1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 25 Mom, I love you!

After dinner, Comrade Zhou rode his bicycle home with Zhao Tieying and Zhou Momo as his passengers.

"One hundred a day, four days off a month, that's twenty-six days, that's two thousand six hundred!"

"How much is it in a year? More than thirty thousand!"

"Heavens above!"

Zhao Tieying, sitting on the back of the bicycle with her arms around Zhou Miao's waist, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Too much!
She hadn't calculated the figures carefully while eating, only thinking that selling a hundred a day was quite a lot. But when she calculated how much it would cost in a year, she was quite surprised.

"This is the turnover, not the net profit," Zhou Miao said with a smile. "But Zhou Yan is really good at this. Even if it's only half the profit, it's still more than ten thousand a year."

"He can earn 10,000 yuan a year! This kid is really determined to do something!" Zhao Tieying's face was beaming, and she was quite excited.

Zhou Miao is a skilled butcher in Zhoucun. He can earn seventy or eighty yuan a month from butchering and selling cattle, and about a thousand yuan a year.

This income is higher than that of most textile factory workers.

But Zhou Yan's restaurant earns more than ten times the money that Zhou Miao earns.

If they earn this much every day, their family will definitely have a good life in the future.

"That's also because you, as a mother, cooperated so well, shouldering the heavy responsibilities of cooking braised beef and handling the cash register, holding up half the sky of the store." Zhou Miao said seriously, "Without you, this store simply couldn't survive."

"Hmm, that makes sense." Zhao Tieying smiled broadly. "Your awareness is quite high."

"I'm not selling meat tomorrow, I'm just going to help the commune slaughter two cows in the morning. Old Huang invited me to go fishing for a while, what do you think..." Zhou Miao said cautiously.

"Come on, you've been working hard lately," Zhao Tieying said with a smile. "If we can catch some fish, we can have an extra meal tonight."

"I...I'll try..." Zhou Miao's voice weakened, sounding somewhat unsure.

As an air force veteran, bringing home ribbonfish for an extra meal is a huge pressure.

The two chatted and laughed all the way back to Zhoucun.

The villagers, who were chatting under the trees at the village entrance, greeted them warmly when they saw them from afar.

The news of Zhouyan Restaurant's booming business has already spread throughout Zhoucun.

A bowl of noodles costs only six cents, and we can sell dozens of bowls a day!
Earning tens of yuan a day, it's enough to make people extremely envious.

Zhou Yan went from being a spendthrift son who was the subject of nightly media storms at the village intelligence center to becoming someone else's promising child.

Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao, on the other hand, transformed from reckless spoilers into visionary and courageous good parents.

Zhao Tieying has been quite smug lately. She always makes sure to comb her hair neatly and hold her head high when she goes out, showing the same imposing presence she had as the Iron Lady of Zhoucun back in the day.

She chatted familiarly with the villagers, but didn't ask Zhou Miao to stop the car, saying she was going back to take a shower and rest.

"They've been gossiping all this time, shouldn't we say something to them and make them feel bad?" Zhou Miao asked with a smile.

“If we’re upset, we’ll become jealous, and who knows how much trouble that will cause. We shouldn’t add to Zhou Yan’s troubles.” Zhao Tieying shook her head. “Making our family’s life better is more important than anything else. The old women in the village are already suffering enough.”

She instructed Zhao Hong not to talk about the restaurant's booming business in the village, lest it arouse envy and cause trouble.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say," Zhou Miao replied.

……

Zhou Yan didn't rush to sleep today. He locked the door and went for a run along the river in the early morning light.

Being a chef is physically demanding; making noodles and stir-fries both require a combination of strength and skill.

After running and sweating profusely, Zhou Yan took off his clothes and jumped into the river for a swim, taking a bath as well, and immediately felt refreshed.

Over the past two days, he has gradually adapted to the work rhythm, and his young and strong body allows him to handle things with ease.

Zhou Yan looks thin because he is tall, but when he takes off his clothes, he has well-defined muscles and his eight-pack abs are quite obvious.

When I got home, I rinsed myself with well water again, changed into clean clothes, and then wrote down the accounts.

Today, we sold 100 bowls of noodles, earning 60 yuan; we sold 69 bowls of braised beef, earning 41.4 yuan; and we sold 52 servings of rice, earning 5.2 yuan.

The cost of a piece of beef with skewers is about 20 yuan, and the beef with skewers alone adds 21 yuan to the profit.

The Sichuan restaurant, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, is now back on track.

Adding dishes in a planned manner can quickly and effectively increase turnover and profits.

Adding dishes without a plan could overwhelm the kitchen, disrupt the entire restaurant's order, and create chaos.

Zhou Yan counted his savings as usual, which amounted to 240.52 yuan.

This is no small sum of money. I'll work another day tomorrow, keep fifty dollars on hand for working capital, and pay back any uncles or cousins ​​who need the money urgently.

He's the kind of person who can't stand being in debt.

Carrying debt makes it hard to sleep soundly.

I don't know how those deadbeats developed such a mentality; they owe money but still think they're the boss.

Noodles and braised beef are the restaurant's staples, but before its influence expands, the maximum serving size is probably only around 100 servings per day, and it's difficult to achieve a higher level.

Moreover, it's foreseeable that someone will soon be envious of a business that makes 100 yuan a day.

When one bachelor leaves, another bachelor like Huang or Zhang will come.

Cooking noodles isn't a particularly technical skill in the eyes of ordinary people. Once Zhou Yan opens up the market for soup pots at the textile factory, people from Zhoucun will definitely set up stalls at the factory gate, selling bowls for two or three cents a bowl to compete for business.

Taste and medicinal properties are his competitive advantage; he is not afraid to face competition head-on, as long as his opponents do not resort to underhanded tactics.

Moreover, Zhou Yan never considered the street vendors at the entrance as his rivals.

What can you do by fighting over that dollar and eighty cents from those vendors?
His only goal was the factory canteen.

[Ding! New main quest released: [Dominate the Textile Factory]: Reach 1000 restaurant influence (1 point of influence is gained for each customer's approval). Reaching 1000 influence will make you the most popular restaurant around the textile factory!]

[Task progress: 380/1000]

[Mission Reward: Unknown]

[Accept Task: Yes/No]

Just as Zhou Yan put the money back into the money box, a taskbar popped up on the panel.

“1000 influence points, that’s really digging up the roots of the factory canteen.” Zhou Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

Jiaozhou Textile Factory is quite large, with 2,800 or 2,900 employees.

To gain that 1000 influence points, he had to snatch food from the tiger's mouth in the factory canteen.

Fortunately, the factory is not far from Suji Town, which has a population of about 20,000. This is a source of customers that can be acquired after the restaurant's reputation spreads.

The 380 people currently on the task list are the hotel's regular customers at the textile factory.

If you want to continue to expand your customer base, you must have dishes that can attract more customers.

This is a long-term task and is quite difficult to complete.

Zhou Yan guessed that the reward for this task would be even higher.

This main quest is an achievement-based one. Just operate normally every day, develop step by step, and you will be able to complete it sooner or later. You can easily get the rewards and the happiness. There's no need to rush.

Zhou Yan chose to accept.

After studying it for several days, he found that the game interface was quite user-friendly, without too many fancy mandatory requirements, offering a very high degree of freedom. The system tasks were not mandatory, and there was no absurd punishment like having to run naked if you failed to complete a task.

Isn't this a perfect auxiliary tool?

Zhou Yan dislikes being whipped and treated like a donkey; being able to take control of one's own life is extremely important to him.

Of course, the system rewards contain the key to unlocking a wonderful life, and he wouldn't try to cheat or shirk responsibility.

Actively complete all tasks you can, and the more new dishes you unlock, the easier it will be to expand and manage your restaurant.

His current goal is to save money to pay back the more than 800 yuan he owes.

……

As soon as it was dawn, Mr. Zhou went out early to buy groceries.

Today he prepared ingredients for 100 bowls of noodles and 100 bowls of braised beef, aiming to sell them all.

Zhao Hong arrived early as usual.

Zhou Yan stopped the car, looked around, and asked with a smile, "Where are Huihui and Fanwa? Didn't they say they were coming to visit Momo today?"

“Those two little pigs are still sleeping. I told Huihui to bring Fanwa up after he wakes up. Besides, the restaurant is busy in the morning, and they dance around like monkeys in the shop, it's annoying to see them,” Zhao Hong explained.

“All boys are like that; what kid isn’t mischievous?” Zhao Tieying replied with a smile.

The restaurant was indeed busy in the morning.

Sichuan people love to eat noodles in the morning. Now that it's a bit chilly in the morning, a bowl of delicious soup noodles, with the hot bone broth, makes you feel warm and comfortable.

As word-of-mouth spread, Zhou Erwa Restaurant's business has seen a significant increase.

This morning, we sold sixty-three bowls of noodles.

They're selling more every day.

"Brother, I'm hungry! I want noodles, pork rib noodles!" Zhou Momo appeared at the kitchen door, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and said in a childish voice.

"Sure, I'll get it for you right away," Zhou Yan replied with a smile.

Zhao Tieying had already come over with a hot towel.

"Mom, I love you!" Zhou Momo took a step back, trying to awaken her mother's love.

But Aunt Zhao remained unmoved.

Zhou Momo raised her head, closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and showed an expression of resignation to her fate.

A hot towel was applied to Zhou Momo's face, rubbing her chubby cheeks until they changed shape, before finally stopping.

Zhou Momo opened her eyes, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes clearer.

She pursed her lips, hesitated, and whispered, "Mom, be gentler next time..."

“If I’m too gentle, I won’t be able to pick it off even if I rub it too hard. I know what I’m doing,” Zhao Tieying replied.

“My face is perfectly clean, there’s no need to pinch it,” Zhou Momo pouted.

(End of this chapter)