National Tide 1980.

Do not believe?

Why not take a good look at the products in the liquor section of Da Dao Wu Chan?

Besides Chinese baijiu, huangjiu, and rice wine, and Japanese sake stockpiled at low prices as overstock, the most unbelievable thing about the store's shelves is that there are also various wines and spirits from France.

This is the supporting role played by Ning Weimin's businesses and connections in France.

Most of the wines and sparkling wines on the shelves are low-end products from wineries owned by Ning Weimin and Alain Delon.

The spirits come from LVMH Moët & Chandon's mid-to-low-end products—such as Hennessy VS, Glenmorangie whisky, and Cedar Vodka.

Nowadays, all these pure French goods can be imported into Japan through Maria's liquor store.

Now, the products sold in Da Dao Wu Shi stores are priced about 30% cheaper than similar products on the market.

In particular, Ning Weimin used the excuse of packaging defects to lower the prices of LVMH's wines in order to attract customers, with some prices even lower than those in airport duty-free shops.

Such a price advantage is absolutely unprecedented in Japan, and anyone who likes to drink foreign liquor would be astonished and speechless upon seeing it.

It's easy to imagine how attractive such exclusive sources and such unscrupulous price advantages would be to Japanese white-collar workers who admire foreign things and enjoy a few drinks.

Undoubtedly, this will allow Ning Weimin's large knife products to break through the limitations of the customer base and also attract a segment of corporate elites and white-collar workers as his customers.

Furthermore, food is of paramount importance to the people, and Chinese cuisine is considered the best in the world—this statement holds true everywhere.

Never forget that Ning Weimin's foundation in Japan was a catering team he had assembled from China that was capable of fighting tough battles.

With his business acumen, how could he not think of using his chefs to help him attract customers and gain a good reputation when a new store is opening and he urgently needs to expand its influence?

In fact, the most outstanding part of Da Dao Wu Chan's opening day was...

The place that can "win over" almost all customers regardless of class, age, gender, or nationality is the fast food area in the store that offers on-site cooking.

To be honest, when we first opened today, there weren't too many customers in the fast food area.

After all, most people's first focus upon entering is on the goods on the shelves, and since it's still some time before mealtime, most people don't have much of an appetite.

At this time, the customers who were willing to order food were either overseas Chinese living in Japan or students from the People's Republic of China studying abroad.

Even though some Japanese customers come here out of curiosity, their attitude is mostly hesitant.

For example, there were a few Japanese delinquents dressed in motorcycle outfits, exuding a thuggish air.

They were originally peering over the fast food counter, looking at the densely packed names of dishes written on the blackboard in the fast food area.

Steamed buns, stuffed pancakes, potstickers, steamed bread, dumplings, wontons, glutinous rice balls, fried rice, fried noodles, noodles with soybean paste, pork chop noodles, plain noodles, beef noodles, shredded chicken noodles... all kinds of Chinese snacks loved by people from both the north and south are available.

Especially when you watch the Chinese chefs use long chopsticks to flip the potstickers, the oil splattering on the hot plate with a sizzling sound, and the aroma quickly fills the entire space.

The boy in the lead gradually started drooling, seemingly quite interested in this Chinese food he was seeing for the first time.

But he had only managed to shout half a sentence in Japanese, "I want..." when a companion tugged at his clothes to stop him.

The other person whispered to him, "The food here is all weird, and it's so cheap. Are you sure you dare to eat it? This is a Chinese restaurant. Their country is so poor, do you think they use some random ingredients to cook it?"

The boy in the lead was immediately intimidated.

Similarly, a couple who brought their young child even had a minor disagreement due to a misunderstanding.

It turns out that because they didn't know that the Chinese terms "mantou" and "baozi" were different, the couple ordered four plain, unfilled mantou.

As soon as they received the product and took a bite, the couple became furious and berated the shop assistant.

This matter quickly alarmed the store manager.

When the store manager arrived, he explained the situation to the couple and promised to return the vegetarian steamed buns they had bought. However, the couple still felt somewhat embarrassed and disappointed.

They had completely lost interest in tasting Chinese cuisine and just wanted to leave with their children as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the child was too young to understand and continued to cry for "fragrant steamed buns" while clinging to the counter in the fast food section, making the couple feel increasingly embarrassed.

Therefore, at this time, only Chinese people can place orders with confidence, because only they have a special homesickness and can't wait to relive the taste of home through their sense of taste.

Like an overseas Chinese father and son, the father is almost eighty years old, and the son looks to be in his fifties or sixties.

They lined up in the fast food section of the local produce store, their noses almost touching the freshly cooked chive dumplings. The father couldn't help but chatter to his son in Shandong dialect.

"I haven't smelled this for years! Back when my son and I were sent to the ship and captured by the Japanese, this was the last meal we had in our hometown! Do you remember?"

The son chimed in with a thick Shandong accent, “How could I forget! I’ll never forget this taste! We should buy a few more and take them back so my two kids can try some food from our hometown and know what authentic hometown flavor is!”

The chef in charge of the cooking overheard their conversation and, upon asking, learned that the father and son were actually Shandong laborers who had been brought here by Japanese soldiers years ago. He immediately gave them two extra freshly baked sesame cakes.

This gesture, full of hometown sentiment, immediately brought tears to the eyes of the overseas Chinese father and son, who repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

However, even so, this clear distinction that arose from the very beginning due to the differences between the groups did not last long.

Japanese customers are surprisingly quick to let go of their prejudices; their "it's actually pretty good" moments come fast and intensely.

After all, snacks are the food with the lowest cultural threshold for all different ethnic groups and countries, and are the easiest to be widely accepted by the public.

You should know that the aroma and appearance of delicious food, as well as the reactions of diners, are the best advertisements themselves.

Moreover, the chefs in charge of cooking at Da Dao Wu Chan are not ordinary chefs. They are all highly skilled chefs carefully cultivated by Ning Weimin with famous chefs and money, and transferred from Jin Yu Man Tang.

To taste their craftsmanship at Jin Yu Man Tang, one would have to pay dozens of times the price.

In fact, as fragrant steam rose from the steamers in the fast food area, the fried rice sizzled in the wok, and even the broth of the plain noodles emitted the aroma of scallions, the overseas Chinese and international students who had placed their orders received their food and began to enjoy it immensely, praising it with boundless happiness. Almost all the Japanese present couldn't resist the temptation to eat.

Inspired by the enthusiasm of the first group of satisfied Chinese diners, the Japanese customers' stubbornness naturally began to crumble, replaced by a curiosity to try it out.

First, the couple, unable to bear their child's pestering, had no choice but to reluctantly order a few seemingly ordinary meat buns from the shop assistant who had embarrassed them earlier.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the steamed buns came out of the oven and were in their hands, before the child could even eat them, the aroma wafted over and made the couple's Adam's apples involuntarily bob.

Just as Mom was about to break the skin of the steamed buns on a plate and blow on them to feed the children, Dad couldn't resist picking one up and taking a small bite.

Just one bite was enough to completely whet his appetite.

After all, the chefs at Jin Yu Man Tang were taught how to make steamed buns by the chefs of Goubuli in Tianjin. Whether it's the taste of the filling or the texture of the bun skin, how can the modified Japanese "meat buns" compare?

To put it simply, it's like the ultimate crushing of a prestigious sect's founder by his disciples and grand-disciples from a branch lineage.

So even though the scalding hot soup made people gasp for breath, the Japanese who tasted the authentic meat buns instantly broke into uncontrollable smiles, their previous restraint completely washed away by the happiness brought by the taste buds.

He couldn't help but exclaim to his wife with delight, "It's really delicious! It's completely different from the meat buns sold in those Chinese restaurants. This thing called baozi is truly authentic! It's much tastier than I imagined! It's better than any steamed bun I've ever eaten. And it's so cheap, it's such a wonderful surprise. Wait for me, I'm going to buy a few more, you should try some too!"

So without saying a word, he stuffed his mouth with buns and went to queue up again, this time doubling his order and buying six.

Those Japanese delinquents were the same.

The young man in the lead hesitated for a long time in front of the chef's workbench, and finally decided to leave. But he was so attracted by the sight of the customers at the next table eating potstickers that he couldn't move.

After thinking for a moment, he casually walked to the end of the line and pretended to be stubborn, saying to his companion, "I'm still very curious. Why don't I just buy one and try it? If it's not good, I'll throw it away."

After spending 300 yen to buy a serving of potstickers, he had barely bitten into the outer skin when the scalding hot broth flowed out. He swallowed it with a gulp, and his eyes instantly lit up.

He immediately turned to his companion, who had just advised him, and said with resentment, "You bastard, I'm so glad I didn't listen to you. I almost missed out on such delicious food."

As he spoke, he turned around and joined the end of the line again, this time simply saying, "You guys can leave if you want, I'm going to buy another one to eat."

Seeing how engrossed the boy in the group was in eating, the others couldn't resist coming over and taking a bite of a potsticker from him.

Those who had eaten it immediately widened their eyes, revealing a satisfied expression that said their lives had been worthwhile.

The doubts that the group had just harbored have long since vanished, leaving only heartfelt approval.

So the teenagers joined the group, all the while cursing the person who had said the food there was inedible.

"You're talking nonsense! How could something this delicious have a problem..."

"Honestly, it's all your fault. We're in such a long line now, otherwise we would have bought them already..."

"Hey, I said, can you please stop standing here? You're blocking my view of the price list on the blackboard..."

And so it was. After all these events, even though it wasn't lunchtime, the tables and chairs in the Dadaowuchan fast food area were quickly filled with people.

Whether Chinese or Japanese, countless people flocked to the queue, and soon the counter was packed with people picking up their food and placing orders.

Many Japanese customers even went back to the counter to ask for the menu and price list after finishing their meal, intending to study it in detail and come back next time.

Looking at the ever-growing queues and countless expectant and enthusiastic faces, Kobayashi, who was in charge of the cash register, found his hands, which were gripping the cash register, sweating.

He was excited, nervous, thrilled, worried, exhilarated, and timid...

As for simple satisfaction and joy, that's impossible; mental relaxation is even more of a luxury.

On the contrary, as it was his first day at work, he was constantly on edge, feeling threatened by the dual pressures of Chinese and Japanese customers.

If there's any difference, it's simply that the cause of the anxiety has changed.

From lacking confidence before opening and worrying that Japanese customers wouldn't buy in, I'm now starting to worry that I and the chef are outnumbered and that we'll soon be too busy to handle everything...

Meanwhile, the area where the sword shop was located presented a completely different, bustling scene.

Slightly different from Dadao Products, the goods sold here are all daily necessities.

The specific sources of these goods, besides the surplus inventory collected by the Big Sword Merchant Guild, were mostly items that others had discarded as scrap and asked Sun Wufu and his group to haul away for them.

Therefore, compared to other products from Dadao, the prices are even more affordable and of high quality, with amazing discounts.

A nearly new rice cooker costs only 1,800 yen, an 80% new Canon camera costs less than 5,000 yen, and even a second-hand Rolex watch sells for only half the market price.

There were also a bunch of everyday household items that every family could use, displayed on the most prominent promotional counter.

For example, spoons, cups, bowls, plates, knives and forks, clothes hangers, stationery, storage boxes, etc., are either grouped together or sold individually, but the price is fixed at only 100 yen.

To put it bluntly, it's essentially free money. Even if the price is set very low, as long as you can sell it, you can still make a profit.

Moreover, even though they are second-hand goods, because Japanese people generally take good care of their personal belongings, many of these items are not necessarily items that have been used for a long time. Some may have only been used once or twice before being left idle, and some may even be brand new and unopened.

Especially after being cleaned, disinfected, cared for, and refurbished by professionals, these items become even more shiny and dazzling.

Aside from the slightly outdated style, it looks almost identical to a new item.

To ensure a positive customer experience, Da Dao Wu even puts the products in a transparent bag before putting them on the shelves, with labels detailing their condition and usage instructions.

This model was unheard of in Japan at the time, since secondhand stores were an industry that flourished after Japan's economic downturn due to tighter budgets.

Therefore, many people who touch the brand-new and clean plastic packaging are quite surprised and can hardly believe that it is a second-hand product.

Given this, and considering the incredibly low price, it's hard for people with genuine needs not to be tempted to buy. (End of Chapter)