It has been a month since the last article. To be honest, writing articles is not something I have abandoned; as I mentioned before, I am currently managing a coffee shop, and moreover, the shop is not located in my previous city, so my frequency of appearing here has also started to decrease.

Additionally, I rarely read books, and I must admit with shame that my writing skills have not improved, so I can't imagine that the articles uploaded here from the beginning to the end of 2022 were written by me. Therefore, it is understandable that Su Minfeng and Mai Lingling gained an audience.

I have been living in Taishan, Jiangmen for over half a year. The older generation knows it as a famous overseas Chinese hometown in the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong. However, it only became a stop for the Shenmao High-speed Railway after it opened in 2018, so it is not well-known even within the province. The old TV drama "Kuang Biao" was filmed extensively here, which increased its visibility, but when introducing it to friends from other provinces, I cannot directly say "Taishan" and instead use the name "Jinghai" from the drama, which makes it clear at a glance.

What is my connection to this place? I was born in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, which was formerly known as "Henan Di" because it is located south of the Pearl River. Whether through my father's or mother's household registration, I am a "Bushu" (a term for someone from the area).~

However, when I was learning to speak, I was raised by my grandmother, so I can speak fluent Taishan dialect. Additionally, since I lived in a large courtyard with many fellow villagers from the Four Counties when I was young, I became familiar with the southern Taishan dialect while also being able to understand the northern dialect of Taicheng. What are the "Four Counties"? They refer to the three major county-level cities around Jiangmen: "Taishan," "Kaiping," and "Enping," as well as the "Xinhui District," which was later renamed "Five Counties" after the inclusion of "Heshan City."~

Since I was born, I have returned to reunite with relatives during festivals. Whenever we talk, I can reflexively converse in Taishan dialect with my uncles and cousins. However, my stay was not long, as my parents had to return to work and take me back to the provincial capital for school, so Taishan is both familiar and unfamiliar to me.

Given this, where have I been staying for the past six months? Two years ago, my parents bought a unit in Taicheng, but the reasons for that will be explained next time.

In the Jiangmen area, since it is known as the "Five Counties Overseas Chinese Town," the population loss rate has been high since the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. Therefore, choosing to open a shop here is not seen as a good choice by most people; they believe that a location with high foot traffic like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, or even Foshan would be a much better option. However, around my home, the rent for all the shops is quite expensive, and the geographical location does not show a dense flow of customers.

My cousin's family wanted to open a coffee shop. They have rich experience in starting businesses and making money, and they have also been involved in the catering industry multiple times. However, they had never tried beverages and found a shop with a rent of 2500 yuan, so they brought me along to help.

Later, my parents also provided financial support, and we discussed the direction of the store, decoration plans, and what production equipment to purchase with my cousin and her husband. After everything was decorated, we began inviting friends and family to come and try the products of the store. Due to the long period of business downtime during the site selection and equipment procurement, my cooking skills had declined, and I still needed to explore a suitable process for myself; one person naturally could not handle everything.
So, through the introduction of a partner's relative, we invited "Master Qiang" (hereafter referred to as 'Qiang'), who claims to have ten years of experience in beverages, to come and work at the store and teach me the skills. I also humbly learned from him...

However, when Qiang first came to the store, he always gave the impression of being slow and relaxed about work. So, my cousin's husband called me aside to discuss whether to give him more responsibility to cultivate his sense of responsibility. I believe Qiang is capable, so I thought this was feasible. But as time went on, although he is called "Master," he is ultimately an employee; he would clock in and put on an apron at the designated time, then sit at the store entrance, appearing more relaxed than I, an old-timer. So, my cousin's husband discussed with me again whether it would be appropriate to persuade him to leave. Qiang himself had mentioned that he did not plan to stay here long and only intended to teach me all the skills he knew before making other plans.

This situation is not too bad. To add further clarification, we have three connected shops; my cousin mainly runs her snail rice noodle shop, while her husband manages his steamed oyster shop (which also sells mudworm porridge), and the coffee shop is shared equally between them. Around mealtime, my great-aunt (my cousin's mother) or my cousin's husband's mother would cook meals for the chefs and employees of the three shops in the kitchen of another shop (which is rented under the name of my cousin and her husband’s seafood company).

Once, after cooking the meal, I quickly finished eating and returned to the coffee shop to check on things. Then my cousin called Qiang over to eat. It was clear that Qiang wanted to keep his distance from us, so he refused to join us. When my cousin asked him why he didn't eat, he declined, saying he didn't want to eat rice. Later, when my cousin asked him what he wanted to eat, he said he wanted rice noodles, so my cousin bought rice noodles and cooked several meals for him.

After that, we saw Qiang at work, drinking two cups of the store's lemon tea or coffee every day. My cousin, with a concerned tone, informed him that drinking too much is not good for his health, to which Qiang responded, "If it's about money, then talk." Every meal, my cousin personally cooked rice noodles for him, yet Qiang was so petty?! Such a person is truly detestable.

Until one time when the rice noodles were finished, and it was mealtime, my cousin asked me to finish and bring a bowl of "dish rice" to Qiang. But once or twice is one thing; why is it always me, as one of the bosses, who has to "serve" an employee? Although I have never regarded him as a mere worker, I see him as a colleague, even as a teacher, but it shouldn't be that a fully capable person needs to be treated this way, right?

Eventually, one time when I went to eat, I didn't check my phone messages. After finishing my meal, I took out my phone and saw that Qiang had asked if I had gone to eat when he noticed I wasn't in the store. To him, it seemed normal, and I naturally gave him a bowl. Qiang then became indignant, ordered takeout himself, and posted a screenshot on social media with the caption, "I can't even get a meal, and I'm still asked to work?" This operation completely angered my cousin, leading her to ask him to pack his things and leave. After all, every time a meal was cooked, he was invited to eat, but he just refused to eat.

The next day, Qiang posted on social media with the caption, "Teaching a disciple without a master, saying that when he came, he would bring experience and provide the formula bought for tens of thousands of yuan. The disciple learns blindly, and the disciple's relatives told me not to do it." To the public, this is absurd; how could someone who has never even left the province think that ten years in Taishan is equivalent to my five years in Guangzhou? Nowadays, with advanced communication, we can obtain beverage formulas through Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat video accounts, which is easier than borrowing fire. Even if you go to a wholesale market to get goods, the company will directly provide you with the formula. Did Qiang really get scammed for the tens of thousands he spent?