Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

Around 7 a.m., Zhou Wen went on a long trip.

After about ten minutes' drive, we arrived at a local wholesale seafood market.

As for buying groceries, Zhou Wen left it to Shi Ling and Shi Ying.

Shi Ling is older than Shi Ying and has much more experience in the world. She is also more stable in personality.

If we consider the restaurant as a company, Shi Ying would be the secretary, while Shi Ling would be the general manager.

Therefore, Zhou Wen felt at ease letting Shi Ling take Shi Ying grocery shopping.

Moreover, Shi Ying had gone grocery shopping with Zhou Wen many times, and now she had considerable experience in what vegetables to buy and how to choose them.

If anything really happens, you can call Zhou Wen directly.

After arriving at the wholesale seafood market, Zhou Wen went inside to take a look.

The ground was wet, and the air was filled with the smell of the sea.

After walking around for a while, I finally found a stall.

The person speaking had a thick local accent and was shouting and gesturing at the stall.

He was chubby all over, and his whole body jiggled when he moved. His chest and back were soaked with sweat.

Zhou Wen looked over at the sound and saw that the crayfish on the stall were stacked in baskets.

I took a closer look and touched it.

The activity was found to be quite good, probably because it had just been taken off the train.

Then I reached out and felt it; it wasn't sticky and didn't have any strange smell.

Seeing this, Zhou Wen simply started speaking in the local dialect as well.

"Boss, how much is this pound?"

The local shopkeeper yelled, "Nine yuan a pound, no less. How much do you want?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Wen said, "About eighty jin."

"Deliver in two batches, thirty jin in the morning and fifty jin in the evening."

The best time to sell crayfish is at night, so there are more orders at night.

"Where exactly is the boss located?"

"Over there on Zhongshan Road."

The portly boss stroked his stubble, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Boss, you'll have to charge a delivery fee if we send it over."

Zhou Wen didn't hesitate. Eighty catties wasn't actually a lot, and the two of them had just started ordering, so it was normal to need travel expenses.

"How many?"

"Fifteen yuan for one trip."

The seafood market is quite a distance from the restaurants.

"No problem," Zhou Wen nodded.

Seeing Zhou Wen's straightforwardness, the chubby boss shook hands with him and then asked someone to weigh the crayfish for Zhou Wen.

"Boss, this weighs a little over thirty pounds, but I'll just say thirty pounds for you." The fat boss placed the crayfish on the scale and pressed it a few times.

Finally, he pointed out the displayed numbers to Zhou Wen.

"When will the boss deliver it to you?"

"That's fine now. If it's this afternoon, it will be delivered at 3:30."

The portly boss nodded, then turned halfway around and said, "Xiao Li, load up the goods and deliver them to this boss later."

Since it was a long-term order, Zhou Wen chatted with the boss for a while and then exchanged phone numbers.

Although Zhou Wen rushed back immediately after negotiating the price.

But how could someone with only two wheels outrun someone with four?

When Zhou Wen returned to the store, Shi Ling and Shi Ying had already finished buying groceries and returned to the restaurant, and had already met up with Xiao Li, who had come to deliver the goods.

The three of them were working together to carry the crayfish inside.

Zhou Wen didn't rest for long either and joined in.

After the crayfish were moved, the whole store was filthy. The originally clean and shiny floor was covered in water from moving the crayfish, and it also got quite black from walking back and forth.

However, Zhou Wen didn't need to mention any of this; Shi Ling and Shi Ying simply picked up mops and started cleaning.

Zhou Wen originally planned to clean up when the business was about to open, but the two of them were really diligent and capable.

"Boss, all the ingredients we ordered are already in the kitchen," Shi Ling said.

Although Zhou Wen trusted Shi Ling's abilities, he still had to go to the kitchen to check, in case any ingredients were missing, which would be troublesome.

After a thorough inspection, it was confirmed that nothing was missed.

Because we received 30 jin (15 kg) of crayfish this morning, they didn't sell out in just over an hour like before, which meant that customers who arrived a little later couldn't get any.

And all 30 kilograms of crayfish were sold out in the last half hour before closing time.

……

Around 3 p.m., another car appeared outside the gate.

After receiving the call, Zhou Wen also came downstairs.

They're delivering chairs.

The shop owner who talked to Zhou Wen about tables and chairs yesterday got out of the passenger seat.

As usual, Zhou Wen gave each of the driver and the shop owner a cigarette.

"Shall we go inside and take a look at the seats?" Zhou Wen asked.

The shop owner nodded: "Okay."

"Boss, your restaurant is so clean."

Zhou Wen smiled and said, "It's alright."

Upon entering the restaurant, Zhou Wen pointed to the tables and chairs inside and said:

"Will you take these tables and chairs?"

Are they all somewhat damaged?

Zhou Wen nodded.

The shop owner approached and bent down to examine the item closely.

After looking at it for a while, he sat up and said, "I'll take it, but the price might be a bit low."

After a moment's thought, the shop owner said, "Let's make it twenty-five for one set."

"Including the chair?"

"Um."

Zhou Wen looked at the tables and chairs again and again.

"How about this, one price. There are probably about ten tables, so I'll take them all for five hundred."

"Alright."

After agreeing on the price, the three of them began moving the restaurant's tables and chairs.

"Boss, where should we put these two-seater tables and chairs?"

"Place it on the other side."

Zhou Wen did not mix and match the two-person and four-person tables and chairs, but kept them completely separate.

One side has a four-seater, and the other side has a two-seater.

It's not that we were disturbed because a group of people came. Of course, there will still be some noise, since the lobby is only so big and there's no wall separating it.

After setting up the table and chairs, Zhou Wen sat down and spread his arms to get a feel for the place.

Because it's close to the wall, one side isn't as spacious.

Overall, the space at this two-person table is quite spacious, and there's no feeling of being cramped.

There's no need to worry about not having enough room for the food ordered by two people.

"Boss, is everything alright now?" the shop owner asked, wiping his brow.

Zhou Wen had already turned on the air conditioner while moving things, but because he kept walking back and forth, he couldn't stop sweating even with the air conditioner on.

Zhou Wen was also covered in sweat.

"This is troublesome."

Zhou Wen took out the cigarettes he had prepared beforehand and gave each person a pack.

The shop owner took the cigarettes and discovered that they weren't cheap.

"Boss, you're too kind."

Zhou Wen waved his hand: "It's no big deal. If you feel a bit hot, you can sit down and enjoy the air conditioning."

"No need, I have things to do on my end, so I won't bother you any longer."

"OK."