Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

The Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings was decent. It wasn’t as stunning as his other dishes, just a solid, standard side that went well with rice.

For a simple stir-fried vegetable dish, being decent was good enough.

Besides, no restaurant was going to make a forty-cent vegetable dish taste out of this world. If they did, how would they ever sell their meat dishes?

After paying, the siblings took the packed-up marinated meat and cycled back to the city.

"Making three round trips in one day... at this rate, she’ll probably lose over ten pounds in a month. Good for her," Mrs. Zhao muttered to herself with a smile, watching Huang Ying’s large figure recede.

The Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings that Huang Ying found unremarkable had become the workers’ new favorite today. Nearly every group that came in to eat ordered a plate.

At forty cents a plate, it was the cheapest of all the stir-fried and braised dishes!

The portions were generous, and it was rich with oil.

How many of the textile factory employees didn’t miss Master Xiao’s Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings?

"Mmm, this is the taste! It’s almost exactly like Master Xiao’s!"

"It’s cheap, but the flavor is spot on! It’s much richer than the cafeteria’s food, and the Fire Control and texture are better too!"

"These pork cracklings are so fragrant..."

The workers were singing its praises, while in the kitchen, Zhou Yan was working so fast his spatula was practically creating sparks.

As the weather cooled, the cabbage could last for three or four days. It was also used in the Kneeling Beef, so Zhou Yan usually kept a two-day supply, restocking as needed.

So, no matter how many orders of Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings came in, he always had it in stock.

Culinary skill was something forged one spatula at a time.

[A Decent Plate of Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings]

He could now consistently produce the dish, and each plate maintained a ’decent’ quality.

When he got into the zone, he even managed to produce a [A Pretty Good Plate of Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings].

’As long as I keep stir-frying at this intensity every day,’ Zhou Yan thought, ’my skills are bound to improve rapidly.’

Practice really did make perfect.

In the short term, this new dish, Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings, would have a limited impact on revenue. It might even lower the average customer’s spending, causing a slight dip in earnings.

However, a low-priced dish could, to some extent, lower the barrier for customers to come in.

For example, a group of three could order a plate of Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings and a plate of Spicy Stir-fried Pork Liver. The total would be just one yuan and twenty cents, averaging out to only forty cents per person—cheaper than a bowl of noodles.

But once they got into the habit of eating here from time to time, they definitely wouldn’t order Cabbage Stir-fried with Pork Cracklings every single visit. In the long run, it was like acquiring a new regular.

This was why many restaurants offered daily specials.

A forty-cent plate of Cabbage with Pork Cracklings had a cost of about ten cents, yielding a gross profit of thirty cents—a very respectable profit margin.

The customers were happy, and he was happy with his earnings. It was a good situation.

What he was looking forward to now was whether Huang He would take the initiative to seek him out in Suji after tasting his marinated meats.

Could Feiyan Restaurant become the first client for his marinated meats outside of Suji?

...

Feiyan Restaurant, main dining hall.

Huang He and Zhao Shulan sat behind the solid wood counter, looking at the four oil-paper packages lined up on it. Both wore surprised expressions. "Take-out marinated meat? From Zhao’s?"

Huang Ying looked at Huang He and said, "Dad, haven’t you been scouting marinated meat shops lately? Weren’t you thinking about hiring a marinade Chef or finding a shop to supply you?"

"Yes, I have been. Customers ask for it all the time. You need some marinated snacks to go with drinks," Huang He nodded. He had discussed this with Zhao Shulan at home a few times, but he was surprised that Huang Ying had actually remembered.

"Come and see what you think of this marinated meat."

Huang Ying got four plates, unwrapped the oil-paper packages, emptied the contents onto the plates, and placed them on a nearby round table.

Huang He and Zhao Shulan both walked over. Their eyes lit up as they looked at the four plates of marinated meat on the table.

There were thinly sliced marinated pig ears, the color of amber, dotted with white cartilage.

The marinated pig snout was also sliced very thin, while the marinated head meat was a bit thicker, boasting a glossy, reddish sheen that looked incredibly appetizing.

The most eye-catching item was the large marinated pig trotter, laid out on a plate and glistening so brightly it looked delicious just sitting there.

"This isn’t from Zhao’s. It looks really good," Huang He said, nodding repeatedly as he examined it from all angles. "The Chef who sliced this has excellent Knife Skills, too. The ear slices have to be thin for that crisp texture, but the head meat needs to be a bit thick to have the right chewiness and flavor."

"Go on, try it," Huang Ying said, handing him a pair of chopsticks.

Huang He picked up a slice of marinated pig ear first and put it in his mouth. His chewing grew slower and slower, as if he were trying to savor something specific, or perhaps deep in thought.

After swallowing, he picked up a piece of head meat. He had only chewed a few times when his expression suddenly changed.