Chapter 408 - 204: A Nice Fish-Flavored Tofu
Zhou Yan: ...
’Lin really is a man of temperament.’
"Lin, next time there’s an opportunity, I’ll be sure to invite you," Zhou Yan said with a smile.
"The next time you invite me will probably be for your wedding." Lin Zhiqiang looked at him and said in a low voice, "Are you still in touch with Xia Yao these days?"
"We’ve been exchanging letters." Zhou Yan nodded, feeling like a kid caught by his parents.
"That’s good." Lin Zhiqiang nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.
As the two chatted, the topic quickly shifted to the return of Hong Kong and US-China relations.
Of course, Qian Siyuan was the one who had brought the topic up.
...
Around ten o’clock the next morning, just as Zhou Yan was scooping the braised vegetables out of the pot, Xiao Lei and Zheng Qiang arrived with Luo.
"Master Zhou, we’ve come to learn from you," Xiao Lei said with a wide smile as he walked into the kitchen.
"Please give us your guidance, Master Zhou," Zheng Qiang followed up with a chuckle.
"Master Zhou, please give us some pointers," Luo added, following them into the kitchen.
Zhou Yan: ...
’Sometimes I really want to call the police.’
"You braise this much at once? Can you sell it all?" Luo’s face showed a hint of shock as he looked at the winnowing basket piled high with braised meat and the basins filled with braised vegetables.
This was over a hundred pounds of braised meat, and it looked like there were over a hundred pounds of braised vegetables, too.
’A small restaurant in a town can sell this much braised food in a single day?’
Their Le Ming Restaurant also had a cold-dish chef who specialized in braised foods. He normally only braised thirty to forty pounds of meat. On holidays he’d make more, but it would never exceed a hundred pounds.
But Le Ming Restaurant was one of the top two grand restaurants in Jiazhou!
With a century-long legacy, it had once surpassed Feiyan Restaurant, and it was now the primary restaurant in Jiazhou for hosting leaders and foreign guests.
"Sell it all? Sometimes it’s not even enough." Before Zhou Yan could speak, Xiao Lei had already interjected with a laugh. "Luo, you can’t underestimate our Jiazhou Textile Factory. Being a major taxpayer and a top foreign exchange earner isn’t just bragging. Three thousand employees, and their salaries are in the top tier in Jiazhou. When workers have high wages, they’re willing to spend a little more on food."
Zhou Yan nodded. "We basically sell out. Sometimes there’s a pound or two left over."
’It’s a good thing they were a dozen minutes late. Huang He just left with his braised meat. If Luo had seen that, it would have been bad.’
After all, Le Ming Restaurant and Feiyan Restaurant had been competing to be the number one restaurant in Jiazhou for more than a year or two; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them bitter rivals with a long-standing grudge.
"This is just incredible!" Luo was flabbergasted. ’Selling a hundred pounds of braised meat and a hundred pounds of braised vegetables... how much money would that be?’
’At least a hundred yuan, right?’
’My god!’
𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
’Earning over a hundred a day! That’s more than my monthly salary!’
’Are private business owners making that much money now?!’
As Luo mulled it over, he felt a bit dazed.
Last week, he’d had drinks with Xiao Lei, who let him in on something: in one month of working as a rural caterer and hosting ten outdoor banquets, Xiao Lei had pocketed over six hundred yuan, and Zheng Qiang had even made four hundred.
He had been tempted even then. He’d worked at Le Ming Restaurant for over twenty years, and including seniority and all the miscellaneous subsidies, his monthly salary was only one hundred and eight yuan.
It was one thing to earn less than Zheng Qiang, but today he’d discovered he earned even less than what Zhou Yan’s restaurant made in a single day just from selling braised food.
His Dao Heart was suddenly a bit shaken.
The desire to "jump into the sea" was stirring restlessly within him.
"See? I told you there are opportunities everywhere these days, didn’t I?" Xiao Lei said with a smile. "With your skills, if you came out to start your own business, you could rent a shop in a busy part of Jiazhou and just sell stir-fries. Keep the menu simple at first, make Flash-Fried Salt-and-Pepper Pork the signature dish, and don’t overextend yourself. Making a few hundred yuan a month would be no problem—definitely more than you make at Le Ming."
"Luo, when have I ever lied to you? I used to think being a private business owner was undignified, that not even a dog would do it.
But after I started, I realized... damn, it’s awesome!"
"I... I’ve never run a business before. I don’t have any experience, and I’m not very good at dealing with people," Luo said, his face full of hesitation.
Xiao Lei shot him a look. "You tell me, out of this whole wave of new business owners, who has any experience? We’re all blank slates, just out here winging it and working hard."
"You do have a point," Luo nodded.
Zhou Yan listened to them chat for a bit before smiling and chiming in. "Master Luo, if you really want to come out and open a restaurant, the next couple of years are indeed a great opportunity. But there’s a lot to learn about running a shop—I’ve fallen into quite a few pits myself. If you’re serious about it, you can come to me for advice. I’ll help you plan things out. Let’s not talk about making money yet; the first step is to avoid losing it."