1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 57 No Ordinary Person (Third Update!)
One by one, the signs hanging on the wall were taken down. When the braised pork ribs were taken down, Aunt Zhao announced that all the dishes for the day had been sold out. The later customers sighed and had to find another place to eat.

All the dishes Zhou Yan prepared today were sold out, including the twenty crucian carp that Boss Gao later delivered.

There were some scraps left over from the braised beef, and the fish that Comrade Zhou "caught" was made into crucian carp with mint. They also stir-fried a plate of cabbage with lard, which was their dinner.

"Business is really good today. All the dishes we prepared are sold out. The customers all say they are good," Aunt Zhao said happily, scooping a spoonful of beef offal and beef tendon into Zhou Momo's bowl.

"I've never seen so many customers in the three months since we opened," Zhou Miao remarked with some emotion.

Just two weeks ago, they would never have imagined that the restaurant would be doing such a booming business.

Back then, the shop would hardly see a single customer all day. Zhou Yan would sit at the door with a gloomy face every day, and he was short-tempered and would explode at the slightest provocation. Even Zhou Momo didn't dare to get close to him.

The store is doing better every day, and the kid is back to his old self, chatting and laughing. The atmosphere at home has improved too.

"Today's turnover should have exceeded two hundred, which should be the peak for the next period of time," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"It's over two hundred!" Aunt Zhao was a little surprised. She knew that business was much better than yesterday, but she didn't expect it to exceed two hundred.

Selling 200 a day, even if you only make half, that's still 100 yuan!
This is making money way too fast!
"Many customers came today just for the fun of it. Most people are lucky if they can eat out once or twice a month. But if we build up our reputation, they'll think of our restaurant when they have guests over in the future. It's a steady stream of income, and we can make money slowly," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

He also hopes that the factory manager's live-streaming sales can have a long-tail effect, but if the business wants to continue to break through, it must have more best-selling single products, or offer some cheaper dishes to increase customer traffic.

Each dish costs one yuan, which increases the average spending per person, but also turns away many customers.

“Yes, we’ll earn it slowly.” Aunt Zhao nodded with a smile.

After dinner, Zhou Yan saw his parents off, locked the door, and then went for a run along the river.

Halfway there, he spotted a familiar figure jogging, quickened his pace to catch up, and said with a smile, "Uncle Lin, you're out exercising too?"

Lin Zhiqiang was wearing a blue vest and had a towel around his neck; he was sweating profusely from running.

"Little Zhou," Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile, looking at Zhou Yan, "It's been a while since I've exercised. Go for a run tonight, otherwise your Aunt Meng will always complain about my big belly."

“You’re not fat either.” Zhou Yan glanced at Lin Zhiqiang. He was actually tall and thin, but his belly was a bit protruding. Who doesn’t have a beer belly when they reach middle age?

Lin Zhiqiang shook his head, looking at Zhou Yan, who was wearing a white vest and had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and said with some emotion, "You young people have such good figures. I used to have six-pack abs, but now they've all come together as one."

Zhou Yan was surprised that Lin Zhiqiang was quite humorous and said with a smile, "Then let's run together, go around to the stone bridge and come back, it's about five kilometers."

"Okay, I'm a slow runner, I need to get used to it first, why don't you go run first?"

"It's okay, let's chat as we run, it'll be easier that way."

"Okay." Lin Zhiqiang nodded with a smile, and after running a few steps, he asked with a smile, "Have you written a letter to Xia Yao?"

"what?"

"She didn't write to you either?"

"Haven't received it yet."

Do you want her address?

"Um, Uncle Lin..."

Zhou Yan and Lin Zhiqiang ran a lap of five kilometers, chatting along the way. They talked about everything from anecdotes about the textile factory to national policies and international disputes.

Lin Zhiqiang attended university in Beijing, studied abroad, worked as an educated youth in the countryside, and spent two years in Shanghai. He is not a pure tech geek; he is knowledgeable and very talkative.

Zhou Yan, after all, had seen the world in the information explosion era and had seen the world on Douyin. Although he didn't know much about it, he could respond to any conversation.

After running this lap, Lin Zhiqiang had come to regard him as a close friend.

"Xiao Zhou, your predictions about the Soviet Union's future are really interesting, they coincide with my own. Let's continue our discussion while we're running tomorrow." At the entrance of the family compound, Lin Zhiqiang, still feeling the excitement, made plans with Zhou Yan to continue running together the next day.

“Okay, let’s run together again at this time tomorrow.” Zhou Yan nodded with a smile and continued running towards the restaurant.

He also benefited greatly from chatting with Lin Zhiqiang.

He only had a vague understanding of this era. He had learned about its general direction from textbooks, but those terms were too broad, and as a food blogger, it was difficult for him to extract any usable information from them.

Lin Zhiqiang is highly educated, and his understanding of current development and the opportunities he sees are very forward-looking; his vision is much broader than mine. He mentioned that with reform and opening up, the country is strongly supporting the development of the individual and private economy, and special economic zones like Shenzhen are under construction. If one can seize this opportunity, one might become a trendsetter.

When he said this, Zhou Yan saw the longing and light in his eyes and immediately felt that Uncle Lin was definitely not someone to be underestimated, and that this small textile factory could not contain his ambitions.

Lin Zhiqiang returned home with light steps, grabbed a towel and a washbasin, and prepared to take a shower.

"Did you find money while running? You seem so happy." Meng Anhe came out of the study with a ruler in her hand and asked Lin Zhiqiang, who was all smiles.

In the study behind her, the two brothers, Lin Jingxing and Lin Bingwen, were blowing on each other's hands to relieve the pain, their faces contorted in agony.

“It’s more interesting than finding money.” Lin Zhiqiang said with a smile, “I just ran into Zhou Yan while jogging. He was also out jogging, and we ran a lap of five kilometers together, chatting along the way.”

His knowledge is so broad, he knows everything, and his views on future development are very forward-thinking. He's no ordinary person; this small town of Suji can't hold him back.

“I’m finding him more and more appealing.” Meng Anhe smiled and pressed the basin down on his hand. “Go take a shower later. If you run in the hot water and then rinse with cold water, you’ll get sick.”

“It’s rare to see a young person with this kind of insight and vision. Zhao Dong is far inferior to him. I think even if he opened a restaurant, he could still make a name for himself,” Lin Zhiqiang remarked.

“I believe that,” Meng Anhe nodded, smiling at him. “But why did you suddenly decide to go for a run?”

"Just eating beef offal isn't enough; exercise is the key. We need to do both, and both are essential," Lin Zhiqiang said seriously.

……

Zhou Yan returned to the hotel and first recorded the bill. Today's income reached 234.6 yuan, which was indeed a new record.

Twenty more servings of braised beef with bamboo shoots were sold, thirty servings each of braised beef with dried bamboo shoots and braised beef with two kinds of peppers were sold, twelve servings of braised pork ribs were sold, and thirty servings of crucian carp with mint were also sold.

After deducting the cost of ingredients, the gross profit is approximately 118.2 yuan.

After its revenue exceeded 100, its profit exceeded 100 for the first time!
Counting the five-cent and ten-cent banknotes, Zhou Yan felt particularly at ease.

This money came in denominations of six mao and one yuan, sold little by little.

With his savings reaching 262.44 yuan, he's getting closer to paying off all his debts.

After taking a shower, Zhou Yan didn't rush to bed today. Instead, she took out paper and pen to organize and record the information she had obtained from Lin Zhiqiang that day.

Aunt Zhao and Comrade Lao Zhou are very nice, but they can only see a place as small as Suji.

He can learn a lot from Lin Zhiqiang.

Moreover, if you get along well with Uncle Lin, you might be able to mentor him someday when he actually goes into business.

He closed the diary, pulled the cord to turn off the light, and the room went dark. Xia Yao's image appeared in Zhou Yan's mind.

She said she would write to him when she went back to school. Has she mailed it yet?

While I was running today, Uncle Lin gave him the address: Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Department of Arts and Crafts, majoring in Interior Design.

Should he take the initiative to write a letter?

Zhou Yan quickly dismissed the idea.

What should he write? He's never written a letter in either of his lives!

Instead of thinking about this, it's better to think about how much stock to order tomorrow, how many customers will be coming to eat, and whether the quantity of different dishes needs to be adjusted.

Thinking about women will only slow down his earning speed.

My mind raced, then everything went black, and I fell asleep instantly.

……

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Comrade Xiao Zhou rode his bicycle out to buy groceries.

……

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(End of this chapter)