Chapter 452 Good wine needs no bush
Zhao Ergou patiently explained, "We share all the dishes from Dahe Village, and you can come to Dahe Banquet for in-depth learning until you've mastered all the dishes. In addition, Dahe Banquet will help with site selection and shop decoration. Furthermore, for some rare dishes, we purchase the raw materials from the main store at slightly lower prices than on the market..."
Rare dishes, such as lotus root shoots, lotus root, preserved eggs, and goat milk.
"If Manager Zhou joins the franchise, it will be Daheyan's first franchise store, and the first one will naturally enjoy a perk," he said with a smile. "Daheyan will be launching a highly anticipated new dish, and for the first three days, only the branch will be able to serve it. Just imagine how many customers this dish will bring to the store..."
During the conversation, the Daheyan Restaurant was bustling with customers.
The private rooms upstairs require reservations and were fully booked a month in advance. In the lobby, tables of customers come and go, and business is better in the evening than at noon. On average, we can accommodate about twenty tables a day.
It was only after becoming the manager of the restaurant that Zhao Ergou realized how many rich people there were in the city, and that there seemed to be no end to the money in the world.
Manager Zhou sat by the counter, watching clearly as customers finished their meals and paid their bills.
Some things can be faked, but money is very difficult to fake.
When he arrived, he was already three-tenths interested. After chatting with Zhao Ergou for a while, that interest increased to six-tenths. Now, seeing the money flowing in and him counting it until his hands were sore, his interest instantly surged to ten-tenths.
"Manager Zhao, may I speak to you in private?"
Zhao Ergou stopped using the abacus, handed his work to Zhao Dawang, and led Manager Zhou to the stone table in the courtyard of the backyard.
Manager Zhou got straight to the point: "My wonton shop has been open for more than ten years, and the money I've saved over the years is just over two hundred taels, which is enough to pay the franchise fee. But if I were to buy or rent a new shop, I really wouldn't have that much money. Manager Zhao, do you think it would be alright to use my current wonton shop?"
Zhao Ergou had been to that wonton shop. Although it wasn't on the main street, there was still a decent amount of foot traffic. However, he only went to the entrance and didn't go inside, so he didn't know the exact size of the shop.
He was eager to settle the matter as soon as possible, and said, "It's not dark yet, I'll go with you to take a look."
Shopkeeper Zhou immediately nodded, and the two drove to Hekou County. They went straight to the entrance of the wonton shop. Before they even stepped inside, they could smell the aroma of wontons. However, there were only two customers in the shop, making it seem very deserted.
"Come on, Manager Zhao, try my wontons first."
Manager Zhou personally went to the kitchen, cooked a bowl of wontons, and brought it to Zhao Ergou.
At Daheyan Restaurant, everyone ate there after closing time each day. He was indeed hungry, so he didn't hold back and swallowed the wontons in big mouthfuls. It has to be said that the taste was really good, which shows that the Zhou couple's cooking skills were quite good, and they wouldn't have any trouble learning the slightly complicated dishes at Daheyan.
After finishing his meal, he looked around the shop. It was clean, tidy, spacious, and bright. Logically speaking, business shouldn't be this bad.
“There’s a noodle shop next door that’s been stealing our customers,” Zhou Niangzi sighed. “It’s one noodle shop, but last year a steamed bun shop and a tofu and fried dough stick shop moved in, and all our business was taken away. We’re just starving.”
Zhao Ergou understood.
This small street is mostly lined with small businesses, with several shops selling snacks. A bowl of wontons costs 12 coins, a steamed bun costs only 2 coins, and a bowl of tofu pudding with fried dough sticks costs only 5 or 6 coins. The ordinary people living nearby naturally prefer to choose the cheaper and more convenient food.
Manager Zhou said nervously, "The people living in these alleys aren't wealthy. If we open a restaurant here, will it be deserted?"
More than a decade ago, his father used all the money he had earned in his life to buy this shop for six hundred taels of silver. Now, he might be able to get another six hundred taels of silver if he resold it, but six hundred taels is nothing short of a pipe dream to buy a shop on the main street.
If they were to rent a shop... they've lived in their own houses their whole lives, and now that they're going to rent a shop, they just don't feel right about it.
Moreover, shops on the main street of Hekou County are expensive, costing tens of taels of silver a month, which is painful to think about.
"As the saying goes, good wine needs no bush. Daheyan Restaurant has a great reputation. Even if your shop is in the middle of a village, people will still find their way there," Zhao Ergou said confidently. He looked around the shop and said, "If you were to decorate it like Daheyan, you could only fit four tables in this shop at most, which is too few..."
Madam Zhou hurriedly said, "Manager Zhao, please follow me to the back; it's quite spacious there."
Pushing open the back door, you enter a courtyard. The courtyard is quite large, with four or five side rooms. Two maids are making wontons in the courtyard.
“These two girls are my daughters, and I also have two sons. They’re all apprentices.” Madam Zhou had the two girls greet them, and then continued to introduce the shop. “When my father-in-law bought this shop, he planned to include this courtyard in the shop to serve customers, but business was never very good, so he gave up on that idea. What do you think, Manager Zhao?”
Zhao Ergou walked around the courtyard. This courtyard was even larger than the backyard of Dahe Banquet, and there were plenty of side rooms.
He stood in the middle of the courtyard and said, “If you want to turn it into a restaurant, I suggest building a wall here. The west side can be left for your family to live in, and the east side can be designed as a dining area, which can add about six tables. The two private rooms here can be modified into four private rooms, making a total of fourteen tables. If fourteen tables of guests come at the same time, I don’t know if you can handle it.”
Manager Zhou asked, "It seems that the main branch of Dahe Banquet only has ten tables in total?"
“The main store is in Ping’an County, but the population of Ping’an County is less than half that of Hekou County.” Zhao Ergou laughed. “Hekou County relies on the docks, and countless wealthy merchants come and go. As long as your store opens, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you can make a fortune every day.”
The Zhou couple exchanged a glance, both seeing in each other's eyes the courage to burn their bridges.
Since the wonton shop is going out of business anyway, we might as well give it a shot.
"With Manager Zhao's words, what do I have to fear!" Manager Zhou's voice was firm. "I'll go get the money right now and settle this matter!"
"No rush." Zhao Ergou raised his hand, looking calm. "Formal cooperation requires a contract. I'll bring the contract over tomorrow and discuss the specific details."
Zhao Ergou left Zhou's wonton shop in a good mood.
He rushed back to Ping'an County by car. The shop had already closed for the day, and the staff had cleaned it up and left him some food. He ate quickly and then took his family back to Dahe Village.
The round moon hangs high in the sky; it's already quite late.
Not all the children had returned, and Cheng Wanwan didn't go back to her room to rest. She sat in the courtyard, enjoying the cool air and snacks, leisurely watching the stars and admiring the moon.
Several wolfhounds lay on the ground, swishing their tails boredly. Occasionally, dried meat and dried fish would fall out of Cheng Wanwan's sleeves, and the three wolfhounds would rush over and scramble for them.
At this moment, the carriage stopped at the door, and three wolfhounds immediately surrounded it.
Every day when Zhao Ergou and his friends came back, they would bring some leftover meat from the restaurant. The three little guys would wait to eat their fill before going to sleep.
"Don't fight over them, there's enough for everyone." Wu Huiniang separated the three wolfhounds that were fighting. "Come over here and eat. After you're done, go and rest."
Zhao Ergou teased the dog for a moment, then sat down next to Cheng Wanwan: "Mom, good news!"
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