Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

The food delivery business has been in full swing these past few days. To Zhou Wen's surprise, the whole process has gone unexpectedly smoothly, without any mishaps.

What Zhou Wen was concerned about was that the delivery business was unexpectedly good.

This may also be related to the hot weather. On such a hot day, people don't want to walk back and forth unless the distance is relatively short.

And during this period, the largest volume of deliveries came from the internet cafe closest to the restaurant.

Why isn't the amount of food delivered from the construction site that much?

First of all, the nearest factory is quite a distance from the restaurant, and people from any further away would hardly come to eat here, so the advertising hasn't reached that area yet.

Therefore, Zhou Wen also plans to make some changes.

As for what specific changes will be made, we'll have to wait and see how things go.

The restaurant's delivery service stops at 8 p.m. every day, but just a few minutes before 8 p.m., a lot of calls come in.

There were no problems with the daily delivery schedule.

After Shan Wei finished delivering all the takeout, it was almost nine o'clock. He went back to the restaurant to rest for a while.

After resting for about ten minutes, I will continue working.

Zhou Wen didn't mention any of these things; it was just that Shan Wei chose to do it himself.

Because sometimes he has to take orders for customers, some empty bowls and chopsticks can't be cleared away in time, so Shan Wei goes over to clean them up.

This behavior surprised Zhou Wen quite a bit. According to Shan Wei's previous predictions, he would have just sat in a secluded corner, moved a chair, and sat down to rest.

Since Ren Xuan started working at the restaurant, she has become much more diligent than before.

Zhou Wen felt that the two of them had some private interactions, but he was just unaware of it.

Everything is proceeding smoothly.

……

The restaurant was closed for the night, but Shi Ying and the others were still eating there, while Zhou Wen was feeding the rice balls at the door.

But then a beautiful figure appeared at the doorway.

"Surprised?"

Zhou Wen was indeed quite surprised to see who it was.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Come in and sit down."

"Why has your restaurant hired an extra employee after only a few days of absence?"

Jiang Zhiyu looked at the newcomer, Ren Xuan, and said.

"Didn't you say last time that it was hard to find staff for the restaurant?"

Zhou Wen glanced back, then turned around.

"The restaurant is short-staffed, so it needs to hire people, right? Even if it's not as good as Shi Ying and Shi Ling's, it can't just not hire anyone, can it?"

Zhou Wen smiled and said, "You want it? You can go and ask if they'd like to go to Guangzhou with you."

Jiang Zhiyu understood what he meant and nodded slightly.

Zhou Wen continued, "If the salary and benefits are slightly better, and some internal pressure is put in, everyone's work attitude will improve."

Jiang Zhiyu nodded slightly; what Zhou Wen said was indeed a good method.

He then jokingly added, "But it seems you only have the former here, not the latter?"

Zhou Wen shook his head: "I just run a small restaurant."

"If we just post the job ad outside, I doubt many people will be interested."

"Isn't your restaurant short-staffed right now?" Jiang Zhiyu asked.

"There's one who needs to do food delivery."

"Delivery?"

"Yeah, it's home delivery. Delivery services are actually quite useful," Zhou Wen said.

However, it probably won't be of much use to Jiang Zhiyu's restaurant. For those high-end restaurants, diners are more interested in the ambiance.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded slightly.

"I'm going back to Guangzhou tomorrow afternoon," Jiang Zhiyu said. "I came to let you know."

Zhou Wen smiled to himself, telling himself that a simple phone call or text message would have sufficed; going to all that trouble to come all this way was just a waste of time.

They must have some other purpose in coming.

Actually, there were other things I wanted to discuss with Jiang Zhiyu this time.

"Have you found enough people?" Zhou Wen asked.

"It took a lot of effort to poach them from someone else."

Jiang Zhiyu shook her head slightly as she spoke, clearly feeling somewhat frustrated.

Zhou Wen also noticed the fatigue on Jiang Zhiyu's face.

"However, I'm still far inferior to you. Now, I'll give you my position with just one word from you."

Zhou Wen chuckled and said, "Forget it. This little restaurant has already taken my life out of me. If I went to your place, I'd be exhausted."

Jiang Zhiyu sighed softly and pouted.

"My shop is expected to open in a few months, so why don't you go check it out as a suggestion?"

I should be taking a few days off in September.

I should go back there then, and if I want to go to Guangdong Province again in the remaining time, it will take at least a few days.

Having accepted money from others and becoming a consultant there, it would be unreasonable not to go and check it out.

The price of four 8s a month is quite high.

However, Zhou Wen still pretended to be somewhat embarrassed, then said with a serious but half-joking expression, "How about I return the money to you?"

Jiang Zhiyu casually tossed her hair and laughed, "You wish! Taking money is easy, but giving it back is not so easy~?"

"It's not impossible to get a refund; just add an 8 to the end."

Zhou Wen smiled.

"Let's go there in early September."

Jiang Zhiyu was slightly surprised, not expecting Zhou Wen to actually come.

So he asked to confirm, "Are you sure?"

Zhou Wen nodded. If you were to fly there, it would only take an hour.

"Then we'll contact each other by phone."

Jiang Zhiyu nodded.

"Make me a bowl of shrimp and mushroom noodles, but make a small amount, I can't finish too much."

"Okay, just a moment."

Once the noodles were ready, Shi Ying and the others left.

While eating her noodles, Jiang Zhiyu said, "There's something else."

Zhou Wen slightly raised his eyelids.

Jiang Zhiyu also laughed and said, "I can't possibly come to the restaurant just to tell you this one thing, can I?"

The first thing I wanted to do was to ask Zhou Wen to have time to visit Guangzhou, and the second thing I wanted to do was to ask Zhou Wen for some food recommendations.

"Is there anything else?" Zhou Wen said, tapping the table lightly with his fingers.

Do you think relying solely on local cuisine will work there?

Jiang Zhiyu also expressed her concerns.

"The competition in Guangzhou is quite fierce; relying solely on local cuisine will definitely not work."

Zhou Wen nodded slightly, understanding Jiang Zhiyu's concerns.

Guangdong Province can be described as a province of great cuisine, with its morning tea culture, roast meats, and so on.

Actually, choosing to start a restaurant business in 07 was not bad, although it might not be as good as it was in 05.

Zhou Wen wasn't sure whether Jiang Zhiyu was planning to open a restaurant on her own or had taken over someone else's.

However, the former seems more likely.

If I take over, I probably won't need to look for more staff.

Zhou Wen continued, following Jiang Zhiyu's words:

"So, I thought of coming to Fujian Province to find a chef, since the cuisine in both provinces is relatively light."