Food Intelligence King

Chapter 45: Just Earning Enough to Pay Rent
Auntie, have breakfast.

The family of three picked out their breakfast and, by chance, found an empty seat.

So he took his soy milk, fried dough sticks, tofu pudding, and egg and sat down in the shop.

Chen Zhou didn't specifically try their steamed buns. He just treated it as a regular meal with his child.

But I couldn't help but glance at the steamer basket.

I've recently sold nearly 10,000 steamed buns, so I'm very familiar with their condition.

My aunt's breakfast business is really not doing very well.

The steamed buns have been sitting for a while now.

The craftsmanship is actually quite decent from the outside. In a breakfast shop like this, as long as the taste is good, it should be able to sell its food.

Chen Zhou's gaze swept over the steamer basket and then glanced at the kitchen.

It has a full range of kitchen utensils, including those for steaming, stir-frying, cooking, and deep-frying.

But this shop is only a small 45-square-meter shop, and the kitchen is not very big, so my aunt used it to the fullest.

Chen Zhou recalled that when he was chatting with Tony, he had mentioned that his aunt had too many kinds of breakfast items.

The couple ran a breakfast stall.
They're all around fifty years old, and they're a bit too focused on the beginning to consider the end.

They'd just cooked a bowl of instant noodles on one side, and were already making tofu pudding on the other. A customer's soft-boiled egg turned perfectly cooked in no time. Just these seven or eight people kept them incredibly busy.

Knowing she had delayed the guests' breakfast, the old woman smiled apologetically.

But when she entered the kitchen, she still looked a bit upset, muttering something under her breath, but she was definitely taking her anger out on her husband.

If the store hadn't been so crowded, I might have ended up arguing with my uncle.

Chen Taotao whispered to Chen Zhou:

"This grandma looks so fierce."

Chen Zhou picked up a boiled egg and gently tapped it on her little head.

"Eat yours."

"Ouch!" Chen Taotao covered her head with one hand and picked up her egg with the other, intending to hit Chen Zhou with it as well.

Chen Zhou was quite pleased with the little girl's courage to fight back.

I doubt I'd be bullied at school.

She touched him very lightly, just a symbolic touch.

But Chen Zhou couldn't help teasing her, saying that he had hit her too hard and that Tao Tao should come and blow on it.

Blow on it, and all the pain will fly away!
Ms. Lin peeled the eggshells while watching the father and son and smiling.
"Cook well,"

"Eat well too."

After Chen Zhou started his own catering business, he realized the second point.

However, having gotten used to Ms. Lin's light breakfast, splitting out half a fried dough stick was actually a bit greasy.

Fortunately, they were freshly fried and still had a crispy texture.

Especially the hollow air bubbles that bulge out, with their thin and crispy outer shells, make a "crunch" sound in your mouth.

Dip the fried dough stick in soy milk to let it absorb the moisture, and then feel its chewy texture.

Because Chen Taotao drinks soy milk with her tofu pudding, Chen Zhou added sugar to it. Even the fried dough sticks that were dipped in it were sweet.

My wife's side consisted of eggs and soy milk, without any sugar added.

No wonder she maintains such a healthy weight.

As they left the shop, she said to Chen Zhou, "I saw that she still had mutton soup in her shop. The person wanted to order it, but when he heard that it was frozen mutton offal, he changed it to something else."

With so many product categories, the elderly couple definitely couldn't handle it all on their own.

If the lamb offal is frozen and then thawed, and today's customers don't like it, we might have to wait for tomorrow's customers.

We lost a lot of customers for nothing.

Chen Zhou nodded. "Logically speaking, there should be quite a few people going to work or school in the morning, so this place seems a bit deserted. There are only four small tables, but there are always seats available."

Ms. Lin concluded, "Judging from what was said this morning, opening another store here is feasible."

To be fair, if both sides were to release their own steamed buns, they might not be considered evenly matched opponents.

It's a pity that my aunt and uncle are so busy with their business. In the evening, Chen Zhou started his business, and this time, my aunt came over.

She looked at the stall owner and felt he looked familiar.

When it was the old lady's turn in the queue, she couldn't help but say, "Hey, you came to my shop for breakfast this morning!"

Chen Zhou replied with a smile, "I brought my daughter to eat tofu pudding. Your fried dough sticks were pretty good."

My aunt really can't remember exactly what she ordered.

But she remembered Chen Zhou's steamed buns.

Being praised by Chen Zhou at this moment made him quite happy.

"Everyone in the neighborhood says your steamed buns are delicious, so I came to try them today."

Without rivals in the same industry, it turned into mutual praise among businesses.

Chen Zhou introduced it to her: "I mainly sell meat buns, which is probably what everyone is talking about."

The old lady looked at the price: two yuan and fifty cents each, the same as in her own shop.

This was actually one of the sources of Chen Zhou's initial pricing.

The old aunt didn't say anything more. She bought four meat buns and asked Chen Zhou to divide them into two bags, one for each of them.

Judging from this, they want to try it on the spot.

As the old saying goes, "There is no fixed taste for food; what suits one's palate is precious."

A thousand diners will have a thousand different kinds of steamed buns. Different people will focus on different things when eating steamed buns.

My aunt appreciates this freshly cooked, piping hot food even more—it's scalding hot to hold in your hand and burning hot to your lips.

But once you put it in your mouth, it really suits your aunt's taste.

This temperature originally came from the hands that made the buns, then went through the high temperature of the steamer, and finally came to be what it is now.

My aunt also makes steamed buns herself.

I know that fermentation requires temperature, proofing dough requires temperature, and steaming also requires precise timing.

The young man is quite skilled at shaping the steamed buns into this shape.

As for the taste, she's not that professional; she can tell it's fresh, good meat.

After tasting the steamed buns, the old aunt was quite impressed with the stall in front of her.

The taste is indeed excellent; they're freshly made and cooked to order. In an exam, this would definitely earn extra points.

So, instead of bringing back two for her uncle, she ended up buying them from Chen Zhou's stall.

"You must be working really hard running this stall."

Chen Zhou could only reply, "I think it's better to open a shop. It's warm in winter and cool in summer, and there's a place for customers to sit when they come."

"It's nothing special," the old aunt said, pursing her lips.
"We only earn enough to cover rent all year round, which is less profitable than renting it out. We're always busy, and my husband and I still end up arguing."

Because Chen Zhou was busy with his business, he only chatted with her intermittently.

But then I heard my aunt say, "It would be better to rent it out."

It's inevitable that some thoughts would arise in my mind.

Blurt out:
"Rent it to me."

The old aunt didn't reply.

Whether he took Chen Zhou's words as a joke or fell into deep thought, he remained silent for about two and a half minutes.

Chen Zhou guessed that she would reply to him, "I'll discuss it with my husband."

After all, Chen Zhou himself had said that, which was a tactful way of refusing.

But to my surprise, my aunt is a very straightforward person and very capable of taking charge of things.

After thinking for a while, she said to Chen Zhou:

"It's not impossible."

Chen Zhou: "Huh?"

(End of this chapter)