Courtyard House: Is Xu Damao a childless man? Let me help.

But restaurants are different. A restaurant's business depends more on the quality of the food. If the food tastes good and the portions are generous, then the business will naturally be good, and people will even come from far away to eat there.

So regardless of whether your restaurant is close to mine or not, as long as you own a restaurant, you are considered a potential competitor of mine. Why would I introduce a chef to you and risk nurturing a tiger?

However, Liu Guangtian wasn't as simple-minded as Sha Zhu. He quickly came up with a 'good idea': "You want to find a cook? Then I'll find you one!"

However, if this chef isn't very 'clean,' and something happens to your restaurant in the future, don't blame me!

That's right, Liu Guangtian was planning to trip up Banggeng, and most people wouldn't even notice it. Only the people who used to work in the steel mill's canteen knew about it.

During those ten years, the steel mill's canteen was not without its share of troubles. One of them was a cook in the canteen. Although he wasn't a master chef, his cooking skills were passable.

This is after Sha Zhu was 'promoted', the cafeteria director found a new cook to help with the communal cooking.

Since it was the cafeteria manager who brought him in, everyone naturally understood the intricacies involved. This guy initially knew to keep a low profile, just like Sha Zhu, packing up some 'leftovers' to take home...

But later this guy gradually became greedy, not only bringing home 'leftovers', but also taking home fresh ingredients.

However, the person in charge of purchasing is the canteen director, and since they are all on the same side, they don't make a fuss, so the canteen staff can only pretend not to see it.

It wasn't until one day, when Director Li asked Sha Zhu to cook some of his signature dishes to entertain guests, that Sha Zhu noticed something was amiss when he went to get the ingredients.

When they went to check, they discovered that some of the meat that had come in for backup that day had already started to smell bad!

This stuff is obviously not suitable for cooking, so Sha Zhu could only ask the cafeteria manager for help, but the manager didn't know what was going on either.

Since the canteen manager didn't know either, the two of them could only go and tell Director Li, since there was no meat today and many of the dishes in the reception couldn't be made.

Upon hearing this, Director Li flew into a rage. He first gave the canteen manager a good scolding, and then immediately sent someone to investigate what exactly happened with the rotten meat.

The investigation turned out to be quite alarming, almost causing the cafeteria director's heart to stop. It turned out that the 'acquaintance' he had brought in was behind this whole 2.5-fold stunt!

Well, regarding the initial incidents of taking vegetables home, the cafeteria director figured it wasn't worth much money anyway, since it was mostly vegetables, not meat, so he decided to turn a blind eye.

Of course, he also warned the guy in advance not to get his hands on the meat. The meat was mainly for the leaders, so that the workers could have some meat in their meals.

Unexpectedly, this guy ignored it completely! He secretly replaced the meat bought from the canteen with pork from a sick pig he got from the butcher.

However, he probably didn't expect that he would be caught red-handed after only succeeding a second time. As a result, he was imprisoned for two years, and this was the guy Liu Guangtian was going to introduce to Bang Geng!

Chapter 290 The bait has been taken, and Bucket One is also making his move.

In Liu Guangtian's view, as the saying goes, a leopard can't change its spots. This guy went to jail for this very thing, so if he gets another chance, he'll probably do it again.

At that point, the shop selling the pungent berries will be able to attract customers to bring in all sorts of raw materials, but even if it manages to do some business, it probably won't be very profitable.

But if we take a more serious approach, then... there's a lot to investigate. As mentioned before, this guy got some meat from diseased pigs from the butcher to replace the original fresh meat.

This matter was not reported, so only the people in the steel mill canteen knew about it. Moreover, Director Li had issued a gag order, so no one dared to spread the word outside.

However, since this wasn't the first time this guy had done something like this, when he used sick pigs as substitutes before, he treated that meat as fresh meat and cooked it into dishes for the workers to eat.

Fortunately, there wasn't much meat, and because it had been cooked in a 27-pot pot, the high temperature likely killed off most of the bacteria on the sick pig. So, although a dozen or so workers ended up with diarrhea, that was about it.

In the factory, with a factory director like Director Li who was afraid of taking responsibility, the matter was suppressed and eventually just let it go. But what if this happened in Bang Geng's restaurant?

If all the customers eating at Bang Geng's restaurant were to develop diarrhea, or even more serious cases, then no one would be able to suppress the matter.

At that point, not only the chef, but also the shop owner, Bang Geng, might suffer as well.

Moreover, Liu Guangtian wasn't just planning to scheme against Bang Geng. After all, he wouldn't actually gain anything from it. So, since Bang Geng wanted him to introduce him to one or two chefs, could he perhaps extort some benefits from him?

And so, Liu Guangtian went straight for the exorbitant price, asking Banggeng for 100 yuan. Upon hearing this price, Banggeng immediately turned and left. "You want 100 yuan just to introduce someone? You're kidding me!"

But without Liu Guangtian's introduction, who else could Banggeng turn to? There was no other way but to publicly recruit people, but the results of this recruitment were not very ideal.

Now, more than a year has passed since the reform and opening up, and small restaurants are everywhere. So, most of the chefs who switched jobs, as long as they have excellent culinary skills, have already found work.

The remaining cooks who couldn't find work applied to Bang Gyeong's place, but the dishes they cooked were truly indescribable in taste. After all, Bang Gyeong grew up eating Sha Zhu's food.

He could tell the difference between what was delicious and what wasn't, so more than a dozen chefs signed up one after another, but Banggeng ultimately didn't choose any of them.

Left with no other choice, Banggeng went back to Liu Guangtian, hoping that Liu Guangtian could give him a slightly lower price. He also demanded that the cook Liu Guangtian recommended must be exceptionally skilled before he would pay.

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian waved his hand and gave Banggeng a 50% discount, charging him only fifty yuan. Then he introduced the cook to Banggeng.

As for the request that Bang Geng made earlier, it's too simple. This guy is at least a cook who cooks in a steel mill. Even if he can't compare to the likes of Sha Zhu and Nan Yi, he should definitely be better than Sha Zhu's apprentice, Fatty Ma Hua.

With a skill level like that, cooking a dish would be a piece of cake for him, wouldn't it? In the past, Liu Guangtian had even considered hiring him as the head chef at his restaurant.

Although this guy isn't exactly 'clean,' everyone knows him well and knows what tricks he has up his sleeve. So, we'll just have to put in a little effort and keep an eye on him.

However, Liu Guangtian later found other better options and stopped looking for this guy.

Of course, this also shows that this guy's skills are indeed quite good, but he has a problem with his personal morality.

And so, Banggeng quickly found this guy through Liu Guangtian's introduction and invited him to come out of the mountains. This guy was not bad. He cooked three dishes, and each dish was very good. After tasting them, Banggeng immediately decided to make him the chef of his restaurant.

The rest of the plot... well, there's no going back, because Bang Geng's restaurant has only just opened. But if the chef they hired tries to cause trouble again, then the restaurant's fate is pretty clear, isn't it?

. . . . . .

Just as Ye Jianchuan was still researching how to further expand his market share and design new products, Tongyi finally finished preparing everything he needed.

Next, what ordinary people will most like to see is the scenario where wealthy people compete with each other to offer discounts, and ordinary people enjoy the benefits.

"Brother Jianchuan, 283 Barrel One went all the way to the vicinity of Shanghai to promote their products, and even claimed that they tasted better than our Master Ye's. That's too much!"

Ye Jianchuan sat in a chair in the factory office, listening to Qin Jingru 'report' to him. That's right, Qin Jingru was still Ye Jianchuan's 'secretary'.

After hearing Qin Jingru's report, Ye Jianchuan nodded. Finally, Tong Yi had made a new move. That's right, Ye Jianchuan had now confirmed that the other party was Tong Yi.

Although due to policy issues on the other side of the strait, Gao Qingyuan, the person in charge of the first barrel, did not come over, but instead sent an agent to help seize the market.

But to think that arranging a substitute to deal with me is a bit of an underestimation of myself, isn't it?

Since you've launched a new product, and are using scallion oil noodles, a well-known "specialty" noodle dish near Shanghai, as a gimmick to seize the market in that direction, then we can only respond to your moves!

So Ye Jianchuan decisively launched the cup noodles he had already prepared, which are the kind of instant noodles in buckets that we know today. These instant noodles are much more convenient than the previous kind; as long as there is hot water, you can eat them even if you have utensils!

Chapter 291 The Price War with Master Ye

This design maximizes the convenience of instant noodles, and Ye Jianchuan even started ordering freeze-drying equipment.

That's right, at that time, instant noodles didn't have vegetable packets. As for the 'beef' in the noodles, it was actually quite simple; they just added a few pieces of beef to the seasoning packet and that was it.

However, without the vegetable packet, this instant noodle, while delicious, still feels a bit monotonous.

Although people at this time still preferred to eat meat, Ye Jianchuan felt it was necessary to create freeze-dried vegetables as a finishing touch.

Besides, the design of freeze dryers is not particularly difficult, and their uses go far beyond simply producing freeze-dried vegetables.

Ye Jianchuan's head was filled with all sorts of other things. Now that he had made instant noodles, could he make self-heating rice in the future?

Now that we have self-heating rice, shouldn't we also make some self-heating hot pot, or some convenient rice noodles?

Some of these items require freeze dryers; otherwise, it would be quite difficult to preserve those types of products for a long time.

Of course, this is only one aspect. Ye Jianchuan also took the initiative to help impoverished mountainous areas, directly renting a lot of barren mountains in the southwest region to grow some fruits he wanted.

In the future, these fruits can be processed into various kinds of dried fruit, which will become a popular snack.

Ye Jianchuan had Master Ye launch cup noodle products, which immediately made people who usually need to eat on the go very happy. Originally, although instant noodles were convenient, people still needed to prepare their own utensils.

For example, for long-distance truck drivers, it's no problem to get some hot water to eat instant noodles, but it's quite difficult to get some water to wash dishes afterward.

If the dishes can't be washed, what will happen next time you want to eat instant noodles? Can you really use a dish that's been sitting unwashed for over ten hours to make instant noodles? It's just dirty, right? Is it okay to eat something that won't make you sick?

So for long-distance truck drivers who don't carry much water and can't provide services like 'washing dishes', instant noodles may seem convenient, but they're actually not that convenient.

But things are different now. The introduction of cup noodles has relieved these people of the trouble of washing dishes. In this situation, being able to eat a bowl of hot and delicious noodles is already a very happy thing for long-distance drivers.

As a result, the Ye Shifu brand, which already had an outstanding reputation, immediately became popular again, while the Tongyi Scallion Oil Noodles, which had just stirred up a little controversy, immediately fell silent again.

However, the person who was valued by Gao Qingyuan and sent to the mainland to help his Dajiangshan is actually quite capable. So, it is likely that relying on word-of-mouth in a single region to promote the product from a single point to a wider area is not going to work.

Then I can only use the simplest, clearest, and least technically sophisticated tactic in business warfare: the 'price war'!

So, in less than a month, Tongyi officially started selling its instant noodles. Of course, whatever Ye Jianchuan's Master Ye had, Tongyi would definitely be the first to copy it.

So all those "specialties" like cup noodles and spicy beef noodles were copied by Copy Ninja, and then... Bucket One's prices were all about 10% lower than Master Ye's.

Although this 10% discount is nothing compared to the price of a single item, just a few cents, such a discount is enough to tempt consumers.

But can this method really get Master Ye to lower his prices and join the price war? The answer is definitely no!

After all, Ye Jianchuan had long anticipated the emergence of competitors. Since they were competitors, the most common, least technical, but also the simplest and most direct tactic in business warfare was price war, which Ye Jianchuan had naturally expected.

Therefore, Master Ye's response was very swift. He quickly launched new packaging, upgraded all the products, and advertised "more for the same price".

That's right, by increasing the portion size of the noodles, a single packet of instant noodles can truly satisfy one person's hunger, while the price remains unchanged. This is Master Ye's solution.

Although the price remained unchanged, Ye Jianchuan's plan was the most effective, and the reason was very simple: when Ye's instant noodles were first designed, they were "not enough to eat".

After you make a packet of instant noodles, you finish it in two bites, which is only enough to make you feel half full. It's not enough to satisfy your needs. But if you make two packets, it feels like too much. So it leaves you with a feeling of being neither here nor there.

Actually, this was intentionally designed by instant noodle manufacturers in the past. A pack of instant noodles is just right so that it doesn't make you feel full, but it can still eliminate your hunger.

In this way, you won't lose your 'love' for instant noodles because of a feeling of fullness, and you won't get tired of them, or at least you won't get tired of them very quickly.

However, Ye Jianchuan did not intend to take this route. Although he knew that the instant noodle business was a good way to make money, it would not be his only way to make money in the future, so there was no need to maintain it in the long term.

Furthermore, after the above 'theory' emerged, the outside world's complaints about the 'heartless' practices of instant noodle vendors during the long holiday were extremely exaggerated. Therefore, Ye Jianchuan felt that it was better for him not to be so 'heartless'.

Even after the increased quantity, although some people still chose the bucket version because they felt that the lower price was the real bargain, most people are still eating Ye Shifu instant noodles. And most importantly, Ye Jianchuan did not adjust the price, so Ye Shifu is still profitable.

Chapter 292 Using Bucket One's Money to Engage in a Price War with Bucket One

Some people might say that the cost of instant noodles also needs to be calculated. If the noodles increase in weight, doesn't that cost money?

Yes, it's true that adding weight to the noodles does cost some money, but if you spread that money across each pack of instant noodles, it's really negligible.

After all, Ye Jianchuan had already started preparing for these things after going solo ten years ago, so he had made meticulous plans for everything from raw materials to processing and sales.

Therefore, the cost of raw materials was actually lower than that of Tong Yi, and he already occupied most of the market. So Ye Jianchuan was not under any pressure at this time.

But what about Tong Yi's side? It was a completely different story. Faced with Ye Jianchuan's "more for the same price" approach, they could only grit their teeth and activate their Sharingan. They couldn't think of any new tricks, but they could still copy homework, right?