COME AND EAT HERE (2)

A week later, Wang Peng’s restaurant was nearly full and he felt happier. Perhaps he would be able to earn his living after all and not have to close his restaurant. He did not look forward to being in debt because his restaurant was no longer popular. He smiled as he welcomed some customers warmly at the door but the smile left his face when he saw Yong Hui walking in. She did not look happy but glared at him. “May I ask what you were doing in my restaurant the other day? I thought you were a new customer and now I know that you only came to spy on me and my menu,” she shouted. “Please excuse me,” he calmly explained, “I wanted to know where all my customers had gone last week. I followed one of them and found them in your restaurant. I don’t want to upset you, but I found your menu so limited that I stopped worrying and started advertising the benefits of my food. Why don’t you sit down and try a meal?”

Yong Hui agreed to stay and soon they were both enjoying dumplings and breast of chicken cooked with garlic. When they were served the ice cream, Yong Hui began to look ill. “I feel sick with all this fat and heavy food,” she said, “I miss my vegetables and fruit.” Wang Peng was enjoying a second plate of dumplings so he sighed. “Yes,” he added, “and I would miss my dumplings and fatty pork. Don’t you get tired quickly?” “Well, I do have to rest a lot,” admitted

Yong Hui. “But don’t you think it would be better if you were a bit thinner? I’m sure you’d feel much healthier.”

They began to talk about menus and balanced diets. “According to my research, neither your restaurant nor mine offers a balanced diet,” explained Wang Peng.“I don’t offer enough fibre and you don’t offer enough body-building and energy-giving food. Perhaps we ought to combine our ideas and provide a balanced menu with food full of energy and fibre.” So that is what they did. They served raw vegetables with the hamburgers and boiled the potatoes rather than frying them. They served fresh fruit with the ice cream. In this way they cut down the fat and increased the fibre in the meal. Their balanced diets became such a success that before long Wang Peng became slimmer and Yong Hui put on more weight. After some time the two found that their business cooperation had turned into a personal one. Finally they got married and lived happily ever after.