Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 203 Market Feedback: Overwhelmingly Positive Reviews!
"Brother Li, what would you like to drink today? Royal Salute again?"

"How many bottles of liquor have I stored here? I'm tired of drinking. Let's have something lighter today. Bring me some beer."

"Alright, I'll get you to Qingdao right away!"

The noisy nightclub was already packed with people, young men and women enjoying the swaying and the noise, while older men and women enjoyed the company of the younger ones.

In the most prominent booth, a guy with a buzz cut had his arm around a girl in a mink coat, feeling a bit disgusted: "All you ever do is order Tsingtao beer, never anything foreign?"

The manager seemed to remember something and said, "There really is. It was just delivered to the store today. It's called something like 'Indian Pale Color.' There's also some English text after it."

He turned to the waiter behind him to confirm: "India Pale Ale (IPA), craft beer, would you like this?"

The man with the buzz cut exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, you've even started selling craft beer? I've had some in northern Beijing, is yours authentic?"

"Genuine product, absolutely authentic, imported directly from India!"

The man with the buzz cut paused, then lost all desire to speak: "Hurry up and go get some wine; you've never had any good pork before."

He's a regular here, coming at least twice a week, often with a bunch of his younger brothers and sisters, just for the fun of it.

No matter how young or old the brothers are, they should go out and see the world. No matter how old or young the girls are, as long as they have a computer, that's enough.

He has the money, but the cost of living in Harbin is not up to par. It's far behind places like Beijing and Shanghai, where the wealthy can really indulge in extravagant lifestyles.

Soon the waiter brought over the beer. Unlike the big green and brown beer bottles on the other tables, the tall, curved beer glass looked very high-quality. A splash of white floated on the golden liquid, and it even shimmered under the nightclub lights, just like in the commercials.

The man with the buzz cut took a sip, and a few drops of the rich foam remained on his upper lip.

It tasted good, refreshing and sweet, and it made me feel much more awake.

He remarked to the mink-clad young woman beside him, "Harbin has produced some talented people! Craft beer is a technical skill; it's available abroad, in Beijing and Shanghai, but I never expected to find authentic stuff here."

Although the varieties seem different, it actually tastes better than the ones from northern Beijing.

"Young man, how much is one cup?"

"Brother, 68 yuan a cup."

"Please order a few more drinks, there are plenty of us."

"Uh, bro, this is the first day we got this wine, so there's not much left, and we might not have enough."

The crew-cut guy glared at him: "Then hurry up! What are you looking at me for! First, pour twenty cups and put them on my table. That's what I'm drinking tonight!"

At the same time, another stylish bar was also packed with customers on the weekend.

It's quieter than a nightclub, but not much. Men and women are dressed in outfits that match the "bar" atmosphere, enjoying a more subtle night.

Back in 08, having a drink at a bar was a serious matter. You had to dress up and put on some makeup. You'd be embarrassed to go in without some perfume. No matter if your underwear had holes, once you stepped inside, you had to project a sophisticated image.

A slender, graceful woman with delicate features holds a small bottle of black "Bio-Wei" in one hand and a small digital camera in the other. She makes cute expressions repeatedly, taking ten photos in a row, deleting them one by one, and then taking ten more photos in a row, over and over again.

Just then, a waiter carrying a tray passed by, and a special beer on it caught the beautiful woman's attention.

Golden in color, with white foam.
"Hey sis, what are you holding?"

"Hello, this is our new product today, craft ale."

"How much for a cup? Give me one, oh my, this color is so beautiful, it'll definitely look great in photos!!"

"48 yuan a glass, but we don't have much today, we're all gone."

The same feedback is playing out in various bars and nightclubs. The design and positioning of craft beer perfectly match the current consumer demand, and its unique taste and appearance have made it a favorite of "nightlife".

It's likely that soon, a craze will sweep the area, and its influence will grow, leading to an ever-expanding market for "Yueda Catering".

Demand is strong, but it's not easy for ordinary shops to set up their own equipment. Buying 30 yuan worth of imported equipment is not something that can be done lightly, not to mention the issue of brewing skills.

Sometimes "technology" is far from the market, and sometimes it is very close, especially when both exist and the technology is monopolized.

It can be roughly understood as "monopoly".

The beautiful woman taking photos in the bar seemed a little disappointed, but then she saw the waiter place a bright yellow glass of wine on a table behind her, where only a young man was drinking alone.

The beautiful woman said, "Hey bro, are you alone? Can I make a deal with you? I'll buy you something else to drink, could you give me your glass?"

The young man raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, this drink is on me, you can take it."

That beautiful woman was quite unique; she had the figure of someone in their twenties, the face of someone in their seventeen or eighteen, yet spoke with the accent of someone in their fifties. The young man thought to himself, "I've been in Northeast China for quite some time now, and your accent is the most authentic."

This is a top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce, equipped with a 20-yuan radio.

"Wow, so straightforward!"

Zhai Da chuckled dryly and told the waiter to take it away, thinking to himself, "Go ahead and drink, we're all customers."

Anyway, there will be drinks when we get back to the base. After waiting for about five minutes, Wu Yue pushed open the door and walked in. He wasn't used to wearing down jackets, which made him feel bulky, so he wore a trench coat instead.

As soon as I entered, the manager sitting behind the bar's eyes lit up: "Brother Yue! Welcome! What would you like to drink today?"

Several guests who were nearby glanced over, wondering why the manager was being so enthusiastic and what important person had come in.

Wu Yue casually said, "Just give me a glass of our own wine."

The manager said awkwardly, "Brother Yue, we're out of stock. I was just asking you, could you send a little more tomorrow?"

Wu Yue glanced at his watch. It was only nine o'clock, just the start of the bar's peak hours, and it was already over?
"Then I won't drink it, give me a glass of lemonade instead."

"About the goods procurement, Brother Yue."

"We'll talk about it later."

Wu Yue walked through the crowd and subconsciously counted the number of craft beer glasses, though counting glasses seemed pointless since they were all sold out.
Finally, he sat down in front of Zhai Da and said with a smile, "You didn't get any either?"

Zhai Da shrugged: "I got to drink at one of the places in the middle, and it was pretty good, but their serving skills were lacking."

Today is the first day of supplying "Yueda Catering". The two of them went to visit the store together to check the market feedback and ask the customers who drink alcohol.

So far, the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive!

The two men's previous assessment of the market was correct.

"The skill of serving drinks really affects the quality of the product. I plan to send someone to train the staff at each store."

"Why does your accent sound heavier today?"

"Really? I don't feel anything!"

The craft brewery has already recruited five people. Two of them are learning brewing and assisting Song Wu, two are manufacturing new equipment with Xu Xuejun, and the remaining one is delivering goods with Wang Xiaolong.

Moreover, it is expanding its enrollment at an extremely rapid pace.

On the equipment front, the second set of craft brewing equipment was completed the day before yesterday. With the first set, the speed has increased a bit, but it is still far from the expected goal of 30 units. In order not to interfere with the brewing work, and also to have a place to store the "auctioned miscellaneous items" in the future, Zhai Da asked Wu Yue to rent a shop of about 80 square meters next door.

In terms of brewing, although Song Wu only started brewing the first batch seven days ago, the work never stops. He brews a new batch every day, puts it aside to ferment slowly, and keeps brewing and opening the bottles to ensure a continuous supply. Currently, the daily output is only 700 liters (the process flow has not yet been streamlined and optimized, and the capacity of a single set of equipment is not at full capacity). Next week, it will reach more than 1500 liters.
The five new hires were all ordinary employees, paid slightly higher than the labor market rate. Two of Xu Xuejun's subordinates were paid more, at 2300 a month, as they used to work in auto repair and those with technical skills were more valuable. The remaining three were paid 1500 each.

When he first came to Harbin, he didn't notice it, but now that he's started his career, Zhai Da realizes that, for ordinary people, the salary level here isn't much higher than in Dongyang County, maybe only 10%-15% more, but the cost of living here is much higher.

Unlike Utopia, where everyone was classmates, friends, and brothers, with closer ties and a purer spirit, this time "Yueda Catering" is recruiting from the general public.

Therefore, the company's future special "distribution method" does not need to be known to them at present. The number of people will eventually increase, and then they will be screened and leave for various reasons. If we talk about these things with people at this time, they may not believe us, and if they do believe us, it may cause more trouble.

Even core members like Song Wu only vaguely said, "If it succeeds, we'll all make money together."

The utopian concept originated from the ideas of Zhai Da and Wu Yue, two utopians, but it's not something that can be copied and pasted and used directly.

Utopia was dissolved at that time because it was completely shut down, while "Yueda Catering" did not just operate for a few months.

It's not too late to talk about it when we've achieved something and made a fortune; right now, he and Wu Yue haven't even recouped their investment yet.

We should have ideals, but we must be steady in our work.

There will definitely be troublemakers, and they won't hesitate to fire them.

While summarizing the situation at each bar, the beautiful woman in the Rolls-Royce with the 20-yuan radio, having taken enough photos with that craft beer, put away her pink digital camera with satisfaction.

Then he picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp.

This made it hard for Zhai Da not to notice, and his eyes widened.

Does this throat not have a valve?

The beautiful woman picked up her small bag and walked out with a seductive sway.

Her queen-like figure drew glances from many men, and several men who were mustering the courage to strike up a conversation felt a pang of regret.

Of course, some people are intimidated by the accent; even locals know that the purer the accent, the more daring the person.
A Rolls-Royce was parked at the entrance; the beautiful woman got in and drove away.

Zhai Da:
I was just kidding, you really own a Rolls-Royce?
Wu Yue looked over curiously: "What's wrong?"

Zhai Da shook his head. It was a small matter, but it was troublesome to explain.

On the contrary, seeing the Rolls-Royce leave reminded Wu Yue of something:

"By the way, we have the results for that car you asked me to check a while ago."

Zhai Da's eyes lit up; sure enough, it's easy to overlook trivial matters when you're busy.

"How to say?"

(End of this chapter)