Chapter 297: Teach the Apprentice, Starve the Master

On the first day of opening, there were almost no negative reviews. All the prepared dishes delivered by the supplier early in the morning were sold out, and an additional batch was delivered in the afternoon.

I didn’t expect the business to be so good. The stove in the kitchen never stopped burning all day long.

Not only that, according to Su Wan's suggestion, Chenglou also has a delivery service, which can deliver food to your door. Even if there is no seat in the store, you don't have to wait, the food can be prepared and delivered to your home.

This business model is unique in Xiangzhou. Less than half a month after it was launched, other restaurants all felt threatened. All the business was taken over by Chenglou, and no customers came.

On the other hand, Chenglou has been packed with customers these days, and its delivery business is also very popular.

Su Yun's Chenglou is open until midnight, all thanks to the fact that there is no curfew in Xiangzhou. Even if people are hungry in the middle of the night, they can still have a delicious meal.

Some people, even if they live at the city gate, would walk for half an hour just to have a taste of Chenglou's food.

Colleagues were worried and asked someone to buy Chenglou's food to study it. The chili and the unique sauce were impossible to replicate. They had no idea what ingredients were used.

Moreover, Su Yun was the only one who was in charge of the cultivation of chili peppers, the preparation of chili powder and chili sauce, as well as the pickling methods of chopped chili sauce. He was the only one who knew the recipe of the sauce, and Su Wan didn't know it.

If those colleagues wanted to find out the recipe, they would have no idea where to start from among the Chenglou staff, unless they looked for Su Yun. But Su Yun was not a fool. In other words, it would be extremely difficult for them to replicate the taste of Chenglou.

The only one that was not affected was probably "The Moon is Full in the West Tower", but it was still affected to some extent.

Yueman Xilou is a hotel, and serving food is just a sideline business. Nowadays, the food business has been monopolized by Chenglou. Many customers staying at Yueman Xilou will also rush to Chenglou for their three meals a day. If there is no table, they will order delivery to Yueman Xilou.

As a result, the kitchen of Yuemanxilou became quiet overnight, and the chefs gathered together to chat with nothing to do.

Shopkeeper Luo has already started thinking about whether to lay off a few employees or something.

It is true that teaching the apprentice will starve the master!

However, Yuemanxilou's accommodation business is still very stable. They are originally doing business with wealthy people, so there will still be many wealthy people who want to stay at their house.

Su Yun made a lot of money in half a month. He looked at the flow in the account book and showed a very worthless smile.

He, Su Yun, finally stood up.

"Come on, Su Yi, look carefully. I can earn so much money in just half a month. Weren't you so proud before? Are you still so proud now?"

Su Yun was very vindictive. When he bought a birthday present for Su Wan, he was short of money due to his business, so he had to borrow money from Su Yi to buy the hairpin.

Now, he also makes money and no longer has to be laughed at by him.

Su Yi was speechless. He glanced at Su Yun indifferently and reached out to put his account book aside.

"First, pay off the 1,500 taels I owe to Yuyantang."

Su Yun opened Chenglou and borrowed 1,500 taels from Yuyantang's account. Now Su Yi said it out without giving him any face. It's really annoying.

Su Yun was choked up and hid the account book behind him:

"Why rush? I can pay it all back next month and still have some left over!"

Seeing him pretending to be calm, Su Wan laughed unkindly.

"It's okay, Fourth Brother. Don't be in a hurry to pay it back. First, stabilize Chenglou's business. There must be money in the account."

"Wanwan is still considerate, unlike you who makes me angry every day!" Su Yun smiled at Su Wan, and when he turned to look at Su Yi, he glared at him fiercely.

Su Yi said it didn't matter, he didn't care, but he just didn't say anything, which made Su Yun very angry.

Chenglou is now very popular and has become a restaurant that is talked about a lot in Xiangzhou City. In just half a month, the net profit is as much as one thousand taels of silver. If it moves to Kyoto in the future, I am afraid it will be even more.

Of course, Su Wan has not been idle during this period. She had said before that she wanted to set up a security team. Now she has chosen a yard as the residence of the security team and posted a recruitment notice. Her uncle is responsible for the interviews.

They were all grown men, and it was inappropriate for a girl like her to go for the interview.

The employment requirements are as follows: men between the ages of 20 and 35, must be skilled in martial arts, be in good health, and have all the necessary arms and legs.

The escort team's future mission is to escort Yuyantang's goods back and forth between various provincial capitals. Because it is a long journey, the commission is relatively high.

Food and accommodation are provided, and each person receives a commission of six taels of silver per month. The contract is signed for a minimum of five years. We are recruiting 100 people, and positions are available on a first-come, first-served basis until all positions are filled.

Recruiting one hundred people would only earn a commission of six hundred taels of silver a month. To ensure the safety of the goods, this amount of money was nothing. Moreover, Su Wan's move was mainly to cultivate his own network of contacts, so that if there was any chaos, he could dispatch them to protect his family.

Because of the war on the front line, the price of rice has risen. Su Wan bought back a large amount of grain at a high price. With so many people to feed at home and so many workers to support, it is not a small amount of money.

Fortunately, her business has high profits and low costs. Even if things don't work out, there is still the income from Bingjitang. The monthly revenue of several thousand taels of silver is enough for her family to live a comfortable life.

In the second half of the year, I took some time to visit my eldest brother and bring him some rice. The war on the front line was tense, and many refugees from the border fled south to avoid the war. Prices were rising everywhere, especially food.

Not to mention prosperous places like Xiangzhou and Zhongzhou, the lives of the common people in the Xuanhe River Basin are probably even more difficult.

At that time, she will go there and open a soup kitchen to provide porridge to the refugees, and regard it as a good deed to gain fame and merit.

The beginning of spring is the flood season. When the floods hit, there are complaints everywhere and many refugees' homes are washed away. Fortunately, there is Su Jing. Even at the end of the year, he gritted his teeth and supervised the construction and repair of the embankment. Compared with the previous years, the situation is much better.

When the flood hit and it was the coldest time of spring, many people caught coughs. The medicinal herbs that Su Jing brought with him came in handy and saved many lives.

The people of Xuanhe saw some hope through him, thinking that finally a good official who could get things done had arrived.

…

By the end of June, Su Yun's Chenglou had stabilized and business was good every day. Su Yun was so busy that he wished he could live in Chenglou.

Su Yi is relatively free. He can open a shop whenever he wants. Those who engage in art are all weird people.

Su Wan even took the time to accompany him to visit Master Qi'an.

Qiu Niang has also returned from other places and opened three Bingjitang stores one after another. After a two-month break, she continued to open branches in other states.

It's time for Su Wan to set off on a certain day to go to several prefectures in the Jiangnan region to deal with the affairs of the Yuyantang branch, and to visit his elder brother in You County as well.

At Su Yi's strong request, he will accompany her throughout this journey.

But Su Yun was so envious. Now he was tied up by Cheng Lou and couldn't get away, otherwise he would have to go with him no matter how high.