Peng Liang, Zhang Qiang, and Chen Weihua acted immediately, giving up their billiards games and going to buy a tricycle.

After buying the tricycle, Chen Weihua was eager to go and buy more goods.

Peng Liang stopped him: "There's no stock now. They're all made to order. Besides, the factory is busy making them for the owner of the roasted nuts shop. He ordered fifty boxes."

"Business is so good! How much should we order for our first time?"

"Fifty, you can pick it up in two trips. It takes time to make it at the factory. My boss is probably already asleep by now. I'll go talk to her brother in a bit."

After saying that, the three of them pooled their money and came up with four hundred yuan, which was enough to buy goods and rent a house, since renting a house wasn't expensive at the time.

...

The next day, He Wenlin quietly got up at three o'clock in the morning. She first prepared ten catties of dumpling filling, then packed two catties of filling and put an ice pack on the outside, planning to have He Shan take it to the breakfast shop.

At four o'clock in the morning, He Shan and her second brother arrived.

“Linlin, I didn’t tell you yesterday because you were asleep. Last night, Peng Liang brought a friend over and said he wanted to order fifty boxes of egg rolls. You gave Boss Zhang a price of six yuan and fifty cents. Since this is Peng Liang’s friend, I also gave him a price of six yuan and fifty cents. They have already paid one hundred and sixty yuan. They will come to pick up thirty boxes around two or three o’clock this afternoon, and the rest can come tomorrow morning.”

"Peng Liang's friend?"

“It should be a former colleague from his shirt factory, someone he got along well with. They had eaten together here before,” He Wenjun said. “I was worried that production wouldn’t be able to keep up, so last night I notified Uncle Ruan and Wang Caiyun to come to work at five o’clock this morning. The other temporary worker wasn’t here last night, so I didn’t notify her. Anyway, she starts work at six o’clock, so it won’t make a difference if she comes in an hour.”

"Okay, you did a great job. How much did you produce here last night?"

"We made exactly twenty-six boxes and two bags last night."

The bagged ones are sold retail in fast food restaurants, one bag weighs half a kilogram.

"Then I'll leave this to you. After the morning rush hour, have Ruan Lingfeng and his sister and younger brother come over to pack and box the rolls. You can prepare two tanks of egg roll batter now, and preheat the machine so they can start making them as soon as they arrive. Tell Uncle Ruan and the others that we need to make a hundred boxes today."

One hundred boxes were ordered last night. Fast food restaurants will also release some to sell, and other factories will also pre-order some when ordering boxed meals. Moreover, it's impossible to measure the quantity so precisely when making this, so at least two hundred kilograms or more need to be prepared.

Currently, there are only nine machines, which can produce about 14 jin per hour. If we want to produce 200 jin, we need to work for at least 14 hours today.

"They're here. Ask them if they're willing to work such long hours. If not, I'll arrange for someone to come over in advance."

"Okay, I'll ask in a bit."

It's getting late, we can't delay any longer.

He Wenlin and He Shan quickly rode their bikes to the breakfast shop.

It was already 4:45 when we arrived at the breakfast shop.

Tang Xiaolian had already steamed dumplings and xiaolongbao, and the glutinous rice was cooked.

He Shan put the three plates of xiaolongbao she brought into the freezer and the filling for the steamed dumplings she brought into the refrigerator.

He Wenlin quickly prepared bone broth to cook wontons.

At six o'clock in the morning, He Shan went outside the store to call out to customers.

The free boiled egg promotion continues today, but it's only available to the first 68 customers.

He Wenlin could sense that business was much better today.

I don't know if it's just a misconception caused by the lack of someone doing the work.

By 8:50, the breakfast rush had passed.

There are still customers, but they come sporadically, not like a battleground anymore.

He Wenlin counted today's sales figures, and it wasn't a mistake; today's sales reached 293 yuan!

He Wenlin's breakfast items are all priced at 1.5 yuan each. This number is clearly wrong. She must have made a mistake in giving change or collecting the wrong amount when she was busy.

During the same period, the turnover was 40 yuan more than yesterday, which is equivalent to selling 27 more breakfasts.

However, wontons still didn't sell well; He Wenlin only cooked nineteen bowls of wontons today.

The store has only been open for two days, so it's too early to tell anything.

"Shanshan, please record today's accounts clearly. I'm going to make a phone call next door."

He Wenlin spent one yuan to go to the grocery store next door to make a phone call back to the fast food restaurant, and her grandmother answered.

"Grandma, where's Second Brother?"

"He went to make egg roll batter. How's business at the breakfast shop today?"

"Currently, it's forty dollars more than yesterday."

"It's good that it's better than yesterday."

"Grandma, did Second Brother say whether a few workers are willing to work more than ten hours a day to make egg rolls? Did Second Brother ask?"

If they were unwilling, He Wenlin planned to hire a few part-time workers from here to help.

He Wenlin had asked them this morning, and they were willing to do it if He Wenlin needed them. Now they are waiting for He Wenlin's confirmation.

"I asked, and they agreed. More than twenty boxes of Mr. Zhang's goods were delivered this morning, and Lingfeng, Xiaomin, and Xiaojun are packing them over there now."

"Okay, I understand."

He Wenlin hung up the phone and returned to the breakfast shop. She said to the two part-time workers, "I'm sorry, but the temporary workers over there are all willing to work today. We won't be giving you extra hours for now. We'll have to rush to finish the orders at the beginning of next month, so we'll have to trouble you then."

"Then next time, you can ask for people again next time."

"Anyway, we have nothing to do at home, so just let us know if you need anything next time."

The two part-time workers are middle-aged women in their fifties. They are usually very idle, and it is not easy to find a job at this age. Hard work and the ability to endure hardship are also synonymous with most people in this era. They are not afraid of hardship.

For ordinary people, retirement is not an option either.

He Wenlin left the tricycle with He Shan, and she spent two yuan to take a motorcycle taxi to Zhang Hong's Old Zhang's Fried Nuts Shop.

He Wenlin saw from afar that he had placed the egg rolls in the most conspicuous position, and had written "Crispy Egg Rolls 9.5 yuan a box, 5 yuan a pound" on a cardboard in bold black pen, which was placed above the egg rolls.

A loudspeaker nearby was playing a loop: Crispy egg rolls, five yuan a pound, nine yuan fifty a box.

"Uncle Zhang."

"Xiao He, you've come at the right time. I want to add thirty more boxes of egg rolls," Zhang Hong said.

"Didn't Uncle Zhang sell quite a lot this morning?"

He wouldn't have increased the quantity if it hadn't already been sold!

Zhang Hong smiled and said, "Yes, there was a lot of people around eight o'clock in the morning. We shouted a few times and sold more than a dozen boxes."

“I told you long ago, my egg rolls are delicious and not expensive. The profit margin isn’t as high as sunflower seeds and biscuits, but we can sell in large quantities.” He Wenlin took out the receipt. “Uncle Zhang, as usual, you have to pay half upfront. Also, I have another customer who placed an urgent order with me last night, so the thirty boxes you just ordered are expected to be delivered before lunch tomorrow morning. Is that alright with you?”

"Wow, your business is booming."

"I can't compare to you, Uncle Zhang."

"Delivering it before lunch is fine, it should be about the same."

Zhang Hong readily paid the money, and He Wenlin accepted it and wrote him a receipt.