Because Song Xia used to sell delicious fried dough sticks and tea eggs at affordable prices, some regular customers came to ask her about them when they saw she wasn't setting up her stall this morning.

"Wenwen's mom, aren't you setting up your stall today?"

"I'm not going to work anymore. I'm going to find a more stable job."

"Oh, that's a real shame. My son loves your fried dough sticks and says your tea eggs are even more flavorful. If you're not making much money, you could raise the price a bit; we'd be happy to accept that."

"Really, no, I'm sorry, I have other plans." Song Xia sent her daughter into the school gate. The mother outside, who had just been all smiles, turned around and started complaining to other parents.

"She's making plans, acting like she's something special. She's just a small stall owner. I'm doing her a favor by buying from her, and she's still acting all high and mighty. Do you believe me? She'll definitely keep selling there, and the prices will definitely go up."

Song Xia's smile faded. That's how society is; there are those who genuinely help you, and there are those who say one thing and do another.

She wasn't angry; she just thought that perhaps because she used to set up a stall at the school gate every day, and there were many parents like her, it would inevitably affect the children's impression of Wenwen.

My daughter gets out of school around 4 p.m., so I need to use the daytime to look for a suitable barbecue restaurant.

There aren't many barbecue restaurants near the school, and most of them aren't open yet, so she wandered around, hoping to find another option.

Around noon, she arrived at the university town. The surrounding area was full of shops selling clothes, snacks, and barbershops. The shops were all a few square meters or a dozen square meters. She didn't know which owner had opened a large barbecue restaurant, which she estimated to be about two or three hundred square meters.

And even though the gates were open at that time, there were hardly any people inside, despite the huge flow of people in the university town.

Song Xia shook her head. Although college students nowadays have decent living expenses, most of them still prefer to eat snacks. It's a waste to have such a large barbecue restaurant here. Its turnover probably can't even beat the fried skewers shop next door.

She counted the number of people during the day, and then took Wenwen for a walk around in the evening. Just as she expected, although there were students having dinner together, the place was never full. Wasn't this just a waste of rent?

So she took Wenwen inside to try the food, and her expression became even more indescribable. It was only the start of the new semester, and business was already this bad. If students got used to the surrounding area next semester, it would be a miracle if they came back.

Song Xia did not talk to the owner that day, but went into the store the next day after dropping Wenwen off at school.

"Welcome! What would you like to eat? Please scan the code." The waiter said in a slightly impatient tone.

But that's not surprising. There's hardly any business in the evening, let alone at noon. I guess the boss isn't here, so the waiters are particularly lazy. As soon as I came in, I was interrupting their rest.

Song Xia didn't pay any attention and casually ordered some food until the owner returned to the shop.

The owner looked worried. Seeing that she was the only one in the shop, he came over to ask for her opinion: "Miss, how is the food at our shop? Are you satisfied with your meal?"

"Want to hear the truth?"

"To be honest," the boss said with a bitter face. He estimated that he had already lost a lot of money since the business opened, and if he continued to lose money, he would lose everything.

"First of all, the waiters weren't enthusiastic enough, acting like they were afraid I'd order. Secondly, this is a barbecue restaurant, and it's generally better for diners to see the ingredients and take them themselves, which gives them peace of mind. Also, for such a big restaurant, how can they not afford to hire two good barbecue chefs? Not only were the grilled items burnt, but the flavor was also lacking. Finally, your restaurant doesn't have dedicated parking spaces. If people from outside the community come to eat here, the few parking spaces on the street won't be enough."

Upon hearing this, the shop owner's face fell even more: "Does this mean there's no point in me keeping this shop open?"

"Why did you choose to open a barbecue restaurant here? There are small shops all around, and yours is the only big one. Don't you feel it's out of place?"

"Sigh, this is my first time doing business, I don't know anything about it. When I took over the shop, I thought there was a lot of foot traffic here, so business should be good. Besides, all the other shops are small, and I'm the only big one, so I can take over all the business from gatherings, right? But it turned out to be completely different from what I expected. Girl, you have a sharp eye, you saw the problem with this shop at a glance."

"Anyone who does business in a normal way can tell that this is your first time doing business and you've been scammed. This is while you're still a student. What are you going to do during winter and summer vacations? This is such a big store, the rent must be quite high, right?"

The boss's face turned pale: "So the only way now is to admit a loss and transfer the business as soon as possible? This is my savings from ten years of working."

Can I try?

"What? You want to take over? It's not impossible..."

"I mean, during the period you transfer the business, I'll try being your barbecue chef. If business doesn't improve, I won't take a salary. You won't lose out, right?"

"You're just a young girl, and you know how to do barbecue?"

"Now you can try it."

The boss had nothing to do today, so he sent him to see what made this woman so arrogant.

So he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, as long as you can help me break even, I'll give you 10% of the store's net profit."

Now, let alone net profit, the boss's losses, including renovation and transfer fees, are at least several hundred thousand. He has to earn that much money first before giving out 10% profit. If the business is usually booming, Song Xia works for free. If it's extremely booming, he might not get a share of the profits for several months. This boss is bad at business, but he's good at this.

Song Xia just smiled and said, "Try the taste of what I grilled first. The shop has plenty of seasonings, right?"

"It's enough, it's this ingredient..." he said with an embarrassed smile.

Song Xia understood: "Leftovers from yesterday?"

"And what about a few days ago..."

Song Xia was speechless; no wonder his business was failing.

Once she officially takes over, she'll definitely want the freshest ingredients. Fooling the boss today shouldn't be a problem.

The barbecue chefs inside looked disdainful when the owner brought Song Xia in, but they didn't leave, wanting to see what tricks she was up to.

Song Xia didn't start grilling right away when she came in. Instead, she first tasted the chili peppers, cumin, and other seasonings in the shop. Tsk, they were all substandard. She had no idea how they were sourced.

"Xiaoling, can I exchange some items in the system shop?"

"Sure, these are very cheap, I've put them in your bag."

Song Xia didn't take them out immediately. Instead, she grilled some with the shop's seasonings first. Just that surprised the shop owner, and the barbecue chef was also astonished. It was the same meat skewers, the same seasonings, but the taste was...

He finally looked at Song Xia with admiration, thinking, "She really has some skill."

Song Xia didn't stop. This time, she used the seasoning from the bag that Xiao Ling had exchanged for, sprinkled it on, and as soon as it was lit, the aroma made the two of them stare into their eyes and keep drooling.

"This is……"

"This is my own barbecue seasoning, would you like to try it?"

The two eagerly took it and ate with sighs of delight. They thought it was already delicious enough, but they didn't expect it to be even better!