English
Years ago I was staffed in Montgomery, Alabama. I had an uncle my favorite uncle actually, who
happened to live in Montgomery, Alabama. This story is my most proudest moment which is why it will be my best or next to last chapters.
My uncle was more of a father figure to me and his wife was my second mom. She passed away a few years ago, I miss her so much. I miss the family, I hate how we age and grow older. I would freeze that year if I traveled back to experience it. Maybe one day so I can be an observer. That was such a great year. True testament to miracles.
My uncle had this beautiful restaurant called Emperor’s Garden. It was made for big family parties. Plenty of round tables with lazy susan’s. The first night after work was done, I quietly went to the restaurant without my coworkers. This was a special moment. I must do it alone.
When I went in, there wasn’t anyone there. I instantly saw my nut and said, “Hey 2nd aunt I am Telap. How are you” in our tiny Chinese dialect.
She looked at me strange, said “How are you!” in English. I repeated in Chinese then the phone rang. It was Mama Tan. She proceeds to tell her that I am in town & would be coming to the restaurant. It took a few seconds to register, but boy did her energy shift from confusion to pure joy! She immediately pushed me into the kitchen where my uncle was. This was day 1. It was a great day!
Emperor’s Garden once was the talk of the town until it wasn’t. As with everything in life, there is a beginning, middle, and end. The location for Emperor’s Garden was across the street from the Montgomery Mall. If the mall did well, my uncle’s restaurant would also do well. As you can imagine over time, it was failing and fading hard. The location hotspot shifted 20 miles.
The time I spent in Montgomery is precious.
I did not leave for home. Montgomery was home during this period. We stayed of the Residence
Inn off of Carmichael Rd. It is now closed. Work was downtown and my uncle’s restaurant was 30 minutes away. Montgomery was very spread out. My uncle’s restaurant failed because the prime location shifted to Interstate 85 in a new developing area called Eastchase. That created an entire new market. Everything shifted. Even home neighborhoods shifted. Luckily my uncle
had upgraded homes and his newer home was closer towards Eastchase.
My mission was clear. Save my uncle, save the family, save our legacy. The good news was my uncle was one of the best cooks in our family. My coworkers all had money and loved great food. Each night they would come with me to eat at my uncle’s restaurant. Every night 6-7 people would come. We preordered too! Peking Duck, Red The Curry Chicken add cashews, Mu Shu Pork. I would even have to fold all the pancakes for my coworkers. Those memories are so precious to me.
The conversation I had with my uncle to shift his thoughts on his situation was not easy. In the end, I told him I loved his family. Whatever he chooses I would support him. I asked him “If things remained the same, what would life look like for his family in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years? Is this where you wanted to be! If not, let’s do something about it.”
He says to me,”You tell me. How do we fund the new project?”
I replied, “Can we sell Emperor’s Garden?”
I can’t remember who suggested selling the restaurant, but it was one of the keys. The other was selling an employee house that needed some yard work done. My cousin and I would take care of this on the weekend.
On the evening I had that initial conversation with my uncle, we went driving around town
for a new location. New location, new restaurant name. We drove around town and located 2-3 locations. I copied the numbers I called immediately to hear details for lease information and size.
Newer locations were expensive as expected. The one older location that we did not like called.
and I let him know our situation. Out of nowhere, the realtor provides the miracle we were looking for. He says to me, “We have a location that is a restaurant. They are getting evicted. Would your uncle be interested in this location?”
My response, “Buddy, if you give me an address, time, and date. I will drive them there personally and I will close the deal myself.”
The location was less than 10 minutes from their home and next to a very popular restaurant called Sinclair’s. My consulting project provided air cover and reason for me to stay and help the family with renovation work. In less than 12 months, we were able to sell two properties, secure the new location, renovate, and open. My coworkers were invited to the soft opening. They became great customers to the very end when we finished our project.
Renovation work brought me so close to my uncle and his family. This included my cousin’s kids too. Day in and day out, I was with my family. From soup to nuts, we created Asia Bistro. I designed the logo, sign, menu’s, website, socials, etc. We renovated the interior together as a family. My cousins and I painted the walls light green. My uncle and I built a walk-in freezer. Life was perfect. We make a road trip to North Carolina where the majority of the family lives and come back with restaurant supplies donated from the rest of the family. My aunts and uncles all owned restaurants at one point in time.
In my uncle’s Toyota 4 Runner, we pulled a trailer packed with restaurant supplies. Driving back to Alabama was such a challenging trip due to the weight of the trailer. We were both driving. It was a miracle we made it back in one piece. I recall us almost flipping due to the weight. We took turns almost every hour because of the difficulty.
Fast forward to 2024 and my aunt passes away from cancer. It broke me. I get teary just thinking and writing about it.
简体中文
多年前，我曾被派驻到阿拉巴马州的蒙哥马利市工作。我有一位叔叔——确切地说，是我最喜爱的一位叔叔——恰好就住在阿拉巴马州的蒙哥马利。这个故事记录了我人生中最引以为豪的时刻，正因如此，它将作为我这本回忆录中最精彩、或是倒数第二精彩的章节呈现给大家。
我的叔叔对我而言更像是一位父亲，而他的妻子则像我的第二位母亲。几年前她去世了，我至今仍对她思念不已。我怀念那段与家人共度的时光；我痛恨岁月的无情流逝，痛恨我们终将老去。如果能穿越回那个年代，我真希望能将时光永远定格在那一年。也许有朝一日，我能以旁观者的身份重温那段岁月。那是多么美好的一年啊！它真切地印证了奇迹的存在。
叔叔经营着一家名为“帝王花园”（Emperor’s Garden）的精致餐厅。那是一家专为大型家庭聚会而设计的餐厅，里面摆满了配有转盘（Lazy Susan）的大圆桌。在结束工作后的第一个夜晚，我悄悄地独自前往餐厅，没有带上任何同事。那是一个极具特殊意义的时刻——我必须独自去完成它。
当我走进餐厅时，里面空无一人。我一眼就认出了我的婶婶，便用我们家乡特有的那小众方言对她说：“嘿，二婶！我是Telap（特拉普）。你好吗？”
她一脸诧异地看着我，用英语回了一句：“你好！”我用中文又重复了一遍，就在这时，电话响了。打电话来的是谭妈妈（Mama Tan）。她告诉婶婶，我已经来到了蒙哥马利，正准备去餐厅找她。婶婶花了几秒钟才反应过来，但天哪！她的神情瞬间从困惑转为了纯粹的狂喜！她立刻拉着我冲进了厨房，那里正是叔叔所在的地方。这就是我在蒙哥马利的第一天。那是多么美好的一天啊！
“帝王花园”餐厅曾一度是全城热议的焦点，但好景不长，终究归于沉寂。正如世间万物一样，任何事物都有其开端、发展与终结。当时，“帝王花园”的店址就在蒙哥马利购物中心（Montgomery Mall）的马路对面。如果购物中心的生意兴隆，叔叔的餐厅自然也会跟着红火。然而，正如大家可以想象的那样，随着时间的推移，餐厅的生意每况愈下，最终彻底衰败、黯然失色。因为当地的商业热点区域已经向外转移了足足二十英里之遥。
我在蒙哥利度过的这段时光，对我而言弥足珍贵。
我并没有离开蒙哥利回到老家。在那段日子里，蒙哥利就是我的家。我们当时下榻在卡迈克尔路（Carmichael Rd）旁边的“Residence Inn”酒店。如今，那家酒店也已经停业了。我的工作地点在市中心，而叔叔的餐馆却远在30分钟车程之外。蒙哥马利这座城市的布局非常分散。叔叔的餐馆之所以经营不善，是因为黄金地段已经转移到了85号州际公路沿线，即那个名为“Eastchase”的新开发区。这一变迁催生了一个全新的市场。一切都随之转移了——甚至连居民社区的分布也发生了变化。幸运的是，叔叔此前曾对住房进行过升级换代，他那套新居的位置离Eastchase区域更近一些。
我的使命非常明确：拯救叔叔，拯救这个家族，拯救我们的家族传承。好消息是，叔叔是我们家族里厨艺最精湛的人之一。我的同事们个个经济宽裕，且都酷爱美食。每到下班后，他们都会陪我一同前往叔叔的餐馆用餐。几乎每晚都有六七位同事光顾。我们甚至会提前点好菜！比如北京烤鸭、加了腰果的红咖喱鸡，以及木须肉。我甚至得亲自动手，把那些薄饼一一卷好分给同事们享用。那些回忆对我而言，是何等的珍贵。
想要转变叔叔对当前困境的固有思维，与他进行那番推心置腹的交谈绝非易事。最终，我告诉他：我深爱着他的家人。无论他做出何种抉择，我都会无条件地支持他。我问他：“如果现状维持不变，那么一年、两年、乃至五年之后，你家人的生活会变成什么样子？这真的是你所向往的生活吗？如果不是，那我们就得采取行动，去改变它！”
他看着我说道：“那你告诉我吧。我们要如何筹措资金来启动这个新项目呢？”
我回答道：“我们能不能把‘帝王花园’（Emperor’s Garden）那家餐馆卖掉？”
我已经记不清究竟是谁最先提议要卖掉餐馆了，但这确实是解决问题的关键之一。另一个关键举措，则是卖掉一处原本供员工居住的房产——那处房子当时正需要进行一些庭院修整工作。我和表弟利用周末的时间，把这项修整任务全权包揽了下来。
就在我与叔叔进行那次初步交谈的当晚，我们驱车在城里四处转悠，物色新的店址。新的店址，意味着餐馆也将启用一个新的名字。我们在城里转了一大圈，最终锁定了两三个潜在的地点。我立刻记下了联系电话，并逐一拨打过去，详细咨询了租赁价格、场地面积等具体信息。
正如预料的那样，那些位于新兴地段的铺位租金都高得惊人。后来，有一位房产中介打来了电话——他所代理的那个铺位地段相对老旧，原本并不在我们心仪的名单之列。我向他如实说明了我们目前的处境。没想到，就在这意想不到的一刻，这位中介竟然为我们带来了那个我们苦苦寻觅的“奇迹”般的解决方案。他对我说：“我们手头有个铺位，之前是一家餐馆。现在租客正面临被驱逐。你叔叔有没有兴趣接手这个铺位？”
我当即回应道：“伙计，只要你把地址、具体时间和日期告诉我，我就亲自开车带他们过去，并且亲自把这笔买卖敲定下来。”
这个铺位距离他们家不到10分钟车程，而且紧邻一家名为“Sinclair’s”的人气餐厅。我当时正在进行的咨询项目恰好为我提供了绝佳的“掩护”与理由，让我得以留下来，协助这家人进行店铺的翻新工程。在不到12个月的时间里，我们成功售出了两处房产，拿下了这个新铺位，完成了翻新装修，并正式开业。我的同事们也受邀出席了试营业活动。从那时起，直到我们项目圆满收官，他们始终都是这家店最忠实、最棒的顾客。
那段装修的日子让我与叔叔及他的家人走得格外亲近——这其中也包括我表亲的孩子们。日复一日，我始终与家人相伴。从筹划到落地，我们亲手打造了“亚洲小馆”（Asia Bistro）。我负责设计了店标、招牌、菜单、网站、社交媒体主页等一切视觉元素；而店内的装修工作，则是我们全家人齐心协力共同完成的。我和表亲们一起把墙壁粉刷成了淡绿色；我和叔叔则联手搭建了一间步入式冷库。那段时光，生活简直完美无缺。我们曾驱车前往北卡罗来纳州——那里聚居着家族里的大多数亲戚——并满载着亲人们捐赠的餐厅物资而归。毕竟，我的叔叔阿姨们在过去都曾经营过餐馆。
我们用叔叔那辆丰田4Runner越野车拖着一辆挂车，车上塞满了各种餐厅用品。由于挂车重量巨大，那趟返回阿拉巴马州的旅程变得异常艰难。我和叔叔轮流驾车，能最终平安无事地抵达目的地，简直就是一个奇迹。我至今仍清晰地记得，当时车身曾因负重过大而险些侧翻。正因路况险峻、驾驶难度极高，我们几乎每隔一小时就要轮换一次司机。
时光飞逝，转眼到了2024年，我的阿姨因罹患癌症不幸离世。这一噩耗彻底击垮了我。每当回想起这段往事，哪怕只是将其诉诸笔端，我依然会忍不住热泪盈眶。