The growth system comes at the age of 30

Chapter 261 Being in your fifties is the perfect age to strive and work hard! (6K votes requested)
“Come to my house, I’m going back now!” Li Beixing replied.

Chen Jingle was surprised: "Now?"

"Hmm, is it inconvenient?" Li Beixing asked curiously.

Chen Jingle thought for a moment and replied, "I don't mind, but aren't you in your hometown?"

Li Beixing said, "It only takes half an hour to get back to the city via the highway. How long will it take me to put up some couplets?"

She wasn't exactly comfortable in her hometown; in fact, it was a bit boring. Most of her childhood playmates had gotten married, and she didn't recognize many people in the village anymore, so she had no desire to visit them or chat.

She wasn't interested in those who tried to strike up a conversation with her father or build a relationship with him.

Why not come out and get some fresh air?

She happened to want to see Chen Jingle.

As I said before, for someone like Teacher Li who's obsessed with romance, sharing things online just doesn't feel right. She wishes they could be together 24/7, and she can't be as clingy as she wants.

Since that's the case, Chen Jingle had no objection: "Okay, then I'll go and wait for you."

He put the couplets and magnets in a bag, grabbed his car keys, and prepared to leave.

Seeing that he was about to drive away, Liu Yuehua asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

Chen Jingle casually replied, "Beixing asked me to deliver a couplet to her so she can put it on her door."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yuehua said, "Oh, then go and come back soon."

"Yes, I know." Chen Jingle nodded.

"Oh, wait a minute!" Liu Yuehua suddenly remembered something and called out to him.

Chen Jingle asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Mom didn't say anything, but quickly went back into the house, then ran out again and handed him a red envelope, saying, "Today is New Year's Eve. When you see Beixing, please give her a red envelope for me."

It turned out to be the case.

When Chen Jingle received the red envelope, he opened it and saw that it contained 500 yuan in brand new bills. He immediately pouted and said, "You'd only give me 100 yuan."

"Can they be the same?" Mom scolded playfully.

Chen Jingle sighed and said sarcastically, "Yeah, it's definitely different. Even the son isn't as close to the daughter-in-law as the bride-to-be."

"Oh dear, I'll get you a 500 yuan one tonight too." Liu Yuehua found his little mood amusing.

It's not that she's stingy, only giving 500. In Jiangbei, the amount of New Year's money in red envelopes is generally not large. 100 yuan is already the amount given to close relatives, and it's 20 yuan between relatives.

This is different from the red envelope given on the first visit.

She was still worried that 100 yuan wouldn't be enough to show her appreciation, so she gave 500 yuan to express her affection for Li Beixing.

Setting the tone too high is also not good.

After all, they are an ordinary family, and if things can't be maintained later, it's easy for them to experience a psychological letdown.

Before she married into the family, she received 10000 yuan in New Year's money, but after she married into the family, she only received 100 yuan.

It's best to avoid such misunderstandings.

Chen Jingle put the red envelope away, waved, and drove the car towards Li Beixing's house.

……

This was Chen Jingle's second time visiting Li Beixing's house, but he felt like he knew his way around.

He had obviously arrived before Li Beixing, and waited at the door for almost 20 minutes before the Audi A3 appeared.

The car stopped in front of them, and Li Beixing got out, grinning as she rushed over for a hug, clinging to Chen Jingle like a koala.

Chen Jingle hugged her and laughed, "If you hadn't come soon, I would have turned into a statue waiting for my wife."

“That way I can move you back to my room and hide you away for the rest of my life,” Teacher Li whispered in his ear.

Chen Jingle: "???"

That sounds a bit like a yandere's statement.

They sensed danger.

Adjusting his position, he carried Teacher Li into the yard, saying, "Open the door and let me in. It's not good to stand outside in the cold wind."

"I should have been back by now before I let you leave." Li Beixing smiled apologetically and quickly pressed his fingerprint to unlock the door and enter the house.

It got much warmer once I went inside, mainly because it was windy today, so the temperature didn't drop much.

Ms. Li still refused to get off him, even needing her boyfriend to help her take off her shoes; she was very spoiled.

Chen Jingle picked her up and sat her down on the sofa, then took out a red envelope: "Here, this is from my mom, it's your New Year's money."

"ah!!"

Li Beixing was pleasantly surprised and took the package with a big smile. She opened it and glanced at it: "So big?"

Chen Jing chuckled: "If I didn't know you well enough, I would have thought you were being sarcastic."

Li Beixing rolled her eyes: "Please, this is Jiangbei, do you think this is some other province where you can easily spend thousands of yuan? 500 yuan is already a huge sum of money, okay? My parents only give me 100 yuan!"

Of course, New Year's money is New Year's money, and pocket money is pocket money.

Even so, it's hard to imagine that a billionaire family would give their children only 100 yuan as New Year's money on New Year's Eve.

Li Beixing grinned and took out a red envelope as well, saying, "My mom also asked me to give you one."

Chen Jingle was equally surprised, then laughed self-deprecatingly: "I'm 31 and still receiving red envelopes, I'm ashamed."

"You can accept anyone even if you're not married!" Li Beixing laughed and lightly punched his arm.

Chen Jingle accepted the red envelope and said, "Okay, remember to thank Auntie for me later."

"Know it."

The thickness of the red envelope was about the same as the one his mother gave Li Beixing.

The two mothers are on the same wavelength.

……

Teacher Li was greedily enjoying this moment of peace.

It was just tough on Chen Jingle, whose legs were a little numb from being pressed down.

How long are you going to hold him?

"You're already tired of me?" Teacher Li looked up and glared at him.

Chen Jingle: "...No, it's just that we're not here to put up Spring Festival couplets, are we?"

Teacher Li snuggled into his arms, saying, "There's no rush to put up the Spring Festival couplets, we can do it later. Let me hold you for a while!"

Chen Jingle suddenly remembered something and asked, "Did something unpleasant happen when you went back to your hometown?"

Li Beixing paused for two seconds: "I wouldn't say I'm unhappy, I'm just a little bored, it's the same every year."

For Teacher Li to say something like that, it's clear she's already very unhappy.

Chen Jingle held her and gently rocked her, like coaxing a child: "Then I won't go back anymore."

"Um?!"

Li Beixing looked up, seemingly lost in thought, then smiled and said, "You're right!"

I won't be going back next year!
Chen Jingle understood what she meant and instinctively hugged her even tighter.

After a long while, Li Beixing finally said, "Help me put up the Spring Festival couplets."

"it is good!"

As a result, even when going upstairs, she wouldn't let go; she was still like a pendant.

Chen Jingle felt like he wasn't dating a girlfriend, but rather raising a daughter.

I had to hold Teacher Li with one hand and use the other hand to stick the magnetic block to the back of the red paper, then stick it to the door. It took me a long time to finish.

May good fortune arrive with spring, and may peace and happiness come with the seasons.

Horizontal scroll: May all your wishes come true.

Once it's pasted up, it looks perfect!
Teacher Li was very satisfied and rewarded him with a kiss.

Chen Jingle peeked into her room, curiously asking, "Can I go in and take a look?"

"Go ahead, I don't have anything to hide anyway," Li Beixing laughed.

Chen Jingle finally had the opportunity to see the entire interior of Li Beixing's boudoir.

Last time I came, I mainly stayed on the first floor. When I went up to the second floor, I stayed in Li Qiguang's study. I was too embarrassed to go into his daughter's room in front of his parents.

This time it's different.

There was no one else in the villa besides the two of them.

Teacher Li's room was decorated very warmly. There were quite a few things, but they were all placed in the right places in a planned way, and it was not messy at all.

It has a separate dressing room, makeup area, and study, separating active and quiet areas while also serving various functions, making it much better than the design of that other place.

After all, the building area and decoration costs are what they are.

The walls of the study area are decorated with Chen Jingle's calligraphy and painting works, ranging from September to this year, which can be said to witness the progress of Chen Jingle's calligraphy and painting skills.

Looking back now, a calligraphy work that was four and a half feet long could sell for 10,000 yuan back then. Teacher Li was really giving him money away.

Looking at the layout of this study, Chen Jingle's influence is so strong that no one would doubt it if it were his own.

This shows his importance in Li Beixing's heart.

How can you not love a teacher like Ms. Li!

"Aren't you afraid your uncles and aunts will laugh at you?" Chen Jingle said with a low laugh.

Li Beixing rested her head on his shoulder and blinked: "What's there to be afraid of? My parents don't just come into my room. They're not interested in what's in my room. At most, my mom comes in occasionally. Besides, even if they see it, they'll just think I have good taste, humph."

good good!
Chen Jingle also noticed that the toys he had played with Li Beixing in the ring toss and claw machine games had all been reserved on the bed, indicating that they held a very high status.

Looking at it brings back memories.

I didn't stay in the room for long, and I didn't do anything intimate, not even touching the bed. After a busy day, I was too embarrassed to sit on someone else's bed, let alone lie down.

Finally, we lingered at Li Beixing's house for almost two hours before leaving.

One reason was that night falls early in winter, and she might have trouble driving at night; another was that Chen Jingle had to go back and cook.

……

After dinner and a bath, we'll get ready to welcome the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, people are supposed to stay up all night, but Chen Jingle left the lights on and went to bed early as usual.

Otherwise, once midnight strikes, the whole world will be filled with the sound of firecrackers, making it difficult to sleep.

Oh, and I have to close the windows, otherwise when I wake up in the morning, the air will smell like sulfur dioxide.

Is setting off firecrackers prohibited?

People from Jiangbei said they had never heard of this regulation and would let it go first.

Teacher Li knew his schedule, so the two sent each other New Year's greetings in advance to avoid network congestion after midnight.

New Year's Day.

There were folk activities in the village, so I didn't go out during the day, but in the evening I accompanied Teacher Li to see the newly released "Ne Zha 2".

For a normal couple's date, going to the movies isn't really a good choice, but they've been married for a long time, and since Teacher Li said she wanted to see one, then let's go. Chen Jingle rarely watches movies or TV.

For people with active minds, it's a terrible thing to see a film or television production that's not as good as what they imagined.

He watched "Ne Zha 1" and thought it was pretty good; he'd give it at least an 8 out of 10.

But the most memorable line was Shen Gongbao's: "Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain."

Even for Chen Jingle, who has read so many books, it is not an easy task to always be realistic, objective, and fair.

Looking back at the second installment six years later, the quality has improved considerably, and I feel it will be another blockbuster.

After all, everyone knows what kind of mess the entertainment industry in China is right now. With its peers as a foil, it's hard for it not to explode in popularity.

The value of the statement "cultural workers should be cultured" is still increasing.

Currently, many of the art students in the Chinese entertainment industry who score 300 points write about abortions during their youth, cancer and car accidents, mistresses squeezing out the original spouses, or domineering CEOs falling in love with older menopausal women.

Chen Jingle is of sound mind; he can't stand this kind of thing.

From the second to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, I visited relatives with my parents.

There are many relatives on both sides, so it's necessary to maintain relationships properly. This involves visiting each other to give gifts, chatting, having meals, and returning home, repeating this process every day.

After several days in a row, it was somewhat agonizing.

Li Beixing returned to the city from her hometown on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, but Chen Jingle didn't have time to see her.

It wasn't until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year that I finally had some free time.

Li Beixing took the initiative to come over, bringing many gifts. After all, it's the beginning of the new year, so he couldn't come empty-handed.

However, he didn't stay for too long. He only had lunch at Chen Jingle's house and spent most of his time with Chen Jingle in the studio.

This is their own little world.

……

"Dad, Mom, I want to discuss something with you."

With the New Year celebrations drawing to a close, Chen Jingle thought long and hard and decided to put some of her pre-New Year's ideas on the agenda.

"What is it?"

My parents were a little confused.

Chen Jingle said, "Mom, didn't you say you were a bit bored staying at home? I was thinking, how about we open a shop for you to manage? And also, let Dad quit his renovation job. He doesn't get many jobs, and the working environment isn't good for his health."

As the saying goes, one should strive and work hard in their fifties.

Since my parents don't want to retire so early and can't stay idle, let's find something for them to do and let them have their own careers.

Perhaps if he can make his business bigger and stronger, Chen Jingle will transform into a rich second-generation heir.

Delicious.

My parents were stunned when they heard this: "Open a shop? What kind of shop?"

"How about starting a restaurant business?" Chen Jingle asked with a smile.

Why did you decide to open a restaurant?
Firstly, among the current real industries, only the catering industry has relatively low barriers to entry and is relatively lucrative.

Many people saw this clearly, which is why they all flocked in.

The most obvious example is the rapid expansion of various catering brands in recent years, which have accelerated their market penetration into third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-tier cities.

The advantages of chain brands are obvious: they can meet the brand needs of consumers in smaller cities at this stage. In addition, rents and labor costs are lower in smaller cities, but the cost of living in smaller cities is not necessarily much lower than that in larger cities.

Amidst a general downgrade in consumption, the catering sector stands out as the only exception, having even seen some upgrades.

therefore,

In just one or two years, various chain brands have sprung up all over Jiangbei Street.

It just so happens that people from Jiangbei are the kind of people who love to eat and are willing to spend money. If they have a little money, they'll eat it all. Even ordinary people, earning two or three thousand yuan a month, dare to eat roast duck, roast pork, and braised food every day.

As for what tomorrow and the day after, let's talk about it after we've eaten our fill.

Furthermore, the number of local delicacies in Jiangbei is limited, and they are not considered high-class; most are snacks.

Whenever a new store opens, I'll try it out first, regardless of how the food tastes.

Since Jiangbei is only so big, people who have some spare money and like to eat have basically tried all the restaurants they should be able to eat at, and they need a little something new.

Based on all these considerations, Chen Jingle decided to open a restaurant.

The restaurant industry is indeed quite competitive right now, but the thing is that Chen Jingle is not afraid of competing with them. He has his own advantages, and they are quite obvious.

It's all about the taste!

If you add a price advantage, it will undoubtedly be unbeatable!
In this situation, choosing to go into the catering industry is a good option.

It's at least better than other completely unfamiliar fields.

……

FOOD?

Chen Zhenwei and Liu Yuehua looked at each other in bewilderment.

They have absolutely no experience in this area.

My mom hesitated and asked, "Should we make fast food or something else?"

Chen Jingle laughed and said, "I haven't decided yet. I'm just discussing this with you guys and need to get your opinions."

“But your dad and I don’t understand.” Mom frowned, her expression conflicted.

Admittedly, it sounds tempting. Having something to do is better than staying at home doing nothing. I feel like if I stay idle like this, I'll easily become useless.

But I'm also afraid of failure.

The biggest problem for the poor is the cost of trial and error. Even losing 20,000 or 30,000 yuan is a huge sum for them.

This deeply ingrained mindset cannot be changed overnight. Even if Chen Jingle gave them a million, they would only obediently put it in the bank to earn interest, and would not think about financial management or doing business.

Chen Jingle waved his hand: "It's okay, I understand!"

Putting aside the specifics of business operations, the core of a restaurant is naturally the quality of its food.

Coincidentally, no one in the entire Jiangbei region knows cooking better than Chen Jingle.

The question now is what kind of store to open.

Dad thought for a moment and said, "Then what kind of shop do you think would be good to open?"

"Let's first segment the market."

Chen Jingle found paper and pen: "First, let's rule out tea drinks. At present, the tea drink market in Jiangbei has been almost entirely occupied by various chain brands. The homogenization is too serious. Not only are the franchise fees expensive, but we also have to hire additional staff. If we don't franchise, we don't have the connections in the supply chain and are not familiar with it. In the end, we may not be able to survive. It can be said that the cost is high and the risk is also high."

"Secondly, we can rule out high-end restaurants, as the costs are too high and not suitable for us in the early stages. I can't keep an eye on them all the time, and you don't have the relevant management experience, so it would be difficult for you to keep operating them."

"I don't make breakfast, it's too tiring. I have to get up at two or three o'clock every day to prepare it, and my body can't take it in the long run. I don't ask you to make a lot of money, as long as you are happy doing it."

"At the same time, it can't be too complicated, otherwise I'm worried you won't be able to handle it. For beginners, the simpler the dishes, the better."

"Therefore, I personally prefer snack shops or rice, noodles, or congee shops. These two are relatively simple and do not require many people. You can do them with just a small shop. They are usually run by husband and wife."

The key is to showcase Chen Jingle's strengths.

They only sell the taste of the food.

It's impossible for him to be in the store all the time; only his parents can manage it. So, he probably only provides some technical support, and then, through standardized processes, he serves the food to the customers so they can enjoy delicious meals.

For example, beef brisket noodles.

Chen Jingle can help prepare the beef brisket, while the remaining task of cooking the rice noodles is handled by his parents through a standardized production process. There are strict standards for how many ounces of noodles to use, how long to cook them, how much beef brisket to add to a bowl of rice, and what toppings to add. Standardization reduces the possibility of errors and keeps the taste as consistent as possible.

As long as you can achieve 80% of Chen Jingle's level of skill, you won't have to worry about not having customers.

The key ingredient is the beef brisket.

Chen Jingle must be in charge; the core of beef brisket noodles is beef brisket!

Congee, rice noodle, and other rice-based food shops hold a similar status in the Lingnan region as roujiamo (meat sandwich), hulatang (spicy soup), and jiangxiangbing (savory pancake) are in certain provinces. There will always be people eating there, and although each shop may look similar, the taste is actually quite different.

As long as it tastes better than others, that's fine.

A store like this should have no problem surviving.

As for the customer base, there's really no need to worry!
In a small place like Jiangbei, there's not much need to worry about traffic and exposure, because as long as the food is delicious after a few days of operation, people in the neighborhood will basically know about it.

What really matters is product quality and the user experience—whether the food tastes good and whether the price is reasonable.

Running a restaurant in a small city is essentially about leveraging personal connections and offering the best value for money.

The so-called "familiarity economy" does not mean that all customers are neighbors, but rather that regular customers often bring two or three friends along.

The concept of extreme cost-effectiveness is easier to understand. A serving of beef brisket noodles priced at 12 yuan and a serving priced at 10 yuan may seem like a small difference of only 2 yuan, but people are very price-sensitive. If the taste is similar, people are more willing to choose the 10-yuan serving.

Another aspect is service attitude; at the very least, they should greet you upon arrival and bid you farewell upon departure.

Chen Jingle couldn't understand why so many people would go to a place like a certain beef stall, where people would casually spit out food. Perhaps he was just ignorant.

From a customer's perspective, he doesn't like paying money to suffer.

I come to your house for dinner. I don't expect you to treat me with great importance, but I can't wait for half a day and not have anyone pay any attention to me, can I?
If you do the above things well, revitalizing a store shouldn't be difficult.

If it's a necessity for food service, then it's a different story.

For example, in the teachers' college campus, there aren't many places to eat around, but any stall or shop that sells food, if the food is decent, will always have a steady stream of customers.

College students have money and are willing to spend it. As long as the food tastes good and they don't vomit excessively after eating, they're fine with it.

They'd even tolerate being sprayed with vomit after eating, as long as it tasted good.

Anyway, they're pretty cowardly, and they'll probably comfort themselves by saying it's some other reason.

……

Chen Jingle said a lot.

After listening, Mom and Dad looked at each other, not expecting there to be so many twists and turns, and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Opening a shop means doing business and being your own boss, a mindset that they, who have worked their whole lives, can't easily change overnight.

In fact, this was Chen Jingle's first time opening a store. In his previous entrepreneurial ventures, he was more responsible for technical management.

During my time as a consultant for Hongqi Company, I learned a lot of new things. However, the development strategies of large companies are quite different from those of small shops. In fact, agricultural companies and catering businesses have a significant gap.

After much discussion, my parents still said, "Why don't you make the decision? We really don't understand."

Chen Jingle: "..."

He felt inexplicably angry, but he couldn't get angry. He knew that changing his parents' views was not something that could be done overnight.

Things will be fine once things get on the right track.

Anyway, he didn't expect his parents to make a lot of money; he just wanted to find them something to do and keep them busy.

When a person has a pursuit in their career, their energy and spirit will be different.

"Then let's open a congee, noodle, rice, or fast food restaurant and try it out for a while. Don't worry, it's not difficult, especially for Mom, you used to work in a restaurant. Just follow the normal logic."

Chen Jingle made the decision.

He felt that it was impossible for the company to go bankrupt in just one or two months.

If things go well, it's not too late to consider hiring people and opening branches later.

(End of this chapter)