Chapter 40,
The next morning, Su Guoer set up her stall outside as usual, selling only two things: a thick, whitish mutton and mutton offal soup, and her homemade mutton pot stickers.
Business was as good as yesterday. With Chunniang's help, she felt a little more relaxed. She stayed in bed for a while longer and slept more before getting up.
After getting up, I would do some cleaning chores in the shop, or stand outside, and only go over to help when it was very busy.
There were three people in the shop now: Chunniang, Cui Niangzi, and Li Si, the new hire from yesterday. They were all busy outside or doing some vegetable washing in the yard. With enough people, she seemed redundant. She simply stood at the door of the shop to rest her feet.
Good mutton soup will never be in short supply.
The number of diners today is estimated to be twice as many as yesterday! Su Guoer calculated in her mind,
But those who come to buy are ordinary people. After buying a bowl of mutton soup, they either squat outside to drink it, or order two more pot stickers to sit in the house and drink them. They simply won’t order a second bowl.
But the pot stickers weren't popular, and at 15 wen each, they were a bit overpriced, especially for ordinary people. Spending 15 wen on a bowl of mutton soup for breakfast was already a luxury, so how could anyone dare add a serving of mutton pot stickers? Sure, they were delicious, and they smelled delicious.
But ask the price...
He turned around and went to the next door to buy a Hu pancake for five cents, soaked it in mutton soup and ate it to relieve his hunger! For them, this Hu pancake is the most cost-effective food, and mutton soup is also considered one. After all, you need some meat to have the strength to work.
"How much is this mutton soup in the store?" Su Guoer saw several diners in linen clothes running over from the stall next door to buy mutton soup, and she didn't feel guilty at all.
This is the principle behind making delicious food: whoever has better taste and more meat will sell better. Don't blame her for taking away the business of that stall owner.
It’s really... the other party’s craftsmanship is too poor!
"Fifteen cents a bowl, with the same amount of mutton and mutton offal, plus some lotus root noodles. It's a full bowl, I guarantee you'll be full! You can also refill the mutton soup!" Madam Cui's voice rang in her ears, luring diners to come to her house for dinner.
This was also Su Guoer's new method, designed to ensure these early-morning workers had a good and filling meal. And she was really generous with her bowl of mutton soup. Besides a handful of mutton and a handful of offal, it also contained soft, stewed lotus root noodles. It was soft and fluffy, and surprisingly filling! Even those with smaller appetites could be full on just one bowl of soup.
"What about the pot stickers?" they asked humbly. They couldn't move at all when they saw the bright yellow stuff in the pot, and the aroma of mutton filled the air, making their mouths water.
"It's also fifteen cents a piece, and there are twenty in one piece."
Well, it’s too expensive. They smacked their lips, touched the wallets in their arms and still couldn’t bear to buy it.
Su Guoer saw all of this. Fifteen cents per portion was indeed a bit expensive, but the cost of mutton was too high, and making pot stickers was time-consuming and labor-intensive. If she sold them cheaply, she wouldn't make any money at all.
And these mutton pot stickers are also sold as a specialty of their restaurant. The target customers are not this group of people, Su Guoer thought...
We have to make some other food, right?
What can be done?
Making dumplings is too tiring. One has to get up in the morning to knead the dough and mix the filling. She doesn’t know how early she has to get up. Su Guoer can’t stand it, and she can’t exploit her subordinates like this. So if she sells dumplings, she will inevitably have to hire a few more people to make breakfast.
It’s not worth it, absolutely not worth it.
I have to think of some other food to sell.
"Are you the owner of this restaurant, young lady?" A customer in the back shop spoke to her.
Su Guoer replied with a smile: "Yes"
The customer said, "The cooking is good, but the price is a bit high. Pot stickers are not something that people of their class can afford. Why don't you sell them at night? There are more wealthy people out at night, and they like to eat such exquisite food."
But seeing that the pot stickers are sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped green onions, and they are not juicy when you eat them, you can tell how delicious and popular this food is.
The key is that it tastes good.
Su Guoer had the same idea. She wanted to sell the pot stickers at night and sell other snacks in the morning.
"Hey, how can you talk like that?" Unexpectedly, a white-faced servant suddenly appeared outside. He was standing in front of Su Guoer and wanted to talk to her. After hearing what the man in the room said, he immediately retorted.
Su Guoer carefully identified who this diner was. It turned out that there were too many diners that day, and she couldn't remember for the time being.
But when she turned around and saw the red-roofed and green-collared carriage parked at the gate of Daxiangguo Temple, she suddenly remembered.
The servant said, "Boss, don't listen to his nonsense. Pot stickers are so delicious, there must be people who know the value of it to buy them. Even if they are put on display in the morning, there will be many people buying them, right?"
Su Guoer looked over and saw that a pot of pot stickers had already been sold out, but they were not selling out very quickly. Most people bought them to try something new.
"It's okay, right?" she replied. "If it were put on the night market, it would probably sell for more." This was indeed the truth; that was exactly what she meant.
The waiter said, "No, no, instead of selling them at the night market, why not package these pot stickers and sell them to restaurants? The restaurant can make a lot of money. Or you can package them and sell them yourself, turning your restaurant into a pot sticker shop and selling them all day long. You can also make a lot of money! Then you can open a branch or something, and I guarantee you will make a lot of money!"
Su Guoer was stunned when she heard this?
Sell to various restaurants?
This was the first time she heard this statement.
Seeing she didn't quite understand, the servant continued, "This is like consignment sales. You sell your specialty dishes in other taverns and restaurants. You can make more money, and they can also attract more diners to dine there. It's a win-win situation! Many big restaurants in Bianjing do this."
"Famous dishes like dry pot duck and chicken with lettuce are sold in almost every snack bar and restaurant! After they put them in their store and add a few cents to the price, it is considered their profit." The servant said happily, and asked Chunniang to pack ten servings of pot stickers for him to take away.
While waiting, he did not forget to chat with Su Guoer and the others. He was obviously a talkative person.
Su Guoer had never heard of this before. Just as she was thinking of a possible solution, the diner who was enjoying his meal over there spoke again.
"Stop doing this. It's better to sell your own vegetables at home." He said after drinking a sip of mutton soup.
"Although these pot stickers are rare, they don't taste very good to me."
"The dumpling wrapper is filled with mutton filling, and then some water is added before frying in a pot. Once it's cooked, it can be taken out of the pot. If you hire a good chef, he can replicate this pot sticker in minutes."
The diner then said to the waiter, "There are so many restaurants in Bianjing nowadays, and the chefs there are all really skilled. If they learn your skills, wouldn't you have nothing to sell?"
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