1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 253 He's really amazing~~ (Bonus chapter for monthly votes: 664)

Huang He was quite direct; it turned out he had his eye on the bean sprouts he was using. He has good taste.

but.

Old Huang's bean sprouts still have a great use.

Braised pork belly with pickled mustard greens, pork buns with pickled mustard greens, twice-cooked pork with pickled mustard greens... We consume quite a lot of pickled mustard greens every day.

Moreover, his master's reputation for banquets on the open ground was growing, and the amount of bean sprouts used was also increasing day by day.

If this supply chain becomes known to competitors, especially a big boss like Huang He, it's ultimately not a safe bet.

Zhao Shulan and Huang Ying also looked at Zhou Yan with expectant expressions.

Zhou Yan picked up the covered bowl, took a sip of tea, and smiled, "If Boss Huang wants to buy some bean sprouts, I can help you buy them. The price is not expensive; such good bean sprouts are only four cents a pound."

You know, such good sprouts are hard to find. My master found the way for me, and if I go around telling everyone, it would be like betraying my master and ancestors.”

"I see..." Huang He pondered for a moment, then quickly nodded and said, "Okay! I'll buy it from you at four cents a pound. You buy me thirty pounds first, and we'll see when you can deliver it to me?"

Zhou Yan glanced at his watch and said, "I'll go to buy more goods on Sunday and bring them back for you. It's too late today, I need to go back and prepare for business, I can't keep up."

"Alright." Huang He nodded and saw Zhou Yan out.

"She's not very old, but she speaks and acts quite maturely, without making any mistakes," Zhao Shulan said with a smile.

“Exactly, we couldn’t get a single word out of them. But if it were me, I definitely wouldn’t say anything either.” Huang He’s smile revealed a hint of helplessness. “Well, it’s alright. Four cents a pound for this quality of bean sprouts isn’t expensive.”

"You think he makes a lot of money from this?"

"How much he earns is up to his ability; if we think it's a good deal, then it's not a loss."

"Makes sense."

Huang Bing sat at the door, scratching his head as he watched Zhou Yan ride away on his bicycle: "Why does Brother Yan look so handsome even when he's riding a bicycle?"

Huang Ying leaned against the doorpost and said seriously, "There's no way around it, his temperament, looks, and height are all perfect. Even riding a pig would look more handsome than you."

"Huang Ying! I'm your brother, you should show some respect to your brother!" Huang Bing rolled his eyes at her.

"Brother, do you have enough money to spend lately?" Huang Ying reached into her pocket.

Huang Bing's eyes lit up immediately, and a fawning smile returned to his face. He rubbed his hands together, "I'm a little short on cash lately, if you..."

"If you don't have enough, just spend it sparingly." Huang Ying pulled it out of her pocket with her hand empty.

"Ying Ying!" Huang Bing gritted his teeth.

Full of emotion, but utterly worthless!
Huang Ying laughed and asked again, "You're short of money lately, is your Xue'er ignoring you?"

Huang Bing's face fell. "That's because I didn't want to pay attention to her. Now that I see her, she's just so-so. Compared to Miss Duan, she's nothing but a vulgar beauty."

Huang Ying smiled and said, "Miss Duan probably feels the same way about you and Zhou Yan."

"Huang Ying! Do you think it's fun to hurt your brother?" Huang Bing said angrily.

“How could someone who hurt you only hurt you once?” Huang Ying stuck out her tongue. “If you return the pocket money you cheated me out of the past two years, I promise I will never hurt you again.”

Huang Bing shrugged: "I have no money, so hurt me as much as you want."

……

Zhou Yan rode his bike to No. 16 Yutang Street. Ironically, Feiyan Restaurant was located at the other end of Yutang Street, less than a kilometer away. Huang He didn't even know that the bean sprouts from Old Man Huang's restaurant were the best in Jiaozhou.

This is not hard to understand. Feiyan Restaurant uses salted vegetables for its braised pork belly, and the amount of pickled mustard greens used is probably very small. They just bought them at a dry goods store and wouldn't go out of their way to find higher quality ones.

It turned into a situation where the problem lies beneath one's own eyes.

Zhou Yan glanced back in the direction of Feiyan Restaurant to make sure no one was watching before stopping his bicycle and knocking on Old Huang's door.

"Who is it?" Old Huang answered through the door.

"Master Huang, I'm Zhou Yan, Xiao Lei's apprentice. I'm here to buy some bean sprouts," Zhou Yan said.

The door opened quickly, and Old Huang looked at Zhou Yan with some surprise: "Didn't you just buy bean sprouts a couple of days ago? You're back so soon?"

“That’s right, I’m here to discuss a big deal with you today.” Zhou Yan pushed his bicycle through the door and closed it behind him. “I want sixty catties of bean sprouts.”

"Sixty jin?!" Old Huang was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. "Can you finish it all?"

"I won't come back to buy more if I don't use it all," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "One bag holds thirty jin, so I'll pack it into two separate bags."

"Sixty catties is a bit much, isn't it? Your master never takes this much at once." Old Huang hesitated and said, "You... why don't you come back to buy more when you don't need it anymore, so it won't get moldy if it's left for too long, since you don't have any jars or anything like that at home."

"It's alright, just keep pretending, I know what I'm doing." Zhou Yan waved his hand dismissively.

Hearing this, Old Huang didn't refuse anymore and led Zhou Yan towards the room where the sprouts were kept. "You still want the two-year term?"

"What price do you charge for a three-year term? How long can these sprouts be stored?" Zhou Yan asked.

Old Huang paused, looked at him, and said, "The price is the same. To be honest, the best bean sprouts are those that are about two years old, and those that are three years old have a richer flavor. But if they are older than three years, the taste of the bean sprouts will not be as good because they have been stored for too long."

The appeal of bean sprouts lies in their crisp and tender texture. Since they're made from the stalks of leafy greens, if left out too long, they lose moisture, become dry and rotten, and lose their flavor no matter what you cook with them.

Zhou Yan was surprised to hear this and said, "If you don't sell your hundred jars of three-year-old sprouts in time, and leave them for another six months or a year, won't you run out of them?"

Generally, the longer something is aged in a cellar, the more expensive it becomes, such as wine.

Sprouts do have a shelf life; they're not necessarily better the longer they're kept.

"Sigh, it's not that easy to sell. You know, the people of Jiaozhou are good at making salted vegetables. Every household knows how to make them. It's really difficult to get them to spend money to buy pickled mustard greens." Old Huang sighed. "My biggest customer over the years has been your master. He has helped me a lot. If it weren't for him, I don't know how many pickled mustard greens would have been washed and fed to pigs."

“Well then, take me to see your three-year-aged sprouts,” Zhou Yan said.

“Okay, you can buy it if you like it. We know each other so well, I’ll definitely make sure you’re satisfied.” Old Huang nodded and opened another door.

A perfect jar of bean sprouts

Zhou Yan looked at the jar that Old Huang had opened and the handful of sprouts he had grabbed. Well, the quality was excellent.

He picked one up; it was already golden in color. He pinched off a piece and put it in his mouth; the aroma was still rich.

“Okay, I’ll take this one,” Zhou Yan nodded.

Old Huang looked at him and asked seriously, "Really? Will your master scold me later?"

"Hey, I've been helping you with three years' worth of stored goods, and you're still not happy?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

"Great! I'll pack it for you then." Old Huang happily went to get the bags and filled two bags with thirty pounds of food.

Zhou Yan peeked into the jar and saw that there were still some extra sprouts at the bottom.

"This jar weighs about sixty jin (approximately 30 kg)," Old Huang explained, noticing his curiosity.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Your production capacity is quite good. Once these 100 jars are sold, you can make nearly 2,000 yuan a year."

Old Huang shook his head and said, "We can't sell them all. There's always a surplus every year. Besides, the cost of making pickled mustard greens is not low. The dried stalks are shredded, and we can only harvest thirteen pounds out of a hundred pounds. We also need to add a lot of salt, brown sugar, and spices. The production process is also long. We can't sell them all even after three years. If we're not careful, we'll lose money."

"Then why are you buying it for three cents a pound?" Zhou Yan asked, puzzled.

"There's no other way. We can make a little money even with just three cents. If we sell it for too high a price, you won't make any money either. It's enough if everyone makes a little." Old Huang grinned, with only a few teeth left in his mouth.

Looking at his hunched back, Zhou Yan suddenly felt a pang of unease.

Pickled mustard greens require three pickling processes and two cellarings; the process is indeed complex.

Old Huang and his wife work hard all year round, but they probably don't earn much money.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be weaving baskets here every day.

"How many kilograms of your three-year-old sprouts do you have left?" Zhou Yan asked.

Without hesitation, Old Huang replied, "There are still over fifty full jars, weighing about three thousand catties."

"How many are two-year terms?" Zhou Yan asked again.

"There are more than seventy jars of two-year-old tea, weighing more than four thousand catties," Old Huang said.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Yan said, "How about this, I'll buy all your three-year-old bean sprouts for three cents a pound, but I have one condition: you must sell all your bean sprouts to me from now on, no more to anyone else."

"You want all three thousand catties?" Old Huang was shocked. Why do you want so much?
Zhou Yan nodded: "Yes, three thousand catties. But I have one condition: the quality of the bean sprouts must be up to standard. I will buy all of your bean sprouts within a year."

Secondly, I guarantee a minimum of 3,000 jin per year. No matter how you sell it, you must reserve at least 3,000 jin of sprouts for me, both for two-year and one-year production. I need them for next year and the year after.

"These three thousand catties are for me alone. My master wants a lot more; I'll have him come and talk to you about it later."

"What?!" Old Huang was a little confused, his face full of disbelief.

“Yes, sir!” Zhou Yan nodded.

"Oh my, you're quite the generous one!" Old Huang immediately nodded. "Alright, we'll do it your way! Your business is sure to grow big!"

"It's a small business, but I can still use all these bean sprouts," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "I'll pay you in installments; you can settle the payment as soon as you get the bean sprouts."

"Okay, I trust you." Old Huang nodded.

After the deal was settled, Zhou Yan tied the sprouts to the car, paid the money, and pushed the bicycle away.

He now sells 20 servings of braised pork belly with pickled mustard greens a day, with each serving using an average of two ounces of pickled mustard greens, which means he uses four pounds of pickled mustard greens a day.

Next, he plans to make twice-cooked pork with pickled mustard greens and pork buns with pickled mustard greens. He will use less pickled mustard greens in the twice-cooked pork, but if the pork buns sell well, he estimates he can use quite a lot of them every day.

He can probably use up three thousand catties of sprouts in a year.

Moreover, by relying on these 3,000 jin of sprouts, we were able to lock in Old Huang, a high-quality sprout supplier, and establish a stable sprout supply chain, which is quite crucial.

Even if Huang He finds Old Man Huang, it won't affect his bean sprout supply.

When his own needs can no longer be met, he will naturally stop helping Huang He with his purchasing.

In some ways, this can be considered the most straightforward and unpretentious business battle in the catering industry.

He needs to make some preparations for moving the shop to Chiayi. If business improves after moving to Chiayi, the demand for bean sprouts will naturally increase.

Of course, this problem is not unsolvable.

Sprouts are not tofu, and transporting dried goods is much simpler.

There are passenger ships from Jiaozhou that go directly to Yibin. If all else fails, we can ask Old Man Huang for some connections and go to Yibin to find sources of goods.

However, this would be much more troublesome, and the quality would be difficult to guarantee.

This was the reason why he was unwilling to reveal the truth to Huang He earlier.

Zhou Yan would buy goods for Huang He and make a profit of one cent per pound, which he would use as his travel expenses.

When Zhou Yan rode his bike back to the restaurant, he saw Xiao Lei and Old Zhou sitting under a tree at the restaurant entrance, playing chess.

A tire swing was tied to a tree branch nearby, and Zhou Momo sat on it, swinging her short legs and having a great time.

The tire was woven into a chair with ropes. The bottom was densely woven horizontally and vertically, and after the ropes were hung, a backrest was woven around three sides.

Even though Zhou Momo is so small, she felt incredibly safe sitting inside.

Old Zhou is really skillful; he made it exactly according to Zhou Yan's design requirements.

"Guoguo, look at the swing Daddy made for me! It's so fun to play with! He's really amazing~~" Zhou Momo turned to look at Zhou Yan and said in her childish voice, her joy barely concealed.

The upturned corners of Old Zhou's mouth were harder to suppress than an AK.

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(End of this chapter)