Seeing Su Qingluan laughing so happily, Manager Liang hesitated a little and asked slowly and carefully, "Aren't you planning to open another restaurant, my niece?"
Su Qingluan didn't answer the question directly, but instead asked, "Uncle Liang, what do you think of Lefeng Town?"
Although Shopkeeper Liang didn't understand what Su Qingluan meant, he lowered his head and thought for a moment before giving a fair assessment: "If you look at this small town, it's a bit remote, and there aren't many permanent residents. However, it's a major transportation hub. People from nearby counties and prefectures, whether heading to the imperial capital for the imperial examination or heading south for business, have to pass through here."
Su Qingluan asked again, "Uncle Liang, how many of these people can afford to spend tens or even hundreds of taels of gold on delicacies?"
Shopkeeper Liang took a sip of tea thoughtfully.
He has been running the "Hongfulou" for half his life, and during this long period of time he has seen guests with extravagant and luxurious styles.
However, most business travelers lived in the open air and were in a hurry. Even if they gathered at Hongfulou for dinner and drinks, it seemed to be only an occasional occurrence.
In short, there is traffic, but high-end consumers are very limited.
After all, Lefeng County is neither an important city like the imperial capital, nor a wealthy place in the south of the Yangtze River.
Su Qingluan explained, "I'm not afraid to offend you, but the fact that Hongfulou is the only restaurant in Lefeng Town is not only due to the great contribution of Chef Xu, but also due to the good fortune of the time and location."
"My dear niece," said Shopkeeper Liang, no fool, who understood the meaning of the music, "if the other 'Hongyun Tower', 'Hongbin Tower', or 'Hongfei Tower' were opened first, then my restaurant would never be able to open again."
Su Qingluan nodded: "The customer flow is limited, and the demand is mostly for short stays. Either you can only support one restaurant, or two or more restaurants will fight each other for customers and end up in bankruptcy."
This is like in modern times, if you are planning a store location, then within a certain range, there cannot be two identical stores, otherwise the two stores will passively compete for business, resulting in a situation where both stores cannot continue to operate.
Lefeng Town has only five or six streets. In addition to Hongfulou, a relatively large restaurant, there are dozens of other unique restaurants and dozens of mobile stalls like Su's wrap stall.
If we open another restaurant, it will be a lose-lose situation.
"So," Su Qingluan said with a smile, "unless I'm crazy, I won't open another restaurant - at least not here and now."
She then briefly described Su Guangfu's back pain. "Although my father was one of the main reasons I decided to rent a shop, I felt more that mobile stalls were too restrictive."
It's a scorching summer now, so it's not a big deal. But in two months, when the weather turns cooler and the mobile stalls don't have charcoal fires or shelter, and they can still sell food like wraps, few people will want to eat cold meals in the cold autumn wind.
Shopkeeper Liang nodded. "I understand. Don't worry, my dear niece. If there's a suitable shop, I'll definitely keep it on your radar. But I have one piece of advice for you: don't buy now. The rent will be at least 20% to 30% more expensive."
Su Qingluan smiled and said, "My family did tell me about this, but it's the peak season now, so I guess not many people would sell their shops right now."
Shopkeeper Liang shook his head. "It's difficult, unless it happens suddenly, but that's something you only encounter once in a while."
Su Qingluan nodded, stood up and bowed to Shopkeeper Liang. "Since this is the case with the shop, I hope Uncle Liang will take care of it. Qingluan will take her leave now."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Shopkeeper Liang called out to Su Qingluan, as if he had just remembered something, and asked the waiter to bring out a dark brown ceramic jar sealed with a wooden cork. "My dear niece, take this bottle of ointment to your father."
As he spoke, he stuffed the small jar into Su Qingluan's hands: "This ointment contains Chuanxiong, Achyranthes, Safflower, Cinnamon, and Borneol. It's very effective for shoulder and neck pain!"
Su Qingluan didn't know much about Chinese medicine, but she knew that cinnamon was a kind of spice and could definitely dispel cold, so she hurriedly expressed her gratitude.
Shopkeeper Liang, however, didn't care at all: "What are you thanking me for? When my niece helped me, I didn't say 'thank you' all the time, did I?"
Shopkeeper Liang chatted and laughed as he sent Su Qingluan out, but he didn't notice that an inconspicuous kitchen helper glanced over here and walked towards the kitchen angrily.
This chef's name was Qian Liu, and he was originally just a waiter.
However, he was smart and eloquent, and he knew that being a waiter did not have much future, so he decided to help in the kitchen. If he could make it and learn a skill, even if he did not become the head chef of Hongfulou, he could be a chef who could stand on his own, or he could open a small shop on his own after learning the skill.
Because of these thoughts, he always paid attention to being respectful and flattering to Xu Yuanwei, the head chef. Even if he was not a kitchen helper, he would try his best to find opportunities to go to the kitchen, just to make Xu Yuanwei have a better impression of him.
This was all thanks to his unremitting efforts. With his nimble hands and eloquence, he was able to take over the position of a kitchen helper after his mother passed away unexpectedly and had to go home to mourn. Although he had no experience as a kitchen helper, he was a waiter who had nimble hands and feet and always had a smile on his face no matter how he was scolded.
Recently, Xu Yuanwei even started to let him learn the craft from the master who was mainly responsible for the red case. Qian Liu was very happy because the clouds had cleared and the moon was shining.
Who knew that a little girl of unknown origin would appear on the way.
Qian Liu could see clearly that this little girl's cooking skills were amazing. He even had a vague feeling that Master Xu was outdone.
But originally he didn't take the little girl seriously - a woman like her couldn't be the chef in the kitchen of Hongfulou.
But gradually he discovered that the recipes sold by this little girl to Hongfulou were selling well, and recently she even won the favor of Manager Liang.
If that's the case, will this little girl come to Hong Fu Lou to be a chef? Can Chef Xu still keep his position?
If Chef Xu were to pack up and leave because of this, wouldn't all the time and effort he put into trying to please him be wasted?!
No, he had to find a way out for himself...
Su Qingluan didn't know that someone had taken the liberty of adding such depth to the story just because she sold diet recipes to Hongfulou.
However, if she knew, she would just sneer and tell the other person: You think too much, please don't create imaginary enemies out of thin air.
At this moment, he was holding the ointment given by Manager Liang and strolling towards his own stall as if he was strolling in the garden.
When they were dozens of steps away, Su Qingluan vaguely felt that the customer who was talking to her parents in front of the stall looked familiar.
After taking a few quick steps, Su Qingluan's eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her face: "How come you have time to come here today? Are you feeling better now?"
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