Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 383 Brand Ideas

Xiao Wei asked, "Can Lao Wu handle it?" He walked to the door and called out to Huang Lao Wu, "Lao Wu, can you handle the hard plastic sheet?"

Huang Laowu stood up, puzzled, and asked, "What's this hard plastic sheet? What's it for?"

Xiao Wei said, "For making cakes, just make sure the board is sturdy enough to support the cake, not too thick."

Huang Laowu thought for a moment and said, "Does it have to be a plastic board? How about a bakelite board? We have bakelite boards where we live; their surface is smooth."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Okay, bring back four pieces. Ask Master Li for the dimensions; can you make them round?"

Old Huang nodded and said, "Okay, I can do it." He walked over and asked, "Master Li, how big are they?"

Master Li pointed to the shapes of the cakes and said, "Four or five, three or nine, three or three, two or nine, four are enough. Smooth the edges."

Huang Laowu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll bring it to you first thing tomorrow morning, is that in time?" He turned to ask Xiaowei, who nodded.

Huang Laowu said, "Lao Hou and I have discussed it and agreed with Xiao Wei. Tomorrow I'll go talk to Lao Sun, the grocer. Tonight, Lao Hou and I will go to Hei Zi's house to clarify things. There's just one problem: we only have a little over 30,000 yuan. If we return it to Hei Zi, we won't have any money left to invest here. If we wait to get it back, we don't know if he'll be able to continue. We'll discuss it tonight. Anyway, we really don't want to work with him anymore; we're not confident."

Xiao Wei said, "It's a good thing that Hei Zi is separating now. Without his source of income, he can't keep going on that little bit of money. This is helping him. Return the money directly to his family, not to him personally. Explain the situation to his family and deduct the money from his account. Right now, he probably feels that you're not being fair, but sooner or later he should understand."

Huang Laowu nodded, sighed, and said, "I'll have to go out and borrow money again. I bet my wife will argue with me again."

Xiao Wei asked, "Where did you get your original money? Wasn't it your own money?"

Huang Laowu smiled, scratched his head a few times, and said, "The family only had about 20,000 yuan in total. My brother-in-law took it to buy a house. We agreed that it would be a loan for two years and we couldn't ask for it back."

Xiao Wei said, "Old Hou doesn't have any either?"

Huang Laowu glanced outside the door and said, "Do you take us for granted? We're just ordinary people, living off our meager salaries. Where are we supposed to get money? Lao Hou just finished paying off his family's debts recently, and he only had about 10,000 yuan left. Hei Zi took 5,000 of it, and Lao Hou's wife almost got into a fight with him over that 5,000 yuan."

Li Wen lit a fire nearby and said, "Yeah, the boss has gotten a bit arrogant compared to before. He's forgotten what ordinary people are like."

Xiao Wei offered cigarettes to Huang Laowu and Master Li, saying, "You two should handle Hei Zi's matter first. If it really doesn't work out, I'll cover the money for you first, and then you can pay me back slowly. In the future, when you've saved enough money, you can take over the whole billiards hall. As for my share, you can discuss it with Li Xing and Hua Sheng yourselves."

Huang Laowu asked, "Why?"

Xiao Wei said, "Actually, I'm not really interested in this. You guys dragged me into this. What will you do when you're rich enough to run your own business? By the way, Li Wen, Master Li, what do you two think we should name this cake shop?"

Li Wen paused for a moment and said, "Isn't it Brothers Food Factory?"

Xiao Wei said, "That's the factory's name. Sister Zhang and the others said that the cake shop's name doesn't sound good. Now that we're planning to expand our business, they all say we should register a brand."

Li Wen said, "Like the name Baolilai across the street? It's definitely better than Brother. How about we call it something like 'Lilai'? I think that's pretty good."

Xiao Wei asked, "What's Lilai?"

Huang Laowu said, "Let's call it Lilai, it sounds much better."

Xiao Wei asked Master Li, "What do you think, Master Li?"

Li Wenhe shook his head and said, "I don't know how to name things. My master's shop is called Golden Apple. It's different from what you do in the north."

Li Wen finally sorted out the money in her bag, zipped it up, and said with a raised face, "Didn't you even call and ask your college student?"

Huang Laowu said, "Yes, this should be handled by college students. We're not very educated, so let's just forget about it. Alright, I'm going back now. I'll bring the board over first thing tomorrow morning." Huang Laowu turned and left. Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "That's right. I'll ask Xiao Hong." He went to the back to make a pager call.

After finishing the pager and having nothing to do, I decided to practice decorating a cake. Just as I finished one cake, Xiao Hong called back: "Xiao Wei? What's up? I'm in class."

Xiao Wei said, "I'm going to start selling frozen steamed buns and frozen dumplings now, and the cake shop is also planning to open, right? Everyone's saying we should register a brand. What do you think would be a good name?"

Xiao Hong said, "That's true, registering a separate brand is better, people will remember it. What should we name it? Don't you have any ideas?"

Xiao Wei said, "I can't think of anything. Sister Zhang and the others suggested I use the name of that store in Xiao Wen, Baolilai, or Lilai. The food factory we went to last time is called Limin, but I think it's too similar and not good. That's why I asked you when I had no idea."

Xiaohong thought for a moment and said, "I think it's best to separate the steamed buns and dumplings from the cakes and breads, and not use the same name. Since we're going to register them anyway, let's give them separate names. It'll be awkward to have one Chinese and one foreign with the same name. How about 'Taste of Hometown' for the steamed buns and dumplings? Or how about 'Zhang Mama,' Zhang Mama's steamed buns, Zhang Mama's dumplings, how endearing! For the cakes and breads, we should give them a trendy name, something easy to remember and that sounds nice. How about 'Romantic House'? Lots of young people buy cakes, and your boyfriend will definitely like that name."

Xiao Wei said, "The sign should call me 'Mom'? That's fine, she'll be happy. But calling the cake shop 'Romantic House Cake Shop' is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?"

Xiao Hong said, "No, you can't call it that. You should call it Romantic Bakery or Romantic Pastry Shop. 'Cake shop' is a Chinese term, and I don't think it's appropriate."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, then let's call it Aunt Zhang and Romantic West, and order from the restaurant, right? We're not changing it, are we?"

Xiao Hong laughed and said, "This can be changed again and again? Is there anything else? I have class."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, you can go to class now, it's fine."

Xiao Hong agreed and said, "When are you coming back? I'm so happy right now. I have someone to cook for me, do my laundry, clean the house, chat with me, and go shopping with me every day. Haha, it's so comfortable."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "Okay, then you enjoy yourself. I'll go back when I have time. Bye."

Xiao Hong gave him a virtual kiss and hung up the phone to go back to class. Xiao Wei put down the phone and wondered, "Zhang Mama? Romance, bakery? What the heck is a bakery? Master Li, is a cake called a bakery?" He turned his head and raised his voice to ask Li Wenhe.

Li Wenhe was designing a multi-tiered cake. Hearing Xiao Wei's question, he nodded and said, "Yes, it's a pastry, a dessert. Have you decided on a name?"

Xiaowei said, "Xiaohong said that steamed buns, dumplings, and baozi should be called 'Zhang Mama,' and the cake shop should be called 'Romantic Bakery.' Is that okay?"

Chef Li, scribbling with a pen, smiled and said, "Very good, much better than your brother's." Xiao Wei leaned over and asked, "What are you busy with?" Chef Li said, "This kind of multi-layered cake requires design. It's different from making the usual ones. It's a multi-layered, three-dimensional visual effect. I have to consider the effect of each layer as well as the overall effect after they're stacked together. It needs to express a theme. I'm thinking of some fancy designs; I haven't made one in a while."

(End of this chapter)