1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 14 The Holy Body of the Crown

"Got it." Zhou Yan replied with a smile, putting the cigarettes back in the cabinet. He didn't smoke, but they were a good gift; they could even fetch more than twenty yuan on the black market.

After carefully placing Zhou Momo on the bed, Zhou Yan noticed that she was wearing a blue sweater with the sleeves rolled up three times, and the hem almost reaching her knees—clearly the style a little boy would wear.

It's not surprising that Zhou Yan wore his older siblings' clothes; when Zhou Yan was in the orphanage, the clothes he wore never fit properly.

But the Zhou family was well-off, and Zhou Momo, their youngest daughter, was the most pampered. Her father was a doting father, and he would give his daughter new clothes even if his own clothes were full of patches.

Comrade Xiao Zhou opening this restaurant has indeed caused a sharp decline in the family's quality of life.

His parents' clothes also had many patches.

Pulling the blanket over Zhou Momo, Zhou Yan made a silent resolution as he went downstairs: once he paid off the debts, he would first give his family a complete makeover!

Zhou Yan asked for a few more beef bones today. He split them open to expose the marrow, soaked them in cold water to remove the blood, and then lit a separate coal stove to set up a soup pot to make beef bone broth for making "Qiaojiao Beef".

The essence of Qiaojiao Beef lies in this soup. As long as the soup is cooked well, the Qiaojiao Beef will be excellent.

Besides beef bones, beef intestines and oxtail are also added to the soup and simmered together. The rich fats infuse the soup, making it even more flavorful and savory. Spices and Chinese herbs are wrapped in gauze and added to the pot to continue simmering for a full eight hours, and the soup is ready.

"You've certainly put a lot of effort into making this stock," Zhao Tieying remarked from the side.

She also sold hot pot at a street stall. She learned the skill from her mother-in-law. She would pour a pot of water, add bones and spices all at once, cover it with the lid, and leave it alone.

A bowl of soup costs only two or three cents; there's no need to be picky. The dockworkers just want a hot bowl of soup, and no one will say anything if it's a little soft or a little firm.

"The best chefs pay attention to the details. Brother Jie and his team can sell hundreds of bowls a day, while you can only sell twenty or thirty. That's the difference," Zhou Yan said with a smile.
"If you want to learn, you'll have to put in some hard work. I'll be busy making noodles and stir-fries inside, and you'll have to watch over the pot of braised beef. Let's try to sell a hundred bowls of soup a day."

"One hundred bowls!" Zhao Tieying perked up. "Can you really do that?"

Even in winter, when her business is at its best, she only sells about fifty or sixty bowls, and that's only during festivals when there are many people.

"I'll make it for you to try at noon, and you can give me your opinion as the master soup chef," Zhou Yan said while skimming off the foam. "See all this foam? Take a spoon and skim it off. That way the soup will be clearer and taste better..."

The recipe for Qiaojiao Beef is actually very simple. It's a technique passed down from our ancestors, and even the butchers in Zhoucun know how to make it. The difference lies in the amount of spices and Chinese herbs used, as well as the different choices of ingredients, which give the final soup a unique flavor.

Of course, attention to detail during the cooking process can also greatly enhance the flavor of a pot of soup.

The soup simmered slowly in the pot, while Zhou Yan began to stir-fry the toppings and knead the dough, preparing the noodles to sell today.

The best-selling dish at the store right now is the double-pepper beef noodles. Yesterday, several customers wanted to eat it, but the toppings were sold out, so they had to order other noodles instead.

So today Zhou Yan added an extra pound of hanging tenderloin, which is equivalent to adding ten bowls of double-pepper beef noodles.

By the time the preparations were finished, it was already broad daylight outside.

Zhou Yan and his mother ate a simple bowl of noodles and opened the shop for business. Zhou Momo missed the mealtime today, and she was the only one in the family who could leisurely sleep until she naturally woke up.

Zhou Yan opened the restaurant door and saw that Wang Laowu's noodle stall across the street had a new sign that read: Large Braised Beef Noodles 4 mao! Large Pork Rib Noodles 4 mao! Large Minced Meat Dry Noodles 4 mao! ...

Old Wang stood in front of the noodle pot, shouting loudly, "More for the same price! More for the same price! A bowl of noodles with more than an ounce of meat, only four cents a bowl! Four cents a bowl!"

His call caused some customers who were originally heading towards Zhou Erwa's restaurant to actually head towards Wang Laowu's noodle stall.

A bowl of noodles has a little over 50 grams of meat, which is no less than the amount of meat at Zhou Erwa's restaurant, and it's even 20 cents cheaper. It's worth a try.

Affordable prices are always a killer feature.

Wang Laowu's noodle stall has customers again.

"What's Wang Laowu up to now? Is he not making money?" Zhao Tieying stood at the door, hands on her hips, looking at Wang Laowu.

"Judging from his attitude, even if he doesn't make money himself, he doesn't want us to make money either." Zhou Yan smiled. The business war in the noodle market has begun to escalate and entered the price war stage.

"That son of a bitch is doing something inhuman, chasing tigers with his pants down—shameless and reckless, I'll tear his mouth apart!" Zhao Tieying rolled up his sleeves, like a general about to go to war.

“Garlic Bird, Garlic Bird, low prices can attract some bargain hunters, but taste is what keeps people coming back and makes the business last.” Zhou Yan smiled and pulled Old Zhao aside. “We win with taste. If he does it like this, he’ll collapse in no time.”

As we were talking, a guest arrived.

Zhao Tieying also put on a smiling face again and ignored the people opposite her.

Wang Laowu kept a close eye on the situation, and seeing Zhao Tieying's exasperated expression, his smile grew even brighter.

This was the idea that Director Wang gave them last night when they went to ask for his advice.

Zhou Yan attracts customers with generous portions of toppings, right? Well, he also increases the amount, and even more than Zhou Yan! And with a lower price than Zhou Yan, customers naturally come to his restaurant.

It doesn't matter if they don't make money, as long as they can break even.

But if Zhou Yan's restaurant loses its customers, how long can he hold on with the monthly rent of fifteen yuan, plus various management fees and the pressure of debts he has borrowed?
Even if Zhou Erwa's restaurant goes out of business, he can just change the price of the noodles back and continue to make money. He has made some money in the past two years, enough to support Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan was about to enter when he saw a burly, middle-aged man with a receding hairline stop in front of Wang Laowu's noodle stall on his bicycle, and pause.

He recognized the bald man; he was Wang Defa, the factory canteen director, and the man who had fired Comrade Xiao Zhou.

Besides the pressure of debt, the trigger for my suicide attempt was being verbally abused by this bald bastard the day before.

"Director Wang! What a rare guest! What a rare guest!" When Wang Laowu saw Wang Defa, he immediately shouted and came out to greet him, his face full of fawning smiles.

His shout attracted the attention of many workers, who became even more interested when they saw the sign.

"Fifth brother, I heard your noodles are delicious, so I came here today to try them," Wang Defa said with a hearty laugh.

"Please come in and have a seat. Your presence is such an honor to my humble stall," Wang Laowu continued, praising him.

"Okay." Wang Defa responded, glancing back at Zhou Erwa's restaurant. He saw Zhou Yan turning and entering the restaurant, and frowned. Why wasn't this kid impulsive today?

Zhou Yan is not that young Zhou anymore; his youthful passion has long been worn down by life, and he won't easily break down because of an old man like Bi Deng.

A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. He's holding a grudge for Xiao Zhou and will make him pay the price sooner or later.

Wang Laowu's low-price strategy attracted a lot of customers to his noodle stall, which was facing bankruptcy, and also stole half of the customers from Zhou Erwa's restaurant.

However, Zhou Erwa's restaurant has already made a name for itself in the past two days. Customers who have eaten there have spread the word, which has whetted the appetites of other customers. As more and more workers come to work, there are still quite a few bicycles parked in front of the restaurant.

[Ding! Side quest issued: Wang Laowu has launched a business war against you. The true culinary master is not afraid of challenges. Accept the challenge and bring down Wang Laowu's noodle stall! Quest reward: Unknown; Accept quest: Yes/No]

Zhou Yan was making noodles when he saw the pop-up system task. On a whim, he chose to accept it.

Wang Laowu and Wang Defa are clearly birds of a feather. Since the other party made the first move, and things couldn't end peacefully anyway, he naturally wouldn't back down.

Moreover, the system offers rewards, and so far the rewards have been excellent, so how can you miss them?

The sound of customers chatting in the shop woke Zhou Momo up. The little one rubbed her sleepy eyes and came to the kitchen door. She looked up at Zhou Yan and said in a childish voice, "Brother, I'm hungry, noodles."

"Okay, I'll make it for you right away." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile.

Zhou Yan made Zhou Momo a bowl of pork rib noodle soup. Zhao Tieying took a hot towel and wiped her face. Her chubby little face was deformed by the rubbing of the towel. A stool was put up at the door so that she could sit and eat the noodles.

The little guy's face was flushed from being rubbed with a hot towel, and two stray hairs stuck out of his untied hair. His chubby little hands gripped chopsticks as he buried his head in his noodles, slurping them down with gusto.

The passing workers couldn't help but take a second look. The little guy was so cute, and his eating manners were incredibly tempting. The braised pork ribs fell off the bone with just a touch, and he sipped the rich bone broth with gusto.

I hadn't planned to eat noodles, but somehow my bicycle ended up in front of the shop.

"Sister, want some noodles?"

The little guy didn't forget to look up and ask a question while eating his noodles.

Once the customer met her innocent gaze, he was too embarrassed to leave. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and go into the shop to take a look. Seeing the customers slurping noodles in the shop, he couldn't resist ordering a bowl himself.

Well, it’s so sweet!

Zhou Momo sat down to eat noodles at the shop entrance and made several orders, proving her natural talent for sales.

Xia Yao carried her easel out to find inspiration. As she passed the factory gate, she saw Zhou Momo sitting in front of a restaurant, holding a large bowl and drinking soup. All the passing workers turned their heads to look at her. Xia Yao's lips unconsciously turned up. She felt that she had found the best picture for the day. She immediately set up her easel and took out her brush.

Zhou Momo finished all the soup, then put down the bowl, patted her slightly bulging belly, and let out a satisfied burp, "I'm full~"

She quickly spotted Xia Yao, her eyes lit up, and she immediately jumped up from the stool and ran towards Xia Yao, calling out, "Sister Yao Yao!"

Xia Yao put down her pen; she had only drawn a rough sketch on the paper. Seeing Zhou Momo running towards her, a smile appeared on her face. She opened her arms and hugged her tightly, saying with a smile, "Momo, did you miss your sister?"

"Yes," Zhou Momo nodded repeatedly.

"Good girl." Xia Yao let go of her, took a glass bottle out of her pocket, and said with a smile, "Have you ever had a Coke?"

"Cola?" Zhou Momo tilted her head, looked at the glass bottle, and shook her head.

"I'll open a bottle for you. You sit back down and let me draw you a picture, okay?"

The glass bottle gleamed in the sunlight, bubbling as if it possessed a mysterious magic, causing Zhou Momo to nod without hesitation.

laugh!
Xia Yao took out a screwdriver, opened a can of cola, and bubbles rushed to the bottle opening, making a hissing sound. She then handed it to Zhou Momo.

Zhou Momo held the bottle with both hands, brought it to her lips, took a sip, and her eyes lit up: "So many bubbles, it's sweet, and delicious!"

Then, holding the Coke, he obediently returned to the doorway and sat down.

(End of this chapter)