Chapter 7
After successfully completing the challenging club mission, our little duckling immediately achieved its goal.
Our unit price and menu are perfectly tailored to our clients’ preferences in the neighborhood. We’re always busy and well-liked, but we can’t forget that it’s not time for celebration yet. Our structure is a bit unstable, especially with Chef Eddie and his team member Momo, but we’ve noticed that our second floor doesn’t get as much business because people usually prefer the first floor. It’s just another lesson in running a business.
When your restaurant gets busy, one of the best benefits is improving your ability to socialize. I had lunch with my Spanish Duke friend, a team of “007s”, my Dutch running partner Bali, Mr. D, Ms. Jennifer, etc. They are all lovely people and stars in my eyes.
I didn’t realize how much work goes into running a restaurant until I saw the massive amount of effort behind the scenes. I have to say, I really appreciate all the hard work Oliva has put into operations.
I met Bali, a young Dutch gentleman, through his Xinjiang girlfriend who used to work for my French client in Shanghai. Luckily they live beside our shop and we hang out a lot after.We also often exchange views on life and politics.Its very interesting for me . He has faith in China and believes that what we lack is effective international marketing. Bali invites me to get a tailor-made suit once a year, where we enjoy some 007-style cocktails together. As the finance manager of a major international milk product trading company, he even invited my family to his wedding and asked me to help with translation.
Well, he prepared the speech for me to review two weeks before his wedding. Bali calls me every night to make sure I’m serious about preparing the translation for his speech, even when I’m in the toilet! Hahaha, what a loving call. The funny thing is that on the day before the wedding day, there was a typhoon in Shanghai during the summer holiday. He told me that his friends’ flights were canceled and he’s worried we’ll have to do the same. Since he had my word to do the translation job and it’s his wedding, my family decided to buy subway tickets and rush to Hongqiao terminal to catch a high-speed train towards Nanjing as soon as possible.
On the train, I called my ticket agent for urgent help but it seemed like we wouldn’t make it because Nanjing also had a typhoon. Then she reminded us to rush to Beijing within 6.5 hours to catch the last flight to Xinjiang at 9:45pm - it felt like one of James Bond’s missions! I updated Bali as soon as we arrived at different stations. Finally, we arrived at the boarding gate 30 minutes in advance and landed in Xinjiang at 1:45am the next day - our first time there. The police at the airport had machine guns which immediately woke me up!
Actually, the city is quite safe and we arrived at a luxurious 5-star hotel with a beautiful swimming pool. I settled with my family around 3:30am, but I couldn’t sleep because I needed to meet up with Bali’s team, including his best man and family, at 5am.
The wedding day begins. I arrived at his room around 5:30am and met his brother-in-law, Bater, as well as his best man, Robert, and Buscow. Buscow’s family has a famous pulling machine in all casinos of Europe and he grew up with Robert and Bali. Bali greeted me with a new vest that matched the level of the best man. After getting ready, we went down to the hotel lobby where the wedding cars arrived - a Benz and a Hummer. Everyone was very excited! We then left the hotel for the local ceremony first. After about 20 minutes of driving, we arrived at a place where our local family was waiting to sing and dance. They gave us scarves and horse milk alcohol because they are Mongolian in Xinjiang.
After a while, we had to hurry to another place. Everyone was confused about what was happening and why we needed to change locations. Bali explained that the first place we visited was his aunt-in-law’s house, and now we were going to visit his wife’s family. Bali arranged for a bus to pick up my family and his Dutch family from the hotel and take us to the beautiful South Mountain area for the grass ceremony. The area is stunning with snow-capped mountains of Tian Shan. It’s a lovely spot for the ceremony.
Before the ceremony begins, all locals and tourists are surrounding us, which overwhelms Bali because he never expected so many people at his wedding. The ceremony was wonderful with a buffet organized by Bali’s hotel. After the wedding, we encountered some trouble in the grass area because Bali paid the wrong person for renting it. The rightful owner appeared with their family in front of our bus, causing us to be stuck until the police arrived. Bali’s Dutch cousin was crying beside me, and I had to reassure her that my country is diverse and has different types of people. Finally, the police came to resolve the issues.
The next morning, we had breakfast together with all of his Dutch family and friends. We all needed to vote on whether to take the risk of another bus trip to a remote area near kasakhstan for 3 days. His cousin decided not to go, but the rest of us agreed to move forward. After 13 hours of driving, we almost crossed the northern part of Xinjiang, where there was nothing but blue sky, grass, wind, horses, and eagles. It was truly amazing.
I need to return to the city first with my family for an earlier trip to Dunhuang city the next day. It was an amazing trip crossing Xinjiang province, and it felt like being part of Chenjisihan’s army, riding horses up and down the mountains under the Galaxy. The soldier uses Galaxy to choose his direction.I am grateful for his invitation.
Let’s consider it as a more laid-back aspect of the business story with Oliva. Cheers!
