1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 52 He'd Really Eat the Pie If There Was One (Third Update!)
Zhou Yan bought 37 jin of meat, over 20 jin of beef offal and tendon, several bundles of small green vegetables, and two cabbages today, filling his basket to the brim.

Looking at Zhou Momo, who was sleeping soundly in the basket next to him, he was a little troubled.

"I'm done here. Give me the basket, I'll take it back for you. You take Fourth Aunt and Momo." Zhou Jie walked over with a smile, took the heavy basket from Zhou Yan's hands, and casually put it on his back.

"Okay, take it easy." Zhou Yan greeted with a smile, then picked up Aunt Zhao and followed behind Zhou Jie.

Although the 28-inch bicycle is good, it is still a bit overwhelmed when it needs to carry both people and goods.

On the way, Zhou Yan pondered whether to get Zhao Niangniang a bicycle or to modify the back seat, like those peddlers, by fixing two baskets directly to the sides. The back seat would be a bit uncomfortable to sit on, but it could hold a lot of things.

Three-wheeled vehicles can carry goods, but the country roads aren't very good to ride these days, so they're not as practical as older bicycles.

He couldn't delegate the task of purchasing ingredients to anyone else.

With his talent for judging quality, he can tell the difference between good and bad ingredients at a glance—a skill that only seasoned chefs can develop through countless mistakes.

High-quality ingredients are also one of the hotel's competitive advantages, and an important factor in differentiating itself from other restaurants and street vendors.

Back at the hotel, Zhao Hong and Zhou Lihui had already arrived and came forward to help carry the basket on their backs.

"Auntie can sleep so well, she can even fall asleep on the bus." Zhou Lihui peeked into the basket and saw Zhou Momo peeking out from behind it.

“When your child was little, he slept even more. He would eat and sleep all day long, and then eat again when he woke up,” Zhao Hong said with a smile.

"Wouldn't that make him a pig spirit?" Zhou Lihui scratched his head.

"Brother Jie, you've been here learning these past few days. Is Brother Haizi managing all the work?" Zhou Yan asked casually as he took the basket off Zhou Jie's car.

“Your two sisters-in-law are going to help, and my mom is helping with the dishes too, no problem at all,” Zhou Jie said with a smile. “But this morning he’s going to take my mom to the county to buy wedding candy and stuff, not to set up a stall. If she comes back early at noon, she said she wants to come over and learn from him.”

"If there's anything you need me to do, just let me know. As your younger brother, I'll definitely do my part," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

The most important event for the Zhou family right now is Zhou Hao's wedding, and his brothers Zhou Hai and Zhou Fei are all very enthusiastic about it.

Perhaps they thought Zhou Yan was busy at the shop and hadn't asked him to do anything yet.

"It's nothing, everything is almost ready. We're just a little short on wedding candy and other odds and ends. My mom will go and buy them all today." Zhou Jie waved his hand and said seriously, "Your restaurant business is just picking up. You just need to manage the restaurant well. Any of us brothers can handle the business."

“Okay.” Zhou Yan nodded.

"Did you sell all the vegetables you prepared yesterday? How was business last night?" Zhou Jie asked with concern. He had gone back home after finishing his work at noon yesterday, and Zhou Yan hadn't sold a single crucian carp yet.

"Yes, it's all sold out, that's why we brought so many vegetables today, ready to make a big splash." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile, "I estimate business will be even better today."

"Great! Everyone knows how to appreciate good food!" Zhou Jie clapped his hands and said happily, "I'll help you wash the vegetables. I washed the beef offal very thoroughly the second time."

Zhou Jie is a skilled worker, helping to clean oxtails, bones, and offal, which greatly improves efficiency.

Apprentice Zhou Lihui was also full of energy, carrying buckets of well water and pouring them into the large pot, becoming more and more skilled.

Today, when making this pot of broth, Zhou Yan let Zhou Jie do it himself, while he was responsible for giving instructions from the side.

Zhou Jie is an expert at making soup pots, having been doing it for two and a half years. Yesterday, he carefully studied the recipe in his notebook, and today he immediately made it quite well, requiring almost no reminders from Zhou Yan.

"Zhou Jie learns much faster than me; he's almost mastered it in just one day," Zhao Tieying remarked, watching from the side.

"It's all thanks to Master Zhou's excellent teaching. He explained things in such detail that I understood it immediately," Zhou Jie said with a smile, while skimming the foam off the surface of the container.

"Then you stay here and skim off the foam, I'll go stir-fry the toppings and meat sauce." Zhou Yan smiled and turned to walk into the kitchen, calling Zhou Lihui, who was reciting multiplication tables, into the kitchen as well.

"Uncle, when can I start learning to cook?" Zhou Lihui looked at Zhou Yan with expectant eyes.

“You’ve been learning ever since you stepped into the kitchen,” Zhou Yan said seriously. “You should learn to start a fire first. This step will help you control the heat, and it will be very useful when you practice controlling the heat later.”

"Oh, I see!" Zhou Lihui's eyes lit up, and he immediately crawled behind the stove. "Then I'll light the fire first!"

"No rush, come and watch me chop vegetables. Today I'll teach you how to cut beef," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Can I cut the beef too?

“No, every piece of beef here is very useful. When radishes, which cost only a few cents a pound, are in season, you can use them to practice your knife skills.”

"Oh……"

It's not that Zhou Yan is stingy, it's just that he's genuinely poor.

Moreover, when he was learning to cook in the factory canteen, his master had him practice cutting shredded radishes and potatoes, not start cooking beef right away.

Zhou Lihui, on the other hand, maintained a proper attitude, standing ramrod straight and watching intently, occasionally asking a few questions. Zhao Hong entered and exited the kitchen several times, her footsteps becoming lighter each time, a smile playing on her lips.

Today, Zhou Yan prepared eighty servings of noodles, but added twenty more bowls of braised beef.

In addition, we prepared 30 portions each of braised beef with dried bamboo shoots and minced beef with double peppers, 20 portions of crucian carp, and 12 portions of spare ribs.

The eight servings of pork ribs prepared yesterday sold out, but Zhou Yan believes that this was a compromise for most customers who had no other dishes to choose from, and does not mean that braised pork ribs are a best-selling dish.

The double-pepper minced beef and braised beef with bamboo shoots, priced at one yuan each, seem to offer better value for money.

Or you could add another four cents for a serving of crucian carp with mint, which is a large portion and goes well with rice.

Braised pork ribs are savory and sweet, and kids love them. The factory manager's meal yesterday proved that. Once there are more family gatherings, they should sell well.

Adjusting the daily food supply flexibly is something a qualified boss should do.

The reason why Comrade Xiao Zhou suffered such heavy losses was because he was too honest and had no experience in restaurant management. Every day, he wasted a lot of ingredients.

Business this morning was similar to yesterday; eighty bowls of noodles were sold out. The number of customers coming to eat noodles each day has stabilized, and it will be difficult to make a significant breakthrough in the short term.

Zhou Yan was quite satisfied with the number of customers; the waiting time wasn't too long, and there was enough room to sit down, making for a good overall dining experience.

The workers had all gone to work, and Zhou Jie helped clear the bowls, remarking with some emotion, "Business is really good; I didn't expect everyone to love noodles so much."

"Do you want to learn?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

"I can't learn even a little bit." Zhou Jie shook his head like a rattle drum. "Let's not even talk about your amazing ramen-making skills. I can't even stir-fry the meat sauce and toppings. The stir-fried beef with chili peppers that you made was just amazing. I'm not afraid of embarrassing myself, I'm afraid of losing face if people say that you taught me."

"I'll be content if I can make a good soup pot. Quality over quantity is the key." Zhou Jie grinned and said confidently, "A lifetime is about one pot of soup. As long as I do it well, I think I can make money."

“That makes sense. From now on, you’ll be the King of Beef with Pork Belly in Pork Belly,” Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"No, no," Zhou Jie shook his head, pointing to the pot by the door and saying, "This is your improved version of Qiaojiao Beef. You are the King of Qiaojiao Beef. I am at most a general. I will go wherever you point."

"Everyone's life is getting better and better now. If we save money these next two years, we can open a branch of Qiaojiao Beef in Jiaozhou and Chengdu. We'll buy cars and live in apartments," Zhou Yan said with a smile, painting a rosy picture.

"A car? An apartment!" Zhou Jie's eyes lit up. "I'll take it!"

He actually ate the cakes.

……

The fact that the factory manager ate at Zhou Erwa Restaurant yesterday and gave it high praise has become anecdote, and it tastes even better when eaten together with the gossip about the cafeteria farce yesterday noon.

There's no era when it comes to gossiping; we should still enjoy it.

The factory's decision on how to deal with the factory canteen is still pending, and the food there remains terrible. The fact that Zhou Erwa Restaurant has managed to beat the canteen has become a running joke among everyone when they're slacking off at work.

The old story of Zhou Yan standing up for his master and beating up Wang Defa, which resulted in his expulsion, has also been brought up again, and multiple versions of rumors have emerged, becoming more and more outrageous.

The store opens at noon, and many customers come from far and wide.

Zhao Dong is one of them.

"Comrade Zhou, you've finally started cooking!" Zhao Dong said, shaking Zhou Yan's hand as soon as he entered the store.

As the trigger for yesterday's canteen incident, he was reprimanded by Deputy Factory Director Liu Yusheng afterward, and was also singled out for criticism at a meeting. He was also required to write a thousand-word self-criticism, leaving him feeling somewhat depressed.

Of course, it's a common understanding that the stir-fries and communal dishes in the canteen are unpalatable; even the deputy factory director admits this.

The main reason he was criticized was that he was the workshop director who led the trouble, showing a lack of organization and discipline. Writing a self-criticism was considered a light punishment. He wasn't given a demerit because he didn't raise his hand when everyone voted.

Although everyone outwardly disapproved of Zhao Dong's actions, they secretly gave him a thumbs-up after the meeting.

Who doesn't feel angry after eating the food in the cafeteria?
I heard this morning that Zhou Erwa's restaurant has new dishes, and even the old factory director said they were good. Who can resist that?

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the workday, Zhao Dong grabbed a lunch buddy and hurried over to eat.

When it came to ruining the factory canteen, Zhao Dong was willing to be the vanguard!
"After the factory manager finished eating yesterday, he asked which dish was the best?" Zhao Dong asked Zhou Yan.

The guests who followed him in also looked at him with a similar sense of anticipation.

　It's past midnight! Please vote with your monthly tickets and keep reading!
　　If we get 1500 monthly votes tomorrow, I'll add an extra chapter!
　　Just write it!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)