Huayu Chef

Wild Kitchen, March 14th, morning.

Zhang Jinxuan, Sister Liu, and Tang Qiwen arrived at the shop early to prepare braised dishes, including braised pork, braised chicken feet, and braised duck parts. They opened the shop promptly at nine o'clock to welcome customers.

Yesterday, the store was open all day. Many residents of the Beiying Community knew that a new braised food shop had opened on the commercial street. Business was good, the braised food was delicious, and many elderly people, housewives and other family members came in to inquire about the prices.

This morning was slightly busier than yesterday morning.

Around 11 a.m., a senior from the directing department brought a large group of people to lunch. Most of them were people in the industry who run studios in the Beijing Film Academy campus and Huangtingzi community.

Zhang Jinxuan received them very warmly. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. If the relationship is good, he can get money out of their pockets every day. He is very happy.

For Wild Kitchen to survive in the long run, it needs to: 1) vigorously promote and attract new customers; 2) focus on improving quality and repeat purchases; and 3) offer good value for money and excellent service.

Universities like Beijing Film Academy, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing Medical University, and Beijing No. 6 University all have their own canteens, which compete with the "wild kitchens".

Students' overall spending power, repurchase rate, and stability are not as good as those of social workers. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the surrounding community residents and office workers into fans of the "wild kitchen" as much as possible. Only with a basic customer base can the "wild kitchen" gain a foothold and avoid closing down after 5 to 8 months.

"Senior Brother Zhang Jinxuan."

Huang Mengying, Xu Lianglan, Xie Jin, Xie Yufei, and Liu Mingjun from the Women's Gang are back again.

"My five junior sisters, what would you like to eat today?"

Huang Mengying smiled and said, "I heard that braised pork rice is delicious, we'd like to try it."

"How about one serving of braised pork rice each?"

"Please have less rice, we have small appetites."

"The small portion is 11 pieces."

Huang Mengying took out 55 yuan from her wallet and handed it to Zhang Jinxuan. Zhang Jinxuan accepted the money and said, "Find a place to sit and wait. It will be ready soon."

"Thank you for your help, senior brother."

"Please come bother me every day from now on. I'm so happy to see you all."

Xu Lianglan chuckled and teased, "Senior brother, are you happy to see a beautiful woman, or are you interested in the money in our wallets?"

"No, no, no, women who spend money are the most charming—elegant, independent, confident, and strong..."

Huang Mengying and the others giggled, no longer daring to listen to Zhang Jinxuan's sweet talk, and quickly found a place to sit down, waiting for the braised pork rice to be served.

Through the kitchen window, the five women could see Zhang Jinxuan making braised pork rice. He looked focused and serious, and he was also handsome and quite charming.

Soon, five servings of braised pork rice were delivered to Huang Mengying and the others.

The small portion of braised pork rice is quite generous, with soup, kimchi, vegetables, braised egg, pork, and rice. It's a good variety of dishes, a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, and looks very appetizing.

Huang Mengying picked up the braised egg from the greens and put it in her mouth. She gently bit it open and felt that what she was eating was not a braised egg, but something made of meat. It was stewed so well that even the yolk seemed to have the aroma of meat.

"Absolutely brilliant."

"I thought braised pork would be very fatty and greasy, but it was surprisingly fragrant and not greasy at all. I think I could eat a whole bowl of it."

"The broth is the soul of the dish! I can taste the aroma of scallions, sweetness, and mushrooms. The rice is coated in the broth, making it fragrant and moist. It's so delicious! This is the best braised pork rice I've ever had."

"There probably aren't many braised pork rice restaurants in the South that can match this level, right?"

Hearing her friends' exclamations of surprise, Huang Mengying smiled without saying a word. She ate a piece of pickled radish, and her eyes lit up immediately. This was the taste of home.

Very authentic Sichuan pickled vegetables.

She looked up at Zhang Jinxuan, a hint of curiosity in her beautiful eyes. It had only been two years since her senior graduated 10 years ago, yet his cooking skills were already this good.

That's impressive.

In fact, Zhang Jinxuan has been studying food for more than two years. In his previous life, he "went astray" 13 years later and became self-taught. He immersed himself in food for ten years, and braised pork rice, tiger skin chicken feet, and black duck are his signature dishes.

"What would you ladies like to eat?"

"Three servings of braised pork rice."

"Hold on."

"Hey handsome, your name is Zhang Jinxuan, right?"

"right."

"From the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy?"

"hold head high."

"You studied acting, why are you opening a restaurant?"

"To serve the public."

"Tch, all talk and no action. Can I take a picture?"

"Filming is allowed, but commercial use and illegal applications are prohibited."

OK.

"Senior Brother Zhang Jinxuan, can I take a picture with you?"

"Is your junior from Beijing Film Academy?"

"From Peking University Medical School."

"Wow, what a genius! Come here, let me soak up some of your talent."

After Huang Mengying and the others finished eating, they saw Zhang Jinxuan interacting with others, so they didn't disturb him and quietly left.

The day's sales reached a new high of 9507.5 yuan, just 500 yuan away from breaking 10,000 yuan.

Friday, December 15.

The morning was alright, not too many customers. But around noon, a group of people who just wanted to eat suddenly appeared and filled all 44 seats in the dining area, leaving later arrivals standing and waiting for a table.

Out of sheer boredom, several girls raised their phones and started taking pictures of Zhang Jinxuan.

Zhang Jinxuan asked around and found out that they were from the same university and had come to eat braised pork rice because they didn't have classes in the afternoon.

This is normal.

To put it simply, take the "Jinhua Pickles" shop on the same commercial street. It claims to be the only Xiangxi pickles shop in Beijing, and many people take taxis specifically to buy it. In my previous life, there were tons of recommendations on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).

Zhang Jinxuan mobilized seven universities, using both beauty and food as a two-pronged approach, which is sure to be effective in attracting visitors.

Students have plenty of free time on weekends, so the large number of people coming easily fills up small restaurants like Wild Kitchen.

Especially during afternoon and evening mealtimes, it's absolutely packed with people.

The table turnover rate has reached its limit, and there are simply no empty seats available.

Zhang Jinxuan, Tang Qiwen, and Sister Liu were so busy selling braised dishes that they were overwhelmed with customers who were determined to eat braised pork rice, which also packed the nearby barbecue restaurant.

They were busy until 8 p.m., and all the braised pork, braised chicken feet, and black duck were sold out. There wasn't even a single leaf of green vegetable left.

"Boss, could you make some more? We can wait."

"Yes, as long as the phone has power, it doesn't matter how long it takes."

"Boss, seize this opportunity to make money and get started now."

"Hey handsome, I want to eat some chicken feet~"

"Senior brother~~"

Zhang Jinxuan looked exhausted and shook his head weakly, saying, "It's too late, I can't do it, I simply can't. Let's all come back tomorrow."

"Boss, what time do you open tomorrow?"

"We open promptly at nine o'clock."

"Okay, make a lot tomorrow, I want to buy a big bag."

"We'll start tonight."

After the guests left, Zhang Jinxuan slammed the door shut and slumped into a chair.

Sister Liu and Tang Qiwen are similar.

After resting for a while, Zhang Jinxuan asked Tang Qiwen to go to the barbecue restaurant next door to buy three boxes of fried rice and some skewers. While eating, he called Chen Binghua and Sister Lai, the two food suppliers, and asked them to deliver the food overnight.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and the braised dishes in the store are sure to sell out.

Actually, we had a small boom today, with sales almost equaling the total of the past two days, reaching nearly 15,000 yuan.

So terrifying.