Chapter 429: Propaganda work must be done well!

Shen Qing first got the news from Ling Yi, so he was not too shocked when he heard Jiang Xiangbei talk about General Huo's return.

But I am very happy from the bottom of my heart.

The fact that the fourth brother accidentally heard that General Huo was coming back meant that many people already knew about this matter, and it might even be close to reaching the capital. Therefore, those powerful people who knew the news first no longer hid it, but talked about it openly.

Jiang Xiangbei was more concerned about his family. He said excitedly, "Mom, my sister-in-law and brother were supposed to be back in June. A delay of one or two months is normal. It's already been three months. Is it because they want to be with General Huo?"

The whole family was worried before, but no one dared to mention it. The mountains are high and the roads are long, and they were afraid of accidents. Now that General Huo is back, hope has been rekindled.

And it was an expectation that she had never thought of. Who could have thought that when her sister-in-law went to Bashu, she would just happen to catch up with General Huo who had cleared his grievances and was reinstated to his post!

He said worriedly, "Sister-in-law is so lucky! Who would have thought that General Huo would be able to return to Beijing so suddenly? Mother, will Sister-in-law become the eldest daughter of the general's family in the future? Will she look down on our family?"

He was not worried that his eldest sister-in-law would look down on his family. After all, his eldest sister-in-law had been in his family for more than ten years and he knew her character very well. He would rather believe that his eldest brother, as the general's grandson-in-law, looked down on them than he would doubt his eldest sister-in-law.

But the eldest sister-in-law is the eldest sister-in-law, and the Huo family is the Huo family, especially since the Huo family has a long history of military exploits, accumulated over several generations;

Once they fell into trouble, the eldest sister-in-law came to their house by accident and married a farmer's man. The gap between the two families was huge. Would they be willing to marry him?

Shen Qing said calmly, "What does it matter whether they like it or not? They recognize you as their sister-in-law, so it's fine for your sister-in-law to get along with them. If we try to get close to them, we'll just be taking advantage of their family. If we don't like them, then we won't get close to them."

It would be great if they liked him, but it would be hard to blame him if they didn't. After all, there was a huge gap between the Huo family after they were reinstated and his own family, and forcing himself to be attached would only bring trouble.

As for the repeating crossbow she gave - the Huo family's return to the capital was not necessarily due to the repeating crossbow. We didn't even know whether it was useful or not, so why should we expect them to appreciate it?

Jiang Xiangbei blinked, and his mind suddenly became clear.

Yes, why bother about these things? That is originally my sister-in-law's parents' home. If they look down on her husband's family, they still come forward with a shameless face, which makes things difficult for my sister-in-law. If they get involved again, won't she be in a dilemma?

Like my mom said before, don’t force yourself into a circle you can’t fit into, otherwise you will not only make things difficult for others but also humiliate yourself.

*

The hotpot restaurant was scheduled to open on September 18th. As the day drew closer, everyone was busy but also unconsciously felt nervous.

Shen Qing first went to a shop that made custom plaques and banners to make a sign with the store name - the plaques had words on them for people who could read, and the banners had pictures on them for people who couldn't read.

For example, a bun shop is a steaming bun, a cloth shop is a piece of cloth, and a livestock shop is cows and horses, etc.

Hot pot didn't exist before, so Shen Qing drew a blueprint. The copper furnace hot pot was surrounded by beef and mutton rolls, etc.; the spicy hot pot was in the shape of a nine-square grid, surrounded by tripe, duck blood, goose intestines, etc.

The names of the two hotpots are also very different. The copper furnace hotpot is positioned as more expensive, with a more artistic style and a sense of atmosphere: a small building around the furnace;

Spicy hotpot mostly uses the least valuable offal, and the price is much lower. The name of the restaurant is simple and direct: Jiugongge Hotpot.

The shop that made custom signs had never received such an order before, and kept asking what it was. Shen Qing only told them that it was a new way of eating it, and that they could go there to try it on September 18th.

After the signboards were customized, they went to the shops on both sides of the road selling calligraphy and paintings. Most of these stall owners were scholars who had failed the imperial examinations many times. As the imperial examinations did not allow them to pass the exams, they sold calligraphy and paintings while taking the exams. The calligraphy and paintings they sold were all painted by themselves.

Shen Qing customized a batch of flyers as required.

The picture shows hot pot and several classic dishes, with the address, opening date and discount items written next to it.

The discounts at the two hotpot restaurants are different. Tonglu Hotpot offers free gifts. In the first three days, the first to tenth tables will receive a portion of premium beef and mutton and a cream egg cake. The tenth to twentieth tables will receive a portion of premium mutton and cream egg cake. Tables from the 20th onwards will only receive a portion of cream egg cake.

The spicy hotpot restaurant is offering a discount: 30% off for the first ten tables, 20% off for the tenth to twenty tables, and 10% off for tables after the 20th.

This is also customized according to the customer group. The customers of Tonglu Hotpot are not short of money, and cheaper small change has almost no appeal to them. Giving gifts can also play a role in publicity and promotion and promote purchases.

The creamy egg cake is the shop's specialty pastry. It's unique in the entire capital. She learned how to make it from a shopping guide. First, it's used to attract customers. It's only available at the hot pot restaurant, not anywhere else. As long as people come to the hot pot restaurant just to eat it, then they're making money.

Secondly, I originally just wanted to make honey waterless egg cake, which is fluffy, soft and delicate. It has been popular in China for decades and still has a large number of loyal customers. Needless to say, its strength is not even available in Beijing. Compared with using cream, it has one less step, which is much simpler and more convenient. But using cream can make the taste richer on the one hand, and on the other hand it can boost the sales of milk!

Cream is extracted from milk. The taste of milk will change when it is transported over long distances. It is inconvenient to transport large quantities and the selling price cannot be increased. But cream is different. It is not affected at all during the cold winter!

So in winter, we make cream egg cakes to convert milk into silver for the pastoral areas, and when the weather gets warmer, we switch to honey waterless egg cakes.

After the flyers are customized, the people who distribute them are ready-made employees in the store.

One group of them stood in front of the hot pot restaurant and handed the food to people in passing cars and sedan chairs or people wearing silk. Another group went to the wealthy area to distribute it - they might not see those masters or young masters, but gave it to servants and guests. When people saw the new food, they would talk about it out of curiosity.

If there is discussion, it will become a hot topic, which is equivalent to publicity!

They are all rich young men, so they should try something new.

Three days before the opening, everyone was in place and practiced their responsibilities over and over again. Two days before the opening, they were hands-on – preparing the soup base and serving it on the table, cutting the beef, mutton and side dishes and serving them on the table, and serving the dipping sauce and dishes on the table.

Then everyone sat down and tasted the food. After finishing the meal, the waiter cleared the table and cleaned the dishes.

On September 18th, everyone got up early in the morning, changed into uniform, washed up, had breakfast, and as soon as the city gate opened, they immediately went into the city and headed for the hot pot restaurant.

In the shop, all the shop assistants were already in place, and the kitchen was busy preparing the goods.

Seeing Shen Qingjiang Xiangdong and the others coming over, the guys hurriedly shouted respectfully, "Hello, Boss!"

Shen Qing nodded and said, "You guys take care of your own business, there's no need to follow us, let's take a look first."