu Sheng, "Listen to the noise in your house. Your wife will always find things for you to do."
Gu Sheng said: "My wife did nothing wrong, so this is how it has to be."
Wang Youli: "It must be my wife. Fortunately, he didn't find my wife."
As soon as Gu Sheng entered the room, Director Zhang started talking to him: "Brigade Commander Gu, you have to persuade your wife. You can't be so ruthless."
Gu Sheng said calmly: "No matter how sympathetic you are, it's still a mess. Director Zhang, it's you as the women's director who has not done your job properly."
“Is this where you’re going to do the communication work?”
Director Zhang's face froze and he walked away dejectedly.
Seeing her leave, Zhan Aiping said to Gu Sheng, "Everyone knows that they have a good relationship. They come here to take sides and are just relying on this to feel safe and secure."
Gu Sheng sat on the sofa, Zhan Aiping put her hand on his shoulder: "Comrade Gu, you are so powerful that people dare not speak when they see you."
Gu Sheng grabbed her hand and said, "That's because my wife looks young and beautiful. Also, can you use the term 'old' less often? I'm not old yet."
Gu Sheng was transferred to become the commander of a certain brigade, and his family moved to a camp in the suburbs, living in the same place as Wang Youli and his group, in a two-story building. There was no yard, but there was green grass outside. The greening of the camp was very good.
Zhan Aiping said: "Our children will take the college entrance examination next year. Please accept your age, Comrade Gu."
Gu Sheng sighed: "What about you? You permed your hair and put on makeup, dressing up beautifully every day, making people think I married a second-married woman."
"Really?" Zhan Aiping held his head and looked at it. "Is it because you look too serious outside? Look at your thick hair and youthful face. How come you have ended up getting married for the second time?"
Gu Sheng: "People think I have a yellow-faced woman at home."
Zhan Aiping: "What a coincidence, people also think that there is an old man in my family."
Gu Sheng: “…”
Zhan Aiping: “…”
(End of this chapter)