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

As for wanting to buy technology from the Americans? That's an unrealistic idea. First of all, the Americans' 'superior' attitude already made Ye Jianchuan uncomfortable.

Furthermore, when you want to buy 'high-end technology' from the US, they usually ask for an exorbitant price, often offering a price that is difficult to accept.

And that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that they also bundle sales with a whole bunch of other things. For example, if you buy our technology, then when you produce this machine in the future, you will need to use all the parts provided by us.

When the machine malfunctions, you will need to call our repair personnel to repair it, not to mention any other additional terms and conditions.

Therefore, Ye Jianchuan never even considered getting these so-called 'high-tech technologies' from the Americans. If civilian technologies were like this, then there was no need to say anything more about more advanced technologies.

It was for these reasons that the higher-ups were so excited and happy when they learned that Ye Jianchuan's Jianchuan Home Appliances was able to independently produce the aforementioned home appliances.

However, even if Ye Jianchuan wanted to focus his efforts on this area, he probably wouldn't see much effect in the short term. He should wait until later to discuss other matters.

While Jianchuan Home Appliances is making great strides forward, Ye Jianchuan's "Ye's Winery" has finally made a name for itself.

As mentioned before, in order to make his wine well-known, Ye Jianchuan went directly to Yangshi and bought the dozens of seconds of advertising time before the news broadcast of that super long TV series.

As for the content of the advertisement, well, there's really nothing much to it; it's just a simple "Ye's Winery tells you the time on time."

The advertisement has been running for about half a year and the effect is very significant. Before, when people mentioned baijiu, they would definitely think of Moutai, Wuliangye and the like. But now, when people mention baijiu, they will definitely think of Ye's Winery's baijiu.

Moreover, Ye Jianchuan's winery does not rely solely on advertising for survival. The wines produced by Ye's Winery are all high-end baijiu of very pure quality, and in terms of taste, they are in no way inferior to Moutai.

However, in terms of price, Ye Jianchuan had no intention of taking the low-end route or going in the same direction as Coca-Cola. One reason was that in the hands of people who didn't understand baijiu, drinking it wasn't about drinking alcohol, but about showing off.

If your price is too low, even if you are indeed a good wine, it will give people a feeling of being 'cheap' and 'low-end'. To put it simply, it is 'not presentable'.

On the other hand, the competition in the Coca-Cola market is with foreign companies. The real business is to quickly seize the market by leveraging price advantages and then make money.

But baijiu is different. Apart from Chinese people, most people from other countries can't drink high-proof baijiu, so this industry is basically a competition among Chinese people.

Moreover, the total market size is only so big. If you suddenly release a high-quality, low-priced wine and disrupt the market, it won't just be a matter of offending one or two families; it might even offend officials...

After all, the liquor industry pays a considerable amount of taxes to the government every year, so if you are a "high-end liquor", your price should naturally be commensurate with the word "high-end".

Of course, for this very reason, although Yip's Winery's wines are of good quality and have gained a good reputation, their sales volume is still not as strong as that of established famous wines.

There's nothing we can do about it; it's quite normal. People who drink alcohol are already used to those famous brands. As a new brand, you don't have a price advantage, and in terms of taste, you can only compete with them on equal footing.

So if you calculate it that way, you don't have any advantage! Since you don't have any advantage, why would people choose you instead of following their old habits and choosing those famous wines?

Therefore, the sales of these wines from Yip's Winery are still not particularly ideal. Of course, this also depends on who it is compared with. If compared with Moutai and Wuliangye, then it is indeed inferior.

However, compared to brands like Laojiao and Daqu, it can only be said that it is neither the best nor the worst.

However, Ye Jianchuan didn't really intend to rely solely on advertising to elevate Ye's Winery to the top. Besides advertising, don't forget that Ye Jianchuan also owns the best restaurant in the entire capital!

After Ye's Winery started shipping its wines, Sha Zhu's restaurant immediately switched all its wine supply to wines from Ye's Winery.

If it's just the people on the first floor trying it, then that's fine. After all, those who eat on the first floor are only considered to have a little money; they're not exactly rich or powerful.

However, the people dining upstairs were all people of considerable status, and they were also very discerning; they could tell whether a drink was good or not just by tasting it.

The wines from Yip's Winery are undoubtedly of excellent quality, so once these distinguished guests have tasted them, it seems much easier to get them to help promote the wines.

Chapter 340 The restaurant has opened a branch.

Indeed, Ye Jianchuan chose to take the "high-end route" this time, and even his publicity methods were also "high-end," so that the reputation of Ye's Winery's wines would first spread among the upper class, making subsequent operations easier.

In fact, Ye Jianchuan had another idea, which was to 'sponsor' state banquets and provide the necessary drinks for state banquets of all sizes free of charge.

Unfortunately, although the idea was good, Maotai, known as the "national liquor," was not given such a prestigious title for nothing, so the higher-ups ultimately did not approve Ye Jianchuan's "sponsorship."

Even so, Ye's Winery still gained a certain reputation among the upper class, and the 'glorious deeds' of Ye Jianchuan, the owner of the winery, were also quite terrifying.

After all, Ye Jianchuan's businesses can be described as very "diverse." In the food sector, Ye Shifu Food Factory is practically a monopoly, and it is gradually expanding into other food products as well. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a leader in the domestic food industry... or even the snack industry.

Then, when Jianchuan Home Appliances announced that it could independently produce all kinds of small and medium-sized home appliances, Ye Jianchuan's name also appeared in front of them.

With the addition of Ye's Winery, things are flourishing on three fronts. The key point is that Ye Jianchuan has done a very good job in all three areas he has ventured into.

Two of them can be considered industry leaders, while the winery is still slightly behind, but it's clear that Ye Jianchuan wants to compete with Moutai.

Since all these industries belong to Ye Jianchuan, the higher-ups naturally need to thoroughly 'investigate' the name Ye Jianchuan. This was actually a project that had been carried out a long time ago. Back when Ye Jianchuan's instant noodles first started advertising on television, the higher-ups had already studied Ye Jianchuan.

This research unearthed all of Ye Jianchuan's good deeds and acts of kindness. Naturally, the higher-ups wanted to support such a "modern-day Comrade Lei".

That's why Ye Jianchuan's promotion of instant noodles was so easy and effortless, without encountering any trouble at all.

Ye Jianchuan did not disappoint his superiors. After making his first fortune with instant noodles, he began to expand his business while also doing good deeds.

Although Ye Jianchuan's motivation for doing charity work was primarily to receive rewards from the system, in retrospect, he did genuinely do a lot of good deeds.

Therefore, the higher-ups were even more at ease with Ye Jianchuan. In addition, Ye Jianchuan later took the lead in bringing the Lou family back and making a large investment. So, in the eyes of the higher-ups, Ye Jianchuan was simply at the level of 'people who have transcended vulgar interests'.

Of course, the most crucial point is actually a system reward Ye Jianchuan received in the first year he acquired the system. The existence of several medals instantly transformed Ye Jianchuan into a 'trustworthy person'.

So, wouldn't the higher-ups give such a player a lot of support and help develop him together?

In this way, Ye Jianchuan's various industries thrived in China. So what about those industries that Ye Jianchuan had a stake in but were not under his name?

For example, Sha Zhu's restaurant is such an industry. Although everyone knows that it is actually Ye Jianchuan's industry, apart from the fact that the restaurant uses Ye Jianchuan's name for the storefront, the actual owner of the restaurant is Sha Zhu.

After so many years of operation, has this restaurant changed at all?

The answer is, of course, no. The restaurant has actually made some minor improvements and has successfully opened a branch!

Well, actually, this can only be considered a natural progression. As the restaurant's business got better and better, its reputation naturally grew, and naturally, more and more people came to visit because of its reputation.

As a result, not only is the first floor almost always full, but the second floor is also frequently full. Only the third floor is not full, because the dishes on the third floor need to be ordered and prepared in advance.

However, due to the large number of guests, reservations for the third floor, which used to be available about a week in advance, are now taking longer and longer. Unless you have some serious connections, reservations are now booked up to two months in advance.

Faced with such a huge opportunity, Sha Zhu and Ye Jianchuan couldn't just stand by and watch others turn away because the restaurant was full, could they?

So naturally, the matter of opening a branch was arranged. However, although it is called a branch, it would be more accurate to say that it was an expansion.

Because the newly opened branch is only about 100 meters away from the old store, the signs and decorations are exactly the same.

The reason why they didn't open a store directly next door, but instead went through the trouble of setting up a so-called branch, was mainly because all the other stores next door refused to move, leaving them with no other choice.

He kept asking around, one shop after another, until he finally found the location of the current branch. Ye Jianchuan then paid for and bought the shop.

However, since it has been converted into a branch store model, it cannot be treated like the original expanded store. Although the distance is not too far, it is impossible for you to ask the chef on the other side to cook the food and then carry it over to the store after walking only a few dozen meters.

Even if it were really necessary to deliver it from the street like this, it wouldn't be particularly convenient!

So, when it came to the branch store, Ye Jianchuan simply made a grand gesture and designed it exactly the same as the original store, including the 'setting' of the third floor.

However, it was obviously not easy for Sha Zhu to handle the business of two shops on the third floor by himself, so the third floor of the branch was no longer a "Tan Family Cuisine Special".

Instead, they marketed it as "Imperial Cuisine." As for who the chef was, it goes without saying that it was Nan Yi, who had previously been in charge of the food in the private rooms on the second floor of the original restaurant.

Although Nan Yi's cooking skills are slightly inferior to Sha Zhu's, the difference isn't actually that significant.

Chapter 341 He Daqing is back

Moreover, Nan Yi's family has a long tradition of imperial chefs. While imperial cuisine might have been taboo back then, it is now completely open to the public. Therefore, Ye Jianchuan felt it was time for Nan Yi to showcase his culinary skills.

However, a problem arose: the original restaurant had assigned Nan Yi, with his culinary skills, to prepare dishes for the private rooms on the second floor.

This makes the dishes in the private rooms on the second floor somewhat different from those in the main hall on the first floor, so wealthy people naturally prefer to eat on the second floor.

But now Nan Yi has gone to take charge of the dishes on the third floor of the branch, so who will cook the dishes on the second floor of the original store? And it seems that the branch also needs to find someone to take charge of the dishes in the private rooms on the second floor.

Finding a chef skilled enough to cook this level of food is not an easy task, since the initial standards were set a bit too high.

Fortunately, a perfect solution was quickly found for this problem because... Sha Zhu's father actually came back to the courtyard house to 'recognize his relatives' at this time.

Ye Jianchuan had almost forgotten about this incident, but it was precisely at this moment that He Daqing came back.

Fortunately, He Daqing was old by this time and could no longer do anything naughty. So although He Daqing's return still had some impact on Shazhu and Yushui, the impact was not significant.

(Blank) The only reason He Daqing came back to find Sha Zhu and Yu Shui was that he couldn't go on living.

Didn't he run away to Baoding with the widow? Because when he ran away with the widow, He Daqing was already in his forties, and the widow had three children at that time.

So after following the White Widow, He Daqing never thought about having another child with her.

The result of this was rather awkward. While He Daqing was still able to earn money outside, the Bai widow's family was basically entirely supported by He Daqing.

However, as Widow Bai's children grew up, He Daqing also grew old. Logically speaking, it should have been time for him to retire at home and enjoy his old age.

Out of respect for their mother, the widow's children genuinely cared for the two of them for a period of time.

But as the saying goes, anything can happen. Two years ago, Widow Bai was suddenly diagnosed with cancer. After two years of treatment, all of He Daqing's savings for retirement were gone.

Unfortunately, it was cancer after all, so after two years of fighting it off, the white widow finally passed away.

After the widow's death, the three children of the widow changed instantly. They used to call her "Dad He," but now that she's dead, they immediately turn their backs on her and want to kick He Daqing out of the house so that the three of them can divide the inheritance.

He Daqing wanted to resist, but unfortunately his body was no longer as strong as before, so he was eventually chased out.

So, having nowhere else to turn, the old man finally remembered the two children he had abandoned.

Fortunately, the old man knew he had wronged Sha Zhu and He Yushui a lot, so he didn't act arrogantly after returning. In addition, Ye Jianchuan still made the decisions in many things at home, so there was someone who could keep him in check.

And so, after more than thirty years, He Daqing actually returned to the courtyard house.

However, now that you're back, you can't just relax. Although He Daqing's character isn't great, his skills are still excellent.

To put it bluntly, didn't Sha Zhu learn his cooking skills from He Daqing? So He Daqing's skills, while not necessarily much better than Sha Zhu's, are certainly no worse.

So, in the end, was He Daqing put in charge of cooking in the private rooms on the second floor of the old restaurant? The answer is of course no. Although there aren't many private rooms on the second floor, business is booming now, and they have to cook at least a hundred dishes a day, or even several hundred dishes.

He Daqing is already over seventy years old, how could he possibly handle such a workload?

No problem, although He Daqing is not very comfortable here, his 'apprentice' can handle the job very well.

Back in Baoding, He Daqing wasn't idle either. For the next ten years or so, he basically worked as a head chef at the Baoding water plant.

Because none of the three children of the White Widow were interested in learning to cook, He Daqing took in a few apprentices in the kitchen of the water plant. Since these apprentices were all taught by master chefs of He Daqing's caliber, their skills were not much worse than Sha Zhu's.

After the reform and opening up, He Daqing also went out to work for a while. Unfortunately, the wealthy people in Baoding could not compare with those in Beijing, so although there were many restaurants there, none of them could take the high-end route.

He Daqing's restaurant chose the wrong path, which ultimately led to losses and forced it to close down.

As for the apprentices who had resigned with He Daqing, they could only find a restaurant to work as chefs and make a living.

Now that He Daqing has called them over, offering them a chance to go to Beijing and improved treatment, and most importantly, the opportunity to work as chefs for a restaurant whose reputation is already legendary, they naturally wouldn't refuse.