1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 16 The Discerning Crowd

"Get it!"

The guests responded with smiles.

“Brother Jie…” Zhou Yan looked at Zhou Jie with a complicated expression.

Who in business would directly direct their customers to someone else's? This guy really doesn't treat him like an outsider.

"Pull the car over to the side and go watch your brother Haizi. He'll teach you how to control the heat and time," Zhou Jie said to him, then smiled and went to settle the bill for the customer.

"Zhou Yan, I'm clumsy with my hands and words. I just did whatever A-Jie taught me. You watch for now, and if you don't understand anything after we're done, A-Jie can teach you," Zhou Hai said to Zhou Yan.

"Okay, Brother Hai." Zhou Yan replied, watching Zhou Hai deftly scoop up a section of beef intestine and cut it into small pieces. He then scooped out the tripe after a few seconds of simmering, added a few pieces of tender beef tendon and a few slices of beef heart, placed them on a bed of cooked cabbage, and poured a spoonful of rich bone broth into the earthenware bowl. A steaming hot pot was ready.

This is a single serving, costing four cents. It includes meat, vegetables, a large bowl of beef offal soup, and a dipping sauce of dried chili peppers. For an extra cent, you can get a bowl of rice.

Eating a hot bowl of this in the dead of winter warms you from the soles of your feet to the tips of your hair—it's absolutely wonderful!
Other hot pot restaurants sell their dishes for three or two cents a bowl, but none of them do as well as Zhou Jie's stall.

People from the Sichuan and Chongqing region eat to their heart's content and drink to their heart's content. They don't care about the taste and they don't care about the rules!

As long as life is manageable, I will never skimp on food.

The fact that Jay Chou's hot pot sells for 40 cents and does well means that people think it's worth the price, and the difference in taste between it and other places can't be made up for by a penny or two.

The soup in the pot was whitish in color, and the aroma of beef bone broth was irresistible. It was quite delicious and had a very mild gamey smell, making it more tempting than other places.

Zhou Hai may look like a rough man, but he works efficiently and meticulously. While other people use their hands to handle the ingredients, he only uses chopsticks and a spoon, and his hands never touch the ingredients.

The stovetop is always spotless, not even a drop of soup remains.

Standing in front of the open-air stove and the soup pot, he was enveloped in a wave of heat that made him sweat profusely. He had a towel draped around his neck, and a clean towel was hanging on a rack to wipe his hands.

Zhou Yan watched from the sidelines and nodded to himself. Jie Ge and his team's success was not accidental. Under limited conditions, they had done their best.

This restaurant mainly sells beef offal. Beef is too expensive, so it's usually only sold during the winter when business is at its best, otherwise the losses would be unbearable.

After being busy for more than half an hour, business finally slowed down at nine o'clock.

Zhou Yan helped clear away the dishes and wiped down the table and chairs.

After finishing their chores at home, the two sisters-in-law came to help wash the dishes.

Zhou Jie drank a bowl of water to moisten his parched throat before looking at Zhou Yan and smiling, "Business is good, isn't it? It'll be even better when winter comes."

"It's really good. No other business on this dock is as good as yours." Zhou Yan nodded, and it was clear that many of these customers were repeat customers.

"Let me tell you, everyone in Zhoucun knows how to make soup pot, but there are quite a few things to pay attention to when making a good soup pot, starting from using beef bones to make the broth..." Zhou Jie put down the bowl and began to explain to Zhou Yan how to make soup pot, explaining it in great detail, and even pulled him to the pot to demonstrate.

Zhou Yan nodded repeatedly, agreeing that the secret to Zhou Jie's soup's success lay in its meticulous attention to detail.

The recipe for "Qiaojiao Beef" that Zhou Yan obtained was actually quite similar.

“The biggest difference between this soup and others is actually this seasoning packet. I added…” Zhou Jie pointed to the seasoning packet that had already been used today and whispered a string of spices and Chinese herbs to Zhou Yan, including the specific amounts.

This is a genuine trade secret, and it's what sets us apart from other companies.

Zhou Yan listened attentively, memorizing everything and comparing it with the secret recipe he already possessed.

The ingredients and dosages differ significantly, mainly due to differences in the Chinese medicinal herbs used, while the spices used to remove fishy odors and enhance aroma are quite similar.

"Here, try some soup." Zhou Jie took a small bowl and ladled a spoonful of soup for Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan blew on the hot soup, took a sip, and savored it carefully before nodding and saying, "It's so fresh. The soup is very flavorful, and the offal has a very mild gamey taste. It's very refreshing to drink."

"You're a true chef, you've hit the nail on the head." Zhou Jie looked at him with admiration: "My cooking skills are not as good as yours, but I've been making this soup for three years, so I have some experience. I'll definitely teach you how to make this soup well."

Zhou Yan nodded with a smile.

"Isn't Zhou Yan running a restaurant near the textile factory? Why is he also selling hot pot? Is he really after such a small profit?" Zhou Liangliang, the owner of a nearby stall, said while cracking sunflower seeds, his tone somewhat sarcastic.

"What's wrong with selling soup pots? My fourth uncle is a master butcher in Zhou Village. Zhou Yan sells soup pots to help his family prepare offal. It's a skill passed down from our ancestors. Who are you to criticize?" Zhou Jie said to Zhou Liangliang, his tone quite forceful. Zhou Hai, who was wiping his cleaver nearby, also turned and stared at Zhou Liangliang with an unfriendly gaze.

Zhou Liangliang felt like he was being stared at by a black bear. The sunflower seeds in his hand suddenly lost their flavor. He chuckled awkwardly, stuffed the seeds into his pocket, and waved his hand, saying, "We're from the same village, I was just asking casually..."

There were seven brothers in his family, all of them strong and sturdy, and they were always protective of their own. He just had to say that one thing.

Zhou Jie didn't argue with him, and instead continued to chat with Zhou Yan about making soup.

"Brother Jie, actually I learned how to make soup pots from my mom. Later, I learned a medicinal dish from my master when I was learning to cook. I was thinking of combining the method of that medicinal dish with our soup pot. Today, I'm going to make a pot to try it out." Zhou Yan said after listening to Zhou Jie finish speaking.

"Really?" Zhou Jie's eyes lit up. "You're a professional chef. If you can really improve our soup pot into a medicinal dish, maybe the textile factory workers will love it too!"

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded: "If we can open up sales channels, our hot pot business has great potential."

"Alright, alright, you give it a try first. If you need anything, just let me know. We're brothers, don't be shy." Zhou Jie patted his arm and said, "If you do a good job, Hai Zi and I will both work for you."

"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded, chatted for a few more minutes, and then rode his bike back.

Zhou Yan went to the farmers' market and glanced at Wang Qi's meat stall from afar. Half of the pork was identified as diseased pork, so there was a good chance that Wang Laowu was getting his meat from him.

His previous report seems to have gone unanswered. Wang Qi has been selling meat at the market for many years, so he must have some connections.

As he was pondering how to escalate the matter, he saw staff from the market management office walking towards him, followed by two men in Zhongshan suits. The middle-aged man in the lead wore black-rimmed glasses and had his hair neatly combed. He walked and stopped frequently, asking the stall owners questions from time to time, and picking up meat to examine it closely when passing by the meat stall.

"Who are those two? They look quite imposing." Zhou Yan bent down to pick up a bunch of bok choy, casually asking the vegetable vendor as he took out his money.

"Those two are leaders from the health and epidemic prevention station. They come back to inspect once a month. The one in charge is called Gao Tianlei. He's supposedly the deputy station chief. Last year, he led the team that arrested two butchers selling diseased pork. Everyone says he's incorruptible," the vegetable vendor said with a smile after receiving the money.

"Oh." Zhou Yan seemed to be thinking about something, and didn't say anything more. He picked up the small green vegetables and went out.

It's difficult to verify whether Wang Laowu used diseased pork, since others can't see the test results. So, starting with Wang Qi is a good entry point. If it can be found that Wang Laowu bought diseased pork from him, then Wang Laowu will be implicated.

Moreover, Wang Qi was selling diseased pork every day, harming the village. As a concerned citizen, Zhou Yan could not turn a blind eye to this.

He found a secluded spot, took out paper and pen, wrote a strongly worded letter of complaint, and then squatted down at the market entrance.

Before long, Gao Tianlei and his companion emerged from the market, surrounded by people, and rode away on their bicycles.

Zhou Yan immediately followed on his bicycle. Once they were out of the town, he pulled up his collar to cover half his face, sped up, stopped his bicycle, and blocked the two men. He said directly, "Station Chief Gao, I want to report someone selling diseased pork!"

Gao Tianlei and his companion slammed on the brakes, looking at the young man with half his face covered, and asked with puzzled expressions, "Who are you going to report?"

"Wang Qi, who sells pork at stall number five in the Suji Farmers' Market, sells diseased pork every day, harming the villagers. We urge Station Chief Gao to rid the people of this scourge." Zhou Yan handed over the prepared letter of complaint.

"The pork he sold, which was infected with the disease, may have ended up in restaurants and noodle stalls, posing a great threat to the lives and safety of the people. Please investigate this matter thoroughly and ensure that not a single piece of pork infected with the disease ends up on the people's tables."

Gao Tianlei took the letter of complaint and looked at Zhou Yan, asking, "Who are you?"

"The people have sharp eyes!" Zhou Yan turned and rode away without looking back.

Gao Tianlei opened the letter of complaint with a solemn expression. After reading it, his face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "Go, have someone send the equipment over. I want to see just how bold Wang Qi really is!"

Zhou Yan took a stroll along the river before returning to the restaurant. Even if the epidemic prevention station wanted to investigate Wang Qi, they wouldn't be able to trace it back to Wang Laowu so quickly.

But Wang Laowu's mishap happened even faster than he had anticipated.

"Wang Laowu! Why does your beef smell sour and rancid? Did you mix in the leftovers from yesterday and sell them as is?"

"I said the minced meat sauce smelled weird today, it's because it's too sour! And they added so much pepper and chili oil to try and cover it up!"

"Your business is doing pretty well, we're here to support you, but you're treating us like we're Japanese? Even a dog wouldn't want to eat your leftovers!"

"Damn you, you're a god!"

"Mom, sell..."

The noodle stall had only been open for a short while at noon, but the customers were already banging their fists on the table, their mouths watering.

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(End of this chapter)