Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

"Xiao Zhou, let's continue."

"Uncle, is the taste alright?" Zhou Wen still asked for his opinion.

"Xiao Zhou, your skills are probably better than those of chefs in big cities," Li Lichun said with a smile.

The two were clearly very satisfied with the taste, and Zhou Wen quickly refilled the noodles.

Although there are no toppings, the soup base of tomato and egg noodles is already flavorful, so even if you only have plain noodles, eating them with the soup won't be too bad.

After finishing the noodles, Lao Wang felt all the fatigue of the day disappear. He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but it was really amazing.

He chuckled and exclaimed, "Old Li, you've really got a good belly! I wonder what secrets Xiao Zhou learned while the shop was closed. His cooking skills are amazing now. I'm getting more and more excited to see what new dishes he'll be making."

Li Lichun nodded emphatically: "It seems we won't have to cook for ourselves anymore. We can eat here for the rest of our lives."

Li Lichun's words were obviously exaggerated, but Zhou Wen's cooking skills had clearly won over both of their stomachs.

"My partner has been sick these past few days and hasn't had much of an appetite. Tomorrow, we can go to Xiao Zhou's restaurant for a bowl of noodles to warm them up."

Old Wang suggested, "How about we get a bowl of noodles to go?"

Li Lichun shook his head and said, "This noodle dish is meant to be eaten while it's hot. If you take it home, the noodles will clump together and the soup will get cold. It's better to come to the shop and have a bowl of it hot."

Old Wang nodded: "That's true."

Before leaving, Li Lichun specifically asked Zhou Wen when the next new dish would be made.

Zhou Wen stated that the new dishes still need some time to be researched.

No sooner had Li Lichun and his companion left than several of Xiao Lin's regular coworkers arrived at the shop.

Everyone was surprisingly in agreement about the new product, ordering a bowl to try it out.

However, for some people who don't like tomatoes, fried rice and fried noodles are still their first choice.

To Zhou Wen's surprise, the tomato and egg noodles were so popular.

Today is the first day, and the tomato and egg noodles sold more than the fried noodles and fried rice combined.

With the addition of tomato and egg noodles, the store now offers a variety of dishes, which has boosted customer traffic even further.

This resulted in the restaurant closing much later than the previous two days, with only a few diners still around 9 PM.

Another reason is that my food preparation speed has slowed down.

With tomato and egg noodles, the required steps are different. Zhou Wen is extremely focused, afraid that some seasonings might be missing or added incorrectly, resulting in a serious deviation in taste.

Preparation takes time, and serving also takes time.

Furthermore, a blunder occurred tonight when they served tomato and egg noodles instead of fried rice. Fortunately, a customer had already ordered tomato and egg noodles.

After explaining the reason, adding more side dishes resolved the problem.

But as the number of guests increases, this kind of thing will probably happen more and more often.

Before he knew it, it was ten o'clock. After the last customer left the restaurant, Zhou Wen looked around outside to make sure there would be no more customers. He then quickly closed the door and drew the curtains.

Although it's true that there's no such thing as not making money, the problem is that it's really exhausting. Zhou Wen barely rested at all today.

Exhausted, I cleaned and tidied up the front hall and kitchen before sitting down in the front hall to think about things.

The store's business is getting better and better, but my workload is also getting heavier and heavier.

"Maybe I could find a front-of-house waiter?" Zhou Wen murmured to himself.

The restaurant doesn't need any cooks for the time being. It's only been a few days since the restaurant reopened, so maintaining the taste is the key.

Having someone else in charge of cooking does make things easier, but there are two things to keep in mind.

First, chefs' salaries are often quite high, and given the current revenue situation, it's really unnecessary.

Secondly, the food cooked by different chefs will definitely taste different. Zhou Wen was unsure whether the changes in taste would affect the restaurant, and he dared not gamble.

Currently, the restaurant only needs one front-of-house server who can serve food and clean up after customers leave, thus sharing some of the workload.

The first people Zhou Wen thought of were the former employees of the store, since he had experience with them and had worked with them for a period of time.

Thinking about it, Zhou Wen took out his phone and awkwardly operated the Nokia in his hand. Then he found the former waitress in the store, "Xiao Shi", in the contact list.

I vaguely remember that it was a rather young and capable woman. Without further hesitation, I dialed the number, and the call was answered a dozen seconds later.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhou Wen simply and directly recounted the general outline of the matter.

However, the other party has already found a new job and is quite satisfied with it.

Of course, it wasn't without its gains. Xiao Shi has a cousin who is also looking for a job recently, and from Xiao Shi's introduction, she seems to be a good candidate.

Zhou Wen did not refuse. If he were to recruit from outside, it would be more reliable to have someone recommended by an acquaintance. If all else failed, he could always recruit someone else.

After getting the phone number from Xiao Shi, Zhou Wen hadn't even made the call when the other side proactively called him.

The call connected, and a young and energetic voice came from the other end: "Boss, when do we go to the restaurant tomorrow?"

Zhou Wen was taken aback, not expecting Xiao Shi's cousin to be so proactive. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Around eight or nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

After agreeing on a time, they hung up the phone. Judging from the voice alone, Zhou Wen was quite satisfied.

Young and energetic, his voice suggests an outgoing and cheerful person.

People's primary pursuit is taste, but just like hygiene, service is also an invisible aspect; good service can attract diners just as much.

After all, catering is considered a service industry in a macro sense.

……

The next day, after buying the necessary groceries and taking care of the remaining tasks, it was already eight o'clock.

At 8:30, Zhou Wen also met the cousin that Xiao Shi had introduced.

"Hello, boss, my name is Shi Ying." Shi Ying was not shy or timid at all and introduced herself in a generous manner.

She looks young and energetic, with a somewhat slender figure, around twenty-one or twenty-two years old, and doesn't dress in an overly flashy way.

Zhou Wen nodded inwardly, quite satisfied with Chong's personality alone.

However, there are still some questions that need to be asked.

Do you have similar work experience before?

Shi Ying was quite honest, shaking her head and saying, "No, I've always worked in factories. The last factory was struggling financially, so I've been doing odd jobs ever since."