1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 272 Only the person drinking the water knows whether it's hot or cold (Bonus chapter for monthly votes: 1464)

Zhou Yan waited until the lights on the third floor came on before turning around and leaving.

Behind the dormitory window, Xia Yao watched the light disappear around the corner, blushed, pulled up the curtains, and then crawled under the covers to cover her head.

Good heavens, how could she say that...?

What a shame!
Ahhhh...

When Zhou Yan returned to the shop, Old Zhou was sitting on a small stool wiping Zhou Momo's feet, which she had just washed. Aunt Zhao had somehow found two balls of yarn, one red and one green, and was fiddling with them with a knitting needle.

"Did you send Yao Yao back?" Aunt Zhao looked up at Zhou Yan and saw that he had a smile on his face. "Did you find money on the way out? You look so happy."

"It really is true, we found three yuan. Everyone who finds it gets a share." Zhou Yan took out three yuan from his pocket and gave one yuan to each of them.

"Thank you, bro~~" Zhou Momo's eyes lit up as she took the money, and she quickly asked, "Did Yao Yao get any? Bro, did you share some money with her?"

Aunt Zhao was initially quite happy to receive her share of the money, but upon hearing this, she looked at Zhou Yan and said, "Exactly, you didn't secretly pocket some of it back, did you?"

"That won't do," Comrade Zhou said earnestly.

"I took her back to her dorm, and I found it on the way back to the hotel," Zhou Yan said calmly, adding a patch to his statement.

Upon hearing this, the three breathed a sigh of relief and happily pocketed the money.

Zhou Momo, wearing her little slippers, stuffed the money into her piggy bank.

Her cookie tin already contains a lot of money; at three and a half years old, she could definitely be called a little rich girl.

"How many steamed buns do you need to make tomorrow morning?" Aunt Zhao asked Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and said, "Let's make about four hundred. If we use all the steamers, we can sell them all yesterday. I estimate that even more customers will come tomorrow because of its reputation. If we can't sell them all, we'll send them back to Grandma and the others."

The progress of the steamed bun task is 512/1000, only 488 more are needed.

Zhou Yan wants to give it his all tomorrow.

Yesterday morning, Zhang Laosan brought over some meat and told him about He Ermao going to the stone bridge to buy steamed buns.

He Ermao's steamed buns were suppressed at the entrance of the textile factory, and he could hardly sell a single one.

But when they got to the stone bridge, they started killing indiscriminately, robbing all of Sun Laosan's customers.

Although he had never tasted He Ermao's steamed buns, it was easy to tell from his demeanor that he was a professional pastry chef with excellent skills.

Currently, He Ermao's steamed buns have a relatively limited flavor, with only scallion and pork buns available.

He found a market at the bridgehead. If he were to turn back and add more flavors of steamed buns, and insist on lowering prices to compete with him, the situation would become quite uncontrollable.

The reward of "From Beginner to Expert" is naturally best obtained as early as possible, as mastering more steamed bun flavors means taking the initiative.

He Ermao wreaked havoc at the stone bridgehead, stealing all of Sun's business. This was none of his business, and he was even happy to see it happen.

Sun's steamed buns are truly awful; the meat buns have practically no meat in them. What's the difference between this and a scam?

But preventing Wang Laowu from making money at the textile factory gate through He Ermao was very important to him.

He's ready to give him a bit more intensity.

He plans to prepare less flour tomorrow to make room for steamed buns.

"More than four hundred? That's going to be busy. I'll get up early tomorrow to help." Aunt Zhao was a little surprised when she heard this. She stuffed the yarn in her hand back into the cabinet and said to Comrade Zhou, "Sanshui, take Momo upstairs and get her to sleep early."

"Okay." Old Zhou poured out the foot bath water, responded, picked up Zhou Momo, and went upstairs.

Zhou Yan took a cold shower and went back to her room to lie down early.

He grew up by the sea, loves winter swimming, and was the only person born in the 2000s on the district's winter swimming team when he was in college; the others were all older men.

I've gotten used to taking cold showers, and I've been too busy lately to go swimming.

He spent all his exercise time running with Xia Yao.

To be honest, it's more interesting than winter swimming with the old man.

It was still early, so I pulled a book out from under my pillow and started reading.

During his time with Xia Yao, he realized what it means to regret not having studied enough when you need to use your knowledge.

When you have in-depth contact and conversations with truly insightful and knowledgeable people, if you only know a few copied quotes, you won't be able to continue the conversation on many topics.

Different profound insights into the same thing can easily lead to soul-stirring exchanges, which is very interesting.

Xia Yao is not only an excellent painter, but she also reads extensively and has many profound and interesting thoughts about the world.

Of course, as a deep user of the short video era, he is also quite adept at observing the various aspects of life.

As Zhou Yan looked at the book, her delicate face involuntarily appeared in his mind. The way she smiled with her head down was rather cute.

The "brother" she called out before going upstairs was incredibly sweet, making his heart flutter.

She really is great at it.

In Sichuan, he had never heard such a soft and sweet "brother" before.

The tyrannosaurs she had seen in Sichuan and Chongqing could not be squeezed out.

...

"Didn't we say we'd go to bed early?"

"I'm talking about Momo, let go!"

"Then let's go to bed early too, you have to go to work tomorrow."

"Damn it! Go to sleep early. Did you waste all that money on pork kidney slices and goji berry wine today? Hurry up, or I'll tear your pants off..."

"Oh dear... I can do it myself."

"Yes, lie down, I just brushed my teeth."

"I swiped it too."

"You're good at understanding... Ouch, slow down..."

……

"Sister Ying is right, these pork kidney slices are really good, they're really nutritious. I'll take you to eat them again next time, I'll order two for you." Meng Anhe leaned on Lin Zhiqiang, slightly out of breath, her face flushed.

"How about you make me some wolfberry wine?" Lin Zhiqiang suggested.

"I'll make you two jars later!" "One jar is enough...you should still restrain yourself."

"I'm going up tomorrow and won't be back until the weekend. That'll be enough for you to support me," Meng Anhe said softly. "One more time?"

"I can't afford it..."

……

Reaching out to turn off the alarm clock in the blankets, Zhou Yan got out of bed, put on her clothes, and went downstairs.

On the third day of waking up early, my mental state has improved significantly today.

My biological clock is gradually adapting to this rhythm; that's one of the advantages of being young.

Just as I finished kneading the dough, a bicycle bell rang outside the door.

Zhou Yan walked over quickly, peeked through the crack in the door, and saw a tricycle parked outside. The people holding flashlights were Zhang Laosan and his wife. He then opened the door by pulling the latch.

"I've brought the meat over for you. The meat here today is excellent, all top-quality," Zhang Laosan said with a low, confident voice.

"Okay, bring it in for me." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile, carrying the pig's head and the cut pork into the shop and putting them in a basin.

Old Zhang wasn't bragging; the pig's head and pork were of good quality and fully met his requirements.

"How were the steamed buns you sold at the bridgehead the day before yesterday?" Zhou Yan asked casually as he paid Zhang Laosan.

"They're selling very well. That guy's got some skills; he knows how to do business. His steamed buns are pretty good too. He sold at least two hundred the day before yesterday, at 15 cents each." Old Zhang took the money and said with a smile, "Old Sun is furious. He told his fat son to buy a few steamed buns to take back and study. I think if you keep fighting with him, Sun's Steamed Bun Shop will go bankrupt sooner or later."

"Serves him right! Sun Laosan's meat buns are made with lymph node meat, not only are they awful, but you can't even taste the meat in them," Zhang Laosan's wife said with a look of disgust.

Zhou Yan laughed upon hearing this, it seems that Sun Ji has indeed been criticized for a long time.

However, Zhang Laosan's words prove that He Ermao is indeed a formidable opponent. He makes good steamed buns and understands business strategies, making him more difficult to deal with than Wang Laowu.

If it were Wang Laowu, they should have started a price war with him.

But He Ermao refused to lower the price. When he couldn't sell at the factory gate, he would go to the bridgehead, pick the easy targets, and make money.

Zhou Yan stir-fried the minced meat and let it cool. Not long after, Zhao Hong and Li Lihua arrived.

Upon hearing that five hundred steamed buns were to be made today, I didn't dare to delay for a moment and immediately started making them.

After a day of rest, both of them were full of energy again.

Judging from their steamed bun-making skills, the two of them didn't rest after returning home; their techniques became increasingly proficient.

Even the steamed buns made by Zhao Hong met Zhou Yan's requirements and could be sold to customers.

"Honghong, how long have you been practicing? It's only been a day, and your steamed buns are already so good!" Aunt Zhao got up early today and marveled at the steamed buns Zhao Hong made.

"Fourth Aunt, you don't know, my mom made enough vegetarian buns for my grandparents and my dad to eat for three days straight, and that's three meals a day." Zhou Lihui complained helplessly, "My lunchbox isn't filled with rice today, it's three buns, it's completely full."

"Shut up." Zhao Hong glared at him, a hint of smugness in her smile: "They love steamed buns, so this is just to cooperate with my work."

“That makes sense.” Zhao Tieying smiled as well.

As Zhao Hong and Li Lihua became more skilled, their efficiency in making steamed buns increased significantly.

Zhou Yan prepared meat filling and dough for 500 steamed buns today, but only prepared 80 servings of noodles, 40 servings less than usual.

Today, noodles have to give way to steamed buns. Customers who can't get noodles will most likely choose steamed buns as a meal replacement.

If this could be converted into a price, it would be 160 steamed buns.

Zhou Yan was steaming buns when he glanced at He Ji Bun Shop across the street.

He Ermao and Liu Fen were also busy making steamed buns, one rolling out the dough and the other making the buns. They would occasionally look up at each other and give each other a shy smile.

Gee...

Zhou Yan curled his lip; at this rate, Wang Laowu was in grave danger.

Of course, Zhou Yan did not rule out the possibility that Liu Fen was a honey trap used by Wang Laowu.

After all, it's unrealistic to expect a skilled pastry chef like He Ermao to work with peace of mind just by paying him a little money, especially in this era of increasingly active self-employed individuals.

"Fen, take it slow, don't tire yourself out."

"Fen, are you thirsty? Would you like some water?"

“Fen…”

He Ermao spoke very frequently, his concern for Liu Fen almost overflowing.

"I'm not tired, I'm not thirsty, stop shouting, everyone can hear you." Liu Fen blushed, glared at He Er Mao, and said reproachfully, "I told you, I'm a traditional woman! You're making me... I'm so embarrassed!"

He Ermao shut his mouth, and after a while, handed over an enamel cup: "Have some water. You've been busy all morning. I'll take care of the rest. You start the fire, and the workers will be here soon. Let's try again today."

Liu Fen took the enamel cup and took a big gulp. The water temperature was just right; she was indeed a little thirsty.

Seeing He Ermao with beads of sweat on his forehead, I couldn't help but feel a warmth in my heart.

Over the years, Wang Laowu has never cared whether she was tired, hungry, or thirsty.

On the contrary, if he was thirsty or hungry, and no water was offered or no food was prepared, he would immediately start scolding her.

More than ten years of marriage have been a trial by fire; only the person drinking the water knows whether it's hot or cold.

What a load of rubbish about a bedmate, not even as good as He Ermao, whom I've known for less than a week.

She had long since given up on Wang Laowu.

When you've been looking forward to something for too long, you lose even the desire to want it.

I thought that life would just go on like this, and that would be how it would be for me forever.

He Ermao's words that day were like a chisel, breaking open her shell.

I've been thinking about it over and over again these past two days, and my mind is in turmoil.

She put down the enamel mug, took the towel draped over her shoulder, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He Ermao froze, then looked at her and grinned foolishly, "Fen, you're so good to me, no one has ever been so good to me before."

"Idiot." Liu Fen rolled her eyes at her, squatted down in front of the stove to start a fire, but couldn't help but smile.

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(End of this chapter)