"Hey, you're back?" Seeing the three people coming back, Cao Zhiqiang greeted the three women with a smile.

"Brother!" Qiao Simei shouted first, then casually put the net bag she was holding on the ground, then quickly ran over and hugged one of Cao Zhiqiang's arms with a smile, "Brother, are you awake?"

"Yes." Cao Zhiqiang smiled and nodded, "I just woke up not long ago, why didn't you call me at noon?"

"It's not like you're sleeping too deeply, so I want you to sleep a little longer." Qiao Simei said with a smile.

Cao Zhiqiang nodded again, and then said to Mrs. Chen: "Sister-in-law, are you going shopping?"

"Yeah." Mrs. Chen came over and smiled, "I've thought about it. Why don't we go to see Simei's father? We have to get something. Otherwise, it will look ugly with empty hands. But you don't let us buy it in the capital.

, said it was inconvenient to fly.”

"That's right." Cao Zhiqiang said with a smile, "A plane is no better than a train. Every bit of weight must be considered. If we take a bunch of luggage, it will cost extra money. It is better to just take the bankbook and the money and come here.

Spend money on it.

Nanjing is a big city anyway, and you can buy many things with money."

"No way." Mrs. Chen said with a smile, "After lunch, seeing that you were still awake, I thought that waiting was not an option, so I took your two sisters to the department store to buy things.

Hey, the department store is not far away, it's just nearby. What's it called Xinjiekou Department Store? We asked people and walked there.

We bought some canned snacks, malted milk and the like there, so that when we go to see Simei's father, we won't be embarrassed empty-handed."

"That's it." Cao Zhiqiang smiled, "My sister-in-law is more thoughtful. I will reimburse you for how much you spent."

"No, no, no." Mrs. Chen smiled and waved her hand, "It didn't cost much, and it's our responsibility to pay. You can't pay. If you do, you'll break the rules."

"Bad rules?" Cao Zhiqiang was stunned, "What do you mean?"

Chen Jiabang smiled next to him at this time and said: "Xiao Cao, listen to your sister-in-law, she is right. The reason is very simple. This time we are here to discuss Qiao Simei's adoption. If the negotiation is successful, we will

Qiao Simei's adoptive parents.

According to the rules, this door-to-door ceremony must be done by us to show respect and solemnity.

If you go out for us, it's child's play and against the rules.

Even if you say this is in name only, you still have to follow the rules in name, right?

So, don’t argue with us, this is what we should do.”

Cao Zhiqiang blinked: "Well, in that case, I would like to thank my brother and sister-in-law."

"You're welcome." Mrs. Chen said with a smile, "It's all as it should be."

After a pause, Mrs. Chen asked: "Zhiqiang, since you're awake, when will we go to Qiao's house?"

Cao Zhiqiang looked at his watch: "I think it's now. I'll just go over and talk about the situation. Then it's almost time for dinner. Then I'll invite them here for a meal. This should be almost done."

"Okay, now." Mrs. Chen nodded.

Cao Zhiqiang looked at Mrs. Chen's large and small bags, smiled slightly and said: "Of course, there is no need to be in such a hurry. Sister-in-law, please drink some water here first and rest for a while. I will go to the front desk and ask them to arrange a taxi to take you.

Let's go."

"You still need to arrange a car?" Mrs. Chen was stunned, "No need, right? Can't we just take a three-wheel drive?"

"How can that be done?" Cao Zhiqiang smiled, "Sister-in-law, this time we go to see Qiao Zuwang, um, Simei's father. We must show enough strength to let him know that you value Simei very much, and Simei followed.

You will have a good life.

Therefore, it is necessary to show off your strength appropriately, otherwise, Simei’s father will be hard to talk to."

Mrs. Chen and Chen Jiabang looked at each other, and then Chen Jiabang nodded.

Seeing her man nodding, Mrs. Chen said: "Okay, then I'll listen to you."

After that, Cao Zhiqiang asked everyone to rest in the room first, and he went to the front desk manager and asked them to arrange two taxis. He wanted to charter a taxi.

Although the Jinling Hotel does not have a taxi business at this time, it is still no problem to help call a taxi.

At this time, NJ City already had a taxi company called NJ City Passenger Car Taxi Company. Just by the name, you can tell that it is a state-owned enterprise.

However, in 1983, there were not many taxis. Even the state-owned taxi companies did not have many taxis.

Therefore, in 1983, taxis were actually rare on the streets of Nanjing, and there were almost no signs of people hailing them to stop.

Taxi companies during this period were actually more similar to chartered services, or similar to buses, stationed at transportation hubs such as airports and train stations.

Of course, units like the Jinling Hotel can also make an appointment with a taxi company by calling.

Generally speaking, the NJ bus rental company will not refuse an establishment like the Jinling Hotel. This is not only a matter of making money, but also a policy issue.

Because the Jinling Hotel is a foreign-related hotel, the taxi booking at this hotel is likely to involve foreign businessmen.

At this time in China, all foreign-related matters are no small matter, and of course they should be taken seriously.

So less than half an hour later, the NJ City Bus Taxi Company sent two Nissan Duke sedans, the specific models of which were unknown.

It is said that this is already the best luxury car of that company, and it is usually used to receive foreign guests.

Not only that, the driver also wore a suit and white gloves, looking quite formal.

However, after seeing that the guest was a Chinese, the two drivers obviously looked at each other.

"What?" Chen Jiabang said with a cold face, "Seeing that we are not foreigners, nor businessmen from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, are you disappointed? Is it so embarrassing to serve the Chinese people?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged driver who was the oldest at the moment laughed quickly and said: "How can I do that? Serving the people is the right thing to do. You, the leader, have misunderstood."

It was obvious that he took the most powerful Chen Jiabang as his leader.

Also, Chen Jiabang has worked as a secretary of a state-owned enterprise for more than ten years, and he has some official authority.

Although he is not very visible in front of Cao Zhiqiang, it is because Cao Zhiqiang is in a special situation.

But to outsiders, Chen Jiabang's leadership style is natural and there is no need to pretend at all.

Maybe I want to say, what kind of leadership does the secretary have?

This is wrong. In fact, during this period, the official prestige of the leader's secretaries was no worse than the leader himself. Some leaders' secretaries even had more official prestige than the leaders.

Because many leaders also need to show their closeness to the people and be amiable and down-to-earth.

But the leader's secretary is mainly responsible for uploading and distributing information, similar to the ancient Dongchang Jinyiwei, which mainly highlights the power of a fox and a tiger. Therefore, the more leader the secretary is, the more impressive he is, and of course the energy is also really high.

During this period, the leader's secretary and the leader's driver are two types of people who cannot be offended.

There is even a saying that it is better to offend the leader than the leader's secretary.

What I mean is that it's easy to get over it if you offend the leader, but you often get no good results if you offend the leader's secretary.

Because leadership secretaries are usually very narrow-minded and have many tricks, and they like to retaliate the most.

"Forget it." Mrs. Chen persuaded her kindly at this time, "Don't make it difficult for the masters. They probably don't have the intention."

"Hmph!" Chen Jiabang snorted coldly, "If you have such a contemptuous attitude towards the Chinese people in the future, I will definitely ask your leader for an explanation!"

The two master drivers nodded quickly and bowed, saying no.

This little episode made Cao Zhiqiang a little confused, because the two masters didn't say anything just now. They just looked at each other after seeing them. Why did Chen Jiabang get so angry?

But this was not the time to ask such questions, so Cao Zhiqiang hurriedly got into the first car.

Cao Lili and Qiao Simei got on the bus with Cao Zhiqiang, while Chen Jiabang and his wife were in the car behind.

Although the Nissan Duke at this time was actually just like that in Cao Zhiqiang's opinion, in this era, it was synonymous with luxury cars, and ordinary leaders could not fit in it.

Many people remember the Crown. In fact, the number of imported Crown cars during this period could not be compared to the Nissan Duke.

Crown cars really started to become popular in China in the 1990s.

In the early 1980s, the most popular high-end imported sedan in China was actually the Nissan Duke sedan, followed by the rare Crown sedan.

It's normal for Nanjing's bus rental company to dispatch two Nissan Duke sedans, but if it's a Crown, it's a bit abnormal.

But no matter what, being able to sit in a Nissan Duke at this time is also a very stylish thing, and you can go back and brag to others.

Visiting someone in a Duke's limousine is enough in terms of face, and even ordinary leaders can't compare with it.

Under the guidance of Qiao Simei and Cao Lili, the car walked through the streets and soon came to a stop in a courtyard residential area.

In fact, the parking spot is not in front of Qiao Zuwang's house, but if you go further in, it will be difficult to drive because the alley is too narrow.

So the car could only stop at the intersection, and then everyone walked into the alley and walked to Qiao Zuwang's house.

As for the two drivers, they can only wait here.

Fortunately, Cao Zhiqiang did not treat them badly. Each of them gave a tip of five yuan, which was enough to make them smile.

Even if they are luxury car drivers and are well-informed, a five-dollar tip is not common.

In fact, foreign guests who come to China during this period, no matter what the purpose is, like to tip, and they often tip directly in foreign currency, such as US dollars and Hong Kong dollars.

However, because during this period, taxi drivers and hotel waiters were all employees of state-owned enterprises, so after receiving tips, they had to turn them over and could not keep them for themselves.

Especially foreign exchange, you must not keep it by yourself. Once discovered, it will be a very serious matter.

Therefore, during this period, even those who receive foreign guests will find it difficult to keep foreign exchange easily, unless you are not from a formal unit, or you are alone without outside supervision.

Therefore, despite the fact that the two chefs drive luxury cars, they also receive a lot of foreign guests and collect a lot of tips. In fact, they basically don’t accept them privately, they all have to be turned over.

However, if a Chinese person gives RMB, then it won’t be a big problem.
To be continued...